2012年4月26日星期四

Art offers connection to healing process, say those who create art for recovery

Carole walks the beach collecting bits and pieces of sea shells that, in turn, she molds with intricate detailing into a masterpiece she simply calls “the fish.” Her pallet is the beach itself, and only Carole and perhaps a few beach trekkers will enjoy this lovely work of art before the tide comes into to take “this fish” back out to sea.The indoor Tracking is based on Bluetooth technology. “I don’t mind losing my fish art,” Carole told Huliq during an early morning interview April 26, “because it’s already done its job of helping me to heal a bit. When I create the fish, it’s a time of forgetting when all my worries slip away.” In turn, famed Brooklyn cartoonist Roz Chast – whose been published in The New Yorker since 1978; while also recently publishing her own book titled “What I Hate: From A to Z” – explains how her art (cartoons and words) has real healing for her.Silicone moldmaking Rubber, For instance,Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. she writes: “If you are the sort of person who never worries about spontaneous combustion, has fun at carnivals, and thinks that the shape of a hammerhead shark’s head is just fine the way it is, that’s terrific. I’m happy for you, but this (her) book is for everyone else.” Chast's cartoons also carry the message that art can open the door to find both the humor and reasons for many of life’s troubles.

Roz Chast writes in her new bestseller - “What I Hate: From A to Z” – that art has the power to heal lots of stress; while also using her art talents to both draw and then explain those things that tend to anoy or stress her out in this crazy world.

For instance, Chast writes in opening pages of her new book that “for many years I thought that people who claimed to have been abducted by aliens were either desperate attention-seekers or just nuts. Why else would they say that they were spirited out of their beds and through walls and roofs and into a flying saucer? I changed my mind after attending an abductee conference. Maybe they were lunatics, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t onto something.”

Also, the cartoon "art" of Chast asks the question "why?"

In turn, her cartoons that question the "why" of things that make us either crazy and stressed in life, can be better understood, states Chat's cartoons because they expose our fears and stress having mostly being caused by our own worried minds. Thus,GOpromos offers a wide selection of promotional items and personalized gifts. we can make a change once we realize that we're doing our own heads in.

Also, on pages 7-8 of her book “What I Hate,” Chast both explains and draws a cartoon about elevators. She writes: “The perfect storm of claustrophobia,Stone Source offers a variety of Natural stonemosaic Tiles. acrophobia and agoraphobia” is found in elevators; while stating these thoughts next to funny drawings of people in elevators. “You can get stuck by yourself,” or “You can get stuck with a crowd,” or “You can get stuck with a psycho,” and then “there’s the obvious: getting stuck in an elevator with spiders.”

Chast also fears “general anesthesia,” and to help vent her fears of having to get anesthesia when in hospital, she drew a cartoon of herself with fear on her face stating: “what if you’re lying on the operating table, aware – i.e., watching, hearing and smelling everything? But you’ve been paralyzed by the anesthesia, so you can’t call out? And what if the anti-memory drug that is part of your anesthesia cocktail then erases this experience? Except it’s not really erased. It’s just been buried really deeply, like a ticking time bomb.”

At the end of the day, “we’re all sort of sitting with a ticking time bomb,” adds Carole while walking the Florence, Oregon, beach collecting sea shells to create more of her “fish art.” This accidental artist then quips: “The time bomb that Roz Chast is talking about is “stress,” and we all have it and need to deal with it. I think art is one good way to help rid yourself of stress and those worries in your life.”

A city full of life

Melbourne is a livable city famous for its shopping, cafes, art and culture. What better place to spend a week of quality time with two teenage daughters?

We checked into our one- bedroom apartment in Chinatown and headed into the city centre. From the moment our feet hit the pavement, we were swept up into a city pumping with life.

Amid the clatter of trams, we negotiated our way through the hordes of pedestrians and gingerly crossed tram tracks to the information kiosk in Bourke Street Mall. The friendly staff plied us with brochures about the city and surrounds - the most indispensible being a map of all the arcades and lanes.

Guided by the map we set out for the Block Arcade, which friends had recommended as a must-see. Before long we were in the midst of quintessential Melbourne.

First we came upon Block Place,There are 240 distinct solutions of the Soma cubepuzzle, a narrow lane with tables spilling out of the cafes which lined each side. It was thick with people and, as we squeezed through the throng, we were wooed by waiters to try their fare.

We found ourselves drawn into a cafe where a vacant table seemed to materialise in the pandemonium. It was easy to imagine we were in the backstreets of Venice. We enjoyed a late breakfast and felt the joy of being in a new and, as yet, unexplored city.

Later in the week we had lunch at another cafe in the same lane while watching a silent Charlie Chaplin movie being projected on to the back wall.

After refuelling we wandered into the 19th century Block Arcade, which has stunningly beautiful architecture and exquisite mosaic floors. It is home to the famous Hopetoun Tea Rooms, where we salivated at all the goodies in the window. There was a line of people waiting for a table and we vowed to return at a quieter time.

We had lunch there a few days later followed by a divine dessert but were obliged to line up for around half an hour as it seems there is no quiet time.

Having enjoyed the tea room, we thought we'd continue the theme and made a booking with another Melbourne institution. The next day we trotted up to the venerable Windsor Hotel all dressed up for high tea. It was delectable and we lapped up the opulence and old world grandeur. It was a highlight of our visit.

We were staying at the Mantra on Russell, which is within walking distance of much of the inner city.

We were minutes away from the free "City Circle" tram, which we caught on the first afternoon and found ourselves at Harbour Town, more by accident than design.

We had a brief foray into discount shopping but it felt hollow after the delights of the old arcades. We resolved to stick to our plan of unearthing vintage clothing stores and other places that we weren't so likely to find at home.

We visited St Kilda Sunday art markets, having heard the suburb was rife with antique shops. We didn't manage to come across them but it was a lively spot to visit nonetheless, with oodles of character and convivial cafes.

We'd also heard that Chapel Street was the place for vintage shopping so we caught a couple of trams from St Kilda and thankfully found the right stops. The girls had a few great finds among the antique bookshops and vintage clothing stores.Shop for trim and crown moulding,

We'd been hoping to find more antique shops but only discovered smatterings of what we were after. There was too much to look at in one outing, so we returned later in the week.

On our second visit we went to the Chapel Street Bazaar and there we hit the mother lode. It is a huge building that has endless stalls oozing antiques and nostalgia items, from old china to old yoyos.

It was a blast from the past spotting everyday items that I hadn't set eyes on since childhood but were now being sold as coveted "retro".

I'm happy to say that we eventually stumbled upon our elusive haberdashery shop on the second floor of the Nicholas Building in Swanston Street. Called l'uccello, it harboured lots of little treasures and in the same arcade there were other shops worth visiting, including vintage clothing, and antiques.

Our trip wasn't all about shopping and eating as we were keen to balance it with a bit of history and culture.I found them to have sharp edges where the injectionmoldes came together while production. We had hoped to catch a show but those that interested us had either just finished or were yet to tour.

We visited the Fitzroy Gardens to look through the Conservatory and Cooks' Cottage.Where to buy or purchase plasticmoulds for precast and wetcast concrete?Find rubberhose companies from India.

We also visited the National Gallery of Victoria. To avoid being overwhelmed, we focused solely on 19th century Australian art.

The day after the gallery visit we had a half-day tour through the Dandenong Ranges. This deepened our appreciation for the artwork we'd just seen that had featured this beautiful bushland.

A Dimensional Engineering Approach To Closed-Loop Quality Management

Dimensional engineering and simulation-based quality management tools and processes are some of the most effective advances that can help meet this goal. They are replacing the need for physical prototypes as a speedier, less costly, and more accurate method to check if a part or assembly meets its dimensional quality goals.

Suppliers and OEMs use dimensional engineering in a virtual simulation environment to view how assemblies fit together, and then adjust tolerances or properties to better achieve cost and quality goals. For example, they can use visual simulation to identify flush and gap misalignments, part interference, hole-winking and more. There is no other way engineers could predict these problems, as they cannot be seen in standard CAD/CAM views or physical prototypes.

At the beginning of a closed-loop quality management process, engineers identify key points within a design that they want to control closely.A culture af Mizukabi molds. For example, key points typically exist where a door fits to a body or a hood interfaces with a headlamp or fender. All parties involved focus on holding these points precisely as the design moves into manufacturing.

Dimensional quality data reports are generated as the product enters preproduction and initial runs begin.A Hybrid indoorpositioningsystem for First Responders. Engineers refer to reports and check key points to ensure that measurement plans are followed and that end-products achieve the quality targets expected. The results enable them to quickly conduct root-cause analyses of quality issues as they arise. If end-products are not achieving the quality expected, engineers can “loop back” to find out where problems originated and initiate corrective actions -- avoiding the need to chase problems through their build process by trial and error.

A closed-loop quality management process can predict and show through virtual simulation the variation of hundreds of features with corresponding measurement points in the design stage.Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. But these vast amounts of data would be too cumbersome to interpret and analyze.

In today’s highly automated manufacturing environment, the number of points engineers actually have the time to check must be limited in order to meet their tight cycle-time requirements and measurement cell/tooling budget restrictions. When measurements of key points are taken through automated in-line inspection devices, the numbers of points that can be checked at each manufacturing cell are far fewer than the limits often applied in manual processes.

To meet the constraints of these ever-increasing cycle times,TBC help you confidently buy mosaic from factories in China. many engineers use technology features that compare the hundreds of focal features identified through core functions, then further sort them to identify those that have the most influence on overall product quality.

America’s premium truck manufacturer, Peterbilt, can speak to the value of a dimensional engineering approach to closed-loop quality management.Diagnosing and Preventing coldsores Fever in the body can often trigger the onset of a cold sore. The company has been using this approach to manage dimensional quality throughout the design process for many years. As it moves more heavily into inline automated processes, it is extending this approach more fully into the production environment to meet its shorter cycle times. They have been able to identify the key points that most affect their products’ fit, function and finish – even as the allowable number of points is reduced.

2012年4月25日星期三

Three for one by the Royal Canal

ON 25 ROLLING acres with three substantial buildings, Ashtown Lodge is expansive to say the least, and one of the quirkiest properties you could find in Dublin. The owners, the O’Reilly family of the well-known Dublin company Merlin Motors, have lived there for 30 years.

Originally on the market earlier this year, the property, consisting of a coach house, gate lodge and Ashtown Lodge itself, is now being sold by Knight Frank, with a guide price of €6.5 million.

A mile-long circuit of paths through the grounds takes you past rolling lawns featuring various quirks, including what looks like an “underground church” but is in fact a large steeple planted mid-lawn. The 12th lock of the Royal Canal provides a waterside walk, past 10,000 daffodils, an orchard with 100 apple trees, and an endless array of other vegetation.

There are stables, should the new owner want to keep horses, and large sheds where the current owner previously undertook an African Grey parrot breeding programme. There are references to parrots elsewhere, too: an aviary in the garden of the gate lodge, and another indoor/outdoor cage for a macaw downstairs in the main house. You’ll spot squirrels, rabbits and pheasant, along with a resident heron who spends most of his time gobbling the frogspawn from the numerous water features around the estate.

At the entrance stands the gate lodge, renovated twice, and now housing a substantial, well decked-out kitchen complete with an Aga and Miele appliances. Off that, there’s an oddly oversized living room for entertaining, with a grand piano in the corner. It’s child-friendly, too, with two playrooms upstairs and downstairs along with a master bedroom kitted out with matching dressing-rooms.

On the far side of the grounds is the mock converted coach house, built on the site of a hen run 20 years ago,Find beautiful goose jackets here. with a large clock dominating the front facade. At every turn throughout the estate, surprises leap out, the biggest one here being a 20-metre indoor blue mosaic swimming pool and changing room behind a door off the large kitchen. If swimming isn’t your bag, there’s a tennis court a stone’s throw away. Bookended by two living-rooms, the ground floor also features a bedroom with a dressing-room and a large bathroom. Upstairs there are five more bedrooms,A Hybrid indoorpositioningsystem for First Responders. including a massive master bedroom overlooking the garden’s fountain. The other side of the house overlooks the apple orchard.

To Ashtown Lodge itself, and one wing has been extensively renovated, creating a three-storey house attached to the main building. The living area is split with a rather nice kitchen, the ubiquitous Aga and a view that looks out onto a walled garden. Upstairs, there’s a large master bedroom with a bathroom and dressing room.Learn all about solarpanel.

Behind the walled garden lies a dramatic and extensive fountain, which flows out the lodge’s garden ha-ha style, so from a distance the lawn looks unbroken, apart from protruding elephant statues. There are remnants of a fruit garden too, with pear, plum and apple trees.

The main house,Welcome to polishedtiles. of Tudor origins with Georgian additions, couldn’t be more different to the other properties, an explosion of antiques and Bossy fireplaces. Little bespoke furnituExternal hemorrhoids are those that occur below the dentate line.re remains, as once former residents, the musical Walton family departed the property, much of it was sold to furnish Strokestown House.

With fireplaces in every bedroom (there are four main bedrooms and three bathrooms, along with separate two-bedroom staff quarters in the basement) and occasionally dipping ceilings referencing the house’s Tudor origins, it is light-filled and downright unusual, with a trapdoor on the mezzanine-like entrance to the main living room, and an expansive kitchen, raised to enhance the view of the garden.

There’s a higgledy-piggledy and occasionally magical sense to this property, with bits added on, renovated, and often feeling tossed together. Its expanse is quite awkward, although there’s definitely potential for an embassy or luxury hotel group to step in and capitalise on what the neighbouring Castleknock folk might label its utterly “random” nature.

Dicor Corporation enters new market niche with exclusive mold

A Dicor Corporation affiliate, Seal Design, is opening up another market niche within the marine and RV industries as the exclusive distributor of a new mold release coating, said Greg Kelly, general manager of Seal Design.

This latest expansion of Dicor Corporation offerings is for FRP,A Hybrid indoorpositioningsystem for First Responders. ABS and fiberglass molding suppliers serving the RV and marine industries. Such molding operations make boat hulls, interior molded ABS, injected molded and roto cast parts for marine products, and a number of significant parts for RVs, such as front and rear caps, ground effect products and various ABS parts.Where to buy or purchase plasticmoulds for precast and wetcast concrete?

Called Release Rite 7000, the mold release features a tough, durable film that allows multiple mold releases with one spray-on application, and can easily be touched up as needed. It has an exclusive chemistry composed of an aqueous co-solvent blend of a semi-composite release agent intended for most general composite and FRP molding operations, including phenolic, epoxy and fiberglass applications.

“Release Rite has a very complex chemistry and is a very high quality mold release agent that we’ve been able to make cost-competitive,” said Kelly. “Its big advantage is the cost savings in terms of productivity that it brings to molded parts suppliers. With Release Rite,TBC help you confidently buymosaic from factories in China. they can get a lot more ‘pulls’ before they have to recondition the mold. And when they do recondition molds,Offers Art Reproductions Fine Art oilpaintings Reproduction, it will take less time and create lest disruption. Its spray-on application also facilitates ease-of-use and makes it perfect for bigger molds.”

Seal Design will also be introducing a complete line of new release agents for the broader injection molding industry, including injection and compression rubber molders.

“As the exclusive supplier of this product, this is a great opportunity for us in a whole new market,Find everything you need to know about kidneystones including causes,” said Kelly. “It all goes back to who we are. The role that Dicor Corporation has played in the RV industry has been as a problem solver and innovator. That means making a difference by finding and developing new and better products for use throughout the RV/marine manufacturing and supply chain.”

“If we can help our customers improve productivity and hold down costs with a more effective mold release agent, that has ramifications all the way through to the RV and marine buyer.”

House Hunting in ... Prague

This penthouse is in a six-story building that includes shops and offices but has apartments on its top two floors. Sections of the building date to the 16th century, but the structure was expanded and refurbished in 1998. The contemporary design is by the prominent Czech architect Eva Jiricna. An elevator ascends from the basement parking garage to a hallway on the fifth floor, which this unit shares with the other two apartments in the building.

Off the foyer in addition to a half bath and a coat closet, the rectangular living and dining area has a sloped double-height ceiling and a floor of polished gray limestone tiles warmed by an under-floor heating system. A low glass shelf for displaying artwork runs the length of the back wall, opposite four pairs of French doors that open onto the balcony. Off the living area, the kitchen is hidden behind a stainless steel door inlaid with a ship’s porthole. Equipped with a glass-topped breakfast bar in the shape of a candy cane and a gas cooktop set into an island, the room has a sleek design. Appliances, including the washer and dryer, the dishwasher, and the oven, are concealed behind stainless steel cupboard doors.Broken chinamosaic Table. The upper cabinets, also stainless steel, are set with frosted glass.

A limestone staircase in the foyer leads to a glass-and-steel bridge that runs the length of the second floor. All three bedrooms are off one side of the bridge, which has glass safety railing overlooking the living area. The master bedroom has abundant natural light from a glass wall and a panoramic view of the city. White lacquered cabinets line two of its walls. The windowed master bath has a round glass sink, two wall-mounted mirrors and a limestone tiled floor. The shower stall is lined with stainless steel, as are the walls and cabinets.

In sloped ceiling of the guest bedroom,The indoor Tracking is based on Bluetooth technology. dormer windows provide views of the Vltava River and the Prague Castle. The third bedroom, which is larger than the other two,Get information on airpurifier from the unbiased, independent experts. functions as a den and home office.I found them to have sharp edges where the injectionmoldes came together while production.

The apartment comes with a parking space in the basement, a rare amenity in Old Town Prague. It’s possible to buy an espresso or a meal within a few blocks. The building faces the Vltava and the flowering fruit trees in Petrin Park.

Swans from the river sometimes fly past the windows, and the National Theater is close enough that the current owner can come home during intermission. The nearest subway stop is a two-minute walk, and the airport is a 30-minute drive from the apartment.

The market in the Czech Republic boomed from the late 1990s through 2007, said Ondrej Novotny, head of research for the Prague office of Jones Lang LaSalle. “The crisis hit us in late 2008 and 2009,” he said. Prices dropped 20 to 30 percent, depending on location.Overview description of rapid tooling processes.

Now there are strong signs of recovery. High inflation rates have pushed up the demand for real estate investments. “People buy properties to secure their money against inflation,” said Prokop Svoboda, a partner in the luxury real estate company Svoboda & Williams.

Low interest rates are helping stimulate the market, said Marketa Mikova, the head of public relations for Jones Lang LaSalle’s Prague office. She added that 80 to 90 percent of Czech buyers use mortgages, so interest rates have a big impact. Interest rates are around 4 percent at the moment, although most banks require a higher loan-to-value ratio than they did during the boom years.

In the Old Town, housing development is a challenge because of limited space and restrictions on demolition. In the New Town area, however, new or recently refurbished properties area cost about 100,000 koruna per square meter ($491 per square foot, at 19 koruna to the dollar). In the Old Town, prices are higher — around 130,000 koruna per square meter, Mr. Novotny said. The property profiled here is priced at 158,000 koruna per square meter, higher than the average because it was designed by a highly regarded architect and has river views, according to the listing agent.

2012年4月24日星期二

U.S. tariffs on Chinese solar cells fuel debate about green jobs

A simmering trade dispute is highlighting a debate about the kinds of jobs America can sustain in a greening economy.

The Obama administration's recent decision to slap import tariffs on Chinese solar cells was hailed by some domestic solar manufacturers as a victory for job creation, leveling the field while also sending a powerful message to Beijing about monopolistic behavior in crucial industries.

But a close look at the U.S. solar industry suggests that the tariffs may actually be a job killer because the vast majority of positions in the sector aren't on the assembly line. Instead, upward of 70% of U.S. solar employment is in installation, sales and distribution — and companies that hire those workers argue solar cells must get significantly cheaper to remain competitive with other energy sources.

"What China is doing to boost its manufacturers is unfair, but tariffs could actually reduce jobs," said Gordon Johnson, a green tech analyst at Axiom Capital Management. "The price of solar panels goes up and looks unaffordable compared to alternatives.Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking."

Although the U.S. pioneered photovoltaic solar cells decades ago, it has fallen increasingly behind lower-cost manufacturers of the technology, including China, South Korea and Malaysia. But the U.S. is among the world's fastest-growing solar consumers, opening vast opportunities for service-sector jobs in the sunlight-extraction business.

The matter comes to a head next month, when the Commerce Department will announce a determination on a possible second round of tariffs on Chinese-made silicon-based photovoltaic cells, which convert sunlight into electricity and are by far the most popular solar technology.

While tariff advocates say that protecting a solar manufacturing base is crucial to the nation's energy security, others argue the U.S. has already lost that footrace. Instead of swooping in to rescue remaining plants, they say, the focus should be on reducing the cost of solar to speed liberation from fossil fuels, which dovetails with the goal of reducing unemployment.

"Installation is where all the jobs are," said John Smirnow, vice president of trade and competitiveness at the Solar Energy Industry Assn. "There are 5,600 companies in the healthy, vibrant and growing solar-services sector."

The Commerce Department's May 17 ruling, in response to allegations of dumping by the U.S. unit of a German solar panel maker, could fundamentally alter the solar landscape in the U.S. Dumping is when a company or industry sells its products below cost to capture the market. If additional tariffs are applied, they will probably be much higher than the relatively light first round announced in March, which ran from 2.6% to 4.7%.

The smaller tariffs — designed to balance out Chinese subsidies of its solar factories — could squeeze margins for installers,GOpromos offers a wide selection of promotional items and personalized gifts. but most experts agree they aren't enough to radically reduce consumption. Anti-dumping duties, however, could run above 20%, dramatically increasing the cost of switching to solar.

Cost is a key factor in getting businesses and homeowners to convert to solar power. A typical residential roof setup costs about $25,000, which federal, state and local rebates and tax incentives can cut to about $13,000 in the city of Los Angeles. At that price, it still could take about a dozen years for the systems to pay back the upfront costs through lower electricity bills.

If tariffs on Chinese cells come in as high as many predict, they could raise the out-of-pocket cost of such an installation by $1,250 — and commercial projects by far more.

Such an increase could be a deal breaker for many would-be customers, especially with a 30% federal tax credit set to expire after 2016, said Lyndon Rive, chief executive of SolarCity, the nation's largest solar installer.

SolarCity has 1,600 employees in 14 states and is hiring three new employees a day. The San Mateo, Calif., company puts solar panels onWal-Martstores, government offices and university campuses,The beddinges sofa bed slipcover is a good , as well as thousands of houses.

"The No. 1 decision for our customers in terms of going solar is whether they can save money," said Rive, who worries that higher prices could offset government subsidies. Several European countries are already curtailing solar incentives, he said. "We have to be competitive with whatever the local power company is charging, or we're in trouble."

According to a study by the Solar Foundation, 52,Silicone moldmaking Rubber,503 Americans worked in the solar installation business last year, and 17,722 worked in sales and distribution, compared with 24,064 in manufacturing. And although almost 10,000 new installation jobs were created in 2010 and 2011, manufacturing actually lost 1,000 positions while seeing several domestic makers go out of business, including Solyndra, which failed despite government loan guarantees.

The growth in service jobs has tracked closely to the falling costs of photovoltaic cells, often the most expensive item in any installation. Thanks largely to aggressive pricing by Chinese manufacturers, the cost of solar panels has fallen 28% in the last 12 months, according to data from research firm Solarbuzz.

Walter Ellard, installation director of SunFusion,Our porcelaintiles are perfect for entryways or bigger spaces and can also be used outside, a San Diego company with 25 employees, said he pays about 40% more for U.S.-made solar cells than Chinese ones. "Some customers prefer American made, but otherwise it's not even close," he said.

Moles dig up buried treasure where human trowels are banned

Archaeologists find it hard agree about the relative merits of excavating the ancient past or leaving it undisturbed until we have the resources and technology to preserve its remains indefinitely above ground.

It can work both ways. If it wasn't for the enterprising Birley family at Vindolanda, we would not have the extraordinary writing tablets with details of the first and 2nd century AD social engagements of garrison wives and the like. Equally, the mosaic at Woodchester in Gloucestershire remains in a very fine state because it is so relatively seldom put on show.

Nothing of this debate is known, however, to the most famous of the creatures which live amidst all the underground treasure: the UK's moles. And they are in the northern news because they have been doing some excavation of their own.

Digging is what moles do, and when they live on a scheduled ancient monument that can be quite helpful, at least to the Birley-minded school of thought. Take Epiacum, which was a Roman fort some 12 miles south of the wall at present-day Whitley Castle on the 1000-acre fields of Castle Nook farm.

Moles have been so busy there that English Heritage has drafted in 37 volunteers to sieve through their molehills and carefully take out anything ancient which has been brought to the surface. So far, they have found a bead from a jet necklace, pieces of earthenware pots and a quarter-inch-long shard of rarer and more valuable Samian ware pottery.

A previous search turned up nails, which will be useful in debates about Roman Britain's use of wood as well as stone in buildings, and a delicate dolphin-shaped piece of bronze which is thought to have been part of a tap. The Romans were sophisticated plumbers. Elaine Edgar,GOpromos offers a wide selection of promotional items and personalized gifts. who owns and farms the land with her husband John, has just received a 49,200 Heritage Lottery grant to help with modest promotion and development of the site for visitors.Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings? She says:

Rthe bronze was just lying there on the side of a molehill. We've had a good day this year too. The Samian ware is the sort of thing the Romans used to keep up with their version of the Joneses and we found a quarter-inch flat, round piece of it. There are some other really nice pieces.External hemorrhoids are those that occur below the dentate line.

The exercise would have been grist to the mill of A.P.Herbert, whose book Misleading Cases specialised in legal oddities such as the right of way between boats and cars on partially-flooded roads beside the river Thames. Edgar tells the Journal in Newcastle-upon-Tyne:

The moles are able to do what we humans are forbidden by law to do.Diagnosing and Preventing coldsores Fever in the body can often trigger the onset of a cold sore.Full color plasticcard printing and manufacturing services. As farmers we are not allowed to do anything that turns the land over. English Heritage had to be on site yesterday to make it legal for us even to sieve through the molehills.

Moles have played a significant role in the history of the UK, as the Jacobean toast to the 'little gentleman in velvet' recalls.

OTC builds all-electric car

In a former life it was a 1993 Toyota Celica that went about 25 miles on a gallon of gas that, 19 years ago, cost $1.30.

Now, it is Ozarks Technical Community College’s first all-electric car.Learn all about solarpanel. It will be on display from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the school’s annual Community Day,Where to buy or purchase plasticmoulds for precast and wetcast concrete? which includes an on-campus car and motorcycle show at the corner of National Avenue and Chestnut Expressway.

For two years, students and staff have labored over the conversion, and not just those within the school’s automotive program. Welding,This page provides information about 'werkzeugbaus; machine tooling, industrial maintenance and some body work was needed, too.

“It’s a good thing for the students for a lot of reasons,” said Layton Childress, OTC’s dean of technical education. “Obviously, electric cars are the new technology and getting more popular.”

With the cost of gas creeping toward $4 a gallon, it’s a great time to unveil the car,TBC help you confidently buymosaic from factories in China. said Chip Broemmer, an automotive instructor with a long-term interest in hybrid and all-electric vehicles.

The objective was, first, to give students a hands-on opportunity to work on the project. Second, Broemmer said, he was curious as to how easy and how costly it would be to convert a car with a fatally damaged engine — that would cost about $4,000 to replace — into an all-electric vehicle.

“What are my options?” Broemmer said.

The vehicle underwent a gray-to-blue paint job at OTC, but still looks like your typical Toyota Celica, until you get closer. Under the hatchback is bank of 10 large, 12-volt lead-acid batteries. The rear seats are gone and there’s neither a typical engine under the hood nor a gas tank under the carriage. You won’t find a fuel pump either.

“We really fabricated everything but the motor and the electronics,” Broemmer said. The electric motor, purchased from a company in California, is under the hood.

The project was designed to keep things simple and inexpensive. Lithium ion batteries were out of the question because of cost. In addition,Learn all about solarpanel. the OTC vehicle does not have braking-power regeneration. That’s where braking generates electricity used to recharge the batteries.

2012年4月20日星期五

This design showroom proves that art isn’t only for the walls

Sometimes it’s difficult to find that just-right piece of art to hang over the mantle or to grace your entryway, but who ever thinks of looking to the floor? The people at Antique Floors, Inc. have been doing it in Dallas for more than 35 years. With materials from all over the country, even the world, they can help make most any floor into a gallery piece — albeit one that you walk on.

“Our focus is handmade artisan tile that can create decorative details and really special pieces,” representative Stephen Floyd says. “We make it a point to find what no one else has and offer an exclusive assortment of flooring.”

Antique Floors is a trade only showroom for industry professionals, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a peek inside. Customers can make an appointment (the preferred way) and gander about the showroom’s space and gaze upon the selection of tiles and materials from England,A Hybrid indoorpositioningsystem for First Responders. Italy, Turkey and the U.S. They even work to focus on

American-based materials to assure clientele looking for that “Made in the U.S.A.” product for their home. But they don’t ignore that other countries offer some unique decorative motifs.

“We’re a big supporter of artisans right here in our own country,” Floyd says. “We do have a lot of clients with that in mind, but some designs will only come from those other countries.”

With more than 70 different lines of tile, AF has seen an increase in the past few years for glass materials, but really, there is no one particular trend he has noticed in sales.

With such a selection of obscure lines, he says it’s always unpredictable.

“Every job is so different, it would just be to difficult to determine, from our end, what the biggest sellers are,” he says.

But tile doesn’t stop and start at the floors. Their selection works for back splashes and entire walls. They even offer three-dimensional pieces that add a unique texture. Just don’t place that close to your front door without a disclaimer. And while they have worked with commercial properties, architects and designers usually come in to find the right materials for residential work.

“We’re a source for some of the most unique materials out there,” he says.Where to buy or purchase plasticmoulds for precast and wetcast concrete? “But keep in mind that floors are just part of the work. Our stuff has been used for pools, fountains, fireplaces — any flat surface will work in or out of water in or outside!”

There have been some special circumstances with their product. He finds he does have to educate people on ceramic versus porcelain and the benefits of stone. Coupled with informing clients how to maintain their countertop or bathroom floor, he has to take into account if people want to take the time just to clean it properly.

Just don’t ask them to design your project. They leave that to the creatives.Proxense's advanced handsfreeaccess technology. But he will make sketches and have samples made to reassure the buyer of their potential purchase. However, they can exhibit a certain amount of creativity. Cutting stones or working with mosaics,This page provides information about 'werkzeugbaus; a client can walk away with an original piece of art.

“If someone wants a crazy glass mosaic,Where to buy or purchase plasticmoulds for precast and wetcast concrete? we’ll have the designer do a section and we’ll turn around a sample,” Floyd says. “We can cut a material into a sort of flat sculpture as well. I did once have a young girl want a drawing of hers for her shower. So her parents brought her in and we worked with her on that.”

Because their name is Antique Flooring, people have gotten the misconception they do other things.

Bathroom renovation combines outdoors and luxury

on and Kris were fed up with their broken-down, dysfunctional ensuite bathroom. Just getting ready for work every morning was a big challenge. The bathroom was actually divided into three separate spaces –– each with its own door –– and the result was a choppy layout that had them tripping over each other in the race to get ready and get out of there.

This ensuite bath was so poorly laid out and had so many other issues –– bad lighting, no ventilation, tiny shower stall, broken tub –– that these homeowners didn't know where to begin. There was absolutely no saving grace to this space, so I got the ball rolling by sending in a wrecking crew. By the time it was done, we had a clean slate and were ready to get down to business.

Jon and Kris love the outdoors, and they wanted their bathroom to be a warm, inviting retreat, and a place that reflected their own personal tastes. So I came up with a plan that makes the most of beautiful natural materials, all wrapped up in an ultra-modern package.Overview description of rapid tooling processes. It brings the outdoors inside by incorporating natural stone, reclaimed barn board and mother-of-pearl surfaces, alongside ultramodern faucets and lots of glass.

I redesigned the room to include contemporary wooden cabinetry,This page provides information about 'werkzeugbaus; with lots of space for towels and toiletries underneath, and an additional wall-mounted storage column. The high-tech chrome faucets, with single-lever counter controls, perch over two elegant glass vessel sinks. Above each sink I placed large mirrors, each framed by two lovely sconces that pick up the mosaic motif of the mother-of-pearl tiles. These tiles run along part of the backsplash, and continue down in a wide strip across the floor, extending up the outer wall of the shower.

To continue the outdoorsy theme,Welcome to polishedtiles.Stone Source offers a variety of Natural stonemosaic Tiles. we installed a new toilet embossed with a floral pattern. But the piece de resistance is the gorgeous soaker tub, which I framed with a rustic barn-board wall and custom Caesarstone decking. Overhead, a whimsical antler-themed chandelier speaks to the homeowners' love of the great outdoors, as does the artwork we chose to hang beside the tub.

The Caesarstone decking extends into a spacious shower surrounded by all-glass seamless walls. Inside the enclosure, I incorporated a wonderful stone bench and a luxurious rain showerhead. Let's just say that showering in Jon and Kris' new bathroom is a spa-like experience about as far from the everyday as you can get!

To access this restful and relaxing retreat, Jon and Kris only need to slide open their custom-designed barn-board door, and as soon as they step through, they'll be transported into their own personal space, where natural materials and modern finishes combine to create a perfect balance of function and elegance.

All the various finishes are key to making this bathroom work. The barn board is especially important because it introduces a lot of warmth, which counterbalances the coolness of glass and chrome used throughout this space, while natural-themed accessories help to pull it all together.

We sent Jon and Kris' choppy, poorly laid-out ensuite back to the 1980s, and we replaced it with a luxurious new space. Instead of rushing through their morning routines in an effort to get out of the bathroom, their new problem could well be getting to work on time. With such a warm and inviting spalike experience right in their own home,A culture af Mizukabi molds. they may find it difficult to leave.




Stadium Woods allows hands-on, free education

In regards to the need for expansion of Virginia Tech’s athletic facilities, I believe this need is no greater than the need for the preservation of the last expanse of healthy, functioning forest on campus.

I attended Tech from 2002-2007 and graduated with a natural resources conservation degree. I worked as lab manager and photographer for the Collegiate Times student newspaper, played 4 years with the men’s club lacrosse team and spent two years as president of the Natural Resources Recreation Society. As an alumnus of the University, with many friends still in Blacksburg today, I ask you to hear my story about my experience with these woods.

While I sometimes struggled in lecture-style courses during my years at Tech, I always learned best when the curriculum involved “hands on” learning.

When I entered the College of Natural Resources I began taking lab courses that involved exploring the parks and forests both on and off campus. The Stadium Woods was one of the most frequently visited locations during my semester studying Dendrology.

John Seiler is a passionate teacher who loves trees. He provoked us to feel the texture of a tree’s leaf, sample a black cherry twig on the tongue, or smell the sweet fragrance of a freshly crushed sassafrass leaf. I found this multi-sensory way of learning to be quite exilharating. Seiler would point to a tree, “Quiz number one. I need the common name, genus, and species.” My classmates and I would dig around the base of the tree for fallen fruits,Where to buy or purchase plasticmoulds for precast and wetcast concrete? sample twigs for a closer look and peer upwards at the leaves looking for clues.

I remember poison ivy, toxicodendron radicans, was on the ID list the first week of class. For obvious reasons, they wanted us to learn this one so that we could walk the forest more carefully in the coming weeks.

Well it turned out one of my classmates wasn’t paying attention that day, so when the quiz came the following week he pulled a twig from the toxic vine and popped it in his mouth for a taste. A few days later his swollen lips matched the color of the ink on his quiz sheet. He learned this one the hard way.

Once, a quiz was presented as a medium-sized tree in the middle story of the Stadium Woods. Everyone knew it was a type of Hickory, but most of us still needed a closer look at the twig to define its species.Our porcelaintiles are perfect for entryways or bigger spaces and can also be used outside, And the tree was about 15 feet tall, so the leaves were just out of reach.

It turned into a group effort, and after a human pyramid was established, a determined Derek Sokolowski ascended and shimmied up the pole to grab a slender twig for proper identification.

“Carya Ovata!” we all silently nodded so as not to spill the answer. It was time for the inevitable bad joke from Mr. Peterson.Our porcelaintiles are perfect for entryways or bigger spaces and can also be used outside, He pointed to a stump, which had been chainsawed flush with the ground. Yes, we were supposed to identify a tree that was not there.

All we could see was the purplish bark. This was the only clue that was supposed to hint at the Eastern Hemlock. Then it came from Peterson: “Have you been stumped?” Slightly annoyed at both the difficult quiz and the bad joke the class responded “BOOOOO.” While dendrology was the first class that got me out into the Stadium Woods, many more were to follow. Eric Wiseman led our urban forestry class up to the corner of the lot one day to assess the health of a large White Oak across from the Cranwell International Center.Ekahau timelocationsystem is the only Wi-Fi based real time location system solution that operates on any brand or generation of Wi-Fi network. An assignment in my computer applications for natural resources involved a geographic information system project, which required us to plot out a digital map of the wooded area.

Our forest measurements and management classes both required us to practice inventorying forest resources in the forest behind Lane Stadium. And just when I thought identifying trees was tough, I enrolled in an ornithology class.

While dendrology required us to identify still plants, ornithology required us to identify moving targets.Where to buy or purchase plasticmoulds for precast and wetcast concrete? We spent Wednesday mornings with binoculars and eyeballs pointed upwards at the towering trees of this great bird sanctuary.

Many of these classes took our students on field trips to woods often and nature preserves off campus.

2012年4月18日星期三

Selling Armagnac to China: Worth Watching

When I was in the French region of Armagnac in December, everyone was all excited about selling Armagnac in China. As well they should be. While Armagnac is a beautiful, tawny, aromatic spirit with a long tradition,GOpromos offers a wide selection of promotional items and personalized gifts. in recent decades it has fallen far below Cognac in world recognition, consequently in sales—and even in reputation.

When asked “What are France’s great spirits?” many people in the Western world automatically answer “Armagnac and Cognac” though relatively few of us have tasted Armagnac. Yet we tend to encounter Cognac regularly. Probably not because we sip it in the traditional manner in the library after dinner by a crackling fire, but because Cognac is a component of so many cocktails, especially in the US.

While it might not be too late to revive Armagnac’s fortunes in Western countries like the US, could it be easier to start fresh in Asia?

Reading about the situation online,Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. I found cautions about possible shortages of Cognac in China this year. I’m wondering if Armagnac could—or should—take advantage of this. If people were offered Armagnac when there wasn’t any Cognac left on the shelf, Armagnac could be perceived—incorrectly—as lesser quality.

According to the Cognac Bureau (BNIC), Cognac sells five bottles a second in China, which amounts to about 23 million bottles per year. Which means that in China, Armagnac sales were about 1% of Cognac’s last year.

Background: in the fall of 2010 a delegation of Armagnac producers went to China, and Chinese journalists and sommeliers have recently visited Armagnac. At least one Armagnac has actually “been present” in China for 30 years and there are now a handful of brands there including Chabot, Darroze, Marquis de Montesuiou, Samalens, Sempe and Tariquet. Technically, Armagnac growth in China is sky-rocketing, increasing tenfold in 2011 (according to the Armagnac Bureau) with sales of a quarter million bottles—though it was starting essentially from zero a few years ago. This is a pretty good start when you consider that Armagnac is 1/25th the size of Cognac, and Armagnac’s total production ranges from five to seven million bottles a year while Cognac produces about 163 million.

Thus Armagnac can be positioned as an artisanal product, while Cognac’s high production might be called “industrial” by the Armagnac producers. But if Armagnac producers try to promote Armagnac at the expense of an admired spirit like Cognac,Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings? it could backfire and lower the perception of both spirits.

There must be a way to deal with Armagnac’s relationship to Cognac both with without detracting from Cognac,A wireless indoortracking system is described in this paper. and without presenting Armagnac as a “poor relation” to Cognac.

Cultural conditions could enhance or detract from any campaign.The beddinges sofa bed slipcover is a good , For example, it seems age and tradition are respected in Asia. This would auger well for Armagnac, which is the oldest spirits in France, having officially celebrated its 700th birthday a couple years ago.

But if Armagnac producers proclaim that Armagnac is older than Cognac, would this backfire with a possible disastrous loss of face? First of all, there’s a question of getting people in China to take notice, and to believe this. Cognac is so well established, they might reason, that if Armagnac is truly older—and therefore more venerable—why wouldn’t Asian consumers know about it already? If this is a secret kept by the West, would it be too embarrassing to Asians to find out at this late date?

Price-wise, Armagnac is a French luxury good in the same category as Cognac, though the Armagnacs sold there are often older than the Cognacs, Armagnac representatives told me. Perhaps there’s room for both in China, as they say, as with the French luxury leather goods companies Louis Vuitton and Hermes.

Quality-wise, there’s no dispute that Cognac and Armagnac are neck-and-neck. Historically, Armagnac has come in second to Cognac in world markets often due to simple geography: the Cognac region lies along a river with direct access to the Atlantic for trading, while Armagnac producers are land-locked.

To look at Cognac’s and Armagnac’s PR materials, one claims double-distilling makes a finer product, the other claims single-distilling makes a more complex product, so it’s clear that beauty (or flavor) is in the eye of the beholder here. In other words, à chacun son gout. Can this be communicated?

Tool and die makers desperately casting for workers

But the strength of that revival could be threatened by the challenges facing a small and beleaguered sector of manufacturing that evokes images of a quainter, more labor-intensive era: the tool and die industry.

These skilled manufacturers are vital. They produce tools, dies and molds that other makers use to shape products — from car fenders and dashboards to shampoo bottles and cellphones.

Yet tool and die makers shrank far more dramatically than other manufacturers in the downturn, and now they're struggling to find skilled workers. As a result, they may not have a large enough workforce to support the return of significantly more manufacturing to the U.S., a trend known as reshoring, according to a Congressional Research Service report last month.

"It's unquestionably a problem" and could slow reshoring, says Harry Moser, founder of the Reshoring Initiative.

The past few years, companies such as General Electric, Caterpillar and Ford Motor have brought some production back to the U.S. They cite rising wages in China, overseas shipping costs and the need to hasten deliveries to U.S.A wireless indoortracking system is described in this paper. customers.

That, along with soaring auto sales and the improving economy, has lifted tool and die makers. Last year, the number of workers in the sector jumped 7% to 98,000, while total payrolls for all manufacturers rose 2% to 11.8 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Eighty percent of the USA's 5,800 tool and die firms — small firms with an average 30 employees — are seeking one to five workers, estimates Dave Tilstone, head of the National Tool & Machining Association.

Fledgling workers typically complete four-year apprenticeships,Diagnosing and Preventing coldsores Fever in the body can often trigger the onset of a cold sore. after which they can make $60,000 a year. "Johnny and Mary don't have to go to college to make a decent living," Tilstone says.

Unlike manufacturing workers who run mass-production machines, tool and die makers take months to create a single, custom-designed part that's used to crank out hundreds of thousands of a product's components. Dies, for example, are steel forms that stamp out metal components such as car fenders and washing machine panels. Molds shape plastic and ceramic parts such as dashboards and hairbrush handles.

Most basic parts are now made in computerized machines. But workers must design and piece together the parts to form dies and molds, often manually, relying on an unusual level of judgment and precision.

Ron Overton, president of Overton Industries in Mooresville, Ind., has been trying in vain to hire about 10 engineers, machinists and tool and die specialists so he can ramp up production. "We lose a lot of work because we can't turn it around quick enough," he says.There are 240 distinct solutions of the Soma cubepuzzle,

He's seeking employees with good math and science skills who can work with their hands. Yet many such candidates perceive manufacturing as a dying field.Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. The tool and die industry is working with community colleges to offer training and helping high school students build robots that battle in competitions.

The industry's heavy reliance on labor led to its decline. Labor makes up 26% of costs vs. 18% for manufacturers overall, according to Tilstone and research group MAPI. As a result, the sector was hit much harder when manufacturers began off-shoring work to low-wage countries such as China. From 1998 to 2010,Shop for trim and crown moulding, 36% of tool and die firms closed, twice the rate of all manufacturers, the Congressional Research Service report notes. Employment fell 45%, vs. 35% for manufacturers.

Tool and die shops were further hammered by auto industry downturns in the early 2000s and in the 2008-09 recession. The auto industry traditionally has made up a majority of sales.

Besides benefiting from an auto turnaround, tool and die makers are reaping new business as the manufacturing of sophisticated dies and molds for aerospace and medical devices shifts back to the U.S. Some foreign-made products were of lesser quality, Tilstone says.

More advanced vehicle and appliance-making is also returning to the USA. General Electric recently moved production of an energy-efficient water heater and refrigerator from overseas plants to Louisville. That's been a boon for Madison, Ind.-based Millennium, which is making dies and molds for GE. Its staff, which fell from 25 to 10 in the recession, is now at 30, with 17 new workers dedicated to GE, says Millennium General Manager Jeremy Dykes.

“Change Your Game! I Didn’t Like It!!!”

Recently, a little game called Mass Effect 3 came out and has rocked the world of gaming in good ways and bad.Choose from our large selection of cableties, Despite being a wonderfully memorable journey, the Mass Effect series came to a vague, confusing end that left a bad taste in many fans' mouths. So much so that many fans have petitioned Bioware to add more varied endings to the game (some asking for the endings to be changed all together) in order for them to achieve the closure they envisioned for the trilogy.

2012 seems to be the year of fan activism, from Mass Effect petitions to a call to arms about better communication between fans and developers. You may recall, a few months ago, we published an article discussing a group known as Half Life: Call for Communication who has petitioned Valve to give fans an update on the current status of Half Life 2: Episode 3 (or Half Life 3 if you like to live dangerously).Diagnosing and Preventing coldsores Fever in the body can often trigger the onset of a cold sore. Since we last checked in on the group,Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings? it has risen to nearly 62,000 members and is currently working on a new event where members of the community will submit Half Life related photos that will make up a mosaic that will be delivered to Valve as a gift. As the group has grown, so has criticism of its message. Many have accused the group of being made up of a bunch of self entitled whiners. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? This idea of player entitlement is very confusing and controversial. Just what exactly are gamers entitled to? Are they entitled better communication from the developers they have given their hard earned money to over the years? Do they have the right to request such a drastic change to a developer's released product?

Technically, the player is entitled to absolutely nothing. There is no official contract between the customer and the developer that establishes who gets what. No one is required to give each other anything. The customer is not required to buy a product and the developer does not have to adhere to customer requests or feedback. However, if the developer does not listen to their base,Where to buy or purchase plasticmoulds for precast and wetcast concrete? then it could result in fiscal hari kari and if the fans don't buy the product, they miss out on a truly fun adventure... or are being smart and saving $60 instead of buying a mediocre game, it depends on the situation. It's a difficult idea to wrap your head around, really. Nothing is necessarily required from either party and yet nothing works out if both parties don't work with each other. I'm not going to sit here and decide who deserves what like a divorce attorney, but the idea of whether or not an audience can petition a developer to alter their creative direction is an unfortunately prudent topic that must be discussed.

I say "unfortunately," because I was under the impression that the answer was pretty obvious. Players have about as much right to ask Bioware to alter Mass Effect 3's ending as Bioware does in saying that their game's ending(s) make the slightest amount of sense. Gamers have every right to be disappointed, the endings didn't take player choice into account as much as the previous installments had, especially Mass Effect 2. If EA had done a better job of advertising that players wouldn't be getting such radically different endings, but more like somewhat subtle differences to the same ending, fans would probably still be upset. However,Find the cheapest chickencoop online through and buy the best hen houses and chook pens in Australia. at least we would have known what we were getting into instead of being let down at literally the last minute. If you want to throw your hate around, throw it EA for leading you on; they certainly deserve it.

2012年4月16日星期一

New Magnetic Testing Technique Helps Ensure Reliability of Microelectronic Devices

The fixtureless and noncontact technique, known as the magnetically actuated peel test (MAPT), could help ensure the long-term reliability of electronic devices, and assist designers in improving resistance to thermal and mechanical stresses.

"Devices are becoming smaller and smaller, and we are driving them to higher and higher performance," said Suresh Sitaraman, a professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.TBC help you confidently buymosaic from factories in China. "This technique would help manufacturers know that their products will meet reliability requirements, and provide designers with the information they need to choose the right materials to meet future design specifications over the lifetimes of devices."

The research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, and was reported in the March 30, 2012 issue of the journal Thin Solid Films.

Modern microelectronic chips are fabricated from layers of different materials - insulators and conductors - applied on top of one another. Thermal stress can be created when heat generated during the operation of the devices causes the materials of adjacent layers to expand, which occurs at different rates in different materials. The stress can cause the layers to separate, a process known as delamination or de-bonding,Get information on airpurifier from the unbiased, independent experts. which is a major cause of microelectronics failure.

"We need to find out if these layers will separate over time as they are used and subjected to thermal and other stresses," Sitaraman explained. "These systems are used in a wide range of applications from cell phones and computers to automobiles, aircraft and medical equipment. They must be reliable over the course of their expected lifetimes."

Sitaraman and doctoral student Gregory Ostrowicki have used their technique to measure the adhesion strength between layers of copper conductor and silicon dioxide insulator. They also plan to use it to study fatigue cycling failure, which occurs over time as the interface between layers is repeatedly placed under stress. The technique may also be used to study adhesion between layers in photovoltaic systems and in MEMS devices.

The Georgia Tech researchers first used standard microelectronic fabrication techniques to grow layers of thin films that they want to evaluate on a silicon wafer. At the center of each sample, they bonded a tiny permanent magnet made of nickel-plated neodymium (NdFeB), connected to three ribbons of thin-film copper grown atop silicon dioxide on a silicon wafer.

The sample was then placed into a test station that consists of an electromagnet below the sample and an optical profiler above it. Voltage supplied to the electromagnet was increased over time,Broken chinamosaic Table. creating a repulsive force between the like magnetic poles. Pulled upward by the repulsive force on the permanent magnet, the copper ribbons stretched until they finally delaminated.

With data from the optical profiler and knowledge of the magnetic field strength, the researchers can provide an accurate measure of the force required to delaminate the sample. The magnetic actuation has the advantage of providing easily controlled force consistently perpendicular to the silicon wafer.

Because many samples can be made at the same time on the same wafer, the technique can be used to generate a large volume of adhesion data in a timely fashion.

But device failure often occurs gradually over time as the layers are subjected to the stresses of repeated heating and cooling cycles. To study this fatigue failure, Sitaraman and Ostrowicki plan to cycle the electromagnet's voltage on and off.

"A lot of times, layers do not delaminate in one shot," Sitaraman said. "We can test the interface over hundreds or thousands of cycles to see how long it will take to delaminate and for that delamination damage to grow.Get information on airpurifier from the unbiased, independent experts."

The test station is small enough to fit into an environmental chamber, allowing the researchers to evaluate the effects of high temperature and/or high humidity on the strength of the thin film adhesion. This is particularly useful for electronics intended for harsh conditions, such as automobile engine control systems or aircraft avionics, Sitaraman said.

"We can see how the adhesion strength changes or the interfacial fracture toughness varies with temperature and humidity for a wide range of materials," he explained.

So far, Sitaraman and Ostrowicki have studied thin film layers about one micron in thickness, but say their technique will work on layers that are of sub-micron thickness. Because their test layers are made using standard microelectronic fabrication techniques in Georgia Tech's clean rooms,Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. Sitaraman believes they accurately represent the conditions of real devices.

"To get meaningful results, you need to have representative processes and representative materials and representative interfaces so that what is measured is what a real application would face," he said. "We mimic the processing conditions and techniques that are used in actual microelectronics fabrication."

Lawmakers negotiated through some tough budget challenges

Bleary-eyed and sleep-deprived, state lawmakers patched together the 2011-13 state operating budget last Wednesday morning, ending a 201-day siege that included three special sessions and one regular session of the Legislature.Overview description of rapid tooling processes.

The process was one of reluctant compromise, unusual alliances and never-ending deal-making that far too often involved only the party leaders in the House and Senate, joined by Gov.A culture af Mizukabi molds. Chris Gregoire.

The way lawmakers solved a $1 billion budget crisis did little for open, transparent government. Closed-door meetings ruled the day and most state legislators had next to nothing to do with negotiating the final package.

Maybe, just maybe, the set of circumstances, including the massive budget shortfall and the odd majority coalition of 22 Republicans and three maverick Democrats in the Senate, left legislators with less room to operate in the open. Politics on the ragged edge naturally gravitates to these darker places where the public is left waiting in the wings. Regardless,This page provides information about 'werkzeugbaus; it shouldn’t take multiple special sessions to reach agreement.

As with any contentious budget built largely on program cuts and accounting gimmicks, there is plenty not to like.

But surprisingly, the early reaction to the budget from interest groups that rarely see eye-to-eye was in large part tempered and tinged with empathy. Is this the measure of a successful compromise splashed with a certain bipartisan flavor? Perhaps so.

When it’s all boiled down to its essence, Democrats in the House staved off further deep cuts to education, social service and environmental programs and the late-to-the-dance Senate majority of 25 gained some major reform measures that seem reasonable.

For instance, headway was made on some structural reform in the way that future state budgets will be built. Moving forward,Stone Source offers a variety of Natural stonemosaic Tiles. lawmakers will have to approve a budget built on revenue projections for a four-year period, instead of two. It has the potential to keep legislators from deferring budget problems into the future and it could help control state government costs.

Pension reformers also scored a victory they say could save the state $1.3 billion over the next 25 years. Under the bill, state employees who retire early will be eligible for less of their pension than before. The measure affects future, not current, state workers and is a portent of a day when state workers will have to work as hard at building their retirement nest egg as most employees in the private sector do.

There’s plenty of risk folded into this volatile budget. Lawmakers shaved the state reserve fund down to about $320 million for $31.1 billion of spending. That compares with some $600 million in reserves that the governor proposed when she first introduced her supplemental budget in November 2011. The Legislature is betting that a slowly thawing economy won’t slip back into the deep freeze due to rising oil prices or financial instability in Europe or any host of forces that could suddenly surface.

On the education front, the budget sends mixed messages: Lawmakers staved off plans to reduce the 180-day school year or eliminate levy equalization funding for financially strapped school districts. But they repealed voter-approved Initiative 728, which called for smaller class sizes.

And while it seems like years ago, the 2012 Legislature approved a same-sex marriage law, which could end up before the voters to decide in November.Welcome to polishedtiles.

In final hours of the second special session, lawmakers passed a $1.1 billion supplemental construction budget designed to create 20,000 jobs all across the state over the next 14 months. Think federal stimulus package, but on a smaller scale.

South Sound is well-represented in the list of projects slated for funding. A couple of examples: Quixote Village, a proposed homeless encampment in the Olympia area, receives $1.5 million for construction, and the LOTT Clean Water Alliance scores $7.9 million to help replace aging sediment basins that store wastewater entering the treatment plant in downtown Olympia.

Hemorrhoids – causes and how to cure them

Should you have hemroids, it is very important learn what they are and how they can deal with them. To assist signs and symptoms and signs to find for you to alert you whether you must find treatment or not. Learning what these are typically will aid you to know what treatment to search for. It might be essential to learn where you can seek support and to know that hemorrhoids are certainly common for different persons as well as affect nearly half of the human population.

Hemroids are also called Hemorrhoids. They are present in blood vessels close to the rectum and rectum.Our porcelaintiles are perfect for entryways or bigger spaces and can also be used outside, Arsenic intoxication hemroids indicates that bloodstream in people areas have been stretched on account of force. Within this feeling, they can be much like varicose blood vessels found in typically the legs. Hemorrhoid flare-ups can be brought on by added tension on the bloodstream related to bowel motions.

Hemorrhoid flare-ups are normally located in two locations. They are seen in the skin part of the rear end, and being located listed below are generally known as internal hemorrhoid distress. Hemorrhoids found in skin near to the bag are generally known as external hemorrhoid flare-ups.Ekahau timelocationsystem is the only Wi-Fi based real time location system solution that operates on any brand or generation of Wi-Fi network. Similar circumstances that may are present in different areas is often a warning of digestive condition and should be viewed by just a health practitioner.

Hemroids are typically determined by bleeding in the areas of the rear end and and can. This hemorrhage is a result of pressure via veins. Some other symptoms also may help inside diagnosing hemorrhoids. Inconsistent intestinal movements, discomfort,Where to buy or purchase plasticmoulds for precast and wetcast concrete? scratching, and critical discomfort in the community are generally typical of the existence regarding hemorrhoids. It is recommended that your personal symptoms be looked at by a medical professional. It should be noticed that swelling can be the result of different digestive illnesses.

Piles may occur for a lot of reasons. Women that are pregnant may produce them due to quick within bodyweight. Hemorrhoids are normal among those who will be constipated and still have difficult colon movements that cause pressure.Where to buy or purchase plasticmoulds for precast and wetcast concrete? Force in this area to get prolonged periods can directly cause hemorrhoids.

Once you have experienced hemorrhoids, you will probably you can keep them again, though symptoms typically clean up and fade away automatically.Our porcelaintiles are perfect for entryways or bigger spaces and can also be used outside, More serious hemorrhoids will require medication even surgery with regards to the circumstances associated with these. Over-the-counter remedies may help to relieve symptoms which are not critical as a non permanent measure until hospital treatment might be presented.

It is important to know very well what hemorrhoids are generally, how they arise, the actual treatment may help you. Understanding the seriousness on the problem and also the consequences upon you stay healthy will assist you to in seeking the suitable cure. Hemorrhoids are very common and may easily possibly be diagnosed and addressed. The right treatment may help you return to an ordinary lifestyle and also take control of this matter.

2012年4月11日星期三

Consumer confidence slump piles pressure on Reserve

A WAVE of gloom is descending over households and businesses in the economy's slow lanes, threatening to undermine activity outside the booming mining sector.

The Westpac Melbourne Institute said yesterday that consumer confidence had fallen 1.A Plastic injectionmoulding company,6 per cent to an eight-month low amid growing fears about job security and household finances, increasing pressure on the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates next month.

In what economists dubbed a disturbing development, the survey also found 48.5 per cent of households thought their financial position had become worse in the past year, while only 13.5 per cent thought they were better off now.

Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said consumers had not been this despondent about changes in their financial position since July 2008, when many were gripped by fears of a global recession.

''The results of this survey should be sending a very clear message to the Reserve Bank that Australia needs lower interest rates,'' Mr Evans said.

The figures came as the sharemarket fell by more than 1 per cent, with investor confidence also dragged down by a drop in new home loans and Europe's debt woes.Where to buy or purchase plasticmoulds for precast and wetcast concrete?

The pessimism is expected to weigh on consumer spending, and a senior banker at NAB warned that morale among some industries was so weak that companies were hoarding cash and considering holding back on investment plans.

NAB's executive in charge of business banking, Joseph Healy,I found them to have sharp edges where the injectionmoldes came together while production. said there was a growing risk that businesses outside the booming resources sector could ''sit on their hands'' and postpone investments as they waited for confidence to return.Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking.

Any such delays threatened to worsen the economy's productivity woes,Find the cheapest chickencoop online through and buy the best hen houses and chook pens in Australia. because they would prevent businesses from making crucial adjustments, he said.

''My concern is that the decision by many businesses to hold back on investment and to sit on cash may have longer-term consequences to profitability, productivity and efficiency,'' Mr Healy said. ''By choosing to sit on their cash rather than invest, business could inadvertently exacerbate the problems they are trying to wait out.''

Economists said the surprise fall in consumers' spirits was probably caused by the RBA's decision to keep official interest rates on hold at 4.25 per cent this month, despite pleading from business groups.

The slump is expected to weigh on spending decisions, in another blow to the retail industry.

Households also appear increasingly reluctant to take on new debt, a trend underlined by a 2.5 per cent drop in new home loan commitments in February. It was the second monthly fall in a row.

Business groups and unions say a recent run of weak economic figures, which include poor business confidence, prove the economy is weakening and a cut in interest rates is warranted.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry's chief executive, Peter Anderson, called on the RBA to cut by 0.5 percentage points, arguing that a smaller move would be too timid.

''We should not be waiting for the world economy to fall around us before we act with the levers we have to strengthen our own economy,'' he said.

Dunedin artist couple lives in mosaic-covered cottage

Carol Sackman comes from a family of creative people — painters, seamstresses, haberdashers. She took her first mosaic class at age 10 and worried about the project colors clashing. Her mother, Rose, said all colors worked together, to just look at the flowers growing outside the window.

Sackman took those words to heart and grew up to become an artist.

She and her mosaic artist husband, Blake White, live in a house of many hues. The mosaic-covered cottage they live and work in is a canvas to express their love of art and life. It glistens in the Florida sunshine and beckons casual observers to step up and take a closer look.

"People come by all the time," Sackman said. "We've been on Studio Waltz every year for about 10 years. We've had tours, garden clubs and schools come through.

"But one morning, I woke up and said, 'I know what we need — an arch.' Our friend Bruce made an archway for us from wood."

That eight-foot wooden arch was soon covered by colorful tiles, figurines,GOpromos offers a wide selection of promotional items and personalized gifts. names and the splendor of 12 mosaic panels.

One side showcases a female figure fashioned in green hues,Learn all about solarpanel. the other a male of mostly reds and oranges.Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. At the top, male and female energy merge and the words "Changes Make Waves" appear.

Sackman's side of the arch has smooth pink letters naming her mother, girlfriends and other female family and friends. Pets, too, are honored in name and with small sculptures.

"My side stresses the masculine," said White, 60. "I have geishas with broken heads and above it, the statement 'Men care.' In today's society, where women get abused and mistreated, it was my vignette to say men really do care. On the other side is Ganesh, an elephant, the Hindu deity about starting over and protection. Inside,Silicone moldmaking Rubber, facing Carol's reflection on female friends and loved ones living and dead, is my reflection on males in my life. I've added skulls and crossbones for the dead."

Beyond the archway, mosaic panels wrap the house in shimmering colors from bits of broken bottles, Florida souvenirs, shells, tiny mirrored tiles, chips of china, and delicate handmade flowers that Sackman propagates in her kiln.

Follow the path around the corner and panels cover the fence and the house's south-facing wall.

Look down at the decorative mosaic stepping stones, another work of art both Sackman and White have created.

"We work together on a lot of things," said Sackman, who has a master's degree in fine art.Full color plasticcard printing and manufacturing services. "A lot of people comment on our stepping stones and I've been teaching classes on making them. We set up long tables in the driveway and have about 17 people at one time. It doesn't take a lot of artistic talent. It's just so much fun."

While Sackman and White produce art together, their work and approach are different.

"I plan everything," Sackman said. "I work a lot slower than Blake and I'm a complete realist. If I can't see it, I don't believe it. Blake is more philosophical. He has more of an ethereal sense. He is totally self-taught. It's amazing what he does."

VPG MV-1 First Drive

Nissan made a lot of noise in New York showing off its NV200-van based "Taxi of Tomorrow," so called because it won the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission's contest of the same name. But lost in the party atmosphere was the fact that no contract has been officially signed. Why not? In part because of a court case--Christopher Noel, et al, versus New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, et al,--alleging that the TLC violated Title II, section A of the Americans with disabilities act by selecting a taxi design that is not 100-percent wheelchair accessible, as some of the contending designs were. Last December, Manhattan federal court judge George Daniels ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, but the city won a stay of that decision pending appeal. Oral arguments in the appeals case are scheduled for April 19. What might happen if the NV200 contract unravels?

There is a dedicated taxi/mobility vehicle option tooled, in production, and ready to step into the void,Dimensional Mailing magiccubes for Promotional Advertising, produced by a start-up American car company you may never have heard of. The company is Vehicle Production Group, of Miami, Florida -- a lean start-up funded with $350 million in private equity that began production of its Buy America-certified vehicle in a UAW-staffed plant in Mishawaka, Indiana, last September. This taxicab/limo/wheelchair mobility vehicle, called the MV-1,Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. was on display at the New York International Auto Show. The model name reflects the company's claim that this is the first factory-built mobility vehicle. The design utilizes myriad components from Tier-1 suppliers and was tailored to fit the idled tooling that used to build the Hummer H2. AM General handles assembly, parts, and warranty logistics.

The styling looks like an SUV-ish riff on the traditional London cab, with a low-step-in (or roll aboard) flat floor and oodles of headroom. Dimensionally, it measures 8.0 inches shorter in length, 2.1 inches wider, and 18.Our porcelaintiles are perfect for entryways or bigger spaces and can also be used outside,2 inches taller than the Crown Vic. The rear doors swing open (90 degrees on the passenger side) to reveal a bench seat wide enough for three amply proportioned passengers. An optional ($349) rear-facing jump seat behind the driver accommodates a fourth, and standard anchoring plates are fitted to secure two wheelchairs,Buy high quality bedding and bed linen from Yorkshire Linen. though locking down the second one precludes use of the right half of the bench seat. There is currently no provision for fitting a front passenger seat, though one is being considered,Offers Art Reproductions Fine Art oilpaintings Reproduction, along with a passenger airbag.

Taxi fleet operators will be plenty familiar with the 4.6-liter Ford V-8 engine and four-speed automatic transmission powering the initial run of MV-1s, fueled either by gasoline or compressed natural gas. The CNG option adds $9000 and includes three 3600-psi tanks that raise the luggage-area floor by about 9 inches and provide 320 miles of range. CNG refueling stations are reportedly plentiful in NYC and the fuel is priced some $2/gallon equivalent cheaper than gasoline. Phasing in Ford's 3.7-liter V-6 will eventually stretch that range to 400 miles. The body-on-frame design was designed and developed with assistance from Roush Engineering. The ladder frame incorporates a control-arm/coil spring front suspension and a unique rear setup that combines a Chevy Camaro's differential with a leaf-sprung aluminum tube deDion axle assisted by load-leveling air springs to keep things even when approaching the 6600-pound gross-vehicle-weight rating.

2012年4月8日星期日

Locating bank branch becoming an art

Stand at the intersection of Trumbull and Asylum streets in downtown Hartford and you’ll bear witness to a sea of bank branches.

Now TD Bank plans to join the crowd,Where to buy or purchase plasticmoulds for precast and wetcast concrete? with its recent decision to open a regional headquarters in Hartford 21, in what may be one of the most visible retail spots downtown has to offer.

With six banks located next door to each other, it raises an interesting question: Is downtown Hartford overbanked?

At least one industry official who has studied the downtown market says it’s not. With a strong presence of professional service firms, corporations and small businesses, there is still enough business to go around, at least for now, for bank’s looking to enter the market, experts say.

“If you want to be a statewide bank, you really should have a presence in the Capital City,” said Michael Goman, a real estate consultant whose company Accubranch, works with banks to find new branch locations. “You are getting exposure to a great customer base in terms of law firms and other major businesses. There is a lot of value from a public relations and marketing stand point.”

Goman said existing downtown Hartford branches are doing a good volume of business, but their focus is less on individual consumers and more on commercial and government banking. Even though there is decent foot traffic from people working downtown during the week, the real focus for banks downtown is to hang their shingle in front of professional service firms and corporations that demand a greater volume of business.

That is what attracted TD Bank to expand its Hartford presence and make the city one of its four regional hubs in Connecticut, said Michael LaBella, TD’s Connecticut market president.A wireless indoortracking system is described in this paper.

LaBella said the bank has been considering a downtown Hartford expansion for years,There are 240 distinct solutions of the Soma cubepuzzle, and is attracted to the city because it still has a strong core of insurance and professional services companies.

“The Capital City is where we want to expand,” LaBella said. “Visibility wise, this is the spot we have been looking at for quite awhile.”

Currently, the bank has about 10 people working in its downtown Hartford branch at 280 Trumbull St.

He said the bank will grow its downtown Hartford workforce to 40 people focused on commercial and real estate lending, cash management, trade finance, and government banking.

TD Bank has signed a 10-year lease to occupy 10,000 square feet of space on the ground and second floors of the 39-story residential-retail tower. They will open a 3,000 square foot retail branch in the glass-lined corner space fronting Trumbull and Asylum streets.

Directly above that space, on the second floor, the bank says it will occupy 6,600 square feet for its business operations.

Goman, the real estate consultant, said there is a sea change in the way banks target new branch locations, and they are taking a page out of the retail industry’s playbook.

No longer is picking a branch location at random, or even basing a decision off demographic analysis, a viable business option, particularly at a time when capital remains precious.

When banks consider branch locations they must consider basic demographics as well as psychographic or socio-economic indicators that identify likely consumer behaviors,Aeroscout rtls provides a complete solution for wireless asset tracking. Goman said. So it’s not just enough to place a branch in a high traffic area.Welcome to projectorlamp. It must be in a spot where consumers in the area also have similar lifestyle and spending habits.

Goman said the productivity of a given branch will be dramatically affected by being even 100 yards off from the ideal location. He estimates at least 10 percent of branches are opened in locations that are completely unsuitable and many of them end up having to be closed.

In downtown Hartford, the fact there a large number of branches located next to each other is actually a positive indicator because it shows there is “bank synergy.” It also offers the opportunity to grow market share be stealing customers from a competitor.

Learn How To Get Rid Of Hemorrhoids

An incredible number of individuals are suffering with hemorrhoids. This problem is extremely unpleasant and causes a considerable amount of irritation for the victim. There are various reasons that may cause hemorrhoid flare-ups. To come up with a highly effective treatment solution and also pain relief method,Offers Art Reproductions Fine Art oilpaintings Reproduction, you should know what can cause hemorrhoids. Only by doing this you’ll be capable to keep the issue in check.

Hemorrhoids are caused as soon as the veins inside the rectal vicinity swell and then get swollen. The muscles inside the anal walls begin sagging and there may be irritation in addition to itching inside the internal and external region of the rectum. Probably the most leading characteristic of piles or hemorrhoid flare-ups will be bleeding and also itching. The patient might encounter severe agony and irritation during bowel motions and in many cases when being seated.Silicone moldmaking Rubber,

The most common trigger of hemorrhoidal inflammation is usually constipation. In the course of constipation there’s excessive tension to the veins inside the rectal vicinity as well as the walls of the rectum, consequently the bleeding happens. Over weight along with obesity undoubtedly are a common trigger with the problem.Stone Source offers a variety of Natural stonemosaic Tiles. The continual excessive bodyweight on the rectum causes hemorrhoids to appear. People that have jobs of which require these people to be seated in a single position for extended durations develop this issue also. Females can have problems with this condition throughout pregnancy and which is additionally due to the extra bodyweight the unborn child puts on the pelvic floor and rectal vicinity.

You’ll be able to choose a hemorrhoids treatment based on the underlying cause associated with hemorrhoid flare-ups. There are many hemorrhoid treatment that include medicine, alternative medication, herbal treatments and natural remedies. If your issue becomes far too distressing, even surgical procedures are recommended to supply relief from the symptoms.

In the event you suffer the pain of hemorrhoidal inflammation because of bowel problems you should include a whole lot of fibre to your diet.Choose from our large selection of cableties, Attempt to steer clear of just about all food groups that will result in bowel irregularity and come up with a habit of consuming foods that assist in good bowel motions. Consuming a whole lot of water and also fruit juices is additionally extremely helpful. Cranberry fruit juice is a known fix for constipation. Once you look after the constipation, your hemorrhoids will be automatically taken care of.

In case you are obese you should lose weight. Slimming down normally takes a bit of time and at the same time you are able to do a number of things to get relief from hemorrhoid signs and symptoms. Several lotions and products are available that will relieve the soreness. It is really important that you keep the vicinity really clean and use Vaseline or even petroleum jelly from time to time, as this is an excellent simple home treatment of hemorrhoid alternative. Dryness may lead to the itching which may be extremely annoying and irritating.

Sitting down in a single position for too much time additionally is really a cause for getting hemorrhoids.A wireless indoortracking system is described in this paper. If you have a job of which demands extended hours of being seated, make a routine of switching position each thirty minutes or so. Attempt to stand up following each hour and stretch and walk a few steps. This is a really good approach to avoid hemorrhoids.

Sometimes the problem develops with advancing age and typically is dealt with with medicine and therapy. Antibiotics supply fast alleviation however the greatest approach to cope with hemorrhoid flare-ups would be to eat healthier and workout a whole lot. An excellent herbal supplement might additionally be beneficial.