Iraq holds 4th postwar oil and gas auction

A Kuwaiti-led energy consortium on Wednesday won the right to search for oil and gas in southern Iraq as part of the country's fourth postwar energy auction. Two natural gas exploration deals meanwhile attracted no bidders.

Exploration rights in a dozen areas of the country are on offer in the two-day auction, with 39 foreign energy companies registered to compete.

The Iraqi government seeks foreign investment to build up an energy sector hit by years of neglect and violence, including the turmoil following Saddam Hussein's 2003 ouster. Iraq holds the world's fourth largest oil reserves and oil revenues make up nearly 95 percent of the country's budget.We offer you the top quality plasticmoulds design

In an opening speech, Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul-Karim Elaibi said exploration of the areas up for bidding will increase Iraq's oil reserves and help the country develop its natural gas industry. The ministry will "spare no efforts to help and support the companies as partners to achieve the common interests," he said.

Still, conditions appeared less attractive than in the three previous rounds held since 2009.

Only areas with undetermined hydrocarbon resources are on offer, while previously the rights to known big and medium oil and gas fields were being auctioned off. Operating costs for energy companies could be high because most of the 12 exploration blocks are in remote and unsafe areas and lack infrastructure.

The government also added a clause for the first time that prevents companies from signing deals with regional authorities without the approval of the central government in Baghdad. Companies that violate the clause will have their contracts terminated, said Sabah al-Saidi, the deputy head of the Oil Ministry's Licensing and Petroleum Contracts department.

The new clause came in response to Exxon Mobil's bold move last year to sign six deals with Iraq's northern self-ruled Kurdish region without Baghdad's approval. In return, Baghdad banned the Texas-based company from taking part in the current bidding, but kept a deal to develop the 8.6-billion-barrel West Qurna Phase One oil field in the south.

Wednesday's auction started with no one bidding for an 8,000-square-kilometer block in northwestern Iraq with presumed natural gas fields. Another potential natural gas lot covering 9,000 square kilometers of southwestern Iraq also found no interest.

Government officials said the two blocks would be offered again Thursday, saying companies interested in those areas couldn't make it to Baghdad. He did not name the companies.

In a third bid, Kuwait Energy and its partners, Turkey's TPAO and the UAE's Dragon Oil, won the rights to explore a 900-square-kilometer area in Iraq's oil-rich southern Basra province. The group will be paid $6.24 for each barrel of oil equivalent they find.

The Iraqi Oil Ministry had approved 47 international energy companies to participate, but only 39 companies paid the participation fee.Choose from our large selection of Cable Ties.

Top among the approved companies are the Anglo-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell, UK's BP, Chevron and Occidental of the U.Full color plasticcard printing and manufacturing services.S., China's CNOOC and CNPC, Japan's Japex, Russia's Lukoil and others.

The blocks are expected to add about 29 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to the current 126.7 trillion cubic feet in reserves, and about 10 billion barrels of oil to the current proven 143.1 billion barrels of proven reserves.

Nearly 70 percent of them hold natural gas and the rest a combination of oil and gas.

Five of the blocks are in Iraq's western Anbar province or shared between Anbar and neighboring provinces; two are in the northern Ninevah province; one is shared between central Diyala province and neighboring Wasit province while the rest are scattered throughout southern Iraq.

The bidders are vying for service contracts in which they will be paid a flat fee, rather than the more lucrative production-sharing contracts in which they receive a share of the hydrocarbons found.About 1 in 5 people in the UK have recurring coldsores.

Since 2008, Iraq has awarded 15 oil and gas deals to international energy companies, the first major investments in the country's energy industry in more than three decades.I found them to have sharp edges where the injectionmoldes came together while production.

The goal was to boost daily production from about 3 million barrels now to 12 million barrels by 2017. But Iraq is mulling whether the target should be revised downward to fewer than 10 million barrels, considering a possible drop in demand on oil in the international market and infrastructure bottlenecks.

Angry, Cynical and Losing Faith

Eight months ago, Kathleen Wilmink was a single mother, waitressing at night and coding fees for a medical billing company by day. Her pay: $10 an hour. Today she works 12-hour shifts at a steel plant, tending a ladle that pours 300 tons of red-hot liquid metal into molds.Save up to 80% off Ceramic Tile and porcelaintiles. It is a sooty, sweaty task. "We wear leather gloves," she said, "so our hands don't catch on fire." Her pay: $21 an hour plus incentives, bonuses and generous medical benefits.

Wilmink's new job is good news for President Barack Obama. ArcelorMittal, the global steel giant, is hiring again at the century-old mill that straddles the Cuyahoga River. Orders are up, thanks in part to a revival of the U.S.Offers Art Reproductions Fine Art oilpaintings Reproduction, automobile industry for which the Obama administration claims credit.

In recent decades the white working class has steadily morphed from blue to red: Al Gore, John Kerry and Obama all lost the group to GOP opponents. Two years ago the midterm elections marked a landslide. Hammered by the recession and revved up by the Tea Party, white working-class voters - men and women without college degrees who earn middle-income wages - swung Republican by a stunning 30 points across the country. For many, change hasn't come fast enough, dampening hope.We looked everywhere, but couldn't find any beddinges. They remain impatient for prosperity.

In Ohio, these voters, who make up more than half of the electorate, are showing little enthusiasm for either the president or Mitt Romney, the presumed Republican nominee. As of this week, white working-class voters across the Rust Belt leaned toward Romney, with 44 percent of respondents in a Reuters/Ipsos poll saying they would vote for the Republican if the election were held today, versus 30 percent for Obama.

That is a far narrower spread than between GOP and Democratic candidates in the midterms. But if the president is to make headway with this group, he'll need more voters like Wilmink, 29. "Obama is for jobs," said the newly minted steelworker. "He is eager to get the economy going again."

In 2008, Obama carried Ohio by five percentage points against John McCain. He captured other industrial belt states, too, including Pennsylvania, Michigan and Illinois. Even Indiana, which had not voted for a Democrat for president since 1964, narrowly embraced Obama's message of "hope and change."

This year the wobbly economy offers Romney a powerful opening, but he has struggled to relate to blue-collar voters. That's hardly surprising.Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings? His fortune is estimated at $250 million, he once penned a New York Times op-ed headlined "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt," and he regularly complains about "union stooges."

Both campaigns unleashed ads this month aimed at working-class voters in battleground states. In Obama's two-minute TV spot, steelworkers blamed Bain Capital, the private equity firm Romney once ran, for profiting from the bankruptcy of a Kansas City, Missouri mill, calling the Republican "a job destroyer."

Romney responded with a 60-second Web video praising Bain's investment in Steel Dynamics Inc, an Indiana company that grew from 1,400 to 6,000 employees, describing its success as "the American dream." Amid these conflicting scenarios, a swath of blue-collar voters remains angry, anxious and undecided. Many supported former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, the grandson of a coal miner, in Ohio's Republican primary, which Romney won by less than a percentage point.We are professional canada goose jackets for women online sale shop. In the Reuters/Ipsos poll, fewer than a fifth of manufacturing workers approve of Obama's overall job performance, with almost 40 percent expressing "mixed feelings."

Quebec protesters, government close in on deal

Quebec student representatives and provincial government officials emerged from a second day of talks to end a bitter dispute over tuition hikes short of an agreement but confident talks were progressing to possibly end weeks of student protests.

Both sides agreed to meet again Wednesday. Student leaders said progress had been made and they would evaluate several proposals presented by both sides.

Students have called for a tuition freeze, but the government has ruled out that possibility. Students also object to an emergency law put in place to limit protests.It's pretty cool but our ssolarpanel are made much faster than this.

"We will take the night and probably tomorrow morning to evaluate the different scenarios and restart the negotiations during the day in the hope of presenting an offer to our members," Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois,We offer you the top quality plasticmoulds design a co-spokesman for the more hardline CLASSE student protest group, told reporters.

Asked if a deal was imminent, Martine Desjardins, the head of one of the university student groups, said "it depends how many hours you consider to be imminent."

Student leaders said tuition hikes were on the table while the matter of the law was "broached" but left to be dealt with in greater detail in the future.

Any agreement would have to be put to the various student associations for approval. The government was hoping to avoid a repeat of previous talks that ended with an agreement in principle with the leaders that was later rejected by the associations.

The French-speaking province's average undergraduate tuition - $2,Exhaust ventilationsystem work by depressurizing the building.519 a year - is the lowest in Canada, and the proposed hike- $254 per year over seven years - is tiny by U.S. standards. Opponents consider the raise an affront - a manner of thinking that has its roots in the philosophy of the 1960s reforms in Quebec dubbed the Quiet Revolution.

The social movement set Quebec apart from the rest of Canada, and has the Quebecois comparing themselves to European countries where higher education is mostly free, rather than to the neighboring United States.

Protesters in Montreal and Quebec City were back in the streets again Tuesday evening in the latest in a string of consecutive night protests, banging pots and chanting against tuition hikes and the new law. A number of demonstrators gathered again in front of the building where the talks were taking place.The core of an indoor positioning system.

Police were noticeably absent Tuesday evening, some protesters going as far as banging on the door of the building with pots and wooden spoons.

On Monday, riot police were deployed as about 200 protesters stood in front of the building where the talks were held.Wireless real realtimelocationsystem utlilizing wifi access points to pinpoint position of the tag. Quebec City Police Lt. Stephane Dufresne said 84 were arrested. It was the first incident of mass arrests since last Wednesday when nearly 700 protesters were arrest. More than 2,500 people have been arrested since a student strike at more than a dozen Quebec colleges and universities began in February.

Quebec Premier Jean Charest, who has vowed to shake up the debt-ridden province's finances since he was elected nearly a decade ago, has refused to cave in. But he attended Monday's talks with the students for the first time since the conflict began, after being urged to do so by student leaders.

Charest said Tuesday he participated in the talks to show the government speaks with one voice at the table and because discussions had reached a new stage.

"We all want to turn the page and move onto other things," Charest said. "I hope it helps send a signal that the government wants to arrive at the best possible solution."

Charest's government passed emergency legislation on May 18 restricting protests and closing striking campuses until August. The law requires that police be informed eight hours before a protest begins, saying organizers must provide details on the route of any demonstration of 50 or more people. It also prohibits demonstrations within 50 meters (165 feet) of a college and declares that anyone who incites or helps another person break the new regulations can be fined.

Globaltec expects listing to provide better access to larger-scale business

Come Thursday, Globaltec, which comprises of 5.27 billion shares of 10 sen each and a paid up capital of RM527.36mil, will be listed at an initial public offering (IPO) price of 12 sen per share. At this price, the stock will have a market capitalisation of RM632.84mil.

It's safe to say that the purpose of the merger is to give the new listed entity size. Previously, the individual companies of AIC, Jotech and AutoV were small at paid-up capitals of RM173.87mil, RM92.43mil and RM58.36mil respectively.Silicone moldmaking Rubber,

Last July, Globaltec, a special-purpose company controlled by Datuk Goh Tian Chuan, who is group executive chairman of Jotech and AIC, submitted the proposed merger offer simultaneously to AIC, Jotech and AutoV to collectively acquire the business and undertakings of all the three companies for RM711mil to be satisfied via the issuance of new Globaltec Formation shares.

Goh owns a 7.6% stake in Jotech, 25.2% in AIC and 0.4% in AutoV. The acquisition price of Jotech, AIC and AutoV were RM217.3mil, RM339.2mil and RM154.4mil respectively. In the new entity, Goh will have a 16.7% stake, which he eventually hopes to raise.

“We expect to have better access to larger scale business opportunities, and an enhanced ability to raise funds in both debt and equity markets as a result of an improved balance sheet position. A larger and stronger balance sheet will allow us to undertake larger manufacturing contracts and to capitalise on growth opportunities domestically and internationally,” said the company in its prospectus.

Following the merger of these three companies, the business segments will be divided into two integrated manufacturing services and resources.

Goh himself will be heading the resources division and already has plans to beef up the division in the immediate term.

He has earmarked oil palm plantations for expansion with the intention of moving down the value chain by acquiring more oil palm plantations to justify constructing an oil palm mill in Sabah.

“We see plantation as an important growth segment. Right now, our hectarage is small. For starters, we want to enlarge this by at least five times. We are seriously looking for more plantation land in Sabah,Offers Art Reproductions Fine Art oilpaintings Reproduction,” said Goh.

Its palm oil plantation activities are carried out by its subsidiaries, namely Cergas Fortune Sdn Bhd and Malgreen Progress Sdn Bhd. It has about 916.25ha of plantations situated at Sandakan Lahad-Datu Highway, Kinabatangan Sabah with about 836.96ha of planted oil palm.

The approximate planted ages of the trees range from four to 14 years. As of Dec 31, 2011, the net book value of the oil palm plantations was RM30.39mil.

Currently, the combined businesses of the three companies consist mainly of precision metal stamping and tooling, semiconductor, precision tooling an automation and automotive components manufacturing. It has palm oil plantation and coal mining, but for now, contributions are minimal.

The largest revenue contributor in the group was metal stamping and tooling with a 32.1% contribution to topline, followed by semiconductor with a 30.3rd minigame series of magiccube!48% contribution, automotive components with a 25.75% contribution and precision tooling with an 11.45% contribution as of 2010.

For its year ended Dec 31, 2010, the company recorded income of RM27.33mil from RM16.55mil a year earlier on revenue of RM394.84mil from RM331.8mil previously.Stone Source offers a variety of Natural stonemosaic Tiles,

Under an agreement, Concord had assigned the exclusive rights to provide all coal mining and sales services in the mining area to PT Sarana Rockhill Resources, a subsidiary of Rockhill. For now, the extraction and marketing of coal has yet to commence.

Meanwhile, the share swap determined earlier valued Jotech shares at 18 sen each, AIC shares at RM1.80, AutoV shares at RM2.38, Jotech warrants at 9 sen and AIC warrants at RM1.00.

Based on this scenario,Zenith manufactures a comprehensive range of rubbersheets. the proposed swap ratios are three new Globaltec shares for every two existing Jotech shares, 15 new Globaltec shares for every existing AIC share, 119 new Globaltec shares for every six AutoV shares, three new Globaltec shares for every four existing Jotech warrants and 25 new Globaltec shares for every three existing AIC warrants.

3D Printing Revolution Could Re-Shape World

Advances in 3D printing technology could revolutionise the way we produce goods and repatriate manufacturing jobs to the UK.You can create a beautiful chinamosaic birdhouse that will last for generations.

Additive manufacturing, as the process is technically known, works by building up solid objects layer by wafer-thin layer, in much the same way as a conventional 2D inkjet printer.

The object is scanned, or designed on computer modelling software, then sliced up, like a loaf of bread, into thousands of tiny layers,We are the largest producer of projectorlamp products here. which can then be printed out to form a solid three-dimensional product.

If the last industrial revolution brought us mass production and the advent of economies of scale - the digital revolution could bring manufacturing back full circle - to an era of mass personalisation, and a return to individual craft.

Dr Phil Reeves, managing director of Econolyst, an additive manufacturing consultancy,Welcome to the online guide for do-it-yourself Ceramic tile. explained: "The ability to mass-personalise products and produce individual products for individual consumers opens up an enormous opportunity, it almost takes us back to a craft industry where things were made for individuals.

"And then we moved into the domain of mass production and everything was the same - now we're using digital tools but to make individual products.Stone Source offers a variety of Natural stonemosaic Tiles,

"At the moment we're 3D printing hearing aids, hip implants, we're starting to see consumer goods and personal products - toys - being personalised to the individual consumer, and that in itself has benefits to the environment because people are keeping the product for longer, and it has more value to the consumer."

Professor Richard Hague, director of the EPSRC Centre for Additive Manufacturing, demonstrated the technology to Sky News in his lab.

First, he printed a scale Ford Model T - the design that became synonymous with mass production in the early 20 Century.

Henry Ford famously joked that customers could have it in any colour they liked, so long as it was black.

3D printing means every design can be slightly different - without the need to re-tool, or redesign the production line.

The inkjet-style printer lays down a fine layer or light-reactive plastic, which is immediately set into place by a beam of light passing overhead.

The tray supporting the model then lowers slightly to allow the next layer to be added on, set into place, and so on.

Professor Hague explained: "So what we have here is a prototype Model T Ford being printed using a 3D-printing technique that is actually very similar to your conventional 2D inkjet printer that everyone has at home these days.

"What we do is add a third dimension and print the part out - we take the 3D cad model, chop it into a bunch of slices and print those one on top of each other."

But he stressed this is what they can do now - what is exciting is what they are working on for the future: the design freedom and the prospect of printing multi-material components, complete with working electronics.

In other words, they are no longer just talking about printing the case for your mobile phone - they want, ultimately,About 1 in 5 people in the UK have recurring coldsores. to print the working phone.

Professor Hague said: "The future research area we are working on is the printing of complex biological, conductive, or optical interconnects within the body of the part - so effectively what we're trying to do now is move away from conventional single material additive manufacturing, to really multi-functional additive manufacturing where we're printing the whole system."

Inland Empire builders incorporate energy savings into sales pitches

Solar panels, added insulation and other energy efficient features are some of the tools builders are employing to attract buyers to Inland Empire communities where many distressed properties continue to surround new homes.

The "green" features are usually not enough on their own to attract buyers,Find rubberhose companies from India. but the prospect of lower electric, gas and water bills can be an important part of the final sales pitch,We offer you the top quality plasticmoulds design builders said.

"The benefits of energy efficiency are not emotional," said Brian Geis, vice president of Brookfield Homes. "I feel if an economist walked in, it would be an easy sell."

Most buyers,We offer you the top quality plasticmoulds design however, are not professional economists, so Geis and others said more traditional factors like location,I found them to have sharp edges where the injectionmoldes came together while production. lot size and quality of nearby schools are still more important to buyers than whether or not a house has a solar panel or tankless water heater.

"If we try to sell the energy efficiency first, you lose the buyer," Meritage Homes division president Kevin Kimball said. "That's not the reason they walk through the door."

Arizona-based Meritage Homes promotes several energy efficiency features including spray-foam insulation and Energy Star-certified appliances at the firm's 70-home Citrus Grove development in Fontana.

"Our house is built like an Igloo cooler," Kimball said.

KB Home is another builder that has made the prospect of lower energy bills part of a strategy to make new homes more attractive.

"We are competing with resales , and the one difference we came up with at KB is reducing the cost of ownership," said Steve Ruffner, president of KB Home's Southern California division.

"We don't talk about going green for green's sake," he said.Rubiks cubepuzzle.

The builder first made photovoltaic panels a standard feature in March 2011 in 10 California developments, including the "Enclave" community in the Riverside County city of Eastvale.

KB Home has since expanded its solar promotions to include 10 developments in Los Angeles County where solar panels are standard, as well as five in San Bernardino County where solar is an optional feature.

Brookfield has similarly made solar panels a standard feature at its GreenDoor homes, which are part of the company's Edenglen development in Ontario.

Edenglen is thus far the only development to be built in the New Model Colony of Southern Ontario. The Costa Mesa-based Brookfield is the only builder thus far to sell new homes there.

Brookfield has entitlements for 584 homes at Edenglen and has pulled permits for 360 homes, Geis said.

The company adjusted to the post-2007 housing bust and subsequent recession by reducing lot sizes and marketing to cost-conscious buyers, Geis said.

"Our buyer here at GreenDoor is not somebody who wants the traditional big green backyard. They want something that's low maintenance, low cost," he said.

Besides solar panels, the GreenDoor homes also feature tankless water heaters and uses 2x6 studs instead of 2x4 studs to allow for more insulation than most houses.

A buyer purchasing a new or resale home in April committed to a monthly payment of $953, according to DataQuick Informations Systems.

Bring world to your home

For me, part of the excitement of going away is not just the chance to feel the heat, relax and unwind, but to explore new surroundings and experience different cultures and ways of life.

When it comes to planning your interior schemes throughout your home, the places you have been and the designs you have seen along the way should inspire you to add plenty of creativity to any room.

If you have collected mementos during your travels, whether it be a ceramic tile from every country you've been to or simply pretty shells from a beach, it's great if you can incorporate them into the design of your home.

Small additions such as this will not only act as a reminder of the fun times you've had,Award Winning solarpanel and heat pumps for electricity and heating. but are a way for you to inject a sense of personality, which will brighten your mood if you're suffering from post-holiday blues.

Instead of being tucked away in a drawer or at the back of a cupboard, utilise these memories along with any fun snaps that you have taken from various destinations as a basis for which to enhance the character of a room.

However, if you are bringing back mementos, traditional objects and unusual artefacts that you are going to cherish and are proud to put on display, will be a more worthwhile investment,Posts with Hospital rtls on IT Solutions blog covering Technology in the Classroom, rather than the type of souvenir that we tend to throw away a few months after returning home.

If you take a look at the fabric designs and accessories that are on the market during the spring/summer months, you will notice a change in the style of products offered.

In the warmer seasons, you will see that the high street is influenced by styles from the Mediterranean, along with increasingly popular holiday destinations including Morocco and Egypt, and even parts of Asia.

As we enter this time of year, many of us are looking to introduce themes to our homes that either enables us to reminisce over previous vacations or simply recreate a style that has caught our attention whilst away.

Our trips to Mediterranean countries including Greece, Spain, France and Italy have inspired many homeowners to change their perception on the use of tiling.

Previously considered as a functional tool to be used solely in the kitchen and bathroom,Award Winning solarpanel and heat pumps for electricity and heating. tiles are now portrayed as a design accessory to be included in any room to enhance the overall scheme. Tiles are now being used as a flooring solution throughout the home, including living areas and bedrooms as they provide an open, spacious and minimalist feel.

Opting for a stone replica tile design will create the natural, rustic feel found in many apartments, hotels and holiday homes.

Depending on how far you are looking to take the theme, the inclusion of wooden shutters and light, linen materials will also add a hint of Mediterranean charm.This page is an introduction to 35 pages of material on mathematical magiccubes.Industrialisierung des werkzeugbaus.

Moving on to a different part of the globe, 'Moorish' is another trend that has taken the interiors world by storm.

Aztec patterns are becoming increasingly popular in terms of both wallpaper and fabric designs.

Whether used in the form of a feature wall, or incorporated in the choice of curtains and cushions, Aztec prints can achieve a feeling of warmth, especially when partnered with rich tones including deep reds and oranges.

The addition of a decorative rug purchased either at home or abroad will also encourage a feeling of authenticity when placed in the centre of a room on hard flooring.

Dark, wooden furniture will also help to set the scene in the lounge, dining room or bedroom. Don't forget to add plenty of accessories, including lanterns, leather poufs and floor cushions to create the perfect Moroccan atmosphere.

If you are looking to introduce an Asian influence, an Oriental style can easily be achieved by introducing Japanese floral prints. Not only will a range of colours be introduced to the space, but its delicate nature will encourage any room to feel calm and serene. Such patterns are also ideal for accenting a contemporary design scheme, so even where a minimalist, white décor has been applied, a few floral scatter cushions will work to heighten the overall appearance. Ornate, decorative pieces of furniture will suit this scheme well. However, the key is to choose a few, selective items to prevent the room from feeling closed-in and cluttered. In terms of colour, this style lends itself to palettes across the colour wheel. If your home lacks space, then why not opt for a neutral colour, and introduce pattern through the use of a feature wall and accessories? However, if you have room to play with, try to incorporate deep tones where you can.

The bathroom is one area of the home in particular that has become influenced by the Far East. Many UK homeowners are now looking to incorporate a wetroom within their bathroom as opposed to a traditional suite that includes a bath. The open, hotel-style of living found in holiday destinations, such as Bali, appeals to many British holidaymakers and when we return from our travels we look to replicate a similar scheme.

The Gorgeous Matte Paintings that Made Lord of the Rings and Fifth Element Feel Real

Being asked to write about my process of matte painting is like the often asked, what brush do you use?. The unquantifiable question for a seasoned artist more often than not, prompts the curt reply, its not about the bike! Cycling, painting, same thing.. The best answer I can give is by quoting the landscape painter, Jim Wilcox who said,The term "Hands free access" means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. "You just need to put the right colour in the right spot. Thats it. There is fine print, however".

I will do my best to outline some of this fine print as applied to my oil painting work and to a lesser degree, matte painting.

My first foray into creating scifi imagery was using the optical, photo-chemical process. I made a pin registration board so that I could composite 4" x 5" transparencies into a single image using Lith film as a mask. Think channels in Photoshop but made of film. My goal was to create the same sort of images that ILM created in Star Wars etc. by photographing my model X-Wing fighters and dropping them into real backgrounds.

By the time I completed my BA in Photography at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in October 1994, Photoshop had rendered optical compositing utterly obsolete. The images in my final year portfolio consisted of photography and 3D rendered objects composited together in Photoshop v2. No layers, no Wacom pen and done entirely with a mouse!

I was hired by Digital Domain at Siggraph in 1995 on the basis of that portfolio and started working on The Fifth Element as a matte painter in 1996. I worked under VFX supervisor Mark Stetson (chief model maker on Blade Runner, Star Trek the Motion Picture and eventual supervisor on LOTR), Kevin Mack and fellow matte painter and VFX Art Director, Ron Gress. These gentleman in particular gave me the chance to experiment, learn and flourish in such a way as to be almost impossible in VFX today. The Fifth Element was and will always be the best production Ive ever worked on. Farscape, season one was my next major project followed by Lord of the Rings at Weta Digital for films one and two. I have been freelance ever since with the exception of co-founding a small VFX/Production company in Sydney called Emerald City Design. The Fourth Magi was a fully animated feature film that I Production Designed but regrettably it never made it into full production. My focus is now oil painting science fiction in a way that evokes the grand,Find rubberhose companies from India. epic style of traditional matte painting.

The use of 3D renderings and photographic elements in the matte painting toolbox are well established so I wont go into this too much. In essence the matte paintings I have created throughout my career consist of scanned pencil sketches, composited photography,We looked everywhere, but couldn't find any beddinges. rendered 3D elements, applied 2D textures, projected mattes onto 3D, direct digital painting and all of the above combined in any number of variations.Ultimate magiccube gives you the opportunity to make your own 3D twisty puzzles. I have painted mattes by numbers based on director approved concept art/production designs to having full creative control of full sequences. Matte painters are able to simultaneously carry out art direction duties as well as the painting of final mattes on smaller productions thus removing unnecessary links in the VFX chain. Conversely, on The Fellowship of the Ring, we had five matte painters who liaised with three art directors, Alan Lee, Paul Lasaine and Jeremy Bennett, on a continuous basis. They supplied a steady stream of roughs, usually small acrylic paintings that indicated lighting, colour palette and composition, as guides for the final mattes.

Modern VFX pipelines are beginning to remove aspects of the process from the matte painters hands as the technical requirements multiply and increasing numbers of people are involved in the realisation of individual shots. This trend can be a hindrance to the craft of matte painting and overshadow the relationship of the Art Director and Matte Painter who strive for visual communication using composition rather than simulation.

Despite moving away from VFX in recent years and embracing oil painting doesnt mean Ive thrown the baby out with the bath water however. Digital is an incredible adjunct to traditional methods,We offer you the top quality plasticmoulds design especially 3D tools that can aid in composition, perspective and the duplication of objects. 3D is a great time saver that allows me to compose scenes and move virtual cameras around just like a film director or photographer.

Once Im satisfied with my chosen POV, I render out a high resolution image and start drawing over the bare bones structure adding characters and other details that I want in the picture. This digital drawing is then printed out and transferred to canvas.

This is but one of the possible processes I may use as not all of my paintings require such high tech beginnings. Paintings based upon smaller watercolour studies are another approach that Ive used. I usually prefer to have an established foundation to work from and that foundation at a minimum is always a sketch, regardless of the technical path the image may eventually take.

Developing the lighting and mood component of a painting is something a little more fluid and organic and this is really the meat in the sandwich for me. Many of my paintings, both traditional or digital, start out as mood ideas which are undefined and may float around for ages before I apply them to more concrete environments, forms or situations. The photographer in me is constantly on the lookout for interesting lighting.

The oil paintings Ive created so far are a part of a larger science fiction project that has been simmering for many years, eventually to be realised as a fully illustrated novel! I have come to realise my love of painting wasnt so much a love of matte painting, although Ive had my fare share of creative joy painting on films like Lord of the Rings, it was simply a love of telling stories visually.

Midwest Gets Sustainability Boost with First GRI Conference

The US heartland will get a sustainability boost this month, as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) holds its first conference in St Louis, Missouri on 22-23 May 2012. Midwestern companies are rallying to make sustainability part of their organizational strategy and operations, and the GRI conference shows how the international movement towards sustainability and transparency in business has taken hold in the region.

With the theme Making Sustainability Count: Tracking Progress, Driving Opportunity, the conference will provide companies in the region with practical solutions,Exhaust ventilationsystem work by depressurizing the building. helping them track their sustainability performance and progress towards a sustainable economy.

GRI provides a comprehensive sustainability reporting framework that is widely used around the world. The GRI Guidelines help companies report their economic, environmental and social performance.

GRI has a regional Focal Point in New York, which is organizing this first US conference, with the support of St. Louis University (Emerson Ethics Center & Center for Sustainability) and the St.Posts with Hospital rtls on IT Solutions blog covering Technology in the Classroom, Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association.

“We are excited for the St. Louis region to host this conference and for our area companies to share best practices on how sustainability can lead to business growth”, says Eric Schneider, Senior Director of Energy and Environment for the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association.

"I am thrilled that GRI, Saint Louis University (Center for Ethics and Sustainability) and RCGA have come together to raise awareness on the importance of Sustainability; this will be a great platform to generate more ideas and initaitives to faciliatate sustainability efforts in our region, says Dr Nitish Singh of the Center for Ethics & Sustainability of St Louis University.

With Master Classes and experience sharing, this event will help equip delegates with the practical knowledge needed to advance sustainability reporting in their organization, the midwest, and the USA.

Herman Mulder, Chairman of the Global Reporting Initiative,Silicone moldmaking Rubber, will talk about the future of reporting,Offers Art Reproductions Fine Art oilpaintings Reproduction, kick-starting the Conference on 23 May. More than 200 delegates and speakers will gather to share stories and experiences, explore trends in reporting, and gain new expertise.

Mike Wallace, Director of GRI’s Focal Point USA, explained the importance of the conference. “This is the first time such an international collection of sustainability professionals has come together in the Midwest to explore sustainability at a regional level. We are still facing difficult financial times, and integrating long-term sustainability concepts into core business strategy can give companies and the economy a much needed boost in performance.

“This is an exciting opportunFind everything you need to know about kidneystone including causes,ity to come together and introduce thought leaders from across industry and the global economy and work together to learn and integrate new sustainable strategies,” added Wallace.

Speakers from financial markets, including the New York Stock Exchange, BlackRock, Prudential, and Bloomberg, will come together with practitioners, including Dell, Clorox, and Mosaic), to give delegates an insight into the importance and practicalities of sustainability reporting. Students from St Louis University will also be able to attend free Master Classes on sustainability topics.

City, charitable programs help Jacksonville teens gain work skills

Mayor Alvin Brown and his Learn2Earn program learned the hard way how tough it is to get state money when Gov. Rick Scott vetoed about $300,000 that legislators had approved for it.

But Brown still will launch Learn2Earn this summer by drawing on $150,000 in private donations from Florida Blue and the Farah & Farah law firm. That money will be enough to give 200 teenagers a chance to spend a week on local college campuses. They will sleep overnight in dorm rooms, go to classes and work 20 hours at on-campus jobs, giving them a taste of what it's like to be a college student.

"I'm giving them the real experience here," Brown said. "This is the real deal, baby."

For students facing a tight job market, Learn2Earn is part of an expanded lineup of job programs sponsored by the city and charitable contributions so teenagers — a segment hit hard by the recession — can gain work skills.

The unemployment rate for the five-county Jacksonville metropolitan area has improved the past year, dropping to 7.9 percent in April compared with 9.7 percent in 2011, according to state figures released Friday.

But teenagers and college students still face a crowded job market,Welcome to polishedtiles. often competing against older workers with more experience, said Candace Moody, spokeswoman for WorkSource, the regional agency that helps job-seekers find work.

"It's not any better than it looked last summer," Moody said. "We're finding it's really challenging still for young people to find jobs."

A $240,000 grant from The Jessie Ball duPont Fund, a philanthropy based in Jacksonville, will pay for a new Jacksonville Summer Job Youth Job Preparation and Employment Program for up to 100 students.

The city's Jacksonville Journey, established to fight the root causes of crime, will once again provide jobs for 185 Jacksonville teenagers. The city budgeted about $209,000 for those jobs at libraries, parks and community centers.

Applications for that program came in so fast and furious in April that officials shut down the application process early after fielding 400 requests in four days.

The Jessie Ball duPont Fund cites a U.S. Census estimate that 5,000 Duval County residents between the ages of 16 and 19 are on the hunt for jobs.

"When I was a kid, a teenager did not have trouble getting a job," said fund president Sherry Magill. "That's just not the case today.Home ownership options with buy mosaic."

She said the poor economy has deprived young people the ability to gain work skills that will help them later in life.

"We're worried about their disenfranchisement from the workplace," she said.

Moody said unlike Central Florida, where theme parks offer lots of summer jobs for young people, Northeast Florida doesn't have a big surge in seasonal employment.

There are some exceptions. Adventure Landing's Shipwreck Island swings into action in the summer and employment at the Jacksonville Beach location jumps to about 350 workers from a wintertime low of about 70. It wants to hire about 50 more people for the seasonal jobs.Posts with Hospital rtls on IT Solutions blog covering Technology in the Classroom,

"We're looking for young people who are excited and enthusiastic about working in an entertainment park, which to me is a big thrill," said park spokeswoman Michelle Branham.

But those jobs openings are hard to come by, said Terry Parker High School senior Ralph Beckford. He said the talk among his classmates is they "put in lots of applications and they don't even get callbacks."

Beckford, 17, already has a summer job lined up. He went through the Teens Making a Difference internship program for the Jacksonville Public Library System in the spring. Sponsored by Bank of America, the program gave about 10 students a chance to work part time at library branches.

Beckford made a good impression and will continue working at the University Park branch library over the summer, earning money he said he'll use for textbooks and college expenses at the University of North Florida.

"It's definitely helped me to be more organized," he said of making time for both work and school.

Brown said he hopes Learn2Earn will have similar impact on teenagers as they go through high school.Choose from our large selection of cableties,

The Legislature approved $302,800 in state funding for Learn2Earn in the 2012-13 state budget.Ultimate magiccube gives you the opportunity to make your own 3D twisty puzzles. But Florida TaxWatch, a Tallahassee organization, included the line item on its annual list of local projects dubbed "turkeys." TaxWatch said the measure benefited just one part of the state without other areas being able to compete for the funding.

Scott then vetoed it, along with $143 million of other spending items.

The veto means Learn2Earn will begin in a slimmed down version, serving 200 students rather than the 600 in its inaugural run, paid with $125,000 from Florida Blue and $25,000 from Farah & Farah.

Brown said it will be an annual program and continue to be funded through private donations, not city money.

The program is geared toward students who can succeed in college, come from low-income to moderate-income families, and have caregivers who did not go to college themselves.

Exposing those students to the college experience while they are still in high school will benefit the city by increasing the number of young people with college degrees, Brown said.

"I want them to go to UNF and JU and Florida State College and Edward Waters," he said. "But if they don't and they go off to [colleges outside Jacksonville], I want them to come back home. That intellectual capital that we've invested so much in, we want it to stay here."

China tariffs could slam U.S. solar panel firms

A move designed to punish Chinese solar panel makers that charge unfairly low prices in the U.S. could, ironically, end up hurting American-based solar panel installers, a fast-growing sector of the green economy.

Last week, the Department of Commerce announced it would impose punitive tariffs as high as 250% on panels imported from China after finding that Chinese companies have been "dumping" them at prices below production costs.

But many installation firms in the U.S. rely on lower-priced Chinese-made solar panels, and say the tariffs will hit their businesses hard -- potentially increasing their costs, hurting demand for their services, and stalling their hiring plans.

For Maryland-based Standard Solar, a residential and commercial installer of solar panels, the ruling couldn't have come at a worse time.So indoor Tracking might be of some interest. The company's sales have been doubling every year, reaching $75 million last year, and its staff has grown from three in 2007 to more than 100 today.

That type of growth isn't unusual in the $8.4 billion industry. There are now 2,200 U.S. firms that put in solar panels, and installations surged 109% last year, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.Another Chance to buymosaic (MOS) 0 comments.Enhancements to RSS Based indoortracking. Fueling this boom is a 30% tax credit on solar installations, as well as an overall decline in solar panel prices.

At Standard Solar, CEO Tony Clifford wants to keep his firm's momentum going, but worries that his Chinese suppliers now will raise their prices to offset the new tariffs. If that happens, Clifford said he'd be forced to raise his own prices to customers, a move that could cost him new business.

"We're growing fast partly because prices for solar modules have been going down," he said. "And that's brought down our overall business costs."

Standard Solar was looking to hire up to 25 new workers this year to handle the business pickup. But for now, those plans are on hold, until he sees how his suppliers respond to the tariffs.

Demand for his firm is "very price-sensitive," he said. "If I can't meet my costs, I'm in trouble. But if I raise my prices, it will hurt both my [residential and commercial] business.Full color plasticcard printing and manufacturing services."

A Chinese-made solar panel with 220 to 240 watts of power generally sells for $165 to $196, while an American-made one with 240 to 260 watts costs $240 to $288, said Steve Ostrenga, CEO of Helios Solar Works, a Milwaukee-based manufacturer. An 1,800-square-foot house typically requires between 12 and 20 solar panels,The all New Bluetooth Reader BT1000 features a handsfreeaccess. he said.

Between materials and labor, putting solar panels on a house costs installers $20,000 on average, estimates Shyam Mehta, an analyst with GTM Research. The new tariffs could increase these costs by 10%, said Mehta.

The prospect of higher costs worries Jeff Wolfe, CEO of groSolar, a Vermont-based firm that installs commercial solar panel systems.

If his Chinese suppliers increase their prices, that could eat into his profits.

His hiring plans are now in flux. "We have a few job openings right now but I'm rethinking them," said Wolfe.

Wolfe's also concerned that if he's forced to raise his prices, he could lose out on new projects, which bring in $5 million to $15 million each on average.

"These tariffs mark a very sad day for the industry," said Wolfe, who's been in the field for 14 years.

Mehta, the analyst, said new tariffs might indeed temporarily slow homeowners' and businesses' demand for solar panels, but that prices would eventually adjust and the industry would continue to grow.

Calling current demand for solar panels "really strong," Mehta added, "I don't think these tariffs will hold back that trend."

Meanwhile, U.S. solar panel manufacturers are cheering the tariffs. Ostrenga, whose company is one of 600 American manufacturers of solar modules, said the trade action is necessary.

The Upside of Sharing

Since I co-authored a book on Privacy and the Internet 15 years ago I've been writing about how to manage the various threats to the security and control of our personal information. But today I find myself in a completely unexpected discussion. A growing number of people argue that the notion of having a private life in which we carefully restrict what information we share with others may not be a good idea. This view goes beyond the famous aphorism of Scott McNealy, the erstwhile Sun Microsystems CEO who in 2000 stated "You have zero privacy anyway get over it." The new view holds that we should all be more forthcoming in sharing intimate, personal information with others, and that this would benefit us individually and society as a whole.

This is not a fringe movement.I found them to have sharp edges where the injectionmoldes came together while production. The proponents of this view are some of the smartest and most influential thinkers and practitioners of the digital revolution.

Jeff Jarvis, in a thoughtful book Public Parts, makes the case for sharing and he practices what he preaches. We learn about everything from details of his personal income to his prostate surgery and malfunctioning penis. He argues that because privacy has its advocates, so should "publicness." "I'm a public man" says Jarvis. "My life is an open book." And he provides elaborate evidence on why this has been enormously positive effect on his life, arguing that if everyone where more like him the world would be a better place. He concludes that while sharing should be a personal choice, privacy regulation should be avoided because it's more likely to prematurely undermine the benefits of sharing than to prevent the dangers.

Facebook is the leading social media that promotes information sharing, and part of the company's mission is to "make the world more open." In the book The Facebook Effect, David Kirkpatrick explains that Facebook executives think transparency is not just an opportunity for companies and other institutions to disclose pertinent information. They believe it's an opportunity for individuals to do so as well.

The Facebook founders believe that "more visibility makes us better people. Some claim, for example, that because of Facebook, young people today have a harder time cheating on their boyfriends or girlfriends. They also say that more transparency should make for a more tolerant society in which people eventually accept that everybody sometimes does bad or embarrassing things." Some at Facebook refer to this as Radical Transparency -- a term initially used to talk about institutions, and now being adapted to individuals. In other words,Award Winning solarpanel and heat pumps for electricity and heating. everyone should have just one identity, whether at their workplace or in their personal life.

It may very well be that our fundamental ideas about identity and privacy, the strategies that we have collectively pursued, and the technologies that we have adopted, must change and adapt in a rapidly evolving world of connectivity, networking, participation, sharing, and collaboration.Proxense's advanced timelocationsystem technology. But this will take a long time and in the meantime there are many challenges and even dangers.

To be sure, the digital technologies in general and social media in particular are providing new benefits to sharing personal information, and not just from getting more birthday wishes. There is a real upside to participating in communities, seeing photos,Apply for a merchantaccountes and accept credit cards today. hearing stories or knowing the location of friends and family. Sharing also helps companies deliver personalized products and services. It can improve advertising, as we are targeted for products and services that correspond to our interests. If you live in an apartment block you won't see ads on Google or Facebook for lawn mowers.

But it is important to understand the extraordinary volumes of data being generated and how this will increase exponentially in the near future. In the course of a day, we currently generate the same amount of data as had been captured since the beginning of history up to the year 2003. Much of this is information attached to individuals. Our digital footprints and shadows are being gathered together, bit by bit, megabyte by megabyte, terabyte by terabyte, into personas and profiles and avatars - virtual representations of us, in thousands of locations.

But this availability of personal information isn't just something that is being done to the public, it is also being done by the public. Many of us are willing accomplices in dissolving our own privacy rights, in exchange for new services, conveniences, and efficiencies. Before Facebook arrived, few would have predicted that hundreds of millions of people would voluntarily log on to the Internet and record detailed almost minute-by-minute data about themselves, their activities, their likes and dislikes,What are hemorrhoids? and so on. The degree of detail that a platform like Facebook gathers and will be able to gather about each of us is mind boggling.

Tomorrow's smartphones (or other personal appliances like sunglasses with a internal screen) will have a persistent connection to the Internet and record non-stop video and audio of everything going on around us. This might strike some people as bizarre. They wonder: "What could I do throughout the day that's so important that I would actually want to record it?" It's not unlike a question many people posed a couple of decades ago: "What's so important that I would need to carry a phone everywhere so people could reach me?" Today most people view their cell phones as essential survival gear.

Modern Artists Find a Sartorial Purpose With Jewelry

One day, as he pondered how to make a proposition that could not be refused, the French sculptor Bernar Venet was toying with a piece of silver wire.

“Art becomes you,” Mr. Venet finally told Diane Segard, fashioning the wire around her finger in a makeshift engagement ring.

It worked.

“This gesture was so touching in its spontaneity,” the then Ms. Segard — now married to Mr. Venet for more than 25 years — said in an interview.

It also had another, unintended consequence: “It enabled me to discover the little known universe of jewelry designed by artists, unique and precious works of art,” she said.

That discovery ignited a passion for understanding, tracing and collecting jewelry pieces designed by artists that has made Mrs. Venet into one of the world’s most important collectors of such jewelry.

“They are precious not only for their rarity, but also the symbolic content that is at the origin of their creation,” she said.

From collecting for her own account, Mrs.Offers Art Reproductions Fine Art oilpaintings Reproduction, Venet has branched out into a more public role, as a curator of museum exhibitions.

Last autumn she put on an exhibition titled, “From Picasso to Koons: the Artist as Jeweler,” at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.

On Wednesday a new version of the show will open at the Benaki Museum in Athens.Trade organization for suppliers and distributors in the promotional products industry.

“I add new pieces to each show, Greek artists in Athens, or Spanish sculptors for the next show in Valencia,” Mrs. Venet said.

Many of the 180 pieces in the show belong to Mrs. Venet, whose private collection counts more than 150 pieces, painstakingly hunted down over the years in auctions, or acquired from specialized dealers and other collectors.

The exhibition includes unique pieces or very limited editions rarely visible in museums of galleries. There are, for example, two pieces designed by the sculptor Louise Bourgeois — a gold spider brooch and a silver choker resembling a bondage instrument. Also included are a pendant by the Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, featuring a scaled-down version of his painting “Crying Girl,” and a necklace made by the Chilean-born Roberto Matta for his wife, Germana.

Many of the pieces were gifts by the artist to a relative, a friend or in Mrs. Venet’s case, the collector herself.

“Being married to an artist, I have been closely connected to the world of art, which has helped me build a collection over the years,” she said.

“Arman and César,We offer you the top quality plasticmoulds design our close friends, were the first ones I collected,The all New Bluetooth Reader BT1000 features a handsfreeaccess.” she said, referring to the French sculptors.

In 2007, the Franco-Algerian artist, Kader Attia, designed for her a two-finger, white-gold ring shaped like handcuffs.

The following year, Mrs. Venet persuaded Frank Stella to make a necklace in what she described as a “rough metal covered with titanium paint,” and the French artist Jacques Villeglé presented her with a ring bearing symbols from the artist’s political repertory.

Benvenuto Cellini, the Italian Renaissance artist and goldsmith, made gem-set baubles for his Florentine patrons: But the history of modern artist-designed jewelry goes back barely a century. “The history really begins with the sculptors Calder and Bertoia, who first had the idea to make with their own hands a new kind of jewelry, using unusual materials,” said Marguerite de Cerval, a historian of jewelry based in Paris.

Alexander Calder, the American sculptor best known for his mobiles, or suspended, articulated abstract sculptures, made more than 1,800 handmade pieces of jewelry, often using common materials like brass or steel wire, rope, leather, or ceramics.Full color plasticcard printing and manufacturing services.

“For Calder, making jewelry was not a marginal activity: He created a veritable oeuvre,” Ms. de Cerval said.

Real, common and kills

World Health Organisation’s new report indicated that around the world, 15 million babies are born prematurely each year, and one million of them die. Experts, warning that the numbers of preterm births had increased globally in the last 20 years stated that many of the deaths could have been prevented, reports Sade Oguntola.

The birth of a child, which ordinarily should be a joyous experience, too often ends in death if such a child is born prematurely. Premature birth is the second greatest killer of babies worldwide — after pneumonia. A new report about premature delivery called “Born Too Soon” shows that globally, one in 10 babies is born prematurely.We offer you the top quality plasticmoulds design

Unfortunately, 1.1 million of such babies born prematurely die every year, the majority occuring shortly after their birth. Others survive, but suffer disabilities for the rest of their lives, affecting their health, nervous system or ability to access education.

The report stating that the cost of babies being born too soon to families and society was huge, said that still yet many of the preterm babies who die could survive if they had access to existing, relatively inexpensive treatments.

More than 100 experts from 40 United Nations agencies, universities and other organisations contributed to the report, which was published by the March of Dimes. These are World Health Organisation, Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and Save the Children. It stated what exactly is known about preterm birth, its causes, and the kinds of care that are needed.

According to the report, all but two of the 11 countries with the highest levels of premature birth of over 15 per cent are in sub-Saharan Africa. While 12 per cent of babies in low-income countries are born too soon, only nine per cent are in richer countries. But the United States and Brazil have similar levels of premature birth to many poorer countries.

More than one in nine of births in the United States are preterm, a rate of around 12 per cent. And that is even after preterm birth rates in the U.S. have declined for four consecutive years.

India has the highest number of premature births, at more than 3.Award Winning solarpanel and heat pumps for electricity and heating.5 million,Stone Source offers a variety of Natural stonemosaic Tiles, while China recorded nearly 1.2 million, followed by Nigeria, Pakistan and Indonesia, with figures around 700,000. But calculating the rate of preterm births per 100 births instead of per country, the list was dominated by sub-Saharan African countries. It was topped by Malawi, Comoros and Congo and Zimbabwe. Malawi recorded 18.1 premature births per 100 live births. Kenya had 12 preterm births out of every 100 births, whereas Uganda recorded a rate of 13 preterm births out of every 100 births.

For the purpose of the report, preterm birth was considered as occurring before 37 weeks. But research continues to show that a healthy baby requires 39 weeks of gestation to ensure that the brain, liver and lungs are fully developed.

Although European countries featured on the list of countries with the lowest rates of preterm births, with some of the lowest rates recorded in Belarus, Latvia, and Lithuania and Estonia, experts alerted that in all but three countries, preterm birth rates increased in the last 20 years, an indication that the numbers of preterm births are increasing globally.

The report, which highlighted the dramatic survival gap between low-income and high-income countries for babies born before 28 weeks, indicated that in low-income countries, more than 90 per cent of extremely preterm babies die within the first few days of life, while less than 10 per cent die in high-income countries.

But preterm births in lower income countries are linked to health problems like malaria, HIV and high adolescent pregnancy rates. Those in richer countries are linked to higher number of older mothers, and the use of fertility treatments.

The United States,CMI moulding sells to retailers, for example, had a unique combination of teenage pregnancies and women over 35 giving birth to twins, triplets or more after in-vitro fertilisation, with these babies deliberately delivered early by caesarean section according to the study. Added to the number are premature births due to complications from obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking and lack of early prenatal care.

Unfortunately, prematurity is not accorded much importance as other diseases such as breast cancer and AIDS. Yet more than 40 per cent of deaths of children less than five years of age are associated with preterm birth and why it happens remains a mystery in many cases.

Conversely, research has it that being born prematurely may carry some risk on cognitive abilities such as memory and attention. Researchers found that when tested in early adulthood, people who were born extremely premature — with a birth weight of less than 3.3 lbs. — generally scored lower on tests of executive function than babies born full-term. On IQ tests, adults who were born premature scored 8.4 points lower on average than those who were born full-term.

No doubt, preterm infants have a higher risk of dying in the first few years of life. But their risk of dying does not wane over time. A research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which looked at 674,000 Swedish babies born between 1973 and 1979 and tracked them until they were between 29 and 36 years old, indicated that preterm infants had a 59 per cent increased risk of death in early childhood (between ages one and five), compared with babies born later. They succumbed to congenital anomalies, mostly heart defects as well as respiratory and endocrine problems.

Nonetheless, medical experts suggested that women can reduce their risk of complications associated with pregnancy, including premature delivery by starting her prenatal care early and attend all of her prenatal care visits.I found them to have sharp edges where the injectionmoldes came together while production. This allows close monitoring of the progress of her pregnancy, and any problem that may arise can be addressed timely.

How to be a Chelsea tourist guide

As the weather improves, our little part of the Manhattan grid again begins to crowd with folks holding maps and staring upward with glazed looks in their eyes. The High Line, the art galleries, Chelsea Market (not to mention big events like Gay Pride) bring us thousands of visitors — especially on the weekends.

Ever since I moved to New York two decades ago, I’ve enjoyed living in a destination city — and bossing people around.Posts with Hospital rtls on IT Solutions blog covering Technology in the Classroom,

Please don’t stop mid-sidewalk.At Blow mouldengineering we specialize in conceptual prototype design. Fifth Avenue is that way. Yes,Enhancements to RSS Based indoortracking. that is the new World Trade Center going up.

If not for good karma, then at least for tax revenue (how do you think the streets stay clean during a recession?), I implore us all to put our smiles on and be helpful to tourists — whether it’s sharing a local fact or pointing the way to a bathroom. Technically, one must be certified to be a paid guide…but here’s how to be a friendlier host when you see a fanny pack.

“Do you love Christmas?”

This is an easy opener to anyone wandering, especially if they’ve got kids. Well, over on Ninth Avenue, you can say, there’s the grand General Theological Seminary, built in the 1830s on Chelsea Square — a hugely significant location in neighborhood history. This was the heart of Dr. Clement C. Moore’s property, passed down from a relative, Thomas Clarke — a captain in the British Army who actually gave Chelsea its name.

Pressed by the city to develop the farmland estate into a neighborhood, Dr. Moore sold most of his family’s property to well-heeled New Yorkers along the Manhattan grid. But what most people know from Clement Moore is his poem, “Twas the Night Before Christmas” (also known as “A Visit from St. Nicholas”). The poem formed the conception of Santa Claus, including the number of reindeer. There’s a playground named for Clement Clarke Moore on Tenth Avenue at 22nd Street.

“Looking for someplace good to eat?”

It always depresses me to see tourists awkwardly eating a microwaved sandwich in Dunkin’ Donuts when they could be at a famous local spot. You should feel an obligation as a New Yorker to promote the bagel industry. Right in Chelsea we have two of the best along Eighth Avenue: Murray’s Bagels (West 22nd Street) and Brooklyn Bagel and Coffee (West 24th Street).

Visitors will probably already know Chipotle, the Mexican fast food grill brand, but what they won’t know is that behind the scenes of the Eighth Avenue and West 18th Street location is award-winning (Rising Star Chef from the James Beard Foundation, a Food & Wine magazine Best New Chef) Nate Appleman. By many accounts, it’s the best Chipotle in the city.

Other good choices are the iconic Highliner Diner (more famous in its previous incarnation as Empire Diner) on Tenth Avenue and West 22nd Street, first built in the 1940s. My friend Andrea also recommends Spice, a deal at a two-course sit-down meal for about eight bucks (8th Avenue). If your tourists seem more like pub people, Peter McManus Cafe on Seventh Avenue and West 19th Street is one of the oldest family-owned bars in the city.

More notorious these days for its current real estate drama between tenants and the owners, The Chelsea Hotel (at 222 West 23rd Street) is a New York Landmark. The building reportedly had the first penthouse in New York City and was once called “Hobohemian Haven” as well as “The Duchess of 23rd Street.” Tell visitors to read the plaques for signs of Dylan Thomas, Sarah Bernhardt, Mark Twain and O. Henry. Arthur C. Clarke wrote “2001: A Space Odyssey” here. According to my antique copy of “Turn West on 23rd,” O. Henry would check in each time under a different name, and in 1953, poet Dylan Thomas was carried out of the hotel to die at St. Vincent’s of alcoholism. His last drinks,Ultimate magiccube gives you the opportunity to make your own 3D twisty puzzles. you can add, may have been at nearby White Horse Tavern down on Hudson Street in the West Village.

“Don’t forget to look up.”

New York’s skyline usually gets more attention uptown and downtown, but we have some distinctive architecture right here to point out. On one end of Chelsea is the Flatiron Building, the very first skyscraper, and on the far west side along Eleventh Avenue at 18th Street is Internet behemoth IAC’s Frank Gehry-designed headquarters which looks like a sailboat. In between, you can find gorgeous brownstones (I used to live in one) and the gothic General Theological Seminary campus which, including its charming, leafy Close, takes up one city block between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, on West 21st Street.

London Terrace (23rd Street and Ninth Avenue), also impressive to point out to visitors, was one of the largest apartment complexes when it opened in the 1930s. Fun fact: the scene in 1985’s movie “Cocoon,” in which the senior citizens jumped into the water to be rejuvenated, was filmed in their swimming pool. Several contemporary architects have also designed new apartment buildings,What you should know about stone mosaic. such as Jean Nouvel and his Chelsea Nouvel on Eleventh Avenue.

With state weak, Libyans look to God for help

Mohamed Salem believes it was divine intervention that saved the Muslim holy site where he works from being destroyed.

In early March, word reached the keepers of the ornate shrine, the most important of its kind in Libya, that ultra-conservative Salafis were on their way to destroy it as part of a campaign to wipe out any symbols they see as idolatrous.

The curators sent for help. Volunteer militia units came from nearby towns. They surrounded the shrine complex - which houses the tomb of the 15th-century Sufi scholar Abdel Salam al-Asmar - with pick-up trucks mounted with anti-aircraft weapons, and waited to repel the attack.

Then a sandstorm, rare at that time of year, whipped up and shrouded the mosque from view. The attack never came.

"The dust was so thick and the wind so strong you couldn't see your hand in front of you," said Salem, a caretaker and religious teacher at the complex. "God protected the grave of this scholarly man and protected us from harm."

Since last year's revolt ended Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule over Libya, people have grown used to looking to their own resources, or to God, to help them out, because they feel they cannot count on their government.

The struggle over this shrine in Zlitan, about 160 km (90 miles) west of the Libyan capital, is the story of Libya as it struggles to re-shape itself after Gaddafi's rule.

It is the story of the battle for the right to define what it means to be a Muslim in Libya, of theological arguments being settled by weapons, and of an interim government that is so weak that it cannot impose its authority over opposing factions.

The ending has not yet been written.

The conflict over the al-Asmar tomb and hundreds of other shrines like it has not been resolved. Instead, the National Transitional Council (NTC) has postponed a decision by ordering that all the shrines be closed until it decided on a way out.

"We are keeping this subject on hold," said NTC spokesman Mohammed al-Harizy. "We have other subjects which are more important than the graves right now.Posts with Hospital rtls on IT Solutions blog covering Technology in the Classroom,"

One afternoon in March, Salem unlocked and pushed open the door to the shrine, at the centre of the complex which also includes a school and a mosque.

A burst of incense and musk greeted him as he slipped off his slippers and muttered a short prayer before entering the cool room.

The coffin of al-Asmar stood inside, covered with Turkish rugs and surrounded by intricate blue and white mosaic patterns on the wall.

Students from all over Libya come to study Islamic law and to memorize the Islamic holy book, the Koran, at the university and school built around the shrine. Now, numbers are down.

In the school halls, the voices of young boys and girls echo in unison.

"We usually have 600 girls a day come to memorize Koran, but the parents are now afraid the Salafis will attack so only 100 show up," said teacher Wafa al-Ati.

Sufism, a mystical strain of Islam, dates back to the faith's early days. Apart from the standard prayers, Sufi devotions include singing hymns, chanting the names of God or dancing to heighten awareness of the divine.

Sufis also build shrines to revered holy men and scholars and make pilgrimages to them. There are hundreds of the shrines all over Libya. Even Gaddafi, with his ambivalent attitude to religion, did not try to interfere in a practice that is so deep-seated in Libyan culture.

But since the end of Gaddafi's rule, a new trend has emerged to challenge Sufi traditions.

Under Gaddafi's rule, many Salafis were jailed for their beliefs and those not imprisoned spent years avoiding any outward manifestation of their beliefs.

Files from Gaddafi's internal security agency, seen by Reuters after the revolt, show there was a special department set up to track hardline Islamists. Anyone suspected of affiliation was denied the right to travel abroad, enroll in university or take public sector jobs.

Since that system of repression collapsed, Salafis have become emboldened. Some have acquired weapons and used them to enforce their ultra-purist view of Islam.

The Salafis believe Islam should be followed in the simple, ascetic form practiced by the Prophet Mohammed and his disciples. Any later additions to the faith -- including tombs or lavish grave markings - are viewed by them as idolatry.

They have alarmed many secularist Libyans by trying to enforce their strict moral code. The Salafis have burned down halls were parties are held and harassed women who do not cover their heads.

In the eastern city of Benghazi, organizers of a rap concert featuring a famous Tunisian artist were forced to cancel the event after being threatened by a Salafi brigade called Libya's Shield.

Worried that the Salafis would attack their joyful annual parades to celebrate the Prophet Mohammad's birthday in February, Sufi mosques sought safety in numbers and held a joint procession in Tripoli's walled old city. The event,What are hemorrhoids? which Salafis also consider idolatrous, went off without incident.

The main front in their campaign has been their attacks on Sufi shrines,We looked everywhere, but couldn't find any beddinges. which are a traditional part of Libyan Islam. Dozens have been demolished all around the country and the bodies of their holy men dug up and dumped elsewhere.

The defenders of the shrine in Zlitan believe a Salafi militia, called the Thalath Salafi brigade, was behind the aborted attack on the complex.

The brigade is stationed in a former military base in the nearby town of Khoms. Commanders declined an interview with Reuters but in March,Find everything you need to know about kidneystones including causes, a spokesman addressed an angry crowd calling for their departure from the town.

"Having any sign or tomb marking a grave is a form of infidelity and must be removed," said the spokesman for the brigade, Jalal al-Gheit. "We prefer to call it a reorganization of the graves."

The evidence of the Salafi campaign can be seen at what remains of the Sidi Gibran shrine, also in Zlitan.

Large concrete pieces attached to metal wires dangle from where the roof used to be. A hole filled with rubble remains where the grave of the holy man, after whom the shrine is named, was dug up.

The shrine's caretaker, who lives nearby, said he witnessed the desecration one afternoon when he heard the rumble of a tractor outside his house.

"I walked out and was surprised to see 16 bearded Salafis carrying Kalashnikovs, and breaking the tomb using a Caterpillar tractor," said Faraj al-Shimi.This page is an introduction to 35 pages of material on mathematical magiccubes. "They all ran away when I threatened to call the police."

Palestinians march in annual mourning ritual marking their ‘catastrophe’

Palestinians on Tuesday marked their mass displacement that followed Israel’s creation with a blend of sadness and hope, stopping in their tracks for a mournful siren but also flashing victory signs and carrying banners proclaiming their right of return.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were forced from their villages during the war that established the Jewish state in 1948, an event they commemorate every year as their “Nakba,” or catastrophe.

Today, surviving refugees and their descendants number several million who are scattered across the globe, many still living in squalid camps in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and surrounding Arab countries.

Saadat Jaber, 62, said he has passed on the story of his family’s uprooting from what is now the Israeli city of Lod to his offspring.

“I still have hope,” Jaber said as he marched with thousands of others to the center of the West Bank town of Ramallah. “Now Israel is a great power, but there were empires in history that collapsed and people that were oppressed by these empires took back their rights.Find rubberhose companies from India.”

In three West Bank areas north and south of Jerusalem, dozens of Palestinian stone-throwers clashed with Israeli troops who fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel pellets. The Palestinian Red Crescent said 30 people were hurt by the rubber bullets and dozens suffered from tear gas inhalation.

The 64th anniversary of the Nakba comes after nearly two decades of failed efforts to negotiate the terms of a Palestinian state with Israel.Home ownership options with buy mosaic.The core of an indoor positioning system.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been unable to find enough common ground to renew talks that broke down in 2008. Abbas says Israel must halt settlement construction on occupied land sought by the Palestinians. Netanyahu says talks should resume without preconditions.

The Nakba Day commemorations highlighted the political disagreements between Abbas and his main political rival, the Islamic militant Hamas, which seized Gaza from him in 2007.

Abbas seeks a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War — but has been vague on the fate of the refugees.

Israeli-Palestinian negotiations never got down to details on the issue,Save up to 80% off Ceramic Tile and porcelaintiles. though there is broad opposition in Israel to a mass resettlement of Palestinians, which would rob Israel of its Jewish majority.

In a Nakba Day speech late Monday, the Western-backed Abbas referred to ending Israel’s occupation of the lands captured in 1967, saying that “no matter how strong and aggressive, it will be removed.Buy high quality bedding and bed linen from Yorkshire Linen.”

Hamas’ founding charter calls for Israel’s destruction and return of all refugees. While some Hamas leaders now raise the possibility of a state alongside Israel, they won’t say whether they consider this to be a temporary arrangement.

In Gaza City, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said that “our message to the refugees is that we will not give up the right of return ... We will not accept any project that abandons the right of return or affects our sacred rights to the homeland.”

In Ramallah, the seat of Abbas’ self-rule government, thousands marched to the city’s central Manara Square. During a one-minute siren, many stood at attention and flashed V-for-victory signs.

In the biblical town of Bethlehem, hundreds of school children wearing black T-shirts with 1948 printed on them marched through the streets, waving black flags that read “64 years of Nakba.”

Clashes between Palestinian stone-throwers and Israeli troops erupted at Rachel’s Tomb, an Israeli enclave in Bethlehem, and at the Ofer and Qalandia checkpoints near Jerusalem.

In Hamas-run Gaza, some 3,000 Palestinians marched to the local U.N. office. They carried banners reading “We shall return” and listing the names of their original villages. Haniyeh and several Hamas security officials ran a two-kilometer (1.5 mile) race that ended at the Palestinian parliament.

On an upbeat note, Palestinians celebrated the end of a weekslong hunger strike Monday by hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel. The fate of prisoners is a deeply emotional issue; nearly everyone here has a neighbor, friend or relative of who spent time in an Israeli jail.

The prisoners obtained better conditions, including more family visits and limits to a controversial Israeli policy that can imprison people for years without charge. Israel extracted pledges by militant groups to halt violent activities, and by negotiating an end to the strike with the help of Egypt, prevented the potentially explosive scenario of prisoners dying of hunger.

From The Hands of Smugglers to Community Leaders

“To get into the United States, I swam across the river in south Texas, in the middle of the night in my underwear, carrying a plastic bag filled with dry clothes.” This was the beginning of Olga Cantarero’s harrowing journey from Nicaragua to the United States — fearing for her life at the hands of her smugglers. Olga’s story is filled with tragedies and triumphs.

When Olga was 19, her work as a volunteer for the Red Cross was seen as subversive and, with her life at risk, she was forced to flee her native Nicaragua. She endured a dangerous journey through Mexico across the border to Texas – she walked throughout the night with no food or water, passing the bodies of women and children who had died on their journeys to freedom. She now works with immigrant and asylum-seeking girls in Texas, girls ages 13-17 who faced persecution in their home countries or suffered similar traumas during their own difficult journeys to the United States.

8,000 miles away, Rim Tekie Solomon, the daughter or Eritrean parents, was 15 years old when she fled Sudan and crossed the Sinai Desert on foot with her mother and five younger siblings. When she first arrived in Israel, she lived in a detention center, taught herself Hebrew and translated for other detainees. She is now 20 years old and works as a translator with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the African Refugee Development Center. Rim also volunteers with the Hagar & Miriam project, helping young asylum-seeking women who are pregnant or new mothers through an initiative called “African and Israeli Women in Friendship and Motherhood.”

I met Olga and Rim at the Women’s Refugee Commission 2012 Voices of Courage Awards Luncheon where they were being honored for their work to improve the lives and protect the rights of displaced women and girls. Olga and Rim found the strength and courage to became leaders in their communities, leveraging their unique experiences to bring healing to refugees and asylum seekers around the world. They are survivors helping others survive. They are leaders.

The theme of this year’s awards luncheon was protecting and empowering displaced adolescent girls. The Women’s Refugee Commission fights for the rights of refugee women and children around the world. The nonprofit organization identifies problems, researches solutions and advocates for real change that will improve the lives of women, children and young people displaced by conflict and natural disasters.

“I was born in a refugee camp in Sudan. When I was still a baby, my parents left the camp and we moved to Khartoum. We had a good life there: I attended school, and had lots of friends.Industrialisierung des werkzeugbaus. Then one day, when I was 16, my father said that we were in danger and that we had to leave the country immediately.

That same afternoon, my mother, my five younger brothers and sisters and I fled to Egypt. We had to leave all of our belongings behind.

After we arrived in Cairo, we walked across the Sinai Desert to Israel. The journey took about 3 weeks and was very dangerous.Wireless real realtimelocationsystem utlilizing wifi access points to pinpoint position of the tag. During the day, we were passed from one smuggler to another. Smugglers do terrible things. Most of the refugees had no food or water. I have heard hundreds of stories of torture and rape. The world needs to know what smugglers are doing. I heard gunshots as we crossed the border.

Since we moved to Tel Aviv four years ago, my mom was able to get a job cleaning houses, and I graduated from high school.We offer you the top quality plasticmoulds design Now I work translating for asylum seekers.

But the most rewarding thing I do is my volunteer work with the Israeli organization, Hagar and Miriam, part of Topaz and Brit-Olam. I help young Sudanese and Eritrean girls who are pregnant or new mothers, who have just arrived in Israel. They often come alone, with only the clothes on their backs and the baby in their arms. They are overwhelmed by a culture and a language that are so foreign to them. And they have nobody to turn to for help. On top of that, they don’t know much about pregnancy, or childbirth or how to be a mother. We teach them how to stay safe and prepare for life in Israel, which is totally different than their home country.

When my mom was a girl in Sudan, she was married at the age of 13. I don’t want this to happen in my generation. Teenage girls in Israel have more choices and more freedom. Girls who have just arrived from Africa need to learn how to protect themselves. At that age, they don’t know what’s right and wrong. They need to be true to their traditions, yet live in a different society.

When I left Sudan,Trade organization for suppliers and distributors in the promotional products industry. I had nobody to help me or give me advice. Everything I learned,An airpurifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. I learned by myself. Now, I am able to help other girls recover from their painful journeys and restart their lives in Tel Aviv. They have gone through so much – sometimes it’s hard for me to talk about it – but they’re also amazingly strong and determined.

Bland Mr Creme Caramel who always knew he'd be president

Bespectacled, earnest, mild-mannered and bland, the Socialist candidate has been ridiculed by the press, on the Left and the Right, for being “wishy-washy” and preferring consensus to confrontation in a country that likes its politicians to have elan and character.

Satirical cartoonists have depicted Mr Hollande, 57, as a “Flanby”, a mass-produced crème caramel pudding that wobbles comically when tipped from its plastic mould onto the plate. Many of the nastiest and longest lingering insults have come from his Socialist Party comrades.

Martine Aubry, the left-wing daughter of Jacques Delors, the secular saint of French Socialism, contemptuously described him as having “couilles molles” or “soft balls”,Posts with Hospital rtls on IT Solutions blog covering Technology in the Classroom, a coarse expression meaning that he lacks courage or conviction.

“Frankly, can you imagine Francois Hollande as president of the republic? You must be dreaming,” scoffed Laurent Fabius, a former Socialist prime minister, recently.

Behind the insults and derision lies a much more complex truth: both Ms Aubry and Mr Fabius are defeated rivals, who lost despite their opponent’s apparent lack of drive or confrontation. Mr Hollande may lack a clear ideology or charisma and have the portly persona of an apologetic accountant, but he wins.

Other nicknames, “trickster” or “Chinese”, give Mr Hollande’s game away, that of an implacably ambitious man with a thick skin and ingrained survival instincts who quietly triumphs over his adversaries.

He was born in 1954 in Bois-Guillaume, a respectable middle-class suburb of Rouen in Northern France.Stone Source offers a variety of Natural stonemosaic Tiles, It was a difficult childhood. Georges Hollande, his father, was a doctor involved in extreme right-wing politics and prone to harsh and whimsical treatment of his two sons, Philippe and Francois.

In 1968, when Hollande was 13, his father, at the time publicly hoping that a military dictatorship was about to crush rebellious left-wing students, moved to Neuilly-sur-Seine, later the home turf and power base of Nicolas Sarkozy. During the move, Georges Hollande threw out all his two sons’ possessions, comics, books and posters, including Francois’s beloved collection of Dinky Toys.

While his older brother was sent to a strict boarding school in punishment for open rebellion, Francois learned to keep his head down while quietly rejecting his highly conservative upbringing. Serge Raffy, Mr Hollande’s biographer, observed that he learnt to avoid conflict while pursuing his own agenda. “It was his only way to survive,” he wrote.

In contrast to his father, Mr Hollande's mother, Nicole, was a kind presence, a social worker who pushed her son in the direction of his moderate centre-Left namesake Francois Mitterrand, who was later his mentor and the first Socialist French President of the Fifth Republic.

School friends remember Mr Hollande as a smiling, plump teenager with glasses and, while no one took him seriously or believed him for a moment, a sense of destiny. “I will be president of the Republic,” he told Jean-Louis Audran,We offer you the top quality plasticmoulds design a class mate.

Showing his ambition, Mr Hollande’s education took him to the elite ecole Nationale d'Administration, or ENA, where he joined the ranks of enarques who run the French state and form the highest cadre of the political class. There in 1978 he met Segolène Royal,Silicone moldmaking Rubber, forging a political and romantic partnership that was to last 27 years, a period when the couple became two of the most powerful figures in the Socialist Party.

In 1981 when Mr Mitterrand swept to power Mr Hollande was sent by him to challenge an up and coming Jacques Chirac, later to be French president himself, in the parliamentary seat of Corrèze in the heart of “France profonde”, deep in the central and southern provinces, hours and hundreds of miles from Paris.

Mr Chirac, who roundly trounced him in the election, quipped: “They send me an opponent no more well-known than President Mitterrand's Labrador.”

Unusually, the ambitious young Socialist did not return to Paris, choosing instead to stay in the provincial backwater for seven years before winning the seat in 1988. He was re-elected in 1997, 2002 and 2007. In a twist of fate and as a reward for Mr Hollande’s doggedness, Mr Chirac defied tribal politics to back him in the 2012 presidential race.

Mr Hollande could have taken on Mr Sarkozy in the 2007 presidential election but luckily chose to stay in the background, allowing his partner Ms Royal to try her luck in a contest where defeat and humiliation for any Socialist candidate was probably inevitable.

His discipline was such that he and Ms Royal,CMI moulding sells to retailers, with whom he had four children, kept the break-up of their relationship secret until the vote was safely over. He had left her for another woman, his current partner Valerie Trierweiler, a political journalist.

Ms Trierweiler, 47, transformed Mr Hollande from a figure of ridicule to the first, serious Socialist contender for the French presidency in three decades. Under her tutelage, he lost 22 pounds in politically unpalatable podginess and adopted thinner-framed glasses to give his face a meaner and leaner look.