Venerable MMO 'Lineage 2' now Free to Play

Launched back in 2003 (2004 in the US, the same day as City of Heroes), NCsoft’s Lineage 2 has always been seen as a hardcore MMO experience, not at all friendly to the casual gamer.Buy oil paintings for sale online. Although it featured–for its time, at least–superlative visuals, the game was always beset by bots, gold farmers, gankers, and a host of other discouraging elements, not to mention the fact that, like many Asian MMOs, it was a grindfest without peer. However, since the price of admission was so high, the player base tended towards the mature, patient gamer.

On November 30, 2011, reworked as Lineage 2: Goddess of Destruction, the game was re-launched as a free-to-play title, with vanity items, weapon enhancements, potions, and buffs available via NCsoft’s “Truly Free (TM)” marketplace. Although it once boasted well over a million unique subscribers, there are now just five servers hosting Lineage 2 worldwide, including a new server created for first-time players. Since I spent quite a bit of time with the original game in its early days, I thought I’d drop in on the new, revamped Lineage 2, just to see how it’s holding up.

Upgrades and enhancements to the visuals over the years mean that generally, Lineage 2 still looks decent. Despite the dozens of fantasy-themed MMOs that have come and gone since 2003, the aesthetics of Lineage 2 have changed very little. Character customization is virtually non-existent (two or three faces and a handful of hairstyles added to the usual mixture of humans, elves, orcs,MDC Mould specialized of Injection moulds, etc). As so often the case in Asian MMOs or NCsoft games, female characters are all hugely breasted and garbed in either dominatrix lingerie or schoolgirl fetish outfits; the male characters are simultaneously over-muscled and androgynous, and of course characters run and move in a bizarre,Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising,An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. bent over posture. I’ve never entirely understood the architectural melange of Asain MMOs that somehow draw inspiration from 18th century Europe.Bathroom Floor tiles at Great Prices from Topps Tiles.

Back in its early days, buying black market, farmed gold–and hence, better weapons and armor–was one of the ways that some players circumvented the grind. There was actually no way to avoid it, but at least if you had to kill 100 floating eyeball monsters (which is about where the game jumped the shark for me), you could do it more quickly. From what I can tell, the new and improved Lineage 2 is still a heavy grind-your-way-to-the-top type of game. I’ve no doubt that for high level players and guildies, the endgame is a blast, and at least now there’s no need to dip into the nefarious gold market. However, some of the items in the “Truly Free (TM)” shop are anything but: a “hardcore” gamer enhancement packs runs around $40.

Beyond the aesthetics and the grind, the UI and basic gameplay of Lineage 2 are standard MMO fare. Compared to recent titles such as Rift or SWTOR (or, even NCsoft’s own Aion), the game feels austere and mechanical. While Lineage 2 still retains visual appeal, the lack of well-presented, meaningful story hook to set our tasks in motion and give them context is missing. With NCsoft’s Guild Wars 2 and Lineage Eternal on the horizon it will be interesting to see if, and how, the new titles build on the lessons of the past decade.

After Attawapiskat,An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. what?

When Canadians first saw the news about Attawapiskat they knew that no matter who is at fault, nobody in Canada should be using a plastic bucket for a toilet and have to dump it outside on a regular basis. Nobody should be calling a shack with mould on the walls home. And nobody in Ontario should be paying $23.50 for six apples and four small bottles of juice.

With little evidence, Prime Minister Stephen Harper charged that the funds that the federal government had transferred to the reserve over several years had been mismanaged. With no consultation he put the band under third party management.

The Harper message to Attawapiskat was clear. Blame the victims; discredit the messenger; and sow doubt in the minds of Canadians.

No one’s hands are clean on this issue. The federal government has woefully underfunded the housing, educational and health needs of First Nations for years. The First Nations leadership has not been aggressive and honest enough about the conditions on many reserves. The provincial government has not ensured that the economic benefits from development on traditional lands flowed more equitably to First Nations. And the news media have ignored the reality of Third World conditions in Canada for far too long.

The media take an interest in Ontario’s northern reserves only when there is a crisis. Then they flood into the community, become instant experts and retreat to the comfort of their big city newsrooms until the next crisis. That’s been the unfortunate pattern since the early 1970s when the mercury poisoning of the English-Wabigoon River system resulted in the crisis of Minamata disease at Grassy Narrows.

Catholics have the concept of “sins of omission” — when you fail to do something that you should.Information on useful yeasts and moulds, In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the priest and the Levite who pass by the man “beaten by robbers and left to die” are guilty of sins of omission. The Good Samaritan, who assists him, is not. Let’s not kid ourselves. Most of us knew of the need on many reserves. But because Attawapiskat is hundreds of kilometres even further into the bush than Thunder Bay or Timmins, we pretended that problems did not exist.

This is not the first time there has been a crisis at Attawapiskat.

In 1979, 30,000 gallons of diesel fuel leaked under the elementary school. The school was finally closed in 2001 because of ongoing health problems suffered by students and teachers. Ten years later, the federal government pledged (for the third time) to fund a new school. Meantime, the children remain in inadequate portables.

In May 2008, hundreds of people were evacuated from the community because of flooding caused by ice jams in the Attawapiskat River.

In July 2009, a massive sewage flood dumped waste into eight buildings that housed 90 people. As a stopgap measure, De Beers donated and retrofitted two construction trailers to house 90 people until the damaged homes could be fixed or replaced. Two years later, this “short-term solution” still houses the 90 people — who share six washrooms and four stoves.

When the present state of emergency was declared on Oct. 28, Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan claimed his officials were unaware of Attawapiskat’s housing crisis.As a professional manufacturer of China ceramic tile in China, My question is,Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising, “Where the devil have they been all these years?”

Some may ask, “Why don’t the people of Attawapiskat just move?” That’s like asking: Why don’t the people of Vancouver, Los Angeles and San Francisco move out of the San Andreas/Queen Charlotte Fault zone where earthquakes can occur? Why don’t people in the Caribbean move out of the hurricane zones?

The people of Attawapiskat happen to live on inhospitable land on the fault line between advancing western civilization in pursuit of mineral wealth (mainly diamonds and chromite) and their own hunter/gatherer civilization. Many do not live in Third World conditions. About a third of them do actually get a real living and cultural identity from trapping and harvesting caribou, geese and fish. Another hundred work at the nearby De Beers diamond mine. Many still live on the land, coming into the settlement only at Christmas or other “gathering times.”

They don’t move because it’s their land. It’s home.

The federal government has bought 22 modular homes for the settlement to solve the immediate crisis, and the band has agreed to a full audit. However, after Chief Theresa Spence and Duncan met in Thunder Bay recently, a standoff continues over the imposition of the third party manager. The federal government must find a way to climb down and, in return, the band could agree to the appointment of some kind of “housing czar” to get the much-needed homes there fast and fully functioning.

Meanwhile 100 other Attawapiskats exist.Buy oil paintings for sale online. Canadians must insist that federal and provincial governments, aboriginal leaders and the media keep the spotlight firmly on Canada’s dirty little secret. Far too many of our aboriginal people live in Third World conditions. We cannot ignore them; they are our neighbours. Otherwise — like the priest and the Levite in Christ’s parable — we’ll all be guilty of a massive sin of omission.

Romney Greeted with Enthusiasm at North Liberty Factory Appearance

If anyone at Mitt Romney's event Tuesday night resented the fact that the former Massachusetts governor has not spent much time in Iowa up to this point, they did a good job of hiding it.

The presidential candidate gave a speech and held a brief question and answer session in front of about 300 people on the factory floor of Centro Inc., a plastic mould manufacturer surrounded by housing developments in the quickly growing bedroom community of North Liberty.

There, Romney emphasized his desire to strengthen the American economy using free market principles rather than the "European" style entitlement society that he said President Barack Obama desires.

"The government doesn't create jobs, the American people create jobs," Romney said to cheers from the audience.

Romney suggested he would spur the economy and solve the national debt by reducing regulations, cutting government spending, and by allowing businesses to keep more of their profits by reducing specific taxes, such as the repatriation taxes levied against companies that invest overseas.

In contrast to the events from Romney's rivals Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich, which are dominated by the personalities of the respective candidates, the Romney event had the feel of a polished presidential machine surrounding the candidate: country music and 80s power ballads played over the loud speakers; lighting illuminated the stage; supporters were positioned in rafters strategically behind Romney, with a sign reading "Believe in America" positioned just behind them.Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising, There was even separate cordoned off seating for the sizeable media presence.

It was like being on the stage of a Romney commercial. Mitt and Ann standing on stage together, button-down shirts and sleeves rolled up and blue jeans and aww shucks family moments and a little bit of economic wisdom from Gov. Romney espoused in the midst of blue collar America.

All of it designed to give the impression of confidence, organization, and an inevitable victory.

This presentation seemed to work to great effect on the audience in attendance, who applauded often,Information on useful yeasts and moulds, although not with wild abandon. Many in attendance said afterward that they don't blame Romney for visiting more than he has, and that seeing him in person helped to seal the deal for their decision to caucus in his favor.

"I love him," said Kathy Hogendom, 58, a retired radio station owner who lives in Solon. "I think he's going to be our next president."

Hogendom said although she considers herself fairly conservative on social issues, tBuy oil paintings for sale online.his year the economy and raising deficit trumps everything.

"I think he can beat Obama and that's all that matters to me," she said.

Debbie Tippie, 54, an insurance salesman from North English, said she voted for Romney in 2008, and would almost certainly have voted for him again even if he hadn't campaigned in Iowa at all.

"I like Mitt Romney," she said. "I think he can get things done."

Mike Bloeser, 41, a finance manager from North Liberty,As a professional manufacturer of China ceramic tile in China, brought his children to see the candidate, one of the many families visible in the Romney audience.An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. He said that he hadn't been that excited about any of the candidates before Tuesday, but following the event he may now be leaning toward Romney.

"He is a very good speaker," Bloeser said. "He seemed a lot more personable in person than he does on television."

Rock ’n’ roll ceiling tiles and pickle juice shots at Martini Ranch

My first exposure to Martini Ranch was a rowdy one. On Saturday, December 10, the West Avenue bar hosted a fundraising event for the Bexar County Roller Girls, which came complete with a live punk-rock soundtrack. A rambunctious crowd threw back pints of Lone Star like like it was their job. On special,MDC Mould specialized of Injection moulds, these oversized glass mugs of brew are priced at just $1.75 and practically require two hands to wrangle.

Even without the rollers and rockers, your prissier drinking buddies should probably skip this spot — as should the Grinches, as there’s some serious holiday décor rocking. Lights, trees, stockings, and sparkles adorn every nook and cranny. The kitschy bedazzlement worked for me, successfully remedying an initial apprehension about arriving at a street-level eyesore.

Martini Ranch’s Facebook page describes its laid-back atmosphere as “unique.” It’s seems like a cliché until you check the ceiling, where a mosaic of vibrant, hand-painted tiles adds undeniable personality.Buy oil paintings for sale online. More camp-kid substance than Sistine Chapel, it’s still endearing.

Our crew headed straight to the bar to grab a round of beers and received immediate service with a smile. Later, I learned that one of the friendly faces belonged to Jamie Hoppe, who has been one of Martini Ranch’s owners for more than three years. She made me one of the bar’s specialties: a shot of Jameson chased with a shot of pickle juice called a “pickle-back.” I had to grow a pair quick when I realized that a group of guys at the bar was waiting to see my reaction. Surprisingly,Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising, my taste buds were so shocked by the pickle juice that they completely overlooked the evil Jameson. Martini Ranch goes through about 10 gallons of pickle juice a week, Hoppe said, and shots normally go for $5 each ($4 on Mondays).

Live acts are featured throughout the week, but the Saturday shows are worthy events. Local talent Jason Trevino (acoustic punk, The Rosedale Highs) started off the live music lineup this night around 10 p.m., followed by femme fatale trio Heather Go Psycho (hardcore-meets-hot pink). The bands play in a side room, set up on an animal-print rug with a backdrop of red velvet curtains and portrait of Elvis. The night also featured a set from Austin’s Sixty Minute Man and Clash tribute band, Clampdown.

Martini turned heads with the recent announcement that its weekly open mic would be led by San Antonio’s rock darling, Nina Diaz of Girl in a Coma, fresh off a national tour. The bar also hosts Rockabilly Tuesdays with The Barn Burners, karaoke on Wednesdays, and live music on Thursdays and Fridays (though there is no set schedule for this yet).

San Antonio’s second roller derby organization, the Bexar County Roller Girls, organized the night’s festivities to raise money for the team’s travel expenses. With a coach known as “Hollow Point” and 42 current members, the ladies in attendance at Martini Ranch let us all know that “kickin’ ass is what we do!” I was told that while practice is held twice a week, many train up to five days a week. “Life is short,” a derby flyer reminds us. “Skate hard.”

The rainy weather packed us all indoors, which is really a shame because the crowd that night really could have benefitted from the use of Martini’s recently opened full bar on the patio out back.An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. Multiple dartboards and a pool table could have provided additional entertainment had the place not already been so jam-packed full of awesome.Bathroom Floor tiles at Great Prices from Topps Tiles. Martini’s management also leases the parking lot next door every night for patrons, who had previously complained about cramped parking conditions.

Mumbai cold to fast

Mumbai cold to fast,Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising, Anna health a govt headache

As Lok Sabha debated and passed the Lokpal bill late on Tuesday, worry mounted in Mumbai over Anna Hazare’s health which deteriorated sharply over the evening.

The viral fever that had laid him low in the days leading up to today’s protest fast spiked to 102 degrees F, and his blood pressure rose. Doctors attending on Hazare said his pulse rate had risen to 98, and he had a cold and a chest infection.

Well past midnight, Hazare’s health remained delicate, and there were indications that he could be moved to hospital from the fast venue at the MMRDA grounds in Bandra-Kurla Complex overnight.

A team of doctors from JJ Hospital visited him and drew his blood for tests. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan spoke to him and appealed to him to end his fast. The chief minister said Hazare had told him that he would do as his doctors advise him to.

Officials in Mumbai and Delhi said the government was watching the situation closely. Given earlier experiences with the agitation in Delhi, the government, they said, was wary of appearing to force its will on Hazare, or take any action in a hurry.

Earlier in the evening, Arvind Kejriwal, Hazare’s close aide and member of Team Anna’s core committee, said he had made a fresh appeal to the activist to call off his fast but the 74-year-old was unrelenting.

Kejriwal and fellow activist Kiran Bedi had implored Hazare to end his fast in the morning as well, but Hazare had insisted that the crowds gathered in his support gave him the energy to carry on.

In fact, there wasn’t much of a crowd to speak of.

For an agitation that has always based its claims of legitimacy in numbers, be it at public meetings or on the web, the financial capital provided a significant reality check. None of the numbers freely bandied around by Hazare and his team —“lakhs”, “crores”, and poll ratings in the nineties — were in evidence at the MMRDA grounds, where the peak attendance did not appear to have gone beyond 10,000 at any point.As a professional manufacturer of China ceramic tile in China,

Until Hazare’s speech began around 3 pm,An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. no more than 5,000 people were scattered around the 20,000-sq metre ground. A separate 10,000-sq metre area reserved for parking was almost entirely deserted. By 4 pm, about 8,000 to 10,000 people had gathered, a far cry from the 50,000 to 75,000 that India Against Corruption, the organisation spearheading the campaign, had predicted.

From his fasting podium, Hazare gave his familiar call for a sustained people’s movement to demand, after the Jan Lokpal bill,Information on useful yeasts and moulds, a law giving citizens the right to reject all candidates in an election. He also repeated his plan to tour the country in 2012 to campaign against the UPA government if it did not pass a strong Lokpal bill.

The government, Hazare told a modest gathering that was not estimated to have crossed 10,000 at any point during the day, was betraying not Team Anna but the people — and the people would strike back.

“Dilli ke parliament se jan parliament badi hai.The Transaction Group offers the best high risk merchant account services,.. Dilli ka parliament janata ke parliament ne banaayi hai,” he said.

A government that baton charges or fires on protesting farmers is autocratic, Hazare said, adding that a ‘right to reject’ law would ensure “goondas” would stay out of parliament and vidhan sabhas. Those who lose in such an election should not be allowed to contest again, he said.

Doctors said the activist was weak from having not eaten well for the past five days, and medicines would work well only if he ate solid food. Dr Devlat Pote, Hazare’s personal physician, said the activist had slept through much of Tuesday, which was unusual.

Hazare’s fast was shifted from Delhi to Mumbai to escape the capital’s harsh winter, but the weather in Mumbai has not been kind either. Mumbai’s suburbs, where Hazare is fasting, saw a record minimum of 11.4 degrees C before he began his fast today, and witnessed a huge variation during the day, with the maximum touching 30.3 degrees C. The forecast is for similar lows in the coming days.

Following the uncertainties surrounding Hazare’s health over the past few days, a fully equipped team of health specialists was present at the MMRDA grounds. In the morning, Pote had said that although Hazare’s health had improved over the past two days, it continued to be fragile.

“Anna’s blood pressure, pulse and weight is normal as of now. His last meal was yesterday’s lunch. We have advised him to drink plenty of water. Although his fever has subsided, the fluctuating weather condition has caused him a sore throat but overall, his condition is fine,” Pote had said in the morning.

Mobile coupons coming of age

It seems mobile coupons are finally coming of age. While there have been many early adaptors and technology solutions waiting for a market for quite some time, the last six months have seen an incredible increase in brands embracing the full mobile voucher (coupon) opportunity. As early as 2005, I saw the first very crude attempts to use SMS coupons: redeemed via a cash register and point of sale (POS) terminal using a series of jerry rigged register keys counting coupons presented and POS terminals fashioned to fit coupons into a gift card type model. Irrespective of the success, mobile coupons have struggled to gain traction because the redemption tracking was challenging and disruptive to the checkout process.

Coupons with notional value where viral distribution is part of the campaign mechanic required little or no closed loop processing. But vouchers with cash values and those used to represent significant value goods presented challenges if systems weren’t integrated to prevent multiple use. Not only were the processes and use of electronic devices at the checkout a challenge, but the scanning of coupons on mobiles was not the most reliable process!

As early as 2004, Mobilize Systems in the UK launched its ‘Shop, Scan, Save’ program, which was one of the first closed loop mobile coupon redemption systems utilising hardware at POS to scan or enter the barcode and validate the coupon.

Today, there are a number of organisations building very sophisticated systems to provide a comprehensive closed loop mobile coupon ecosystem. It’s logical that the POS terminal be the key to the redemption that has been the endeavour of many SMS-based systems since 2004/5. But, in reality, it’s been the last 12 months where consumer acceptance, retailers’ systems and agency understanding have all aligned to see new and exciting programs coming into the market.

The Starbucks mobile payment initiative and the Target text alert mobile coupon platform come from two very high profile retailers that have taken the time to understand the medium and created programs that win the hearts and minds of consumers. Interestingly, two years ago these kinds of initiatives in Australia saw average results and were met with roadblocks and disappointing adoption rates. Most of the performance disappointments were due to poor planning, poor execution and the disconnected worlds of IT techos and agency creative people simply not meeting anywhere close to the middle.

If you’ve ever tried, considered,As a professional manufacturer of China ceramic tile in China, dabbled, explored or even dismissed mobile coupons in the past, then think again; the time has arrived and the early adoption teething problems have been solved. From the scanning through to redemption tracking, mobile coupon platforms are sophisticated and emerging from all kinds of organisations. Some of the more interesting ones are now even integrating high-end CRM (customer relationship management) systems and applying behavioural monitoring and pre-emptive shopping tools. Even more interesting, is that this new breed of retail coupon champions is not from the geek/tech world, and is not from highly creative and abstract agency land, but fits somewhere in the middle with strong retail forensic skills and systems that support their strategy.An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air.

To help get back on focus with mobile coupons, here is a collection of facts and figures, along with a discussion and relevancy for our market. Remember always with mobile stats, it’s important to appreciate their context in terms of geography, as markets like the UK and the US have very different influences and usage patterns:

According to the Annual Topline US ‘CPG Coupon Facts Report’ for 2010, released by NCH Marketing Services, shoppers saved US $3.7 billion with coupons in 2010, representing a 5.7 percent increase from 2009 (US). Interestingly, it was generally regarded in 2008/9 that Australia was a leader in the trial and exploration of mobile coupons, just behind the UK and far ahead of the US, but, based on this, the US has now embraced and accelerated past Australia. Bigger risk takers or better marketers?

In 2010, an average of $1.46 of coupon face value was distributed, representing a 6.6 percent increase from 2009. Sites like Myzerr and Cellfire have helped raise the bar on coupon value from soft offers of a free coffee to vouchers with hard tangible cash value. I believe that, within the next six months as redemption abuse is able to be managed and controlled through complete closed loop systems, we will see far higher value being used in vouchers to the point of them almost being able to be used as ‘stored value coupons’ in the same manner as gift cards (such as the Starbuck payment system). Imagine being able to MMS a friend a $100 mobile gift card voucher for a retail outlet and all parties knowing its secure, reliable, traceable and, most importantly, fraud resilient.

Redemption volume in the US grew 3.Information on useful yeasts and moulds,1 percent to 3.3 billion CPG coupons in 2010. The increasing trend in consumer use of coupons was further supported by NCH’s Consumer Survey and tends to be a self-fulfilling growth accelerator; as consumers begin to understand and use mobile coupons,The Transaction Group offers the best high risk merchant account services, the number of retailers adopting the approach rallies exponentially. It didn’t take long after the technology was able to support the strategy that frugal consumers saw the huge savings achievable through mobile coupons. And, best of all, there’s no metre-high pile of newspapers and catalogues and hours of cutting and collating to collect the coupons. Text and join, click to buy and a range of other online methods make the receipt of cash saving coupons fast and efficient.

More than 300 million consumers around the world will have used mobile coupons by 2014 and this usage will generate a redemption value close to US $6 billion globally,Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising, according to a forecast and report by Juniper Research. This is a statistic I’ve now seen in a few places. I am not sure how it was attained, but what it does now demonstrate is that mobile coupons and vouchers are a strong growing digital channel that simply has to form part of a unified cross-media strategy.

A dino dynamo

Like all little boys, Don Lessem was fascinated by dinosaurs. Growing up in the New York suburb of Scarsdale, he used to make frequent visits to the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. But even at that age, he had an urge to educate.

"I would give tours," Lessem recalls. "Nobody asked me. I just decided that would be a good thing to do, to take people around the museum. When you're 5, you know more about dinosaurs than any adult, or at least you think you do."

Lessem calls himself "Dino Don" and now lives in Media, and though he is strictly an amateur dinosaur authority, he probably knows nearly as much as many professional paleontologists. He describes himself as "the world's leading popularizer of dinosaurs." He is the author of more than 40 books on dinosaurs, was an adviser on the movie Jurassic Park and for Disney films and theme parks, and he has been the host and writer of Nova and Discovery Channel documentaries.

He has participated in 20 dinosaur digs in places including Mongolia, China, and Argentina; raised millions of dollars along with the late Michael Crichton for dinosaur research; and amassed the largest private collection of cast dinosaur skeletons and robotics in the world, about 50 altogether.

Some of the biggest are in the Franklin Institute in the exhibition "Giant Mysterious Dinosaurs," which runs until April 15. Lessem also has dinosaurs displayed at the Granite Run Mall in Media. "Dino Don's Dinosaurium" is a "weird Barnum-esque attraction" ("the Greatest Show Unearthed!") that draws 1,000 people on a good weekend, he says.

"They're mysterious in a lot of ways," Lessem says of the dinosaurs at the Franklin. "There are no North American dinosaurs in this exhibit, because they're all from either China, Argentina, or Europe, so they're things kids wouldn't have seen before. And they're mysterious, too, because we're trying to answer this question of how they got so big."

Two of the most awe-inspiring are the plant-eating Mamenchisaurus, which lived in China about 160 million years ago. It is 66 feet long and weighed 20 tons or more. The longest-necked, most pea-headed animal that ever lived, it sucked down food and digested it in its hindgut over several days.

Another major attraction is the Giganotosaurus, which lived 101 million years ago. T. rex on steroids, it reached a length of 45 feet and weighed 10 tons. It had an enormous skull and jaw muscles to chew its food, and needed to consume hundreds of pounds of meat weekly.

Lessem believes the exhibition includes the most (about 20) and biggest dinosaurs ever to tour, including real dinosaur fossil eggs and animated robotic dinosaurs. These are rare castings made from molds of original dinosaur bones and carefully assembled according to the best scientific evidence in an ever-evolving field.

"There's no way to appreciate something this enormous from a book or movie. You really have to see it first-hand. The sense of wonder and awe is almost like being in a cathedral."

Lessem may have been a dinosaur geek early, but after age 8, he became interested in other things, such as baseball and girls. In college, he majored in Asian art history and in graduate school, he studied primatology. But jobs were scarce, so he drifted into journalism and became a science writer for the Boston Globe. In 1987, when he was assigned to do a story about a couple of paleontologists at work in Montana and Utah, his interest in dinosaurs blossomed.

"I was fascinated not so much by the dinosaurs as the process,Buy oil paintings for sale online." Lessem says. "It was accessible science, not like brain surgery. It was visible and tangible. Each dinosaur fossil was like a jigsaw puzzle. You don't have all the pieces, but you take what you have and try to visualize the rest."

The field was also in transition,MDC Mould specialized of Injection moulds, shifting from simply finding the biggest dinosaur to trying to achieve a more sophisticated understanding of how dinosaurs behaved.

Lessem, 60, who suffers no shortage of curiosity and enthusiasm, became so infatuated that he produced a 950-page book that surveyed virtually everything happening in the universe of dinosaurs. His editor jettisoned 600 pages, and Lessem had a revelation.

"I kind of realized that the audience was not grown-ups; it was children," says Lessem, who adds, somewhat gratuitously, "I really like acting like a kid."

Dismayed by the outdated information in children's science books, he set out to rectify it. He has written 45 children's science books. His most recent work is The Ultimate Dinopedia, produced with National Geographic. He is also the dinosaur columnist for Highlights magazine, where he has fielded 11,000 letters over the last 10 years. (Most commonly asked questions: "Who would kill who? Would T. rex win if he fought this guy?" "What color were they?" "How did they die?")

"I try to merge being a wise-guy with providing information," Lessem says of his mode of instruction. "If scientists could talk or were more interested in talking to the public, I'd be out of work, but for the most part, that doesn't happen. My hero is David Attenborough,Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising," he says, referring to the British natural-history filmmaker. "I'm like a low-budget David Attenborough."

"Don is certainly a dinosaur showman. In many regards, he is a dinosaur entrepreneur," says Tyler Lyson, a Yale University doctoral student in the department of geology and geophysics who's in charge of setting up the exhibition when it moves from place to place. "The world of paleontology can be a tough place to find work, but Don has certainly done very well writing numerous children's books and putting together some of the world's largest dinosaur traveling exhibits.Bathroom Floor tiles at Great Prices from Topps Tiles."

Of the thousand or so known dinosaurs, 500 have been discovered in the last 25 years, Lessem says. One of them is named after Dino Don himself,The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, the Lessemsaurus. "He was a plant-eater who turned out to be really, really dumb," Lessem says.

Chinese turn to U.S. for clarity in smog data

The Beijing smog often keeps Zhushen Zhenyu trapped at home, on his mother’s orders, when he’d rather be playing basketball outside, but the 8-year-old still hopes for a silver lining in the clouds of pollution choking China’s capital.

“When will the air quality be so bad we don’t have to go to school?” he asked a city official one recent smoggy day.

“That depends on government policy,” was the cryptic reply of Li Yunting, an engineer at the Beijing Environmental Monitoring Center, which opened to public visits last month.

The doubts about official pollution data keep piling up for China’s government, as green activists, celebrity bloggers and ordinary citizens increasingly demand action and information to halt the environmental fall-out from decades of breakneck economic growth.

Burning coal is largely responsible for the oppressive smog, which the United Nations has rated the worst in the world. China has more than doubled its coal consumption in the past 10 years but has not kept pace with the clean-air technology found in the West. It also relies on cheaper forms of coal that emit more pollutants, and Beijing’s nearly 5 million cars do not generally meet the standards of the USA.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free,

The past two months have been dire. The high incidence of heavy air pollution has sent many residents rushing to buy face masks, air purifiers and household plants believed to clean dirty air.

The haze has highlighted discrepancies between the government’s robustly sunny statistics and the far scarier numbers recorded and issued by the U.S. Embassy here. Beijing described the air pollution as “light” on December 4, a smog-filled day that forced the city airport, the world’s second busiest, to cancel hundreds of flights because of poor visibility. The embassy reading was “beyond index,” literally off the measurement charts that stop at “hazardous.”

The embassy measurements, begun in 2008 and issued hourly via Twitter, use a standard employed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to measure tiny airborne particles, such as soot from burning gas in cars, that are under 2.5 micrometers in diameter.

Experts consider these particles most damaging to human health, as they are small enough to penetrate the lungs and blood, potentially causing lung cancer and other diseases.

China publishes figures using a standard that measures coarser particular matter such as dust and keeps secret, for internal research, the measurements of smaller particles its scientists collect.

Despite the Chinese government’s blocking of Twitter, the U.S. Embassy figures are widely circulated in Beijing on Chinese websites or microblogs. In recent weeks, celebrity bloggers such as real estate mogul Pan Shiyi and children’s author Zheng Yuanjie have pressured Chinese officials to give a more accurate picture of air quality.

Yu Ping, a Beijing journalist and father of a 6-year-old boy who, like him, has suffered a sore throat in recent weeks, threatens to sue the municipal environmental protection agency if they don’t respond to his request for the recent data.

“This is very important for me, my son and all citizens of Beijing and China,As a professional manufacturer of China ceramic tile in China,” he says.

Yu’s quest has inspired several other Chinese to demand data from their city governments, Yu says. He is grateful to the U.S. government for its transparency, but “it should be the Chinese government that does this,” he says.Why does Plastic moulds grow in homes or buildings?

Some Beijingers, such as Wang Jinlan, say the U.S. government should mind its own business. Her daughter Du Lanxin, 8, says they filled their house with special plants last month to purify the air.

“Our home is better now, but when I go out, it’s sometimes very hard to breathe,” she says. Her mother drives her to school every day rather than breathe the smog on a bicycle or bus, but in doing so, she adds to the city’s clogged, polluted streets.

Hua Lei, vice director of the center, insists that, over the past two years, Beijing’s air quality has improved. She says the center measures small particulates in the air but does not release the data because the public “won’t understand the figures.”

Environmentalist Feng Yongfeng, founder of the environmental group Green Beagle, has been lending air-quality monitoring equipment to companies and communities since May.

“As a government, you must let the people know the worst level of air quality,” he says.

Under growing pressure, Beijing is now revising national air-quality monitoring standards and promises to require the release of data on smaller particulates — by 2016.

Environmental consultant Steven Andrews,The Transaction Group offers the best high risk merchant account services, an American based in Beijing, says the problem is that China’s “target culture” means officials, fearful for their jobs, distort pollution levels to ensure they meet government benchmarks.

Even under the new standards, “levels will still be called good in Beijing that would be in the unhealthy range in the U.S,” he says.

“The air is dangerous; it will cause cancer,Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising,” says Sam Zhang, 41, a vegetable wholesaler who signed up for the monitoring center visit. He says he trusts the U.S. Embassy figures over his own government’s data.

“Taxpayers pay the government officials’ salaries, so they should tell the truth about air quality,” he says, “but they are not elected by the people, so we have no hope they will tell the truth.”

Linton-themed sculpture mural now on display

The Linton-themed sculpture mural created by the community at the Linton Fall Arts Festival, sponsored by the Linton-Stockton Chamber of Commerce, is on display for all to see on West Vincennes St.

The Sculpture Trails Traveling Foundry set up behind the Carnegie Hall and members of the community carved sand blocks.

The carved sand blocks were filled with molten aluminum, created from a pre-made design.

The mural is on display on the Regions Bank wall, which is in the empty lot outside of Francisco de Borja's coffee shop on Vincennes St., easily visible to passers-by.

Regions Bank Manager Curt Hatton said he was glad the mural could be placed on the wall to be accessible to the community.

"I think it (the mural) was a worthwhile project, and they (Chamber) needed a place to put it. ... The sculpture is visible,The Transaction Group offers the best high risk merchant account services, it's accessible and the community will be able visit it for years to come," Hatton explained.

The Chamber was happy to see the community involved in the creation of the mural.

"We are so pleased that the community was involved in the creation of the Sculpture Trails mural at the 2011 Linton Fall Arts Festival. Displaying the sculpture in the downtown area, where all can enjoy it, will make a statement to all who see it that we take pride in our city and enjoy the many facets of the artistic world," Chamber Executive Director Lynette Shelton said.

Chamber President Jim Meng's two granddaughters helped create the sculpture by carving on the sand blocks.

Meng said his granddaughters, Corinna Brown, 4, and her sister Neely, 7, had fun carving part of the sculpture with their grandmother, Bette Meng.

Meng said the girls also enjoyed taking part in several other activities during the day at the festival.

"They have not seen the finished product yet. I don't know if they actually understood, but we told them it was going to be hung up and they were going to be a part of history," Meng explained.

Sculpture Trails founder Gerry Masse said a total of 300 people helped create the sculpture, between correspondence on the design, foundry workers and local sculptors.

Masse said members of the Chamber, Carnegie Heritage and Arts Center and local artists helped decide the final design.

"Once they decided it was awesome, we created a pattern. Then, we created molds out of the pattern, and that is where the community was involved. They worked on some of the details to give it soul," Masse said of the creation of the mural,The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, noting six master sculptors poured the aluminum.As a professional manufacturer of China ceramic tile in China,

He was most surprised by the appreciation of the town. When the mural was being put up, he said he had several people stop and tell him thanks.

"When we were hanging it, I would say about nine out of 10 people that walked by were involved in making it," Masse said. "We got a lot of thank yous, which was surprising."

Masse added with a laugh, "We (Sculpture Trails) love Linton. Most people just like Linton, but we love Linton."

Masse said the Trails was happy to take part in the Linton Fall Arts Festival and support Donna Kleusner in her dedication to keep the arts alive.Why does Plastic moulds grow in homes or buildings?

"It is just breaking our hearts to see art teachers losing their jobs. Kids aren't getting hands-on experience. We can get the Traveling Foundry out and let them get that hands-on experience,Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising," Masse said.

Shelton said she enjoyed working with Masse to create the piece of art that represents the city.

"The Sculpture Trails founder, Gerry Masse, was a pleasure to work with and a very talented artist. I look forward to making a trip out to Sculpture Trails near Solsberry in the very near future to admire the artistic pieces they have on display, " Shelton said.

Walter Scott: The satisfaction of the stalk

The rut seems to have turned off like someone hit a switch. The breeding frenzy has gone from deer running around day and night to the more-normal routine of bedding down during the day and moving mostly at dawn and dusk.

It makes for much safer driving on the roads, but bow hunting has become much more difficult.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, A person can still go spend the day in a tree and deer will eventually wander by. It is nothing like a couple of weeks ago when anyplace on the farm was good enough because large numbers of deer were moving constantly.

I have yet to get a deer.Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising, This is not altogether a bad thing. It means I still have the opportunity to hunt. There have also been many bucks I passed on, in hopes of getting a bigger one, so I have no complaints.

There is an old saying to the effect there is no such thing as a bad day hunting. I have to agree, with the possible exception of the day I slid the truck sideways down the hill on the ice and ended up in the pond. That was not an extremely bad day hunting for me, since it was not my truck and I was able to swim, unlike my passenger, Rob, who was sporting a long leg cast at the time.

Most any day a person can go hunting is a good day.

Sunday, the wind was blowing and it was cloudy. Rain had fallen during the night, which made the air feel even colder as the strong north wind blew damp air into my face.

This is the kind of weather made for stalking. To stalk deer close enough to get in bow range, several things are necessary. The wind needs to be blowing so a person can approach without being scented. The deer need to be bedded down tight, such as they are after the rut on a cold windy day, and the leaves need to be wet and quiet. Miserable weather makes for perfect stalking.

I crossed twin sluices and drove to the south fence near what is affectionately known as the “Dark Woods.” We call it that because it is so thick with trees and brush, sunlight cannot reach the ground. Deer will escape into the area if pushed, but even they prefer to stay in the more hospitable timber on the edge.Buy oil paintings for sale online.

I started into this patch of timber at the edge,As a professional manufacturer of China ceramic tile in China, sure there were deer bedded in the area, I walked slowly and carefully into the wind. The cold wind blew tears into my ears as I approached the top of the hill. Four deer were just over the crest lying next to a fallen tree. The tree blocked the wind for them and they could see the entire timber that dropped away from their bedding area. They were about 30 yards away and appeared to be a mature doe, her two fawns from this spring, and a reasonable sized buck.

Since the buck was not huge, I decided to take the doe. It would help control the deer population and she looked fat and tasty. A large rose bush partially blocked my shooting lane to the doe. I had an open shot at the buck but was confident I could move closer and to my left to get a clear shot at her.

The buck and doe were oblivious to my presence but one of the fawns spotted me on my next step. She jumped up and ran toward the Dark Woods with white tail flagging. In an instant, the other three deer were up and heading away.

Returning to the truck, I felt the satisfaction of having stalked into range of deer, even if I did not take a shot.MDC Mould specialized of Injection moulds, I also had the satisfaction knowing it was a lot warmer in the truck and even nicer back at the house.

Circuit breakers

A group of DIY gizmo and robot inventors seek to rewire their futures. Wang Kaihao reports.

The 20-square-meter room is on the second floor of an unassuming building called Fuhao Xiezilou, which literally means, "Office of the Superrich", in Beijing's Xuanwumen area. But the people inside don't look rich, and the messy space doesn't look like a typical office. It's heaped with circuit boards, silicon chips and various electronic components that appear bizarre to laypeople.

This is "Beijing Makerspace", where a group of developers tinker with electronic components to create everything from gizmos to robots as hobbies and careers.

Xiao Wenpeng quit his four-year stint as an IT company programmer in 2005 to start his own business, producing handmade digital devices and developing new silicon chips.

But he found the undertaking tricky to tackle alone.

"I want to meet different people with the same interest in DIY electronics," the 33-year-old says.

"We can make more dreams come true by joining forces."

That's why he opened the Makerspace in 2010. More than 20 young people gather there weekly to exchange ideas and plans to translate their blueprints into electronics.

Website employee Chen Wu says he was inspired after learning about Makerspace through its micro blog.

"It's great to communicate with so many people with the same passion and eagerness for creation," the 32-year-old Beijing resident says.

"I really envied the tech-savvy guys in university, because they would always be invited to the women's dorms to fix computers. That was one of my initial motives to do something cool."

But a lack of materials, DIY experience and time off work suffocate much of Chen's inventive productivity.

However, he uses what spare time he has to read about robots. And in 2008, the man who calls himself "Dynamic Old Boy" online created a miniature robot out of Lego that can solve any Rubik's cube within six minutes.

"When I actually started working on the robot, I found it's not as difficult as I'd expected," Chen says.

"It's just like building with blocks but with electronics."

Chen still shows off his first DIY robot, even though it's not as fast at solving the Rubik's cube as the record holder, which can finish the puzzle in 5.35 seconds.Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising, Chen's robot is a personal milestone for the self-described "geek".

As a geek, he says he watches many movies, from which he often takes ideas.

He took inspiration from the film Inception, which gave him the idea of using magnetic levitation theory to create a gyroscope.

After watching the Bollywood movie 3 Idiots, he tried to replicate the quadrocopter - an aircraft powered and steered by four propellers - featured in the film. But the process has been anything but smooth.

"The most difficult thing is to keep the aircraft's balance," he says.

"I'm seeking others' advice at Makerspace."

While toy quadrocpoters can be purchased for 1,700 yuan ($269), Chen believes it's much more meaningful to hand-make one,Buy oil paintings for sale online. especially as a gift for his 18-month-old daughter. He believes he can finish it by Spring Festival.

"My greatest wish is to make a 1-meter-tall robot to play with her," he says.

While Chen treats robotics as a hobby, Renmin Univeristy graduate Wang Shenglin treats it as a career.

The 23-year-old finance major didn't search for a job after graduation but rather decided to work full time developing devices at Makerspace.

The Shanghai native has created a 1-meter-multi-touch table that resembles a gargantuan iPad.

"I first saw a multi-touch table made by Microsoft on TV in 2008, but it costs more than $20,000. So, I made my own. We create some interesting devices," Wang adds, pointing to a remote control.

"I could take this to the store and change the TV channels. But I don't want to be a troublemaker. We make stuff like the guys in the The Big Bang Theory," he explains, referring to the hit US sitcom about a group of hyperactively intelligent but socially laggard friends.

"But I'm not a nerd like them."

Wang's past does suggest a relatively hip lifestyle.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free,

He played on the school's tennis and cricket teams. And he flirted with advertising and even tried his hand at fashion design.

"If I don't try something new and exciting when I'm young, when will I?" he says.

"I ultimately find myself most interested in DIY electronics. My parents completely support me, even though I'm far from home."

But Makerspace faces financial challenges. It must pay a 3,000 yuan ($474) monthly room rental and hundreds of yuan more for materials.Bathroom Floor tiles at Great Prices from Topps Tiles. Testing equipment is also a big expense.

While their inventions may attract popular attention - the multi-touch table was spotlighted at this year's Beijing Design Week - most have yet to capture market demand.

But hope might come from the 3D printer Zhang Ming quit his bank job to invent. The device has aroused investor interest.

The printer lays down successive layers - usually of plastic or metal - to create 3D objects.Information on useful yeasts and moulds, It's widely sought after in the design industry, because it saves bundles on mockups.

Xiao's team initially believed it was merely a tool for rendering models of the electronics they develop. But the team discovered huge market potential for the device, as imported 3D printers cost 300,000 yuan ($47,400), but Zhang's retails for less than 10,000 yuan.

Zhang says the printer will be ready for the market next spring.

"We can't always stay in the lab," Xiao says.

"This project might turn things around."

And Makerspace's inventors and developers believe the 3D printer might be just the start.

The team hosts DIY salons and a book club to brainstorm about the latest technology and its potential. It also plans to organize a carnival next April to encourage more people to try DIY electronics.

Their hope is that those who work in the "Office of the Superrich" might actually live up to their workplace's name.

"The first thing we'll do if we get enough investment," Xiao says, "is move into a bigger office."

Is solar power in Hingham’s future?

The Hingham Energy Action Committee recently sponsored a presentation on solar energy generation given by Clayton Handleman,Bathroom Floor tiles at Great Prices from Topps Tiles. who is the president of Hingham-based solar energy company Heliotronics, Inc. Handleman is an expert in the field of renewable energy, and particularly the conversion of sunlight to electricity.

The focus of the talk was to discuss possibilities for solar power generation on the roofs of town buildings and other municipal sites in Hingham. There have been changes recently to state and federal incentive programs that make solar energy an attractive alternative to homeowners. Users are also allowed to sell back surplus power generated to investor-owned power companies at prevailing market prices.

Municipalities are ineligible for tax credits because they pay no taxes, and also have capital expense and funding issues.

There are many sites in Hingham that Handleman identified as potential sites, including the Landfill, Library, school parking lots, and all schools except Plymouth River, which has too much shade. The initial cost to build a site depends largely on the size of the structure. Multiple sites could run into the millions. Funding could come from “tax liens, capital projects, or a bond”, depending on the amount needed, he said.

Handleman used the new Middle School as an example, saying that building panels on the roof could cost about $250,Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising,000. Depending on prices for reimbursements for surplus power, the best case would be a surplus after 20 years of $236,000; or a worst-case deficit of $522,000.

The well-attended presentation,The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, part of the EAC’s regular meeting, was prompted in part by the EAC’s efforts to have the new Middle School design be more energy efficient. Members of the School Building Committee, including Chair Ray Estes were at the meeting and promised to meet with the EAC in January.

Estes said the Committee has looked into adding solar panels into the design of the school, but for now they are only planned for the gym area. To add an extra $250,000 expenditure at this time would be impossible, he added. He did agree with the EAC’s suggestion to ask the architect to include fittings for solar panels in the future in the plans, depending on cost. Handleman offered to meet with the architects also.Buy oil paintings for sale online.

In future meetings,Information on useful yeasts and moulds, the EAC will offer a presentation by Handleman for homeowners to show how they may add solar panels to their homes and for what financial incentives they may qualify.

After Christmas is the holiday clean up

That sound you hear outside your window this morning is not the wind. It's a collective sigh of relief from across the civilized world. It's the morning after, and Christmas, which like so many things in life is often better anticipated than experienced, has come and gone for another year.

By now, the house is somewhat back in order. Toys and games that still have a few days of shelf life before the new wears off remain underfoot, but the piles of shredded paper and tattered ribbons have been picked up and bagged for the trash man.

And because Christmas fell on Sunday this year,Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising, most of us have today off from work to recuperate. It's also a day to pick through the leftovers from the big meal on Christmas Day and decide what stays and what goes out. Ham and roast beef are definite keepers; the lime Jell-O mold, though, may join the discarded wrapping paper.

And this is the last day for the stacks of candy and cookies that have allowed many of us to put back on that three or four pounds we worked so hard to shed over the summer. They've got to go — to work, to church, to anywhere except around the midsection.

And then there are the decorations.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, Do we take them down the first good opportunity, like today while we're off from work, or leave them up through New Year's? For outdoor decorations, we know waiting means it'll probably be at least MOmega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists.arch before they come down because January will usher in miserable cold and snow and ice when no sane person wants to cling in Clark Griswold fashion to a shaky ladder 15 feet or so above the frozen ground.

But today also is a good day for assessment — a look back at the holiday season that's now mostly gone.

And I have to say, that for me, this has been pretty good Christmas — if for no other than for some inexplicable reason not once during this holiday season that has stretched from the week Halloween through yesterday, did I have to endure hearing a rendition of the song, "The 12 Days of Christmas."

That's OK. After six decades of living, I've heard it enough. Perhaps, it is tolerable once a season, but more than that launches nightmares of lords a-milking, golden swans dancing and partridges swimming in a nice, hot skillet.

Nor,Buy oil paintings for sale online. this season, have I been treated to that annual story put together by some poor intern at the AP or some member paper about what it would cost if some schmuck were to actually give the gifts described in the song.

So life on this morning after is not so bad. And there are 364 days remaining (yes, this is a Leap Year) to anticipate next Christmas. Who knows, maybe next year I can avoid the myriad renditions of "Jingle Bells.Bathroom Floor tiles at Great Prices from Topps Tiles." Have I ever told you how I really feel about that song or wise men or deer that glow in the dark ?

Peter Saunders obituary

The painter Peter Saunders, who has died of cancer aged 70, presented in his work a complex local history of the last 50 years in and around London. His subjects – always painted in series – included skateboarders at the South Bank, Borough market, the bleak landscape of Dungeness, Kent, Thames-side scenes at Deptford, the open spaces and skies of Blackheath through the day and night, Brick Lane paper sellers and the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. Soho life and characters at the Coach and Horses pub featured in a painting used as a large poster for the Paintings on the Undergound scheme in 1994, where it was seen throughout the tube system. He brought intense scrutiny to bear upon familiar scenes that, in his later work,The Transaction Group offers the best high risk merchant account services, especially,As a professional manufacturer of China ceramic tile in China, were illuminated in gloriously rich colour.Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising,

It is in his last works that Peter's breakthrough really came. His work started to explore in great depth the human figures in motion he saw around him: dancing at the Rivoli Ballroom in Brockley and then at the tea dances at the Royal Opera House. In the two large versions of A Step in Time (2007-08), he depicted the Floral Hall as a magical, glowing box of delights, light streaming through the glass construction, playing on the dancers and the floor, with the world outside glimpsed in ghostly detail through the panes.

His most recent exhibition, Dancing at the Rivoli Ballroom (Some Enchanted Evening), for Isle of Thanet Arts, in 2004, was introduced by a comment in the catalogue by the painter Frank Auerbach: "You are as ever taking on brave and exciting subjects that others only dream of." At the end of his life, Peter felt he had finally achieved his essential, personal vision.

Peter was one of five children, born into a working-class London family evacuated during the second world war to Bicester in Oxfordshire. Returning as a young child to south London he drew and drew (paints were in short supply in the 1940s) rather than spend time playing with other children. Later, at Camberwell School of Art, he learned to pursue the tough discipline of drawing in the manner of William Coldstream from mentors such as Euan Uglow and, later, in a milder but totally valid version of the style of Auerbach, in whom he found a fellow seeker after the central essence of the subject. He never deviated from the need to make drawings every day. His training continued at the Slade where he won the painting prize in 1963.

Galleries throughout Britain showed his paintings, and he was selected by Brian Sewell for The Discerning Eye exhibition in 1991. His work is represented in the collections of the Arts Council of England, the London Transport Museum, the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, Glasgow, the Museum of London, the National Trust and the National Portrait Gallery (who purchased his drawing of Auerbach). Peter taught at the Sir John Cass school of art in Whitechapel, east London (now part of London Metropolitan University), at Oxford Polytechnic, Norwich Art School and Newcastle University. At Cass he often used as a model Quentin Crisp,The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, who was able to hold extraordinarily complex poses for the students' quick sketches. In Stephen Fothergill's book The Last Lamplighter (2000), illustrated by Peter, the author relates that Crisp would say, at the start of Peter's classes: "I am putty in your hands, Mr Saunders." Peter fitted in to that Soho era, a part of the intimate crowd who frequented the French, the Colony Room, Jimmy's and the Lorelei, among them many well known artists.

Making paintings was for Peter his reason for being.MDC Mould specialized of Injection moulds, An intensely private person, he found it hard to participate in the business of making contacts, employing an agent or gallery or publicising his work to a wider audience. Consequently, he seldom exhibited in later years.

Peter was interested in Buddhism, and studied Buddhist writings. He was drawn to the particular sensitivity and delicacy of approaches to the visual world in Japan, where he travelled with his partner, the Japanese artist Reiko Aoyagi, whom he met in 1993 and married in January this year. He is survived by her, his daughter Liza, from an earlier marriage, and grandson Xavier.

Ten tips on using your credit card wisely

They are small, often cheerfully coloured, and have a glossy sheen. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security. Their tiny size belies how much damage they can do if proper caution is not exercised.

Yep, we're talking credit cards which New Zealanders have taken to in a big way - almost three million of the innocuous-looking plastic rectangles lurk in wallets across the country.

According to World Cards Intelligence (WCI) figures, New Zealand credit cards are swiped at the till, fed into an ATM or keyed into a computer an average of 91 times each year.As a professional manufacturer of China ceramic tile in China, And each year, the tower of outstanding credit card debt grows steadily higher.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free,

Used sensibly, credit cards can be excellent for cashflow - a handy addition to any financial toolbox. But used foolishly,The Transaction Group offers the best high risk merchant account services, they leech an alarming volume of cash straight out of your wallet and into the bankers' pockets.

And the holiday season is a particularly vulnerable time for us all.

Here are 10 tips to make your credit card work for you - not the other way around:

This is the golden rule. The holy grail. The stuff of nightmares for financiers. If you pay off your balance within the interest-free period, you don't have to worry about interest rates. You get all the rewards and perks of a credit card with only an annual fee to pay.

But as soon as you start paying interest, it negates that benefit, says Federation of Family Budgeting Services chief executive Raewyn Fox.

''We advise people to make sure they know how to repay the things they book onto their credit card before they charge them.''

It all comes down to planning ahead, she says. But luckily for the banks most people either don't plan, or don't have the discipline to do that. Reserve Bank of New Zealand statistics show that of the total credit card debt owed at any one time - more than two thirds - over $3.5 billion is incurring interest.

The bankers aren't earning chickenfeed, either. Credit card interest rates are typically pretty steep.


''If you can't pay it in the interest free period, be aware of how much interest it's going to cost you,'' says Fox.

Not everyone can or wants to follow the golden rule. For those that don't, at least make the switch to a plain, no-frills card. All the big banks offer them, and the usual 13 per cent interest rate is a big saving from an average of 19.6 per cent charged to standard cards.

American wallets are bulging at the seams with credit cards, not cash. The American love affair with plastic stacks up to an average of 7.7 cards for each card-carrying adult.Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising, We're not quite so infatuated here, but having two or three tucked away is fairly common.

Fox groans when asked if multiple credit cards are a good idea.

''It's really hard to keep a track of,'' she says. ''If you can't live within the credit limit of one credit card, then I would be a bit worried.''

You can't shuffle debt from card to card forever, and every time you do so, you get stung at a rate of usually 3, 6 or 9 per cent of the balance.

However, if you do have multiple cards, transferring all the debt to the one charging the lowest interest may well be worth the fee.

Using a credit card to withdraw money is a costly way to get cash, Consumer NZ and Sorted.org.nz caution.

When making a regular purchase, you get 44 or 55 days without having to pay interest. But when you take out a cash advance, interest starts racking up from day one.

And there's an extra sting in the tail: interest rates for cash advances are typically about 2 per cent higher than for purchases.

WCI figures show that most of us appear to have learned this lesson - 93 per cent of transactions volume were made at the point of sale in 2010.

Banks want you to borrow more, that's how they make money. So when a letter arrives in the mail complimenting you on your borrowing history and offering to extend your credit limit, don't be taken in.MDC Mould specialized of Injection moulds,

Sorted.org.nz recommends basing your credit limit on what you can afford, not what you might spend. Don't let the bank bump it up beyond the amount you can pay back without incurring interest.

And be wary of the fact that if you don't reply or don't see the credit extension letter, most banks will forge on ahead without your permission.

Don't kid yourself, these are nothing more than credit cards in cheap lipstick and fishnet stockings. Sure, some of them don't have annual fees, but they also tend to charge like a wounded bull.

For example, a Warehouse Red Card has a 22.75 per cent interest rate, and a Farmer's Card has a whopping 24.95 per cent rate. Ouch.

Funnily enough, cards with glamorous and attractive reward schemes also tend to have the highest annual fees and interest rates.

If you're paying back less than the full balance each month, no amount of airpoints or bonuses are going to negate higher fees.

But if you follow the golden rule, like Fox, then have at it: ''Personally, we use our reward scheme quite positively,'' she says. ''We're one of the people the bank hates!''

A crippled snail crawling through an olympic swimming pool of treacle moves a lot faster than debt paid off by minimum monthly payments.

It's like running in place - barely keeping up with interest, taking forever to pay off the debt, and ending up paying far more than you would have.

It can be a pretty depressing situation, says Fox.

''We do see people that are paying the minimum monthly amount, and are then getting charged interest each month and virtually going nowhere with the repayments.

''The debt never goes down, or goes down very, very slowly.''

Businesses used to wear the transaction cost charged by credit card companies, but now they're allowed to pass that on to consumers. This usually crops up with smaller fees, like taxi fares or parking. It's usually not much, but it all adds up.

It's best to carry cash or eftpos for the small stuff, and save the credit card for big ticket items.

There's no doubt credit cards can be handy for navigating through temporary cashflow crises such as when you spend the last of your paycheque, then remember you didn't buy mum a Christmas present.

But sometimes, says Fox, emergencies can snowball into even bigger disasters.

''Credit cards are a good backstop for a crisis, but then you have to plan how you're going to pay it back, or it can really quickly get out of hand,'' she says.

And that's the key message - what really matters is having a plan to pay off any debt you rack up before the interest kicks in.

If you can do this, you can ignore the other nine tips. That's a pretty big 'if', though. The rest of us mere mortals are often somewhat lacking in the budgeting and self-discipline departments. And if that's the case, the 10 tips still stand.

Ash pile raises concerns

A huge pile of fly ash recently discovered off Hicks Lane in north Chico has raised environmental concerns with the Butte County District Attorney’s Office. The pile, which is larger in length and width than a football field and about 20 feet tall, sits on property owned by MGM Trucking and has been traced to the Pacific Oroville Power Inc. cogeneration plant in Oroville.

Is the ash, which has sat on the site for the past three years, toxic? That’s a consideration because the company has confirmed that the ash has been spread on some area farms and orchards as a soil amendment. Burned wood ash reduces soil acidity.

A recent observation of the pile revealed metal products—nails, rebar and other chunks of rusted metal—mixed in with the ash.

For nearly 30 years the cogeneration plant, located in the Highway 70 Industrial Park, has burned bio-fuel in a controlled environment to make electricity that is then sold to Pacific Gas & Electric—enough to supply power to 20,000 homes. The plant, known as POPI, is owned by New Jersey-based Covanta.Why does Plastic moulds grow in homes or buildings? When it was first fired up, in 1983, POPI burned wood chips generated from local timber harvests. But as the lumber industry declined, the plant began burning agricultural waste as its fuel supply.

In more recent years it began receiving and burning the waste of demolished buildings trucked here from the Bay Area. Two years ago the Butte County District Attorney’s Office learned of POPI’s new operations when a DA investigator driving past the plant noticed clouds of dust blowing off the piles of fuel and drifting down from the conveyor belt that runs overhead to feed the furnaces.

“There was quite a bit of dust blowing into the neighborhood,” District Attorney Mike Ramsey said at the time. “So we contacted the Air Quality Management District and said, ‘This looks to be a problem.’

“They checked on it and then found an additional problem of dirty debris that’s coming up from the Bay Area as part of the fuel load.”

The problem was the “fuel” coming in was not being monitored, and checking the toxicity of the resulting ash was left up to the plant itself.

The DA’s Office learned of the pile in north Chico when it was tipped off in recent weeks. Ramsey said MGM had contracted with Covanta to dispose of the waste properly.

“That is what they are supposed to be doing,” Ramsey said in a recent interview.

Beyond that, information on the case is limited for a couple of reasons. The DA and Covanta are currently in negotiations over past alleged environmental violations. And there is an “ongoing investigation” into the toxicity levels of the ash. Ramsey said both Covanta and MGM are cooperating. Covanta has stopped using construction debris as a fuel and is back to burning ag and timber waste, Ramsey said.

The ash from the Hicks Lane pile is currently being tested for the presence of heavy metals, including lead and chromium. Local environmental scientist John Lane collected samples on Tuesday (Dec. 20), packed them into an ice chest and sent them to SunStar Laboratories in the Orange County city of Tustin. Lane said it takes about five days to get back the results.

Another reason information is tight is because of the potential damage that could result to the region’s ag industry if word gets out that some area orchards and farms were contaminated with toxic ash used as a soil amendment. This is not the first time that construction-waste ash from Covanta has been traced to area farms. And though results of previous tests of the ash sampled at the plant itself are known,I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile. at this point that information is being kept close to the vest because of ongoing negotiations and investigations, Ramsey said.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free,

In a somewhat related matter, the Butte Environmental Council (BEC) is in the process of testing chicken eggs from properties near the Highway 70 Industrial Park. In 2007 the state began looking into a reported high incidence of pancreatic cancer in the Oroville area. In January 2008 the California Department of Public Health issued a report noting 23 cases of diagnosed pancreatic cancer of Oroville residents between 2004 and 2005.

Though the state has never put its finger on the exact cause, some point to the 1987 fire at the now-closed Koppers wood treatment plant, which sits close to Covanta in the industrial park. The fire burned an estimated 5,Buy oil paintings for sale online.000 pounds of granular pentachlorophenol (PCP), a chemical used in the wood-treatment process. The dioxin-laced smoke from the fire drifted over the neighborhoods south of the park.

Subsequent tests showed alarmingly high levels of dioxins in the eggs and livestock sampled from the neighboring family farms. BEC’s Mary Muchowski says initially seven tests were conducted recently on eggs on property within a mile and a half of the park. Results, she said, ranged from .004 parts per trillion of dioxins to 14,7 parts per trillion. Muchowski said that there is no standard threshold in the United States for what’s considered safe, but generally eggs tested off the store shelf will be removed if they show 1 part per trillion or greater.

BEC, she said, is looking into finding out what the source of the present-day dioxins is, and noted the toxin doesn’t break down.

“There is not a lot of information available,” she said. “Tests for dioxins in the area have not been done by the state since 1994. We thought they would test every 10 to 15 years, but they haven’t.”

Some insiders,Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising, who wish to remain anonymous at this point in the investigation, suggest Covanta’s operations also could have played a role in the local contamination.

Fertile ground for urban farm at old Cherryland

Financial planner Scott Terry's "hobby" in Hayward could be the fifth act of Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard." His property there was once part of pioneer farmer William Meek's Cherryland estate, covered with orchards, before it was subdivided for housing. Terry is bringing back the fruit trees, as well as tomatoes, squashes, corn and greens, and a local 4-H club is helping plant and harvest. The proceeds go back to the community,Why does Plastic moulds grow in homes or buildings? by way of the Davis Street Family Resource Center in nearby San Leandro.

Meek left the Midwest for the Oregon Territory in 1847 with a wagonload of grafted fruit trees. He and Henderson Lewelling founded the West Coast's first fruit-tree nursery near Portland, then sold out and bought part of the Francisco Soto land grant near what was then called Haywards.

Meek's 2,200 acres had some of the richest loam in the state. He grew grain and tobacco at first, then switched to fruit.Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising, At its peak, Cherryland had 20,000 almond trees, 4,200 cherry trees, 3,000 plum trees and 225,000 currant bushes. A local legend, probably apocryphal, claims the Bing cherry originated there and was named for Meek's Chinese cook, a renowned pie man. (The standard account involves another Lewelling who stayed in Oregon, and his orchard foreman, Ah Bing.)

After his death, Meek's sons split up and sold the estate. The lots were long and deep and the soil was still fertile, though the new owners tended to build rental housing in their backyards. Those long lots appealed to Terry, who raises plants and keeps bees in San Leandro's Broadmoor neighborhood. (His yard has been featured on the Bay-Friendly Gardens Tour.) Last winter, he bought a Cherryland parcel with two rental units.

"There were lots of properties like this available," he told us. "What made this one special was that it had fruit trees already"- apple, avocado, quince and fig. And the soil, friendly and friable: "The first time I stuck a shovel in it, I loved it." He added compost. He also bought a classic urban-scale tractor, a 40-year-old Bolens G14: "They don't make them anymore."

There are glimmers of a new definition of a good neighborhood here, one that includes fertile soil on a par with good schools and shopping.

In the fall, Terry harvested a bounty of tomatoes (including 'Paul Robeson,' a Russian variety named for the African American singer, actor and activist, and the small, tasty 'Rumi,' which may have come from Afghanistan) and squash. New fruit trees ('Santa Rosa' plum, 'Flame Key' pluot, four-graft peach) have joined the surviving apples, which will go on drip irrigation next year. "The water table is just 15 feet down," Terry explained. "That's how the apples have survived so far."

Chickens and bees might join the plants. Both are permitted in Hayward and unincorporated Alameda County (Terry's property straddles the line) but not where Terry lives, in San Leandro. Terry and other urban farmers have lobbied the San Leandro City Council for zoning changes. After an October session drew a large pro-bee-and-chicken turnout, the council appointed a committee to draft rules for backyard coops and hives. There's been no progress since then; Terry says the city claims it has to deal with other issues first.

But he's optimistic about the long run: "I'm feeling fairly confident that the current City Council members will legalize chickens and bees, just not at the speed we would like." Similar changes are happening in cities from San Diego to Skokie, Ill.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, - another reframing of "property values."

Terry's neighbor Amy Chovnick, a 4-H Club leader, saw in Terry's farmlet a community-service opportunity. Nationally, 4-H has a new Revolution of Responsibility campaign. "They're encouraging clubs to do community work," she said. "I told Scott, 'It sounds like there's a lot of work. You need help.' " Chovnick's Redwood 4-H group started cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower for an October planting: "We wanted something that won't wilt if someone doesn't pick it up right away at the food bank.I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile." The club expects to get involved in the proposed chicken and bee projects.

"I have my playground right here," Terry told us.Buy oil paintings for sale online. "I like to play farmer, and the rent from the two units on the property covers my costs. And I get to give food to people who need it."

Surviving the snow daze

Looking like Mr. Sad Sack, my husband Ricky took off his black-and-red checked lumber-jacket, sunk into the couch and emitted a long, painful whistle, like a tea kettle.

“What’s the matter with you?” I asked.

“There’s always so much to do.”

“Yup,” I said.

“Do you ever wish we could just pack it all in and go live in a condo somewhere?” he asked.

I put down the newspaper, surveyed his strained face and said: “Are you serious?”

It’s been six years since we’ve taken on an old rural house and everything that comes with it, including vegetable gardens and a chicken coop. It’s a life of perpetual tending. There’s always much to do, but this is our slice of paradise.

Saturday morning, snowflakes started falling. By the time our friends arrived, our house and the woods around it resembled a shaken snow globe. Ricky glanced out the window and excused himself. He came back 20 minutes later, soaked with snow. “The roof on the chicken coop collapsed.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, I put up something temporary to ride out the storm.”

“OK,” I said, trying to remain cheerful. “Let me get back to the kitchen.”

I was racing against the clock. The lights had been flickering for the past hour. Weather forecasters warned of leaf-laden trees snapping and falling. Power outages were a certainty. My roasted potatoes and garlic shrimp were being cooked on borrowed time.Why does Plastic moulds grow in homes or buildings?

We all sat down for our meal in the cozy dining room, candles aglow. Outside, we heard one commotion after another. Cars could not climb our slippery,Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising, unplowed road.I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile. People were abandoning vehicles, walking in a zombie-like daze. An ambulance backed down the hill, sirens wailing. Finally, a plow pulling a flatbed truck came to a dead stop in front of our house.

I urged my guests to come back to the table, away from the window. As I served dessert and espresso, the power blew.

Our guests were eager to flee — except it took an hour to dig them out of our unplowed driveway.

The house quickly turned cold. The light was gone at 6 p.m. We gathered flashlights. Ricky brought in a stack of logs for the fireplace. I was concerned about the flatbed and plow, sitting in front of our house, abandoned. There were no streetlights. Cars would not see parked vehicles on our darkened road, and would crash into them. I called the police, over and over on my cell.

At 7 p.m.,Buy oil paintings for sale online. a couple of guys came to collect the plow, but not the flatbed. They were gunning the engine, trying to rock the plow out of a rut.

“They’re going to knock down our fence and kill [our chicken] Miracle!” I cried.

Ricky ran outside and up our driveway screaming “STOP” with his hands flailing in the air. It was too late for the fence. Fortunately, he stopped them in time to save our chicken.

The next day, I woke to a cold house and dishwasher filled with unwashed dishes. I kept warm by boiling pots of water and scrubbing our dirty dishes. It was warmer outside than inside, so my daughter went out to make a snowman with the foot of snow that fell.

Then we went to Starbucks for two hours to charge our cellphones and check e-mail.

I was feeling dejected. The recorded message at Orange & Rockland prepared people to be in the dark, without heat or hot water, for up to a week.

“Maybe you’re right,” I said to Ricky, as I cooked pasta on the gas stove while he suspended a flashlight overhead. “Maybe we should go live in an apartment again.”

We ate dinner in front of the fireplace. My daughter went to bed. Ricky and I were listening to the radio, strategizing about where we’d take showers.

“We might as well go to bed,” I said at 9 p.m. “Let’s throw on a few more logs.”

Just as we got up from the couch, the house lit up like a Christmas tree. We rose from the couch and danced and hugged. “Happy house anniversary!” I said. “Let’s celebrate,” Ricky said, with a wink.

High supply pulls rice prices down

Decline 20 per cent this month; higher minimum support price restrains fall in other foodgrains.

An increased supply through kharif crop harvesting has pulled the prices of rice down almost 20 per cent in December. Other foodgrains, including wheat, corn and sorghum, held up on a high minimum support price (MSP), coupled with supply shortage.Accept credit cards with a third party merchant account,

The price of the benchmark Lichkari variety of non-basmati rice fell between Rs 800 and Rs 900 to trade between Rs 3,200 and Rs 3,300 a quintal on December 22, while the normal basmati variety plunged by Rs 1,500 a quintal. Among other foodgrains, wheat (Lokwan) shot up by a marginal Rs 50 a quintal, while millet and sorghum rose by Rs 32 and Rs 82 a quintal, respectively.

“We have witnessed consecutive bumper years for both wheat and rice. On the back of this, the government is holding healthy stocks. At present, the supply is higher than demand, as farmers have continuously been releasing rice into the market, causing a supply glut.I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile. Therefore, rice stockists in the market, who procure the commodity at lower prices, have been the buyers. On the other hand, wheat has been maintaining a high price due to high MSP and lean-season sowing demand,” said V K Chaturvedi, managing director of Usher Agro, a BSE-listed foodgrain processing company.

Even as the harvesting, milling and storing season of paddy for individual farmers and stockists continues, the public sector Food Corporation of India (FCI) reported a stock of 20.36 million tonnes of rice and 31.43 million tonnes of wheat in its central pool as on October 1 — a significant decline from 22.71 mt and 33.62 mt,An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. respectively, on September 1. The total stock of coarse grains declined to 89,Why does Plastic moulds grow in homes or buildings?000 tonnes on October 1 from 93,000 tonnes a month ago.

This being the harvesting and procurement season for rice, its stock jumped to 26.08 million tonnes on November 1 and further to 27.06 million tonnes on December 1. But, the inventory of wheat plunged to 29.67 million tonnes on November 1 and further to 27.66 million tonnes on December 1.

“This means, the government continuously released stock, not only through its public distribution system (PDS) but also through open-market sale. Today, the price of India’s non-basmati rice in the overseas market is ruling 10-15 per cent lower,” Chaturvedi added.

A report released by Care Ratings showed that the overall kharif foodgrain production was estimated to increase by 3.1 per cent, as forecast by the ministry of agriculture in its first advance estimates. The present rabi progress in terms of land under cultivation suggests the output level would be stable, and not increase significantly, unless there is a substantial improvement in yield per hectare. The target production for the rabi crop is set to stand at about 119 mt of foodgrains, taking the total crop production target to 245 mt of foodgrains for 2011-12.

Compared to last year, there has been a decline of around five per cent in the area under cultivation for all crops. A shortfall in cultivation has been witnessed in wheat and jowar, the two major rabi crops.

With food price inflation starting its descent on the back of a good kharif harvest, the rabi prospects are important, as these account for 50 per cent of the foodgrain production and 33 per cent of the oilseed output. So far, around 75 per cent of the normal area under cultivation has been covered, which paints a good picture of the prospects for the year.

“The government has already announced an MSP of Rs 1,285 a quintal for wheat, an increase of Rs 700 for gram and Rs 650 a quintal for mustard, which will exert pressure on wholesale prices. With the threat of not meeting the fiscal deficit target looming before the government, the question remains if the higher food subsidy on account of wheat procurement would be offset by lower procurement,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, Care Ratings.Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising,

Sharad Maru, president, Grain Rice & Oilseeds Merchant Assoc-iation, however, termed the movement in prices of agri commodities a pure demand-supply arithmetic. He urged the government to remove curbs and open exports to fetch higher prices in the global market.

Solar power

Sunshine, or its absence, is much on the minds of Utahns these days,Muyoung mould specializes in manufacture Plastic molding, what with the winter solstice today and the murky daytime gloom caused by the dirty air that has enveloped the valleys. So it is an opportune time to urge the Public Service Commission to extend the subsidies for installation of solar cells on homes and businesses.

Photovoltaic cells produce electricity without burning fossil fuels. So there is a link between encouraging more people to install solar panels and reducing the air pollution that temperature inversions trap in Utah’s valleys.Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising,

Admittedly, that link is a minuscule one now because the number of solar panel installations that have been subsidized by the existing program is tiny. The program’s funding of $314,500 a year is only enough to encourage development of about 30 systems annually. However, the federal and state governments also provide incentives.

The Federal Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit of 30 percent covers solar water heating and photovoltaic systems, and continues through 2016. Rocky Mountain Power’s net metering program also enables owners of solar systems to sell excess electricity to the grid at market rates. Piggybacking the PSC’s small incentive program on these others helps to advance the cause.

Encouraging these installations should stimulate the market for more of them, reduce unit costs and produce more electric power for the grid, thus benefiting ratepayers as a whole. In fact, the cost of solar panels has come down considerably over the last three years.

Whether the program is cost effective depends upon how the accounting is done. But the Division of Public Utilities says that by its measure, the program is cost effective to Utah ratepayers.

The PSC instituted the current five-year program in 2007.MDC Mould specialized of Injection moulds, It is scheduled to expire at the end of this month. The Division of Public Utilities has recommended that the program be extended for a year, that the size of its annual kilowatts be doubled to 214 and that its budget be increased modestly to $385,000. In the meantime, a working group would be convened to design a new incentive program based on the results of the existing one. The one-year extension would be a bridge to this new program.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, The division also recommends that the new program expire at the same time the current federal incentives come to an end in 2016.We are passionate about polished tiles.

That sounds like a good road map. It’s not going to change the world of electrical power, but should encourage more people and businesses to take the plunge into solar power.