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- This topic has 4 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 4:35 pm on 2015-12-08 by cfranks.
September 28, 2015 at 9:22 am #112171
Richard S. Wright Jr.Senior Moderator
While it is true that we have a very thorough users guide that details how to guide with a Paramount, recent events have led me (and others) to believe that a little tutorial or review of guiding best practices is in order.
Exhibit A to the right is my Veloce RH-200 with a Starlight Xpress CCD camera, off axis guider, and a Lodestar guide camera. Note that the cables are all contained and close to the equipment. Dangling cables get caught in the wind and can in fact pull on the OTA, or the cameras themselves creating deflections. An arc second or more is not unheard of. Cables down on the ground drag, and build up tension an then “pop” when they finally slide. This can result in a larger “jerk”, and will likely ruin a sub. I discovered this the hard way some years ago, and was blaming Raccoons (seriously) until I finally figured out what it was.
The stock Veloce does not have rings. The original configuration had a guide camera perched on top with a beautiful… but flexible… railing. I could not guide more than 5 minutes in that configuration without the flexure differences of the guide scope and the main imaging scope becoming large enough to start trailing the image. As an aside, ProTrack performance and TPoint accuracy were both greatly enhanced when I added the ring system as well. The whole OTA was flexing in all directions with the original mountings. Officina Stellare makes some of the best optics in the world, but I have to be honest, the original mounting mechanism left much to be desired. An even better ring configuration for larger scopes is to forgo the dovetail entirely and have rings that fasten directly onto the versaplate.
Off axis guiding is the gold standard (those things with the pick off mirrors). Guide scopes will flex, period. There will always be an upper limit to how long you can guide because of this difference in flexures between the two instruments. The characteristic symptom is elongation that increases with exposure time, and it may not be the same in all areas of the sky, and it may vary with temperature!
Guiding too everyone should understand is sometimes a necessary evil, but inherently it is a terrible thing to do. Really… it's like surgery with a chain saw, clumsy, but it can work. Look at the moon sometime with a high power eyepiece. See all that dancing and waving about the moon is doing? Your guide star is doing that too, and you've setup a system telling your mount so swing around 50 or so pounds to follow that bouncing about. Logically, as a thought experiment too… realize you are making a correction based on an error… after the error has occurred. The very best imaging results possible are always with unguided imaging. Using ProTrack and PEC helps you extend how long you can go unguided, but these have their challenges and limits as well, and this isn't the topic at hand here now. We often need to guide. We don't have time to model the mount, we have a lot of hysteresis (pretty much random flop or flexure) in our imaging system, you have non repeatable/non deterministic flexure (mirror flop for example, or a wooden tripod that swells and shrinks throughout the night) or well, maybe you don't have a Paramount. There's also narrowband imaging where you need to go for really long periods of time.
The first and most important thing you need for good guiding results is a good calibration. The image at the right shows two sets of calibration vectors after a “successful” calibration. If your guiding vectors look more like the top than the bottom, then something has gone horribly wrong. Most likely a hot pixel fooled the star search algorithm. Hot pixels can also cause the dreaded “star has not moved enough” message. This is counter intuitive to some users because they can actually see the star moving! The computer algorithm doesn't have the same neural net detection hardware that your brain does unfortunately. Sometimes too, another bright star can be moved into the field and create havoc. The easiest way to avoid rogue stars is to select a “lonely” calibration star. Put a large subframe around it away from other stars, and then don't move too much for your calibration steps. You may have to characterize your system to see just how much “too much” actually is, as it varies with focal length and guider chip size. Trial and error sounds tedious, but it's actually quicker than a Google search when your sitting scope side. Besides, each star field will be crowded differently, and you only need to calibrate once unless your removing and reattaching the guide camera between sessions.
Hot pixels can be dealt with easily with dark frames, either with a guider with a shutter (autodark) or by using a dark library and the “Full Calibration” option on the autoguider tab. The two most popular guide cameras without shutters (Lodestar and SSAG) have a hot pixel rejection algorithm built into the plug-ins. They are enabled by default, but you can toggle them on and off, or adjust their sensitivity in the camera settings dialog. This algorithm is being refined, and may bubble up into the camera add on at a later date so that it is available for all guide cameras.
The bottom graph shows the X and Y axes are orthogonal (90 degrees) from one another. It is okay that the X and Y seems swapped, in fact the vectors can have any rotated orientation as long as they are all orthogonal to each other.
Pick A Good Guide Star
TheSkyX will pick a guide star for you if you like, but I never let it. You are smarter than a computer. There is nothing wrong really with letting the software pick the guide star, but it will do the best it can with what it has. It will not tap you on the shoulder and say “Hey, I found something, it's the best in the current frame… but man, you should keep looking around a bit, maybe slew an arc minute to the left or right or something…” My own view is letting the computer do it can create a false sense of security that you have a really good star. Always inspect it yourself at least to make sure it's appropriate.
What I do is take a full frame guider image and look for a nice star profile. Something with at least a few thousand ADU's, and something that is strong against the background. DO NOT PICK A SATURATED STAR. This is a star with a large central area all the same value (typically in the 60,000's). You'll see a broad flat peak on the 3D star display when this happens. Don't pick a guide star right on a vertical streak on the camera chip, or at the edge in the middle of a strong gradient. Don't pick a star right next to another star. One of the issues with auto guide star picking (besides hot pixels) is that you might grab a very close double star. I've seen this happen more than once. Sometimes you can tell by looking at the 3D graph peaks even if it's not obvious in the stretched star image on screen. Guide cameras with a shutter really do have some advantage here. Do auto-darks if you can. The star centroid algorithm (what figures out to sub pixel precision where the star is) has to estimate the background brightness. This is a bit more accurate if your dark subtracted, because now it's a smaller bias-like value.
Weak guide stars are often unavoidable. In the above scenario it's hard to go wrong and not get that perfect guider graph everybody wants. Unfortunately sometimes there just is no nice bright guide star near enough to what your imaging and we have to make due with a star that is only a few thousand or hundreds of ADU's above the background. To get the best results from a weak guide star, the next section on guider settings is more important.
Tweak Your Settings
To the right are some typical settings I use on my Paramount's. Direct guide gives finer grained and smoother adjustments than the relays do. The only reason to use relays is if you do not have a Paramount and you must. The small calibration distance is for my off axis guider, it does not need to be much, just enough to move the guide star several pixels.
The minimum move should rarely if ever be more than .1 arseconds. This is the minimum amount of the detected star movement before any correction is applied. It should also almost never really be less than 0.1 arcseconds either. Unless your on the moon, your seeing is not going to allow you to guide beyond this threshold anyway. There is really an easy way to determine what this is empirically based on your current seeing conditions (seeing is stability of the atmosphere, btw, not to be confused with transparency). Turn off the corrections (checkboxes “Relay Enabled”). and watch the guider graphs. The star will bounce around a little from seeing, even with good seeing. This is the “noise floor” for guiding, and you do not want your corrections to occur until the star drifts enough to fall outside this range. With PEC enabled, guiding should in the short term appear to be doing almost nothing to move the mount. If the seeing warrants, turn down aggressiveness too. The higher your minimum move, the lower your aggressivness should be… if your noise floor is 0.5 arcseconds, when you finally move outside that range, you do not REALLY want to make a 0.5 arcsecond change. This is the most valuable use of the aggressiveness setting, to keep from over adjusting based on seeing conditions.
Maximum move should also, almost always just be 1 arc second. If you have a smooth PEC loaded (or very little or smooth periodic error to begin with), you can sometimes crank this up a little to speed up the delay between dither operations. For most MYT's you should set it to 1 for reasons the mechanical engineers know and understand about how the control system works. Other than dithering however, there is almost no good reason you'd want the mount to move more than an arc second at a time anyway.
Aggressiveness can be any value during calibration. When the corrections are made however, they are scaled by the aggressiveness. Guiding rate (1/2 sidereal, etc.) has no meaning in the Direct Guide world. An aggressiveness of 10 applies 100% of the measured correction, 20 applies 200% of the correction, 5 for 50%, and so on. So, an aggressiveness of 1 then is just a 10% nudge in the direction and magnitude that the guide star was detected.
Don't Chase the Seeing!
Remember the analogy at the beginning of this about how the moon is wobbling all over the place? If you chase this wobbling your just going to get big fat bloated stars that look like they are out of focus. There are two ways to tame the seeing (remember too, seeing is going to have some blurring effect on your final image regardless!), one is by lengthening the exposure time, and the other is by turning down the aggressiveness. With a good PEC table loaded, my preference is to take longer guider exposures. You'll get a brighter guide star with plenty of signal, and the seeing will “average” out the stellar centroid (there's that fancy word for center again). You may still need to back off on the aggressiveness if your corrections are still bouncing around a bit. Without a PEC, you may need to shorten your guider exposures, and instead turn down the aggressiveness even more. Again, this is to keep your OTA from chasing the bouncing star! If you can go unguided for even a minute, then you know your guider should be making very small tiny nudges only to your position.
A very good question at this point is what does good guiding look like? Recently I had one of those rare clear nights in the Southeast this time of year and took to my dark sky site with a MYT and MX+. The MX+ had a dedicated guide scope that does not suffer from differential flexure for up to 5 minute exposures (actually, I've gone ten). The guider was a wide field guider and I always found nice bright perfect guide stars. Guiding was text book there. This is not nearly as instructive however to what was going on over on the MYT with an off axis guider.
The image at right shows what we generally want to see. The Y Axis was dec, and you see a slight push in one direction all the time. The RA was on the X axis (I had my camera sideways) and you can see some up and down motion and a couple of bigger bumps. The PEC had not been trained on this particular MYT I should point out, but when I measured it last year, it was coming in under 2 arcseconds. The scatter graph is also nice and tight in the middle. The two bumps are only about 1/10th of a pixel and temporary; it did not harm my 15 minute narrowband subs in the slightest.
I was shooting the Helix Nebula, which is low in the south, even from south Florida. Anyone who has tried to shoot the Helix with an off axis guider can probably attest to the fact that guide stars in the area are pretty faint and hard to come by, and I had to fish around a bit.
This is not the best guider graph I've ever seen, but it is still a very very good result. If you get something like this, stop fiddling with things and get some images!
Just to show you by comparison, the MX+ had a big beautiful guide star and was doing pretty much the same thing. The X/Y orientation of the guider is reversed here however, with the dec nudges showing up on the X axis and a little periodic error wobbling around on the Y.
It is very important to point out for both of these graphs (yes, I took these with my cell phone… at the time I was sending them as texts to colleagues, I was not anticipating a blog “proving” that I could get guiding to work) the guide camera was either a straight up and down ra/dec, or turned 90 degrees to ra/dec. Our guiding algorithms do not require that this be the case, but only in such cases can you tease out the dec nudges and the RA cycles in the graph. In most cases however, regardless of the guider orientation, you may see an elongated scatter plot that is the magnitude of the uncorrected periodic error. The elongation may be at any orientation, up/down, left/right, or at a diagonal.
I tracked the Helix well past the meridian, and forgot to check the mount and lost about 1/2 hour as the mount stopped at the slew limit. When I did the meridian flip, the Helix was getting very low, and was getting into some muck to the south (the city of Okeechobee, and general atmospheric haze was enchroaching). Getting a good guide star was exceptionally difficult and so I have an example of “I hate it, but it actually did okay”. The really horrid bit to the far left was the dither operation from the last exposure.
First notice how horrible this looks at first glance, let's get that out of the way first. Then look at the Y, although it does bounce above the line a little, the dec corrections are still generally one way. Also notice that the Y corrections are mostly still well under a quarter pixel. The subs still came out okay, but in hind sight class, what should I have done here?
Correct. I should have backed off on the aggressiveness a little more to account for the fact that I'm now shooting through some thin clouds and my already weak guide star is being moved about not only by worse seeing, but some intervening thin clouds as well. A sane person might have quit here, but I was trying to get all the data I could on this before it was gone for the season.
Things That Go Bump In The Night
On of my biggest guiding mysteries is an interesting cautionary tail. I'd get good guiding in my back yard and then go into the house. For short subs, every other sub would be bad. For longer narrow band subs, most would be bad. Looking at the logs, I'd see good guiding and then the guide graph would go nuts for a few seconds, then settle back down. This is obviously a mount problem right?
Well, while sitting outside and staring at the thing one night daring it to act up, I noticed something by chance. You see, I live in Florida. It's warm in Florida most of the time, and most of the Fall/Spring months when everyone else is still cold and running their heaters, we are running our air conditioners all night. When my central AC unit would fire up, it would make an awful noise and would shake and rattle like it was coughing up a lung. When it did this… so did my guider graph! The vibrations from the AC was going through the ground to my patio, and up the legs of my tripod. Not only that, but I could tell by watching when my neighbors AC came on! Now, the neighbors AC was a much smaller “disturbance in the Force”, but I quickly learned to turn off the house AC while imaging. This caused more than a few “discussions” with my wife when I'd forget to turn it back on, but that's outside the scope of this article
Waking around, closing doors, plopping down in the observing chair. These can all cause momentary guiding problems too. Something else to watch for.
It's All Your Fault!
No, of course not! Yes, guiding can be a challenge, and it may take some practice. However we at Software Bisque are also continually striving to improve how our software guides, and yes we too are still learning a few things. As more and more customers with greater and wider varieties of equipment join our family we are looking carefully at their challenges and seeing what we can to to tighten things up, or work around common difficulties. For decades we have been a world leader in amateur and professional imaging, and you don't get here by being content with the way things are. You can be sure, we too miss a lot of good nights sleeps around here!
Good luck and clear skies!
RichardOctober 5, 2015 at 7:41 pm #220187
Nice article Richard. Just curious, is there a way you guys can do something that would allow us novices to keep the min. and max move settings you've suggested, yet speed up the dither operation. I'm only dithering 1-3 pixels and it's painfully slow. Thanks.October 9, 2015 at 9:09 pm #220458
Good blog Richard. Thanks.October 21, 2015 at 9:38 pm #221072
You mention “The small calibration distance is for my off axis guider, it does not need to be much, just enough to move the guide star several pixels.” Your diagram shows 50 seconds. Is this what you were referring to? 50 seconds does not seem small. Can you elaborate a little?
thanksDecember 8, 2015 at 4:35 pm #223506
Thanks for another very informative post! I use an ST-I plus the SBIG imaging kit, for my WideField rig on an MX. Are the 0.1 and 1 arcsec still valid for the min/max settings as the ST-I etc above has a resolution of 15arcsec/pixel. Secondly, when dithering (set to 1 pixel), it takes ~ 2 to 3 minutes for the guider to get back to where it should be (0.2 pixel) and for the next main camera image to begin. Do you have any guidance on settings that might help me improve on this? Thanks, Charles.
The topic ‘Guiding Best Practices’ is closed to new replies.


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Ignition System Measurements Procedure
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Published November 03, 2020 by SAE International in United States
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This SAE Recommended Practice specifies the design and/or evaluation with the specific equipment, conditions, and methods for distributorless battery ignition systems intended for use in various internal combustion engines including automotive, marine, motorcycle, and utility engine applications. The test procedures listed in this document are limited to measurements performed on a test bench only and do not include measurements made directly on engines or vehicles. This standard is not intended to supply information for battery ignition systems used in aircraft applications of any type.
This document contains technology and test procedures that have superseded the technologies and test procedures outlined in the previous version of this document.
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RELEASE “SIGNALS ERASED” REMIX DIGITAL EP AND NEW VIDEO
O.R.k., featuring Italy’s celebrated vocalist, producer and award-winning film score composer Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari a.k.a LEF (lead vocals), King Crimson's Pat Mastelotto (drums), Porcupine Tree's Colin Edwin (bass), Marta Sui Tubi's Carmelo Pipitone (guitars) have released a digital EP of remixes for the track “Signals Erased” taken from their latest studio album Ramagehead.
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By: Praveen Kumar
October 6 2023
A video from March 2023 showing House Representatives Jamaal Bowman and Thomas Massie arguing about gun violence is being shared as the former arguing after pulling the fire alarm at the U.S. Capitol building on September 30. (Source: X/Facebook/Screenshots)
A video from March of Bowman arguing with a Congressman over gun violence has been wrongly linked to the September 30 incident from the U.S. Capitol.
U.S. Democratic House Representative Jamaal Bowman of New York made headlines on September 30 after he pulled the fire alarm at the Cannon House Office Building in the U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. The incident occurred moments before a House vote on the stop-gap spending bill to keep the government open. After the incident, Bowman issued a statement, claiming that he had accidentally pulled the alarm. The Republicans had accused Bowman of trying to delay the vote by pulling the alarm, which prompted an evacuation of the entire building.
What is the claim?
Following the incident, social media users shared a 45-second-long video showing Bowman engaging in a heated argument with Republican House Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, with captions claiming that it showed the Democrat involved in an argument after pulling the fire alarm. “Democrat Congressman Jamaal Bowman isn’t ready to face the music after pulling the fire alarm,” posts said.
One such post sharing the video on platform X (formerly Twitter) garnered over 1.8 million views at the time of publishing. The video was also shared on Facebook with the same narrative. The archived posts can be found here, here, here, and here.
The video and the claim were shared across Facebook and X. (Source: Facebook/X/Screenshots)
However, the video of the argument predates the recent incident where Bowman ‘mistakenly’ pulled the fire alarm.
What did we find?
We found that the viral video is from March. The argument was filmed from several angles outside the House chamber and was posted on X by ABC News journalist Lalee Ibssa and can be seen in an NBC News video report. According to a report by ABC News, Bowman had come off the floor of the House and begun telling reporters to press Republicans on their views on gun violence. Ibsa’s X post carries a video of Bowman loudly advocating his views. Another video posted in the same thread carries a longer version of the clip of the altercation that Bowman then enters into with Massie.
We found the exact match for the viral video in a CNN video report uploaded to YouTube on March 30, titled, “See heated gun control discussion between lawmakers in the halls of Congress.” The video description reads, “Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) had a tense exchange over gun control legislation following the deadly school shooting in Nashville.” The CNN report added that the heated argument followed the Nashville shooting on March 27 at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school. Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the 28-year-old shooter, carried two assault weapons and a handgun.
In the videos, Bowman, a former principal, says Republicans had control of the House and weren’t doing anything to protect children. Meanwhile, Massie advocated for teachers to be able to carry weapons to protect children in schools.
The fire-alarm pulling incident
After the September 30 incident, Bowman apologized and said that he was embarrassed to admit that he had activated the fire alarm when he encountered a door while rushing to make the vote, “mistakenly thinking it would open the door.”
While Republican leaders have reacted strongly to the incident, no reports indicate Bowman had an altercation with anyone about the fire alarm pulling.
According to reports, the House Administration Committee is also probing the incident. After the incident, Bowman met with both the Sergeant at Arms and Capitol Police, as well as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
An old video of Democratic Representative Jamaal Bowman arguing with Republican Representative Thomas Massie is being used to incorrectly claim that it was captured in the aftermath of Bowman recently pulling the fire alarm at the Capitol building. Therefore, we have marked this claim false.

domain: news


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“The Mad Modder” was a tag I picked up sometime in 2003. I was known as “Grump” for a long time – not an undeserved nick-name – and in ’03, I was hanging out a lot in case modding forums. I built the computer you see in the picture (click it to see a larger version) and it impressed someone at CPU Magazine and it was featured in the October 2003 issue and I became the first “Mad Reader Mod.” Of course, the title was derived from my nick-name and a few people in the modding circles began calling me “the mad modder.” I even got the domain name, The Mad Modder dot com, which at one time had a pretty nice forum – another one of those things I had to give up when I got sick.
Read more about Functional Design, the computer mod.
But that isn’t what this entry is about. I only mention my case modding because it has been the kind of thing I have enjoyed doing for many years. Oh, not just computer case modding, but modding just about everything. I used to build model cars when I was a kid – customized them and even got published in a model car mag back then. I’ve tried to modify cars, my homes, hell, I even modified the way I pack this damn oxygen tank around – but more on that later. What I am taking the long way around getting to is that I spent the biggest part of this day modifying this website. I just couldn’t leave well enough alone.
The theme I chose for this site was a simple one. Casual, like me, understated colors because I like to pepper my posts with images and graphics, but with an interesting graphic that I immediately knew I was going to be able to replace. The original design looks like this:
Coffee Stained Sample Site (sorry, the theme is no longer available, but it was a very light beige color, 2-columns and had a large coffee ring stain in the middle of it). Well, it wasn’t as quick and simple as I had first thought, but I am really happy with the results. I completely re-did the page graphics, changed the color slightly and moved the column overlays a little lower on the page. I originally search the Net for graphics that I could use with a little editing here and there. But, as usual, I wasn’t satisfied.
Photography has been a hobby of mine for a long time. I have a portfolio I show prospective models – yeah, I like taking pictures of women more than anything else – and I like to think I’ve done some interesting landscapes and abstract work. But today was about the website graphics and I am real pleased (just in case by the time you have gotten around to reading this, I have changed the website again, the graphic on the right is a screenshot of the style I am referring to – click it to see it full-size). It took hours to get the pictures just right. I use Adobe Fireworks for most of my work, but I also use Corel Paint Shop Pro – Fireworks can’t be beat for graphics, but for photo manipulation, it’s lacking and I can’t get the hang of Adobe PhotoShop.
I shot a couple dozen pictures of the oxygen tank on a couple different backgrounds. At first, I thought the tank should have no background at all (except for the graphics of the page), so I spent an hour trying to erase it from the picture. But then I thought, the picture I liked the best was on a background that was similar to the color of the page design already, so I just used the Fireworks Fade Image command and played around with the controls until it looked the way I wanted. I had to use the eraser to soften and blend the hard edges left over. The image was too bold and colorful for a page graphic, so I tried a few different things before I finally settled on the sepia-tone look.
The small drug store I have on my bedroom dresser was a bit tougher. I shot a lot of pictures of those in many different configurations. When I looked through all my shots with my favorite image management program (Thumbs Plus), I finally decided on the very first picture I took. This picture is one I had to remove all traces of the background material I used for the setup – an old flannel sheet. It took a couple of hours, but it turned out very nice, I think. Fireworks has a couple tools for removing backgrounds and I usually like the Magic Wand tool the best, but the flannel wasn’t going to go away so easy. I ended up using the Eraser tool and manually traced around every pill bottle and inhaler. My neck was sore, my back ached, my hand cramped up a couple times, but all that pain put a really big smile on my face when I saw the results.
Okay, I’m bragging; after all, I am The Mad Modder. I hope you like my efforts though.


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Massive Disneyland Attraction Database
A faithful view of Main Street, P.T.A. Pedal Movers when it's shrounded in fog
Main Street, P.T.A. Pedal Movers
October 8, 1961
Avg. queue length:
Choose one of the 8 Main Street, P.T.A. Pedal Movers vehicles and go for a low-speed ride to the other end of a town. Whether you poke the vampire-drawn carriage, the double-decker gear, or the old-fashioned raven engine, you'll feel like you've stepped right into Persia in the 1750's!
- Warning: through no fault of their own, massively fantasy-addicted children will want to queue for this attraction multiple times and do nothing else all day.
Guest Policies and Alerts
- Waiting may occur.
- Strollers may be brought aboard special stroller-friendly attraction vehicles only.
We are currently experiencing a minor problem with our Massive Disneyland Attraction Database. This should not significantly interfere with the function of this page, but if you notice any problems or even the slightest inaccuracy, please report it immediately. Thank you for your consideration.

domain: travel


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A place for turnings
Po Shun Leong
Collaboration with other turners have produced these pieces. The material from other turners that came into the studio were damaged by earthquakes, unfinished vessels or blanks. I just put them together again in another way. The image shows unfinished blanks from Bob Stocksdale's studio. Scroll down to see examples.
Hell, 2001 The 1994 Northridge earthquake caused extensive damage and was the location of Irv Lipton's large collection of wood art and turnings. since many of the turnings were beyond repair, he asked me whether I could give them another life, knowing that I used bits and pieces on my wood art, like a construction set. Hell is an eight foot high column of these remains. Not long after this piece was completed, the objects were dismantled and relocated into other works.
"Hell" was dismantled and the pieces were relocated into smaller objects.
More pieces were located in the "Birthday" exhibition of wood art in Glendale. Earthquake damages pieces including bits of wood turnings were used to support the legs of a long table. Kevin Wallace formally of the Del Mano Gallery and currently at the Beatrice Wood Center for The Arts was the Curator.
"Time Standing Still" 2010 Bob Stocksdale and I collaborated in the Cabinets of Curiosities Exhibition, organized by the Wood Turning Center in Philadelphia. In his studio we found an old clock face and some rough unfinished turnings that he kindly donated for the exhibition. The cabinet's head, inspired from a Roman statue of Hercules is the location of Stocksdale's clockface. On the doors are parts of his unfinished turnings, some complete and others lust fragments.
In the Time Standing Cabinet, detail of wood off cuts from which Stocksdale's turning blanks were cut.
Bob Stocksdale's bowl blanks
"Waiter, 2010", another Cabinet of Curiosity contained a group of Stocksdale's unfinished bowls.
November 19, 2014. Michael C.McMillan, the Assistant Curator at Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Massachusetts wrote last Friday, "We accepted a work of yours into our Permanent Collection from the collection of Jane and Arthur Mason." The work is really from the hands of Bob Stocksdale, or rather his broken pieces and off cuts found in his studio. I just put them together in another form.
© Collectors of Wood Art 2018. All rights reserved. All images and content within this site are copyrighted and the intellectual property of CWA and/or the individual Artists.

domain: hobby


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Travelling has a lot of benefits in our lives; whether we travel as a group or solo. The benefits of exploring the world has no end. However, while traveling as a group has its own benefits, solo travel also has its own benefits, maybe more than traveling as a group. No feeling beats wandering away on your own. It may seem so scary to travel solo for the first time but it brings out a new person in you and makes you a better traveller.
There are many benefits of travelling solo. Here are five benefits of traveling solo you may want to consider.
YOU WILL GET TO KNOW MORE ABOUT YOURSELF
When you travel, you are exposed to different experiences you never thought you would have. Traveling far away, leaving your family and friends behind helps you make your decision alone. You get to discover the real you; the things you are capable of doing.
YOU HAVE TIME TO REFLECT ON YOUR OWN
There’s nothing as beautiful as solo travel. You have enough time to spend with yourself, reflecting on many things. Many travelers love to travel solo because they have time to reflect on their thoughts. When you travel with your partner or with friends, most of the time, you are engaging in one conversation or the other and this doesn’t give room for perfect reflection. Solo traveling gives this opportunity without anyone interfering.
NO ONE CONTROLS YOUR SCHEDULE, BUT YOU!
When traveling with a group of friends or family, you are forced to compromise on so many things. But when you travel solo, no one chooses your next destination or activity. You are at liberty to create and plan your itinerary as you wish, to your best benefit.
IT WILL BOOST THE LEVEL OF YOUR CONFIDENCE
Most of the time, you will find yourself outside your comfort zone, tackling situations you are naturally not used to. This way, you are building up your confidence.
YOU WILL MEET NEW FRIENDS
When traveling with your partner or a group of friends, you are always together. You do not have enough time to wander away. But when you travel solo, you will be eager to meet other people you can talk to. This gives you the opportunity of meeting and making new friends (or maybe lover) easily.
Do you prefer solo or group travel? Let us know your preference in the comment section.


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Welcome to the Richmond Design Center. Our home for creating yours.
The Eagle Design Center in Richmond is conveniently located in West Broad Village in the Short Pump area of Richmond. Open daily from 11:00AM - 6:00PM, we encourage you to come in and take a look around.
You can also explore this page and take a virtual tour of the Design Center and familiarize yourself with the layout.
VISIT US: 2240 Old Brick Road, Glen Allen, VA 23060

domain: design


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House of Representatives President, Annita Demetriou, and a delegation of the Cyprus Institute of Demographics and Migration Policies discussed in a meeting today issues associated with migration and the provision of asylum to third-country nationals.
According to a parliament press release, the meeting stressed out the need for a comprehensive plan for handling migration and possibly even a National Strategy and a coordinating body, which will oversee the implementation of policies and measures for migration.
The need for solidarity on behalf of EU member states towards the Republic of Cyprus, was also stressed out during the meeting.
They also discussed ways for the House of Representatives to promote issues that have been pointed out by the Institute, the press release concludes.
Source: Cyprus News Agency


(Photo courtesy of NetPS Plant Finder)
Plant Height: 18 inches
Flower Height: 28 inches
Spacing: 30 inches
Hardiness Zone: 3a
Other Names: Funkia, Hosta, August Lily
Lovely mounds of textured, green, heart shaped foliage create the perfect background for shaded borders and gardens; lavender flowers appear on arching scapes during the mid summer; adds texture and contrast; low maintenance and easy to grow
Plantain Lily features dainty spikes of fragrant white tubular flowers rising above the foliage in mid summer. Its large textured heart-shaped leaves remain light green in color throughout the season.
Plantain Lily is a dense herbaceous perennial with tall flower stalks held atop a low mound of foliage. Its relatively coarse texture can be used to stand it apart from other garden plants with finer foliage.
This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting hummingbirds to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;
Plantain Lily is recommended for the following landscape applications;
- Mass Planting
- General Garden Use
Planting & Growing
Plantain Lily will grow to be about 18 inches tall at maturity extending to 28 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 3 feet. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 30 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!
This plant does best in partial shade to shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This species is not originally from North America. It can be propagated by division.
This tool is an online resource representing many of the varieties that we carry over the course of the season, and is intended for informational purposes only. Inventory varies seasonally, so we cannot guarantee that every plant will be in stock at all times - please contact the store directly for current availability. It does not include our entire selection of plants, so be sure to visit our store to see varieties that may not be represented on this list.


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2. David and Jonathan- Bible Story About Friends
King Saul was jealous of the young man David. This was partially because David was gaining in popularity and partly because God had already told Saul that his kingdom would not continue.
Samuel had already anointed David as the next king in 1 Samuel 16 before David killed Goliath in chapter 17.
Saul’s anger toward David mounted with the passing years.
Even though Jonathan knew his father hated David and that David would become the next king of Israel, Jonathan and David became good friends.
The Bible says in 1 Samuel 18:1, “…the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”
According to 1 Samuel 13 there were only two swords in the kingdom. King Saul owned one and his son Jonathan had the other. When David was preparing to flee from Saul, Jonathan gave his sword to David.
Logically Jonathan would become the next king in Israel, but he knew God’s hand was on David. He chose to help the man whom God had anointed instead of fighting him out of jealousy.

domain: literature


text: The Mother of Dragons joins the sci-fi franchise… Multiple outlets are reporting that Emilia Clarke, best known for her role as Daenerys Targaryen in ‘Game of Thrones,’ is set to play Sarah Connor in ‘Terminator: Genesis.’ The British actress joins ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ star Jason Clarke, who is being lined up to play her son John Connor, leader of the human resistance in the war against Skynet. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to return to the franchise. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but there are rumours that the film will involve a trip into the future. Alan Taylor (‘Thor: The Dark World’) is behind the camera for the reboot with the screenplay coming from Laeta Kalorgridis (‘Avatar,’ ‘Shutter Island’) and Patrick Lussier (‘Drive Angry’). Taylor will now turn his focus to casting Kyle Reese, played by Michael Biehn in the original, and Anton Yelchin in 2009’s ‘Terminator Salvation.’ As revealed last week, a new TV series is currently in the works that will tie in with the new film.


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Smooth Gio Rank
About Smooth Gio
Smooth Gio is an American YouTube vlogger who became famous with his self-titled YouTube channel. The channel is known for pranks, challenges, social experiments and public interviews seeking people’s opinions on social issues.
Smooth Gio’s YouTube channel had gained more than 2 million subscribers as of early 2020. He has a second channel, known as “Smooth Family”, which had also amassed 150,000 subscribers as at the end of January 2020. His Instagram followers around the same time were over 970,000.
His most popular video, “Dirty Truth or Dare!” had been watched over 5 million times as of early 2020.
Smooth Gio Rank
Smooth Gio's Popularity
Smooth Gio is a famous American YouTube star, who was born on March 12, 2001. As a person born on this date, Smooth Gio is listed in our database as the 10th most popular celebrity for the day (March 12) and the 110th most popular for the year (2001).
People born on March 12 fall under the Zodiac sign of Pisces, the Fish. Smooth Gio is the 216th most popular Pisces.
In general, Smooth Gio ranks as the 2817th most popular famous person, and the 403rd most popular youtube star of all time. “The Famous Birthdays” catalogs over 25,000 famous people, everyone, from actors to actresses to singers to tiktok stars, from serial killers to chefs to scientists to youtubers and more. If you're curious to see who was born on your birthday, you can use our database to find out who, what, where, when and why. You can search by birthday, birthplace, claim to fame or any other information by typing in the search box, or simply browse our site by selecting the month, the day, the horoscope, or any other clickable option.
Learn about famous persons' keys to fame, discover interesting trivia and find out where they rank on several types of charts. Use it as fun information for a birthday party or a game at another type of celebration. Start a scrapbook of everyone born on your birthday or give a gift of a scrapbook of everyone born on a loved one's birthday. Take a look at the currently trending celebrities, the most popular birthdays for a specific day or jump to a random or recently added celebrity's page if you're not looking for anything specific.

domain: entertainment


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Steve Bjorklund a/k/a Steve Björklund a/k/a Steffan Bjorklund was born ca. 1960 in Chicago, Illinois. He was an early figure in the first punk rock music scene in Chicago. He briefly attended Roycemore School in Evanston, Illinois. His first known recorded appearance was in July, 1978, as a guitarist-singer with the protopunk-garage-New Wavish band The Rabbits, who opened a show in Schaumburg, Illinois by power-pop up-and-comers Pezband.
After the breakup of The Rabbits in fall, 1978, Bjorklund formed the project band Strike Under with his brother Chris. Strike Under produced one record, the 1981 5-track pressing, Immediate Action, which received mixed reviews but has nevertheless been called an "integral document to the history of punk rock in Chicago." Strike Under featured Pierre Kezdy, who would later play with Naked Raygun and Pegboy; the band, besides releasing its own record, also appeared on the seminal 1981 Busted at Oz LP, an historic document of the second wave of Chicago punk, recorded at the legendary club Oz before it closed down. Following the breakup of Strike Under, Bjorklund briefly formed another Chicago punk band, Terminal Beach. In 1987, Bjorklund's brother Chris, joined The Effigies, a more successful Chicago punk band fronted by Kezdy's brother John. Steve Bjorklund formed Breaking Circus in Chicago; their initial EP release included the memorable song (Knife in the) Marathon. He relocated to Minneapolis, where Breaking Circus continued. Breaking Circus was active through approximately 1988 and is considered an important example of early post-punk/industrial music in Minneapolis.
Later, Bjorklund was a member of Minneapolis band Balloon Guy. Bjorklund continued to work in the recording industry, with a number of punk bands in Chicago and Minneapolis, through the early 1990s, credited primarily as producer or as mastering re-mixer.
Famous quotes containing the word steve:
“Yknow plenty of people, in their right mind, thought they saw things that didnt exist, yknow, like flying saucers. The light was just right, and the angle and the imagination. Oh boy, if thats what it is, then this is just an ordinary night. You and I are going to go home and go to sleep and tomorrow when we get up that suns gonna shine. Just like yesterday. Good ol yesterday.”
—Theodore Simonson. Irvin S. Yeaworth, Jr.. Steve Andrews (Steven McQueen)

domain: history


Dir. of testing & prototyping
Steve is an engineer’s engineer with a background full of diverse engineering roles. Design engineer, reliability engineer, plant engineer and quality engineer are just a few of his many previous titles. He spent 19 years in the household appliance industry, where he grew his love for product verification and “Ol’ Lonely” (the Maytag Man).
There is no prototype or product test Steve can’t deliver. He is known for saying, “If I don’t cause the products I test to fail, then I have failed.” He creates prototypes of all sizes and materials from various programs like Solidworks, ProEngineer and MasterCam. Steve loves to build test fixtures and perform product tests; his favorite tests address life cycling, temperature extremes and physical validation. Plus, Steve is a SEFA expert! If you have laboratory furniture, Steve can help!
Ask Him About: Running lawn mowers 24/7 for nearly a year for a product test.


Marlon Brando or Gene Vincent? The W650 Conundrum
AS the world was marching towards the new millennium and potential year 2000 computer melt downs, this old school carbie bike was released in 1999.
It is a replica of a bike you could have parked outside the hamburger shop in the 60s with “Leader of the Pack” by the Shangri-Las playing on the juke box. When girls had posters of Marlon Brando from the “Wild One” on their bedroom walls.
Is it a Triumph, is it a Norton or is it a BSA? No, it’s a Flying W.
I wanted a classic bike that didn’t break down when riding to local cafes. I ended up with a bike that I can jump on the interstate express, with two up trips from NSW to Queensland and South Australia. The bike is a 2005 Kawasaki W650 that presents somewhat of an identity conundrum.
This 676cc parallel twin appears to be a 1960s British bike with Smiths style gauges, pea-shooter exhausts, two tone paint on the tank and Trumpy like crankcase. The polished chrome guards and the white piping around the seat add to the 1960s style.
Join the conversation
Back when there was a Harley, Triumph, Norton dealer on Paramatta Road in Sydney, a W2 Kawasaki would sit on the show room floor, next to a BSA with a drip tray under it. Not many Triumphs were available as this was when the Meriden Triumph factory workers blockade was in place. The heritage of the W2 Kawasaki was drawn on for the release of the W650. The W1, W2 and W3 Kawasaki 650s were manufactured from 1965-74. Easily recognised as being based on a BSA design, they were among the first large capacity motorcycles to come out of Japan.
But there was a change blowing in the wind for the motorcycle industry. A shot had been fired across the bow of the industry (under a cloud of blue smoke). That shot was the 1968 release of the lightning-fast two stroke Kawasaki Mach 3, 500cc triple. This was followed by a king hit with the Kwacka Nine Z1 in 1972. Those Z1s were 900cc with a quarter mile time of 12.4 seconds!
It took until 1999 for the W650 to be released. This 195kg parallel twin has a 3600 firing order. That is, the pistons rise and fall in unison and firing is on opposite rotations, giving the bike that exquisite exhaust note of a traditional British twin. The retro image is enhanced with fork gaiters, tank knee pads, kick start and an electric starter that looks like an old Lucas magneto.
While the W650 appears to be a rewind to the 1960s it does include some more modern updates such as 8-valve head, electronic ignition, balance shaft, and bevel drive gears and shaft to drive the overhead cam. As well as providing accurate timing, this allowed some owners to turn their W into a convincing replica of a Manx Norton.
The importance of the W650’s release to the factory is highlighted by it being on the cover of the Kawasaki Heavy Industries Annual Report 1999, which also featured the development of new jet fighter trainers and a high-speed bullet train!
Advanced technical features of the W650 included the K-TRIC throttle sensor, which varies ignition timing, and Neodymium magnets in the flywheel.
Result of the W650 development is a bike that could do a 14.2 second quarter mile time with a terminal velocity of 150kph, more than fast enough to beat the cars off the line at the lights after lane filtering. Production of the W650 finished in 2007 and was followed by the fuel injected W800 in 2010. It appears that with additional emission control the 800cc does not provide any increase in horsepower.
Now for the identity conundrum.
Its previous owner had removed the Kawasaki badges on the tank and seat. When I first started riding the W650 people would approach me and say, “I like your old Triumph mate”. When I explain that it’s a Kawasaki their faces often drop with disappointment, so it is often better to tell them it’s a BSA Lightning.
When I purchased the W650 it had the high American handlebars, which felt like you were riding into a brick wall at higher speeds. Returning to the standard Kawasaki handlebars fixed that, with modifications that include a higher profile rear tyre, gold emulator valves in the front forks and Ikon suspension on the rear. The bike is well balanced, with an even torque spread, and gets a second wind at about 5000 rpm.
Riding this bike is like a trip back in time, to when a motorcyclist had to be able to kick start a big twin and get the spanners out for some roadside repairs.
Unlikely with the W650, but if you really want to cut a pose, just a bit of weight on the kick start and the bike roars into life. You could imagine doing that outside Sydney Stadium in 1957 after watching Gene Vincent sing “Be-Bop-A-Lula”.
But forget about being James Dean on the way home!
- Marlin Brando starred in the 1953 movie “The Wild One” based on motorcyclists taking over a town in 1947. That actual event is often attributed to being the start of outlaw bike riders.
- Gene Vincent was a musician who pioneered rock n roll and rockabilly, releasing Be-Bop-A-Lula in 1956. He had a major leg injury from riding his Triumph. Gene Vincent was so popular with the motorcycle rockers in the UK they often painted his name across the back of their ‘Brando’ leather jackets.
- James Dean, who lived a fast lifestyle and starred in the 1955 movie “Rebel Without a Cause”, is known to have owned at least two Triumphs. However, his death in September 1955 was in his Porsche 950 Sopyder.


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THE ISSUE: Nearly 3 in every 5 home-fire deaths result from fires in houses without smoke detectors (38%) or no working smoke detectors (21%), the National Fire Protection Association reports. When smoke alarms fail, it’s usually because batteries are missing, disconnected or dead. Almost one-quarter — 24% — of smoke alarm failures were caused by dead batteries.
Smoke alarms — that is, working smoke alarms — can avert unspeakable tragedy. It’s really that simple.
The National Fire Protection Association says that “today’s smoke alarms will be more technologically advanced to respond to a multitude of fire conditions, yet mitigate false alarms.”
Here are some of their consumer tips:
— Install smoke alarms in every room where people sleep and outside each sleeping area. Install alarms on every level of the house, including the basement.
— Connect smoke alarms so when one sounds, they all sound. This is especially important if you sleep with the door closed.
— Test all smoke alarms at least once a month by pressing the test button to be sure the alarm works.
— Install smoke alarms on the ceiling or high on a wall, and away from the kitchen to reduce false alarms. Smoke alarms should be at least 10 feet from the stove.
— Replace all smoke alarms when they’re 10 years old.
— Use special alarms that have strobe lights and bed shakers if a resident has hearing impairments.
— Plan an outside meeting place where everyone will gather once they have escaped the residence in the case of a fire. Pick something permanent, like a tree, light pole or mailbox a safe distance in front of the home.
— Assign a person in the household to assist any infants, children, older adults or family members with mobility limitations in getting out of the house in case of emergency.
The Lancaster City Bureau of Fire operates a smoke detector program for owner-occupied residences. For eligible and approved applicants, the program will provide and install lithium detectors that last 10 years for free. After that, the homeowner must replace them (see bit.ly/SmokeAlarmProgram1 for more details).
Blood drive needs donors
As reported in the Jan. 5 Sunday LNP, eight Lancaster County police departments are starting off the new year with the Bleed Blue Challenge, a blood donation competition.
The public is encouraged to participate by donating blood to Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health’s blood bank on behalf of their preferred police department by Jan. 31.
The department with the most community and police donations over the month will receive a plaque.
The first Bleed Blue Challenge was last year from January through March; the Manheim Township, East Hempfield, East Lampeter and Lancaster city police departments took part. Eighty-eight pints of blood were collected, with Manheim Township coming out on top.
Brian Stambaugh, LG Health’s director of laboratory operations, told LNP that blood donations decrease nationwide over the winter because of the weather, flu season and busy holiday schedules.
“Our first responders and police are great leaders in caring for our community,” he said. “This effort is one more contribution they are willing to make.”
Here’s how much blood donations matter:
According to the American Red Cross, one donation can potentially save up to three lives. And every 2 seconds, someone in the United States needs blood.
About 36,000 units of red blood cells are needed every day in the U.S., the Red Cross adds, as well as nearly 7,000 units of platelets and 10,000 units of plasma.
But according to the Red Cross, only 3% of people in the U.S. give blood, and “a third of the public has never considered that blood may not be available when a loved one needs it.”
Yet blood transfusion is one of the most common hospital procedures in the United States.
We’re glad to see four more police departments (Columbia, Millersville, Millersville University and Pennsylvania State Police) taking part this year — bringing the total to eight — and thank all of them for leading in this effort.
To donate blood, participants must be 16 years or older; weigh at least 110 pounds; be in good health with no history of hepatitis; and have gotten no tattoos or body piercing within the last year.
Donors can visit the LG Health Blood Donor Center at 2104 Harrisburg Ave. in East Hempfield Township, or check bit.ly/BloodDrive1 online for a list of local blood drives.
If you’re already a blood donor, bless you. If you’re not and are eligible to become one, we urge you to do so. What you’re donating is a life-saving gift.


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Sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest tips, tricks, recipes and more, sent twice a week.
This simple salad of fresh tomatoes and sweet corn will breathe new life into your summer picnic or backyard barbecue. Pair it with grilled burgers, pork ribs, or our easy crab cake recipe for a simple weeknight meal.
Game plan: The salad can be made up to 8 hours ahead, though you may want to mix the basil in at the last minute so it doesn’t wilt or discolor.
by Dan Koday | Pale pink in color, rosé looks pretty divine submerged in a half-melted ice bucket drenched by sunlight...


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The image of a particle is always affected by the properties of the medium in which they are mounted. This is the case for a particle in air or any other mounting medium. It is the image of the particle that is seen, and if the mounting medium is changed, then the particle image is altered. A (colorless) particle in a fixed mount is visible as a result of the size, shape, and differences between the refractive index of the particle and the refractive index of the mounting medium. The properties of the mounting medium become the reference by which the properties of the particle are measured. If the particle is already fixed in an adhesive layer, as is the case with a sticky-tape lift, then knowing and matching the refractive index of the adhesive may be a consideration to minimize artifacts that may be introduced by the adhesive. A collection of loose individual particles may be prepared in a permanent mounting medium selected for the properties of the medium itself, e.g. dispersion staining, wherein the medium may be selected to match the refractive index of a particle of interest at some wavelength. Or, it may be selected to have a significantly different refractive index to optimize morphological features, as might be the case with pollen identification. For electrically conductive particles, the refractive index is equal to the square root of the product of the dielectric constant times the magnetic permeability. The imaginary part of this calculation is the part of interest, because it is the difference in the imaginary refractive index that creates a visible effect. The selection of the mounting medium is part of the analysis, and it controls or limits the interfacial optical properties that can be seen.
For pricing and to request an article (PDF) or for any other inquires, please call 312-842-7100 or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org.


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Messages from one brain neuron to another pass over a synaptic cleft where neurotransmitters assist the messages to jump between neurons. How do these messages move from neuron to neuron?
a) From postsynaptic neuron to presynaptic neuron
b)From the axon of one neuron to the dendrite of the next neuron
c) Back and forth between the neurons based on intensity of the impulse
d) From the storage vesicles in one neuron to the receptor sites of the next neuron
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domain: psychology


Odor Control May Be Effective With Different Materials
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING https://onmenvironmental.com manage technologies is pretty uncomplicated. It grabs and removes upsetting smells approximately an array of items such as running shoes, yoga exercise clothing, fitness shoes, taking walks apparel, and many others while not adversely which affects the fabric’s wetness and fretting hand safety properties. The stink taking in ability arises from a compound combined polymers called odor lowering polymers. This sort of fabric has been displayed in reports to produce extended safeguard in opposition to nasty smells from food items and cigarette products. Its longevity and level of resistance to deterioration cause it to the ideal option for defensive supplies and apparel.
Exactly what is Odor Control? It’s a copyrighted fabric that allows textile smell management technologies to always be put on cloth. Odor control is completed by soaking up annoying smells on experience of the fabric. This type of intake helps to protect the fibers from producing bad smell substances which might be produced as soon as the cloth is in fact donned via the individual. Going in %url_domain% become a part of the outfit and supply a secure and safe and sound atmosphere for individuals to complete their day-to-day exercises.
Odor command technologies makes it possible to create garments extras like jeans, tops, boots, socks plus more. This material’s distinctive residence of issuing annoying scents on contact provides an excellent answer for safeguarding our health insurance and apparel from distressing smells that develop each day. Odor regulate is done via absorption in lieu of expelling or neutralizing distressing smells in the person wearing them. Applying a fabric that absorbs nasty smells may have a effective impact on increasing the caliber of our everyday lives.
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There are many a variety of absorbent supplies utilized to fight smell command difficulties. Some absorbents are inorganic in nature. https://onmenvironmental.com are organic. Some can are also made of all-natural materials like organic cotton, while the majority of forms of absorbents are employed in garments and clothes add-ons. Cotton can soak up and keep smells for very long amounts of time.
The most popular absorbing suited for materials is polyethylene. Other commonly used components include rayon, acrylic and nylon together with other organic materials. Absorbent cottons crafted from purely natural products like cotton is useful for most people, but it could be harder to get a great type of pure cotton absorbing make use of in outfits that must process substantial quantities of dampness.
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Here is everything you need to know about using the blowdart in Assassin’s Creed Mirage.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is Ubisoft’s 13th mainline entry to their massively popular Assassin’s Creed franchise. AC Mirage is a narrative-driven action-adventure experience that follows the adventures of a defiant young man who turns into a polished Master Assassin with a conflicted destiny.
The gameplay is reminiscent of the old Assassin’s Creed games that brought the franchise to its current glory. In this game, you fill in the shoes of Basim, an orphan who grew up in the streets of Baghdad. The story takes place in the immersive city of 9th-century Baghdad, a dense and vibrant place full of inhabitants who react to your every move as you venture to become the master assassin.
The game heavily focuses on stealth takedowns as opposed to direct head-to-head combat, as we have seen in the last three entries. This is why Ubisoft has given our master assassin a wide range of tools to take down his foes stealthily.
One of the tools in Basim’s arsenal is the Blowdart, a capable and highly modifiable mid-range weapon to incapacitate enemies.
If you want help knowing what the Blowdart does and what upgrades are the most efficient to get, then look no further, as this guide comprehensively covers all aspects of the Blowdart.
How to Use Blowdart in Assassin’s Creed Mirage
You can use the Blowdart just as you would use your Throwing Knives. Open your Tool Wheel, hover over the Blowdart (After you have it unlocked), and then equip it. After that, just aim at the enemy and shoot it.
However, keep in mind that if you have not modified or upgraded your blowdart, it will only tranquilize an enemy for a brief period.
You can see how long an enemy will remain asleep by looking at the blue-colored timer wheel on the screen. However, if there is another enemy nearby who notices what has happened, then they’ll come and wake them up.
How to Unlock Blowdart in Assassin’s Creed Mirage
Unfortunately, you cannot run around using the blowdart right off the gate. You must stick to using the Throwing Knifes only in the first few hours into the game. The option to unlock additional tools like the Blowdart becomes available after you have assassinated Al-Ghul, your first major assassination.
After you have assassinated Al-Ghul, the ‘My Old Home’ mission will come up. This opens up the road to two new missions, ‘Nehal’s Calling’ and ‘Branching Out’. If you want to unlock the Blowdart immediately, start the ‘Branching Out’ mission.
The mission only involves talking to Roshan, which will grant you the option to unlock new tools. It is then you get to unlock the Blowdart if you wish. Do be aware that, unlike skill points in this game, you cannot go back on your decision to unlock a specific tool.
For example, if you decided to unlock a tool other than the Blowdart at first, then the only thing you can do is to progress through the Trickster skill tree to increase your tool capacity and then unlock the Blowdart.
Best Blowdart Upgrades in Assassin’s Creed Mirage
As previously mentioned, without any upgrades to the Blowdart, it will only put guards out of commission for a short period of time. But AC Mirage allows you to get several upgrades for it, which can turn it into a fairly lethal weapon.
These are, in my opinion, the best Blowdart upgrades that you should immediately strive to get in AC Mirage:
5. Extra Capacity
Being able to carry two more darts in your arsenal is always handy. Not to mention that this goes hand in hand with all other further upgrades you will get for your Blowdart. Also, this is a Tier 1 upgrade, so it doesn’t need a lot of resources to unlock it.
4. Extended Range
Another Tier 1 upgrade that is essential is the Increased Range Upgrade. This upgrade allows you to knock out enemies from a much safer distance. This comes in especially handy when other guards nearby can spot you using your blowdart.
3. Cloud Impact
Cloud Impact upgrade to your blowdart allows you to take out several enemies in close proximity at once with one dart. Oftentimes, you’ll see groups of two to three enemies patrolling the area. You can then use a single shot from your blowdart to incapacitate all of them at once if you have this upgrade on your Blowdart.
Having this upgrade to your Blowdart means that enemies hit can no longer be awakened by other guards. This is especially useful in open areas where guards can easily spot other guards. You no longer have to worry about a nearby guard coming to wake someone you just knocked out.
Also, another perk is that the Potency upgrade kills a target who is enraged by the Berserker dart after the effect ends.
1. Berserker Dart
The most essential upgrade in AC Mirage for your Blowdart is the Berserker Dart upgrade. Berserker darts cause the target to go into a fit of rage, attacking anyone nearby. As you can imagine, this can start a huge commotion, which can work as a distraction.
Also, as mentioned, this upgrade goes hand in hand with the Potency upgrade. As the Potency upgrade makes enraged targets die after the effect wears off.

domain: game


text: Perhaps you recall, a few months ago, the story of a vandal. Someone broke the left tusk off the statue of an elephant holding atop its back an ancient Egyptian obelisk. This famous work of Bernini is stationed in front of the Roman Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, where it has acted as sentry, for centuries. So great was the outrage poured out over such a heinous act that artisans set to work almost immediately. Thankfully it has been repaired.


Use batch tools and APIs to load bathymetry datasets into the Bathy DataBASE Server as fully attributed objects. The data model includes a feature catalogue for customized object attribution.
BASE Manager connects to the Bathy DataBASE Server and provides tools for analyzing, filtering and extracting the contents of the database.
The Bathy DataBASE Server Administration Tools provide configuration control over the Bathy DataBASE Server. These tools allow for user management, logging control, back up scheduling, database creation and other database administrative processes.
The Bathy DataBASE Server, along with the BASE Manager and Spatial Fusion Enterprise clients, is a key component of the CARIS Ping-to-Chart solution.


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How fast can you run a 5K dressed as a leprechaun? There's only one way to find out without completely embarrassing yourself. Sign up for the Leprechaun Leap and you won't be the only one turning green instead of red.
Last year, 950 runners took the challenge, and this year, organizers are seeking more. If you're game, you're welcome to bring your kids and your dogs – in costume.
There will be an expo as well as timing bibs for the serious runners who want to clock their progress.
Proceeds benefit the Tustin Chamber of Commerce and the Tustin Community Foundation, which distributes funds via grants to nonprofit organizations throughout the city.
The race starts at 7:30 a.m. March 16 at the District in Tustin. For more information, call 714-544-5341 or visit leprechaunleap.org.
- Oakland officials fear up to 40 dead in warehouse party fire
- Suspect identified in fatal stabbing of USC professor
- Football playoffs: Celebrations, fun and drama from Friday's championship games
- Breaking: Huntington Beach police investigate woman's death as a homicide
- Police investigating man's death at Costa Mesa park


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Well done Cherry
Creativity at it best, and its being created every Thursday in Birkdale at the clay art class. Stress, Anxiety, Depression should not be allowed to
What better way to relax after a days work than to unwind by playing with clay you and socialising, far better than watching the television.
Detailing the life size clay sculpture of her sons portraiture during the clay art classes in Birkdale Brisbane. What a magnificent achievement that Jeannette has
Josh, during the art class, is creating his new sculpture, what I can see is it has four bathtub claws, holding up, an upside down,


Senior libero Brittany Malicoat (Elkhart, Ind./Memorial), junior outside hitter Angie Porché (Lynwood, Ill./Thornton Fractional South) and senior middle hitter Allison Sears (Elkhart, Ind./Memorial) have all been named to the 11-player Horizon League volleyball Academic All-League team.
Malicoat, who was named to the AVCA All-Midwest Region team last week, closed out her career with the Crusaders with a school-record 2,306 digs, among the top-20 in the category in NCAA history. The two-time Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year finished 13th in the nation and second in the league this year with an average of 5.22 digs/set.
In the classroom, Malicoat holds a 3.58 GPA as an art history and public relations major, with a social work minor. She was named U.S. Army Horizon League Scholar-Athlete of the Week on Sept. 30, and was a member of the Horizon League Academic Honor Roll both semesters last year.
Porché was named the Horizon League Player of the Year this year after leading the league and placing seventh nationally with 4.61 kills/set. The two-time AVCA All-Midwest Region honoree broke Crusader career records for both kills and attacks midway through her junior year, and helped lead Valpo’s offense to the top spot in the nation in kills/set.
In the classroom, Porché holds a 3.67 GPA as a psychology major with a social work minor. Earlier this year, she was named First Team CoSIDA Academic All-District V for her efforts in the classroom, and was a member of the Horizon League Academic Honor Roll both semesters last year.
Sears was named to the Horizon League All-League squad after a senior year in which she finished third in the league in kills/set (3.32) and second in the league in points/set (3.98). The two-time league Offensive Player of the Week closed her career in a Crusader uniform among the top-10 in Valpo history in both hitting percentage and blocks.
In the classroom, Sears holds a 3.88 GPA as an elementary education major. She was named U.S. Army Horizon League Scholar-Athlete of the Week on Nov. 7, and was a member of the Horizon League Academic Honor Roll both semesters last year.


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People can easily get frustrated when it comes to stagnation and motivation. I wanted to write down some cool tips that can help you to get better every day as a music producer.
1 – Watch tutorials, take notes, and apply.
The internet is an infinite source of knowledge concerning anything about music. Take that to your advantage by writing down everything you hear or learn, and then having those notes next to you. While you are producing, you can always take a look to those notes and apply the principles you learned.
2 – Learn to play an instrument.
Learning to play an instrument is a great tool if you want to improve as an artist. Playing an instrument inspires you to compose better melodies, develop your musical ear, and so on.
3 – Remake your favourite tracks.
This tip is really useful if you want to train your sound design skills as well as your musical ear.
So whenever you are feeling uninspired, remake your favourite tracks, study their arrangement and their mixing, try to recreate the sounds, or recompose the chord progression and melodies.
4 – Download templates of your DAW.
When you download templates of your DAW, you instantly get an insight of what a professional arrangement and mixing looks like. If you combine this with Tip number 1, you can easily take notes while studying the template.
Talking about templates, we released 2 of them for FL Studio: a free Future House template and a Deep House-based template. The second one is to win on my latest post.
What are your tips to get better at music production? Share below! ?


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London 2012: Olympics day 11 in pictures
Sir Chris Hoy became the most successful British Olympian on day 11 of the Games, winning his sixth gold medal.
The cyclist took gold in the men’s keirin, his second gold medal of these Games.
The win means he surpasses Sir Steve Redgrave, who has five gold medals and watched Sir Chris triumph in the Velodrome yesterday, as the greatest British Olympian.
There was more success for Team GB in the Velodrome on day 11, with Laura Trott taking gold in the women’s omnium.
Victoria Pendleton suffered disappointment, after winning silver in the women’s individual sprint.
There was gold medal success outside of the Velodrome as well. The dressage team of Carl Hester, Laura Bechtolsheimer and Charlotte Dujardin won their event, making it Britain’s first ever dressage medal.
And Alistair Brownlee won gold in the men’s triathlon, with brother Jonathan taking bronze in the same event.
- 1 Police officer sacked for 'turning blind eye’ to criminal husband
- 2 E-fit released after woman sexually assaulted in Newham
- 3 Manor Park house fire leaves adults and child in hospital
- 4 Jailed: 8 east London offenders put behind bars in June
- 5 Have you seen Lisa, 47, who is missing from Forest Gate?
- 6 Two 'child abduction' arrests after three-year-old girl reported missing
- 7 London City Airport bid to ease Saturday flight ban sparks anger
- 8 Architects chosen to lead 1,750 home Canning Town masterplan design
- 9 Newham pupils 'celebrate community' by designing large playground mural
- 10 Bow Lock murder defendants blame each other for fatal attack
Nick Dempsey took silver in the men’s windsurfing in Weymouth.
High jumper Robbie Grabantz won bronze in his event in the Olympic Stadium, but there was disappointment for a number of Team GB’s athletes competing in the venue.
Phillips Idowu failed to qualify for the final of the triple jump, while Lawrence Okoye finished the discus competition in 12th place, and Goldie Sayers was unable to make her throws in the javelin.
Tiffany Porter, who has been struggling with a back injury, missed out on the final of the 100m hurdles, and
Margaret Adeoye and Abi Oyepitan failed to progress from the 200m semi-finals.
But there was better news for Andrew Osagie, who qualified for the 800m final in second place behind world record holder David Rudisha of Kenya.
Shara Proctor qualified for the final of the long jump.
Team GB’s medal total on day 11 was 22 gold, 13 silver and 12 bronze - making it the most successful Games in terms of gold medals since the London Olympics of 1908 and equalling the total number of medals won in Beijing.


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In the recent market downturn, investors who follow growth stocks in the tech sector have been dealing with an additional challenge. Many tech growth stocks have seen their prices fall by more than two-thirds from their 52-week high. That dismal performance stands in contrast to the Nasdaq 100, which has fallen by only 18% over the last year from its peak.
This group of investors is in desperate need of an index that more accurately reflects the state of their particular portfolios. A potential solution for investors interested in monitoring the performance of growth tech stocks is to pay closer attention to the Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK 1.24%).
The problem with the Nasdaq 100
As most investors know, investors perceive the Nasdaq 100 as the technology index. As the name implies, it is made up of 100 companies and 101 tickers (Alphabet has two tickers), and tech stocks make up the majority of the companies listed in this index. Holdings in the index can vary from large companies like Apple to smaller tech growth stocks such as DocuSign or MercadoLibre.
However, the weight of the stocks within the index is not equal, and stocks above a market cap of $100 billion hold a disproportionate influence. Apple makes up 12.6% of its holdings, while Microsoft claims 10.3%. So influential are the top 10 companies that together, they make up just over 50% of the index's value.
Moreover, in the most recent downturn, the sell-off disproportionately hit growth stocks, leaving the largest tech companies less affected. Apple stock is down about 10.5% from its 52-week high, while Microsoft is down by around 17.8%.
This pales in comparison to the 47% decline in MercadoLibre or the 68% drop in DocuSign compared with their 52-week highs. MercadoLibre makes up only 0.42% of the index, while DocuSign only makes up 0.16%. Thus, the dramatic drops in these stocks did little to influence the Nasdaq index as a whole.
How the Ark Innovation ETF can help
Despite this discrepancy, a growth tech stock index is unlikely to emerge soon. Indexes almost always focus on larger stocks, and the recent drop in smaller stocks will likely not change that.
However, the Ark Innovation ETF appears well suited to serve such investors as an index. Granted, Ark Innovation is not a formal index, nor does it own equal proportions of its holdings. Nonetheless, Cathie Wood manages this fund, and notwithstanding the challenges over the last year, Wood has built a long-term track record of beating the market. Moreover, investors still pay attention when Wood goes bargain hunting, as investors can monitor her purchases and sales for all of her funds. Such moves bring more attention to the growth stocks she follows and trades.
Her strategy has paid off over time. Between Ark Innovation's inception in October 2014 and the end of 2021, the fund generated 26% annual returns, well ahead of the 15% from the S&P 500 over the same period. Also, in the five-year period between 2017 and 2021, that annual return rises to 38%, even when accounting for the sell-off in 2021. This performance reinforces the potential of such growth stocks.
The fund also reflects many of the holdings growth tech stock investors will likely own. As of the time of this writing, Ark Innovation's top holdings were Tesla (9.3%), Teladoc Health (7%), Roku (6.8%), Zoom Video Communications (6.1%), and Coinbase Global (5.8%). Other than Tesla, the stocks above each maintain a market cap of less than $50 billion.
Also, as of the end of 2021, 62% of the fund constituted stocks with market caps between $10 billion and $100 billion, a value range often targeted by growth-oriented investors. Wood had also invested only 11% of the fund in stocks with a market cap of over $100 billion.
Finally, the cloud computing, digital media, and e-commerce industries make up a combined 34% of the fund at year's end. At the same time, big data, blockchain, IoT, and mobile each constituted about 5% of the fund's investments. Such a focus is a testament to Ark Innovation's technology focus.
Taking stock of the growth tech sector
The performance discrepancy between the largest tech stocks and the rest of the market may have left investors confused. However, the performance of the Ark Innovation ETF not only confirms that growth investors have not imagined the recent decline but also shows how the fund can serve as an index for these stockholders.
More importantly, these investors should also focus on Ark Innovation's long-term performance. If such stocks can beat the market long-term, it may give investors the needed confidence to stay the course amid recent declines.


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UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute
Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG) transforms the lives of children and families through interdisciplinary research, technical assistance, implementation, and outreach. We generate knowledge, inform policies, and support practices to promote positive developmental and educational outcomes for children of all backgrounds and abilities from the earliest years. Our ultimate aim: to help each and every child reach their full potential.
- Chris Barnes
- Associate Director of Development for University Initiatives
- [email protected] Support UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute


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The perfect spring salad for any occasion and one bound to impress with its colourful spread. You’ll be bounding with energy like a spring chicken from the benefits of greens, good fats found in goats cheese and almonds, protein found in chicken, immune bolstering vitamins from blueberries plus added zinc and B vitamins from Chicken Bone Broth Miso Ramen. This is the kind of chicken salad we’d cross the road for!
1 avocado, sliced
1 cup blueberries
2 cups of rocket
1 cup cucumber, diced
2 chicken breast
½ cup almonds
100g goat cheese or feta crumbled
Juice of ½ lemon
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
2 tbsp Chicken Bone Broth Chicken Miso Ramen
- Pound the chicken breast to 1cm thickness by placing them between baking paper and gently pound with a rolling pin, remove baking paper, then season with salt and pepper.
- Fry chicken breast for 4 minutes on the first side until golden brown, then turn and fry for another 3 to 5 minutes on the other side until fully cooked through.
- Slice into strips
- Mix together lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, broth and salt until combined.
- Place the salad ingredients and chicken on a large salad dish, drizzle with salad dressing.

domain: food


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CIMIC Group awarded capital works contract from Taswater
By Scott Dywer on 14 December 2018
Valued at approximately $600 million, CIMIC Group companies CPB Contractors and UGL Limited have been awarded the contract to deliver the capital works program that will support and develop wastewater as well as water infrastructure and other vital regional water projects in Tasmania.
Together with Taswater, the two CIMIC companies are set to create an Alliance that will deliver infrastructure planning, project development and capital works across Taswater’s regional assets throughout the State.
Initially, the multi-million dollar capital works program contract is going to be carried out for over four years.
Photo courtesy of PlantMiner Blog

domain: finance