#trisect project

[neoelysium]

NEO-ELYSIUM

Founded in 2062, Neo-Elysium is a sprawling, towering metropolis located in the central region of the New Allied Territories of North America (NATNA); it is the largest city in the Territories by population, with over 20 million people calling it their home.

By 2131, the bulk of Neo-Elysium’s political power is divided between three entities:

- BEHEMOTH, a global conglomerate active in many industries, from pharmaceuticals to weapons.

- Wolfgate Solutions or WGS, a privately owned military organization.

- Spacejunk Management, Inc. or SJM, Inc., an environmental and atmospheric clean-up project-turned-corporation expanding into the defense industry.

With many of the city’s gangs and rebels allied with one of these three factions, there is a never-ending war for authority throughout the city’s districts.

Meanwhile, other factions, including TriSec or Trisect Security Partners, another private military firm, hold no political power in the city and refuse to work for those who do, instead operating from the shadows.

[arrrdraw]

[riotxblade]

Trisection [Chapter 2.4: The Journey Continues ~ Ivalice Branch]

@lonescion is about to repeat a senseless and deadly mistake.

-War.  War never changes.-

-In this tiny tale of time, in a place unlike her own, Terra was thrust in the middle of what seemed like a heated pursuit of a fugitive.  Down the streets of cobblestone, she could hear the footfalls of heavily-armored feet, or at least combat boots, as they were intent on finding their would-be prey.  Obviously this was not Terra, but she found it best not to get in the middle of this until she knew more, or got her bearings.-

“Hup hup hup hup hup hup hup hup!”

-This sound continued for quite some time, but as soon as silence took over the streets, Terra peaked her head around the corner.  It was just her luck that the ethereal tear would bring her to a place such as this---and at the worst possible time.-

Now what?

[aldrickwalker1]

How Line Marking Enhances Superior Painting Results

Line marking is a very pivotal aspect that most of you don't really care while implementing color in a facility. This is the only reason why many professional painters end up with blending colors with unexpected combinations that harms the coloring appeal in a project.

The best way to avoid such mistake is to implement line marking scheme in Sydney while painting a facility. Here are some easiest ways to master upon the skill. Have a look into some of them.

Drawing a line before splashing colors

Most of the professional painters forget that color is not about just splashing and throwing colors in a facility. It is more of a creativity that becomes perfect only when the colors do not come in touch with one another which are completely opposite contrast to one another. The basic way to deal this problem is to form a margin that dissects or trisects or quarterly divides the ceiling from the side walls and the flooring. The partition helps a painter to pick the colors that suit perfectly in those partitions.

Choosing the right color for the right areas

It is not possible for anyone to show a dynamic color impact without understanding the colour contrast. Understanding the color contrast is must to put right colour in the areas divided for the interior exterior and ceiling portion in a facility. If possible it is better to pick two opposite colours and use it on a rough surface to check the color contrast. If it is appealing then only you might use it for filling those marked spaces divided or else you might reject it if it does not appear appealing.

Carefully dividing the floor before using epoxy

Epoxy coating is another important factor that one must not avoid while trying to implement any such coating on the floors. Before hiring a professional for implementing epoxy coating in Sydney for any wooden floor it is better to divide the areas with marks to chalk down which areas need epoxy and which does not. Depending upon that the epoxy base has to be prepared. It is better to use them within those areas of the floor which is exposed to rigorous wear and tear. Putting a division or marking a line helps a painter to use the coating without any mistake, so that the coating does not infiltrate the marked lines.

Using the paint rollers carefully near the drawn lines

Most of the professional painters make mistake when they do not hold the rollers properly while applying a paint. Due to their carelessness many often they implement a paint where they are not supposed to use colours therefore harming the colour impact in a facility.

The easiest way to solve such trouble is to draw a line to distinguish the areas where roller must roll and the rest of the areas falling outside the line must not be touched. It is always advisable to hold the paint roller lightly so that the colours are not implemented deeply in any facility.

These are some of the easiest ways to enhance superior painting quality by using marked border lines before implementing a paint in a facility. You might try out some of these to get better painting results in your facility.

[cultml]

II. Clustering

Cheap transportation and instant communications paradoxically made the country far more familiar and fluid, even as local and distinct state cultures made Americans far more estranged from one another. The ironic result was that Americans got to know far more about states other than their own, and they now had the ability to move easily to places more compatible with their own politics. Self-selection increased, especially among retirees.

Small-government, low-tax, pro-business states grew more attractive for the middle classes. Big-government, generous-welfare, and high-tax blue states mostly drew in the poor and the wealthy. Gradually, in the last 20 years, our old differences began to be defined by geography as well.

IV. The Salad Bowl

Racial relations deteriorated. Affirmative action was no longer predicated on the sins of slavery and Jim Crow and aimed at reparations in hiring and admissions for African Americans, often on the implicit rational of helping the poorer to enter the middle class.

Instead, “diversity” superseded affirmative action and eventually constituted an incoherent binary of white–non-white.

V. The Post-War Order

The world of post-1945 is coming to a close — after the end of the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the unification of Germany, the creation of the European Union, the ascendance of a mercantilist and authoritarian China, and the post-9/11 rise of radical Islamic terrorism. Our closest NATO allies near the barricades of Russian aggression and radical Islam are the least likely of the alliance to prepare militarily. Yet Russia is a joke compared with the challenge of China. The European Union project is trisected by north-south financial feuding, east-west immigration discord, and Brexit — and the increasing realization that pan-European ecumenicalism requires more force and less democracy to survive than did the old caricatured nation-state.

[nationalparkposters]

Best Things to Do in Canyonlands National Park

Best Things to Do in Canyonlands National Park: Canyons carved over eons. Sheer breathtaking drop-offs. Extra-wide footpaths leading to parts less traveled. To explore Canyonlands National Park is to explore living on the edge. The next time you're planning a trip to Utah, dare to look past the majestic Arches National Park and the mighty Zion and set your sights on Canyonlands. Often overlooked in favor of the more famous National Parks in Utah, Canyonlands holds the distinction of being the largest National Park in the state. It's also a reason why this is the best Utah National Park for off-the-beaten-path exploration. Canyonlands is like a gigantic red rock that has been woodcut engraved by the ancient winds and water. The Colorado and Green Rivers trisect the Colorado Plateau, dividing Canyonlands into four sections: The Needles, Island in the Sky, the Maze, and the Rivers. The latter two sections are for more adventurous travelers due to their remote locations, where Island in the Sky is the easiest section to visit, and therefore the most visited. With hundreds of miles of trails to choose from in such a large park, it's easy to get overwhelmed. For short walks, Island in the Sky and The Needles both offer ample opportunities, day hikes, and backpacking trips (with a permit). The Maze, due to its remote nature, is purely a backpacking destination where a permit is required. Many trails are marked with cairns, which are small rock piles that lead you along the path, and oftentimes this is the only indication of where to go, so stay alert of your surroundings. Some remote trails do not receive regular maintenance from park staff and may not be adequately marked. If you will be backpacking, be sure to bring a topographical map. The Needles If you happen to be staying in Moab, driving 1.5 hours to get to the Needles may not sound all that thrilling, but it's certainly worth it. An intriguing landscape where otherworldly pinnacles of rock jut sharply out from the ground. The spectacle creates an environment that is surprisingly diverse and beautiful, providing some of the most fun outdoor activities in the Canyonlands. Once you're here, the area is small and very easy to explore. Take your pick from several short trails, such as Slickrock, Chester Park, or Druid Arch. Embrace the wilderness of the area – it is truly a western feel as you hike and explore the Needles. The highlight of your trip in this district will no doubt be at Elephant Hill; a series of amazing trails that take you through the stunning rock formations. With over 60 miles of interconnecting trails, many are as challenging as they are rewarding. Self-guided trails along the main roads feature different aspects of Canyonland's natural and cultural history. Surfaces can be uneven, and trail guides are available at the visitor center and trailheads. Other trails can be more primitive, where a mixture of slick rock and sandy washes can be experienced. Longer trails can be rough, with steep passes and drop-offs, narrow ridges, and gathering water in the backcountry can be tricky, so be prepared. Island in the Sky If you have limited time in Canyonlands, this is the district to be in, especially for first-time visitors. It is easy to get to from Moab, and the roads are all paved. Visit the overlooks – to visit most of them is to park your car and walk only a few steps. The two main roads, Grand View Point Road and Upheaval Dome Road offer the most overlooks and viewpoints, full of spectacular panoramic views over the canyons that were carved out by the rivers. One exception to the short walk is the must-see White Rim Overlook, which requires a 1.8-mile roundtrip walk that looks out over Buck Canyon and Monument Basin. Mesa Arch is possibly the most recognizable, as it has been photographed countless times. But photos hardly ever do justice to the real deal, so be sure to visit it when in Canyonlands National Park. Grand View Point is another goodie. Look out below into the collection of stunning canyons that stretch as far as the eye can see. At Aztec Butte, take a hike where Native Americans used to live, harvest, and hunt almost a thousand years ago. You will see several granaries and ruins offering beautiful views of the park. Then at Murphy Point, enjoy one of the best spots in the park where you can just sit back and admire the layered canyon views. It is the quiet hush accompanied by the grandeur of the scenery that captured the imagination. The Maze If leaving the crowds behind and getting in a 4WD vehicle interests you, The Maze should be on your to-do list. It is the least accessible part of Canyonlands. Here it is rugged, remote, and gorgeous. And some of the roads are difficult to drive, hence the need for an off-road vehicle. Plan to spend at least three days here, and the area is huge and you will be doing lots of driving. The trails in the Maze include Horseshoe Canyon, which is popular, but be prepared for uneven terrain over steep rocky areas and slogging through sand. The other trails are more lengthy and usually require an overnight trip. Pro Tip: Most roads in the park require high-clearance, low-range four-wheel drive. The main roads here are White Rim Road, Roads at the Needles, and Roads at The Maze. Some roads even require a permit, so be sure to check with the National Park Service for details. The Rivers With the Green River located west of the Island in the Sky mesa and the mighty Colorado River to the east, the two rivers meet at the confluence to the south of the mesa. They then flow into Cataract Canyon, creating a world-class whitewater rafting destination, featuring Class III to V rapids. Above the confluence, the rivers are wide and slow moving – the perfect opportunity to go canoeing or kayaking. Click Here to See the Canyonlands National Park Poster! Rob Decker is a photographer and graphic artist who studied under Ansel Adams in Yosemite National Park when he was just 19 years old. Now, he's creating iconic WPA-style posters for each of our National Parks. Click Here to learn more about his story and The National Park Poster Project. Join the growing community of 75k+ National Park enthusiasts to receive insider deals and updates. See why 75k+ National Park fans have already joined... https://national-park-posters.com/blogs/national-park-posters/best-things-to-do-in-canyonlands-national-park?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=Sendible&utm_campaign=RSS

[jamieanovels]

current projects tag

Tagged by the lovely @gingerly-writing, whose projects sound BOMB AF and whom you should all follow right now immediately bc she is a queen and i love her ANYWAYS moving on to my current projects list

lemme just let y’all know that my writing motivation has been shot recently so i’ve just been doing a lot of world-building and character development in my head. lol

--

Tracks to Nowhere (fantasy novel, yeah it’s still a thing)

Word Count: technically 67,710; but I’m planning a full rewrite so I guess it’s really 0 

Status: re-worldbuilding & plotting, character development is also happening, trying to avoid writing myself into a hole again

Blurb: Viktor Li and his twin sister Mandi had dreamed of fleeing their mundane city lives for 10 years. Both carried a constant, vivid image of an empty island paradise in their minds, accompanied by a phantom train that they were convinced was destined to take them there. When the train finally appeared, however, Viktor’s dreams were shattered when its conductor only took Mandi aboard and turned him away.

8 years later, a strangely familiar train arrives at the station at which Viktor has been waiting for his ride to his new university. Unhesitatingly, Viktor escapes Earth the way he had always meant to, only to find that the train he’s boarded and the adventure he’s consigned himself to isn’t exactly what he bargained for. 

--

Hourglass (short story)

Word Count: 3,044

Status: partway through writing it, wondering if I might want to adjust the plot a little, but ultimately it’s going!

Blurb: Inaya Samoultri had been told her entire life that she was born to lead. She’s cold, calculating, blunt, and sometimes even called emotionless. As the third member and leader of the Ciulan Trisect, she is responsible for keeping the Ciulan people safe and making sure that their curiosity about the Labyrinth, which she has always called hell, never overcomes their fear of it. Unfortunately for her, her stories could never have prepared her to actually fall into the Labyrinth. Suddenly torn from every rule and regulation she’s ever known, Inaya must discover the true nature of the Labyrinth and learn how to survive it without the power she’s always had.

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Shifted (short story)

Word Count: 0, unless you count worldbuilding, which in that case is 3,080

Status: it’s ready to be written, I just have to start (lol)

Blurb: Julia Pennell, an aspiring actress, has just finished her second year at university and is on her way to lunch with her father. She is debating whether to actually commit to an audition that she has been practicing for when the bridge she’s walking over suddenly vanishes. She finds herself in a weird forest that belongs to an adolescent alien who has accidentally dragged Julia into the biggest test of its life. 

The story follows the two young adults as they try to return Julia home while still securing the alien’s path for its future. 

--

thanks for the tag! tagging whoever wants to do this haha i feel like a lot of ppl have been tagged already 

[kirstinbrown]

Monday, 23 March 2020 // Sculpture

The Suprematists encouraged the use of very simple motifs, since they best articulated the shape and flat surface of the canvases on which they were painted. Ultimately, the square, circle, and cross became the group's favourite motifs.

In 1923, Malevich painted Black Cross, with simple echoes of his famous Black Square. On the surface it could also be seen to be free of political or social symbolism, a display of Malevich’s beloved geometric forms. His simple black square had been purely aesthetic and content-free.

But the cross is rendered new in this work and at once familiar to the viewer. It lacks the pure neutrality of the square form. Malevich claimed to want to break free from content, but the cross is eerily emblematic, meaningful and representative – reminiscent of his love for icons and peasant painting.  

The cross has a long association with religion and mysticism. It is a simple form that contains strong echoes of religious doctrine and devotion. Similarly, the idea of a crossroads, or a cross street contains a reference to change, to uncertainty and to the need for decision. A cross is at once threatening, laden with associations of death and penance in the religious cannon and conversely, full of opportunity and new beginning in the public consciousness. Malevich’s cross is black, ominous and void.

In the first semester of 3rd year, I created a disjointed cross-shaped sculpture as part of my painting module. As with the case of much of my earlier work, there is an emphasis on the fragmentation and collation of imagery, colours and materials. The work features many collaged elements and a painterly approach to its surface. 

In the spirit of the Suprematists, there is a strong geometric presence; placing emphasis on circles, squares, lines, triangles, and of course - the cross. 

This first cross is more colourful and decorative in its appearance. There is a heavy use of pattern which gives the work a decorative quality. i.e., the use of stars and other decorative motifs. 

In this work, I paid particular attention to the edges, angles, corners.

For me, the corners of the work were important as I am interested in this idea of two disparate and disconnected parts coming together and what can grow up in the space between them.

The edges and frames are also important aspects as they define the space surrounding the object.

I am interested in the etymology of the words edge, frame and corner.

And the correlation of the words angle and angel.

At the beginning of this semester, I wanted to create an updated version of the cross sculpture I made last year.

I had recently been reading and researching the work of American abstract artist, Ad Reinhardt. 

Towards the end of his life and at the endpoint of many years of experimentation, Reinhardt created his ‘black paintings’ which he declared were the ‘ultimate paintings’. For years preceding this body of work he had undertaken a ruthless process of renunciation, striping away practically all the tools at the artist’s disposal, including colour, contrast, facture, and shape— never mind representation, marketability, or “self-expression.” (qtd. in Ad Reinhardt’s Black Paintings: A Matter of Time, Religion and the Arts, 2015)

He defined his project in rigorously negative terms: “A square (neutral, shapeless) canvas, five feet wide, five feet high, as high as a man, as wide as a man’s outstretched arms (not large, not small, sizeless), trisected (no composition), one horizontal form negating one vertical form (formless, no top, no bottom, directionless), three (more or less) dark (lightless) no-contrasting (colorless) colors, brushwork brushed out to remove brushwork, a matte, flat, free-hand, painted surface (glossless, textureless, non-linear, no hard-edge, no soft edge) which does not reflect its surroundings—a pure, abstract, non-objective, timeless, spaceless, changeless, relationless, disinterested painting—an object that is self-conscious (no unconsciousness) ideal, transcendent, aware of no thing but art (absolutely no anti-art)” (qtd. in New York Times, 8 January 2008).

Reinhardt had a life-long friendship with Trappist monk, Thomas Merton. Merton described his own “black” painting as “a very ‘holy’ picture … an ‘image’ without features to accustom the mind … to the night of prayer and … set aside trivial and useless images that wander into prayer and spoil it.”

By reducing this work to its essential structure and production techniques, the viewers focus is placed entirely on the objects form and the physical properties of the piece are accentuated. 

I feel that aesthetically, this minimalist approach offers a highly purified form of beauty. Like Reinhardt’s black paintings, I feel that this work can be seen to represent such qualities as truth (because it does not pretend to be anything other than what it is), order, simplicity and harmony.

I opted to paint the piece black; black defines the space a sculpture occupies, and in its different surfaces of matt or glossy, can be used to create illusions of depth or reflectivity.

Ad Reinhardt, Abstract Painting (1958)

Overtime I have moved further into the canvas and my work has became flatter and flatter. Currently, I am more interested in exploring the potential of the canvas rather than painting within sculptural work.

However, I am still interested in the correlation between two dimensional and three-dimensional work which I had the opportunity to explore a couple of weeks ago. 

Around the same time that I painted the cross sculpture black, I was also working on a white canvas featuring a white cross in its centre. 

Using glossy, shiny paint on a matt white background; the cross can be identified by the subtle difference in surface quality. 

A white square floating weightlessly in a white field.

In Room 601, I sat the sculpture near the painting;  creating a conversation between the sculpture and the wall based work. For me, this piece explores a range of contrasts, including but not limited to-

dark/light

absence/presence

innocence/experience

depth/reflectivity

[taxicabmag]

A Digital Installation by Britta Fluevog

What follows is a virtual tour of work by weaver, sculptor, and performance artist Britta Fluevog. The artist discusses the process behind many of her pieces and their inspirations. She will be leading a workshop and artist residency in Brunswick, Germany later this year.

institute of Making—Handspun Warp reflects on makers, having been inspired by the Arpilleristas who sewed applique work of the atrocities of the Pinochet dictatorship. The idea of using art to collectively to create change resonated with me. The materials picked for this piece were used to aesthetically match Chilean weaving. The form of this piece is due to the making process. This piece is one warp, a hand is placed within the weaving at which point it bisects or trisects.

The materials in Untitled—Warp C31 were particularly chosen: the yarns for their aesthetics and texture, and the tsunami debris for its history. I wanted to further explore the idea of people and borders here. The narrative for this piece derived in part from the tsunami debris from the 2009 Sri Lankan tsunami. It is mixed in with the story of the MV SUN Sea, a ship that arrived in Vancouver, Canada with 492 Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka. This arrival prompted the Canadian government to pass the bill C31, which allows the imprisonment of refugees that come to Canada, other than through airplanes. The mixture of the two narratives is a fiction in that the two events are not directly related. The idea of this piece was to catch some of the trauma and personal life of refugees.

I Took Pride in My Work: Transnational Labour, Blacklisted Seamstress further investigated the identity of makers. The piece is based directly on a story from Corinne Goria’s Invisible Hands: Voices from the Global Economy; it’s about a seamstress who fights for workers’ rights in an industry that's ravaged her country. The materials picked were used for evocative reasons and, in the case of the wire, pragmatic to achieve the three-dimensionality.

Crossings—Transcending the Border starts off as a celebration of makers and making. The piece consists of a large traditional frame loom with loom weights—these keep the tension needed to weave. These weights are created as makers’ hands. The tapestry-like weaving has a joy of creation and material to it. This celebration turns into a championing of makers within industrial capitalism.

Tangled, twined, and woven in are fibers from countries where borders or immigration to the western world is an issue. The piece investigates a system in which commodities may legally cross borders, while people may not; a system in which goods are permitted to cross borders, but the people who made them may not.

Border Building: Edge of the Pink is the construction of a part of a border. It drew inspiration from the feminist populist revolution in Rojava, northern Syria, by the Kurdish people. This led me to choose the colour pink, much of which I dyed myself, for the one side of the rug. The other side, which hides the excessive pink, was picked to resemble a chain link fence. The sumptuous materials are white silk and sterling silver. The history of this piece is important and it is/has been created, often as performance work, in places where borders are significant.

Top to bottom.

institute of Making—Handspun Warp, Mohair, rocks, silk, stoneware, and wool, 2014.

Untitled—Warp C31, Angora, alpaca, brass, silk, sisal, tsunami debris wood, and wool, 2015.

I Took Pride in My Work: Transnational Labour, Blacklisted Seamstress, hemp, thread, wire, and wood, 2014.

Crossings—Transcending the Border, Indian angelina, mohair, and wool; Chinese angora, mink, nylon, and wool; Taiwanese bamboo, nylon, silk, and cotton; Canadian barbed wire and stoneware; Mongolian camel, cashmere, and yak; Argentine linen, llama, silk, and viscose; Peruvian merino; Romanian mohair, silk, and wool; Madagascan polyester; Vietnamese polyester; Cambodian spandex and cotton; Guatemalan spandex and cotton; Nepalese thistle; Turkish wool; Bangladeshi cotton; Haitian cotton; Honduran cotton; Hungarian cotton; Macanese cotton; driftwood; metal, 2014.

Border Building: Edge of the Pink, loom, silk, silver, and wool, 2015. (Photographed on display at The Project Space - The Banff Centre, Alberta, CA.)

Documentation of the weaving process, Photo collage.

Canadian artist Britta Fluevog lives in Germany. She received her BFA from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 2007 and her MFA from the Emily Carr University of Art + Design in 2015. Through the lens of social justice and intersectionality, Fluevog’s work investigates borders, refugees, globalism and colonization in relation to textiles and makers. Her material explorations stem from the relationship of textiles to social justice.

[loveforeducation-blog]

Final Semester Internships for B.Tech and MCA

A lot of colleges in India have the final semester of B.Tech and MCA reserved for an internship. The objective of the internship is to enable the student to get a feel of the industry as he or she is about to graduate.

There are a lot of studies that show the poor state of students graduating out of Indian engineering and technical colleges. AMCAT in a study showed that majority of the graduates were ill prepared to be hired by industry. The results were similar to a study they had conducted a few years ago.

A lot of solutions have been attempted for this problem. None seem to have really worked so far. MOOCS were supposed to solve a lot of these problems. Seemingly, they have also made little impression on Indian education market.

In such a scenario, the student should utilise the final semester internship well. It is one of the last chances to get your act together before facing the industry. Use this to enhance your skills. Use it to become a skilled graduate so that the future is bright and comfortable.

So, what should you do to utilise it. For B.Tech and MCA final year / final semester students, I can suggest Trisect. Trisect offers a Final Semester Internship in Java. This course covers Java extensively (both Core Java and Advanced Java including J2EE). At the end of the course and internship, the student is expected to a project to bring all the learnings together. The project also provides the students a comprehensive flavour of Java as well as a perspective on how to work on bigger problems.

So, the Final Semester Internship in Java from Trisect is something you should must evaluate. For those who have a good handle of Java, you can check out the next level courses from Udacity or EdX which offer great courses in association with a lot of top universities like MIT, Princeton etc (even the Ivy League universities).

[joneacke-blog]

Cathay Dupont Award: What is Behind Cathay General Bancorp’s (CATY) Superior ROE?

Over the past 12 months, Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) generated an ROE of 9.8%, implying the company created 9.8 cents on every dollar of shareholders’ invested capital. While Cathay General Bancorp turned out to be more efficient than its industry, which delivered a Return on Equity of 9.3%, there are other factors to consider before we call it superior.

Peeling the layers of ROE – trisecting a company’s profitability

ROE ratio basically calculates the net income as a percentage of total capital committed by shareholders, namely shareholders’ equity.Generally, an ROE of 20% or more is considered highly attractive for any investment consideration. Although, it’s more of an industry-specific ratio as the constituents share similar risk profile.

 Return on Equity = Net Profit ÷ Shareholders Equity

 For a company to create value for its shareholders, it must generate an ROE higher than the cost of equity. Unlike debt-holders, there is no predefined return for equity investors. However, an expected return to account for market risk can be arrived at using the Capital Asset Pricing Model. For CATY, it stands at 8.75% versus its ROE of 9.8%.

ROE can be broken down into three ratios using the Dupont formula. The profit margin is the income as a percentage of sales, while asset turnover highlights how efficiently Cathay Dupont Award  a company is using the resources at its disposal. Increased leverage, primarily through raising debt, is good for a profitable company, but only to the extent it doesn’t make the firm insolvent in a time of crisis.

 Dupont Formula

ROE = annual net profit ÷ shareholders’ equity

ROE = (annual net profit ÷ sales) × (sales ÷ assets) × (assets ÷ shareholders’ equity)

ROE = profit margin × asset turnover × financial leverage

 A trend of profit growing faster than revenue is indicative of improvement in ROE. While investors should assess the past correlation between them, an assessment of the analysts’ profit and revenue forecast points to the most likely scenario going forward. The asset turnover for a capital intensive industry such as bricks-and-mortar retail would be substantially lower than the e-commerce retail industry. A comparison with the industry can be drawn through ROA, which represents earnings as a percentage of assets. Cathay General Bancorp’s ROA stood at 1.3% in the past year, compared to the industry’s 0.98%.

The impact of leverage on ROE is reflected in a company’s debt-equity profile. Rapidly rising debt compared to equity, while profit margin and asset turnover underperform, raises a red flag on the ROE. It’s important as a company can inflate its ROE by consistently increasing debt despite weak operating performance. CATY’s debt to equity ratio currently stands at 0.46. Investors should be cautious about any sharp change in this ratio, more so if it’s due to increasing debt.

ROE – More than just a profitability ratio

While ROE can be calculated through a very simple calculation, investors should look at various ratios by breaking it down and how each of them affects the return to understand the strengths and weakness of a company. It’s one of the few ratios which stitches together performance metrics from the income statement and the balance sheet. What are the analysts’ projection of Cathay General Bancorp’s ROE in three years? I recommend you see our latest FREE analysis report to find out!

If you are not interested in CATY anymore, you can use our free platform to see my list of stocks with Return on Equity over 20%.

[punchsomeoneforme-willyou]

I kinda realized that I only seem to be reblogging other people's stuff these days and never write any personal posts anymore. So here's a little update on my life (and I may post more, but no promises). I am currently at home with family because it's my semester break (yaaaaay), which is pretty nice, though I do miss my friends. Hulk isn't here with me right now, but he should be in a week or so (very very excited, haven't seen him in 3 weeks). Aaaaaand I also passed all of my exams, although I'm not happy with my grades, but you know at least no additional resits. So atm I'm kinda just enjoying life and being at home, but I will eventually have to study for my resit from last semester (complex analysis urgh) and read up background material for my honours project (angle trisection - yaaay). For those of you who remember - this started out as a fitblr (and I am planning on keeping parts of it workout oriented and will hopefully post about sports more again), so here's a quick update on that: I made decent strength gains towards the end of the semester, but have not lifted since I got home (3 weeks ago), because there's no gym closeby and I'm terrified of driving. So right now I'm doing PIIT28 1.0 and the Blogilates calender instead, plus lots of riding and stablework. Planning on adding in some more bodyweight exercises, yoga and more cardio during the course of this month as well. I wanna loose some bodyfat again, but other than that most of my goals are more performance related: right now during June I just want to keep at it all, but I'd like to work on my flexibilty (maybe be able to do the splits again), pushups (I can actually do like 2 tricep push ups in a row now, which I'm really really proud of) and also running once I get back to it (making it through 15km by the end of the break would be nice). But I guess we'll see how things go and how accountable I manage to keep myself.

[smlpodcast]

The SML Podcast - Episode 253: LOOT Goes Hollywood

Download Episode 253

LOOT is back and that means a lot of craziness is going down!

Before the madness, we kick things off with a few reviews! Shizblacka reviews the twin stick Mars survival game Subterrain from Pixellore. Subject 13 from Paul Cuisset and Microids is a puzzle adventure mystery in an abandoned scientific facility. Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic is an insane and addictive RPG/roguelike from The Bitfather and Headup Games. Double Dragon IV from Arc System Works is an all new game picking up after the events of Double Dragon II.

After a quick break, David Sterling and Jason Sorensen of LOOT Interactive join the show, along with Shawn "Shizblacka" Paterson to chat about the newest project from LOOT, the VR social experience Hollywood Hills Mansion. Hear about the creation of the virtual party including streaming videos, live concerts, and holograms of Jason sitting on a couch eating cheetos. Maybe not the last one.

We also cover tons of topics ranging from current games, achievement hunting, the Nintendo Switch, and even more stories of Shakey's Pizza trips. And we still can't convince them to release Velocibox on the Xbox One. I'm trying. You guys gotta start sending them emails about it.

Music this show is a few songs from the ZODIAC: Final Fantasy Tactics Remixed album from Materia Collective!

Moisés Nieto - Pub Klaymore - Decisive Battle Sean Schafianski - Trichotomy (Trisection) Ferdk - Run Past Through the Plain

http://www.lootinteractive.com/ http://www.pixellore.com/ http://www.thebitfather.com/ http://www.headupgames.com/ http://www.subject13.microids.com/ http://arcsystemworksu.com/ https://www.materiacollective.com/music/zodiac-final-fantasy-tactics-remixed https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sml-podcast/id826998112 https://twitter.com/theSMLpodcast/ https://www.facebook.com/theSMLpodcast/

[thepanicoffice]

Desire

...

The man sat on the pavement inscribing a crude image of a horse in green and pink chalk like a lurid cave painting. I had been watching him from the window of my office which overlooked the Tesco on Queen’s Road. He didn’t look especially homeless, though I am no expert at detecting them. There’s probably a glassy sadness in their eyes, a feverishness of movement, a subtle splenetic whiff that’s easy to identify if you work with them. Like most people I tend to avoid their eye, even when I’m looking them straight in the face, as I focus on handing over my change with studied ease and magnanimity. (Three whole pounds? But sir! - Think nothing of it my humble friend, and blessings of the season, etc.) I tend to use the shoes as the key signifier – number and magnitude of holes, discoloration of the sock waggling visibly... – but even those are cheap to replace these days.

The man had staked out this small patch, six by four feet or so, as his own. He was framed with a message about his own undoubtedly tragic circumstances, again inscribed in chalk – a pastel blue this time – in letters that dissolved at the edges and were largely illegible. He also had a small sign, written in black ink, propped against a ragged hat containing some desultory coppers: ‘I will draw your most profound desire. £1’. It was a business proposition and, rightly, he saw the need to communicate it clearly.

I contemplated several times giving him the pound and seeing what pale vision he conjured forth on the street, using the limited medium of three colours of chalk. There was something alluring about his confidence and the fixity of the price. But something unsettled me. I didn’t know what my most profound desire was and I was disturbed to think that I could be told what it was by a homeless man. What if he was wrong? Worse still, what if he was right? What if my soul was so easy to read that this pitiful creature, wind-raked and reeking of cold, could etch its inscrutable longings onto the paving slab outside Tesco, stretched out under the strained shop lighting, like an underwhelming art exhibit? What if he was a wizard, or a demon, or some sort of philosopher-conman harvesting me for truth? What if what he drew was embarrassing, like a man in a dress? Could I demand that the mortifying image be washed away, or could I safely rely on the rain?

I had, I admit, built it up in my mind.

I decided one day, when it felt like the right day, to go through with it. I walked a little way beyond him before turning back, noticing the sign performatively, as though for the very first time, my manner neatly balanced between intrigue and contempt. I stood feigning reluctance before derisively tossing a coin into the ragged mouth of the hat. It bounced out and I had to chase it.

The man looked at me through his unkempt eyebrows, assessing me, appraising my being. I felt naked. He licked the tip of a knuckle-thick piece of  green chalk and hesitantly drew three straight lines trisecting at the top. Then he frowned, wetted a dusty finger and firmly erased one of the lines. He sat pensively as I watched on with a kind of baited reverence. At this point there was no doubt in my mind that my most profound desire would materialise before me, there on the filthy gum-studded floor.

The drawing grew over minutes, accretions of form gathering around those initial tentative sketch lines. The heel of his hand dragged through the chalk, accumulating dust up to his wrist, stealing from the body of the picture and lending it new shade and depth. But it was still a mass without delineation, without significance. This excited me and I felt sweat navigating the creases of my palm.

In a brief conversation that I no longer remember, I agreed to get him an egg and cress sandwich from the shop. When I left him the picture was perfectly formless; when I returned it had become a recognisable shape, something like a rudimentary dog. I wondered with brief alarm whether this was a psychological game, a rigged Rorschach where I projected my own needs onto the tangle of colour, doing all the work myself for the cost of a pound. Had I been the victim of some artistic cold-reading?

“All finished,” he said.

I stared at the image, hard, almost squinting, before relaxing my eyes, hoping that a kind of mental supplication would encourage it to unfold its meaning to me.

It still looked like a dog. I mean, it was very clearly a dog. It had a snout and a tail and simpleton dog eyes.

I looked at the man, at his simpleton dog eyes, then at the sign, the business proposition that had promised me my private dreams. The sign didn’t look as I had remembered. It said ‘Draw you an animal. £1’.

“Where,” I started, gesturing, “is my most profound desire? You... I paid you a pound.” I emphasised that last word like I had paid an exorbitant sum. I realised I was making little sense and must have seemed, to the homeless man, quite strange. I tried again.

“I thought you were going to draw my most profound desire? That’s what your sign said. Why else would I think that?”

The homeless man thought about this for a moment, clearly confused but possibly enjoying the exchange.

"Maybe you just want someone to ask you what your most profound desire is," he suggested, smiling with good-natured bemusement and a depleted rank of teeth.

I frowned at him disapprovingly, tutting and wheeling around.

“You’re an idiot,” I said. 

It was cruel but I felt betrayed. This man was no sage, he was just an ordinary homeless man. 

Giving a ‘I shan’t frequent this establishment again’ turn on my heels, I walked across the road to my office. I ran up the stairs to the toilets on the third floor, and locked myself in a cubicle, breathless, tight-chested, panicked. I dabbed at tears which tasted curiously of chalk as I considered, with horror, how entirely correct he was.