Khieu Thi Huyen Trang Won The First Vietnam’s Next Top Model

The 21-year-old Khieu Thi Huyen Trang from Northern Province of Bac Giang won the first Viet Nam’s Next Top Model competition on Jan 23 at the InterContinental Asiana Saigon Hotel in HCM City.



Trang, who stands 1.78m and measures 81-63.5-93.5, will sign a two year contract with CA Model company worth US$50,000. She will receive a scholarship for a model training course at the Wilhelmina Models Company. She also receives a diamond ring worth VND200 million and a Piaggio LX125.

“I feel very happy about the prizes,” Trang said. “This is my gift to my mother, who has supported me during the past few months.”

Tuyet Lan, Thuy Thuy and Huyen Trang are the top 3 of Vietnam’s Next Top Model 2010.

From left: Thu Thuy, Huyen Trang and Tuyet Lan

Special thanks and credits to the source: Vietpop & worldshowbiz

Khieu Thi Huyen Trang Won The First Vietnam’s Next Top Model

The 21-year-old Khieu Thi Huyen Trang from Northern Province of Bac Giang won the first Viet Nam’s Next Top Model competition on Jan 23 at the InterContinental Asiana Saigon Hotel in HCM City.



Trang, who stands 1.78m and measures 81-63.5-93.5, will sign a two year contract with CA Model company worth US$50,000. She will receive a scholarship for a model training course at the Wilhelmina Models Company. She also receives a diamond ring worth VND200 million and a Piaggio LX125.

“I feel very happy about the prizes,” Trang said. “This is my gift to my mother, who has supported me during the past few months.”

Tuyet Lan, Thuy Thuy and Huyen Trang are the top 3 of Vietnam’s Next Top Model 2010.

From left: Thu Thuy, Huyen Trang and Tuyet Lan

Special thanks and credits to the source: Vietpop & worldshowbiz

Suez

Egypt's Suez Canal Still Open to Shipping as Protesters Gathering in Cairo

Egypt’s Suez Canal, used to carry about eight percent of global seaborne trade, was operating normally today amid mounting protests against the government, according to an official from the waterway.

56 vessels are passing through the canal, more than the average of about 50, Ahmed El Manakhly, head of traffic for the Suez Canal Authority, said in an interview with Andrea Catherwood on Bloomberg TVs “The Pulse.” Working hours have been adjusted to comply with a curfew and the military hasn’t deployed to the canal, he said.

“The traffic through the Suez Canal hasn't been affected by the prevailing situation in Egypt,” El Manakhly said. “Traffic from Port Said at the northern entrance of the canal or from Suez at the southern entrance is going with normal rate and with the same and the usual schedule.”

The waterway is the fastest crossing from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean, according to the Suez Canal Authority. Should it close, tankers would have to sail around southern Africa. That would add about 12 days to a journey from Saudi Arabia to Houston, Luis Mateus, an analyst at Riverlake Shipping SA in Geneva, estimated last week.

Opposition supporters today poured into Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the weeklong uprising against the President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule. Newly appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman said late yesterday that Mubarak instructed him to start a dialogue with the protesters. The military promised not to fire on marchers and said that it recognized “the legitimacy of the people’s demands.”

Container Line

A.P.Moeller-Maersk A/S, the container shipping line and terminal operator, kept offices closed in Egypt today and deployed only an emergency staff at Port Said, Michael Storgaard, a spokesman for the Copenhagen-based company, said by e-mail today. Maersk has about 7,000 employees in Egypt.

Frontline Ltd., the world’s largest operator of supertankers, said yesterday that a closure of the canal was unlikely, although delays were possible. The company isn’t aware of any plans to divert ships, Jens Martin Jensen, chief executive officer of the management unit of Frontline, said by phone from Singapore.

A vessel going from Saudi Arabia to Rotterdam can cut the distance traveled by about 42 percent by using the canal rather than sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, data on the canal authority’s website show. To southern France the saving is 57 percent and to NY 30 percent, the data show.

Goldman Sachs

The canal has the capacity to handle 2.2 million barrels of oil a day while that of the adjacent Suez-Mediterranean Pipeline is 2.3 million barrels, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Actual volumes in 2009 were a combined 2.1 million barrels because of cuts in production by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the bank said.

The canal was previously closed for 4 months in 1956-57 and for 8 years from 1967, Barclays said. The closure of the canal this time would remove about 2 million to 3 million barrels of oil and about 2 million barrels of refined products a day, the bank estimates. Much of the northbound oil goes to refineries in the Mediterranean.

Suez

Egypt's Suez Canal Still Open to Shipping as Protesters Gathering in Cairo

Egypt’s Suez Canal, used to carry about eight percent of global seaborne trade, was operating normally today amid mounting protests against the government, according to an official from the waterway.

56 vessels are passing through the canal, more than the average of about 50, Ahmed El Manakhly, head of traffic for the Suez Canal Authority, said in an interview with Andrea Catherwood on Bloomberg TVs “The Pulse.” Working hours have been adjusted to comply with a curfew and the military hasn’t deployed to the canal, he said.

“The traffic through the Suez Canal hasn't been affected by the prevailing situation in Egypt,” El Manakhly said. “Traffic from Port Said at the northern entrance of the canal or from Suez at the southern entrance is going with normal rate and with the same and the usual schedule.”

The waterway is the fastest crossing from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean, according to the Suez Canal Authority. Should it close, tankers would have to sail around southern Africa. That would add about 12 days to a journey from Saudi Arabia to Houston, Luis Mateus, an analyst at Riverlake Shipping SA in Geneva, estimated last week.

Opposition supporters today poured into Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the weeklong uprising against the President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule. Newly appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman said late yesterday that Mubarak instructed him to start a dialogue with the protesters. The military promised not to fire on marchers and said that it recognized “the legitimacy of the people’s demands.”

Container Line

A.P.Moeller-Maersk A/S, the container shipping line and terminal operator, kept offices closed in Egypt today and deployed only an emergency staff at Port Said, Michael Storgaard, a spokesman for the Copenhagen-based company, said by e-mail today. Maersk has about 7,000 employees in Egypt.

Frontline Ltd., the world’s largest operator of supertankers, said yesterday that a closure of the canal was unlikely, although delays were possible. The company isn’t aware of any plans to divert ships, Jens Martin Jensen, chief executive officer of the management unit of Frontline, said by phone from Singapore.

A vessel going from Saudi Arabia to Rotterdam can cut the distance traveled by about 42 percent by using the canal rather than sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, data on the canal authority’s website show. To southern France the saving is 57 percent and to NY 30 percent, the data show.

Goldman Sachs

The canal has the capacity to handle 2.2 million barrels of oil a day while that of the adjacent Suez-Mediterranean Pipeline is 2.3 million barrels, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Actual volumes in 2009 were a combined 2.1 million barrels because of cuts in production by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the bank said.

The canal was previously closed for 4 months in 1956-57 and for 8 years from 1967, Barclays said. The closure of the canal this time would remove about 2 million to 3 million barrels of oil and about 2 million barrels of refined products a day, the bank estimates. Much of the northbound oil goes to refineries in the Mediterranean.

Suez

Egypt's Suez Canal Still Open to Shipping as Protesters Gathering in Cairo

Egypt’s Suez Canal, used to carry about eight percent of global seaborne trade, was operating normally today amid mounting protests against the government, according to an official from the waterway.

56 vessels are passing through the canal, more than the average of about 50, Ahmed El Manakhly, head of traffic for the Suez Canal Authority, said in an interview with Andrea Catherwood on Bloomberg TVs “The Pulse.” Working hours have been adjusted to comply with a curfew and the military hasn’t deployed to the canal, he said.

“The traffic through the Suez Canal hasn't been affected by the prevailing situation in Egypt,” El Manakhly said. “Traffic from Port Said at the northern entrance of the canal or from Suez at the southern entrance is going with normal rate and with the same and the usual schedule.”

The waterway is the fastest crossing from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean, according to the Suez Canal Authority. Should it close, tankers would have to sail around southern Africa. That would add about 12 days to a journey from Saudi Arabia to Houston, Luis Mateus, an analyst at Riverlake Shipping SA in Geneva, estimated last week.

Opposition supporters today poured into Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the weeklong uprising against the President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule. Newly appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman said late yesterday that Mubarak instructed him to start a dialogue with the protesters. The military promised not to fire on marchers and said that it recognized “the legitimacy of the people’s demands.”

Container Line

A.P.Moeller-Maersk A/S, the container shipping line and terminal operator, kept offices closed in Egypt today and deployed only an emergency staff at Port Said, Michael Storgaard, a spokesman for the Copenhagen-based company, said by e-mail today. Maersk has about 7,000 employees in Egypt.

Frontline Ltd., the world’s largest operator of supertankers, said yesterday that a closure of the canal was unlikely, although delays were possible. The company isn’t aware of any plans to divert ships, Jens Martin Jensen, chief executive officer of the management unit of Frontline, said by phone from Singapore.

A vessel going from Saudi Arabia to Rotterdam can cut the distance traveled by about 42 percent by using the canal rather than sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, data on the canal authority’s website show. To southern France the saving is 57 percent and to NY 30 percent, the data show.

Goldman Sachs

The canal has the capacity to handle 2.2 million barrels of oil a day while that of the adjacent Suez-Mediterranean Pipeline is 2.3 million barrels, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Actual volumes in 2009 were a combined 2.1 million barrels because of cuts in production by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the bank said.

The canal was previously closed for 4 months in 1956-57 and for 8 years from 1967, Barclays said. The closure of the canal this time would remove about 2 million to 3 million barrels of oil and about 2 million barrels of refined products a day, the bank estimates. Much of the northbound oil goes to refineries in the Mediterranean.

The Freaky Mind

I honestly don't know where psionics are going to come from, but I know how they were handled in past editions:

• Eldritch Wizardry: Psionics are able to use their mind to fight as well as doing freaky stuff, such as telekinesis, teleport, molecular adjustment and so on. Anyone with enough Intelligence can have psionic capability, but having such powers causes the character to be a little less strong than the other members of his class.
• Player's Handbook: About the same as Eldritch Wizardry, only a little more complete.
• The Complete Psionics Handbook: Psionics are members of a class – sort of mystical mind warriors who train themselves in the use of special mind powers. They have requisites in Intelligence, Wisdom and Constitution, but Intelligence is not a key characteristic: Psionics become tougher by hard training, so discipline and resistance are the prime requisites. Among the real Psionics are the so called Wild Talents, members of other classes who have limited access to psionic powers.

That said, here's how I see the problem. As a matter of fact, humans use only a small percentage of their brain capacity: this is mostly because our body is not able to feed the brain enough and avoid health risks, but this explanation is not much fun to play with, is it? So, suppose that having the ability of using a larger percentage of the brain can give a person the ability to access psionic capabilities.

In Lin Carter's Tower at the Edge of Time, the protagonist, Thane, discovers his psionic abilities while being ESP'ed by a "mind warrior". It's the stress that leads his superior mental powers to show themselves. Interestingly enough, Thane is able to use every possible psionic power right from the start – he uses a sort of Mind Blast and then Telekinesis straight afterward. Later in the story Thane uses molecular re-arrangement to turn the bars of his cell into crystal, and then Telekinesis again to fly out of the prison and save the slave he is in love with. But using these powers consumes his energy leaving him faint for hours after a couple of minutes of use. Thane is said to be an über-tough barbarian, who can kill four opponents without even sweating, so I'd say his Constitution is at least 15 or 16.

The simpler alternative to having Psionic Strength as a point system, which is pretty much too mechanical for me, is having them as daily powers, just like MUs and Cs spells. The trouble is, I don't like daily powers at all. In OD&D the quantum of time for powers is the Adventure, which one person considers to be the complete exploration of a dungeon or site and someone else considers it to merely be a game session. I prefer the second one. In Carcosa the number of times per day psionics may be used is determined by the character's level only. In my system, the number of times per Adventure psionics may be used is determined by both Constitution and the level of experience, while Intelligence only determines the probability of having psionic abilities.

Layout Fixed

I've managed to add the menu, so I can have the blogroll and the Y-Team pages back. I now feel that The Yaqqothl Grimoire is just right, so no more layout editing for a while. Have a nice day!