2012年10月30日星期二

Why the CB radio is entrenched in trucking culture

The modern trucker has an array of communications technology at his or her fingertips. I’ve heard one estimate that half of long-distance drivers carry laptops, 80-90% have cell phones, and some even pack iPhones.

This is not to mention company-issued equipment like satellite-tracking, electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) and two-way radios.

But the faithful CB remains an important part of the highway driver’s tool kit. One would have thought this archaic and low-tech device would be obsolete by now, if nothing else because of the nationwide fetish for hands-free devices.We offer over 600 landscape oil paintings at wholesale prices of 75% off retail. But almost universally across the continent, jurisdictions have granted exemptions for the commercial use of two-way radios.

The CB is still the best way for truck drivers to communicate with each other while they’re rolling down the road. But I suspect that the Ontario government’s recent five-year extension (see related story, opposite page) wasn’t done because they admire CB radios.

Rather, business communication tools like two-way radios and mic phones fall in this category and a disruption in these services would be unthinkable.

This should give the industry and equipment suppliers more time to solve the problem of hands-free microphone use.

Bluetooth technology has been a boon to drivers wanting to talk and drive, but FCC regulations prohibit the use of wireless mics during CB operation (Canada is in lockstep with the FCC on this one).

A few products are currently available for hands-free CB transmission, but these are wired solutions with remote microphones and buttons, not activated by Bluetooth.

So for the next five years (in Ontario, at least) truckers will be able to grab the microphone and yap away to their heart’s content. And really it’s nothing different from what they’ve been doing for more than 40 years: talking about Smokey bears, road conditions and whether or not the chicken coops are open; blabbing about their big iron; bitching about their jobs; and complaining about other drivers.

But baby boomers will remember the golden age of the CB radio. For about 10 years in the 1970s, the general public connected with the romance of trucking, and the Citizen’s Band radio was part of the package.

In those days, “Breaker One-Nine” was as likely to draw as quick a response from a four-wheeler with a 20-foot whip aerial, as it would from a fellow trucker.If you have a fondness for china mosaic brimming with romantic roses,

The stereotype of the rugged, frontiersman-like trucking hero caught the public’s imagination, and was reinforced by Hollywood which cranked out movies like Convoy and Smokey and the Bandit, and TV series like Movin’ On. CB radios and the accompanying jargon gave everyone a chance to discover their “inner trucker.”

CB stores sprang up overnight and the units sold like hotcakes.Find the lowest prices on Air purifier. In 1978, another 17 channels were added to the original 23, for a total of 40, which is how it remains to this day.

The innovation of single side-band allowed the splitting of those 40 channels into upper and lower modes, giving discerning users more distance and clearer frequencies.

During the blizzard of ’78, when a huge weather bomb blanketed eastern North America,We are porcelain tiles specialists and are passionate about our product, I was stranded in Woodstock, Ont. My little Hino wouldn’t run after the van had been almost split in half by a grocery chain tractor-trailer that ran into the back of me.

It was bitterly cold and the 401 was a wrecking yard with three-foot drifts between the rubble. Of course a major catastrophe like this sparked the snowmobilers and CB clubs in Woodstock into action.

Earlier in the day, I’d borrowed a Schneider driver’s CB and managed to finagle an invitation from a home base operator who offered me a place to stay.

So that night, when a front-end loader and a passenger van came down the highway to take us all to the Blandford Mall, I talked a snowmobiler into giving me a ride to that address.

For the next day-and-a-half, I stayed with a young couple and their kid in a Woodstock townhouse. They weren’t prosperous (the young man was a gas pump jockey) but they fed me and were good company.

Their neighbours had also taken in stranded truck drivers and it seemed everyone had a solid state CB at home.Republic parking system is a privately owned professional parking management company based in Chattanooga,

Draghi’s resolve is ECB’s sharpest tool

The eurozone may have avoided a break-up, but its economy is contracting at worrying speed.We offer over 600 landscape oil paintings at wholesale prices of 75% off retail. Purchasing managers’ indices last week showed private sector activity shrinking at the fastest pace since the depths of the 2009 post-Lehman Brothers global recession.Find the lowest prices on Air purifier.

Such a precipitous drop raises the question of whether, having saved the euro, the European Central Bank might have to prevent parts of the eurozone falling into a deflationary slump. And if so, how?

When the ECB intervened in bond markets under Jean-Claude Trichet, its previous president, purchases were on a hold-until-maturity basis. But Mr Draghi’s revamped “outright monetary transactions” programme would hold bonds in a trading portfolio – they could be sold as well as bought. As such, OMTs will be more akin to a flexible, US Federal Reserve-style “quantitative easing” programme.

This opens up the possibility of OMTs morphing into a mechanism providing broad economic stimulus – rather than just removing the “tail risk” of a catastrophic eurozone break-up.

About time too, many would argue. The US Fed is already into its third round of QE, but the eurozone economy looks sicker. Beyond the near term, even the ECB expects the economy to “recover only very gradually”, with the risks on the downside.

But do not expect ECB-style QE any time soon. For one thing, the bank’s OMT programme has yet to be activated – that will depend on Spain first agreeing Mr Draghi’s pre-requisite economic reform programme with European Union authorities and the International Monetary Fund.

Even when purchases start, Mr Draghi has sworn they will be aimed purely at ensuring the proper “transmission” of its interest rate decisions to the real economy, without investors fretting about eurozone break-up risks. Amounts spent will be “sterilised” by withdrawing equivalent amounts of liquidity from the banking system. There is no question of the ECB “cranking up the printing presses”,If you have a fondness for china mosaic brimming with romantic roses, J?rg Asmussen, an executive board member, reassured last week.

A successful OMT programme, however,We are porcelain tiles specialists and are passionate about our product, would have stimulative effects by reducing borrowing costs in crisis-hit periphery countries and helping repair the eurozone fragmentation, which has led to wild variations in financial conditions between north and south.

If further easing was required, the ECB could still use conventional monetary policy. Its main policy rate remains at 0.75 per cent, so further cuts are possible.

More relevant is the rate charged on the ECB’s deposit facility, used by banks to park funds overnight. With the ECB having flooded the banking system with liquidity, the deposit facility rate provides a floor for market interest rates. In July the deposit rate was cut to zero. But it could be pushed into negative territory (assuming computer systems can cope). The idea would be that the cost of parking funds at the ECB would encourage greater lending to the real economy.

Still, the scope for rate cuts is limited. Negative interest rates could hardly be passed by banks to households or businesses. Beyond that, the ECB could try Fed-style guidance – pledging to keep interest rates low for a lengthy period in the hope of encouraging lending.Republic parking system is a privately owned professional parking management company based in Chattanooga, But that would fly in the face of the ECB’s “we never pre-commit” tradition, inherited from Germany’s Bundesbank.

So what happens then if the economy deteriorates further? Mr Draghi has not ruled out QE but nor has he flagged it as likely. That is probably wise. It is unclear how such a programme would work in the eurozone. Its financial fragmentation would have to be healed first but there are also political obstacles.

Government bond purchases would have to be in proportion to the relative size of eurozone member countries. Thus more German bonds would be bought than any other – and Germans are already aghast at the prospect of purchases under the OMT. Corporate bond purchases would be as fraught: imagine the row if the ECB bought Fiat but not Daimler or Peugeot?

The Fed is combating unemployment by buying $40bn of mortgage-backed securities a month. But there is no comparable market in the eurozone.

One option could be to copy the Bank of England’s “funding for lending” programme, which provides banks with cheap funding to lend on to consumers and businesses, perhaps tailoring it for individual eurozone countries. But that scheme has not yet transformed UK prospects.

Funding From Andreessen Horowitz

The smartphone is the central consumer product of our time. It will continue to drive explosive growth of data demand for the next decade. Meanwhile, service plans and the underlying network technology are still rooted in the voice-only era, forcing ‘one-size-fits-all’ antiquated service plans into the hands of consumers. ItsOn is bringing radical change to the $1 trillion global mobile services market. With ItsOn, consumers and businesses will finally have access to a fully customized service experience that is uniquely suited for their needs, and is optimized for the way they interact with their entire mobile world.

“As the feature phone goes by the wayside, a new level of personal connectivity is becoming central to our identity in the form of the smartphone. But mobile service plans are not keeping up,” said Marc Andreessen, co-founder and partner at Andreessen Horowitz. “ItsOn addresses a universal problem that has never been solved. It is the ultimate usage based model of the future. The company’s cloud-based technology is the leap forward needed to unlock the next wave of growth and financial opportunity in mobile. We believe ItsOn is about to change this industry.”

ItsOn’s cloud-based platform offers complete flexibility and real-time service customization features for both mobile operators and service providers. Businesses will be able to provide services targeted to specific user demographics and device types with minimal development time or market risk. With ItsOn,The Fridge fridge magnet is leader in the custom design, go-to-market times for these service deployments are days vs. years. ItsOn mobile partners will strengthen brand awareness, improve targeted app placement and their app service sponsorship.Dongpeng professionally produces and export all types of glazed porcelain tile tiles at low price. Examples include a snack food maker’s sponsorship of streaming for a sporting event, free social networking with voice services, sponsored news services, and sponsored online shopping with mobile service credits for loyalty shoppers.

“ItsOn provides 3G and 4G wireless consumers and enterprise business managers with complete, real-time visibility and control over their voice, text and more importantly, data usage. Mobile service consumers are finally empowered to choose exactly which mobile services they need and how much they want to spend—eliminating over-charging and bill shock,” said ItsOn founder, chairman and CEO Dr.Handmade oil paintings for sale for sale at museum quality, Greg Raleigh. “Consumers can select, monitor, control and share all of their mobile services as they wish, instantly from their phone, tablet or PC without the inconvenience of talking to a sales associate, calling a support center or logging into a website. People will be able to take any ItsOn enabled device out of the box and simply start using whatever services they desire.”

The smartphone era has created a data explosion, which existing mobile networks are not prepared to handle. The ItsOn platform eliminates the misalignment between escalating data costs for network operators and their revenue, through cost transparency and by putting consumers in complete control of tailored mobile services. This will drive profitable,A Water polo ear cap is a piece of headgear used in water polo. scalable and attractive mobile operator and MVNO business models, which will keep pace with the growing appetite for mobile data now and into the future.

“Just as the Internet revolution resulted in the migration of intelligence from the network core to the edge of wired networks, ItsOn is now enabling the massive, untapped intelligence in smart mobile devices to offer more choice and control for consumers of their mobile services,” said Charles Giancarlo, co-founder of ItsOn. “The ItsOn platform decreases network cost, increases network flexibility and puts power into the hands of the consumer. ItsOn is a breakthrough that inverts the entire centralized mobile network paradigm and revolutionizes what people around the world will now be able to do with their mobile connectivity.A smooth and Glossy floor tile not only looks bright and clean,”

ItsOn has been in stealth since 2008. ItsOn-enabled mobile services will be available to consumers and businesses in the US and globally starting next year. Previous ItsOn investors include Vodafone Ventures and Verizon Investments.

2012年10月23日星期二

A small but mighty force

“There is a passion for innovation with every person in this country,” the executive said Oct. 3 during an interview at the company’s Plainfield headquarters plant.Find detailed product information for Glazed rustic tile and other products.

New ideas are the backbone of Westminster, which Coombs started 13 years ago as a part-time venture from the basement of his house. Its first parts were for a printing press.

Today, high-end values like high-speed milling and robotics help keep costs low, but the dynamic factor in the firm’s success is its 28 employees, said business development Vice President Mark Ypsilantis.

The company follows what Coombs calls “an idea system” — “where in order to work, you have to start with two ideas a month,” he said.

“And then we actually implement them and train people,” Coombs said.

At the start, Coombs said employees feared they might run out of ideas. But the ideas keep coming. So far,We offer over 600 landscape oil paintings at wholesale prices of 75% off retail. a total of 780 ideas have been offered and more than 560 of them implemented.

“When I started the business, all the other guys were going the other way” — that is, getting out of the mold making business,We are porcelain tiles specialists and are passionate about our product, Coombs said.

Employees have helped build the company, Coombs said. Sales have jumped from $3.5 million in the last two years to $5 million this year, he said.

“Today everybody is thinking: ‘What can I do to make the company better?’ ” he said.The CenTrak rtls platform can address today's healthcare challenges.

Westminster employees’ ideas range from the simple to the complex, but the aim is the same.

The cup dispenser near the water cooler always dropped two cups, and despite using the machine for years, Coombs admitted that he never thought about it much — until an employee suggested crimping the tube so only one cup dropped at a time. That single and very basic idea saved the company $128 a year, Coombs said.

Another idea, of unplugging a water fountain that was no longer in use, created $400 in savings.

Increased efficiency and higher morale are two major consequences of the idea program.

Westminster emphasizes cross-training and is quick to move people around to improve efficiency. In fact, the firm shuts down twice a year for a day of training. The latest seminar — troubleshooting on the Internet — focused on teaching employees how to do research on their projects.

Over the last three years, Westminster has diversified at its 13,000-square-foot facility in Plainfield. It now builds manufacturing cells for high-performance composite materials used in the aerospace industry, and has found another niche working with resin transfer molds.

The company also does low-volume production of high-performance plastic materials to replace metal in parts, and that business is gaining ground, Coombs said.

But Westminster’s mainstay is mold making — with capabilities for up to 64 cavities and a prowess in working with molds of up to 10,000 pounds.

The company does a mixture of low-cavity and high-complexity work. The newest piece of toolmaking equipment is a five-axis Deckel Maho milling machine that has helped boost Westminster’s aerospace work. In late September, the company added its third injection molding machine for tool validation, a 300-ton Toyo that complements its 110- and 150-ton Toyo presses.

Westminster’s key markets are aerospace and defense, medical-device and pharmaceutical products,What Is Skirtting tile? and consumer packaging, particularly high-volume, high-cavitation injection molds for caps and closures.

The company has come to rely more on strategic partnerships, such as its latest — an agreement with Omni Mold Systems, a supplier of standardized mold components based in Lisbon, Conn.

Inyo answers jury’s justice-system advice

Law enforcement officials in Inyo County are working to implement recommendations made by local watchdogs this summer in their annual report.

The 2011-12 Grand Jury took a close look at operations at the Inyo County Jail and Juvenile Detention Center and the District Attorney’s office during its term, offering guidance and recommended changes to help the departments better serve the public.

In a response to the Grand Jury last week, high level officials said they are already implementing some of the citizen watchdog group’s suggestions. In some cases, officials said Grand Jury recommendations will not be implemented because the department head did not agree with the Grand Jury’s finding, or because it is not physically or financially feasible.

After meeting with D.A. Art Maillet and his staff, the Grand Jury recommended that the D.A.’s office begin issuing regular press releases to local media outlets to end what Mallet called “a flow of misinformation and misstatements through the press.”

The Grand Jury also recommended that the county establish an ongoing workshop for all county executives on ways keep and improve media and public relations.

In the county response to the recommendations, local leaders said the Grand Jury’s recommendation needs further analysis. “The Board of Supervisors would expect the District Attorney, an elected official of the county, to establish what he deems would be an appropriate relationship with the media and it is not within the jurisdiction of this board to dictate the confines of that relationship,” the response states. “The Board of Supervisors believes that the county has a good working relationship with the local news media outlets, but also recognizes that there may be opportunities to improve these relationships as well as the county’s communication with citizens.Promotional custom keychain at ePromos Promotional Products.Handmade oil paintings for sale for sale at museum quality,”

The Grand Jury also recommended that the D.A.Find the best iPhone headset for you at Best Buy. work with trial judges to arrange plea agreements before trial dates are set to avoid last-minute jury cancellations. “There should be no last-minute ‘sweeteners’ offered at or on the date of the trial,” the Grand Jury said.Gerresheimer Werkzeugbau Wackersdorf GmbH manufactures special lines and machines.

The county said that recommendation will not be implemented because “it is not reasonable. The Board of Supervisors does not believe that it has a role in this recommendation. The management of the courts and trials falls to the judges and the attorneys that participate in the judicial system.”

The Grand Jury also recommended that a retired judge from outside the county head a panel directed to study the current court system and recommend improvements.

Again, county leaders said that recommendation needed further analysis. “The Board agrees that such an effort could result in recommendations that would help alleviate those areas of the criminal justice system … that cause unnecessary and costly delays in both time and money for the courts, the county and the residents of the county. However, as previously stated, the Board of Supervisors has no ability to require the courts or elected county officials to implement or not implement recommendations.

In its report to the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department regarding Inyo County Jail, the Grand Jury said the sheriff and his deputies are to be commended for the overall appearance and upkeep of the facility, their “comprehensive and thorough approach to disseminating and enforcing rules and regulations” and for “highly efficient and sufficient staff providing for all inmate needs.”

The only recommendation the Grand Jury made was to have consistent monitoring of inmates in detox, as jurors found a “wide timing variations” in detox monitoring between night and day shifts.
The county said in its response that the recommendation has been implemented.

At the Juvenile Detention Facility, the Grand Jury said staff should be commended for their dedication and resourceful use of manpower, but that an aging video surveillance system is an issue, and should be rectified as soon as funding is available.

The county said that recommendation has been implemented. “The fiscal year of 2012-13 Board-approved County Budget identifies and discusses this project as a project that could be funded later this year… the department head indicates h will be able to secure funding to pay for at least two-thirds or more of the estimated cost of replacing the system.Smooth-On is your source for Mold Making and casting materials including silicone rubber.”

The final recommendation the Grand Jury made is that the county identify funding for a new fence for the west parking lot.

ECS Launches 'Payment in a Box' for North America

ElectraCard Services (ECS), a leading electronic payments solution provider, today announced the availability of a prepackaged, functionally rich, high performance payment switch. The integrated solution meets the needs of financial institutions, local Independent Service Organizations (ISO), retailers and merchant processors and enables them to more quickly adapt to innovation in their markets.

ECS ‘Payment in a Box’ bundles HP Integrity NonStop servers and electraSWITCH iTx series to deliver high reliability, extreme scalability and superior price performance.Handmade oil paintings for sale for sale at museum quality, The integrated solution is based on the newly introduced HP Integrity NonStop NS2100 server, allowing customers who require a mission-critical application environment to extend the reliability of NonStop fundamentals at a lower price point. This bundled solution comes complete with support, installation and training services.Gerresheimer Werkzeugbau Wackersdorf GmbH manufactures special lines and machines.

electra iTx series platform is a next generation transaction platform, built from the ground-up on open standards and industry best-practices to support the service oriented architectures (SOA) that are fast becoming the technology backbone of today’s leading organizations..A Water poloear cap is a piece of headgear used in water polo.Smooth-On is your source for Mold Making and casting materials including silicone rubber. It bridges the divide between the old and new payment worlds by increasing the agility and flexibility of traditional payments technologies. The iTx series provides flexibility and speed to market for the entire payments chain.

Expanded functionality of the iTx series includes the ECS answer to the Software Development Kit (SDK) and brings a powerful business rules engine and workflow manager called electraRULES Business Manager, which eliminates customization and shortens the time to launch new services. electraRULES model-driven development environment enforces granularity and reuse of business assets unseen in traditional approaches allowing for seamless composition and decomposition of processes and business services. The Java engine at the core of electraRULES is proven to support massive degrees of scale and parallelism, and allow our customers to extend and customize the platform to fit their needs. It also comes with a highly configurable message transformation engine called electraMAP, which maps message formats and protocols to integrate with external systems using online messages, offline extracts and SOA services.The Fridge fridge magnet is leader in the custom design, ‘When coupled together, iTx series is game changing technology,’ stated Dale Van Stratten, SVP and Head of ECS Americas.

ECS selected HP for its deep industry expertise, global delivery capabilities and to ensure infrastructure longevity. Like other financial organizations, the company put its trust in HP and the NonStop platform because it delivers fault tolerance, continuous availability and data integrity required by retail, wholesale and central bank payments systems. electraSWITCH on HP Integrity NonStop is among the few PA-DSS certified payment solutions. electraSWITCH iTx series is a high performance payment engine on NonStop. electra is handling 9 million transactions per day and 50 million debit cards at a large bank in Southeast Asia. ECS has extensive experience on HP Integrity NonStop and have completed numerous migrations from competing platforms including several from ACI platforms.

‘As part of our strategy to offer customers a compelling solution and make their migration experience simple, reliable and affordable, we have collaborated with HP to create this packaged payments offering,’ commented Van Stratten.

2012年10月17日星期三

Income use from Des Moines parking garage under fire

Federal officials are investigating whether the city of Des Moines has improperly spent millions of dollars in income generated from a parking garage, according to interviews and public documents obtained by The Des Moines Register.

The result could be higher property taxes for residents if federal officials demand that Des Moines repay a $15.2 million grant.

“I hope the city of Des Moines is retaining somebody who knows what the heck they’re doing … because they’re going to get a letter at some point saying ‘refund that money,’ ” said Kim Mann, an attorney representing a transit authority in Roanoke,What Is Skirtting tile? Va., where federal officials are engaged in a similar battle over improper spending.

For Des Moines, the questions pivot on a 1997 agreement in which the city accepted $15.2 million in federal grants to build a $23.2 million park-and-ride garage at Seventh and Center streets, two blocks west of Veterans Memorial Auditorium.

That agreement includes a provision that stipulates any revenue generated from the parking garage must be used for the facility, its shuttle system or other associated transit costs.

But during the past nine years Des Moines has directed almost $8.3 million of income from the garage to the area’s regional bus service. And in recent years hundreds of thousands of dollars have been used to offset property taxes that Des Moines residents pay for the regional transit service known as DART.

City Manager Rick Clark and Deputy City Attorney Larry McDowell say they believe the federal agreement is broad in scope and that the revenue can be used to pay for services that don’t directly benefit the garage, as long as they are for transit-related purposes.

But the Federal Transit Administration cited the spending as a problem finding in a review released in June, and Des Moines residents can expect higher property taxes if the city is found to have improperly spent the money, said Councilwoman Christine Hensley.

Federal officials are now requiring Des Moines to account for all revenue and expenses of the garage. They have also directed DART, the Des Moines Area Regional Transit authority, to develop a formal agreement of how it will monitor the garage’s income to assure that the money is used properly.Find detailed product information for Glazed rustic tile and other products.

It is unknown what specific consequences may be ahead for Des Moines should federal officials ultimately rule that the revenue is being spent improperly. Federal Transit Administration spokespeople Brian Farber and Amy Bernstein declined to answer specific questions about the issue or comment about the city’s broader interpretation of the contract. Questions posed to members of the FTA audit team went unanswered.The CenTrak rtls platform can address today's healthcare challenges.

In a statement issued to the Register, Farber simply said the FTA is reviewing the issue with the city and DART.

Hensley said the city would contest the FTA’s findings before raising taxes on residents. She also had a question for the federal agency.

“Why is this being brought up now?” asked Hensley, a DART board member. “We’ve gone through previous triennial reviews and this issue has never been raised before.”

In the current fiscal year and the previous two, Des Moines officials used $680,000 of revenue from the park-and-ride garage to reduce property tax contributions to DART. In some previous years, the city allocated as much as $1.1 million in park-and-ride revenue to the transit authority, city records show.

Using park-and-ride revenue has lowered Des Moines’ transit tax rate by about 10.5 cents per $1,000 of valuation. That’s about $5.25 in savings for a home assessed at $100,000 after various state credits are applied.

Clark, the city manager, maintains that Des Moines has not violated its park-and-ride contract with the federal government.

“Using the money for DART is a transit purpose, so in my view, that use of the funds is wholly consistent with what we originally agreed to. Now, if the FTA is now saying that’s not accurate,Buy Crystal tile online, I guess I’d need to hear that,” Clark said.

The agreement specifically states that the revenue can only be used for the operation, improvement or repairs of the facility. However,We offer over 600 landscape oil paintings at wholesale prices of 75% off retail. the contract also notes that “other transit operating costs” are permitted, citing a federal regulation that shows the city can retain the income as long as it is used for mass transit purposes. The federal regulation does not specifically say that the “mass transit purposes” must directly benefit the project that generated the revenue.

Kim's brought her light touch to oil painting

Today one often finds her working en plein air using a very different medium – oils and watercolours – capturing the countryside around her on canvas and board.

Yet the impact is just as striking. She has translated her bold and contemporary use of colour and line evident in her glass designs, to a new substrate, making her style very distinctive.

Thanks to her background in stained glass, she understands light, how it falls, impacts, reflects and changes. Add to that an eye for design, composition and ability to communicate visually and one has a winning combination.

Underpinning this love for colour is a joy for drawing, which Kim believes is the fundamental foundation for all the work she produces.

She is currently exhibiting alongside other artists who regularly attend Paul Fowler's Wednesday morning drawing skills class at Pegasus Art in Thrupp, in an exhibition appropriately named Passion for Drawing, which runs until October 26. It's part of the nationwide project the Big Draw, a campaign to encourage more people to pick up a pencil, pen or drawing tool of any kind and make a mark.

"Drawing is so important. It is one of those things you just have to keep on doing as a professional artist on a daily basis. The art of looking is essential to good design which is why I keep returning to life drawing.

"I go to Paul's classes because they are informative and I love the atmosphere. Most artists work alone so it is good to be with like-minded people. I think a great drawing can be more beautiful than anything else," admits Kim.

The show depicts this. Graphite and charcoal is used to its maximum effect: defining, suggesting, expressing mood and highlighting shadows and form.

Many of the images on show by Kim and fellow artists Sylvia Pearson,The CenTrak rtls platform can address today's healthcare challenges. Diane Moran, Jane Fisher, Susie Harding-Edgar, Karel Hughes, Ros Smith, Lynne Woods, Penny Shankar and David Huxtable have a narrative to them.We are porcelain tiles specialists and are passionate about our product,

Paul put a collection of eclectic objects and shapes before them, leaving each artist to abstract what they wanted and create a story with them. Kim says she prefers using charcoal as it is less restrictive. Her series called Puppet Love,We offer over 600 landscape oil paintings at wholesale prices of 75% off retail. depicting wooden puppets on their strings, almost begs the viewer to bring them to life.

And in a sense this is what she does through her work. She brings a seascape, landscape or interior to life through her wonderful mix of drama, mystery and sometimes hint of menace.

A dark cloud looms in the background, emphasising the strong shafts of light which heighten the crevices on a rock face, a lone figure in the background or rich tapestry of colourful fields.

They are not chocolate box images, rather they have an honesty about them and reflect real life, which is often a mix of joy and sadness, light and dark.

In Kim's studio there are about six pieces of work on the go. A seascape from the Isles of Scilly – a popular haunt of Kim's as well as Argyll on the West Coast of Scotland – takes its place on her easel, while a waterfall at Merlin's Cave, waits to have its essential water added and maybe a figure hidden in the shadows.

She shows me some of her finished works which will be on view at Ludlow Castle in the Beckford Fine Art Exhibition from October 19 to 21 and at the Lavender Bakehouse, Chalford in November.

Smaller oils showing boats on the canal at Ryeford have been completed on site and as a result capture atmosphere and essence of place as does Autumn Sky above Rodborough Common and Summer on Swift's Hill,Find detailed product information for Glazed rustic tile and other products. worked from onsite watercolour and graphite sketches.What Is Skirtting tile? Again the eye is drawn to light and takes in the whole composition.

Born in Bristol, Kim worked for many years in top sales jobs before taking a year off to travel . An evening course with renowned stained glass artist Mark Angus at the Royal West of England Academy whetted her appetite and led her to the prestigious Swansea School where she gained a Diploma in Architectural Stained Glass.

She did a Masters Degree in the Conservation of Historic buildings at York University and took up residencies at The Victoria and Albert Museum and stained glass studios of the Cathedrals of York and Canterbury. It was in researching for her MA that she came to see Woodchester Mansion, fell in love with the building and the man behind its conservation project, Mike Hill and later moved to the Stroud Valleys, where she set up her stained glass studio. Until 2010 she specialised in new commissions as well as taking on conservation projects.

Kim's work can be seen in many churches as well as public and private buildings throughout the UK including Churchdown Library depicting an eye-catching modern design of book jackets and graphic symbols capturing the town's history; trefoils in a church in Birmingham paying tribute to its large Afro-Caribbean congregation; and her large east window in St. John the Evangelist at Purton showing Christ ablaze in light.

"As an architectural glass artist I always aim to design glass to add beauty to a place and pay respect to the use and users of the building. Light transmitted through coloured glass is ever-changing and can enhance mood and provoke contemplation in the viewer," explains Kim.

Energized by Innovation

Insulated from the global economic downturn, Canada's HVACR market has continued to enjoy a steady growth. Spurred by an environment of stringent regulations and best practices and a conducive climate for sustainable innovation, the country offers world-class products and services in the sector. Pratibha Umashankar reports.

There is a kind of quiet confidence that comes with maturity and age, which young markets can only hope to cultivate over the years. Canada's HVACR sector is in that self-assured space. Relatively unruffled by the recent - and in some cases ongoing - global economic crisis, the Canadian market continues to grow. But it has its ear to the ground - alert to sudden upheavals. Mafna Air Technologies Inc; Envira-North Systems Ltd; Carlisle HVAC; and SA Armstrong Limited from the HVACR industry endorse this view.

Describing the post-recession ethos, Sal Fasanella, Products General Manager, Carlisle HVAC, says, "The scenario is quite encouraging,Dongpeng professionally produces and export all types of glazed porcelain tile tiles at low price.Advice from an experienced artist on what to consider before you buy oil painting supplies so your money is well spent. particularly with regards to HVAC." He believes that the relative ease with which Canada sailed through the recession was because it was buoyed by not only new constructions, but also by a robust demand for retrofits.

Dean Wood, International Sales Manager, Envira-North Systems Ltd, adds: "We didn't experience the major effects that larger markets (Europe/USA) suffered. That's not to say we didn't incur any impact, but that our markets remained relatively stable in comparison. The HVACR market was very similar as new build construction continued, albeit at a slightly lower rate. Demand for our particular products exploded as energy-conscious customers recognised the need to reduce energy consumption."

Highlighting the positive impact of the downturn, he observes: "Traditionally, large markets in Europe and the United States (that consume Canadian products) contracted heavily in the global downturn. This provided the much-needed 'kick' for Canadian companies to look to other non-traditional markets, such as China,Gerresheimer Werkzeugbau Wackersdorf GmbH manufactures special lines and machines. India and South East Asia. This provided diversification in markets and less dependence on those traditional markets. The same can be said in the GCC, as some countries struggled to maintain growth and others emerged as stronger markets."

Fasanella thinks that keeping a close watch on pricing volatility is the key during these turbulent times, as is investing in new technologies in order to move forward.

Fasanella's company, Carlisle HVAC, has had a presence in the HVACR market in the Middle East for over 15 years. It primarily sells through distributors in the UAE and Lebanon. He claims that his company has done well in the Middle East with both quality duct sealants and ventilation hardware, including flexible duct connectors. According to him,Tile porcelain, Kanton ceramics and Tilee's Ceramics. usually, customers/clients in the region do not ask for additional standards for Canadian HVACR products, although in some cases, he has seen requests for British standards on some products.

Envira-North Systems, too, sells its products via its distributors in the Middle East market, who represent the company's interests. "We also participate in industry-specific exhibitions such as The Big 5 to promote our products and interact with local partners and customers," Wood reveals. "Our specifications meet or exceed requirements in the GCC countries."

Armstrong serves customers around the world through a network of representatives and agents. In the Middle East region, the company has supplied to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar,Soft Floor tiles is easier to install and perfect for all types of residential and commercial uses. Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Iran, Jordan, Yemen, Lebanon, and Syria, and as far as Morocco and Turkey. It has focused on pumps for fire suppression and has also had success supplying HVACR products to large commercial office buildings.

What does massive government spending in countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar translate into for Canada's HVACR industry? Fasanella thinks this opens doors for his company to promote its innovative products in the new construction projects. Wood endorses this view and says that it is up to Canadian HVACR businesses to take advantage of these opportunities.

Armstrong, speaking through its Communication Department, says that it certainly presents opportunities for companies to present high value-added solutions and build productive business relationships with stakeholders in the value chain within international markets. But it adds a caveat: "It's worthwhile noting, however, that like any other industry, the HVACR sector is highly competitive. Any business opportunity will lead to productive and healthy competition between suppliers. So, government is not necessarily to be seen as a windfall for manufacturers in any sector or country."

Wood believes that in general, Canadian HVACR companies hold the Middle East market in high regard due to its climatic challenges, market size and potential.

2012年10月10日星期三

Riverfront Park waits for repairs

A little more than three years ago, Apalachicola used two state grants totaling $400,000 to improve Riverside Park on the waterfront between Avenues D and E. Of this, $56,000 was used to install a central fountain in the park.

Plans for the park were inspired by design ideas suggested by the University of Georgia’s Riverways South committee and submitted to the city in 2008. Riverways’ report stressed the importance of the park to the downtown. “This is Apalachicola’s central park,” read the report. “It is the closest open space to the city’s commercial core.”

At the time,Save up to 80% off Ceramic Tile and porcelain tiles. there was controversy over the renovations, which included the fountain as well as installation of planters, benches and picnic tables.

Members of the city’s waterfront committee chosen to review and oversee work on the waterfront, chaired by Harry Arnold,Custom plastic injection mould manufacturer, said they did not approve the plan before the fountain and other fixtures were ordered.

Architect Willoughby Marshall, brought in by Mayor Van Johnson to weigh in on the plan, said the design was not in keeping with what the city ought to pursue. Questions were also raised about why the city had not sought bids on installation of the fountain and other fixtures.

Nevertheless, Aquarius of Naples installed the fountain on April 19, 2009, with city grant writer Cindy Giametta supervising the work.

Today,Chances are, you've never setup a real time Location system. Riverfront Park is in need of maintenance and repairs.We offer over 600 landscape oil paintings at wholesale prices of 75% off retail.

In December 2011, tiles began to fall off the sides and top of the fountain. For a short time, twine was used to secure the ceramic tile that remained, and silicone and mortar were applied to hide cracks and put fallen tiles back in place. Cracks in the fountain’s tile work continue to appear.

On the night of April 11, the fishing boat “God’s Grace” collided with the dock at Riverfront Park, damaging two pilings, knocking one down and breaking the other above water level. Apalachicola Police Chief Bobby Varnes said the boat’s captain, Nathan Peaden, of Milton, agreed to pay the estimated cost of $5,000 to repair the pilings.

Varnes said city officials were attempting to complete the repairs before the Apalachicola Antique and Classic Boat Show on April 28. The pilings remain unrepaired, although part of the damaged material has been removed, with the area festooned with ragged, yellow caution tape.

Varnes said last week the owner of God’s Grace is ready to pay for repairs but that the chief has found it difficult finding a contractor because the job is so small. Varnes said he has approached at least three firms that replace pilings but, so far, none has sent equipment to do the work. He is now negotiating with Reed Hicks of Carrabelle who said he has another job in Apalachicola and will attempt the Riverfront Park repair in two to three weeks when he brings a crew over to tackle the larger job.

“We have the poles,” said Varnes. “If anybody that can do the work and wants to come, we’ll pay them.”

Three months ago, the soil began to erode along the western edge of a section of sidewalk running parallel to the dock.Redpin is an open source indoor positioning system that was developed with the goal of providing at least room-level accuracy. During Tropical Storm Debby, the erosion worsened, and by the end of the summer, the condition of the sidewalk deteriorated to where several large sections have upended and present an obvious safety hazard.

The sidewalk is tilting along the entire waterfront and about half of the walking trail is now surrounded by temporary fencing. The fence prevents the use of benches and trash receptacles purchased and installed in 2009.

Contractor William Poloronis, who originally installed the sidewalk, said the rip rap used to reinforce the river bank had washed away over time. But, nobody was aware of the problem, he said, because the dock, installed after the sidewalk was built, hid the bank.

He said he believed the engineer underestimated wave action at the site. Poloronis said the best fix would be to drive sheet pilings deep along the bank, at a cost of as much as $1,000 a foot. But, a short term repair might be made much more cheaply.

Poloronis said that after inspecting the site, he believes the sidewalk needs to be removed, and a larger support beam and additional riprap needs to be added to reinforce the bank.

“The dock can become part of the walking trail,” he said.

Poloronis said he has not worked out the cost of the interim repair, but estimated it would be much cheaper than sheet piling, which might run around $200,000.

When repairs will be completed is uncertain. Staff in Apalachicola’s city office said damage to the sidewalk is being reviewed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Preble Rish, the city engineer.

Quinnipiac University opens Ireland's Great Hunger Museum

Quinnipiac University President John L. Lahey is proud to announce the public opening of Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum, Músaem an Ghorta Mhóir, on Oct. 11. The museum is the home to the world’s largest collection of visual art, artifacts, and printed materials relating to the catastrophe that devastated Ireland from 1845-52 and resulted in deaths of Irish men, women, and children and the emigration of more than 2 million to nations around the world.

“The museum will preserve, build, and present its art collection in order to stimulate reflection, inspire imagination, and advance awareness of Ireland’s Great Hunger and its long aftermath on both sides of the Atlantic,We are professional in supplying Aion Kinah,” said Lahey, who has been widely honored for his visionary leadership in assembling the collection, begun in 1997 when he was grand marshal of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade.Handmade oil paintings for sale for sale at museum quality,

Niamh O’Sullivan,Custom plastic injection mould manufacturer, professor emeritus of visual culture, the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, is the inaugural curator of the museum’s collection; and Grace Brady, former administrator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, serves as executive director of the museum.

The collection is filled with history and powerful stories about the Irish Famine and features nearly 100 original works by noted contemporary Irish and American artists in a variety of visual media, including sculptors John Behan, Rowan Gillespie, Glenna Goodacre, and Eamonn O’Doherty, and visual artists Robert Ballagh, Alanna O’Kelly, Brian Maguire, and Hughie O’Donoghue, as well as a number of important 19th and 20th century paintings by artists such as James Brenan, Daniel MacDonald, James Arthur O’Connor, Lilian Davidson,Totech Americas delivers a wide range of drycabinets for applications spanning electronics, and Jack B. Yeats. The collection includes several maquettes and studies for Irish memorials in Ireland and the United States.

The 4,750-square-foot museum was originally built in 1890 as Hamden’s first free public library. It has been renovated with materials and finishes to evoke Irish architecture. Leonard Wyeth, AIA, of Wyeth Architects LLC, of Chester, Conn., is the architect of the project.

Visitors to the museum first encounter an orientation video that gives the Great Hunger historical context. The first floor’s intimate galleries feature the 19th century works in the collection, while the second floor’s larger galleries showcase works from the 20th & 21st centuries.

Many artists did not depict the true horrors of the Great Hunger. Most Irish artists with ambition fled to London, where the art market was centered on wealthy patrons who did not want to be reminded of unacceptable subject matter such as oppression, distress, or starvation. Few British artists who did use the Famine as subject matter muted the atrocities of actual events, for instance,Welcome to news from www.glassmosaicchina.com,Our company is committed to produce all kinds of new materials mosaic. George Frederic Watts depicted healthy looking well-dressed peasants in his painting The Irish Famine (ca. 1849).

The famine did coincide with the birth of mass-produced, illustrated newspapers, and it is in this medium the most comprehensive visual record of the Great Hunger exists. The second floor of the museum includes a 7 foot x 11 foot video wall that showcases newspaper illustrations, which functioned as realistic and mimetic records of contemporary events. The most iconic image of the Great Hunger, James Mahony’s Bridget O’Donnel and Children (1849), first featured in the Illustrated London News, continues to act as the starting point for many artists in this collection.

Exceptionally, Daniel McDonald’s Irish Famine Children (1847) is one of the few paintings contemporary with the height of the Famine. What seems like a gentle blend of landscape and genre painting is more of a defiance of convention—the figures are not integrated into the landscape but painted dominantly, suggesting a connection to contemporary art and political events. The children represent three faces of Ireland: the beautiful, the mischievous, and the dangerous; and the swirling mist represents the uncertain world in which these children find themselves, and the turbulence enveloping Ireland.

As generations succeeded each other, the memories of the Famine burrowed deeper but occasionally surfaced in works such as Lilian Davidson’s (1893-1954) Burying the Child. Unusual for Irish painting of the time, it has echoes of the European tradition of artists, such as Picasso in his blue period, who engaged with the dark side of the world in those apocalyptic years just before and after World War I. The color blue has a long tradition in Christian symbolic iconography, and is also associated with mourning; Davidson uses it to heighten the sense of tragedy, but without religious or heroic overtones.

Investor Fraud Summit in Walnut Creek Arms Consumers

An Investor Fraud Summit designed to provide participants with the information they need to deter future violators and protect their retirement income during today’s rise in investment fraud schemes was held today at Rossmoor Retirement Community in Walnut Creek, California, United States Attorney Amanda Marshall announced. United States Attorneys for the Northern, Eastern, Central, and Southern Districts of California; Alaska; and Oregon; along with representatives from the United States Department of Justice, FBI, and the Securities and Exchange Commission participated in the event. “Many of us have a family member, friend, or neighbor who has fallen for a fraudulent investment scheme,” remarked United States Attorney Amanda Marshall. “These scammers not only steal money, they steal something far more valuable: piece of mind.

Fraudsters lure people in by building trust. Victims are left not only broke, but humiliated because they trusted someone who ripped them off. We can all help prevent the elders in our lives from losing their money, their dignity, and their security. This summit was one important step in the continued effort of the Department of Justice and United States Attorney Community to educate the public about how to protect against investment fraud.” “Investor fraud crimes can erode faith in our financial markets, threaten our nation’s ongoing economic recovery, and undermine the fabric of our communities,” said Attorney General Eric Holder.

“That’s why protecting the American people from fraud is a top priority for today’s Justice Department. And through the Investor Fraud Summits we announce today, we’ll take our anti-fraud efforts to a new level—by raising awareness about these devastating offenses,Welcome to news from www.glassmosaicchina.com,Our company is committed to produce all kinds of new materials mosaic. educating consumers on how to report suspected fraud schemes, and empowering members of the public to fight back.” Today’s summit featured United States Attorney Melinda Haag of the Northern District of California, United States Attorney Ben Wagner for the Eastern District of California, United States Attorney Andre Birotte of the Central District of California, United States Attorney Laura Duffy of the Southern District of California, and United States Attorney Amanda Marshall of the District of Oregon. Also on hand were representatives from the FBI, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the SEC, Google, and CNBCs American Greed. The FBI reports an unprecedented rise in investment fraud schemes, involving thousands of victims and staggering losses.

Since 2011, the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and 85 United States Attorneys’ Offices have reported that approximately 800 defendants have been charged, tried, pleaded, or sentenced in approximately 500 federal prosecutions involving investor fraud. The total reported amount swindled from victims for this time period tops more than $20 billion. This staggering number includes cases where the total amount victims lost range from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of millions and, in some cases, billions in hard-earned savings. The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon has prosecuted a significant number of investor fraud cases over the last 18 months, including the following.

Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. United States v. Douglas Buckley On July 27, 2010, Douglas Buckley was indicted with wire fraud and mail fraud. A jury found Buckley guilty of soliciting investors by falsely representing himself to be a registered commodities broker and falsifying account statements to general fees for himself.

Losses to victims are approximately $400,Handmade oil paintings for sale for sale at museum quality,000. Sentencing is scheduled for January 28, 2013. United States v. Joseph LaCoste On April 24, 2011, Joseph Anthony LaCoste, 46, former Chief Executive Officer of Willamette Development Services, LLC (WDS), Joene Pearl Clyde LaCoste, the spouse of Joseph Anthony LaCoste, and Angela Marie McCoy, 43,We are professional in supplying Aion Kinah, former Investment Relations Manager for WDS, were arraigned in federal court on a superseding indictment charging them with committing securities fraud, bank fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, bankruptcy fraud, and money laundering.

The indictment alleges that from April 2006 through December 2007, through misrepresentations by Joseph LaCoste and McCoy, WDS obtained approximately $5,285,300 from investors for the ostensible purpose of developing at least ten profitable real estate projects,Carlo Gavazzi offers a broad range of ultrasonic sensor and ultrasonic transducers for level detection and process monitoring. and that WDS incurred $10,795,820 of additional indebtedness from lenders. By January 2008, none of the projects were completed and WDS was insolvent. The investors lost their entire principal of $5,285,300. Secured lenders recovered portions of their loans through foreclosure actions.

The indictment further alleges that between January 2008 and June 2010, through Witham Investments LLC, Joene and Joseph LaCoste caused victims to lose more than 1,Totech Americas delivers a wide range of drycabinets for applications spanning electronics,000 acres of property. Due to misrepresentations by the LaCostes, one couple lost 889 acres and another couple lost more than 200 acres that had been in their family since the 1860s. Trial is scheduled for March 6, 2013. On February 8, 2011, the former chief financial officer for WDS pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit securities fraud.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 5, 2013. United States v. Johnny Mickey Brown On May 11, 2011, a federal jury convicted Johnny “Mickey” Brown of wire fraud, false statements to a financial institution, and tax evasion. The evidence presented at trial proved that Brown fraudulently obtained credit cards from unsuspecting victims, many of whom were elderly or financially na?ve, who believed they were investing in vacuum cleaner inventory for a profitable business.

Once he secured the victims’ cards through false promises of no-risk dividends based upon the sale of the vacuum inventory, he immediately obtained all the available credit balance from each card. Brown did this by running the cards through a United States Bank Merchant Point of Sale terminal and falsely disguised each transaction as a sale of merchandise when, in fact, he did not sell anything at all. Each of these pretext or “fake” sales caused United States Bank to automatically deposit the amount of the fraudulent sale entered in the credit card machine into defendant Brown’s business bank account. The total amount of losses to victims in Brown’s scheme exceeded $6 million.