Our family business has been so blessed this Christmas season. Even with soaring precious metals prices, we have managed to stay ahead of the curve for another year.

Producing custom badges and mini-badge jewelry is our passion and we appreciate all who love our work and spread the word about our finely crafted pieces.

This is our ninth Christmas season and each one has been busier than the last, and with each one we had to put the idea of defeat or unmet deadlines out of our minds and just take care of the task before us.

Our little five-person family operation has been running around the clock all month so that we can deliver as many orders as possible in time to make it under Christmas trees across the country.

We are pleased to be making and exceeding even our own deadlines, expectations and goals for this Christmas season and are looking forward, with weary eyes, to the turning of the calendar at the fresh year approaching.

So, to all of you who have followed our family business, friends and customers alike, we say Merry Christmas to you and yours. Have a safe and memorable holiday season and may we all remind ourselves to step back, see the big picture, and enjoy the time together with family and friends.

Yes, that’s exactly what it is.

You'll never guess what I am ..... I am in disguise.

Tomorrow Saturday 19th December 2009

Cnr Johmstone and Booth Streets Annandale.

Come between 9am and 12 midday for all your last minute gifts.

Lots of handmade. Lots of beautiful pieces. Lots of local talent.

Mention you blog along at harrysdesk by saying. “I KNOW All ABOUT YOU!” (because of course you don’t), and I will give you wholesale price on all pieces.

See you there!

At this point I’m sure you’ve heard all of the arguments both for and against the relative easiness of getting geared in full tier 9 simply by doing heroics. From what I’ve read, I don’t think I really fall into either camp. Here are some of the main reasons that I’m going after a full tier 9 set.

It’s A Goal: This one is pretty important for me and it’s part of the reason that I stopped playing Chipdipson. With Chip, I was close to gaining exalted reputation with Ebon Blade. Coincidentally enough, that was the last faction I was grinding. With no other real rewards from heroics, I quickly became disinterested. Also, without being in a solid raid group, the carrot on a stick of the T9 gear will more than keep me interested in heroics.

It Looks Cool: Pretty self-explanatory. Since I started playing the game, I’ve never had a full set of tier anything so now I just want to see how it looks on my characters. There’s something pretty special to me about just seeing it all match. I came pretty close to getting a full PVP set on my priest, but later got bored of the grind considering that there was so many heroics to learn. Basically, I’m not overly concerned about what set of tier gear it is, I just want a full set of something.

Raiding: This reason probably falls in line with some of the typical arguments, but perhaps my way of thinking about it is a bit different. From what I know, most people seem to want to get geared up in T9 so that they can jump straight to Ice Crown Citadel. As a healer, I’d rather keep running Naxx until I can comfortably heal anyone through it, and then progress to Ulduar or whatever. I haven’t had a chance to raid much at all since I began playing WoW, so I would hate to skip entire swaths of content just to get more epic gear.

Thanks for reading. Leave a comment and I should be back with another post soon.

Brad

T10 content is out. You’ve got a ton of gear available for badges. How the hell do you decide what to get first? What about set bonuses?

TLDR:
OMG THE SPREADSHEET MAAAAAAAN

* With Rawr3 I can find out how much more dps each upgrade will give me.
* Wowhead/wowwiki/mmo-champion gives me badge costs

1. get dps number on easily available badge gear
2. subtract dps number on current gear = upgrade dps gain
3. divide by emblem cost = gain to cost ratio, i.e. dpsgain per emblem

As of Dec 14:
ilvl piece nosetbonusdpsgain emblemcost gaintocostratio

STARTER T10:
251 T10 chest 70 95 0.7
251 T10 hands 67 60 1.1
251 T10 head 55 95 0.6
251 T10 legs -5 95 downgrade
251 T10 shoulders 34 60 0.6 + new look

BADGE OFF-SET GEAR:
264 idol nodata 30 need to import into Rawr
264 trinket 124 60 2.1
264 Agi back 202 50 4.0
264 Str back 108 50 2.2
264 chest 112 95 1.2
264 hands 145 60 2.42
264 waist 225 60 3.8

T10 + CLASS TOKEN FOR DKP:
264 T10 chest 163 95 1.7
264 T10 hands 143 60 2.4
264 T10 head 163 95 1.7
264 T10 legs 75 95 0.8
264 T10 shoulders 108 60 1.8

ASSUMING 2T10 + 2T9:
251 T10 chest 328 95 3.5
251 T10 hands 319 60 5.3
251 T10 head 331 95 3.5
251 T10 legs 282 95 3.0
251 T10 shoulders 31 60 0.5 + new look (turns out 2t9 + 1t10 is better…)
264 T10 chest 424 95 4.5
264 T10 hands 396 60 6.6
264 T10 head 440 95 4.6
264 T10 legs 309 95 3.3
264 T10 shoulders 338 60 5.6

Note:
1. changing one piece of gear changes the value of all other gear and possible upgrades, i.e. these numbers are just a rough guideline for one person at one time
2. different bossfights mean different gear priorities
3. above list does not factor 4t10 set values, but does include 2t10 set bonus, which inflates value of T10 pieces

so this list is just to show you what YOU CAN DO, plus I needed to figure it out anyway – you can also do this to figure out what your dkp should go to, but that’s more of a personal thing with oh-cool-gotta-have factors and whatnot.

conclusion: for immediate dps gain, nothing beats me picking up the badge cloak
for slower initial gain, get T10 hands, then chest or head for much larger gain, and eventually a dps cloak will drop anyway, saving me badges

Natalia Beatriz Espina Talamilla

Create Your Badge

Author : SUSANTO, HERRY

Stephen Crane, who is an impressionist, naturalist and realist writer, without any experience in war, wrote his masterpiece The Red Badge of Courage. This novel talks about an immature young man, Henry Fleming, who becomes mature after he experiences war. The thesis writer is interested to know how the main character develops from immaturity to maturity. That is why the thesis writer wants to show that Henry Fleming experiences a development from immaturity to maturity based on his experience in war. In discussing the character development, the thesis writer divides the analysis into three parts. First, the thesis writer discusses Henry?s character in the beginning when he joins the war. Second, the thesis writer discusses the process of the development of Henry?s character and finally, the thesis writer discusses Henry?s character after he experiences war. In the analysis, the thesis writer shows Henry?s character development when he has to face the war in being inexperience. His being inexperience in war caused him to experience many shameful things as a soldier. The thesis writer analyzes the development in Henry?s character through his thought, speech and behavior before and after he becomes mature. He uses some theories such as characterization, setting, conflict and also psychological theories on immaturity and maturity. In the conclusion, the thesis writer finds out that Henry?s experience in war happens because of his wrong image of war. He thinks that war is something glorious and bloody conflict and he can become a hero easily without any experience in war. Because of that, he has to face many problems during the war. Henry becomes mature after he experiences a process that gives him the ability to overcome his problems. His maturity and his self-realization, finally enables him to accept himself for what he is, including his mistakes as well as his good and heroic deeds.

Keyword : american, fiction, crane, stephen, red, badge, immaturity, maturity

Sumber : http://repository.petra.ac.id/2530/

Now, if any of you actually payed enough attention, you might have noticed that this place is made by the same person that maintains this site, and makes the posts. This place review is one of the first we’ve come out with, and it should – hopefully – bring out the best of our first-time place review!

***

New Realm of Zombloxia!

Genre:  Horror

 100 Kills – New Realm of Zombloxia!

Well, I was on a roll adding little icons to my Homeschoolblogger, and wanted to put a matching icon on there for my favorite Christian music site: New Release Tuesday. Well they didn’t HAVE any cute little matching logos!

So –ehem– I made my own. It was my first time making something look shiny-ish. I found the original logo (on the left) through Google, and then made a shiny icon by doing this:

1. Rounded the edges

2. Selected a circle and put it where I wanted it (well duh)

3. inverted the selection

4. Filled the selection with white

5. Gave it a 22% opacity

6. Added a touch of white around the bottom right corner

7. Added a very slight lighting effect

Well, I don’t think that’s totally how it’s done, and it’s probably not totally how it’s supposed to look, but for my first time, I think it gets the job done.

Comment if you want the little icon for your blog, too!

Well, I was on a roll adding little icons to my Homeschoolblogger, and wanted to put a matching icon on there for my favorite Christian music site: New Release Tuesday. Well they didn’t HAVE any cute little matching logos!

So –ehem– I made my own. It was my first time making something look shiny-ish. I found the original logo (on the left) through Google, and then made a shiny icon by doing this:

1. Rounded the edges

2. Selected a circle and put it where I wanted it (well duh)

3. inverted the selection

4. Filled the selection with white

5. Gave it a 22% opacity

6. Added a touch of white around the bottom right corner

7. Added a very slight lighting effect

Well, I don’t think that’s totally how it’s done, and it’s probably not totally how it’s supposed to look, but for my first time, I think it gets the job done.

Comment if you want the little icon for your blog, too!

A couple of cool new features have been added to Osnapz in the last few weeks, all related to the red hot foursquare site. Check them out if you’re not already familiar with their site.

You can now register and sign in with your existing foursquare account, using OAuth, which means as usual, Osnapz will never have access to any of your private login information. Or if you’re already an Osnapz member and want to add your foursquare account, head over the ’social sites’ tab in your member account to add foursquare. Once added, all your existing foursquare badges will be imported into Osnapz!

There’s also a new list of top foursquare players, so you can see who’s got the most friends and mayorships. You can view all players across cities, or select the city you’re interested in. BTW, this list was heavily inspired by Twitterholic. The list is updated randomly many times a day, so if you think you should be on the list but don’t see your name, be patient, or you can message me at @getosnapz on Twitter and I can add you.

More new foursquare features are in the works as well, so check back soon!

Ellen, I have to say that this is my most glorious security badge yet!

Employed in NYC, in a gargantuan, cement and glass tower hovering over a bustling park with an ice skating rink, which I’ve become very good at (my ass hurts), practicing during my lunch hour…furtively…with a Shakira-wig, so none of my coworkers would notice me….

P.S.  Ellen, please hire me, a gal of many talents……I think…Well, my Dad thinks so…My Mamaw in Louisiana thinks so…So does my cat….And, my boss 87.4% of the time….And, my ice skates….

hiremeellen@gmail.com

Well, I finally did it! After a couple of years dabbling in MINI swag distribution and being a vendor at two major events, I decided to make MINIBee’s Motoring Merchandise legitimate and opened an online store. There you can find my new product, the Build-a-Badge™ magnetic badge holder, MINI lanyards, cookie cutters, glassware, 100,000 and 50,00o-mile metal grille badges and matching lapel pins, Go Pro HERO Wide Motorsports cameras at a deep discount and much, much more.

The store also has direct links to my Cafepress store which features the famous “Owner’s Badge” designs by COOPERattion in almost all the models and color combinations (new ones are added from time to time). You’ll find lots of other cool MINI T-shirts, coffee mugs, holiday ornaments, hoodies, etc…in there so check it out.

It’s okay if you’re still scratching your head over the FourSquare piece in the Chicago Tribune.

What is FourSquare? The Trib. describes it nicely:
“Playing Foursquare involves exploring restaurants, pubs and coffee shops in major metro areas. The payoff for playing can range from special deals or freebies at eating and drinking establishments to scoring points, Boy Scout-like badges and ‘mayorships,’ essentially bragging rights for hanging out at particular locations.”

So you earn merit badges and free stuff for places you already go, things you already do. Sweet.

Whoa, Nellie. Cue ye auld business model. Again, via the Tribune:
“Foursquare is focused on getting as many businesses as possible to add discounts and other promotions to Foursquare, said Tristan Walker, who is in charge of business development and is a second-year student at Stanford Business School.”

Are we cool sharing our getaways with another logo? I’m still getting over seeing birdies and “follow us on Facebook” messages on everything from the bus to bathroom walls. Yeesh.

For retailers, this is a no brainer. For the organic and grassroots set, you may need to ask yourself if a corporate partnership will help or harm your brand identify.

Am I complaining? Heck no. It’s called the Virgin America Terminal at LAX. Just a hint.

ryan

not going outside today.

rena

up & up (tools of a new life)

Official Web Site

Eric’s My_Space Page

The Story Siren is hosting the 2010 Debut Author Challenge and asked her readers for some buttons. Since it’s a young adult reading challenge and she loves colors, this is what I came up with:

Click here to sign up for the challenge!!!

I wrote 50,000 words in twenty-five days. Five days ahead of schedule. I am so proud and so tired.

This is what happened when I posted my most recent update. I was surprised. I didn’t even expect it and then this popped up on my screen.

And this is my winner badge.

I’m so proud of myself. I know all the other NaNoers are going to be mad at me for saying this but I never thought I wouldn’t be able to finish. I actually found it quite easy to do 1667 or more words a day. But that’s probably because I’ve been developing this story idea for three years and this finally gave me the excuse to write it. Still, I’m quite shocked. I never thought I’d actually get to 50,000. Well, here I am. I did it. Now I can get back to blogging.