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There is no such thing as a good year in the garden. Nor a bad one. Some years are wetter, dryer, hotter or colder than others. The important thing is that we grow as many different fruits and nuts and vegetables as possible.
Last year, for example, was a disaster for fruits. A very mild winter, and a late frost. I wrote about it the far better fruit situation this year in The Fruit Forecast, along with a prediction that the stores would be full of jam this year. Which indeed they are. And sitting as I am in my study, I can look out into the orchard, and see apples and damsons swelling in the early-autumn rains.
Potatoes have been exceptional. Lots of heat, lots of rain, and with three rows of the heaviest-cropping mains still in the ground, I have already eaten 30 kilos, and have at least 150 in the stores. The pumpkins were a disaster, but that was my fault and it won't happen again next year; the superabundancy of the bean-vines is truly something astonishing. I am not going to starve this winter!
But, the tomatoes.
I have spoken to professional growers, sef-sufficiency types, alotmonteers, hobbyists and two-pot backyard tomtao fans, and no-one has escaped a miserable year for tomatoes.
Blight in the common-tongue refers to an unsightly element out of place, to urban decay, neglect and dereliction. In the horticultural lexicon, it is a plant's response to infection.
The catastrophic loss of the potato harvest which lead to the Irish Potato Famine was caused by blight. Blight destroyed just about every mature chestnut tree in North America. And blight, the fungal infection of the pathogen altrnaria is the scourge of the homesteader throughout Europe. (it might be inaccurate, but we talk about blight as the response to the infection, the fungus and the disease all as if they are the same thing)
Blight is basically unavoidable. It happens most easily when the leaves of the tomato plants get wet and stay wet, especially when the air is warm. This is why you never water the leaves but the ground. And why you mulch tomatoes heavily. They hate getting dry anyway, but the more moisture you can retrain around their feet, the less you have to water them, the less chance you give the blight spores a chance to gain a hold. Every year, a few plants will get infected leaves. These are removed and burned. Sometimes, a whole plant gets it. Same same, pull it up and burn it.
This year, every single one of my 62 outdoor plants got it, and got it bad.
This year, it feels like we had a lot of rain. In fact, my super-special water reservoir which normally dries out by the middle of July was at its highest level I have ever seen it at that time. At the same time, the meteorologists are telling us that this was the hottest summer ever.
It's not going to get better. It is going to get hotter and wetter and more changeable.
Is this the time to start seriously considering tomatoes as a luxury item? The polytunnel tomatoes, where the climate can be more tightly regulated, and where the air is somewhat protected from free-flying fungal spores, have been fine. This also seems to be the experience of most everyone else. But in the field, can the unstoppable trend of warmer air and wetter weather lead us to annual the catastrophic losses of our entire tomato crop? And if so, for how many more years will we persist in growing field tomatoes, and budgetting their appearance int he winter stores, until this is so predictable that we give up stop growing them? Like in Interstellar, when the only crop you can grow is Corn, but the guy next door is still persistsing (and failing) with rye.
I sing loudly the praises of the tomato's place in the self sufficient garden. They crop long and heavy and in a normal (whatever that means. I guess it means "historical") year, I can take 3 - 6 kilos a day and make a super variety of sauces and ketchups and passatas and bottle the summer sunshine on a daily basis. This year, I got maybe 3 kilos in total. Not only that, but the year is most definitely over for the field tomato. It should just be kicking off in bulk about now.
Germination at the start of the year was shit. Potting on (taking tomato seedlings and putting them in bigger pots with more suitable compost) was slow. Planting out (transferring them to the field) was delayed by rain. There was an additional, non-climate pressure on my tomato plants this year. I put my back out during a bit of a heat wave and couldn't water them for two days. This was not great, but should mostly affect the growth of the fruits rather than anything else. And then the blight. It came, it took them all in a matter of three or four days during which the weather went ☀⛈☀⛈☀⛈☀⛈☀⛈☀
The joy of a winter store full of tomato-based creations is cheering throughout the monochrome wintery half of the year is not something that I want to live without. But hey, I always said that one of the reasons I was here was to figure out what climate change means.
I have a horrible feeling that the first conclusion is going to be that european tomatoes are a luxury, not a staple.

domain: agronomy


My young son laughs when he first hears the song. “Who would want a hippopotamus for Christmas?” he asks, his nose scrunching up. He then imagines, out loud, the mayhem that would ensue with a hippo under the tree.
He’s referring to an old holiday tune, “I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas,” a song with its own interesting history. It debuted in 1953, sung by a 10-year-old Gayla Peevey, and reached the Billboard charts. But the song faded quickly. Peevey went on to an interesting and productive life outside the limelight. Then, in 2016, the U.S. Postal Service featured the song in a television ad.
That ad rejuvenated interest in the song, and now it’s a part of most holiday music rotations, including the one playing right now in my home.
But let’s consider my son’s question: “Who would want a hippopotamus under the tree?”
It turns out, this idea may not be as far-fetched as it seems. In fact, there have been several high-profile instances where people have received hippos as gifts, and in turn, these have had consequences for conservation.
And let’s also not forget that while you might want a hippo, many rivers need them. So I hope you enjoy these hippo stories for the holidays.
The ruthless Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar is often considered the wealthiest criminal in history, worth an estimated $30 billion at the time of his death in 1993. He used this wealth to purchase a number of truly astonishing properties, including his own island. And he enjoyed many of the ostentatious trappings of the super-rich, like fast cars and gold-plated showerheads.
And he loved exotic animals, with a menagerie on one Colombian property containing elephants, giraffes, ostriches and other creatures. But what most visitors noticed first was the estate’s pond, home to several hippos.
Owning exotic pets is not in itself noteworthy, but this story took a weird twist after Escobar was killed in a raid. Authorities gathered up the exotic beasts and placed them in zoos, but the hippos proved too unruly to capture. So they left the hippos in their pond, where they bred and prospered. And then moved into the nearby Magdalena River.
Most recent estimates place the population between 60 and 120 hippos, and the population is growing. It is the only hippo population living wild outside Africa.
What exactly should be done with these hippos is the subject of heated debate. Hippos are not easy neighbors; they are aggressive and dangerous. In 2009, when one hippo killed local cattle along the Magdalena, and charged people, hunters were authorized to kill it. This generated such a huge public outcry that it scuttled any future plans for hippo culls.
In Africa, hippos are ecosystem engineers (more on this soon). A paper published this year in the journal Ecology found that hippos could also reengineer their new home in Colombia. The article found hippo poop in Colombian freshwater lakes foster cyanobacteria (also known as blue-green algae), potentially leading to eutrophication and fish kills. While this is not a problem yet, with unchecked population growth, it could have substantial future impacts.
But another paper published this year, appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, argues that hippos in South America could perform valuable ecological functions that have been missing since the Pleistocene. The paper argues that hippos could serve as effective replacements for now-extinct megafauna that once roamed the continent. Think of it as a case of accidental rewilding.
This is a controversial idea, and like anything associated with the topic of Pleistocene rewilding, has as much to do with human values as with science.
Regardless, the hippos are still swimming and roaming along the Magdalena, the world’s largest invasive species.
A Presidential Hippo
Unlike Pablo Escobar, President Calvin Coolidge was not known for outlandish tastes. He was often called “Silent Cal” for his reluctance to speak unless absolutely necessary. Let’s just say he would be unlikely to own a Twitter account and leave it at that.
Still, Coolidge had one thing in common with Escobar: a love of weird pets. His White House lawn featured a menagerie that included a wallaby, lion cubs, a bobcat and more. At one point he received a gift of a raccoon, meant for Thanksgiving dinner, which he pardoned and then kept as a beloved, if troublesome, house pet.
Arguably Coolidge’s most unusual pet was Billy, a pygmy hippo he also received as a gift. The pygmy hippo is a different species than the much larger common hippo found widely in Africa. Pygmy hippos are secretive and rare, found in western African rainforests.
Pygmy hippos are small only in relation to other hippos; they can weigh more than 600 pounds. Coolidge quickly donated Billy to the National Zoo, where he became one of the more popular animals. According to the Presidential Pet Museum, he was as “frisky as a dog.” He’s also a big part of the reason why, while pygmy hippos are nearly impossible to find in the wild, they are not uncommon in zoos.
Billy sired 23 calves in his life, 13 of which survived more than a year. These were shared with other zoos, and most pygmy hippos in U.S. zoos today can trace their lineage back to Billy.
In the early 1900s, a couple of entrepreneurs had their own dreams of hippos, and lots of them. In fact, their idea to turn large swaths of the southern United States into hippo ranches actually reached Congress for funding support.
The U.S. at the time faced a meat shortage, and the proposed solution was to set a bunch of hippos free in southern wetlands and bayous. The idea was that hippos could utilize a lot of habitat unsuitable for cows or other livestock and would provide tons of meat in the process. Journalist Jon Mooallem wrote a long-form piece on this quixotic agricultural quest, “American Hippo,” a story that involves rival spies and lots of other intrigue.
Obviously, the idea fizzled. It is often presented today as a nearly unbelievable scheme. But I find it entirely believable, as agricultural entrepreneurs are always searching for “alternative livestock” that will provide profit and new opportunity. Shortly after the hippo idea, other entrepreneurs thought the southern United States would be perfect for raising nutria for furs. Unlike the hippos, the nutrias were introduced – and are now a devastating invasive species.
Alternative livestock more often resembles a pyramid scheme, or the idea goes nowhere. I visited one Nature Conservancy preserve in Arizona that, under a previous owner, was the site of an experiment in farming eland, the large African antelope. While touring a Conservancy conservation project in Texas, I was surprised to see a herd of zebra galloping across a neighboring property.
People move animals around, sometimes as exotic pets, sometimes as the next big thing in livestock, sometimes as game animals and sometimes just because we love to tinker. This is why there are camels in Australia, African oryx in New Mexican deserts and pythons in the Everglades. But, thankfully, there are not 4,000-pound hippos in the bayou.
Why Rivers Need Hippos
As the holiday song goes, “I want a hippopotamus for Christmas. Only a hippopotamus will do…”. Well, for many aquatic habitats in sub-Saharan Africa, this sentiment is literally true. A hippo hero fundamentally shapes rivers and entire ecosystems. There is a robust recent literature on the ecological role of hippos: hours of reading for the nature nerd.
As Glynnis Hood points out in her excellent new book, Semi-Aquatic Mammals: Ecology and Biology (Johns Hopkins University Press), the common hippopotamus is an ecosystem engineer. The hippo can “create broad networks of deep trails that fill with water and enhance aquatic connectivity and change the distribution of water.”
The hippos actually create levies that make shallow lagoons, used by fish to survive the dry season.
Hippos also change ecosystems through their prodigious poop. Anyone who has seen a hippo defecating (I have) knows it is a spectacle: the tail rotates as the hippo does its business. This is the definitive illustration of the you-know-what hitting the fan. I should also note that, as my son imagined a hippo under the tree, his thoughts inevitably drifted to this scenario.
Aside from the yuck factor, hippo dung has its own impacts on ecosystems. One recent paper published in Science Advances, found that hippos cycle silicon from grasses to rivers, where it feeds diatoms, the base of the freshwater food chain. But another study, this one published in Nature Communications, found that sometimes hippo dung consumes so much oxygen that it causes mass fish die-offs.
This might seem alarming, but it may actually be what a functioning ecosystem looks like. As the always-interesting science writer Ed Yong notes that our notions of what constitutes a healthy river may be lacking because we have seen so few rivers influenced by large mammals: “It’s not a babbling brook of clear water. It’s a world of dead bodies, putrefying poop, and the occasional wave of suffocation.”
Hippos face many pressures. While elephant poaching gets a lot of attention, hippos are also killed for their teeth, which are marketed as a cheaper version of ivory. This poaching has increased dramatically in recent years.
Climate change is also a threat, as hippos need water. Recent work by researchers at the University of California-Santa Barbara sought to track hippo movements, helping better conserve these animals in a changing environment. Hippos forced to move due to lack of water brings them in more conflict with local communities.
Hippos are not a laughing matter for rural Africans. They eat crops and kill people. The UC-Santa Barbara researchers make the case that river buffers with lots of vegetation help protect people from hippos, and hippos from people.
I hope the new research on hippos helps people gain a new appreciation for these giant mammals, and that we all work to protect them. They don’t belong under your tree, but they will play the role of “hippo hero” in rivers across their native range.


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The Beginner’s Guide To Shutter Speed
A photograph is a single moment in time. The shutter speed determines just how long that moment is, whether a few seconds, or just a fraction of a second. Any time a camera’s shutter is open, an image is being taken. It’s the shutter speed that determines just how long the shutter stays open. Understanding shutter speed is essential to mastering manual modes and taking complete control over your images.
What is shutter speed?
The camera’s shutter is what opens to let light in to take the image. Shutter speed isn’t necessarily how fast the shutter opens and closes, but how long it stays open, or the duration.
Since the camera’s shutter lets in light, a slow shutter speed lets in more light, while a short shutter speed lets in just a little. Of course, that means shutter speed has an impact on the exposure. In low lighting, a slower shutter speed is often necessary to let in enough light, or you’re left with a dark image.
Shutter speed is measured in seconds, or fractions of seconds. A very slow shutter speed will be a few seconds long. This is referred to as a long exposure. Fast shutter speeds are just a fraction of a second, like 1/8,000. Most cameras also have a bulb mode, which simply means the shutter stays open until the photographer presses the shutter release again. Bulb mode is helpful for when it’s unclear how long the shutter speed needs to be, or when the minimum shutter speed on the camera isn’t slow enough.
Shutter speed usually doubles from one setting to the next, so the available shutter speeds look a little like this (with the “ mark often used to designate seconds) :
Outdoors during the day, choosing a fast enough shutter speed isn’t usually a problem. Shooting indoors or at the end of the day, however, becomes a challenge. Since fast shutter speeds let in less light, a wider aperture or a higher ISO is necessary.
Shutter speed and blur
Anything that moves while the shutter is open results in blur. That’s why fast moving action requires a fast shutter speed. If the shutter speed is too slow, the subject will be blurry.
This simple concept, however, can be used in a number of different ways. Along with preventing blur, shutter speed can also be used for intentional blur. A long exposure with a slow shutter speed is often used to intentionally blur a subject. At slow shutter speeds, waterfalls become smooth, moving traffic becomes streaks of light and people become a busy blur. Long exposures are often used to convey motion within a single image.
Shutter speed is also essential to mastering techniques like panning and zoom burst. If you use a slower shutter speed, like a 1/60, then follow the action in a panning motion as the shutter is open, the subject will be clear, while the background will be blurred from the motion. In a zoom burst, using a slow shutter speed, like two seconds, and zooming while the image is being taken results in a blur that radiates towards the center of the image.
Shutter speed and camera shake
A slow shutter speed can also blur the entire image if the camera moves just slightly in your hands. A tripod helps prevent this by keeping the camera steady during the exposure. Image stabilisation also helps enable photographers to use a shutter speed that’s slow by a step or two, compared to using gear that’s not equipped with image stabilisation.
But how do you know if your shutter speed is enough to keep the camera handheld, or if you should use a tripod? Since telephoto lenses also enhance the effects of camera shake, the answer depends on what focal length you are using. As a general guideline, turn the focal length of your lens into a fraction: A 200mm telephoto becomes a 1/200, for example. So, if you are zoomed into 200mm, you should use a shutter speed of 1/200 seconds or faster. Camera shake is less intense on shorter lenses, so if you’re using your 55mm kit lens, you can get away with a 1/60 second shutter speed.
Shutter speed and flash
When adjusting the aperture and ISO isn’t enough to get a fast shutter speed with the proper exposure, a flash can help, but that’s not always the case. The flash often can’t keep up with fast shutter speeds. A camera’s flash sync speed indicates the fastest shutter speed that can be used with the flash on. On most DSLRs, the flash sync speed is 1/200 or 1/250.
Thankfully, the characteristics of the flash helps to freeze motion. In many cases where a 1/250 would be too slow, using the flash at 1/250 will often capture the shot without blur, even though without the flash at the same speed, there would be blur.
How to set shutter speed on a DSLR
Shutter speed can be set in either shutter priority mode, where you only choose the shutter speed, or full manual, where you choose shutter speed as well as the aperture and ISO.
On most DSLRs, the shutter speed isn’t displayed as a fraction (probably to preserve space), so 1/200 is written as 200. To see if that number is a fraction or a second, the “ symbol is used with shutter speeds of a second or longer, like 1” and 1.3”. If your DSLR has a second screen at the top of the camera, the shutter speed is usually displayed next to the aperture, or the number with an f in front of it. The shutter speed is also displayed when the shooting settings are on the LCD screen, and also at the bottom of the viewfinder, again, normally next to the aperture of f-number.
On most DSLRs, the control wheel that rests near your thumb adjusts the shutter speed. Try that dial and watch the numbers change. Some cameras with a single control dial use a function button to switch between adjusting [shutter speed and aperture.]
Like many aspects of photography, understanding shutter speed is best done with a bit of practice. Head out to someplace with plenty of moving subjects, like a racetrack, a local team’s match or a park. Use shutter priority mode (the S or Tv on the mode dial) and experiment with different shutter speeds to see, hands-on, what the different settings produce. Keep in mind the speed of the subject plays a role too, and try to match the shutter speed with the subject. How low can you get before the subject appears blurry? How low can you get before you notice some camera shake?
As one of the three elements of exposure, understanding shutter speed is essential to taking complete creative control over your photography.
To learn more about Shutter speed. Register at Upskillist today!
Looking to sharpen your photography skills? Join our top-rated photography course today!

domain: hobby


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Sadie & sage
Snap Button Closure Crop Top (LAVENDER)
This crop top is a new season go-to for you doll. Featuring a ribbed fabric with long sleeves and a snap button closure. Style with your fave denims, heels and a shoulder bag for a jeans and a nice top combo.

domain: design


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Kanye West played The Life of Pablo for the first time at Madison Square Garden and is now premiering the first video from the album tonight (June 24) at The Forum in Los Angeles.
The video for ‘Famous’ will debut at 7PM PST/10PM EST, but you can watch the event as it fills up now without having to sign up for Tidal. Scott Disick is there!
It will be interesting to see exactly what happens in the video as the song has been generating narrative once the lyrics (“I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / I made that bitch famous”) leaked before Pablo’s release. Kanye said he had gotten Swift’s blessing, which she vehemently denied. In a recent profile of Kim Kardashian in GQ, she alleged that Swift not only knew about the lyrics but demanded that footage of her giving her approval be destroyed. This could get weird!
Watch Aziz Ansari and Eric Wareheim’s unofficial video for the song that they made while filming season 2 of Master of None on location in Italy below while you wait.
Update: The launch is delayed by 45 minutes, but you can still watch Scott Disick and French Montana hang out with each other.
YE said we have to hold it 45min cause of traffic so everyone who bought tickets can come … RESET THE TIMER pic.twitter.com/HOyBLhj0xC
— ⚡ (@FADIA) June 25, 2016

domain: entertainment


Deviu delivers an excellent standout EP titled 'Duality' including two tracks on Ear Porn Music.
Existence is a shimmering melodic house trip to the stars. The chords are lush and the beats deep, and the whole thing cas…
Amazing work, Deviu! X


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Traditionally Hand Carved Bodhisattva Manjushri Sculpture
We have exquisitely hand-carved the sculpture of Bodhisattva Manjushri in an oxidized copper body, plated with silver and bronze, and gilded the face with 24k gold. You can use this statue in traditional Vajrayana practices and your regular meditational or yoga practices. We have used precious turquoise and corals to embellish the crown, while we have adorned the ornaments with valuable gemstones and embellishments. We assure you that the materials used in this artwork are of high quality and will last for many years without damage or scratches. This Himalayan art of Nepal will be a great gift to a practitioner like you.
Size: 8.2"/21cm (Height) x 5.9"/15cm (Base)
Weight: 1.618 kg
Material: 24k Gold Gilded, Bronze, Oxidized Copper Body, Acrylic Paintings
Manjushri means "very auspicious" in Sanskrit. Manjushri, one of the compassion bodhisattvas, is more famous among Tibetan Buddhists. He, as the Buddha Resplendent, resembles a brilliant sun. Manjushri is a Tibetan name that means "good companion." He also represents the Kadampa Buddhist tradition, recognized by its scholars.


Pacific Press/Sipa USA/NewscomNigeria's military today justified the deaths of Shia protesters using U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks suggesting American soldiers might fire on rock-throwing migrants.
"They want to throw rocks at our military-our military fights back", Trump said Thursday.
"Please watch and make your deductions", said the army in a post on its official Twitter account.
The Nigerian army posted - then later deleted - a video on Twitter of President Donald Trump bashing the migrant caravan heading north through Mexico.
Human rights activists and many Nigerians were outraged at the military's response, which echoed a similar confrontation in 2015, when soldiers killed almost 350 protesters from the same group, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, the largest and most recognizable face of Shiite Islam in the country.
Dozens Of Yemeni Rebels Killed In Red Sea Port City - Medics
The clashes came hours after the Saudi-UAE alliance said it had bombed Sanaa International Airport and an adjoining airbase. After UN-backed peace talks collapsed in September, the coalition announced it was relaunching an assault on Hodeida.
The Nigerian Army has defended its use of fire power in the wake of attacks from protesters in the capital, Abuja. While the Nigerian government put the number of those killed by gunfire at 3 according to New York Times, International organizations such as Amnesty International put the number of deaths at more than 40. He also said the USA military is trained to fight back against anyone in the migrant caravan who throw rocks at soldiers.
"They met the soldiers in the call of their duty, and the soldiers tried to defend themselves", The Guardian quoted army spokesman John Agim as saying. We are not going to put up with that.
"When they throw rocks. consider it as a rifle", Trump said in the video. When they throw rocks like they did at the Mexico military and police, I say consider it a rifle. What did David use to kill Goliath?
The IMN leader, Ibrahim Zakzaky, has been in custody since 2015, when an army crackdown allegedly killed 300 of his supporters who were buried in mass graves, according to rights groups. Videos of the confrontations show the military opening fire as protesters hurl rocks, and shooting numerous fleeing demonstrators in the back, The New York Times reported.
"So, a stone is a weapon", he said.
Nigeria, Africa's largest economy, is nearly evenly split between a mostly Muslim north - which is predominantly Sunni - and a largely Christian south. A few days ago, three white men seeking a lenient prison sentence after being convicted for plotting to bomb Somali Muslim refugees in Kansas filed a sentencing memorandum blaming the president's Islamophobic rhetoric for persuading them to do so.


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Lanark Artefax, Call Super, Objekt, Floating Points, Pan Daijing, and more will all play.
XLR8R travels to Croatia for the annual festival's second edition.
The Dutch festival powerhouse will debut in São Paulo in February.
'Chapter 3: Lena Willikens Remixes' is scheduled for October 7 release.
The fifth edition of Rewire is set to take place between April 1 - 3 in The Hague, Netherlands.
Announcement includes performances from Blanck Mass, Daphni b2b Floating Points, Flako, Godblesscomputers, Helena Hauff and Philipp Gorbachev
The Cologne label's ongoing compilation series returns next week with contributions from Lena Willikens, Matias Aguayo, Barnt, Christian S, and more.


- Power supply: +3.3V~+5V;
- Signal output: Under the condition of 20.9% oxygen concentration, output a voltage signal of about 2.0V (theoretical value, in practice, it needs to be corrected by the slope of the acquisition software according to the difference of the probe);
- Reference voltage: +2.5V, accuracy 1%, externally output by the signal board, which can be used to collect the external Vref voltage of the microcontroller to improve the sampling accuracy;
- Power-on control: effective at high level (>2V), mainly used for interval collection applications that need to save energy (such as battery power), and when the probe remains online, it does not need to be stable after power-on again Time, data can be collected directly!
- Oxygen probe: suitable for 4OXV, O2-A2, GS+4OX, etc., read the probe introduction in the shop carefully, and when the probe is connected for the first time, it takes 5-10 minutes to stabilize!
- Provide supporting probe service;
- Support customized services
- Schematic diagrams, PCB, source code services are not provided for direct-sale products in stores;


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What can a book fair do for you? There’s very little that they can’t do for you, really. They attract, quite literally, tens of thousands of highly passionate literary aficionados to further the art form that is the book. The London Book Fair alone attracts tens of thousands of attendees from over one hundred countries, and members of the media as well. Book fairs are positively packed with crowds of people determined to find new books to read and authors to follow. The book fair is a unique and unparalleled experience, and your self-publishing book belongs there.
It’s easy to think of book fairs as the stomping ground of the New York Times bestseller list, but they’re also for aspiring self-publishing authors, and the choice to include a book fair or two in your marketing plan may literally change your life … and sell a lot of books! Think about it: your book is a bonafide example of an author designing and creating and publishing exactly what he or she envisioned. Isn’t that exactly the sort of ethic and product that has a home at book fairs? Artistic integrity creates its own gravity, its own magnetic attraction to readers. Fair-goers pick up on authenticity right away!
A book fair revolves around authors and the worlds that they create. People can order whatever they like online — but people still flock to book fairs everywhere around the world. And why? Because they want to participate in the social world of books. They want to meet the people who make books happen.
If you’re worried about having to manage a booth at a book fair alone, here’s a solution which might appeal: Companies like Outskirts Press send representatives to book fairs for you. We sponsor booths to feature self-published books at home and abroad. We pay careful attention to the best ways in which one can section off space and create a warm and welcoming atmosphere out of a fair or exhibition space. We advocate for your book and send all leads for interested buyers directly to you for follow-up.
So, how do you make your book the star of the show? Good news, it’s easy! Log into your Publishing Center at www.outskirtspress.com and click on the Marketing Solutions menu. There, you’ll find a number of individual book fairs, such as Beijing or Frankfurt as well as a combination tour package. We have just the right way to help you take your book global!

domain: literature


I have walked to the Bone Caves many times with my family on holidays.
This time I did it alone, which felt a little strange but did allow me to take a further wander up the Glen beyond the Bone caves for a short while….this section is not included in the walk details below and though it was very enjoyable its not recommended with children.
The Bone Caves walk takes you up the Glen of the Allt nan Uamh (Burn of the Caves).
The whole walk is about four kilometres long and is mostly on a good path. The walk is suitable for families — but not for pushchairs,
Start from the Allt nan Uamh car park, about four kilometres south of Inchnadamph.
About 800 metres from the car park, you reach a small crag to the left of the path, and the first view of Creag nan Uamh (Crag of the Caves) appears.
Look at the river. Most of the water doesn’t flow from higher up the glen instead, it is appearing from almost beneath your feet. This is a big spring, the Fuaran Allt nan Uamh. The limestone in this area is so permeable that the water flows through it in a series of caves and cracks. My boys were always amazed at the full flowing river suddenly dissapearing upstream….it became known as the magic river. The river bed above the spring is dry, except during heavy rain, when the underground system can’t take all the water and it flows on the surface.
About 500 metres beyond the spring, cross the dry stream bed and climb up to the Bone Caves. There are four caves, formed thousands of years ago, before the last ice age, as water gradually dissolved the limestone along cracks and faults. Over thousands of years, the glen has deepened, cutting away part of the cave system, and leaving the caves as we see today high on the side of the glen.
Digs here have found the bones of wolves, bears, lynxes and arctic foxes. Reindeer bones and antlers have also been found. Human artefacts and bones have also been found in the caves. Nowadays its just red deer that are the common sight in the glen.
This glen is very popular with cavers. The Bone Caves do not go far into the hillside, but the entrance to the longest cave system in Scotland, the Uamh an Claonaite, is nearby. From the caves, follow the path that continues beneath the crag. This path drops down, crosses the sometimes flooded dry river via stepping stones and then follows the river back down the glen.Rejoin the main path again at the fork. The whole walk takes approximatly 2 hours.


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Since Colin and I both get the weekends off we've been able to get some hikes in. (I just have to say the Staples in San Francisco is ssllllooowww, but they close at 7, Saturday's 11-3 and closed Sunday, thank you Financial District) Anyways, our first hike was at Rock City in Mount Diablo State Park with the Wood family. Colin keeps his car in Berkeley so first we had to take BART out there to pick up his car, then we met Becky's family to head up to Rock City. We climbed some small and large boulders, wandered through some trees and hiked up to a look point. From the top of the rock we hiked to you are able to see Livermore county and over 20 more counties from the top. The kids hiked with us the whole way! Jonah kept climbing on everything he could, Isaiah did too but insisted on sliding down all the rocks on his bum, resulting in his jeans getting holes. Analynn kept saying she was too scared to go on the rocks, but half way through she was Merida from the move Brave and was brave enough to jump and climb on the rocks. After the hike we drove up to the Diablo Valley Overlook and took out Colin's binoculars to see all the way to San Francisco Bay!
|Isaiah, after the climb to the top of the rock|
|Jonah & Isaiah|

domain: geography


Starley has premiered the music video for her new single online.
The Australian singer-songwriter posted the visual clip for “Call on Me (Ryan Riback Remix)” to her Vevo channel on Wednesday (January 18, 2017).
The track – which was co-written and originally produced by Peter “P-Money” Wadams – is now available via iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon, Google Play, Tidal and all other digital streaming platforms.
As mentioned in earlier posts, Starley is currently working on her upcoming debut album under Tinted Records and Epic Records.
The still-untitled project will boast productions from Salaam Remi, who is known for his association with Nas (“The Don”), Amy Winehouse (“Stronger Than Me”), Miguel (“How Many Drinks?”), and Alicia Keys (“Girl on Fire”).
Watch the music video for “Call on Me” below.


Surveying lanes for RT-Range maps
The survey trolley provides a convenient way of lane surveying when doing vehicle-to-lane measurements with the RT-Range S. The RT-Range S line survey tool software makes creating straight and curved lines simple.
Please note: an adapter plate and updated config file is required to support the RT3000 v3, to ensure a secure mount and accuracy.
Create and save lane maps
Storage space for a battery, laptop computer and an RT unit
Survey the lane markings, then turn them into a map using the map creation wizard (included)
Adapter plate available for v3 device support
Lane keeping ADAS testing
Capture lane markings and turn them into a map
For lane tracking tests, OxTS has a dedicated survey trolley that can be used to survey lane markings and includes software to capture each line and add it to a map.
The survey trolley is designed to keep the GPS antenna high, so the accuracy is not reduced by multipath (caused by reflections from a person above it). The survey trolley can accommodate a battery, laptop computer and an RT.
The survey is done by using one of the survey trolley wheels as the measurement point to provide the best accuracy.
Straight or curved lanes
The line survey software can be used to store the straight or even curved line measurements into a file and turn it in to a map. The map can be downloaded in to the RT-Range S and then the lane measurements begin.


text:
These cheesy Korean nachos are perfect for a get-together or any night of the week! You will want to marinate the meat overnight to let the sauce really soak in for full flavor.
- Southern Art Original Korean BBQ Sauce
- Short rib (cut flank style) or ribeye or flank steak
- Tortilla chips
- Shredded Mexican cheese
- Tomatoes or pico de gallo
- Fresh or pickled jalapeños
- Southern Art Original Hot Sauce
- In a large glass mixing bowl or plastic bag, place your meat and cover generously with Southern Art Original Korean BBQ Sauce and let it marinate either overnight or at least 12 hours.
- After marinating, grill your meat. Ideally, you would grill your meat over a charcoal grill for that smoky flavor, but here's a hack that my mom taught me that makes it so easy for quick weeknights and zero mess: heat your oven-safe pan to medium-high heat on the stove and grill the meat gently on each side until about medium-rare and then finish off by broiling in the oven on high heat on the highest rack for a few minutes on each side.
- Cut the grilled meat into bite-sized pieces.
- On a large baking sheet, spread out a layer of tortilla chips and top with cheese. Pop the chips and cheese in the oven at 350°F for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is all bubbly and melted.
- Top with the grilled meat, tomatoes or pico de gallo, fresh or pickled jalapeños, sliced avocado, and cilantro. Feel free to add any other toppings you love, such as sour cream, black beans, etc.
- If you like it a little spicy, drizzle with Southern Art Original Hot Sauce on top and enjoy!

domain: food


text:
March 29 – On Wednesday, the House International Trade and Job Creation Committee, chaired by Representative Jerry Nolte, approved legislation that would dramatically reduce the tax burden of every employer in Missouri, provide a short amnesty period to allow delinquent taxpayers to “get straight” with the Department of Revenue, enhance collection of delinquent taxes, and… Read More AIM’s Broad Based Tax Relief Act Advances
March 21 – The House Committee on International Trade and Job Creation heard AIM’s bill HB 1639, sponsored by Committee Chairman Representative Jerry Nolte Wednesday evening. Rep. Nolte presented a committee substitute bill that will replace the original bill. Working with AIM President Ray McCarty, Rep. Nolte combined the following issues into the substitute bill:… Read More AIM’s Broad Based Tax Relief Act Hearing Held
March 16 – Associated Industries of Missouri (AIM), on behalf of employers across Missouri, is extremely disappointed in Governor Jay Nixon’s veto of legislation that would have prevented employees from suing each other in workplace accidents, continued coverage for occupational diseases under the “no-fault” worker’s compensation system, and protected employers from frivolous lawsuits that leave employers nearly defenseless against… Read More Associated Industries of Missouri Extremely Disappointed in Governor Jay Nixon’s Veto of Two Major Priority Bills
ATTENTION MISSOURI EMPLOYERS: Representative Jerry Nolte has scheduled a hearing on Associated Industries of Missouri’s (AIM) priority legislation that will reduce business income taxes for EVERY Missouri business. The hearing on the Broad Based Tax Relief Act (HB 1639) will be held by the House International Trade and Job Creation Committee on Wednesday, March 21, 2012, at… Read More SUPPORT CUTTING MISSOURI EMPLOYERS’ INCOME TAX IN HALF!
March 13 – Today, AIM President Ray McCarty sent letters to Governor Nixon asking him to sign two bills that would improve workplace law for employers and employees. You too can let Governor Nixon know you want him to sign these bills by visiting our “Get Involved” page here. House Bill 1219 protects Missouri’s employers… Read More Associated Industries of Missouri Asks Governor To Sign Work Comp and Employment Law Bills
March 8 – The Missouri Senate today gave final approval to HB 1219, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Elmer and handled in the Senate by Senator Brad Lager. The bill would align Missouri’s Human Rights Act with the federal human rights laws and protect true whistle-blowers that are truly warning of illegal acts of their employer. Associated… Read More Employment Law Reform Passes General Assembly – On Way To Governor’s Desk
March 8 – When the Worker’s Compensation bill that addresses co-employee liability and occupational disease was passed by the Missouri House yesterday, there were several interesting votes. One Democrat voted for the bill, Rep. Terry Swinger, while 16 Republicans voted against the bill. Four Democrats and four Republicans were absent for the vote. The bill… Read More Worker’s Compensation Bill – Interesting Votes

domain: news


text:
Harissa Beef & Chickpea Tagine
This aromatic dish is full of warm rich spices and tender mouthwatering beef. The addition of soft apricots add a welcomed sweetness to the dish and cuts through the rich tomato based sauce. Serve it as a hearty main dish or as part of a Mezze platter with Cous Cous or flatbreads.
Cooking time: 3 hours
1kg Ox Cheeks
800g Tinned Chickpeas
300g Soft Dried Apricots, cut in half
1 large Brown Onion, roughly chopped
2 Bell Peppers, roughly chopped
1 Tin Chopped Tomatoes
3 tbsp Angus & Oink Ras El Hanout
- Preheat oven to 160c.
- Cut the ox cheeks into large chunks then add them to a deep heavy bottomed pan or Dutch oven and sear all over.
- Add the onion, peppers, chickpeas, tomatoes and stir in the Ras El Hanout. Cover with a lid and place in the oven and cook for 3 hours. Half way into cooking, stir in the chopped apricots then return to the oven.
- Once cooked, remove from oven and serve with Cous Cous and garnish with chopped fresh mint and parsley.


EXCLUSIVE: We all know that tensions rise during those final weeks leading up to the Academy Awards as media outlets decide who’s worthy and who’s not. So this begs the question: with so much money and prestige at stake, is it possible for even major and reputable media outlets to voice any negativel opinions while Oscar campaigning is underway? Especially if they want Academy Award contenders to take out ads and sit for interviews and come to parties? Increasingly, no.
It’s well known that The Hollywood Reporter and Variety cravenly promise Oscar hopefuls flattering coverage. But Vanity Fair? Granted, its year-round showbiz coverage has all the heft of a marshmallow. But its Deputy Editor Bruce Handy this Oscar season wrote for the magazine’s website one brief but hardly brutal column dissecting Jessica Chastain‘s body of work. This wasn’t some freelancer: this was the magazine’s #2 who dared to express mild criticism about the Best Actress Oscar nominee for Zero Dark Thirty. “I’m surprised it’s being hailed as one of the year’s great performances, and that it has earned her an Oscar nomination for best actress,” Handy opined. “It’s not the sort of flashy thing, like playing a transgendered murder victim or quadriplegic boxer, that the Academy normally rewards.” He included much praise but also said Chastain was an “empty vessel”‘ and “recessive presence” who doesn’t “quite hold your eye”.
The piece posted on the VF website January 25th at a pivotal point in Oscar campaigning: just before final paper ballots went out and online voting began. Within a day, the analysis was gone. Not just gone from the VF website but really really really erased from the Internet at large. (Replaced by this sassy VF error message flaunting top editor Graydon Carter.) Publicists for Sony Pictures and Chastain’s BNC flackery told me it was “not true” that VF deleted the article. But, to its credit, Vanity Fair owned up to it. Explained VF spokeswoman Beth Kseniak: “We took it down because it ran counter to what a number of people at the magazine believed.”
Ran counter to what? Its 19th annual Vanity Fair Hollywood issue whose centerpiece was a 44-page Bruce Weber portfolio completed over 8 days photographing 125 people including 75+ actors? Or this year’s crop of invitations to the VF Hollywood party? (Actual attendees, who haven’t been diissed by the magazine in decades, included Ben Affleck, Daniel Day-Lewis, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Lawrence, Anne Hathaway, Ang Lee, Chris Terrio, Quentin Tarantino, Amy Adams, Jennifer Aniston, Elizabeth Banks, Jason Bateman, Kate Beckinsale, Len Wiseman, Halle Berry, Orlando Bloom, Kate Bosworth, Russell Brand, Adrien Brody, Sandra Bullock, Gerard Butler, Sacha Baron Cohen, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chris Evans, Jane Fonda, Jamie Foxx, Richard Gere, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jon Hamm, Armie Hammer, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Hugh Jackman, Tommy Lee Jones, Taylor Lautner, Michael Pena, Chris Pine, Natalie Portman, Daniel Radcliffe, Jeremy Renner, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Amanda Seyfried, Hilary Swank, Channing Tatum, Marisa Tomei, Chris Tucker, Naomi Watts, Liev Schreiber, Reese Witherspoon, Judd Apatow, Steve Martin, Melissa McCarthy, JJ Abrams, Jerry Bruckheimer, Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, Cameron Crowe, Tom Hooper, Ron Howard, Penny Marshall, Brett Ratner, David O. Russell, Bryan Singer, Steven Spielberg, Aaron Sorkin, Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz, Barbara Broccoli, Brian Grazer, Kathleen Kennedy, Graham King, Jane Rosenthal, Megan Ellison, Jim Berkus, Ari Emanuel, Kevin Huvane, Bryan Lourd, Richard Lovett, Patrick Whitesell, Michael Barker, Tom Bernard, Rob Friedman, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Donna Langley, John Lasseter, Jeff Robinov, Sir Howard Stringer, Harvey Weinstein?)
Here’s the article which Vanity Fair worked so hard to erase. Judge for yourself:
The Jessica Chastain Conundrum: Greatest Actress of Her Generation or Found Art?
By Bruce Handy
Movie acting is a strange, alchemic art. This weekend, for instance, you can go to your local multiplex and see Jessica Chastain play a credibly fierce C.I.A. officer in Zero Dark Thirty. Then you can go next door and see Mama, in which Chastain plays the least fierce, least credible punk rocker in the history of film. Maggie Smith could have done it with more edge and nerve. (more…)


text:
They still have to lose a lot more dead weight.
In a year or so, she can go on Fox and give history lessons to all the Fox “news” viewers.-Maybe she can even get fox to bring back Glen Beck.-Ann Coulter called Bill Maher misogynistic because he called Michelle Bachman nuts.
Yeah, but Sarah Palin is fundraising for a Senate run. From people in states other than Alaska. O_o
Ms. Bachman has a large family, a family farm, and many other responsibilities to draw her attention. However, it will not surprise me to find she has found a place in Mr. Murdoch’s companies, or at a conservative think tank, or perhaps even a job as a lobbyist. While I disagreed with her political positions, her qualities as a mother and citizen deserve respect. I know those involved in political satire will miss her.Respectfully,C.
Looks like you lost some crazy, Dumb(o).
April 12, 2017
May 10, 2018
June 11, 2017
July 06, 2017
November 24, 2017
December 06, 2017


text:
Pets in the Park
19th May 2013
One of the biggest pet event in Cheshire and its FREE ....
Bratts Spring Fashion Show
21st May 2013
in aid of St Luke's Hospice ....
6th Jul 2013 - 7th Jul 2013
Starting with a pression from Albion Road near Sainsburys then up on Verdin Park for the crowning of the Queen.
Exhibition: Well aw'm gawmed!
Weaver Hall Museum
2nd Feb 2013 - 16th Jun 2013
An exciting special exhibition which explores the dialect of Cheshire linking it to its wider history ....
Dickinson's Real Deal is coming to Northwich
Mid Cheshire College - Hartford Campus
18th May 2013
Why let your antiques collect dust in the attic when you can sell them for cash?
Mad Hatters Tea Party
Davenports Farm Shop & Tea Rooms
7th Jul 2013
Why not Book a Mad Hatters Afternoon Tea and have a wacky experience at Davenports Tea Room ....
Local Places to Visit
- Northwich Woodlands
- Comberbach Memorial Hall
- Anderton Boat Lift
- The Lion Salt Works
- Weaver Square Shopping Centre
- Northwich Memorial Hall
- St Helen's Church
- Harlequin Theatre
- The Dock Road Pumping Station
- Weaver Hall Museum
- Hartford Golf Club
- Mid Cheshire College - Hartford Campus
- St Mary's Church, Weaverham
- Marshall’s Arm Local Nature Reserve
Marbury Country Park near Northwich
21st May 2012
In Marbury Country Park ....
An evening workshop led by professional photographers Tracy and John Langley in Anderton Nature Park. There will be a small charge. You will need to secure your place by phoning the number below.
Contact: Alan Redley on 01606 44728
A former residence of the Smith-Barry family, Marbury Country Park is now managed by Cheshire West and Chester as a country park.
The walks and trails take visitors through the historical landscape which includes the magnificent Lime avenues, Arboretum and raised terraces which provide glimpses of Budworth mere. The ancient woodland, open parkland and streams provide a rich haven for a host of wildlife from Bats to Beetles
Please Note: The information regarding this event was correct at the date of publication. Whilst we strive to keep our information up to date, this information can change without notice. Please check with the event before attending.


text: The Super Bowl was better than I expected. Let's not take anything away from the Cardinals; they played their hearts out. It was a much better match-up than I expected, especially since I didn't think Arizona's defense could keep up with the Steelers' O. Congrats to the Steelers. They have been a great organization for as long as I can remember. Since my 'Skins still need to figure out how to win in November and December AND the Cowgirls historically have been floundering after starting great early in the season (or after reading their own press clippings) AND the 49ers are more like the None-ers, I imagine the Steelers will hang onto the record six Super Bowls for quite a while. But enough football. I managed to catch the "Star Trek" and "G.I. Joe" (before the game — interesting tactic) trailers in real time. (my thoughts are below). "Up" looks somewhat intriguing, but it could suffer from a one-joke premise; "Monsters vs. Aliens" makes me nervous since it's 3D. "Land of the Lost"? At least Will Farrell didn't send me running to the nearest trash can with the dry heaves, like he usually does. Another bonus is he's not doing another sports-related comedy. We'll see. "G.I. Joe": This was our first look at the live-action take on the classic cartoon and what an eyeful it was! Putting it in the context of a cloak-and -dagger special ops team called in by the feds is a great storytelling decision. Sienna Miller is striking as The Baroness. The action sequences and special effects look top-notch. We got a taste of Snake Eyes' butt-kicking potential, not to mention a bit of humor with Dennis Quaid as General Hawk. ("What did you say your unit was called?" Hawk: "I didn't.") They kept Cobra Commander under wraps; Paramount can add hype by not releasing his likeness in any subsequent footage. Lots of promise here. This should be a ton-o-fun and might not be the August stinker I predicted. Yo Joe! "Star Trek": Not surprisingly, J.J. Abrams is playing the new footage close to his chest. Sure, this had a lot of the same material as the earlier trailer (here's my review), but there certainly was enough new stuff to get fans pumped. VH-1 put this trailer on its losers list, but I think they got too wrapped up in moaning about not enough new stuff. I'm guessing we'll be blown away by what we haven't seen — at least I hope. I trust Abrams. Not as good as the first trailer, but adequate for the audience that would have seen it for the first time. Although I didn't see this next one during the Super Bowl, I caught it online. (You can see all the trailers that were played by clicking on this Comics Blend link. Good Web site for you fanboys, FYI.) "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen": I had to fight the gag reflex when I saw Michael Bay's name was front and center. (Egotistical p---k.) Let's put it this way, I wasn't impressed — or curious — enough to watch it again. … Then again, I have to admit I enjoyed the first one after I grudgingly watched it. Meh. Now the fun part: What did YOU think?


text:
The ABA Journal is asking its readers if they've advertised for clients on Craigslist, an online classifieds site. My immediate reaction: "Hmmm, I wonder if any legal aid programs have done any outreach on Craigslist?"
From Quantcast's report on Craigslist's demographics, about 20 percent of Craigslist visitors make less than $30,000 a year. But scammers use Craigslist, too. (See Beware of Craigslist Scams, Avoid Craigslist Job Scams, and A Craigslist Scam You Might Fall For.) And, at least in Baltimore, Craigslist has a legal forum, where people are asking legal questions.
So while the demographics aren't perfect, about 8.5 million low-income people are using Craigslist. Are legal aid programs missing an opportunity? Could they tell potential clients how to spot a scam or show them where to find help after being scammed? Or maybe legal aid programs could point out legal information that Craigslist visitors could use instead of the opinions of an unknown forum member?
I don't know. What do you think? Has your program talked about this or done any outreach on Craigslist? - K

domain: law


A gay man and a preacher’s wife form an unlikely friendship in ‘Six Dance Lessons,’ a profound comedy about cultural invisibility
ONE TWO CHA CHA CHA
"Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks," Theatre Too in the Quadrangle.
Aug. 28â€“Sept. 20 (in previews this weekend). Thursdays and Aug. 31 at 7:30 p.m., Fridaysâ€“Saturdays at 8 p.m. Sundays at 2:30 p.m. $20â€“$30.
Bob Hess and Terry Dobson are both men "of a certain age" — which in the gay world means over 30 (not to say 40!) … and, therefore, culturally invisible. Maybe that’s what attracted both of them to the script of "Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks."
Hess had not even heard of the play when Dobson asked him to read it.
"I originally wanted to play the vice principal in ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ [this season], but Terry said, ‘Well, there’s a show running concurrently I really want you to read for.’ I did, and let’s just say an actor doesn’t turn a role like this down," he says.
The two-character comedy-drama involves Lily, an elderly widow, who hires a dance instructor to teach her to tango, cha-cha, waltz, etc. In walks her flamboyantly queenie teacher Michael (Hess) — and worlds collide.
"A play about a Southern Baptist preacher’s wife and a Southern middle-aged gay man — let’s let Terry direct it!" Dobson jabs about how he was selected to helm this production, which opens Friday in previews in the Theatre Too downstairs space at Theatre Three. Like Hess, he was unfamiliar with the script before he got the assignment, but as he read it, "I just immediately thought of Bob in it. It’s quite a wonderful play."
The pedigree of "Six Dance Lessons" outshines its familiarity. The 2003 Broadway version starred Mark Hamill and Polly Bergen; an L.A. production starred David Hyde Pierce and Uta Hagen.
"It has a real cult following," Hess says. And he now counts himself among its cultists.
"The play is about these two people who find a commonality between themselves," Hess says. "A contentious relationship becomes a loving relationship over time. The core is the realization that as drastically different as they are, ultimately they are two very lonely people" who find they have much in common.
Hess was drawn to how the playwright, Richard Alfieri, drew parallels between how the aged and even youngish gay men can feel irrelevant within their communities.
"Lily’s elderly and she’s talking about when you reach an age, you begin to disappear. As a late-40s gay man, the same thing has happened to Michael." Many gay men, Hess observes, start off as twinks, then mature into hot men of whatever age, before becoming invisible to other men. "It’s that ability to see from each others’ perspective that intrigued me," Hess says.
Well, that and its sense of humor.
"Michael is a very recognizable character to me: He’s that bitchy queen who comes up with quips and barbs because he doesn’t want to let people in too close. But I like a lot of the gay humor — they aren’t the typical gay jokes. There’s a lot about gay life and being a gay man. And elderly people will see this play and love it, glomming on to the ageism jokes."
"It’s funny and moving," Dobson adds.
"There are lots of great lines about homophobia and ageism," Hess agrees. "One line is, ‘Beautiful people, I have discovered can, get away with very few social skills.’ There’s lots of insights in that."
For his part, Dobson takes an upbeat approach to ageing.
"My 50s have been great so far," he says. "And my 40s were good too. It’s a cliche, but it’s true: It just keeps getting better."
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition August 28, 2009.


The pass box is the auiliary device to the clean room. It is used to transfer small objects between clean rooms, between clean room non-clean room so as to reduce the frequency of opening the doors. The pass box includes normal pass box, clean pass box air shower pass box etc.
Clean pass box configuration instructions
●It adopts stainless steel 304 by overall arc structure inside, for easy cleaning;
●lt provides pao injection port test port, by stainless steel 304 quick connector;
●lt is configured with H14 tank seal high efficiency filter with high efficiency differential pressure gauge;
●lt has ultraviolet germicidal lamp, with adjustable sterilization time, sterilization timing
sterilization time cumulative function. The simultaneous starting of germicidal lamp can be set up;
●The LCD panel controller is developed independently TWO-door magnetic locks are interlocked with automatic manual modes for user setting. There are multiple functions under automatic mode. Such as time function display, call features;
●After door close, automatic starting of fan blowing mode can be set up simultaneous;
●lt has embedded door with double layer black border tempered glass, with desiccant;
●lt has customized fan with adjustable air blowing time;
●lt applies new air port design(at high clean area) to increase internal positive pressure, with air flow adjustable;
●User specified design is acceptable.
技术参数 Technical parameters


Rapper Sarkodie is at the receiving end of heavy trolls from music-loving fans after failing on his side to feature “someone bigger than Jay Z” on his No Pressure Album.
The “No Pressure” album list has been released and to the shock of everybody, Jay or someone bigger than him was not featured on it.
Or is Nigerian-American Wale the artiste he termed as “bigger than Jay Z? That is the question on the minds of curious fans.
Not too long ago, music record producer, Possigee granted an interview with Kobby Kyei and announced that Sarkodie’s album would be blessed by a huge feature that will certainly drive the local music industry crazy.
This was after Sarkodie was pictured in the Redbull Studio in the UK…well, fans were in high spirits since they would love to see their MCM make a huge leap from featuring Ace Hood to Jay Z or someone bigger.
Since Shatta Wale was able to work together with the great Beyonce on an album, many believed Possigee when he said Sarkodie will feature someone bigger than American billionaire rapper Jay Z.
These are the artistes Sarkodie has featured on his “No Pressure” album”
- Vic Mensa
- Kwesi Arthur
- Casper Nyovest
So where is Jay Z?
This is the full 15-track “No Pressure” Album list
- Rollies & Cigar
- Vibration(Ft Vic Mensa)
- round 2(Ft Giggs)
- Coachella(ft Kwesi Arthur)
- Jaara(Ft Medikal)
- Married to the Game(Ft Casper)
- Fireworks(Ft. Wale)
- Whipped(Ft. Darko vibes)
- Deserve my love
- Don’t Cry(Ft. Benerl)
- My Love(Ft. Harmonize)
- No Fugazy
- Non-living thing (Ft. Oxlade)
- I’ll be there (Ft. MOGmusic)
So where is Jay Z or when are we gonna see someone bigger than him work with Sarkodie? Is it gonna happen now or in the future?
Did you know Sarkodie once rapped on a Kanye West beat that featured JAY Z? Well, that might just be the end of the whole conversation.
Check Out Screenshots Of Some Of The Trolls Below


Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Red Deer, Canada
Motorcycle: 06 Gixxer750
Re: Newbie question...downshifting to first?
Always downshift to first while coming to a stop. You should always be in the appropriate gear for your road speed, as mentioned before, if an emergency situation occurs and you need to get on the throttle to get out of the way it will save your life. Try hammering the throttle in second gear at 20MPH and you won't be going anywhere fast for a second or two, which might be the second or two you'll need. Also, why add to unneeded wear on the brakes when the engine can do most of it. If I'm riding around casual like, I don't even touch the brake(s) untill I'm down to 10-15MPH. Just blip the throttle to match your engine speed for each downshift, doesn't take long to make it second nature. Cheers.
K6 GSX-R750 Black/Yellow...Lovin It
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text:
Bucknell is located 19 miles north east of Oxford. It is now part of the Benefice of Bicester with Buckfield, Caverfield and Launton.
The records were originally deposited in the Bodleian Library by Rev DHB Thomas priest in charge in 1976. Further records were deposited by Rev MC Scott-Joynt, priest in charge in 1977, 1979 and 1980 . The material was then transferred to the Oxfordshire Record Office. Additional records were deposited as Acc 593 in originally catalogued as Beaz I/1.
A conspectus of new and old references is included at the end of this catalogue. Catalogued by Alison Smith, July 2009.

domain: library


|Publication number||US4678048 A|
|Application number||US 06/760,657|
|Publication date||Jul 7, 1987|
|Filing date||Jul 30, 1985|
|Priority date||Aug 2, 1984|
|Also published as||DE3471743D1, EP0170709A1, EP0170709B1|
|Publication number||06760657, 760657, US 4678048 A, US 4678048A, US-A-4678048, US4678048 A, US4678048A|
|Inventors||Hans-Wilhelm Losch, Rainer Kleinrahm, Norbert Pieperbeck, Wolfgang Wagner|
|Original Assignee||Loesch Hans Wilhelm, Rainer Kleinrahm, Norbert Pieperbeck, Wolfgang Wagner|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (8), Referenced by (1), Classifications (11), Legal Events (6)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
The invention relates to an apparatus for the contactless coupling of a suspended part to a force measuring device, in which the suspended part is located within a housing and is provided with a magnet and the device for measuring a force is provided with a controllable electromagnet, the latter being controlled in accordance with a measuring device for determining the reciprocal spacing of both magnets, i.e. with the aid of a control loop for maintaining this spacing.
Said apparatus is always used if a force measurement cannot or is not to take place in the housing, because e.g. the force measuring device cannot or should not be exposed to the conditions prevailing in the measurement area. This can be the case with corrosive media, or if incompatibility is caused by a corresponding pressure in the measurement area.
Such an apparatus for the contactless coupling of a suspended part to a force measuring device is e.g. described in DE-AS No. 11 64 114. The upper part of a load pan suspended on a balance acts through a housing on the lower part of the load pan constructed as a suspended part, the measurement of the position change of the suspended part relative to the upper part of the load pan taking place through the housing wall at the same point at which force coupling takes place with the aid of magnetic forces. At this point, a measured signal and a power signal are consequently superimposed and it is virtually impossible to exclude their reciprocal influencing. It is correspondingly difficult to work with this apparatus.
The same publication also proposes measuring the position change of the suspended part with respect to the force measuring device by using electro optical procedures, the reference system being fitted to the electromagnet, i.e. to the force measuring device. Although this modification virtually excludes disturbances, particularly of the measurement signal by a power signal, the housing must be made light-permeable at the corresponding point or points. It is common to both constructions, that the housing is subject to severe restrictions regarding the material selection at the coupling point or the passage point for the electro optical measuring device. In one case it is not even possible to use a diamagnetic or paramagnetic, electrically conductive material and in the other a distortion-free light permeability is required. Thus, measurements cannot take place under high pressure. In addition, only simple systems can be used for measuring the position change and they do not permit a differential measurement with oppositely superimposed action. The sinsitivity is correspondingly low and it is further reduced by the fact that spacing measurement must take place over a relatively great distance through the housing wall.
The problem of the invention is therefore to so modify an apparatus of the aforementioned type, that with respect to the measuring device for determining the position change of the suspended part there are no longer any restrictions regarding the design of the housing or such devices, so that the range of investigations and tests within the housing is drastically extended by the choice of the housing materials and the quality of the suspension regulation can be considerably improved by the use of more accurate position measuring devices.
The invention proposes that the measuring device for determining the suspended part position is arranged in fixed manner on the housing and particularly within the latter and that instead of maintaining the spacing of the magnets, the maintaining of a predetermined desired position of the suspended part relative to the housing determines the control of the electromagnet.
Attempts have hitherto been made to maintain a quasi-rigid connection between the suspended part and the part of an apparatus of the present type associated with the force measuring device. This type of quasi-rigid connection through a housing wall requires a direct spacing measurement between the facing parts of the coupling point or a fixed upper part and the present invention moves away from this. Instead the position of the suspended part relative to the housing is kept constant, so that it is possible to allow a variation of the spacing between the facing ends of the coupling point. Thus, for example during the complete coupling state, it is possible to give a constant desired position of the suspended part relative to the housing and this is also maintained if the coupling point part associated with the force measuring device oscillates to a moderate extent. The predetermined desired position can be varied in such a way during the coupling state, that the control charge of the electromagnet oscillates about a predetermined constant value, i.e. about a basic load value. In this variant, the spacing of the suspended part from the electromagnet is quasi constant and varies only as a function of the absolute loading.
In addition to the above-described construction of an apparatus according to the invention, it can be appropriate in the case of specific disturbance movements of the electromagnet brought about by the force measuring device to determine same with a second position measuring device arranged outside the housing and to take account thereof as a regulating disturbance variable in the control of the electromagnet. This greater expenditure is eg. necessary if the speed of the movements of the electromagnet is close to the speed of the position correction of the suspended part. However, if only slow electromagnet movements are expected, this additional expenditure is not required.
The positioning of the measuring device for determining the position change of the suspended part in fixed manner on the housing not only leads to measuring advantages, i.e. highly accurate differential measurements for determining the position change of the suspended part, but more particularly also leads to a greater freedom in the design of the housing, enabling the performance of high pressure measurements under operating pressures of up to 1000 bar and higher, as well as combined measurements at high temperatures and high pressure. A paramagnetic or diamagnetic, metallic material can now be used for the coupling point, because only magnetic holding forces are applied at this point, which are transferred in substantially disturbance-free manner through the housing wall. It is particularly advantageous to use for the coupling point e.g. a high-purity, precipitation-hardened copper-beryllium alloy, which e.g. withstands high pressures.
For the measuring device for determining the position change of the suspended part, in the case of the arrangement according to the invention on or in the housing, numerous variants are available, namely all highly accurate measuring systems for performing a differential measurement. For example, it is possible to provide two coils associated with the housing and a disc associated with the suspended part and positioned between the coils. It is also possible to have two discs, a shield being provided between each measuring system comprising a disc and a coil. The measurement can take place according to the flux displacement measuring principle or according to the induction change measuring principle. The materials of the disc or discs are selected accordingly and the coils are embedded in a corresponding housing. Cores, immersed in corresponding coils can be used in place of the disc or discs. The coils can be placed inside or outside the housing, whereby in the case of an arrangement inside the housing, it is necessary to provide vacuum-tight or pressure-tight line passages to the outside. It is obviously also possible to use photoelectric, capacitive or ultrasonic primary elements.
Force measuring devices equipped with the apparatus according to the invention are generally so sensitive that in the case of measurements, particularly over a long period, a so-called zero drift can occur, which is characterized in that as a result of external influences, the reading at zero loading already gives a value. Admittedly the correction can be carried out very easily, e.g. through the conventional tare function or the like, however, it is necessary to recognize the need for the correction. Similar conditions apply regarding a calibaration displacement, i.e. a change in the proportionality of the reading.
In order to counteract these problems, the invention proposes a further development, in that the suspended part is selectively or additonally also loadable with a reference mass and optionally also a calibrating mass. Through a load change on the suspended part from the operating load to the e.g. approximately equally heavy reference mass, the weight force of the known mass is determined, so that a possible zero displacement can be discovered and eliminated. The additional application of a calibrating mass then makes it possible to check or correctly set the proportionality, because in addition to the known size of the reference mass an also known force quantity is added, so that it is possible to carry out a complete calibration of the device for measuring a force.
Each mass is preferably housed in a separate portion of the housing, which is optionally thermally isolated from the remaining housing, particularly the actual measurement area.
It can be appropriate for a particularly trouble-free force transfer through the coupling point if, above the electromagnet, is provided an outwardly force-neutral damping member, which can be constructed in mechanical-hydraulic or mechanical-electric manner. Thus, oscillations resulting from disturbances are only passed in a damped manner to the force measuring device.
In order that the complete measuring process can take place automatically in accordance with a predetermined program for a long period, it is appropriate to use a process computer, which digitally controls, monitors and evaluates the complete measurement process.
Embodiments of the invention are described in greater detail herinafter relative to the drawings, wherein show:
FIG. 1 a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of the apparatus according to the invention in conjunction with a partly represented housing;
FIG. 2 a view according to FIG. 1 of a further embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 3 a diagrammatic block circuit diagram for regulating the coupling forces in an apparatus according to the invention;
FIG. 4 a view according to FIG. 2 of a further embodiment of the invention.
The apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is a component of a measuring system for determining the weight change of bodies or liquids to be investigated on the basis of a density change, a chemical reaction, or for absorption measurements or thermogravimetric measurements. In each case there is a force measuring device, an electromagnet 1 being fitted to its free end 3. Between the free end 3 and the electromagnet, it is possible to insert a damping element 2, which is used for suppressing disturbance forces between the force measuring system and the suspension system below the electromagnet 1.
Below electromagnet 1 is provided a housing 6, within which the weight change to be measured takes place, the external conditions being approximately freely selectable. Thus, the housing makes it possible to set specific temperatures, pressures and also the filling with specific gases, whilst also to a certain extent permitting manipulations, e.g. changes to the temperature, gas, etc. In conjunction with the invention, it is merely a question of there being a weight change within the housing 6, which is transferred as accurately as possible to the free end 3 and consequently to the force measuring device.
Immediately below an upper cover 7, which terminates housing 6 at the top, is provided a measuring device 8, which records a position change of a suspended part 9, on which the force change directly or indirectly acts. In the represented embodiment, the suspended part comprises a bar 10. However, it can also be a platinum wire or any other tensile force-transferring element, whose design is dependent on the measurement to be carried out.
At the upper end of bar 10 is provided a permanent magnet 12, which is attracted to such an extent by the controlled electromagnet 1, that it assumes a suspended or floating position. This suspended state is unstable and must be stabilised by a permanent oscillation about the instable position of equilibrium. This function is fulfilled by measuring device 8, which provides information on the position change of bar 10 and consequently permanent magnet 12 and by means of corresponding intermediate elements influences the control of electromagnet 1. The position change is determined with the aid of a disc 13, a lower coil 14 and an upper coil 15, which is known, the measurement being performed by means of a flux displacement or an induction change. The material for disc 13 and the embedding material for coils 14 and 15 are chosen as a function thereof.
According to a first variant of the invention, a predetermined desired position of the bar and consequently disc 13 relative to coils 14 and 15 is maintained. This means that the spacing between the electromagnet 1 and the permanent magnet 12 can vary at random within wide limits, the weaker magnetic action in the case of larger distances being compensated by a corresponding strong charge of electromagnet 1.
According to a variant, a more extensive control of the suspended state can be used. For this purpose, electromagnet 1 is controlled with a specific basic load, which e.g. brings about a median suspended position of suspended part 9. The actual control signal oscillates about this basic load, which consequently swings around the value zero. However, what is decisive for the position of suspended part 9 is still the desired position relative to housing 6, which is however influenced by the basic load of electromagnet 1. Thus, electromagnet 1 and permanent magnet 12 are coupled to one another in a quasi-rigid manner. However, the distance between these two parts is dependent on the loading of the suspended part. With a varying load, a greater proximity of perment magnet 12 to electromagnet 1 is necessary, so that in the case of constant basic load the magnetic forces are greater as a result of the smaller spacing, namely of the same magnitude as the load increase compared with the previous state.
The decision as to which of the aforementioned variants is used, is made on the basis of the intended use and the particular force measuring device employed.
According to the embodiment of FIG. 2, measuring device 8 has a more complicated construction. With the lower coil 14 is associated a separate disc 13' and upper coil 15 also reacts to the moving in or out of the plate 13 associated therewith. This permits an even more accurate position determination, because the two systems, in each case comprising a coil and a plate, can be shielded from one another, i e. cannot reciprocally influence one another. For this purpose a shield 16 is provided, which also serves as a support for disc 13 and consequently for the complete suspended part 9 in the inoperative position, i.e. in the measuring intervals. Starting from the inoperative position and the raising of the suspended part 9 therefrom takes place automatically by means of a regulator, whilst the following sequence is adopted.
Before the start of coupling between electromagnet 1 and permanent magnet 12, disc 13 rests as a support on shield 16. A starting desired value position is now stored in the regulator and which in the case of a corresponding control leads to the disc 13 being raised from shield 16. This first movement of suspended part 9 which is in the hundredths of a millimetre range is virtually covered in a jump, but this is very smooth in view of the shortness of the distance and the mass. This step merely leads to the completion of the transition from resting to suspension. From this starting desired value position, the actual operating desired position is preferably continously controlled, which is linked with a permanent decrease in the overall activation of electromagnet 1, because there is a constant decrease in the distance between electromagnet 1 and permanent magnet 12. On this approximation is superimposed the high frequency regulation, so as to replace the otherwise unstable equilibrium by a stable equilibrium.
A similar process takes place at the end of coupling. According to a predetermined lowering program, the suspended part 9 is preferably continuously lowered into a deposition desired value postion, which generally corresponds to the starting desired value position. There is still just a suspended state, which on further lowering of suspended part 9 passes more or less abruptly into a support or bearing state. This transfer is once again not accompanied by small impacts or jumps, because the "height of fall" is too small for suspended part 9 to undergo a significant speed increase.
In the embodiment according to FIG. 1, the lower coil 14 can obviously serve as a support for disc 13. Thus, no separate shield 16 is required in accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 2. However, diverging therefrom, it is possible to provide at a random point a separate support for the inoperative period and on which suspended part 9 is deposited with a corresponding surface. However, this support should not be positioned too far from measuring device 8, so that a length change to bar 10, e.g. due to a temperature fluctuation does not lead to the limited transition path from the lying state to the suspended state being lost or becoming excessive.
FIG. 4 shows a particularly inexpensive, but adequately accurate measuring device consisting of the already mentioned measurement on the basis of an induction change in sensor coils 14,15 with the aid of ferromagnetic cores 18,19. Sensor coils 14,15 are fitted to the outside of a pressure-tight, non-magnetic pipe 17, whilst the ferromagnetic cores 18,19 form part of the suspended part 9. It is clear that this device also permits a differential measurement and that a good measuring accuracy is achieved.
In the represented embodiments below measuring device 8, housing 6 or pipe 17 is shown in broken away form in FIG. 4. This can be followed by randomly designed chambers or measurement areas, whose configuration is dependent on the intended function and which can be provided with connections and passages. Such a design e.g. includes a separate housing part for housing a reference mass, as well as a calibrating mass, which can be constructed in the form of rings and can be lowered onto corresponding discs on bar 10. As a function of the volume relationships and the intended measurement, it is also possible to house each mass in the actual measurement area or in an area located above it and which is thermally isolated therefrom.
FIG. 3 shows a block circuit diagram for illustrating the control of the electromagnet 1 according to the differential measurement with the aid of coils 14,15. Coils 14,15 controlled in each case by an oscillator, vary their inductance in the case of a position change of disc 13, or discs 13, 13' or ferromagnetic cores 18, 19, which lead to a change in the natural frequency of the oscillator. The natural frequency of the oscillator is continuously demodulated and converted into a direct current signal proportional to the natural frequency. The direct current signals of both coils 14,15 are superimposed in opposite direction in a subtractor, which leads to an amplification of the overall signal. In a proportional-integral-derivative controller (PID-controller), the input signal is converted in a very short time into a control signal, which is supplied by means of a power amplifier to electromagnet 1. Each position change of disc 13, or discs 13,13', or ferromagnetic cores 18,19 with respect to coils 14,15 consequently leads to a corresponding control value at electromagnet 1.
The desired value given to the PID-controller can, as desired, be kept constant, or can be modified by an integral controller using a PT1-element, whose input quantity is the power of electromagnet 1. In the second case, a basic load value is supplied to electromagnet 1 and is positively or negatively superimposed for maintaining the stable state of equilibrium. FIG. 3 does not show the various possiblities of giving the desired value.
|Cited Patent||Filing date||Publication date||Applicant||Title|
|US3089553 *||Nov 29, 1960||May 14, 1963||Sartorius Werke A G Fa||Method of and apparatus for weighing in vacuum|
|US3322222 *||Nov 12, 1964||May 30, 1967||Fritz Baur||Compensated electromagnetic balance|
|US3498397 *||Jan 13, 1969||Mar 3, 1970||Thomas Russell||Beamless electrical weighing devices|
|US3519095 *||Aug 1, 1969||Jul 7, 1970||Artek Syst Corp||Precision electromagnetic balance|
|US3799281 *||Nov 8, 1972||Mar 26, 1974||Boekels & Co H||Device for electromechanically weighing|
|US3968850 *||Oct 31, 1974||Jul 13, 1976||International Electronics Limited||Electromagnet weighing balance|
|US4236590 *||Jan 23, 1979||Dec 2, 1980||Sartorius Gmbh||Balance with compensated loading and reference systems|
|US4373596 *||Aug 14, 1981||Feb 15, 1983||Peter Kunz||Weighing apparatus with electromagnetic force compensation|
|Citing Patent||Filing date||Publication date||Applicant||Title|
|US5419204 *||Mar 25, 1994||May 30, 1995||Shimadzu Corporation||Force measuring instrument|
|U.S. Classification||177/212, 177/210.0EM|
|International Classification||G01G21/00, G01G7/04, G01G7/02|
|Cooperative Classification||G01G7/02, G01G21/00, G01G7/045|
|European Classification||G01G7/02, G01G7/04B, G01G21/00|
|Feb 5, 1991||REMI||Maintenance fee reminder mailed|
|Apr 3, 1991||SULP||Surcharge for late payment|
|Apr 3, 1991||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 4
|Dec 29, 1994||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 8
|Jan 4, 1999||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 12
|Jan 26, 1999||REMI||Maintenance fee reminder mailed|


text:
Grey County moved a step closer to fixing communications technology shortcomings which a county report says risk firefighter safety and the ability to respond to emergencies anywhere in the county.
Councillors Thursday decided to request proposals to build a county-wide firefighter communications system, which the report suggests could cost $750,000, to address longstanding and “significant shortcomings” with radio communications.
The county doesn’t have a fire department but fire chiefs in Grey County approached the county about two years ago requesting it co-ordinate a common solution.
County chief administrative officer Kim Wingrove said in an interview that the chiefs worry radio interference could block important radio communications, a potential threat that needs to be addressed, she said in an interview.
“And they were really concerned that if that happened in a mayday situation, that that mayday could be lost.”
Implementation could be as soon as next year, said county consultant Dan Perlstein, whose contract was renewed by county council Thursday. Council won’t give final approval until it gets a report projecting costs based on proposals received.
Most importantly, the new system would separate paging from dispatch communications functions to avoid critical communications from being disrupted, such as when a firefighter in distress radios for help but the frequency is already in use.
The new system would provide additional dispatch channels, so that separate channels could be assigned for individual emergencies, and would allow for mobile radio coverage and more portable radio coverage by using radio repeaters on fire trucks.
The new system may require more radio towers to ensure adequate coverage across the county, new digital radios and signal repeaters in vehicles, Wingrove said after council endorsed her written recommendations.
The new system would allow for possible future integration of radio communications infrastructure involving police, paramedics and public works, Wingrove’s report to council said.
Adequate radio coverage across the county hasn’t been confirmed and anecdotally it’s considered insufficient, the report said.
The report says multiple fire services use the same radio frequencies for paging, dispatch and tactical firefighting. This results in “overlapping communications, missed communications and interference among frontline users.”
Owen Sound Police Service’s dispatch centre, which dispatches for seven of the nine fire departments in Grey, contends with different radio configurations, with various degrees to radio coverage and technical limitations, using seven different dispatch procedures, the report said.
It all presents “real limitations to the fire services’ operations and firefighters’ safety as well as to the ability to manage a large-scale, interoperable incident in the county,” the report said.
Since obtaining new radio frequencies is unlikely anytime soon, moving to a new, digital system from current analog voice communications would maximize the capacity of the existing frequencies, the report said.
Firefighter radio communications aren’t recorded now but the new system would record them.
Not all county municipalities are on board with the new system. Blue Mountains Mayor Alar Soever read from a memo from his interim fire chief saying the department’s firefighter communications equipment was updated in 2013 and so it doesn’t need new equipment.
It can communicate with firefighters in Simcoe and Grey counties, as required during mutual-aid calls, and so there’s no reason to join Grey’s solution at this time. They want to remain at the table to ensure equipment compatibility is maintained.
Soever’s fire department is one of two not dispatched out of Owen Sound. Blue Mountains is dispatched out of Barrie, while Hanover’s department is dispatched out of Tillsonburg.
Chatsworth Mayor Scott Mackey said he supports the county initiative and would like to see the ability to amalgamate the service with Bruce County, given more than one fire department responds to fire calls, particularly near the county borders.


text:
Proving just how far voguing has come since itsHarlem drag origins, a video of a kindergarten class performing Madonna's classic single is going viral in the blogosphere.
The poses struck by these pint-sized "voguers," identified on YouTube only as Mr. Avina's class, echo those made famous in the Material Girl's 1990 video. Also impressive are the tots' costumes and props -- black top hats, hand-held fans and all.
As HuffPost blogger Janet Upadhye reported yesterday, Madonna originally saw vogue, danced the "old way," for the first time at the now-defunct Sound Factory in Chelsea. Fascinated, she hired several dancers from the club and wrote her song in honor of the dance that was taking over the underground lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) scene, and her colossal star power propelled the dance -- and many of its gay and trans practitioners -- into the spotlight.
Take a look at the history of Madonna's "Vogue" below: