2013年12月29日星期日

Surrounded on all sides


Burin and its land are caged in by settlements and military positions: The settlement of Yitzhar and its several outposts close in from the south; Bracha and its progeny from the north. To the west and east Burin is hedged in by army bases and watchtowers. The IDF and the Border Police appear immediately whenever Palestinians are found on their privately owned land near an outpost. This happened last Monday, when this reporter went up Burin's northeastern hill known as Karem a-Shaquf or Jabal a-Sab'a with Bilal Eid. Crocuses and primroses had already sprouted between the rocks. It's no wonder that this hill (under the Oslo Accords in Area B, under Palestinian civil authority),Green Produce Farm is a vegetable farm company that produces sweet basils and Thai basil. with its panorama of mountains, valleys, fields and groves,A spindle bearing is designed to deliver superior accuracy, and it requires appropriate care and handling. has been a favorite site for short hikes, not just a place for agriculture or sheep grazing. But since the beginning of the 2000s, settlers, the Border Police and the IDF have been preventing Burin residents from reaching their land. Fifteen years ago Eid bought the single home on the hill (the owners fled to Jordan in 1967). With the rest of his money he renovated the property, but in 2002 Israelis smashed it. Since then the house has been abandoned with its walls covered in graffiti, while Eid and his family rent a home in the village.

Another two of the village's residents have received building permits from the Burin council but haven't gone ahead with construction because of the constant threat. When the farmers began paving a road, Israelis from Bracha B attacked them.At fuel hose, we apply the latest knowledge and state of the art technology to engineer our products to the highest quality standard. The army intervened and promised to agree with the villagers a day for building the road safely. This was around 10 years ago and the villagers are still waiting for this coordination. When the villagers go up the hill despite the threat, in the best case the soldiers fire stun grenades and tear gas at them. In the worst case Israelis from Givat Ronen and Bracha B come down and attack them. Last Monday, three members of the Border Police appeared at the edge of the outpost less than 10 minutes after we arrived at the nearby hill. One of them held a stun grenade that he put in his pocket only after we were 10 meters apart. "This is a closed military area," he said. But neither he nor the seven soldiers and officer that appeared later presented an order. When asked for a comment, the IDF Spokesman's Office said the area was part of Area B and the presence of Palestinians there did not violate the law.

"Nevertheless, the place is known point of conflict between the Israeli and Palestinian populations in the area," the IDF said in a statement. It said that when anyone disturbs the peace in the area he is treated in a similar manner. It said the soldiers had originally incorrectly stated that the hill was a closed military area. Through the Yesh Din human rights group, Burin residents have filed 85 complaints with the Israel Police in the West Bank since 2005; 22 of them in 2013. A partial list of the complaints: physical assault on farmers; firing at and wounding people; cutting down olive trees; setting fire to fields, a home, trees, cars and a tractor; slashing tires; stealing equipment and produce; throwing stones at homes. One type of attack characteristic of Burin's eastern neighborhood is the vandalizing of homes under construction to deter new occupants. Not all attacks result in complaints, and some of the buildings remained half-built and uninhabited.

New kitchen is functional but set to entertain


Cynthia and Jon live in a 1970s-era home that has been undergoing endless renovation. They've just about had it with home improvements, so we agreed to tackle one of the biggest projects on their list: the kitchen. It's not surprising that Cynthia was longing for a stylish and modern new kitchen. She knows it's the heart of the home, but this massive space hadn't been touched in 40 years. Walking in was like stepping into a time machine and jetting straight back to 1972! With its choppy layout, outdated finishes and small appliances, this kitchen just didn't cut it. Cynthia envisioned a beautiful, modern space where she and Jon could come together with their two kids, friends and other family members -- in other words, a kitchen that would be not only functional, but also this home's entertainment central. To add to the scope of this challenging project, we also had to relocate the laundry room, which was just off the kitchen. It was going downstairs, and in its place I planned to add a home office space. At the last minute, Cynthia also asked us to design a mud room -- somewhere to store hats, coats and bags after people come in the back door from the garage.

Luckily, this was a cavernous space that had endless potential. With a fantastic view of the pool and backyard courtyard, we just had to bring the inside up to par with the outside.The porcelain tiles produced by us feature high quality and competitive prices to meet the demand of customers. There was only one way to get this job done: bring down the walls to open up the space and do a complete gut, right down to the studs. Once the demolition crew had done its work, we began rebuilding Cynthia's dream kitchen. New vinyl casement windows were installed to ensure an unobstructed view of the beautiful backyard. We moved the kitchen work area over to the other side of the room, and started from the ground up with rich gray floor tiles. One of Cynthia's complaints had been the small appliances, so we made sure to choose only full-size,Welcome to bright-tools, it has established itself as the industry pioneer in supplying the most complete line of quality machine tool accessories. luxury appliances: a stainless steel gas stove, a two-door fridge concealed by cabinetry doors, a microwave cleverly hidden in a drawer, and a big stainless steel undermount sink in the island.

This is an elegant kitchen with surprising little touches of bling everywhere you look. The backsplash incorporates reflective hand-cut glass, and stainless steel and chrome accents shine brightly. The pendant fixture over the reclaimed wooden table catches and reflects the light, complementing the chrome table base, as well as white leather and chrome bar stools placed along the island. In addition to the island seating, a custom L-shaped banquette placed under the windows is upholstered in a rich durable soft blue fabric, with a tufted back and luxurious throw pillows. Over the island, we hung three retrofitted light fixtures that were rescued from the old kitchen. A custom upgrade gave these pendants a whole new lease on life, and their soft light shines down on the island's quartz countertop. The best things about this gorgeous new kitchen are the little details that contribute so much to its functionality. A good example of this is the magnetic chalk board that swings open to reveal a regular bulletin board behind it -- a great place to store notes from school or the kids' artwork. Over where the laundry room used to be, a home office workspace is the perfect place for Cynthia to do the household accounting, or for their young daughter to do her homework on the computer, under her mom's watchful eye.The Flexible hose layers are held and tensioned between internal and external wire helices.

Residents perturbed by Karachi's 'Buckingham Palace'


It is the permanent residents of Clifton Block 2 and 3 who have been inconvenienced the most by the barricading of the main road outside Bilawal House. Yet, they were also the ones who had to adapt as quickly as possible, and with minimal fuss,In my town, they are replacing all of the traffic light suppliers with these new lights that look like they are made of hundreds of tiny bulbs. because they simply had no other choice. Finding themselves under house arrest, the residents have seen multiple businesses shut down, such as Clifton Grill, because of the blockade. Owners of small businesses, fruit sellers and tailors in the commercial area adjacent to Indus Valley have suffered setbacks as customers find it inconvenient, even entirely impossible on some days, to reach them. "It is as if Asif Ali Zardari felt that he was entitled to make a Buckingham Palace for himself on public property. He was the constitutional head of the country, yet he has been indulging in the illegal seizure of these roads for the better part of his tenure,Welcome to bright-tools, it has established itself as the industry pioneer in supplying the most complete line of quality machine tool accessories." said a resident of Clifton Block 3, who lives adjacent to South City Hospital. "Such an action has no precedent anywhere in the world. Most heads of state cannot get away with breaking a traffic light while ours felt like he could take over an entire main road, that too permanently."

It is not only those who work or reside in the area that have been affected by the constricted streets – students of the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture have faced inconveniences multiple times as they find themselves caught in bumper to bumper traffic on the narrow road while rushing to make it to class on time. When asked about demolishing the wall around the Bilawal House, one student likened it to the tearing down of the Berlin wall in 1989 – not in scope but in the statement that it will make. "This was my hope from the party as a voter of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. I feel it is the reason that NA-250 supported PTI like it did. I knew they would not let this stand," said a resident.

The signal on the northwest corner is odd and dangerous. For those walking west on Marietta Avenue, crossing North West End Avenue, this signal faces the wrong way. It is just about caddy-corner to the hospital. It is so off-kilter, it seems as if it is for people trying to cross the intersection diagonally from the hospital, a route The Watchdog does not recommend. The signal on the southeast corner looks OK most times of day, and all the lights work. But anyone walking west on Marietta Avenue, away from the hospital on a sunny morning, will need better eyes than the Watchdog's. The walk and don't walk symbols were impossible to see on a recent sunny Saturday morning.Post all information on 5F-PB22 in this thread when asked about the difference pb22 and 5Fpb22 he says this. Then there's the less-than-perfect signal on the southeast corner of the intersection. Used for walking south on North West End Avenue, with the hospital to a pedestrian's back, this signal is missing its top cover and the one on the bottom is broken and bent. It is, however, fully visible.

2013年12月25日星期三

Talented Indian data scientists get top dollars


Mumbai-based Shashi Godbole is a do-it-yourself (DIY) data scientist. He holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree in mechanical engineering from IIT Bombay,This easy-to-use end mill holder screws onto the threaded end of the mill spindle. has solved business challenges in many areas, predicted the auction sale price for a bulldozer and even developed an algorithm that uses patient records to prevent unnecessary hospitalizations.

This data wizard spends a few hours in a day gleaning insights from volumes of data by running complex algorithms. He was recently paid $300 an hour for a healthcare consulting project in the US.

Godbole is a regular contestant on various competitions on Kaggle, a US-based crowdsourcing platform that connects companies and prospective data scientists. He was previously an associate director in analytics firm Fractal Analytics. He quit that to start his own consulting firm. "I was introduced to machine learning in college. I later enrolled for a course on machine learning on Coursera (online tutoring) to brush up my skills," he said.

Godbole was ranked 19 and 28 out of over 135,000 participants in recent Kaggle competitions. Another machine learning enthusiast is Abhishek, currently pursing his Master's thesis from the University of Bonn in computer vision and machine learning and also working at the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems. He is ranked 34 in the Kaggle list.

"We have a service called Kaggle Connect, where the elite from the Kaggle community earn top dollars from consulting engagements. The rate at launch for Kaggle Connect is $300 per hour (data scientists take home two-thirds of this)," said Anthony Goldbloom, founder and CEO of Kaggle. Many Indians are participating in data analysis competitions to get paid these top dollars.

According to Goldbloom, India is one of the strongest countries on Kaggle and it can potentially build a talent pipeline for data scientists that are virtually non-existent today. "India has a culture of respecting engineers because they're highly numerate and pragmatic,Our BT40 pull studs (retention knobs) are manufactured from high strength alloy steel." he added.

Started in 2010, Kaggle is a two-sided marketplace that bridges the gap between data problems and data solutions. It's free to all data scientists; charges a fee to companies with a data problem. Kaggle boasts of clients including Facebook, GE, Nasa, Tesco and Merck. Deepinder Dhingra, head of products & strategy at analytics service provider MuSigma, says startups like Kaggle bring together a curated network of data scientists. "You need an interdisciplinary approach of math, business and technology to solve a real business problem. Data science is a harmony between the right and left brain thinking."

Consulting firm McKinsey estimates that India will need 2 lakh data scientists in the next few years. The world would need many lakhs more. The extent of hiring for analytics or data science can be gauged from the fact that a single company, Wipro,The standard ER Collets is the most widely used cutting tool clamping system around. already has as many as 8,000 people in analytics functions, as per a Heidrick & Struggles report.

Vanguard's Jamerson is TD machine for Knights


Vanguard has churned out its share of eye-popping receivers over the years — pass catchers who made the weekly stat sheet look like video game material. After the season Natrell Jamerson had this fall, the Knights senior ought to be auditioning to be on the cover of Madden. The Star-Banner's offensive player of the year capped his high school career with a stellar season that challenged school records that have stood since the early 1990s.The China ceramic tile produced by us feature high quality and competitive prices to meet the demand of customers. If ever there was a home-run threat on the football field — a player capable of finding his way into the end zone from anywhere between the lines — Jamerson fits the mold. The 6-foot,Most importantly, Az-loc to offer you automatic web content translation Chinese. 175-pound Jamerson is a complete package, head coach Alex Castaneda said. He explodes off the line of scrimmage and takes pride in running decisive, crisp routes, which is something he learned from receivers coach Steve Rhem, a NFL vet and Vanguard alum. With a dependable pair of hands and enough physicality to fight off defenders backs, Jamerson turns on the jets and sets his sights on the end zone with his 4.5 speed.

Corners who take his frame for granted quickly learn the consequences. "He benches 325 (pounds)," Castaneda said. "He's a physical player and doesn't look it." Jamerson's 14 receiving touchdowns set a single-season record at Vanguard, one ahead of Kenny Clark's mark set in 1994 and two ahead of Amel Brooks in 1991. What makes Jamerson's record stand out even more is that he did it in just 11 games, while Clark suited up 15 times in '94 on a run to the state championship game. His 1,196 receiving yards on 68 catches are third on the school's single-season list behind Clark's 1,333 and Brooks' 1,191. Meanwhile, Rhem now sits behind Jamerson in that category with 1,Our range of high quality collet chuck include quick change and standard cap collet chucks.163 yards in 1988. "I didn't know anything about the records until toward the end of the season when coach Rhem told me," Jamerson said. "I'm not a superstar or anything like that. It just shows that anybody can do it." To reach the heights Jamerson did, having a steady quarterback is crucial, and that is exactly what he had in fellow senior Adam Robles, last year's offensive player of the year.

"I guess it kind of shows that all the work I put in the last three years is starting to pay off," said Jamerson, a two-year starter and three-year varsity player. "… And it's for the other classmates too, because if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here. They helped me out a lot. "And with Adam, him and I are a partnership almost because I help him out and he helps me. It's a good tandem." The two Knights were easily the county leaders at their respective positions this season. Jamerson's next closest competitor in catches, yards and touchdowns was his teammate — senior tight end Kano Dillon. Jamerson caught 21 more balls for 555 more yards and seven more touchdowns. Jamerson also reached the end zone three times on kickoff returns to finish as the county's leading scorer with 17 total touchdowns. On top of all that, Castaneda used him at cornerback on obvious passing downs. When asked to think of a comparable Vanguard alum — and there are plenty to choose from — Castaneda menioned P.J. Williams, Florida State's sophomore starting cornerback.

Do robots make us more productive or steal our jobs?


If we talked about nothing else in 2013 — and, all right, 2012, too — we talked about whether technology is going to take all our jobs. This latest surge of the age-old debate seems to have lulled, for now, with the anti-robot contingent in America somewhat mollified by the promise that additional automation may be the one advance that allows for manufacturing jobs to return from overseas and that it relieves humans of the most dangerous and unpleasant tasks. Theoretically, the robotic gospel goes, that talent is then freed up for more fulfilling and productive work. Either way, it's worth looking at the different ways automation began rendering new classes of jobs obsolete this year.Our multilingual indesign dtp publishing team has the experience and expertise to localize your documents to create the look and feel of the original.

Back in 2012, Amazon acquired Kiva Systems, a maker of robots that can be programmed to fulfill online orders in a warehouse and shuttle them to their departure points. The company now has 1,382 of the machines in three fulfillment centers, which means it eventually may not need to hire the tens of thousands of temporary workers it brings on for the busy holiday season. And if you had any doubts that Amazon could eventually do the same with flying drones, well, let this be a lesson. The nationwide strikes by fast-food workers brought dire warnings from restaurant-industry-backed researchers that if line cooks cost too much, they could easily be replaced by robots. That hasn't quite happened yet, but at least one company is working diligently to make it possible. It's reasonable to believe that McDonald's — which is already replacing cashiers with touch screens in Europe — would jump at the chance.

E-commerce has been steadily eating away at bricks-and-mortar stores for years now, but what's been cropping up more recently is a breed of business that sees taking storefronts out of the picture as a point of pride. Take American Giant, for example: The purveyor of basic, high-quality clothing makes its stuff just outside San Francisco, which it can do affordably because it sells to in-the-know urban sophisticates purely online, skipping the American Apparel-style marketing blitz altogether. That may mean you can get a high-quality, U.S.-made hoodie for a competitive price.The design of a given Robot system will often incorporate principles of Mechanical engineering, It also means that the people who might otherwise have sold it to you don't have jobs.

Not all labor-saving innovations are high-tech. Discount supermarket Aldi — which is owned by the same corporate parent as the more bourgeois Trader Joe's — keeps payroll down by requiring a 25-cent deposit for shopping carts so employees don't have to return them, and stocking shelves with boxes full of goods rather than placing the individual items in neat rows. Again, great for shoppers on a budget — at the cost of employment. Autonomous vehicle technology is accelerating and, for now, is focused on passenger vehicles. But the real labor shortage is in long-haul trucking, and that's a job that might be more safely filled by a remotely controlled robot that never gets tired or lost. Which just means that the 5.Learn about the Robotic arm, its technology and how robotic arms serve heavy industry.7 million people who do the job now will have to find a new way to make a living.

Picking up good vibrations


The vibration engineer and businessman, who holds a PhD in aerospace engineering from the Technion, Israel's Institute of Technology, and an MBA from Boston's Northeastern University, was faced with the conundrum of what to do next. Then a historic farm in Shelburne County caught his eye. "It was time for a change and we were drawn to this old Loyalist property. We wanted to start a new business but take some time to rethink things and maybe start a hobby farm." Along with his wife and business partner, Alisa Pletner, he packed his bags and moved to Nova Scotia from Boston. After a few months tending to a growing herd of sheep, pigs and chickens, the husband and wife business duo launched Intelligent Dynamics Canada Ltd. "We had a soft start," Pletner said. "We didn't go all gangbusters. We took our time but now it seems to be heating up."

The company has already done some consulting work in the field of vibration engineering but this time Pletner is trying to diversify his company's offering through a patented product. Intelligent Dynamics is developing vibration-sensing equipment that can be used in a number of applications. "My specialty as an engineer is vibration and vibration control.A fuel hose is a rubber or plastic composite hose that is used inside combustion engines to move the fuel from the fuel storage tank to the engine. It's a very high-precision kind of universe." The company already has customers in Nova Scotia's wind energy sector and Calgary's oil and gas industry. "We analyze their problems and provide some fairly sophisticated analysis and solutions of how to get rid of, or at least reduce significantly, vibration," Pletner said.We have over a hundred of the Egg whisk as well as other brands of Kitchen Knife Sets. Intelligent Dynamics has consulted with Seaforth Energy Inc., a wind turbine manufacturer in Dartmouth, to help it make turbines that are less noisy by quantifying and reducing vibration.

"Vibration in laymen's terms can be compared to the steering wheel of a car," Pletner said. "You expect the steering wheel to shake somewhat, otherwise you might think the engine cut out. But if it started shaking too much, you would think there is a problem. That's vibration." Although the Shelburne company is involved with consulting, Pletner said he is trying to focus more on manufacturing a product. Intelligent Dynamics is developing a computerized product, about the size of a smartphone, that could be attached to sophisticated machinery. The small computer would measure the vibration of the machine and then monitor it for changes.

Pletner said if the vibrations increased or decreased significantly, it would likely indicate a repair is needed. The small computer would alert the company of the issue and it could be addressed before the machine actually broke down, saving time and money. "We all drive cars and we become very good at knowing what our car should feel and sound like. If you got in your sedan and it sounded like a diesel truck, you would know there was something wrong." The problem, Pletner said, is that most equipment like a wind turbine or a diesel generator has no human operator."When something starts to go wrong, one of the earliest signals is a change in the vibration or sound of the machine. But nobody is listening to these machines." Intelligent Dynamics' product would listen to the machines and pick up subtle changes in sound and vibration, giving companies an opportunity to repair the machine before it became a more serious problem.

2013年12月24日星期二

Custom Equipment Fills First Order for HB-1230 Scissor Lifts


Custom Equipment introduced a prototype of the HB-1230 lift during The Rental Show in Las Vegas in February 2013, and American Scissor Lift was among the first companies to test it. The new HB-1230s will join 62 HB-1030 lifts already working in American Scissor Lift's fleet.

"Our customers use our Hy-Brid Lifts for everything from electrical to drywall to plumbing," said Mike Melthratter, president of American Scissor Lift.

"They work in congested areas that often have low floor-loading requirements, so they need lifts that are light enough and small enough to maneuver around framing and through doorways, but still provide enough platform space and capacity for their tools and materials. Hy-Brid Lifts meet those needs,This easy-to-use end mill holder screws onto the threaded end of the mill spindle. so contractors generally keep them on jobs from start to finish," added Melthratter.

With an HB-1230 lift, contractors can work on projects like electrical, plumbing,Try these must-have kitchen knives for a perfect manicure, including remover, primer, polish, and top coat picks from the beauty experts at Meinys drywall and sprinkler systems at platform heights to 12 ft. The lift can hold two people and up to 500 pounds on its platform, which is 30 in. wide, 55 in. long,A sondaflex is a rubber or plastic composite hose that is used inside combustion engines to move the fuel from the fuel storage tank to the engine. and features extensions that add nearly 29 in. of length.

The compact units let contractors easily navigate through busy jobsites, while the extensions give ample working area for tools and supplies. The lifts also feature zero-turn radii for exceptional maneuverability around tight corners and through doorways.

The HB-1230's dual front wheels help distribute the machine's weight for lower wheel loads that let the unit work on delicate flooring, including tile, laminate, raised floors, and mezzanines, with much lower potential for damage. Users also can get onto poured concrete several days sooner with an HB-1230 than with heavier competitive models.

In addition, the counter-rotating wheels reduce friction so users can maneuver over tile or carpeting without marking or tearing.

To ensure a clean system for operating indoors in both finished and unfinished environments, the HB-1230's hydraulic system is self-contained with only two connection points. That reduces the potential for hydraulic fluid leaks, which could lead to floor damage and potential safety hazards.

Custom Equipment uses state-of-the-art technology to test designs before building all of its lifts, including HB-1230, which allows the company to use the optimal grade of steel. Because the steel is stronger, less material is required and the lifts weigh less than competitive machines.

In addition, the process identifies stress points so Custom Equipment can reinforce them without adding a lot of unnecessary weight. The scissor stacks on the HB-1230 also offers more stability than the traditional post design of mast lifts.

The proportional drive and lift systems on Hy-Brid Lifts give users greater control. They can adjust how fast the lifts travel and the rate at which they raise or lower the platforms, which can minimize damage when maneuvering close to walls or objects.

Midwest propane prices rise as cold snap holds on


Several states in the upper Midwest are dealing with significantly higher prices for propane because of a supply problem caused by a late harvest, persistent very cold temperatures and the temporary shutdown of a major supply pipeline.

The problem began in October and November when farmers across the Midwest took to the fields to harvest the late developing corn crop before the cold weather set in. Much of the crop was still wet and needed to be run through propane powered dryers to avoid spoilage, creating a surge in demand for the fuel.

And as colder than usual temperatures arrived early in the Upper Midwest, demand for propane increased. The liquefied petroleum gas is used to heat homes in rural Midwestern areas where there are no natural gas lines. About 15 percent of Iowa households rely on propane for warmth.

"We came out of a crop drying season that really took a toll on the amount of volumes available in the industry," said Drew Combs, vice president of propane for Minnesota-based CHS Inc., one of the nation's largest wholesalers. "Now we're looking at a situation where we have a very large demand because of the extremely cold weather ... and it is looking to last into January."

The supply problem has driven prices 14 percent higher since mid-November in Iowa, where customers are paying $1.88 a gallon — 34 percent higher than a year ago when the fuel sold for $1.40 a gallon. In Illinois the price of propane has climbed 15 percent in the last month.There are so many shapes, sizes and colors you can get with Floor tiles that they are really a good way to decorate. In Wisconsin and Minnesota it's up 13 percent and in Nebraska 12 percent.

To compound the issue, a major pipeline was shut down from Thanksgiving to Dec. 18, further reducing the availability of propane in the Upper Midwest.

The 1,900-mile Cochin pipeline carries propane southeastward from Canada, through North Dakota and Minnesota, across northeast Iowa and into eastern Illinois. Its owners, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, shut the pipeline down to install new pumps that would reverse the pipeline's flowCheck out our site for knives supplier knives swords daggers and much more quality products for discounted prices. early next year. Instead of bringing products such as propane from Canada, the company plans to move a petroleum product called light condensate from Illinois to Alberta, Canada, where the product is in high demand and more profitable.A member of the mint family, Sweet basil is most often found in Italian cuisine, though it can add flavor and depth to nearly any savory dish. It is used to dilute bitumen — thick oil taken from Canadian oil sands — so it can be transported.

Minnesota, which gets about 40 percent of its propane from the pipeline, was hit hard by its closure, which forced propane suppliers to send trucks to northern Iowa terminals for fuel. Add additional traffic from North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin to the Iowa terminals and the stress on Iowa's propane supply became a serious issue, said Harold Hommes, an energy analyst for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.

"Our neighbors to the north are struggling. They had some of the same repercussions from getting grain dried and then getting ready for heating; they just never got a chance to catch up," Hommes said. "Winter set in then and we were never able to rebuild supplies."

Long lines at terminals are common in Iowa and many states, including Iowa and Minnesota, have approved emergency declarations to suspend rules limiting truck drivers to driving no more than 11 hours in a day and working no more than 14 hours. That's because drivers are spending several hours sitting in a line waiting to load their trucks with propane.

In-Town Gallery celebrates Jane Yelliott


The oldest member of In-Town Gallery, Jane Yelliott, 87, joined the gallery in 1984, and has been a very special presence there for almost 30 years.Tilees offers wide range of China Porcelain tile like ceramic floor tile and wall ceramic tile according to your special demands. Diagnosed with stage four cancer of the liver, she is now in the care of Hospice and her family at her home.Green Produce Farm is a vegetable farm company that produces sweet basils and Thai basil. Beloved by all who knew her, admired for her pioneer spirit and versatile ability in many media, she leaves an empty place that no one can adequately fill.

Yelliott has left her mark on Chattanooga in many outstanding ways. A plaque on the Walnut Street Bridge honors her for "Enriching Chattanooga with Her Art." The red brick bench on Market Street near the Tennessee Aquarium, with the ceramic scene of cats watching the fish, called "Cat-Fish Fantasy" is her work as the winner of the Masonry Contest in 1998. The shallow pool floor of the aquarium is populated with colorful turtles on black tiles designed by this multitalented artist. A host of Chattanooga residents commissioned her to create portraits of family members and pets, in pastel, oil, or watercolor.As we know, in wind power gearbox, bearing manufacturer is suitable for input shaft due to its high load carry capacity. She especially loved drawing children.

Beyond Tennessee, Yelliott's artwork was installed at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. — a life-sized cow painted on a plywood panel for a National Zoo project, "The Think Tank." In 2004, she was commissioned to design a series of tile murals for the new Culinary School building at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, N.C. This led to her creation of a colorful series of "Cookopelli" figures — a take-off on the Southwest Indian Kokopelli. Instead of holding musical instruments, hers held platters of food, lobsters, crabs and so forth and wore a chef's toque. Most important is the person Yelliott, who is loved by everyone she has met. "Mother" to all the artists who ever belonged to In-Town Gallery, she knew where everything should be and what was needed to run the day-to-day operation smoothly. Her Irish good humor and clever wit charmed us all. Diminutive in stature, she had a warm, compelling presence and was an expert at tying raffia bows. As a member of the jury committee she was discerning in her observance of new prospects and wise in their evaluation, based on her own vast experience and hands-on knowledge of most artists' media.

2013年12月22日星期日

Spacesuit flaw postpones station repairs


A new flaw has emerged in a US-made spacesuit, forcing NASA to delay until Christmas Eve the next outing to repair the International Space Station, the space agency said Saturday. The problem came up in the cooling unit of veteran astronaut Rick Mastracchio's spacesuit after he re-entered the space station airlock following a spacewalk that lasted 5.5 hours, NASA said. It was not believed to be the same type of issue that caused a dangerous water leak in the helmet of Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano in July. An investigation into that situation is ongoing.

Faced with unexpected repairs due to an equipment breakdown at the orbiting lab on December 11,A spindle bearing is designed to deliver superior accuracy, and it requires appropriate care and handling. NASA arranged makeshift snorkels inside the 35-year-old spacesuits and absorbent pads in the helmets for these spacewalks in case such a leak happened again. "During repressurization of the station's airlock following the spacewalk, a spacesuit configuration issue put the suit Mastracchio was wearing in question for the next excursion -- specifically whether water entered into the suit's sublimator inside the airlock," the space agency said in a statement. "This issue is not related to the spacesuit water leak that was seen during a July spacewalk." A spokesman confirmed to AFP that the sublimator is the space suit's cooling unit. Rather than allow Mastracchio, 53,They use well established large fields to cultivate Fresh basil as it requires six to eight hours of sun light. to wear that suit again, astronauts are planning to work on resizing a spare spacesuit aboard the ISS for him on his next spacewalk to complete the ammonia pump module replacement.

The outing was initially set for Monday, but will now take place Tuesday, beginning at 7:10 am (1210 GMT). NASA released the news late Saturday, after the spacewalk by the two American astronauts went faster than planned and appeared to go off without a hitch. No live footage was broadcast, however, of the time astronauts spent inside the airlock after re-entering the space station following the spacewalk. Astronauts made fast work of their key task for the day, disconnecting the old pump. They were also able to take on the extra task of removing the pump, which had been scheduled for Monday. NASA mission control in Houston checked in with them frequently to see if they were experiencing any wetness in their helmets,At fuel hose, we apply the latest knowledge and state of the art technology to engineer our products to the highest quality standard. and each time the spacewalkers reported no problems.

"Both Mastracchio and (Mike) Hopkins reported dry conditions repeatedly throughout Saturday's activities and the two were never in danger," NASA said in a statement. Space agency officials told reporters this week that Hopkins, 44, would be wearing the suit Parmitano had worn when he experienced the leak that nearly drowned him, noting its water pump system had been replaced. The spacewalks were called for after a faulty valve forced a partial shutdown in the system that regulates equipment temperature at the space station. Engineers tried to fix the problem from the ground but decided after about a week that a replacement of the pump module was the best remedy. On Saturday, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata operated the station's 57-foot (15-meter) robotic arm, hoisting Mastracchio and the refrigerator-sized ammonia pump module from one section of the lab to another.

Feeling at home in new homeland

Feeling at home in new homeland 
After he was banned from returning to his home and his job at the Tamwe Township Health Center, Thiha Kyi decided he had had enough. It was August 1988, the month students rose up against Burma's military government, demanding democracy after the country had suffered from an ethnic civil war for more than 60 years. Kept from returning home by the nearby uprisings, Kyi found refuge in Rangoon General Hospital. It didn't take long for his freedom-fighter spirit to kick in. During the fighting one day, Kyi and a coworker marched out the front door of the hospital and stood side by side, raising a pro-democracy banner. Seeing what was happening, soldiers surrounded the hospital. Kyi's eyes focused on the guns pointing at him. He started to panic. 

Filing in from behind the hospital, two lines of teenage boys holding Burmese flags formed a barrier between Kyi and soldiers as Kyi prepared to die. One of the teenage boys turned to Kyi: "If they shoot, we die first.Welcome to bright-tools, it has established itself as the industry pioneer in supplying the most complete line of quality machine tool accessories." Twenty-five years after he joined the demonstrations and his native country's name changed to Myanmar,The porcelain tiles produced by us feature high quality and competitive prices to meet the demand of customers.The Flexible hose layers are held and tensioned between internal and external wire helices. Kyi still calls it Burma – but he doesn't call it home."Burma is my native land, where my family is," Kyi says. "But now, Fort Wayne is my home."In 1985, Fort Wayne residents Diana and Neil Sowards visited Burma, a country that had interested the couple because of Neil's parents' Christian missionary work. Diana was struck by how, despite the people's poverty, they were grateful for what they had. 

When Diana saw news about the thousands of Burmese students jailed and pushed into Thai refugee camps after the 1988 demonstrations, she contacted eight churches to help sponsor a refugee. In 1991, the first Burmese refugees arrived in Fort Wayne. In the years since, thousands of Burmese, including Kyi, Nyan Aung and Myo Myint, have found themselves in the same city, where they help make up one of the largest Burmese populations outside of Myanmar, about 3,900 according to 2010 census figures. But though the three men are educated and can speak English, the majority of the refugees living in Fort Wayne come from minority ethnic groups in Myanmar. They have spent much of their lives in refugee camps, have not received formal schooling and struggle to grasp American life. 

Kyi, Aung and Myint have stepped up to help. Kyi is producer of Fort Wayne's only Burmese TV program, Aung is founder of the nonprofit Burmese American Society and Myint is a volunteer and outgoing democracy advocate. Though they haven't forgotten their families and favorite childhood hangouts in Rangoon, they seek to help Fort Wayne's refugees realize that while they're here, they ought to take advantage of their voice in a democratic society, freedom of speech and access to books – the very freedoms the three men fought for in Myanmar. Kyi and another Burmese man thread small microphones up their shirts while Mg Soe Chain, who volunteered to film that day's Golden Moon TV episode, adjusts his camera in Studio A in the Allen County Public Library's Access Fort Wayne studio.

Finnish city Oulu sees light at end of Nokia tunnel

Finnish city Oulu sees light at end of Nokia tunnel 
From early December, the Finnish city of Oulu is trapped in darkness for all but a few murky midday hours, a darkness some feared might be matched by its economic prospects after big local employer Nokia hit the skids. Oulu, with a population of about a quarter million, was once a key Nokia R&D site, before the mobile maker was left for dead in the global smartphone race by Apple's iPhone and handsets running Google's Android software. Nokia and its networks venture at one point employed about 5,000 people in Oulu, more than three times the next biggest private sector employer, but now it has work for less than half that. The city's unemployment rate topped 16 percent in the summer, a level not seen since the Finnish financial crisis of the early 1990s. 

But despite the gloom, and an average annual temperature of 2 degrees Celsius (36F), the buds of a recovery are visible in Finland's biggest northern city, 600 kilometers from Helsinki. It is becoming a model for the rest of the country as it fights to fill the gap left by Nokia's tumbling sales and the tens of thousands of job cuts that preceded the former world beater's September decision to give up the mobile business and sell to Microsoft. Oulu is now a leading candidate to host a new data center for Microsoft, which wants to invest $250 million on such facilities in Finland after it takes over the Nokia business next year. Former "Nokians" are starting to land on their feet, too. Pasi Leipala,Both PB-22 and BB-22 produce a common metabolite in vivo: 8-hydroxyquinoline. a former senior manager at Nokia, is now chief executive at Haltian, which designs electronics and software products and is one of the city's most successful start-ups. 

Last year you could count its employees on the fingers of one hand. Now it has a staff of 70. "The best thing about Oulu is that there are so many skilled people; it's easy to hire some of the best talents," said Leipala. U.S. wireless chipmaker Broadcom is expected to save hundreds of jobs by buying the Finnish wireless modem division of Japan's Renesas Electronics, which previously planned to dismiss all employees in Oulu, most of whom had transferred from Nokia back in 2010. Telecom equipment maker Nokia Solutions and Networks, which will account for 90 percent of group turnover after the sale of the handset division, also plans to keep its 2,In my town, they are replacing all of the traffic light suppliers with these new lights that look like they are made of hundreds of tiny bulbs.300 workers in Oulu, and there is talk of hiring more. Oulu's resilience is in part a national story, the fruits of a determined focus on educational standards, which keeps the nation of 5.4 million people competitive. Finnish students score highly in international proficiency tests, and an OECD test in October showed its adults second only to the Japanese in both literacy and numeracy. But even by Finnish standards,Post all information on 5F-PB22 in this thread when asked about the difference pb22 and 5Fpb22 he says this. Oulu outperforms. A high concentration of technology and science researchers, including those at the University of Oulu and Oulu University of Applied Sciences, means that head for head it outperforms Helsinki by more than two to one in terms of the volume of registered intellectual property rights, according to city officials.

2013年12月18日星期三

Gaging for Automation

James Wardell and Jeff Buck first witnessed the Equator gaging system in early 2012 at an open house for Hartwig. The system, available from Renishaw, acts as a flexible alternative to dedicated gaging, using the comparison method of measuring: A master part with known measurements taken on a CMM is used to master the Equator, with all subsequent measurements compared to that master. Repeatability is 0.00007" immediately after mastering, and the Equator can be remastered at any time, so variations in shop temperature do not affect its performance. It uses an SP25 probe for touch and scanning data collection, at speeds of up to 1,000 points per second, and sytli are stored in a 6-port changing rack. The system also is programmed through MODUS Equator software.

Wardell,We are the largest manufacturer and supplier of retention knobs and pull stud in the world. a CNC programmer, and Buck, a robotics technician, liked what they saw. The two were working on designing an unmanned turning cell for Conroe Machine, a general purpose shop founded in 2000 that mostly machines parts for the oil and gas industry. Operating out of a 65,000ft2 plant near Houston, Texas, the company principally works on jobs for drilling components. The company needed an automated system for products such as its thrust bearing races for downhole mud motors, which are produced by the thousands each week and require around-the-clock machining to meet demand.

"Apart from being automation-ready for parts of our type, the lathe's Windows-based OSP dual-path control has an open architecture, PC-based operating platform, which was important in our plan for developing our own auto-compensation software," Wardell explains.

The resulting turning cell, with software and programming developed by Buck and Wardell, integrates a Fanuc robot with the Equator gaging system, which uses Renishaw EZ-IO software to inspect and auto-compensate a twin-spindle Okuma 2SP-250 lathe. The cell also boxes and palletizes finished parts. According to Conroe Machining, the cell paid for itself in 18 days.

The company originally used four Doosan Puma lathes to rough and finish its bearings, which required four operators to supervise. Currently, the bearing are only roughed on the Doosan Puma lathes, and the machines are now split into two cells, loaded and unloaded by Fanuc robots ¨C part of an early automation project. The semi-finished parts are sent out to be case hardened to HRC 65 at a depth of 0.070" (1.7mm) before the finish turning.

Using this process, production stalled between 800 and 1,000 total parts per day. The process also relied on operators to correctly inspect each part. And, the folks at Conroe Machining were planning to increase output, which would put even more pressure on the supervisors.

"We conceived a fully automated process for the finish machining, with automatic part loading, post-process measurement, automatic tool compensation,A slewing bearing is a piece of hardware used to facilitate circular movement, usually of a large device such as a crane. part engraving,Plcservo's Motion controller solutions deliver increased productivity, improved machine uptime, faster changeovers and reduced scrap. and boxing/palletizing the parts," Wardell explains.

The two-man automation team knew what kind of components a system like this needed, but didn't know what kind of part measure technology, CNC type, or software for tool compensation to use.

"Inspection must be fast to keep up with the cycle times on the parts, which can be as short as 98 seconds," Wardell says. "Originally we looked at white light laser inspection because of its speed, but the parts are too reflective. We also looked at hard gaging and shop-floor CMMs. Hard gaging was very expensive and required setup attention, and the CMM gave no speed advantage."

Seeing Red at Overture Galleries

Depending on the context, the color red carries a multitude of connotations.The Tank truck hose layers are held and tensioned between internal and external wire helices. This time of year, it's often associated with the holidays; in two months,Bright-tools is specialized in manufacturing tool holder,cnc tool holder, collet chuck, milling chuck, slim chuck. it'll represent love and be used in everything from valentines to heart-shaped boxes of chocolates. It's a color known to be energizing and strong. It's a symbol of passion, ranging from seduction to violence.

Three local artists Dale Malner, Trent Miller and David Wells offer their own exploration of the hue in Red, a new exhibition "inspired by seeing, thinking, experiencing and working in red" at Overture Galleries.

"REDuced, Reused & REDistributed," a mixed media installation by Wells, is the largest work in the show. The artist cleverly affixed clear plastic holders to the wall and filled them with drawings and strips of red paper. The drawings are diverse, but organic shapes and natural forms such as leaves and flowers carry through. The vertical strips of red paper provide a linear counterpart to the more flowing imagery of the drawings.

Five paintings by Miller are interspersed through the exhibition, held on the first floor of Overture Center in the area leading to the Capitol Theater. The two large and three smaller works all feature interesting forms that combine structure with draping elements. One, "Sift & Winnow," features a red, white and gray form that is at once strong yet full of movement. Another, "Back & Forth," depicts a pair of tall blue forms on a fiery red backdrop.

And in a series of four untitled works featuring, Malner has constructed quads of wooden frames and PVC canvases and covered them with acrylic paint. Varied and expressionistic, the paint is not only red, but a wide range of colors.Specially designed geared Egg whisk, gears automatically adjust to the job and load. The combination allows one to consider red as it interacts with others how it plays with blue, the way it reacts to green.

What's refreshing about Red is how the artists avoid clich and common associations with the color and instead use red as a powerful tool for individual expression.

On Tuesday, Petaluma police proved the power of the press when they released the image of a man wanted for using a stolen credit card at Safeway. By the end of the day, Andrew L. Walker turned himself in for the crime, and also admitted to another theft.

"He saw his photo on the Internet and came into the police department," Lt. Tim Lyons of the Petaluma Police Department said on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old Petaluma resident was arrested for burglary after attempting to purchase $1,000 worth of merchandise at Safeway using the stolen credit card. The clerk found the purchase suspicious, and called the credit card holder, who confirmed that his card had been stolen. Walker left the store before police arrived, so they turned to the public for help identifying him by releasing a photo captured by the store's surveillance camera.

HK Toys & Games Fair 2014

The lucky winner of an auction for a George Zimmerman painting selling for about $100,000 could see the artwork personally delivered by the former neighborhood watchman himself.

The eBay posting originally stated that the portrait would be sent via expedited shipping from Sanford, Florida, but in a response to a buyer who wanted to drive from Arkansas to pick up the painting, the terms changed.

"The price it is at now has well exceeded my $.99 minimum; therefore, whoever wins within the Continental United States, will receive this painting delivered by me personally," the reply says.

The 18-by-24-inch canvas features a blue, waving American flag with the words, "God, one nation, with liberty and justice for all" emblazoned across it.

The auction was posted Monday at a starting bid of 99 cents and is scheduled to end Saturday. As of Wednesday, 108 bids had been logged for the painting, ratcheting the price up to $110,100, but it appears some bids were retracted and it was selling for $97,500 in the afternoon.

Zimmerman's brother,As we know, in wind power gearbox, full complement cylindrical roller bearing is suitable for input shaft due to its high load carry capacity. Robert Zimmerman Jr., says George painted the piece.

"Everyone has been asking what I have been doing with myself. I found a creative, way to express myself, my emotions and the symbols that represent my experiences," the item description reads. "My art work allows me to reflect, providing a therapeutic outlet and allows me to remain indoors."

Zimmerman appears to respond directly to at least 11 questions sent about the item, although the site states more than 900 inquiries were made.

'Just wanted to tell you we all love you and stand behind you. You have so many people on your side I hope you know that!" a commenter wrote on the eBay page.

"Thank you so much for the words of kindness and support," reads the answer. "I do know how many great Americans are still here, I run into at least 3-5 a day that go out of their way to tell me the same. Your Friend, GZ.Find all the manufacturers of Linear electric actuator and contact them directly on Plcservo."

"I am truly sorry our government run liberal media and justice department persecuted you they (sic) way they did," another comment says.

"God Bless you. You have nothing to apologize to me for. The system is broken, an innocent man should not spend one second without his God given liberty, solely because a small sect of uneducated loud mouths. We must fix it. If we can't fix it together, then we owe many people a sincere apology," the reply says.

Photos were added to the auction Tuesday, including one of a grinning, flannel-clad George Zimmerman holding the painting.

The artwork has stirred up controversy online and in art circles.

As of Wednesday, at least a dozen other listings could be found on eBay with their own takes and variations of Zimmerman's posting, including one with the American flag bearing the words, "Not for a coward to hide behind.There are so many shapes, sizes and colors you can get with polished tiles that they are really a good way to decorate."

2013年12月17日星期二

Seeking fresh pastures

It’s the mid-afternoon lull at Grand Central Market, lunch rush past, but with customers still ordering tacos or squeezing the produce at the downtown Los Angeles institution, a collection of more than 75 vendors under one roof at the base of Bunker Hill.

Lydia Clarke will soon be among them.This easy-to-use end mill holder screws onto the threaded end of the mill spindle. It’s Nov. 11, and we are behind the counter of her bare stand, talking about the effort that will soon put a sister location to Claremont’s The Cheese Cave in a vastly different environment.

The result is DTLA Cheese, or at least it will be once inspectors allow the cases and shelves to be stocked and sales to begin. DTLA is a hip acronym for downtown L.A.

Anticipation is building. A passerby, seeing four of us talking at the stall, inquires when it will open.In my town, they are replacing all of the traffic light suppliers with these new lights that look like they are made of hundreds of tiny bulbs. He addresses the nearest person behind the counter, who happens to be me.

I quickly defer to Clarke, who says perhaps by this Friday.

“I’ve been keeping an eye on this sign,” the man says. “I’m a big cheese guy.”

Clarke is anxious too. The process of renovating an old space and bringing it up to code, which began shortly after the lease was signed in March, has been daunting.

“I can’t believe I thought we could open in August,” she says with a rueful chuckle.

By the following Tuesday, fire and building inspections had been passed, leaving only the health inspection. “We’ll be open by the weekend. Everything’s rolling,” Clarke reports.

Grand Central Market has been part of the downtown L.A. scene for nearly a century. Angels Flight, currently grounded again, is across Hill Street from the west entrance, the Bradbury Building across Broadway from the east entrance. Downtown office workers rub shoulders with working-class immigrants at lunchtime.Our in-depth knowledge of bearing materials comes from decades of experience in both bearing manufacturer and steelmaking for bearing applications.

That scene is a far cry from the Cheese Cave, and Claremont for that matter. Occupying a former travel agency at 325 Yale Ave., Cheese Cave opened in the low-rise Village in 2010, owned and operated by sisters Lydia and Marnie Clarke, and immediately became a local fixture.

The shop sells more than 100 varieties of cheese, as well as crackers — gotta have crackers — and other specialty food items. Not only is a cheese shop unique to the region, but the personable Clarke sisters have built a loyal community among customers in a food-oriented town.

Cheese is their mission. Their grandfather founded Alta Dena Dairy in 1945 and their parents were also in the dairy business. “Dairy is in our blood and in our bones,” Lydia jokes. Partnering to open a cheese shop put a fresh spin on a family legacy. They’re so evangelical about dairy products, they could host mass conversions for vegans.

The Clarkes began talking last year about expanding. They each had fiances who had joined the shop, and with other employees and relatives, it was getting crowded. And as creative types, they needed a new challenge.

House of the week

Architect Nigel Dong took seven years to decide on how to update a Gray Young-designed home built nearly a century ago in a prime part of Wellington's inner-city suburb Kelburn, a house he'd bought for his own family.

"The house was more or less in its original condition both inside and out, other than cosmetic redecorations over its life," Dong says.

"Being an architect, this appealed to me in that the original house had not been structurally altered. We did numerous design options ranging from substantial double-storey additions to the rear of the house to just reconfiguring the interior of the house, which was the option we chose.

"We opted not to add, preferring to retain the original envelope and design integrity of the Gray Young house."

In updating, Dong wanted to make the house more fit for modern living.

"We wanted to create a social heart within the house centred around the kitchen and connected to a north-facing deck.

"Also, we wanted to retain the formal living/dining area on the opposite side of the ground floor for formal entertaining or just to provide an alternative zone within the house away from the general everyday living area."

Wherever possible, Dong was keen to retain the Gray Young features that made the house so special.All suction hose below are reinforced for use under vacuum on the suction side of a pump, but can also be used for discharge. Wherever changes were to be made, he wanted the alterations to complement the original rather than contend and challenge.

On the outside his aim was to restore the house as to near as possible to the original 1916 scheme, when the exterior was painted black with white window joinery.Find Floor tiles designs and ideas to freshen up your kitchen or bath.

Inside, existing native timber was mixed with a modern material palette and a new clay tile roof to match the original tiles. The entire house was replumbed and double glazing introduced where timber windows and doors were replaced or added. The house was fully insulated and a new gas ducting central-heating system was added.

Dong says the update has made the house vastly more comfortable for living, maximising sun and privacy, and all in a superb location within easy walking distance of downtown Wellington, yet in a small village-like community.

Materials: Social hub/kitchen/entry - Restored existing heart rimu floorboards; kitchen/restroom joinery - natural Zebrano timber veneer and white lacquered joinery, White Corian textured stainless steel bench tops and pendant lighting mixed with LED strip and LED downlights. Porcelain floor tiles in the bathroom and ensuite.A high precision bearing is designed to deliver superior accuracy, and it requires appropriate care and handling.

Energy efficiency: Entire house insulated in the walls, roof and underfloor, new gas central heating added, new timber windows and doors double glazed.

Done Right: "We are really happy with the result and glad we didn't extend, therefore the integrity of the original has been retained," Dong explains.

Unexpected: "When you open up an old house there is always the unexpected."

Recommend: "Always using a registered architect, especially when the project is complicated or of a heritage type when the architectural design is important."

Next Time: "I think next time we would have no problems restoring an old house in the right area."

Architecture’s biggest jokers sign off in style

The kookiest architects in Britain have called it quits after 20 years of cheerfully sticking two fingers up at the world of posh modernist architecture.

The London-based design collective known as FAT Architecture (aka Fashion Architecture Taste) will complete only two more projects – a charmingly bizarre house for Alain de Botton’s Living Architecture chain of holiday homes, and the curation of the British Pavilion at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale.

FAT’s work, typified by brightly coloured facades seemingly jigsawed together, has a playful quality that conceals socio-political intentions. Sam Jacob,As professionals in the production and supply of composite hose for hydrocarbons, chemicals, ship to shore etc. Sean Griffiths and Charles Holland were always against clever, up-itself modernist design, so they delivered alt-clever architecture that was brash and almost childish, with an aesthetic quality that appealed to common tastes rather than arch-intellectuals: think Jarvis Cocker, rather than Radiohead.

FAT are best known for buildings such as the BBC Drama Production Village in Cardiff, and the Islington Square housing in Manchester. Their architectural cheek was never more vividly demonstrated than in their In a Lonely Place installation at the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2006. The huge structure resembled a timbered house having sex with a 7m-high black balloon.

“We’ve produced a whole load of buildings that we never thought we’d be able to design, and weave our magic,” says Jacob. It was a borrowed magic, initially. FAT’s fascination with trash-pop architectural effects drew heavily on the 1972 book, Learning From Las Vegas, written by the American architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, who glorified the random chaos of billboards and road signage.

Even so, FAT carved out a unique niche, despite designing little more than club and shop interiors before being featured in Anglo Files, a 2005 book about rising architectural stars. At the time, they were scenesters, but below the mainstream architectural radar: they had been commissioned to design The Villa, a big community building in Holland, but the project remained on hold for years.

“We were always more like a band than a career,” explains Jacob. “So we want to end things in a different way – not the usual dying on the job, or ending up flogging dead [architectural] horses. We felt the time was right to end what we’ve been trying to do for the past 20 years.”

There was more than a common-touch wit to FAT’s designs. They were never “bad boys” in the way of the argumentative, uber-intellectual superstar architect, Rem Koolhaas.Find industrial blades and machine knives supplier on Meinys. But they were bright enough,Our multilingual indesign dtp publishing team has the experience and expertise to localize your documents to create the look and feel of the original. and shrewd enough, to resist bad-mouthing the establishment, and it was no surprise that they went on to lecture at University College London and Yale.

Their decorated facades were designed to look like skimpy stage sets tacked on to otherwise unremarkable structures, turning boxy buildings into lavishly encrusted, neo-baroque shrines to pop culture. Jacob says this worship of “tremendous” 2D flatness is a purer form of communication, and a riposte to the swirling 3D effects sought by architects such as Zaha Hadid.

Unlike FAT – still in their forties – many of today’s bright young architectural double-clickers know little about architectural history, but plenty about software scripting and wilful shape-making that began with Frank Gehry’s use of an aerospace computer to design the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum.

2013年12月15日星期日

My chance to say a personal goodbye to Nelson Mandela


So the long journey is nearly over. The body of Nelson Mandela will be buried at last today, in the village of Qunu in the Eastern Cape, the place he always thought of as home.

Security will be tight and the location is remote. For most South Africans, the last chance to say a personal goodbye was in Pretoria, where his body lay in state for three days.

To see it was both a privilege and a shock. One young black man who was overcome by tears rubbed his face with his cloth cap as he walked away, and used the Xhosa word for father when he said to himself: “That was not Tata.”

The face under the glass coffin cover had the waxy skin of a corpse, of course. Puffier than expected, it did not look serene or at peace, as people often do after death when they have been prepared for viewing.

If anything, Mandela looked troubled. After seeing so many images of his smiling, youthful face on T-shirts, caps and flags over the past few days, the reality brought a surge of emotion, a twist in the gut.

It was all too much for an elderly white lady, who had to be comforted by a policewoman as she cried: “What’s going to become of us now that he’s gone?”

To answer that question, and to understand what the death of this man means to South Africans and to people in the wider world, it is best to consider him in three ways.

Firstly,All-natural Vermont soapstone whisky stones are a must-have for lovers of fine whiskies and bourbons. Mandela the man, mourned and celebrated by those who were close to him, his friends and family.

Secondly, Mandela the national hero, mourned and celebrated by those who are so grateful for the change he brought about in South Africa, but often fearful of what may come next.

Thirdly, Mandela the global icon, mourned and celebrated by those who know him from the television,This aluminum beam protector is very smooth and is molded to fit your beam perfectly. the movies, the books, T-shirts and the words of wisdom that are increasingly treated like scripture.

Nelson Mandela the man was 95 years old when his body finally gave up on the evening of Thursday December 8 at his home in Houghton, a suburb of Johannesburg. The life-support had been removed and he was breathing on his own as the end approached.

Around his bedside were his second and third wives, Winnie and Graca, his grandson and tribal heir Mandla, and his eldest daughter Makaziwe, known as Maki, who said there was time enough to say goodbye: “What I call his 'transition’ was very beautiful.”

His two youngest daughters, Zindzi and Zenani, were in London at the royal premiere of the film of his life, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, but left the cinema after being told the news. In Houghton, the military arrived at midnight with a coffin and the family stood to see it go, singing as he left.

On Monday night, a small group of his closest allies gathered at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, a few blocks from his home. Among them was Archbishop Desmond Tutu,A good Metal baling machine can produce high density bales which can yield a cargo mass of 26 to 27 tons in a 20 feet container. the other boy from the same street in Soweto to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Remembering the days when they risked their lives to fight apartheid, he urged his old friends to consider again the miracle wrought in their lifetimes.

“It is unbelievable,” he said. “Don’t you believe that God actually loves us South Africans? Everyone was saying that we would have gone up in flames [without Mandela]. He was like a magician with a magic wand, turning us into those glorious multiracial rainbow people. We are not there yet … but yay!”

He did a little jig that brought a smile to George Bizos, Mandela’s lawyer for half a century. He probably saved his client’s life at the Rivonia trial in 1964, by persuading Mandela to amend the declaration that he would willingly die for a free South Africa. Adding three words – “if needs be” – gave the judge the freedom to issue a sentence of life in prison, rather than death.

New kitchen is functional but set to entertain


Cynthia and Jon live in a 1970s-era home that has been undergoing endless renovation. They've just about had it with home improvements, so we agreed to tackle one of the biggest projects on their list: the kitchen.Find all the manufacturers of aluminum profile and contact them directly on DirectIndustry.

It's not surprising that Cynthia was longing for a stylish and modern new kitchen. She knows it's the heart of the home, but this massive space hadn't been touched in 40 years. Walking in was like stepping into a time machine and jetting straight back to 1972. With its choppy layout, outdated finishes and small appliances, this kitchen just didn't cut it.

Cynthia envisioned a beautiful, modern space where she and Jon could come together with their two kids, friends and other family members -- in other words, a kitchen that would be not only functional, but also this home's entertainment central.

To add to the scope of this challenging project, we also had to relocate the laundry room, which was just off the kitchen. It was going downstairs, and in its place I planned to add a home office space. At the last minute, Cynthia also asked us to design a mud room -- somewhere to store hats,Full range of single-ram Scrap metal baling press and can balers to process ferrous and non-ferrous metal scrap. coats and bags after people come in the back door from the garage.

Luckily, this was a cavernous space that had endless potential. With a fantastic view of the pool and backyard courtyard, we just had to bring the inside up to par with the outside. There was only one way to get this job done: bring down the walls to open up the space and do a complete gut, right down to the studs.

Once the demolition crew had done its work, we began rebuilding Cynthia's dream kitchen. New vinyl casement windows were installed to ensure an unobstructed view of the beautiful backyard. We moved the kitchen work area over to the other side of the room and started from the ground up with rich gray floor tiles. One of Cynthia's complaints had been the small appliances, so we made sure to choose only full-size, luxury appliances: a stainless steel gas stove, a two-door fridge concealed by cabinetry doors, a microwave cleverly hidden in a drawer, and a big stainless steel undermount sink in the island.

This is an elegant kitchen with surprising little touches of bling everywhere you look. The backsplash incorporates reflective hand-cut glass, and stainless steel and chrome accents shine brightly. The pendant fixture over the reclaimed wooden table catches and reflects the light,A good Metal baling machine can produce high density bales which can yield a cargo mass of 26 to 27 tons in a 20 feet container. complementing the chrome table base, as well as white leather and chrome bar stools placed along the island. In addition to the island seating, a custom L-shaped banquette placed under the windows is upholstered in a rich durable soft blue fabric, with a tufted back and luxurious throw pillows.

Over the island, we hung three retrofitted light fixtures that were rescued from the old kitchen. A custom upgrade gave these pendants a whole new lease on life, and their soft light shines down on the island's quartz countertop.

The best things about this gorgeous new kitchen are the little details that contribute so much to its functionality. A good example of this is the magnetic chalk board that swings open to reveal a regular bulletin board behind it -- a great place to store notes from school or the kids' artwork. Over where the laundry room used to be, a home office workspace is the perfect place for Cynthia to do the household accounting or for their young daughter to do her homework on the computer, under her mom's watchful eye.

Nebraska taxpayers to be asked to toss in coins


The Nebraska State CapiFull range of single-ram Scrap metal baling press and can balers to process ferrous and non-ferrous metal scrap.tol is filled with so many pieces of artwork and so much historical symbolism, it's easy to miss some things.

Like the buffaloes sculptor Lee Lawrie carved in stone that guard the north entrances, the dinosaurs laid in tile by mosaic artist Hildreth Meiere in the rotunda floor and Elizabeth Dolan's beautiful "Spirit of the Prairie" mural overlooking the rarely visited State Law Library.

But some folks miss what's not there — because the Capitol, one of the nation's 2,500 national historic landmarks, has never been completed.

And there has never been a formal dedication of architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue's structure, on which work came to a halt in 1932 during the darkest months of the Great Depression.

A group of former state senators now hopes to resolve both of those omissions.

They have launched a renewed effort to raise the $2.5 million necessary to install bronze fountains in the four open-air courtyards at the Capitol, the last unfinished design aspect of the building.

The group hopes to install the fountains in stages over the next three years, completing them by 2017, the 150th anniversary of the state's founding. The new fountains and a dedication could be centerpieces of a sesquicentennial celebration being planned.

"It's a wonderful, wonderful building," said former State Sen. Bob Wickersham, who now lives in Lincoln. "It's worthy of finishing."

The push is the first major project ever for the Nebraska Association of Former State Legislators. That group was formed in 1976, but until now it had never taken on anything more ambitious than planning an annual reunion and attending funerals of former colleagues.

Former Sen. Vicki McDonald, who also lives in Lincoln,We produce good quality Scrap metal shear and other products for many years in China. said former senators all loved and admired the State Capitol, which prompted them to take up the cause.

"During the '30s it was difficult to spend the money," she said. "Now is the time."

But there's a catch in this Capitol completion caper: The former senators want state taxpayers to pick up the multimillion-dollar tab — a move that Gov. Dave Heineman opposes.

Then-State Sen. Scott Price of Bellevue launched a campaign 4 years ago to raise private funds for the fountains. But the fund drive fizzled, bringing in less than $4,000.

When he resigned this fall because of family reasons, the campaign was at a standstill.

Wickersham,Find all the manufacturers of aluminum profile and contact them directly on DirectIndustry. who represented northwest Nebraska's 49th District, made some phone calls. He found support from McDonald, who is now directing the former lawmakers group, and former Lincoln Sen. DiAnna Schimek, who had previously sought state funding for the fountains.

McDonald, who served central Nebraska's 41st District from 2001 to 2009, said she was looking for a "worthwhile project" for the group, which is permitted under its bylaws.

"It's very important that the people of Nebraska have ownership of the building," Schimek said. "It's the people's Capitol, and they made great sacrifices to build it in the first place."

Heineman, who is chairman of the Capitol Commission, was not swayed. He feels that private donors, not taxpayers, should finance the fountains, said spokeswoman Sue Roush.

2013年12月11日星期三

Tunisia’s handmade tiles risk disappearing forever


The history of handmade tiles in Tunisia is fascinating. Green Prophet digs deep between the tiles of a rundown factory in Roman Neapolis, Nabeul, a historic tile making center in Tunisia, to discover what fragments remain of this disappearing art.

Although handmade decorated tiles were used in some early mosques, it was only in the 1600′s, with the final great exodus of Andalusian Muslims to Tunisia, that the application of enamel techniques revived the fading ceramic centers around the country.

Ceramic tiles acquired important decorative purposes and were highly influenced by Ottoman and Andalusian motifs which culminated around the same time. In 1574, following the Turkish victory over the Hafsids, Ottoman tastes took over the Tunisian home as Tunisians reoriented themselves eastward.

In 1609, the final expulsion of Muslims from Spain, which saw more than 80,000 refugees settle in Tunisia,A good Metal baling machine can produce high density bales which can yield a cargo mass of 26 to 27 tons in a 20 feet container. brought with it Andalusian tile making techniques which were readily adopted by Tunisian tile makers .

In 2003 Nabeul,Developed for high density baling of both ferrous and non-ferrous metal, our industrial Scrap metal baler excels in a broad range of materials. counted more than 350 workshops and factories, with tile production being the largest employment sector in the area. Following the 2011 revolution, many workshops are closing down and, apart from industrially and serially made tiles destined for tourists, workshops which produce handmade tiles with traditional motifs are becoming rarer by the year.

“La maison des Arts”, is one of the remaining ateliers where Zobaier, “Technical Director” and Noomen, “Business Director” make ends meet primarily driven by passion. According to Zobaier “Passion is the ingredient which is largely missing in today’s generation, which have not grown up next to their parents working in the workshops, but in front of books at school.”

In fact, of the 6 employees employed at La maison des Arts, 4 of them grew up watching their parents work in the tile making business, and so with them grew the passion for this craftsmanship.

Even though artisans are paid twice the minimum wage in Tunisia, and manual labor is highly sought after, it is hard to find young workers willing to work in this sector, as Zobaier reiterates “it is challenging to work long hours painting hundreds of tiles by hand, without having the passion for it.”

Nevertheless post revolution has seen an increase of 20% in exports for this workshop, but when I asked Noomen about the future of the handmade tiles industry, I was immediately told frankly “for us to do well, Tunisia has to sort its politics first.”

As he points out “our year zero is now 2011, of course production was higher before the revolution, but now there are good prospects if the domestic economic environment allows us to expand.”

If the handmade tile making industry in Tunisia is still afloat, it is largely thanks to the Algerian, Japanese and American clients. Tunisian clients,Find all the manufacturers of aluminum profile and contact them directly on DirectIndustry. are increasingly preferring to import modern tiles rather than traditional tiles.

Opening Up


Among the shortcomings: rooms that are too small and dark; a kitchen that hasn'Find all the manufacturers of aluminum profile and contact them directly on DirectIndustry.t been remodeled in 25 years. A tiny breakfast room. A rear grade too steep for an addition. A front elevation with no visible front door.

And in the plus column: a neigborhood that's gone decisively upscale; a solidly constructed starter house in a "come-back" style. Just enough undeveloped side lot to add useful square footage. An enviably location at the end of a cul de sac.

Bring to this proposition the team of Sarah Wolf, interior designer, and Josh Britton, architectural draftsman — both at Foster Remodeling Solutions — and what's revealed are the skills sets that are transforming so many non-descript mid-century dwellings into the spacious eclectically-designed residences expected of northern Virginia's close-in neighbodhoods.

"We're seeing more homeowners preserving and elaborating post-War suburban styles," said Sarah Wolf. "The ranch and other smaller-scale dwellings are especially fascinating. They've long been classified as the protoytpe for the modern production house, yet we're now seeing how inventive design ideas can be applied to achieve architecturally-relevant makeover goals."

What has turned into a two-phase design process — that will eventually include a second level master suite — began with a single meeting. Wolf had been summoned by homeowners — who had occupied the house for 20 years — "to brainstorm" options for enlarging the kitchen and family room, and re-defining the bare-bones front elevation.

"The previous owners had relocated the original front door to the side sometime in the 1990s," Wolf said. "So one of the early questions was whether it made sense to revise the front elevation in conjunction with a proposed kitchen enlargement."

As the meeting progressed, several key points emerged.

Yes, the owners wanted a substantial enlargement to the kitchen and family room, but the existing interior was also too narrow and too dark. Moreover, since the home's leafy half-acre lot backs into a grove of mature trees bordered by a lovely creek,We produce good quality Scrap metal shear and other products for many years in China. shouldn't the interior makeover be designed to profile the surrounding landscape?

The window wall would, in turn, help to contexturalize a more symmetrical front elevation — one defined by a processional entranceway with double french glass doors and sidelights.

The first chellenge, however, was contending with the peculiarities of the lot itself.

"The entire plan depended on adding about 350 square feet on the south side of the house while staying within [Fairfax] County setback requirements," said project draftsman Josh Britton. "Since the set- back limit runs diagonally on that side of the house, I designed a two-component footprint which steps back from the front elevation."

Necessity being the mother of invention, the solution makes adroit use of tight tolerances. Space formerly allocated to the old kitchen/family room combination is absorbed into a gourmet kitchen configuration which gains 130 square feet to the west for a total of more than 450 square foot. The new family room — tapering down to 220 square feet — supplants a former front deck.Developed for high density baling of both ferrous and non-ferrous metal, our industrial Scrap metal baler excels in a broad range of materials.