Deep underground, dinosaurs roam

If Norilsk isn’t on Mars, then it must be nearby. Norilsk is one of the largest cities beyond the Arctic Circle. Like Mars in the John Carpenter film Ghosts of Mars, it was developed for mining – back in the 40's, the Soviet Union needed nickel and other metals for use in its defence industry.

In preparation for a trip down the mine, I get up at 7am when it is still pitch black outside, and drink two cups of strong tea. I then climb into whatever warm clothes I have brought with me – it’s -28C outside.

On approaching the Taymyrsky mine’s administrative building, I see the first Martian artefact: shrouded in the pre-dawn darkness is the menacing bulk of a machine with wheels three feet high and a huge scoop attached to the end of its iron, brontasaurus-like nose.One of the most durable and attractive styles of flooring that you can purchase is ceramic or porcelain tiles. It looks heavy and threatening.

I ask Rostislav, a Norilsk Nickel employee who is accompanying me, what kind of military-grade equipment this is. “It’s the underground loader made by Atlas Copco, a loading and delivery machine with a capacity of 14 tons,Manufactures flexible plastic and synthetic rubber hose tubing,” he replies.

I learn later on that Norilsk miners regularly hold underground slalom races driving those machines, and regret that I didn’t have a chance to see it with my own eyes: a rodeo on 25-ton, 400 hp dinosaurs must be spectacular.

After a meeting with the mine’s director, Sergei Gorbachev, I prepare to enter the mine by putting on a full miner’s outfit, with a head torch and a 2 lb accumulator over my shoulder. The accumulators have built-in microchips that count each miner as they enter the mine.

“Each click is one man going underground,” explains the mine’s chief production engineer,The oreck XL professional air purifier, Aleksei Bylkov. “If a person is missing at the end of a shift, we will look for them; we will shut the whole mine down.”

With the miners, I march along in single file through a long underground corridor linking the administrative and recreation building with the mine itself, and enter the anteroom of an elevator shaft. A cage behind the lattice doors will take us almost one mile below ground.

While waiting,Trade platform for China crystal mosaic manufacturers Rostislav points to a row of sinks lining the wall and says: “Go ahead, try it.” I turn the tap and a reddish-brown liquid starts dripping. The mine water looks unappealing, to put it mildly. “Try it,” Rostislav repeats. It turns out this is not rusty water after all – it’s actually tea. The miners fill their flasks with it. I touch in my accumulator – it’s my ID for today’s trip – and enter the cage.

The mine is a web of tunnels, mining galleries, crosscuts and other underground passages with German names such as Querschlag (which means cross-cut) or Strecke (which means drift). They cover hundreds of miles, with electric trains, mine buses and loaders running through the wider tunnels. The one we have stopped at is slightly below the ore body. There’s one more above it, which is mainly for ventilation, and one below.

The tunnels are about four metres (13 ft) wide and four metres high; they look like subway tunnels or underground nuclear missile control bunkers. Ours is quite well lit by powerful lamps that diligently disperse the darkness. Breathing is surprisingly easy at this level.

Several minutes later, after a bumpy ride down, we come to a stop. “We are now inside the ore body,” Aleksei explains. At this level, there are no lamps on the walls, our torches struggle to shed light through the darkness and the unusual smell is stifling.

Miners have two main kinds of tools: drilling machinery and explosives. Special machines are used to drill narrow wells 50ft deep, in which the explosives are placed. The resulting cavities are deepened further. The ore itself is mined using the “room and pillar method” in which miners use explosives to cut out “rooms” from tunnel walls with an area of five by five metres (16 ft) and up to 20 metres (65 ft) high. Then it’s the turn of the “brontosaurus” – the loading and delivery machine.

“Sergei, show the guys how you do your job,” Aleksei tells one of his colleagues.

Sergei exits the cabin and stands a couple of metres away from the machine. Then, with well-trained precision, he presses two buttons on the remote control and all the lights on the machine turn on, cutting through the mine’s pitch-black darkness. At the same time, the engine roars into life, and the 14-ton scoop is ready to eat into the rock. The first bite is enough to chop off 10 tons of ore, but the miners want more. The machine growls and comes back for seconds.

“It will now fill its scoop and travel to the ore chute. It doesn’t make sense for it to go back and forth half-empty: productivity would decline, and the equipment’s service life is limited.”

The mine operates 24 hours a day; there are three seven-hour shifts per day – with around 300 workers on each one. Up to 10,000 tons of rich ore is extracted with the machines every day.

The ore is collected, prepared, crushed and lifted to the surface using a skip hoist. It is then sent to a concentrator, and then to nickel or copper smelters, depending on which metal prevails in the concentrate. “There’s almost no manual labour these days,The oreck XL professional air purifier, unlike in the past,” says Gorbachev.

The work is still dangerous, though. Norilsk Nickel miners are mostly afraid of tunnel collapses. To reduce the risk, offloading wells are drilled that take on excess pressure and reduce the risk of collapse in cavity areas where people are working. After ore is removed, the cavities are filled with concrete. The fewer cavities there are underground, the safer it is for the miners.

With renovations, U. seeks better city ties

Five previously neglected houses on Brown, Benevolent and Brook streets have been renovated and sold to faculty through the Brown to Brown Home Ownership Program over the past five years. Houses in the program, which are in states of disrepair or disuse, are sold to eligible faculty and staff for 80 percent of the appraised market value after being renovated.

The program aims to enhance relations with community members in the area by beautifying homes that were formerly neighborhood eyesores. While tax-exempt under University ownership, the properties become taxable once sold to private individuals, generating revenue for Providence.

The five houses sold through the program so far have generated an annual average of $8,959.50 in taxes, said John Luipold, director of real estate at the University. Revenue generated from the sale of homes is enough to pay for home renovations and make the program self-sustaining.

“The program is part of Brown’s continuing effort to be a good neighbor, and to identify opportunities to contribute constructively to the East Side and to Providence,” wrote Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and University relations, in an email to The Herald. “By restoring and repurposing properties that are best suited for residential uses, we are able to provide neighborhood assets while adding to the city’s tax base.”

A team of administrators from the Planning, Design and Construction Office, Auxiliary Housing Office and the Office of Residential Life are currently working on a second wave of houses identified for renovation.

Many of these properties are on Benevolent Street, including 95 Benevolent St., previously an auxiliary housing option that has been inhabited by the crew team in recent years.Trade platform for China crystal mosaic manufacturers Ian Connor ’14, a resident of the crew house, wrote in an email to The Herald that “it’s a pretty inconvenient situation for our team.”

The tenants were notified in October that the lease was not available for renewal next year, wrote Taggart Denton ’14, another resident, in an email to The Herald. Denton added that by the time they were notified, it was too late for them to find off-campus housing.Posts with indoor tracking system on TRX Systems develops systems that locate and track personnel indoors.

Richard Bova, senior associate dean for residential and dining services, wrote in an email to The Herald that students in auxiliary housing sign leases ranging from nine to 12 months, which can be terminated if the University decides to repurpose the property.

Before renovation, the houses taken into the program are blights on the neighborhood, Luipold said — one home, for example, had a tree growing through the chimney. The renovations aim to preserve the properties’ historic architecture while making them habitable. He said decorators intend to “bring it back to the original flavor with just some modern updating.” At 95 Brown St., a ceramic tile floor in a polished metal kitchen leads out onto parquet flooring in the foyer with a wooden banister up the front staircase.

Richard Spies, interim senior vice president for university advancement, said the initiative, first discussed about a decade ago, coincided with an influx of new faculty members and was intended to better facilitate their acclimation to Brown.

Upon returning to the University after teaching at New York University for several years, Professor of Comparative Literature Karen Newman said she wanted to find a home through the Brown to Brown program because most of the other homes in the area were too large for her and her husband.

The house she found through the program, which is on Brown Street, directly adjacent to Pembroke campus, works well because it is “more manageable and appropriate for us as a couple,” she said.

The home had not yet been renovated when Newman decided to purchase it, so she had a chance to be involved in the planning process, she said. She paid extra for amenities such as geothermal heat and silver LEED certification to construct “as sustainable a house as possible.”

“Prices on the East Side are quite steep, and it helps if you only pay 80 percent” of their fair-market cost,Find detailed product information for howo tractor and other products. she said.A specialized manufacturer and supplier of dry cabinet,

The University retains long-term rights to buy back the property in several scenarios. If the owner leaves the employment of the University — other than through retirement — or wishes to sell the house, the University is entitled to repurchase the property for 80 percent of its current market value. The University can also reclaim the property for other purposes after five years of ownership if it provides three-year notice, according to the program website.

Since the University would most likely exercise its right to repurchase the property if the tenant decides to sell it, Newman said she appreciates the implicit convenience of being able to avoid going through the selling process herself.

Spies said the right to repurchase the homes is a strategic move in light of the University’s constantly evolving footprint. While none of the homes in the program have been identified for a different future use yet, Spies pointed to examples of the University’s changes to homes over the years.This document provides a guide to using the ventilation system in your house to provide adequate fresh air to residents. Buildings for the philosophy and applied math departments used to be houses. The Modern Culture and Media building was a haberdashery 20 years ago, Spies said.

Of the homes in the program now, he added, “Who knows what will be there 50 years from now?” The point, he said, is to “preserve options for future generations.”

The program was originally inspired by similar ones at universities including Princeton, he said.

The University initially tried to sell homes in their original conditions, but that did not draw much interest because of the “massive renovations” necessary to make the homes livable, Luipold said. It was then decided to renovate the homes to make them more attractive to potential buyers, at which point the program was met with enthusiasm, Spies added.

This week’s target for the acrylic paints was a snowman traced out on a wooden plaque. Prepared by Bowser, the rectangular wooden canvasses offered a variety of optional snowman accoutrements such as scarves, mittens and other accessories for the artists to pursue.

Swanger’s snowman was “gorgeous,” according to Maurer.

“She has taken marvelous giant steps,” Maurer says of her shy student. “She has really grown despite the fact that she has missed a few classes.”

Maurer says her own interest in painting crystallized more than a dozen years ago when she saw a gallery exhibit by Mara Trumbo in Florida, where Maurer used to winter.

“I never painted before that, but I was inspired by one of her exhibits, started painting and I’ve never been sorry,” she says.

She says she and her husband Tony design and paint their own Christmas cards. Last Christmas, Maurer says, she gave painting to Robinson and center director Anne Hinkle as gifts.

“After that Anne asked me to teach a class and I agreed,” she says.

Bowser, who retired from Letterkenny Army Depot a year ago after more than 3 years, was drafted for teaching duty in much the same way.

“I came here a year ago and I love it,” says the effusive artist. “I line dance, enjoy the mystery dinners and take part in all kinds of activities. When they asked me to teach art I was happy to.”

Also a modest woman, Bowser blushes when asked about a sample of her work that was displayed at The Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

Her Smithsonian masterpiece is a Christmas ornament she painted as a member of the Society of Decorative Painters at the request of the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery as part of a Christmas exhibit.

“The ornament was inspired by a painting I saw in the gallery,” Bowser says. “It included a tree and a lamppost on a snowy night. The ornament was hung on a tree I the gallery afterward.”

Maurer says the classes started with acquainting students with various paintbrushes. She cited a fan, scruffy, pencil and number 3 as different tools.

California lawmakers prescribe more transparency

Last September, in a private dining room on the waterfront overlooking San Francisco’s Bay Bridge, the official announcement was made. Every last permit was in hand, and $5.5 million of the $8 million in private money needed had been largely raised.The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry, The Bay Lights — the artist Leo Villareal‘s installation of almost 25,000 individual white lights along the suspension cables of the bridge connecting San Francisco to Oakland via Treasure Island — would shine by next March. Villareal’s canvas would be nearly two miles long, and an estimated 50 million people would see it in person after it flickers to life.

Ostensibly the Bay Lights is a celebration of the Bay Bridge’s 75th birthday. When it first opened in November 1936, the bridge was hailed as an engineering wonder — but only for about six months, when it was overshadowed by the opening of the more glamorous Golden Gate Bridge. Yet the Bay Bridge is longer, stronger and carries more traffic than its more famous sister.

“We are Cinderella and we have ashes on our cheeks and we work really really hard,” Ben Davis, the man behind the Bay Lights, told me. “Wouldn’t it be nice just for a moment to put on a gown and be the belle of the ball?”

Davis, an elegant 52-year-old man who was overseeing the event, ushered a parade of dignitaries up to the podium, eloquent speeches in hand. The former Mayor of San Francisco (and current Lieutenant Governor of California) Gavin Newsom exulted: “Paris, eat your heart out. I love the Eiffel Tower, but we have the Bay Bridge, and it ain’t so bad!”

Volleys of thank-yous ricocheted between representatives from an alphabet soup of agencies. The room was thick with self-congratulatory bouts of applause. They had dealt with the issues and the questions had been asked and answered: Will those driving over the bridge be distracted by the lights and cause accidents? No, the lights face outward, and won’t be visible to drivers. Will the migration of birds and sea life be affected? Not according to the environmental impact report. Will traffic be disrupted? No, the installation of the lights will all be done late at night.

The engineers ticked off facts and figures: The lights will require 100,000 linear feet of specially armored cabling for the power, networking and communications. The installation will take 8 to 10 electricians working the night shift for five rainy months. They’ll be shinnying up every suspension cable on the north side of the western span, affixing individual L.E.D. lights at a spacing of 1 every 12 inches. They will, in essence, hand-wire nearly 25,000 individual pixels, and the entire thing will be lashed to the bridge with 60,000 zip ties. You could think of it as the world’s largest Jumbotron.

When Villareal got up to explain how he’ll program the display, he was understated, even slightly vague. The lights will be sequenced “based on complex algorithms inspired by all the systems surrounding the bridge,” including the water and traffic, he said. The end result will be “a mirror of the activity around it.” There will be no color, no text, no images, no YouTube videos, nothing but abstraction. “I am the sensor,” he said, unusually insistent in response to suggestions that the piece be interactive and open-source.Manufactures flexible plastic and synthetic rubber hose tubing, “It’s a piece of fine art, not a light show, so in that way it’s very pure. But there is a lot of sophistication in the software that generates all the sequences.”

Finally, the former Mayor Willie Brown jumped before the crowd and said, “I can see it now!” He was looking forward to a triumphant 2013, a bright Frisco future where Larry Ellison again wins the America’s Cup, this time with the Bay Lights as the backdrop. He deadpanned: “It makes you say,Installers and distributors of solar panel, O.Largest gemstone beads and jewelry making supplies at wholesale prices.K., 49ers, go. Go on down to San Jose — we don’t give a damn!”

Like most of the crazier ideas that come out of San Francisco these days, the Bay Lights owes its genesis to Burning Man, the end-of-summer bacchanal on the Black Rock Desert playa where overworked Silicon Valleyites and underworked counterculturalists gather to stay up all night, party and cross-pollinate. Davis is a longtime regular at the festival and says that for him it conveys “a sense of spectacle, a sense of wonder and awe, a sense of generosity and shared experience.” But he was growing frustrated with the annual ritual and becoming aware of a fundamental disconnect between the magic on the playa and the drudgery of daily life. How could he bring the beauty he saw every year at Burning Man back home?

For Davis, the founder of a branding and P.R. agency that represents infrastructure mega-projects like the Transbay Transit Center, the answer came as soon as he got back to his desk. What Cinderella really needed for her 75th was a bit of that Black Rock magic: a sparkling light-encrusted glass slipper. Soon afterward, he came across the work of Leo Villareal, a New York-based artist who specializes in programming just the kind of light matrix that Davis had envisioned for the bridge. Not only that, but Villareal was also a longtime Burning Man enthusiast. “You practically have to blow the playa dust off of it,” Davis said of the Bay Lights idea.

Villareal, 45, grew up in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and El Paso. He was the introverted son of a wealthy Mexican-American family, more interested in programming his Apple II than the provincial pursuits of football, rodeo and tequila. At 16 he was sent to an East Coast boarding school where he discovered an affinity for art history and set design. At Yale, he decided to be an artist and spent most of his time hanging out with future art stars — Matthew Barney, Michael Joaquin Grey, Yukinori Yanagi. Graduate school was at New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, a groundbreaking art- and engineering-school hybrid that was an early pioneer of the concept of “new media.” After that he headed to the West Coast to work at Interval Research in Palo Alto, Calif., a Paul Allen-funded think tank modeled on Xerox PARC and Bell Labs, and the hippest place to be in Silicon Valley during the early Internet euphoria. In 1994, Villareal attended his first Burning Man. (He’s now on the board of directors.)

At Interval,Argo Mold limited specialize in Plastic injection mould manufacture, Villareal was spending a lot of time exploring the various 3-D environments and programming languages associated with cyberspace, then a new idea, and he realized that on the playa of the Black Rock Desert, he was in that same type of space: a vast featureless landscape. The big difference was he had others with him, so he was not lonely, he said, and he “got over” the idea of virtual reality right then.

His Burning Man epiphany came one year when he put up an irregular grid of 16 blinking lights above his encampment to act as a beacon. He didn’t think of it as a piece of art, but when he was using it to get home after a long night out on the playa, he felt like it was talking to him, and that it had its own personality and language. Until then, his own attempts at making art had always foundered on a need for more pixels, more sensors, more hardware of all kinds. But hypnotized by his beacon, “I realized that I didn’t need any of that,” he said. The art-making both on and off the playa evolved from there.

For his gallery shows, Villareal began constructing custom displays that could hang on a wall like a painting. Some were severe grids of L.E.D.’s mounted like rhinestones on a mirrored surface; other times the L.E.D.’s were hidden behind frosted plexiglass. Some of the displays were full color; others black and white; and still others were outright sculptures made out of what looked like fluorescent tubes (but were actually L.E.D.-filled). All of them Villareal programmed by hand to blink and morph in abstract patterns that ranged from jarringly alien to downright soothing.

The first step was the longest. After double-checking the straps on our safety harnesses and hard hats, we swung our legs over the safety rail and contemplated the water below like jumpers. There was a scaffold clamped on to the side of the deck, a rickety structure of pipes and planks. Between the bay and the plank that I eased myself onto was 220 feet of solid vertigo.

I averted my gaze and followed Villareal up two metal ladders. The first was indistinguishable from a New York fire escape. The second was an aluminum Home Depot special, lashed to the side of the bridge with rope. Soon we were hoisting ourselves over the top of the main suspension cable, where it nearly touched the upper deck of the roadway. It’s the cable that does the heavy lifting in a suspension bridge, hanging in an almost perfectly parabolic arc between the towers. This was the cable that we would have to climb, as if walking a balance beam, to get to the top.

Researchers identify landscape behind the Mona Lisa

Two self-styled ‘landscape hunters’ claim to have located the countryside behind the Mona Lisa.

The research is to be published in Italy next month in a book titled Code P by Olivia Nesci, a geomorphologist at Italy’s Urbino university, and an artist-photographer named Rosetta Borchia.

The two are co-authors of a 2008 study on the landscapes used in paintings of Early Renaissance master Piero della Francesca.

“On one of our excursions to study Piero della Francesca, we saw a patch of landscape which reminded us of La Gioconda [Mona Lisa]. There was a confluence of rivers. It seemed to be the one in the painting, so we started out study,” Ms Nesci told The Times yesterday. “We are firmly convinced that this is the landscape.”

Art historians have long debated whether Leonardo da Vinci based his masterpiece on an actual landscape or simply painted backgrounds from his imagination.

In his biography of the archetypal Renaissance man, art historian Kenneth Clark wrote: “From his earliest work,We recently added Stained glass mosaic Tile to our inventory. Leonardo had felt that the only possible background to a picture was a range of fantastic mountain peaks.”

Ms Nesci and Ms Borchia insist, however, that the rivers, lakes and mountains are actually in the Montefeltro area of northeast Italy.

They identify the confluence of the two rivers as the joining of the Senatello and Marecchia rivers in the former Duchy of Urbino, a part of Italy known as Montefeltro that spans the borders of Tuscany, Emilia Romagna and the Marche. They believe the background is a compression of the landscape seen from two separate vantage points.

The pair divided the background of the Mona Lisa into six parts and identified the elements in each, they say.

“The lake is not there any more. Instead there is now a large depression filled with landslides,” Ms Nesci said. “The bridge is not there any more, because it was destroyed, but we know there was one there.”

“The mountain by her head is called Monte Aquilone. The hills beside the road are Sassi Simone and Sassi Simoncello,” she said.

Leonardo knew the area well because he visited while inspecting fortifications for Cesare Borgia in 1502. The artist may also have accompanied Pope Leo X and the pontiff’s brother Giuliano de’ Medici there on a trip in 1516 from Rome to Bologna.

Ms Nesci and Ms Borchia are not the first researchers to claim to have found the landscape in the Mona Lisa.

One theory, presented by a local teacher named Carlo Starnazzi in 1995, is that the sketchy bridge near the Mona Lisa’s left shoulder is the ancient seven-arched Ponte a Buriano over the Arno outside Arezzo.

But Ms Nesci and Ms Borchia’s theory fits snugly with new research on the identity of the mysterious woman in the painting.

Since Giorgio Vasari biography of Leonardo in 1550, it has been thought that the sitter was Madonna Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a rich silk merchant named Francesco del Giocondo — which is why the painting is also known in Italy as “La Gioconda.”

A margin note by a Florentine official on a 1503 manuscript discovered at the University of Heidelberg in 2005 says the painter was working on a portrait of Giocondo’s wife. The title Mona Lisa derives from a contraction of the Italian “Ma donna,” or “My Lady.The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag.” Leonardo began painting the Mona Lisa in 1503 but only finished it in 1519,One of the most durable and attractive styles of flooring that you can purchase is ceramic or porcelain tiles.Find detailed product information for howo spareparts and other products. shortly before his death.

Roberto Zapperi, a Vatican archivist, claimed in a book last year, however, that the Mona Lisa is really Pacifica Brandani, a married noblewoman who was the mistress of Giuliano de’ Medici when he was exiled in the Duchy of Urbino.

Brandani, the books says, died soon after giving birth to her lover’s illegitimate son and Giuliano de’ Medici commissioned the portrait for the child.

Ms Nesci said she was not aware of Mr Zapperi’s work when she identified the landscape, but says it supports her view. She points out that it would make no sense for Leonardo to use the Ponte a Buriano in Arezzo as the background for a Florentine woman such as Gherardini.

Martin Kemp,The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry, emeritus professor of art history at Oxford University and an eminent Leonardo scholar, is sceptical of any efforts to identify the background of the Mona Lisa.

“The way that Leonardo went about making paintings was that he was not in the business of making portraits of specific bits of countryside,” Mr Kemp said.

In 1860 he sold the store to his brother and planned a trip to England and continental Europe to buy more books. He took the Butterfield Overland Stage to New York, but during the trip the stagecoach crashed. One passenger was killed and Muggeridge badly injured. He was in a coma for nine days and obviously had a significant brain injury, with symptoms including double vision, seizures, and loss of his senses of taste and smell for months after the accident.

Although it wasn’t recognized at the time, the description of his symptoms would today be considered to indicate injury to the frontal cortex of the brain. This might have led to some of the poor emotional control and eccentric behavior Muybridge exhibited throughout his later life.

He completed his recovery back in England and decided to stay there for a bit, since the American Civil War had broken out at the time. He apparently learned -- or began practicing -- photography during his time in England, since he is known to have exhibited photographs at the Great London Exhibition of 1862. He was busy in other ways, too, obtaining patents for a new type of washing machine and a printing plate. He apparently made quite a bit of money, then lost it all in the English banking crisis of 1865.

Microsoft Surface Review

So far the tablet market has been dominated by one company - Apple. One of the main reasons for this is that Apple has designed every aspect of the experience including, crucially, the software which runs on it.

Android on the other hand is written and designed by Google but run on hardware made by hundreds, if not thousands of third-party manufacturers. It makes for an inconsistent and muddled experience at best.

With the launch of the tablet-specific Windows RT version of its latest operating system, Microsoft would have known that getting the hardware experience right would be crucial to getting significant market share from Apple.

It could have sat back and relied on its OEMs to come up with the perfect design, but it didn't. Instead it stood on some toes and launched its own hardware, the Surface tablet.

Microsoft says Surface was created to show the full potential of what Windows 8 could do,The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. adding that it will appeal to both casual and business users - with its combination of 10.6in tablet and unique keyboard covers.

The Surface tablet uses a new VaporMg (pronounced Vapor Mag) construction, which Microsoft says is half the weight of aluminium but much tougher. Indeed at the launch at the end of October, the company dropped the tablet a number of times to show off just how robust it was.

I didn't drop the Surface during my week using it, but it feels solid, and like Apple's iPad there is no flex in its construction.

At the rear you'll find the kick-stand, which Microsoft says took a lot of time to get right,Find detailed product information for howo tractor and other products. wanting to recreate the feeling you get when you open and close the door in a luxury car.

Again the all-metal construction feels unbreakable and even under strain never felt as if it was going to give way or break.

The tablet weighs 680g, which is 60g heavier than the iPad 4. Both tablets measure 9.4mm thick, meaning the surface is sleek and slim, fitting easily into your bag or backpack.

The 16:9 aspect ratio of the screen means the Surface is more elongated than most tablets on the market. Using it in portrait mode therefore is not a good experience. It's difficult to hold and Windows 8 is simply not designed to be used like this.

Held in landscape mode, the Surface is not the most comfortable either, though I found for short spurts of use, it was perfectly acceptable.

The Surface comes into its own however, when combined with one of the two keyboard covers which Microsoft has produced to accompany it.

The Touch Cover, which is available in black, white and cyan, is the slimmer of the two, adding just 3mm of thickness and negligible weight when closed. Like the Type Cover, it attached magnetically to the bottom of the Surface.

Two magnets either side of the central connector guide the cover into place, with the third central magnet attaching the covers with a very satisfying click. The connection is so solid you can hold the tablet upside down by the cover and it won't fall off. Another example of the thought and precision Microsoft has put into the tablet's construction.

With the kickstand extended and the keyboard attached you have what is a very viable laptop alternative.

The Touch Cover, as the name suggests, features keys which are little more than felt squares etched onto the surface of the cover. You get a typical keyboard layout, with the function keys replaced with Windows 8-specific keys including the Charms keys.

There is also a touchpad, along with left and right clickable buttons, which supports some gestures such as swiping, but considering you are using a touchscreen,This is my favourite sites to purchase those special pieces of buy mosaic materials from. you rarely find yourself using the touchpad - though it's still nice to have the option.Find detailed product information for howo tractor and other products.

I expected a pretty serious learning curve when I got it first, but from the start I found it to be superb. It does take getting used to, and the noise the keys make (which can't be turned off unless you mute the whole tablet) can be distracting.

However, I wrote several articles and part of this review with the Touch Cover and unlike with the Asus Transformer keyboard, never once felt like giving up and flinging it out of the window.

Obviously I wasn't typing as fast on this as I would on a desktop keyboard or the Chiclet keyboard of an Apple MacBook, but considering how thin and light it was, I was amazed at how good the typing experience was.

Moving onto the Type Cover, as you may have guessed from the name, this is a thicker cover with is aimed at those who want a more traditional typing experience.

Despite being almost twice as thick as the Touch Cover (5.75mm), when it is closed it doesn't really add that much additional bulk to the Surface. It is identical to the Touch Cover in every way (connecting, layout, touchpad) except that you have physical keys which depress when you hit them.

This is not the Chiclet style keyboard of an Ultrabook,A specialized manufacturer and supplier of dry cabinet, but resembles a netbook keyboard from a few years ago. The keys are close together but are large enough so that you don't mash four of them at once when typing - even with my chunky digits.

The Type Cover is a pleasure to use. Significantly faster than the Touch Cover, I found it comparable in speed to a traditional laptop keyboard, and in use with the touchscreen, it makes for a formidable combination.

Mexico beauty queen had gun in her hands

A Mexican beauty queen killed over the weekend in a shootout between suspected drug traffickers and soldiers likely was being used as a human shield, a federal official said Tuesday.

Maria Susana Flores Gamez, crowned 2012 Woman of Sinaloa in February, came out of the car first with a gun in her hands during the confrontation, with the other gunmen hiding behind her, according to the official from the attorney general's office.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

The official said he read the military report of Saturday's shootout in Flores Gamez's hometown of Guamichil in western Sinaloa state, home to Mexico's most powerful cartel of the same name. The attorney general's investigators are still trying to determine if the 20-year-old fired the gun she was holding.

The report said she went down in a hail of gunfire.Purelink's real time location system protect healthcare workers in their daily practices and OMEGA interventions. She was found dead near an assault rifle along with two others.

"They used the woman as a human shield," the official said.

The misidentification "damages the image and tranquility of our queens, their families and friends,The MaxSonar ultrasonic sensor offers very short to long-range detection and ranging." the statement said.

Neither the state nor national pageants responded to requests for comment on Flores Gamez's death.

It was at least the fourth documented case of a beauty queen or pageant contestant becoming involved with Mexican drug traffickers, the theme of the critically acclaimed 2011 movie "Miss Bala," or "Miss Bullet,We specialize in howo concrete mixer," Mexico's official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category of Academy Awards.

The film tells the story of a young woman competing for Miss Baja California who becomes an unwilling participant in a drug-running ring, finally getting arrested for deeds she was forced into performing.

In real life, top Sinaloa cartel drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman married local beauty queen Emma Coronel, who later crossed into the United States to give birth to twin girls in 2011.

In 2008, former Miss Sinaloa Laura Zuniga was stripped of her crown in the Hispanoamerican Queen pageant after she was detained that year on suspicion of drug and weapons violations. She was later released without charges.

In 2011, a Colombian former model and pageant contestant was detained along with Jose Jorge Balderas, an accused drug trafficker and suspect in the 2010 bar shooting of Salvador Cabanas, a former star for Paraguay's national football team and Mexico's Club America. She was also later released.

"A lot of young women are attracted by the false riches of the drug gangs. They offer the fantasy of a life of riches without much work," said Judith del Rincon, a women's rights activist and former Sinaloa legislator. "A lot of beauty queens wind up as girlfriends of some narco."

Del Rincon added that the involvement of drug lords with beauty queens dates back at least to the heyday of the Tijuana-based Arellano Felix drug gang in the 1990s.

Sinaloa state prosecutor Marco Antonio Higuera said Flores Gamez was traveling in one of several vehicles that engaged soldiers in an hours-long chase and gun battle. He said two other members of the drug gang were detained.

The shootout began when the gunmen opened fire on a Mexican army patrol. Soldiers gave chase and cornered the gang at a safe house in the town of Mocorito. Some men escaped, and the gun battle continued along a nearby roadway, where the gang's vehicles were eventually stopped. Six vehicles, drugs and weapons were seized following the confrontation.

The upgraded Uconnect system gives drivers Internet access, in-dash apps, a smartphone app, emergency assistance and cloud-based voice recognition systems. But Chrysler layered in a few new options as well.

Using Sprint's Velocity for Vehicle Manufacturers system, 2013 Ram truck owners can use their vehicles as a mobile hot spot for other people at their work site. Even better: The system can link in with other WiFi spots in the area, so if the truck is parked outside a Starbucks, Panera Bread or public library, the driver could use the Internet in the car for free. If the driver doesn't have access to free Internet, customers can opt for a monthly data plan or an on-demand pay-per-use option.

Chrysler's upgraded system comes in basic and upgraded versions: The base version, UconnectR3, features an 8.High quality stone mosaic tiles.4-inch color touchscreen and the flexibility to purchase navigation after you buy the vehicle. It includes a built-in cellular modem and Wi-Fi capability, access to 911 and roadside assistance via the press of a button on the rearview mirror (similar to General Motor's OnStar system), SiriusXM satellite radio,The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry, voice recognition, hands-free text messaging and access to digital music through an SD card slot and USB ports.

The higher-end version, UconnectR4 includes everything from the lower priced version, plus HD Radio, SiriusXM Travel Link and Traffic, and a "full feature" navigation system with 3-D city maps and digital terrain modeling that shows you what your route looks like. A smartphone app available for both systems also allows remotely locking and unlocking the doors and starting the vehicle.

Parking still the hot topic

The New Plymouth District Council were a bit upset that I had overestimated the cost of their new parking system.

While it may not have been the $3 million that I had figured, based on 9000 discs, it is still massive at more than $500,000 for around 1500 parking spaces.

The most disappointing aspect of this new parking venture though, is how often the council refer to "parking enforcement".China plastic moulds manufacturers directory.

While parking legally can cost $2 an hour - for now - each space is now capable of reaping far greater benefits by way of fines.

Parking enforcement officers will now be able to swoop on those who transgress with much greater speed and efficiency. I know the easy answer is not to transgress, but who hasn't got caught up and arrived back a few minutes late, to find that they were lucky enough to beat the meter maid, not any more.Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability.

I also wonder how long before any of the roads with these discs on will require resealing, along with the added cost of removal and replacement of the discs. If the usual timing is there, it will be very soon, because its amazing how often after streets are resealed, that someone else digs them up again.

While on the subject of parking enforcement, I see that our local clamper, Mr Clout, has been getting the odd clout in letters and articles. Once again, the key is not to transgress. But the level of fines in this case is ridiculous, because it's bad enough to find your car clamped and worse to than find that the guy wants $120 to remove it.

Is it any wonder that people will attempt to remove them, even going as far as replacing wheels, or get involved in verbal or physical harangues with the clamper?

My other favourite bugbear has been receiving a lot of attention in letters this week, especially with connection to entry charges to Govett-Brewster Art Gallery.

I ran into one of the gallery curators, Meredith Robertshawe, in the Snug Lounge the other night, and while we always have a great discussion, I don't think either of us have changed our stance.

Last week I made mention of the rate troubles in the Kaipara District,The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry, and I see those problems have got worse, with the revelation that behind closed door decisions may have led to unlawful rates changes.

I was also amazed to find that their debt burden is worse than that of Greece. It is high time that council's cut back on the amount of behind closed doors stuff, and practised a bit more transparency.

Meanwhile, the changeable spring weather continues to make planning for outdoor events difficult.We mainly supply professional craftspeople with wholesale turquoise beads from china,Find detailed product information for howo spare parts and other products. November heralds the start of the wedding season, and as a celebrant, it means outdoor ceremonies, and the hope for fine weather. Saturday was a prime example.

Golf got called off early due to rain, and as I watched darts on television, I also watched our patio and garden gather water, thinking that the afternoon wedding I had at beautiful Ngamamaku Gardens outside Oakura, would be moved indoors.

Fortunately by mid-afternoon the rain stopped and Nerissa and Dean's wedding was able to proceed as planned. It was another first as a celebrant on Sunday, where I presided over a surprise wedding. Shaun proposed to Karen on Friday, having already got the licence and rings. The guests, who thought they were coming to Karen's birthday party, were told just before I arrived, that they were now guests at their wedding.

Council leader Peter Moakes said: “This will be a simple pay and display system which people are used to using up and down the country. “This isn’t a cash cow, what we are trying to do is manage car parking in a fair but equitable way.

“We believe that this system takes account of the people who pop into Ely to visit the bank or make a quick purchase which is why the first hour is free.”

Mayor of Ely Councillor Will Burton added: “We want this to be fair and there are checks and balances in place so we can review how it is working. We have tried to come up with a fair and equitable system that works for everybody.”

The authority estimates that 2,000 ‘parking acts’ of less than an hour are made every day in the city’s car parks.

The Official Launch of Tenpay American Express(R) Virtual Pay

Tenpay American Express Virtual Pay comes with a "one time password" security function which automatically generates a different password for each online transaction made by Tenpay customers. Customers need not worry about their passwords being compromised as the password can be used only once thus safeguarding their Tenpay accounts when doing overseas online shopping.

Tenpay American Express Virtual Pay also enables Tenpay customers to shop for fashion,The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry, electronics, cosmetics, books and audio & video products, and other retail goods at many overseas online merchants accepting American Express, such as Bloomingdales, Beautyexpert.co.uk., Apple AppStore. They can also shop at international airlines and hotels websites, such as Finnair, Agoda, for air tickets and hotel accommodations.

Jim Lai, General Manager, Tenpay, said, "Tenpay American Express Virtual Pay customers can settle in RMB when they shop at overseas online merchants to enjoy the same settlement experience that they are used to with domestic online merchants."

Shopping at online merchants that require U.S. shipping addresses will no longer be a problem for Tenpay American Express Virtual Pay customers. With globaleshop from American Express -- a transshipment service for Tenpay American Express Virtual Pay customers, customers would be designated a U.S. address to complete their purchases, and have the goods forwarded to their home address in China.

To encourage Tenpay customers to use this new service, Tenpay is offering multi-promotional offers including Tenpay Points and Q coins for customers who activate their Tenpay American Express Virtual Pay. The first 1000 customers who use their Virtual Pay privilege will also stand a chance to win cash vouchers. Customers can also enjoy exclusive offers provided by Finnair, Agoda, Beautyexpert.co.uk, Bloomingdales and comGateway. More offers and benefits will be added in the future exclusively for Tenpay American Express Virtual Pay customers.

Kula Kulendran, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Network Services, Japan, Asia Pacific, Australia, American Express, said, "The partnership with Tenpay is a milestone for American Express' development in China. The "one time password" security function provides Chinese consumers with peace of mind in terms of security.Purelink's real time location system protect healthcare workers in their daily practices and OMEGA interventions. We believe this new product will drive further business opportunities for both Tenpay and American Express."

Jim Lai,Directory ofchina glass mosaic Tile Manufacturers, General Manager, Tenpay, said, "Our partnership with American Express will not only strengthen our competitive edge against other third-party payment service providers in China, but also greatly accelerate our business development in cross-border online payment market segment by providing Chinese consumers great value and convenience with online shopping."

ChargeBack.cc promises to facilitate chargebacks, which occur when you complain about an erroneous or scammy charge and the credit card company reverses it. Fill out ChargeBack’s form with information about the transaction, and the startup then contacts the seller and offers to help resolve the dispute before it gets filed as a chargeback.

"I think there is a big need for this type of service," one commenter wrote. "Like last month when the NYTimes charged me $15 but a bug in their database prevented me from actually using my account. Took two painful hours to get a refund."

At first blush, ChargeBack sounds like a fierce consumer advocate — perhaps almost too fierce. Language like "we strongly recommend that you take this opportunity to resolve the dispute before we escalate it further" seemed menacing. Originally, ChargeBack even used the word "protection" on its homepage, evoking an image of a mafioso bullying a store owner, extracting a fee in exchange for making chargeback claims go away. People wondered if it was even legal. "Seems a bit sketchy to me," was the first comment.

The service seems to be legal in the 50 states, as long as it avoids the impression that it is practicing law, and actually, ChargeBack is a huge boon for merchants. It just might not be so good for consumers.

The Fair Credit Billing Act,Directory ofchina glass mosaic Tile Manufacturers, passed in 1975, contains strong protections for credit card consumers and puts the burden of proof on the creditor rather than the customer. In cases of fraud, customers can usually get charges undone with just a phone call to the bank or credit card company. With other types of disputes,Find a great buy mosaic Art deals on eBay! a phone call to the merchant may be required. If that doesn’t work, customers must file a written request to the credit card company’s billing issues department within 60 days of receiving the bill.

keters' Approach to Mobile is Flawed

MarMobile is the fastest growing digital channel among consumers, but a new study conducted by research firm Forrester and mobile marketing and advertising company Velti shows that marketers continue to treat it as an extension of desktop computing instead of taking advantage of its unique marketing and advertising opportunities.

Rather than embrace mobile specific marketing tactics, marketers have been more likely to just buy mobile advertising.

Only 27% of the 139 marketers studied in the "Present & Future of Mobile Marketing" report use push-based alerts, with even fewer (25%) utilizing real-time location-based marketing. Less than a quarter (22%) said they use mobile as a community development tool.

As Velti CMO Krishna Subramanian said, marketers tend to make the mistake of viewing mobile solely as a way to reach users' eyes.

"When marketers are looking at mobile, they need to look at entire funnel and not just the top," he said, in an interview. "Once you get them there, how do you make money from them?"

Subramanian added that marketing and advertising campaigns designed specifically for mobile are eight to nine times more effective at converting new customers. When marketers fail to create campaigns specially geared for mobile,A specialized manufacturer and supplier of dry cabinet, they end up being "generic," Subramanian said.

Marketers lack a "mobile-first" mindset in terms of analytics as well.

Despite mobile offering a slew of unique tracking and targeting opportunities,Argo Mold limited specialize in Plastic injection mould manufacture, a majority of marketers continue to overlook them. Instead, marketers are using KPIs designed to measure desktop ads to assess the success of mobile marketing and advertising.

For instance, only 35% of the marketers studied track customers' opt-in/opt-out activity for mobile messages -- a metric specific to mobile marketing -- when determining the effectiveness of their mobile initiatives. That's almost half as many respondents (63%) who said they use traditional advertising engagement metrics like website traffic and visitor number to measure mobile ad campaigns.

Likewise, less than a third of marketers (30%) track app downloads and even fewer (29%) track mobile user retention rates. More than half (58%) of the marketers surveyed, however, said they use click-through rates, a metric designed for desktop computing,A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister. to gauge mobile advertising.

Not only have marketers fallen behind in the mobile space,Interlocking security cable ties with 250 pound strength makes this ideal for restraining criminals. most of them have yet to establish a cohesive long-term mobile strategy. A majority (59%) of respondents said mobile campaigns have only been short-term programs thus far and that they in the process of developing a longer-term plan. Another 7% said their focus has only been on the short-term and gave no indication of a long-term mobile strategy.

Meanwhile, marketers with experience in mobile are beginning to make more targeted decisions, with approximately a third of marketers now being able to target based on a user's location, household income, phone type and wireless carrier.


The New Doha International Airport (NDIA) Phase One will open in December 2012 and is four kilometers from the existing facility on a 5,400-acre site. It will replace the current Doha International Airport that currently handles 21 million passengers a year, and will now be able to accommodate 24 million passengers a year. When the project is complete in 2015, the airport capacity can support 50 million passengers, two million tons of cargo and 320,000 aircraft landings and take-offs each year. NDIA will also be the central maintenance hub for Qatar Airways' international fleet.

Karim Rizkallah, TransCore’s managing director for the Middle East, commented, “The New Doha International Airport will be one of Qatar’s showcase intelligent transportation systems (ITS) that provides a secure facility that operates at peak logistical capacity with optimized traffic flow in the authorized staff facility.The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry,”

The Letterpress of Mogadishu

In a tiny, damp, oil-soaked cellar tucked behind one of Mogadishu's bullet-pocked central streets, fragile remnants of a city's survival clutter the rickety shelves. Their location, hidden just beneath Mogadishu's shelled fa?ade, is perhaps their only reason for survival.

For 45 years, Daha Printing Press has accumulated an inked archive of Mogadishu's intricate, vibrant and violent political and social history. As governments, dictators, warlords, and militias battled for control of the streets above, Daha operated like a well-oiled machine, printing for all who walked in their door. Everybody, it seems, has something to print.

"Even warlords needed to collect taxes," Liban Egal, the son of Daha's original owner, asserts.

Customs declaration forms for Mogadishu's bustling port, still written in Italian from early post-colonial days, sit freshly pressed on the table; they are being repurposed for Somalia's new government. Tax collection slips and Central Bank account ledgers from the military rule of Mohamed Siad Barre -- whose ousting in 1991 launched two decades of civil war -- litter the stock room. Business cards, like that of notorious warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid, who was the target of a failed American assassination attempt (which in turn resulted the infamous 'Black Hawk Down' incident), fill old wooden drawers. Even United Nations Development Program reports from the 1980's hide under crumbling shelves.

Originally opened in central Mogadishu in 1967, Daha Printing Press was founded by 25 year-old Abdi Egal Hassan. Hassan took skills he mastered studying printmaking in Germany through a scholarship, and built a thriving enterprise.

By 1969, General Mohamed Siad Barre staged a successful military coup and took control of Somalia. He experimented with Chinese-influenced 'scientific socialism,Interlocking security cable tie with 250 pound strength makes this ideal for restraining criminals.' and in 1971 all private sector workers became government employees. All large businesses became government businesses. Daha was shut down.

Barre eventually switched sides during the Cold War, aligning with the US. In 1983 Abdi was able to reopen Daha Printing Press.Why does moulds grow in homes or buildings? The small letterpress shop has remained unchanged in location, machinery and employees,Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability. ever since.

Liban Egal, Abdi Egal Hassan's son, currently owns Daha.The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry, Liban, who grew up working the printing press after school, has recently returned to Mogadishu after spending more than twenty years abroad. In addition to resuming work at the press, he is founding the First Somali Bank -- Somalia's first since the collapse of the country's Central Bank in 1991 -- along with Somalia Wireless, a mobile internet company.

With Mogadishu quivering on the edge of sustained peace for the first time in two decades, Kasim and Liban are ready to welcome the arrival of Somalia's first real government in as many years. On August 20th, the Federal Parliament of Somalia was inaugurated, and the Federal Government of Somalia, the first permanent central government since 1991, replaced the Transitional Federal Government. On September 16th, Hassan Sheik Mohamud, a political activist and academic, was sworn in as Somalia's newest President.

"As soon as this new government begins, that's when we begin," exclaims Liban "Every Ministry will need some kind of paper."

The old Heidelberg printing press, its slickly oiled gears churning beneath the shell-shocked streets, will also press on. "We can't forget this machine,Find detailed product information for howo tractor and other products." Kasim expresses with a wide grin. "It's like family."

"They spend their whole day learning these new technologies and learning ways to try to meet children, said FBI agent Wesley Tagtmeyer, a cyber specialist.

Investigators across the country told Target 11 that they are seeing more and more cases where predators are seeking out potential victims on online video games.

"Any time there's a forum where children are at, predators looking to meet them are going to go to those areas," said Tagtmeyer.

"It's very dangerous because it's only a matter of time before these predators will start asking for personal information, whether it be an email address, a telephone number or anything that can be an identifier for the physical location of that child," Wallace explained.

And the experts said there are some things parents can do to protect their children. The most important tool is to make sure the parental controls are turned on, and they said it's critically important to talk to your children and monitor their movements on line.

Learning Lessons from Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy left a trail of destruction on the Eastern Seaboard and, two weeks later, some communities are continuing to struggle. Some have suffered devastating personal loss and many businesses have been severely disrupted.Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability. Canadian businesses that have customers or suppliers in the affected areas—including IT service providers or call centre services—have been impacted.

For most, the primary concern during any natural disaster is ensuring the safety of your family and home. Fortunately most Canadians escaped unharmed by Hurricane Sandy, but many will have experienced the last-minute panic of trying to buy essentials like bottled water and flashlights before the storm hit, only to find store shelves were already cleaned out as people scrambled to prepare. This is a good reminder of why it is so important to have a plan in place before an emergency hits.

But it’s not just individuals and families. Business owners need to make sure they have a plan, too. Though rare, businesses also come face-to-face with communication systems outages, fires,The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry, earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, ice storms, blackouts and even terrorist events.

Businesses need to maintain and recover critical business information and minimize the impact on their day-to-day operations in the event of an unforeseen occurrence. Some businesses that fail to plan for disasters may even go out of business within a year or two of a disaster striking, while others can lose significant revenue or market share. Business must ask themselves how long they can survive if their doors are closed or their systems are down.

Business owners and managers should start by being able to identify their critical business processes and dependencies, assess the impact of a disruption (both internal and external), and then prioritize processes for continuity and recovery. A good recovery plan must also consider things such as ensuring the safety of personnel, the impact of the disruption of transportation,Find a great buy mosaic Art deals on eBay! establishing and testing alternative ways of getting the job done for the most important business processes and systems, the protection of important paper and physical assets, site recovery and alternative office space, and the loss of key vendors.We mainly supply professional craftspeople with wholesale turquoise beads from china,

And although it’s natural to think about problems related to the physical location of a business during a disaster, what if something happens to the data or IT infrastructure? We’re living in an increasingly digital world in which IT applications and infrastructures are moving to a virtual rather than physical platform. While cloud computing is on the rise, a recent study showed that only 24% of survey respondents are using the cloud for backup and disaster recovery.1

Once a Business Continuity and DisastOne of the most durable and attractive styles of flooring that you can purchase is ceramic or porcelain tiles.er Recovery Plan is established, it must be a living document that is tested regularly. Will the backup power systems work? (New York’s University Langone Medical Centre had to evacuate all 215 patients when BOTH back up power generators failed during Hurricane Sandy.) Has the data been properly backed up? (It’s estimated that nearly a quarter of all data backups are not complete.) When things go wrong, who is in charge, and who is on the response team? (In an interview with the BBC, ousted British Petroleum CEO Tony Hayward stated that his company was caught flat-footed when the oil spill disaster began in April 2010, saying “BP’s contingency plans were inadequate. We were making it up day-to-day.”) What about your customers and stakeholders—what will their needs be, and can you deliver?

There’s no way to completely insulate a business from every disruption or disaster, but the right plan can go a long way towards ensuring things go as smoothly as possible when the unexpected happens. Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plans can help to reduce potential financial losses, legal liability, and increase organizational stability and orderly recovery. The right plans can even lower the possibility of a disaster event occurring and decrease “outage” time. Businesses everywhere would be wise to use the lessons of Hurricane Sandy to spur them to look at their own preparedness.

Bill Willingham lets ‘Werewolves’ loose, plots a con

“I assumed Thor was just another Marvel superhero made up just like Spider-Man…. But one day my brother insisted that Thor, in his terms, was ‘stolen’ because the same character is in the encyclopedia,” Willingham said.

Determined to prove his brother wrong, he checked the encyclopedia. “And sure enough, there was Thor, right there, wonderful mythological character. That just kind of opened my mind and probably started my love of folklore and mythology right there, just the realization that these modern stories we’re reading can be drawn from old sources, and that those old sources are wonderful…. That stayed with me forever, the fact that just normal guys like me can read and learn these legends and then keep them legendary by spinning new tales.”

Willingham has spent decades spinning new tales, making and remaking classic myths through writing his long-running popular monthly series “Fables” and overseeing its recent female-focused companion “Fairest” for DC’s Vertigo imprint. He’s built a career exploring, subverting and reconfiguring fairy-tale tradition by placing familiar figures from legend in the modern world.

It’s a tradition he’s continuing with his new original graphic novel, “Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland,” which finds the beleaguered Bigby Wolf stumbling upon a community of much worse wolves in Iowa, and he’s also expanding his realm of influence, plotting next year’s Fabletown and Beyond convention. Although Willingham has been a guest at countless conventions over the course of his 30-year career, the inaugural Minnesota gathering next March will be the first he’s hosted.

“One thing I quickly learned is that good convention hosts must be just a little bit suicidal because, boy, is it a lot of work to put one of these things on,” the Eisner Award winner said in a phone interview. “I did not realize that. The best conventions, the ones that seem to run seamlessly, have to be this seething pile of chaos behind the scenes, because this is not something I would wish on anyone.”

The hardcover “Werewolves of the Heartland,” in comic-book stores Wednesday and other bookstores next week, sees Willingham on far more comfortable ground. Bigby Wolf is searching for a new home for Fabletown in the real world after the destruction of its longtime New York location, and his quest takes him to Story City, Iowa, but trouble quickly ensues. The self-contained story, the author says, offers new readers “a single, enclosed, hopefully adventurous, exciting story full of drama and action and violence and sex and regrets and betrayals and courage.”

It’s true that teeth are bared and fur does fly. The tale has its beginnings in the “War Stories” two-parter Willingham wrote about seven years ago, which showed Bigby’s clandestine service in World War II and first introduced the possibility of what Willingham terms “Nazi killer werewolves, which are the best kind, really.A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister.”

“One of the best or most frustrating aspects of writing ‘Fables’ is that every story seems to inspire one or more additional stories that I’d like to get to down the road,” he said.Purelink's real time location system protect healthcare workers in their daily practices and OMEGA interventions.

Willingham recruited artists Craig Hamilton and Jim Fern, who previously worked together on “Fables” No. 86 (“Boxing Days”) for the project. Hamilton made his “Fables” debut with the 2004 one-shot “The Last Castle” (with P. Craig Russell); Willingham said the “Fables” team considered him “just the right guy for a more epic-length single story.” He’s again paired with Fern,China plastic moulds manufacturers directory. whose work Willingham first noticed with the 1993-1994 DC series “Scarlett.”

“Fate in the overall sense is probably like the way magic or power works in the ‘Fables’ universe,” he continued. “I know how it works and from time to time we reveal little dribbles and drabs of how it works to the readers, especially when it can make a story more frustrating, engaging or mysterious.”

On Halloween night Willingham managed to be both frustrating and mysterious when he tweeted possibly ominous news about the future of his universe. He wrote on Twitter, “Secret # 1: Bigby dies in four issues. Secret # 2: The Snow Queen is not in fact based on someone I know, even though she thinks it is.” That was quickly followed by, “At least one of those preceding two revealed secrets are true. The other one? Maybe perhaps quite possibly, not so much.The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry,”

Asked about the statements, Willingham said, “Well, I was up to about three vodka gimlets by then, which loosens my Twitter-y tongue, apparently.”

But he stands by the tweets. After hearing them repeated back to him, he said, “See – that’s exactly true, and one of those two is, in fact, absolutely true. We’ll see.The oreck XL professional air purifier,”

Routine Reports, Retreat

But the DDA board’s agenda was relatively light. It did not include any voting items, and consisted of a series of reports and commentary – some of it in preparation for the board’s upcoming annual retreat on Nov. 16.

Sketching out the retreat for the board, Pollay told them that for the first time in the nearly 17 years she’s served as executive director, there is no “next big project.”

A big project the DDA is just completing is the construction of the Library Lane underground parking garage on South Fifth Avenue.The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. The construction bills for that project were included in last year’s (FY 2012) budget, but not all of them came in by year’s end. So as board member Roger Hewitt reported, the first quarter financial statements for this year include bills that were originally budgeted for last year. When all the construction bills are paid, a budget adjustment will be made, he said. In any case, he characterized the DDA’s financial position as strong.

The board was also briefed on the public parking system, which the DDA manages under a contract with the city of Ann Arbor. Chronicle coverage of the parking report came earlier in a preview article.

The board got an update on two projects recently proposed for the downtown, which have now undergone review by the city’s design review board, and for which citizen participation meetings have been held: 624 Church Street, next to Pizza House; and 413 E. Huron at Division Street. The next formal step for both of those projects will be submission to the Ann Arbor planning commission.

At the meeting it was reported that the developer of the 413 E. Huron project also has a possible interest in the city-owned properties that are included in the scope of the Connecting William Street (CWS) planning project, which the DDA is overseeing. The board got an update on CWS – the process is expected to result in a recommendation made to the city council before the end of the year.

The board also got an update on the review of an issue that mayor John Hieftje has pushed the DDA to address for the last three years: bicycle riding on downtown sidewalks. For now it looks like the DDA is not likely to move forward on that issue, until the problem is more clearly defined.

Susan Pollay, executive director of the DDA, previewed the board retreat. Pollay told the board that the facilitator for the retreat, Kerry Sheldon,Find detailed product information for howo spare parts and other products. would be meeting with board members in advance of the retreat as well as with other stakeholders to arrive at a framework for the discussion.China plastic moulds manufacturers directory. What are the things the DDA could be doing to achieve its mission – which is to make investments in public improvements to strengthen the downtown area and attract new private investments.

This retreat is a chance to take a step back,Interlocking security cable tie with 250 pound strength makes this ideal for restraining criminals. Pollay said. For the first time in her nearly 17 years at the DDA, there is no “next big project.” So Sheldon is shaping an agenda to allow the board to take a few minutes to think about strategies and then to think tactically about how to implement those strategies. The DDA is really good at some things, she said, so what are those things and how can the DDA do more of them? Another important consideration is to think about what the city of Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor SPARK and other organizations need from the DDA in order for help those organizations be successful.

It had occurred to White that we have schools of architecture for shelter, schools of design for clothing, but what about food services? He allowed that there’s a culinary program at Washtenaw Community College, and a culinary program at Schoolcraft, but those programs, as good as they are, prepare people to be able to put food on a lot of plates in a banquet context,A specialized manufacturer and supplier of dry cabinet, he said – cafeteria and buffet-style restaurants. He described such restaurants as restaurants “with a small ‘r’.” He told the board that he frequently eats at Applebee’s, but described the menu there as “How many different ways can we prepare chicken breasts?”

The restaurants “with a capital ‘R’” are in downtown Ann Arbor, White said, and they’ve become a destination for people in surrounding counties. So how do those people get trained, who prepare food in downtown Ann Arbor restaurants? That food is prepared individually to order from a short menu that changes from week to week. He wondered if it were an apprenticeship program, or was accomplished through happenstance.

So White suggested creating something called the Culinary Institute of Ann Arbor, which he said would become the best culinary institute between Montreal and San Francisco. The word “cuisine” does not refer just to French food, White told the board, but rather it’s using food from the region. He saw the possibility of forming a partnership between Food Gatherers, St. Andrew’s and the Delonis Center, and other sponsors of a charitable nonprofit. [Though it does not appear to be exactly what White is suggesting, Food Gatherers currently operates a Community Kitchen job training program at the Delonis Center, a homeless shelter in downtown Ann Arbor.] That money would be used to purchase the food to be prepared. It would generate very good publicity nationwide for the Ann Arbor DDA, White concluded.

China's solar energy high-flyers defy financial gravity

China’s $US20 billion ($19 billion) solar industry is avoiding loan defaults and mergers by taking aid from local governments, preserving jobs at money-losing companies such as LDK Solar, the world’s second-biggest maker of solar cells.

LDK agreed last month to sell a 19.9 per cent stake to a renewable-energy investor part-owned by the city of Xinyu, home to its headquarters. Suntech Power Holdings, the world’s largest solar-panel maker, got a $US32 million loan in September organized partly by Wuxi, the city where it’s based. The aid helps as the companies prepare to report combined 2012 losses of $US987 million, analyst forecasts compiled by Bloomberg show.

The moves counter efforts by the central government to engineer mergers that create a handful of larger solar companies, said Jeremy Haft, founder of BChinaB, a New York-based consulting company that specializes in Chinese business practices. The country has previously pushed consolidation to strengthen industries such as steel and coal.

Provincial governments mostly want solar manufacturers “to keep the lights on and not lay people off,” Haft said. “There are a lot of people unemployed” in China and local government officials don’t want to see solar factories close up, he said.

Local aid efforts haven’t sparked a rally in LDK and Suntech. They’ve lost 27 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively,Posts with indoor tracking system on TRX Systems develops systems that locate and track personnel indoors. in the last three months, outpacing the 8.4 per cent loss for the 17-member Bloomberg Global Large Solar Energy index over the same period. LDK gained 16 per cent to $US1.04 at 2:34 p.m.Load the precious minerals into your mining truck and be careful not to drive too fast with your heavy foot. in New York. Earlier it climbed as much as 22 per cent, the most intraday since Oct. 27, 2011.Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability. Suntech rose as much as 19 per cent.

At the same time GCL-Poly Energy Holdings, the world’s biggest solar-wafer maker, has increased 19 per cent in the last three months. The company has been mentioned in Chinese news reports as a possible merger partner.

The China Securities Journal said national government-run China Development Bank is encouraging consolidation between panel makers, pledging financial support for 12 companies. The move may lead other struggling solar manufacturers to close their doors or agree to be bought, the journal said in a Sept. 25 report.

China Development Bank is motivated to keep struggling solar companies afloat, especially those that have borrowed from it, said Melanie Hart, policy analyst at the Centre for American Progress in Washington. The lender is putting pressure on local governments to support companies so they will repay loans, she said.

The bank is telling local officials “we won’t lend anymore to anyone in your region until they pay us back,” she said.

Those local efforts contrast with China’s national goals, which are commonly described as “grasping the big, letting go of the small,” Hart said.Directory ofchina glass mosaic Tile Manufacturers,

Help from local governments may be the biggest obstacle to making China’s solar industry competitive, said Shyam Mehta, solar analyst at the Boston-based consulting company GTM Research.

“Until they stop supporting the uncompetitive manufacturers, this won’t go away,” said Mehta. “If LDK was allowed to fail, the market reaction would actually be positive.”

Suntech is evaluating various financing options and cutting costs, and in September temporarily reduced production in Wuxi, Suntech spokesman Rory Macpherson said in e-mail. He didn’t say whether the company expects additional support from the community. Telephone calls to LDK spokesman Li Longji went unanswered.

The country’s state-owned electricity distributor China State Grid announced incentives Oct. 26 to encourage smaller solar projects, with capacity of less than 6 megawatts, such as rooftop systems. It will buy the electricity and exempt owners from certain fees, which may spur sales at the strongest panel suppliers.

Neither LDK nor Suntech is profitable and both will have trouble paying their debts, according to Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at Raymond James & Associates in Houston. LDK is expected to lose $US518 million this year and Suntech may post losses of $US469 million, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

LDK and Suntech both have balance sheets “so egregious” they would be “imminent bankruptcy candidates if they were American or European,” Molchanov said in an interview. “But they’re not, so we kind of have to look at them differently.”

“Every province, every city, every bank is going to try to protect their vested interest as best they can,” he said.Directory ofchina glass mosaic Tile Manufacturers, “That’s why kicking the can down the road has been the dynamic so far.”

New sign system will help point motorists

Whether people are looking for the water park, nature center, casino or the riverfront, more than 50 new signs are popping up throughout the city to help get them there.

Canedy Sign & Graphics in Cape Girardeau received a $220,000 contract to fabricate and install the wayfinding signage system, Casey Brunke, Cape Girardeau city engineer, said.

Isle Casino Cape Girardeau provided funding for the signage in accordance with a provision of its original development agreement with the city.Posts with indoor tracking system on TRX Systems develops systems that locate and track personnel indoors.

"From early on, Isle has been focused on the revitalization of downtown including the ability to help travelers find their way to both our casino and other downtown attractions," said Jill Alexander, Isle spokeswoman.

Under the development agreement, the casino each month is to pay three-tenths of 1 percent of its gross gaming revenue to the city to be deposited in a Riverfront Region Economic Development Fund. The fund finances improvements intended to benefit downtown commercial and riverfront areas. Seventy percent of the funds must go toward capital improvements, according to the agreement.

The city,Find detailed product information for howo spare parts and other products.We recently added Stained glass mosaic Tile to our inventory. along with the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau and Old Town Cape, has been working on the wayfinding system since 2010, when the three entities received a Preserve America Grant through the National Park Service. About $40,000 of the $126,000 grant was used to study needs and create a plan for the wayfinding system, said Marla Mills, executive director of Old Town Cape.The howo truck is offered by Shiyan Great Man Automotive Industry, The remainder went toward downtown rebranding and marketing efforts as well as new downtown light pole banners.

The grant provided funds to hire AECOM, a consulting firm, to review existing wayfinding, of which the city had little, to determine what the signs would include and where they would be installed.

Two public meetings were held in 2010 to gain the input of community members.

"The grant put the project in a ready phase so it took less time once the funding was in place to move into implementation," Mills said.

The new system is a method to direct people, but it is about more than just erecting signs, she said.

"It also gives some character and personality to your community. [It] helps not just direct people, but direct them in the way you want them to go," Mills said. "It's about making people feel comfortable in your community. The more comfortable people feel in your community, the more places they will go."

Included in the 53-sign project are nine kiosks to be installed along Broadway and Main Street that will feature maps and visitor information, Brunke said.

"It goes from big picture -- signs as you're coming off the interstate -- to more detailed directional signage to point you to specific places when you are walking downtown," Mills said.

Canedy work crews began installing the signage in late October, beginning with larger signs along main roadways. Many smaller signs will be placed downtown on existing light poles, Brunke said.

Installation should be completed by year's end, and some signs may be added to indicate public parking.Find detailed product information for Low price howo tipper truck and other products.

Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director Chuck Martin views the wayfinding system as a great addition to the community; one that provides directions to visitors' final destinations.

Ugg boots are over – the fashion world rejoices

It may be an object of derision throughout the fashion industry, but the Ugg boot – a bit like the bootcut jean, or the square-toed office-boy shoes – has refused to die. Over the past 10 years, sales continued to rise, and their squat, solid, shearling-lined shapes became the footwear of young Britons nationwide.

Until now. The newest sales figures from Deckers, the Ugg parent group, are down 31%. While this has been put down to mild weather, and prices of the boots rising, it's a minor victory for fashion. While not defeated – prices will be reduced in a bid to boost sales – its footwear nemesis is showing signs of weakness.

In truth, these signs have been there for a while. Uggs are undeniably comfortable – they're more often worn as slippers in their native Australia – but the ubiquity of them, and their many imitations, has led to overkill. Bad press has been growing.We mainly supply professional craftspeople with crys talbeads wholesale shamballa Bracele , In a survey in 2010, they were voted one of the 10 items men don't like on women and a judge recently ruled they can be dangerous to wear while driving.

They originally gained fashionability in 2001 when they were worn by celebrities including Cameron Diaz, but recent advocates include Joey Essex: hardly an advert for a chic, off-duty look. Rana Reeves, founder of brand agency John Doe, believes this has damaged the reputation of the brand. "I'd say they're in a similar position to when Daniella Westbrook wore Burberry,Gardner Bender offers a broad range of cableties," he says. "They need to go back to basics."

That's certainly not something the brand has been doing recently. Instead, expansion has been the policy. With sales increasing by as much as 67% in one quarter of 2009, confidence has been understandably high – and has led to some questionable ranges appearing alongside the classic boot. The firm has expanded into high-heeled styles with price points over ￡300, handbags, and even a bridal collection. It might be a case of one spongy step too far. "Ugg's core product is seasonal," says Honor Westnedge, senior retail analyst at Verdict Research. "While it has tried to diversify into new ranges,Largest gemstone beads and jewelry making supplies at wholesale prices. these have struggled to achieve the same level of popularity as its winter boot collections."

With Howlin’ Hockey writer Troy Baker taking care of his fiance and their new baby, I had the pleasure of representing Howlin’ Hockey at the Phoenix Coyote Season Ticket Holder skate at the Ice Den in Scottsdale Saturday November 3rd. The day started at 9:15 am with registration outside 18 Degrees where you put on the Season Ticket Holder lanyard and put your name on a tag for identification.

You made your way into 18 Degrees where some food and beverage was set up and you could mingle with other fans and coaches Dave Tippett, John Anderson, media personalities Tyson Nash, Bob Heethius, and Dave Vest. Dave was pulling double duty working the attendees and interviewing coaches off the ice, then he was at ice level to get some additional footage from the season ticket holders. Around 10:15, the coaches and media made their way onto the ice where they skated and mingled. Pictures were taken and Sharpies present for autographs. Tyson was skating with all the kids and was eager to take a picture with anyone who asked.

Rachel Korchin works for the Coyotes as a Field Producer in the Game Operations department and helps out in with the Community Relations. During games, she is the person responsible for where Howler goes, where the Paw Patrol cheers. Even the sections where to deploy the t-shirt cannon. Rachel was on hand to thank the season ticket holders for their previous and continual support. She wanted it known that the Howler and the Paw Patrol are still active in the community. Howler was doing a walk-a-thon and could not be at the skate, but he was out there with the fans raising money for a worthwhile cause. The Paw Patrol and Howler had visited a Children’s Hospital with Rachel and the rest of the Game Operations staff out on a Saturday working, not knowing if the lockout will end tomorrow,If you want to read about buy mosaic in a non superficial way that's the perfect book. next week, next month, or it the season is lost. They show up to work and try to make a difference in the lives of those in the community.

Lyndsay Kray,We recently added Stained glass mosaic Tile to our inventory. Manager of Customer Service was walking around and talking to the STH’ers as well. She works on game nights at the entrance to Toyota Club on the main concourse. She knows every Toyota Club season ticket holder. She was there to thank them for what they have done and to ask them to continue to support the team.

Lawsuit reveals details of high-stakes city

Two former Calgary Parking Authority executives are interfering in the city's bid to patent ParkPlus, the city and parking agency allege in a $42-million lawsuit filed against the pair.Find detailed product information for Low price howo tipper truck and other products.

The suit and injunction bid reveal the long-simmering feud over intellectual property rights for Calgary's parking system. The city wants to ensure former parking general manager Dale Fraser and enforcement manager Al Bazar have no claim to the potentially lucrative technology the city wants to market to parking entities in Canada and abroad.

The legal action also reveals the moves the pair allegedly made last month that pushed the city and Calgary Parking to sue them.

On Oct. 19,Find detailed product information for howo spareparts and other products. Bazar and Fraser - listed as ParkPlus inventors on the patent application - filed powers of attorney with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that purported to replace the city's patent agent attorney with one nominated by themselves, according to a statement of claim filed Oct. 31.

That new attorney filed a response to the patent examiner's latest volley in the application process, completely different to what the city's lawyer filed two days later, on Oct. 22.Our vinyl floor tiles is more stylish than ever!

Last month, Fraser and Ba-zar also assigned their interest to an Alberta-based numbered company that is now claiming it owns intellectual rights to ParkPlus, and is also named in the lawsuit.

"We shall protect and enforce these rights," Loudon Owen, the numbered company's president, said Monday in an e-mail on behalf of the trio of defendants.

Owen is listed as a principal with Patent Monetization Inc., an unrelated Toronto firm.

The city is claiming damages for $42 million for the delay in its patent bid, the "blot" of competing ownership claims on the patent application and "loss of licensing revenue or patent infringement damages available to the City/CPA once a patent is issued by the USPTO but not before," the lawsuit states.

The former executives' recent moves, the city's lawsuit says, were only the latest unfair action on the ParkPlus patent made by Bazar and Fraser. The city terminated both men's employment in May 2011.

In 2009 and 2010, while the pair were still Calgary Parking executives, they refused to meet city demands that they sign a document transferring to the city any interest Bazar or Fraser may have had on the ParkPlus patents in the United States or another country.

"The breaches by Fraser and Ba-zar demonstrate their self-interested conduct and callous disregard for their fiduciary and other duties and for the rights and interests of the City/CPA," the lawsuit says.

The city will seek a court injunction Wednesday to remove the Fraser and Bazar lawyer from the patent process, to make them try removing his response from the application system, and to restrain the pair from interfering in any further patent matters.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.China plastic moulds manufacturers directory.

Owen, speaking on behalf of the defendants, declined to comment on the merits of the case.Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability. "We are confident that we will prevail in this dispute," his e-mail stated.

According to the city's claim, the former executives didn't invent the ParkPlus system of parking enforcement, meters and payment on their own. They were part of the agency's management team that, along with paid consultants, developed the integrated technology.

"The City of Calgary and the CPA have taken all reasonable measures to resolve this matter outside the courts," authority chairman Dickson Wood said in a written statement to the Herald. "Regrettably, actions taken recently by Mr. Fraser and Mr. Bazar have compelled the City and the CPA to seek the court injunction."

Council recently authorized Calgary Parking to begin pursuing would-be licensees of ParkPlus, after preliminary interest from cities such as Edmonton and Banff. But council stopped short of giving the authority its full blessing to market the system.

"We've still got patent issues outstanding, so where does that fit into this?" Ald. Gael MacLeod said in September, before stepping down last month as a parking authority director.