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No one gets excited at the idea of being on bed rest. We can all agree it’s not something we would necessarily want to experience. What we may not realize is just how risky bedrest can be, especially for the elderly.
Bed rest most commonly occurs within the hospital, but can definitely happen at home as well. When an elderly person is admitted to the hospital, they typically remain in bed. While they may not have been “put on bedrest” by doctor’s orders, the outcome is that they tend to remain in bed. Our hospital system is set up in such a way that those who are admitted to the hospital largely remain in bed all day long.
The problem is that remaining in bed all day long is one of the worst ways to recover from almost anything!
Bed rest limits someone’s physical activity to little more than a few steps to and from the washroom, a few times daily. That is not enough physical activity to maintain muscle mass.
The data proves that with an alarming statistic:
For every day of bed rest, the frail elderly lose 5% of their mobility.
Consider how long an elderly person tends to be in a hospital. Once admitted, most elderly patients are hospitalized for at least a number of days, but upwards of a week or ten days wouldn’t be uncommon. After a week of bed rest, 35% of mobility is lost! If someone is unfortunate enough to be in the hospital for two weeks—which is all too common—on average they would lose 70% of their mobility.
That's a very high risk!
That could mean that prior to hospitalization, someone was living independently and walking without any aides. After two weeks in the hospital, that same person now requires a walker and struggles to get out of bed or out of a chair. That’s a drastic change in their ability level and independence. It will significantly impact the quality of daily life.
With such a high risk of losing mobility on each day of bed rest, you can see why it is critical to keep people up and moving as much as possible (unless expressly prohibited by doctor’s orders). Seniors should be encouraged to sit up and get out of bed and into a chair, stand up and sit down numerous times to keep leg muscles strong and do exercises either seated in a chair or passive exercises in the bed.
Even just sitting up straight in a chair is beneficial since it is typically easier for people to breathe deeply or cough and expel when they’re upright versus lying down. Many elderly patients are at high risk of developing pneumonia while in hospital, and failing to sit up, breathe deeply, cough and expel can increase that risk. Developing pneumonia will lengthen a hospital stay, which increases the likely number of days on bedrest—meaning more days of losing 5% mobility each day!
Unless a medical condition or injury specifically requires immobilized bed rest, remaining active in any possible way is absolutely essential to recovery and long-term maintenance of mobility and muscle mass.
Next time you’re visiting a senior in the hospital, have them sit up or get out of bed and into the chair.
You just might be helping to save their mobility and prevent the 5% daily loss!
In 2014, a number of organizations across Canada came together to promote a campaign called Fall Prevention Month. During the month of November, this campaign encourages organizations and individuals to come together to coordinate fall prevention efforts for a larger impact. The goal is to collectively raise awareness about fall prevention strategies and to help everyone see their role in keeping older adults safe, active, independent and healthy.
What are the impacts of falls?
Unintentional falls are the leading cause of injury for Ontarians aged 65 and over.
Recovering from a fall can be very difficult and with an increasing number of falls, it is important we take measures to prevent them.
How can we prevent falls?
The good news is that falls are preventable injuries! There are five key factors that caregivers and seniors should consider in order to prevent falls.
1) Eyesight – vision is an important part of balance and good vision helps to prevent falls. Everyone who is over the age of 65 should have their vision checked every year.
2) Your home – if you have clutter on your floors or stairs, it increases the chance of tripping and/or slipping. Make sure cords, scattered rugs, pet toys, books, etc. are in their proper place. Also, if your home is dark it increases the chance of falling, especially on stairs. Make sure to create a space that is well-lit!
3) Exercise – the most important thing you can do to prevent falls is to stay and remain strong! Walking, fishing, gardening, tai chi. Light yoga – whatever you enjoy! – do it to increase activity levels.
4) Medication – some medications cause dizziness on their own, or when mixed with others. It’s important to properly manage your health! Always take medication as directed and ask your pharmacist to review them if you are taking more than 2 medications.
5) Eating a healthy diet – Vitamin D and calcium help to keep strong bones. A diet to include more greens, lean protein, and less sugar will help you in remaining strong. You may want to talk to your doctor about supplements or other alternatives.
Most of all, don’t do it alone! It takes a community to prevent a fall and we all have a role to play. Here at Warm Embrace, we have a wonderful team of caregivers who can help you and your loved one to remain safe at home.
What is the difference between curing and healing? When we seek medical attention, are we hoping to be cured or hoping to be healed?
Dr. Mark Greenberg grapples with the issue of being cured versus being healed on a daily basis. Dr. Greenberg is a pediatric oncologist at The Hospital for Sick Children and has received the Order of Canada (2011) for his work.
In his TEDx address, Dr. Greenberg outlined the difference between being cured and being healed. When we seek medical intervention, we are looking to be cured of whatever ailment sent us to the doctor in the first place. We believe that we (or at least the doctors) have some semblance of control over the health care being provided. If we follow doctors’ orders, we expect to be cured.
Healing, however, is an entirely different issue. When someone suffers from a life-threatening illness, being physically cured is only the beginning. Life-threatening illness requires healing. Healing is more than just a physical process; it is also a psychological, social, and societal issue. It includes the patient directly, as well as the patient’s family, social network, and support system. Healing involves adapting to the new physical state of the patient and may include coping with emotional scarring.
Dr. Greenberg explains that coping with a life-threatening illness is the ultimate loss of control. It defies our Western mythology that if we work hard enough and are good people, then all will be fine. Grappling with this loss of control in the face of life-threatening illness plays out in family interactions and in dealing with doctors. Far too often, patients are physically cured, but they never fully heal. Dr. Greenberg asserts that compassion for the individual, rather than a focus on control of outcomes, leads to more comprehensive healing.
Healing is a psychological, social, and societal issue with implications beyond the individual, reaching to the health care system as a whole. Therefore, your family physician alone cannot help your loved one through the healing process; what your loved one needs is a team of people.
Adapting to a new physical state can be difficult that is why your loved one needs a team comprising of you, their doctor(s), nurses and caregivers. Wherever your loved one might be living, the help of a professional caregiver can provide them with social and physical support.
You don't have to go through the curing or healing process alone.
A resident named, Delores, fell three times in two weeks. Her third fall landed her in the hospital where she remained for 10 days. She was at risk of falling previously, but now, after 10 days of deconditioning in the hospital, her risk is even higher.
Delores has long been on the waitlist for long term care, but now that her needs have escalated, her care is beyond what can be safely managed within a retirement setting.
To escalate her placement on the LTC waitlist, Delores had to be discharged from the hospital under the Home First LHIN strategy. She went back to her residence after her 10-day hospital stay.
Now that Delores is in the community, she can be reassessed for long term care and be considered a crisis level. Even if someone is on the crisis list though, it doesn’t mean that a bed is immediately available.
Delores may still be waiting for weeks—or longer—for a suitable LTC placement to become available.
In the meantime, Delores is in your care, and she’s at an extremely high risk of falling. You are now worried that she cannot be left alone since she forgets that she is at risk of falling and she is inclined to get up and try to walk without her walker. Since her previous three falls were all attempts to make it to the washroom, you are very well aware that she may attempt to rush to the washroom and fall yet again.
Warm Embrace can help to meet this need!
If Delores is on the crisis waitlist for LTC and she needs 24/7 attendant care, the LHIN may provide some PSW support for various shifts. Warm Embrace can provide the rest. We can cover up to 24/7 care to ensure that Delores is never left alone. We can help to bridge the gap before Delores receives a suitable placement in long term care. This way, Delores is safe and has the one-on-one attendant care that she needs.
Just think how relieved you will feel, knowing that you can utilize the support of Warm Embrace when someone you know is awaiting crisis LTC placement.
One of your long-standing residents, Jean, has just been discharged after a ten-day stay in hospital. She has been discharged back to your residence, but she has declined considerably in the past 10 days.
She lost quite a bit of her strength from being in bed all day at the hospital, and since she was catheterized, she’s struggling with incontinence now as well. Previously she was independent with personal care and was able to get to the dining room on her own. Now, she’s needing help with toileting and sometimes she’s not even a one-person transfer.
Your care team were already stretched thin across residents with high needs. There are key times of day when you simply don’t have enough staff available all at the same time.
That’s where Warm Embrace comes in.
Jean needs a dedicated caregiver who can attend to her increased needs as she recovers from her hospital stay. If she requires a two-person transfer assist, our caregiver can be one of the two required people. Jean’s caregiver can attend to her toileting needs and assist her in getting to and from the dining room at a time when your staff have many other residents who need help getting to meals.
Jean’s caregiver can work together with her on some strengthening exercises to help her return to a greater state of independence. Of course, the goal is to help Jean remain independent enough to remain in your residence much longer.
If, however, Jean’s medical condition deteriorated while in the hospital to the point that she now qualifies for long term care placement, Jean’s caregiver will provide the assistance she needs while she remains in your residence awaiting placement. With her increased needs, Jean may require more than your staff have the capacity to provide, especially when other residents also have many complex needs.
If you have a resident like Jean who is returning from hospital, you can recommend that they implement a dedicated caregiver from Warm Embrace to help them as they recover. We recognize that our role might vary depending on the goals of the resident and their health. Any combination of the following are possible:
Temporary assistance as your resident recovers from hospitalization/surgery/recent illness until they regain their strength and abilities and no longer need our help
Ongoing support to match your resident’s new ability level and needs, allowing them to remain living in your residence even though their needs have increased.
Crises support if your resident is awaiting long term care placement and their needs have drastically increased.
Our support ensures the resident has all the care they need after returning from the hospital, while also reducing strain on your staff.
The next time you have a resident with a pending hospital discharge, remember to make Warm Embrace part of the planning process and have care in place for a smooth return to your residence.
Did you know that vision loss is not a part of normal aging? Normal aging might include changes in your vision, but the loss of vision altogether is not a normal part of aging. Normal aging includes changes to the body that all people will experience, provided they live long enough. Changes to hair—such as hair loss, or hair turning white/gray—is a normal part of aging. Everyone’s hair will eventually turn colour and become thinner if they live long enough. Macular degeneration, by contrast, is not a normal part of aging because it is not inevitable that someone will eventually experience macular degeneration.
Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of vision loss for people over age 50. It affects 15% of people over age 50; it affects 30% of those over age 75. AMD is a serious condition because it can severely impair someone’s sight as it progresses.
The macula is an area of the eye that is responsible for detail vision. It is the bull’s-eye of the retina, and it is what allows people to read. The macula is essential for the detail vision necessary for reading; the rest of the retina cannot read; only the macula can read. If the macula is severely impaired, the ability to read will disappear; larger or stronger glasses won’t solve the problem as only the macula can provide the detail necessary for reading.
There are two types of macular degeneration—dry and wet.
Dry AMD is much more common, accounting for 85% of all AMD cases. Its impact is less severe because those with dry AMD typically only lose 10-20% of their vision. Wet AMD is less common, but its impacts are more severe. Only 15% of those with AMD experience the wet version, but they will typically lose 80-90% of their vision and become legally blind.
Dry AMD always precedes wet AMD. Sometimes people ignore symptoms and by the time they see an ophthalmologist, the dry AMD has become wet and is much more severe. With dry AMD, the peripheral vision is maintained and will not be lost. The visual detail provided by the macula is what may be affected. Reading will become difficult, but most people will not become blind as a result of dry AMD alone. In fact, only 5% of people with dry AMD will progress to vision that measures as legally blind, and that typically requires 10 years of progression. Dry AMD typically progresses quite slowly.
What are the risk factors for AMD?
Heredity — almost half of all AMD cases are genetic. It isn’t as simple as having a specific gene; it is a series of genes that are responsible for AMD.
Smoking — increases risk by 3-4 times the rate of a non-smoker. Smoking also increases the risk of wet AMD. Combine the hereditary risk with smoking, and the risk rises to 34%!
Age — while you cannot control the risk factor of age, you can control sun exposure. AMD is the wearing out of the macula. Overexposure to the sun can expedite this process.
Nutrition —maintaining excellent nutrition is important for eye health. Once diagnosed with AMD, patients are advised to eat a nutrient-rich diet that is high in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants (or supplement as needed). When patients follow this regimen, there is a 25% reduction in vision loss.
Wet AMD — if someone has wet AMD in one eye, they have a 50% risk of also developing AMD in the other eye.
Those with AMD are well aware of vision changes and how that impacts detail activities such as reading or needlework. What people underestimate is how AMD can impact practical elements of day-to-day living and increase risk in other areas of life.
Older adults with vision loss have:
Twice as much difficulty with day-to-day living compared to their peers
Twice the risk of falling
Three times the risk of depression (often linked to the loss of reading ability, a key enjoyment activity for many people)
Four times the risk of a hip fracture
Vision loss affects more than just vision!With increased risk of falls, fractures, depression, and difficulty with daily living, someone’s life could be severely impacted.
How do you prevent AMD?
Regular eye exams are crucial to ensure that AMD or any other vision concerns are detected early and treated in the most effective ways possible. Of Canadians who do not wear glasses, 50% have not had their eyes checked in the past 5 years, if ever! Even if someone does not wear glasses, they should still visit an optometrist occasionally to check eye health.
If you know a senior with vision loss who is at risk of falls, fractures, depression or having trouble with daily tasks, we can help!
If 10 people witness a crime, how many different accounts will there be? Undoubtedly, there will be 10 unique eyewitness accounts. There might be similarities between the 10 stories, but there will most definitely be distinctions between the accounts, possibly even with contradictory details.
Why is this?
Each of us has a unique experience of the world. We can’t help but view the world through our own unique lens. It also means that we interpret the world around us through that same lens, and pass judgement or draw conclusions based on our experience and our perspective.
The same is true for those who have dementia. They are viewing the world through their own unique lens and filtering it based on experience and perspective. They have a massive additional challenge because—their brain is significantly affected by a disease that interferes with how they can process information.
They cannot rely on memory to recall past experience or to logically process information. For example, if someone with dementia sees a blue towel crumpled on the floor, they could ask if it’s a dolphin. At that moment, their brain did not process that dolphins can only survive in water and they do not live in people’s homes. Their brain is unable to recall past information about dolphins or access memory to know that their home does not have any pets. At that moment, they see something that looks like it could be a dolphin and their brain interprets that data to conclude that must be what they are seeing since there is no other information to explain it.
Another example is, if an elderly woman with advanced dementia says she needs to pick her children up from school, she sincerely believes this to be the case. She is not aware that she is 86 years old and has not had school-age children in over 50 years. She is not aware that you are her daughter and you are the schoolgirl she is concerned about. At that moment, her brain is accessing long-term memory for information that has changed drastically over the years, but she is unable to recall more recent memory that would put her long-term memory in context.
Her reality is that she has school children to pick up and she cannot leave them alone. She is an attentive mother and needs to get to her children. Your reality is that your 86-year old mother is determined to pick up a school child, and you have not been that school child in nearly 50 years. In fact, you have grandchildren now who are starting in school.
Your realities are different in that moment. While your reality may be more factually correct, it is nearly impossible to have someone with dementia adjust their reality to match yours. It is far more effective to understand their reality and match them in theirs. Focusing on facts is rarely useful. Focusing on emotions is the most effective way to handle differing realities.
Focusing on facts would be reorienting your mother to your reality: “No Mom, you don’ have to pick children up from school. I’m your daughter and I haven’t gone to school in nearly 50 years; even your grandchildren have finished school. You’ve got great-grand-children starting in school now. You don’t need to pick up anyone. You’re staying here with me.”
The comments are all factually correct, but they are not helpful to the person with dementia. The pieces don’t fit together; she is unable to access the memory and process that would allow all the information to make sense. Instead, try to join her in her world.
“Oh, you have children! Tell me about your children.” Get your mother talking to understand her mindset. An emotion will likely surface, and you’re looking to understand what her emotional state is in the moment and ideally address her emotional concern.
You’re matching your mother’s reality and joining her in her world for a few moments, rather than trying to force her to join you in your version of reality. Keep the conversation going and create that emotional connection.
Don’t fight different versions of reality; learn to join your loved one in their version of reality by focusing less upon the facts, and more upon the emotions.
Dementia and Communication: What to Expect in the Late Stages
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
In the late stages of dementia, or in severe Alzheimer’s, communication is significantly impacted. By this stage, both speech and language can be affected. The person with advanced dementia is not aware of their communication deficits; they may not be able to think beyond their own needs to notice the perception challenges of the family caregiver with whom they are communicating.
Understanding the limitations of late-stage dementia is critical to communication. Knowing the challenges that will exist and the ability level of your loved one makes all the difference for successful communication.
Here are 7 elements of communication that will have become difficult, directly impacting the expectations we should set for late-stage dementia communication:
1. Highly Variable
Your loved one is going to fluctuate in ability level—by the day, by the hour, even within a minute. Just because a person with dementia can clearly articulate a concept one minute, does not mean that she is able to do so the next minute. There can be islands of fluent and coherent language where she can express herself with impressive clarity. Understand that her ability to express herself will fluctuate drastically, and a moment of inability is not laziness or faking, or manipulation.
Perseveration is a focus or preoccupation with a particular concept. It is often expressed as worry or concern. In the later stages of dementia, perseveration is quite common and is often expressed through repeated questions or a repeated focus on certain words/topics.
3. Reduced Vocabulary
The mental dictionary of vocabulary is not only shuffled as it is in the early stages, but there are also now entire sections of the dictionary that are missing. Vocabulary may be reduced to simple words, or your loved one may surprise you with complex words in one moment and lack of simple words the next moment.
4. Unrelated Utterances
Late-stage dementia causes disorganized thinking, resulting in a conversation that jumps around frequently. Where there might be some linkage between concepts in the mid-stages, in the late stages, words or ideas may be expressed that are entirely unrelated. The reduced vocabulary causes your loved one to grasp at other, unrelated words to fill the gap.
5. Word order and Agreement
One of the hallmarks of language is the correct arrangement of words—words need to be used in the correct order and in agreement with each other. In the later stages of dementia, words become easily entangled, sentences are mixed up, and correct grammar may be lost.
6. Speech Disturbances
Throughout the earlier stages of dementia or milder Alzheimer’s, language is affected. In the late stages of dementia, speech may also be affected. Someone may have trouble pronouncing words, forget how to pronounce certain syllables, or begin to stutter. In the very late stages, speech may be significantly impacted so that words are no longer discernable.
7. Non-Verbal Cues Paramount
When your loved one can no longer understand the meaning of the words you are saying, he/she will rely upon understanding your intonation, your body language, the tone of your voice, and your approach.
Your words could be pleasant and clear, but if you appear to be upset or hurried, your words will be lost. Only your upset nature or hurried and flustered sense is being conveyed to your loved one. The person with dementia may then respond to your perceived emotion, completely separate from the words that you are saying.
As someone with dementia progresses through the illness, their ability to analyze their own communication dwindles. By the late stages, they are not able to self-assess their communication at all.
As a family caregiver communicating with your loved one, or as a health care professional communicating with clients, it is our responsibility to anticipate the above 7 challenges and accommodate accordingly.
4 Reasons to Get Elders Out of the Hospital Quickly!
Your mom just had surgery and you thought she’d be in the hospital for weeks, but she’s being discharged today! You may feel as though your mother is being pushed out of the hospital door just to make space for the next patient, but there’s a lot more to it than that.
Here are four reasons why you don’t want an elderly relative to remain in hospital any longer than necessary:
1. Bedrest is TERRIBLE!
When someone is sick or recovering after surgery, it is tempting to pamper them while they remain in bed all day long, but that is actually the worst thing for recovery. For every day of bed rest, the frail elderly lose approximately 5% of their mobility. After only a week of bedrest, they could be down by 35% of their mobility—and they may not have started with 100% prior to surgery. Getting up and out of bed is crucial to retain mobility and strength. Encouraging someone to get up periodically throughout the day will prevent the 5% mobility loss that comes with complete bedrest.
2. Hospitals make you sick!
The risk of contracting an additional illness while in hospital increases the longer you remain in hospital. Those with weakened immune systems are most likely to contract superbugs such as MRSA or C-difficile which are antibiotic resistant.
These illnesses can cause severe diarrhea which often leads to dehydration, which increases the risk of delirium—the next item on the list.
3. Delirium, Dementia or Despair?
Delirium is a state of confusion that can be mistaken for a sudden case of Alzheimer’s Disease. It is NOT a form of dementia, but it can mimic dementia. The frail elderly are at high risk of developing delirium in the hospital.
Here are some of the risk factors:
Medication changes—their regular medication routine may be changed to help with diagnosis
Interrupted sleep—injections in the middle of the night, a nurse checking in, etc.
Day/night reversal—orientation to time of day becomes difficult when lights are on all night and circadian rhythm is interrupted.
Lack of social interaction—while nurses and doctors may conduct a test or provide care, they cannot remain at a patient’s bedside for hours at a time. The loneliness and sense of isolation can cause the elderly to despair. With a sense of time interrupted, someone may believe they have been abandoned for days.
4. Get back on the john!
If an elderly person is at risk of falling or they need assistance, they won’t be permitted to toilet independently. They can press the buzzer to request help, but hospital staff may not be immediately available. In many cases, it is easier to catheterize a patient to ensure that they are not attempting to get out of bed and risk falling on their way to the bathroom.
The longer someone is catheterized, the greater the risk that they will become incontinent. The catheter holds open the muscles that usually contract to block the bladder. Those muscles will essentially become lazy. The catheter might be removed, but the muscles may have lost their ability to retract and no longer be able to contract sufficiently to contain urine.
Losing the ability to hold one’s bladder has enormous ramifications. Beyond the increased care needs, someone’s confidence and quality of life can be negatively impacted by incontinence.
The hospital is the right spot for someone who is acutely ill or injured, but it’s a terrible place to recover! Returning home as soon as possible will prevent these four risks of a prolonged hospital stay. We can help your loved one remain healthy and well!
You grow attached to your residents and you hate to see them move on from your residence into Long Term Care. You wish you could keep them with you even longer! You may even feel a little torn because on one hand, you have grown fond of each resident and you want them to remain in your home, but you also see the toll it takes on your staff when care needs suddenly increase.
Warm Embrace can help you to have the best of both worlds! Your residents can remain living with you much longer, without placing an increased burden on your staff.
One of our greatest success stories was with a gentleman at a retirement home in Kitchener. When he moved into the retirement home, he had occasional nighttime urinary incontinence due to prostate issues. After prostate surgery, he became entirely incontinent and he wasn’t able to self-manage. Because of this, he was self-isolating, remaining in his room and not attending any activities or events.
He had AM/PM care from the LHIN, but many days he wasn’t ready to get out of bed when the PSW from the LHIN arrived. That left the retirement home staff to attend to his needs at the busiest time of day—the morning rush. He needed assistance numerous times throughout the day as well and it was taking quite a toll on the staff.
Warm Embrace was brought in to help support this gentleman so he could remain living in retirement and not move into long term care. We intentionally scheduled our service at the time of day that was heaviest for the retirement home team. That way, their efforts could be focused on other residents, knowing this gentleman was well-cared for.
Our caregivers attended to his personal care needs in the morning—on his schedule when he was ready to get up. Our caregivers ensured that he was bathed and dressed in fresh clothes. Each day, they changed the bedsheets and laundered them, along with any other soiled laundry. While this gentleman had weekly laundry included in his package, our team was responsible to immediately launder soiled items so they didn’t remain in his suite until laundry day.
Once he was dressed and ready for the day, we’d get him to breakfast and then take him on an outing. With a caregiver’s reassurance, he began leaving his room to attend events and activities. When he required assistance, we’d be right there to provide it. His confidence began to return!
Our morning visits thoroughly covered the busiest time of day, and the retirement home staff was able to provide the coverage for this gentleman required in the afternoon. Working together as a team, we supported this gentleman in remaining in his retirement home of choice for an additional three and a half years.
We are pleased to partner with you and your team to provide the same support to any of your residents who require it. We intentionally schedule our services at your highest need times of day to reduce the strain on your staff.
Our Warm Embrace caregivers can support your highest-needs residents on a one-to-one basis, freeing your staff to attend to all the other residents in their care. Together, we can help your residents to remain with you for many more years to come!


Update: we learned that Windows Vista users require a different install file, you can download that one here. Just insert it into the unpack directory and overwrite the old files.
AMD Radeon HD 6900 and AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series:
- 3DMark Vantage improves ~7%
- 3DMark06 improves ~3%
- Call of Duty Black Ops improves ~20% at 4xMSAA and up to 35% at 8xMSAA
- Riddick Assault on Dark Athena SSAO performance improves ~20%
- Unigine Heaven OpenGL performance improves ~10% at moderate, 30% at normal and 100% at extreme tessellation levels
- Aliens vs. Predators improves ~9% at 2xMSAA and up to 20% at 4xMSAA
- Batman Arkham Asylum improves ~4%
- Crysis Warhead improves ~2-4%
- Metro 2033 improves ~28% at 4xMSAA
- Battleforge DirectX 11 performance improves as much as 6%
- The Catalyst Control Center includes an early prototype of some new tessellation controls. Our goal is to give users full control over the tessellation levels used in applications. The default selection AMD Optimized setting allows AMD, on a per application basis, to set the best level of tessellation. The intention is to help users get the maximum visual benefit of Tessellation, while minimizing the impact on performance. Currently no applications have been profiled, so the AMD Optimized setting will be non-operational until further notice.
- Use Application Settings option gives applications full control over the Tessellation level. Users can also manually set the maximum tessellation level used by applications with the slider control
- The long term goal for the AMD Optimized setting is to use the Catalyst Application Profile mechanism to control the AMD recommended level of tessellation on a per application basis. AMDs intention is to set the tessellation level such that we will not be reducing image quality in any way that would negatively impact the gaming experience.
Currently no applications have been profiled, so the AMD Optimized setting will be non-operational until further notice.


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Echoing the "off-balance" theme for its SS21 collection, EVISUKURO designed this skirt with an asymmetric drape, partially fastened with metal rings, to cleverly balance between elegance and eccentricity.
• 66% Polyester, 31% Viscose, 3% Wool
• Fashion fit
• Asymmetric drape and metal rings
- You can simply return any item within 14 calendar days from the date of delivery for a refund or exchange.
- Customer needs to bear the return shipping fee and any cost incurred.
- Online Orders cannot be returned to any of Evisu’s boutiques.

domain: design


The June issue of BLADE® magazine features a story about wilderness survivalist Creek Stewart and his line of Whiskey Knives, made by Hank Gevedon and crew at Reptile Toolworks in Mt. Vernon, Kentucky. Whiskey Knives are carefully tested, but Hank likes to destroy a few from time to time to spot-check their quality. He starts by bending a Whiskey Corvid model to show that the hard outer layer of the A36 carbon steel will crack when bent in half, but that the knife will stay intact because of the tough inner core. Then he gets to shooting them. Besides, Hank’s just entertaining to listen to.
A Bent Whiskey Corvid Knife Still Chops and Slices
Hank Shoots A Whiskey Corvid with an 8mm Mauser FMJ
So what does all that mean to the knife owner? Well, you won’t want to bend your knife in a vise or shoot it at the range, but the following review of the destructive testing explains how the makuri method of construction can produce a sharp, yet tough knife, ideal for hard-use bushcrafting needs.
What Does Destructive Testing Reveal About Whiskey Knives?
Sure They’re Sharp, But How Sharp?
Know How to Sharpen Your Knives
The blades on Whiskey Knives are asymmetrical hollow-ground, meaning that you only need to sharpen one side, the one with the Creek logo on it. The other side just requires a touch-up. Reptile Toolworks puts instructions in the crate with each Whiskey Knife it sends out, but what about your other knives? “Sharpen A Knife, And Care For Your Collection” by BLADE editors covers all aspects of sharpening, demystifying the process and ensuring you have the knowledge to keep your knives sharp at home and in the field.
Knife Guide Issue features the newest knives and sharpeners, plus knife and axe reviews, knife sheaths, kit knives and a Knife Industry Directory.
Get your FREE digital PDF instant download of the annual Knife Guide. No, really! We will email it to you right now when you subscribe to the BLADE email newsletter.


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European and Worldwide retailers / stockists of DD Hammocks' products are listed below:
European DD retailers:
Worldwide DD retailers:
Are you interested in becoming a retailer / stockist of DD Hammocks?
We are always on the lookout for new outlets for our products. If you are interested in becoming a retailer / stockist for DD Hammocks then please complete the form below and our trade team will be in touch with further information.

domain: economics


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Lincoln Financial Group has launched MyConfidentFuture.com, “a website designed to help people make informed, educated financial decisions.”
“MyConfidentFuture.com provides up-to-date information and timely insights to help empower people to face their futures with confidence,” said Heather Dzielak, Chief Marketing Officer, Lincoln Financial Group.
The website is organized around topics that are relevant in today’s environment and delivers information people can use to successfully navigate their lives through all its transitions including how to:
- Manage risk with insurance
- Retire with lifetime income
- Save for retirement
- Prepare for the unexpected
- Manage the uncertainty of taxes
Lincoln Financial thought leaders and subject matter experts provide valuable educational tools and resources including:
- Videos on the impact of current issues and trends in the industry
- Calculators that provide a snapshot of an individual’s financial situation including a Roth Conversion calculator
- Research and insights to help people understand issues that impact financial planning challenges and solutions
- Surveys and worksheets to get people involved in the income-planning process
© 2010 RIJ Publishing. All rights reserved.

domain: finance


text:
Ophthalmologist, The Eye Center
Dr. Katzen has been in private medical practice in Alexandria, Va. since 1976, specializing in ophthalmology and ophthalmic surgery. Currently, he is an ophthalmologist at The Eye Center, a practice that has been at the forefront of vision correction practices for many years. He also has hospital staff privileges at Inova Alexandria Hospital. In addition to medical practice, Dr. Katzen is involved in commercial real estate development, property management and leasing, and is an officer of Culmore Realty Company, bringing a sound business background to the Board of the Katzen Cancer Research Center.
Renowned for his work, Dr. Katzen was voted “Best Eye Doctor in Alexandria” by Alexandria Times newspaper in 2007 and 2008. He is a member of numerous organizations including the Alexandria and Fairfax Medical Societies, Northern Virginia Academy of Ophthamology, and Research to Prevent Blindness Society, and is a fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
An alumnus of GW, Dr. Katzen earned his medical degree from the School of Medicine and Health Sciences in 1972, and also completed research in the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology. He completed an internship in Mixed Medicine at the Washington Hospital Center and a residency in Ophthalmology at University Hospital in Baltimore, where he served as chief resident his final year.

domain: medical


text:
The act, due to be implemented early in 2019, criminalises for the first time in Scotland controlling and coercive behaviours which can be a factor of domestic abuse.
SafeLives, a national charity dedicated to ending domestic abuse, will begin training officers later this year.
The charity said more than 130,000 people in Scotland live with domestic abuse every year, with 68 per cent of victims who access specialist support disclosing controlling behaviour, and 56 per cent physical abuse.
Assistant Chief Constable Gillian MacDonald, of the Crime and Protection Department at Police Scotland, said: “While physical assaults are the most visible part of domestic abuse, survivors have told us that it can be more difficult to cope with the punishing psychological abuse.
“This new act recognises, for the first time, the harm psychological abuse causes to victims and their children and the complex way in which perpetrators seek to manipulate not only their victims but also the police response.
“Ensuring our officers and staff are equipped with a good understanding of controlling behaviours is key to delivering this ground-breaking legislation.
“This training and the provisions within the new legislation will enable our officers to investigate and report not only the incident but also the wider circumstances of the abusive relationship.”
She urged anyone affected by domestic abuse to report it to the police or seek support from partner agencies.
The new domestic abuse law, which was passed by MSPs in February, covers psychological and emotional maltreatment, and coercive and controlling behaviour, as well as physical attacks.
Examples of coercive and controlling behaviour include isolating a partner from their friends and relatives or controlling their finances.
Suzanne Jacobs, SafeLives chief executive, said: “We are really delighted by today’s news. We now have the chance to change culture in relation to domestic abuse across the whole of Police Scotland.
“That’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to make life better for victims, survivors and their children all across the country. We look forward to delivering this work in collaboration with many expert partners from across the domestic abuse sector in Scotland, reflecting the diverse experiences of survivors and families.
“We know that together we can improve the response and ensure more people receive the right support, at the right time to keep them safe.”
The Scottish Government has provided £825,000 worth of funding to support the training.
Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said: “We’re doing everything we can to tackle the scourge that is domestic abuse at every opportunity and this new funding will greatly assist in tackling it.”

domain: law


Equus partners with HGST for high density all-flash storage
January 23, 2018
New 2U24 JBOF Flash Storage for Software Defined Systems
Equus Compute Solutions has partnered with HGST to offer their line of Just a Bunch of Flash (JBOF) all-flash storage systems. Gartner estimates that by 2020, 50% of data centers will use only solid state arrays or primary data. The HGST 2U24 Flash Storage Platforms are designed for software-defined storage (SDS) infrastructures. These innovative JBOF systems balance performance with capacity, delivering high IOPS, and low latency at up to 184 TB capacity. The HGST JBOF systems are a way to jumpstart the migration to an all Flash datacenter.
There are two 2U24 chassis configurations: the SATA-based chassis supports up to 24 CloudSpeed Gen II 2.5” SSD modules for up to 46TB capacity, and the SAS3 chassis supports 24 Ultrastar 2.5” SSDs for up to 184 TB. Both systems can start with as few as 12 SSDs and upgrade one additional SSD module at a time. Key features include up to six 12Gb/s SAS3 connections to the host system, that supports up to 4.7M IOPS with www.serversdirect.com/storage/das-and-jbod/hgst[...].
“We are excited to offer these HGST JBOF All-Flash systems that deliver maximum performance for our customer’s specific workloads,” said Steve Grady, Equus VP Customer Solutions. “The 2U24 Flash storage platforms address the demanding storage needs of large enterprises and cloud service providers who require dense, shared flash storage.”
Find more details at www.serversdirect.com/storage/das-and-jbod/hgst[...]


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SINGAPORE - Thousands of needy residents in Bedok received an extra bag of groceries on Sunday morning, as part of a volunteer initiative by NTUC FairPrice and the Bedok and Braddell Heights grassroots organisations.
Volunteers went door to door handing out items such as oil, milk powder, sardines, biscuits and vermicelli to some 3,000 households in the estate.
Another 2,000 bags were also pledged to low-income residents in Braddell, bringing the total donations to $250,000.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and grassroots adviser for East Coast GRC, Mr Lim Swee Say, joined the volunteers in distributing the items.
Bedok resident Baydah Abdul Rahman, 84, who lives in a three-room flat with her daughter, said she was happy and grateful to receive the donation. "It's very helpful. I like the milk - I drink it every day," said Madam Baydah.
FairPrice administrative officer Rosziya Rahmat, 49, who was one of the volunteers, is no stranger to community work. She started volunteering for various non-profit organisations 15 years ago, and still does so when she has free time.
"I love to volunteer. To me it's an eye opener. Some of the less fortunate don't speak up and just isolate themselves," she said. "It's important for us to reach out."
Last month, FairPrice announced that it would be doubling its volunteers' programme target from the 2,300 hours clocked in volunteerism last year to 5,000 hours this year.

domain: sociology


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Baby Keem is an American rapper who has generated $1 million in net worth. Baby Keem, whose real name is Hykeem Jamaal Carter Jr., was born on Oct. 22, 2000, in Carson, Calif. His interest in music started at the age of 8 when he started rapping with his friends.
Baby Keem released his first mixtape titled “First Quarter 2013” at the age of 12 before releasing various other tapes including “Nigga Hunnid,” “The Baby Show” and “Young Niggaz”. Baby Keem also collaborated with other big names such as Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Meek Mill and more which helped him gain popularity among his fans.
After releasing several tracks under his own name, he took on the Baby Keem moniker in 2018 with the release of his Midnight EP. Baby Keem, who was once homeless at the age of 13 after he left home due to family issues, told DJ Vlad that music saved him from a life on the streets.
After becoming a renowned rapper, Baby Keem started touring across the United States and Canada. Baby Keem, who is considered as one of rap’s youngest stars to achieve such a feat, has become known for his raw lyrics that he delivers through raspy vocals during live performances.
In 2014, BabyKeem released “The Baby Show” mixtape which featured artists Meek Mill, Rockie Fresh and more. Baby Keem was also featured on “First Quarter 2015” along with artists such as Lil Soulja Slim, Meek Mill, Migos and more. Baby Keem’s music has since been released by Quality Control Music which is under the Republic Records label.
The Baby Show mixtape was considered as a favorite by the Rolling Stone magazine. Baby Keem has also been featured on various other tracks such as “Bedtime” that have garnered millions of views online, including over 35 million YouTube views and more than 700 000 Spotify streams.
Baby Keem tours across the country to promote his music as well as working on other projects such as a documentary which he will be featured in titled “From Day One.”
As his influence grew in the world of rap, Baby Keem started working as a music producer. Baby Keem has produced tracks for various artists such as J. Cole, Wale and others, which helped him become one of the youngest producers in history. Baby Keem also started his own record label called Baby Tree Entertainment through which he plans on releasing new music.
Does Baby Keem have any words of advice?
Baby Keem’s advice to aspiring rappers: “Stay focused and work on your craft every day.”
I buy and review courses so you don’t have to. Sometimes, I even find courses that are legitimate and worthwhile; and that’s how I accidentally came across one that led me to building a 6-figure business in a little under 5 years. Now, I still review courses because it’s my favorite hobby. 🙂 Learn more about me here.

domain: artistic


God Of War Freya Actor Is 'Ready' For Live-Action Amazon Series
God of War has smashed onto the scene once again with the mighty swing of Kratos' hammer in 2022's Ragnorok, and after bulldozing its way into Game of the Year shouts in just a month's notice, the Sony smash has booked a plane to Hollywood.
Following the success of the most recent God of War instalment, a good 17 years after the original release, Amazon has set its sights on producing a live-action series based on the mythologic world.
Now, some of the God of War game cast wants in, and it could see two familiar foes go up against each other on the big screen.
God of War Actors Want Into TV Series Adaptation
With murmurs already being spread as to who should play who, members of the game cast have now put their names forwards. Sunny Suljic, the voice and face behind the devilish you thing Atreus, has taken to Twitter to claim that he fancies the role. He more than fancies it, too.
Sunny is 17 now, presumably 18 by the time God of War is filmed, making him four years older than Atreus, who is roughly 14 in Ragnarok.
However, if 29-year-old Jason Earles can play 15-year-old Jackson Stewart in Hannah Montana, who's to say that four years is too big of an age gap?
Danielle Bisutti 'Ready' To Play Freya In God of War Series
Freya's actress, Danielle Bisutti wants to put her Freya portrayal to the test, echoing Suljic's comments. Taking to Twitter, the desirable heroine simply said, "I feel that Sunny," followed by "#cast", insinuating that she will want to reprise her role.
Bisutti is also waving the flag for her God of War colleagues to get their big-screen breakthrough by retweeting a suggestion that lead actor Christopher Judge shouldn't be snubbed for another washed-up Wahlburg.
Whether or not Bisutti and Suljic may get their respective roles is yet to be seen, with casting not decided. Sony does have a history of pulling in some big names for their main characters, with Game of Thrones duo Pedro Castro and Bella Ramsey being pulled in for The Last of Us and Tom Holland and Wahlberg starring in Uncharted.


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For example, if a food contains 30 grams of carbs and 10 of those carbs are fiber, meals is contains 20 grams of net sugars. It's basically what's left over after you subtract all else.
In short, the keto / ketosis / ketogenic diet / nutrition systemis low carb, mediocre protein and fat therefore the percentage on a daily basis is 5% carbs, 30% protein and 65% fat (adjusted to the individual needs, of course).
The second area is actually definitely an appropriate training schedule towards the strength certification. It doesn't have to be too elaborately designed. It can be home training, it can be calisthenics, using free weights, bands, medicine balls maybe combination famous those property. A lot of times people think it is advisable to go to some big exercise room.this isn't necessarily the case. It is possible to do it outside at one on the local parks or on the comfort of the home. Provided you possess a few basic pieces.
The Diet Solution Program will share with you as with Isabel knows through her life's improve everything connected to nutrition, exercise, and optimum health and weight.
Other drop the weight plans individuals commonly see early achievement with are the same as carb diets for instance Atkins. Typically the majority because of these diets show efficiently at lowering weight at for starters. Regrettably long-term achievement adopting zero carbohydrate diets isn't as beneficial as the actual success found with fantastic fat shedding diets. One of the maximum troubles with this portion of weight-reduction plan's that often after a couple of weeks they'll appear to get demanding to stay to. When they have to find out that a keto guidelines have a lot of overall fitness perks. keto guidelines plans were did deal with various ailments the particular generations. The sheer reason for a good Nutra Holistic Keto Diet guidelines tend regarding outside for Nutra Holistic Keto Diet Review Holistic Keto Diet Reviews this confines of these column.
The recommended levels for you to a "Six-Pack ketosis diet plan menu for women" which has Phase 1: weeks 1-3 ranging from 2,704 cals, Nutra Holistic Keto Diet Pills 260 g protein, 269 g carbs, 65 g fat to 2,692 cals, 279 g protein, 178 g carbs, 96 g ft. Phase 2: weeks 4-6 ranges from 2,343 cals, 271 g protein, 182 g carbs, 59 g fat to 2,340 cals, 310 g protein, 95 g carbs, 80 g mass.
Lean meat with vegetables for dinner: Try pork or chicken, even lean beef. Load the plate with regarding green vegetables for belly nutritional selling price. Fresh lemon can liven them enhance.

domain: food


Winner of several Alberta car shows. This car was originally built and purchased in the U.S. and is now owned by a Canadian. The vehicle is immaculate. It has original paint, original leather seats There is no accident damage on the vehicle. The only rebuild on the vehicle was done several years ago, and all the rubber seals, O-rings, engine seals, door, body, window, trunk seals etc were replaced with genuine Buick parts. The entire electrical system was replaced with new genuine Buick parts, brakes, tires and steering mechanisms were also replaced with new parts. This is a true Roadmaster, not a Super or a Custom. There are a handful of these cars left in the world, and this car is a 10 out of 10, and has to be seen to be appreciated. The vehicle also comes with a complete set of the original Buick owner's manual and all mechanical manuals for servicing. Please feel free to contact us for more details.
For some reason, Buicks are among the best values across the classic American car market.
Cruising weather has arrived for most parts of the U.S. and a big, brash mid-century convertible loaded with chrome seems like just the antidote to the mundane.
This historic 1953 Buick Roadmaster four-door sedan (Lot #2503) was personally customized for 20th century Renaissance man Howard Hughes.
When I was a baby, my oldest brother, Mike Jr., gave my Dad a ’42 Buick Roadmaster that he had bought and drove for about a year.
With a bespoke body by Vignale and raced by illustrious drivers, the 625 Targa Florio spider is valued in the mid-seven figures
Classic & Sports Car Show and Flywheel Festival scheduled for late June at Bicester Heritage
The Pick of the Day is a Paris show car once owned by the president of Argentina, and a past Pebble Beach Concours award winner
DEI introduces new catalytic converter shield


US 6268035 B1
A tire block is made of a plurality of elongated tire tread strips arranged end-to-end and wound in a spiral wrap of overlying convolutions. Fasteners secure the tire tread strips together. The tire tread strips are made from motor vehicle tires by removing the side walls and transversely splitting the tread.
1. A tire block comprising a plurality of elongated tire tread strips made from motor vehicle tires having a tread and side walls, by removing the side walls and transversely splitting the tread,
said tread strips being arranged in substantially abutting end-to-end relationship in a spiral wrap of overlying convolutions disposed in a common plane, and
means for securing said tread strips together in said spiral wrap.
2. A tire block as defined in claim 1, wherein said means comprises fasteners driven through overlying convolutions of the tread strips in the spiral wrap.
3. A tire block as defined in claim 2, wherein each of said fasteners is of a configuration to resist withdrawal.
4. A tire block as defined in claim 2, wherein each of said fasteners has a head and a barbed shank to resist withdrawal.
5. A tire block layer comprising a plurality of tire blocks;
each of said tire blocks comprising a plurality of elongated tire tread strips made from motor vehicle tires having a tread and side walls, by removing the side walls and transversely splitting the tread,
the tread strips of each of said tire blocks being arranged in substantially abutting end-to-end relationship in a spiral wrap of overlying convolutions in which the convolutions are disposed in a common plane and extend around a central axis at the center of said tire block,
first means securing the tread strips of each of said tire blocks together in said spiral wrap, and
second means securing said tire blocks together edge-to-edge with the outermost convolutions of adjacent tire blocks in contact with one another and with the central axes of said tire blocks substantially parallel.
6. A tire block layer as defined in claim 5, wherein said first means comprises fasteners driven through overlying convolutions of the tread strips of each of said tire blocks in the spiral wrap.
7. A tire block layer as defined in claim 6, wherein each of said fasteners has a shank of a configuration to resist withdrawal.
8. A tire block layer as defined in claim 6, wherein each of said fasteners has a head and a barbed shank to resist withdrawal.
9. A tire block as defined in claim 2, wherein the ends of adjacent tread strips are secured together.
10. A tire block layer as defined in claim 6, wherein the ends of adjacent tread strips of each of said tire blocks are secured together.
This invention relates generally to tire blocks made from the treads of automotive vehicle tires.
There is a continued and heightened awareness of the need for an environmentally safe method of disposal or reuse of waste tires. Under ideal conditions, scrap tire disposal is costly and problematic, and under poor conditions scrap tire piles can lead to highly toxic, uncontrollable fires or water retention resulting in severe insect infestations. Disposal of scrap tires has become highly regulated and controlled in nearly every aspect following the initial life of the tire on an automobile or truck.
Numerous methods have been developed for the reprocessing of scrap tires, including the creation of tire-derived fuels (TDF), the burning of tires in a furnace, generating heat for the production of electricity, producing crumb rubber that is used in the manufacture of rubber-based mats and asphalt or used loose as a sub-base, or cut and shaped from the natural state to form bushings and seals. However, there remains a need to find other uses of waste tires.
In accordance with the present invention, a valid use of old tires is provided by removing the side walls and transversely splitting the tread to provide a plurality of elongated tire tread strips. The tread strips are arranged end-to-end in a spiral wrap of overlying convolutions. The tread strips are secured together, preferably by driving fasteners through the overlying convolutions.
Further in accordance with the invention, a plurality of the tire blocks may be grouped together or secured together in a layer for the prevention of soil erosion as, for example, along the banks of a river or a ravine, or to make a temporary cross-over in a river bed to permit vehicles to move from one side to the other.
The tire block of this invention uses a minimum of energy to extract the most difficult portion of the scrap tire to recycle, namely, the steel-belted tread. The sidewalls are cut away, leaving the steel belt intact in the tread and covered by a nominal thickness of rubber. This rubber covering results in a safe to handle product, and eliminates any leaching potential to waterways. All grades of scrap can be used in the manufacture of a tire block, including scrap which is clean or dirty, near new or heavily worn, intact or damaged and of any size. Limited power requirements, as opposed to most other methods of manufacture or processing of scrap tires, lends itself to a mobile operation allowing the processing plant to be brought to the raw material, thus reducing shipping and handling of whole tires.
The structural physical properties of a tire block are remarkable due to the inherent strength of the intact tread portion of the tire, the durability and impact resistance of rubber, and the method of assembly which results in a multiplicity of treads to withstand both compression and impact loads, resilience due to freezing and thawing or natural earth movements, and insolubility in water.
The tire block, with its method of manufacture, lends itself to multiple methods of joining one tire block to another, one tire block to a fixed object, or one tire block or a multiple tire block stack to a subbase or earth through the use of pins, rods, staples, lashing through the ply of the tire block, or ground driven pipes through the center hole.
In accordance with the invention, scrap tire treads are wrapped and fastened in such a manner as to create a cylindrical building component with a height equal to the width of the tire tread and a diameter dictated by construction requirements and the number of treads used in manufacture. This cylindrical building component, or tire block, when stacked and fastened together creates a highly effective, durable, and erosion resistant building component.
The tire block when fastened together and set atop, or integrated into, a levee or a dike will reduce the potential for soil erosion during times of high tide, thus eliminating the catastrophic failure of a levee or dike. The inherent strength, due to the nature of the method of manufacture and the rubber and belt combination, allows the tire block to be used where pedestrian or vehicle traffic may result with no degradation to structural integrity.
Also in accordance with the invention, a significant quantity of tire treads may be reused in the manufacture of tire blocks thus diverting scrap rubber from landfills stockpiles, and illegal dumping sites.
One object of this invention is to provide a tire block having the foregoing features and capabilities.
Another object is to provide a tire block that may be easily handled, and that will not cause harm to humans or animals due to incidental contact.
Another object is to provide a simple and efficient method of making a tire block.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent as the following description proceeds, especially when considered with the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a tire block constructed in accordance with this invention.
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the tire block shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view showing a single tire tread strip in perspective which is one of several similar tread strips employed in forming the tire block of this invention.
FIG. 4 is a cross section of the tire tread strip shown in FIG. 3, and also showing in broken lines, the side walls and tire beads of a tire from which the tread strip is made.
FIG. 5 is a view showing a plurality of tire blocks banded together.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a plurality of tire blocks laid over levies or banks on opposite sides of a river to prevent erosion in the event of flooding.
Referring now more particularly to the drawings, and especially to FIGS. 1 and 2, a tire block 10 comprises a plurality of elongated tire tread strips 12 arranged end-to-end in a spiral wrap of overlying convolutions, secured together by fasteners 14.
The tire tread strips 12 are made from used automotive vehicle tires, usually used or discarded tires, by removing the side walls 16 and transversely splitting the tread 18 (see FIG. 4). The resulting tread strips 12, being of the flexible rubber or rubber-like material of which automotive vehicle tires are typically made, are rolled in the spiral configuration shown in FIG. 1 by taking a first tread strip and rolling it into a circular shape with the ends overlapping, following with a second tread strip having one end thereof abutting the outer overlapping end of the first strip and rolling the second strip into a spiral configuration over the first strip, and so on until a tire block of the desired size is formed. If the tire is steel-belted, the steel belting may remain intact in the treads. The convolutions of the tire tread strips 12 are wound spirally about a central axis 22 at the center of the tire block. The abutting ends 24 of the tire tread strips may, if desired, be secured together as by a suitable adhesive, but that is not necessary. As the tire block is built-up in this manner, the fasteners 14 are driven radially into the overlapping convolutions. The fasteners preferably are in the form of staples or nails having an elongated barbed shank 26 to resist withdrawal, and a head 28 for striking with a hammer to drive the fasteners into and through the tire tread strips.
A plurality of tire blocks may be laid edge-to-edge with the outermost convolutions of adjacent tire blocks in contact with one another and with the central axes 22 of the tire blocks substantially parallel. Such an arrangement is shown in FIG. 5 where straps 40 extended through the central opening 42 in the tire blocks secure adjacent tire blocks together so that a layer of tire blocks is formed.
FIG. 6 shows a plurality of tire blocks laid edge-to-edge along the banks of a river 50 to prevent soil erosion in the event of flooding, for example. The tire blocks in FIG. 6 may be secured together edge-to-edge by straps as shown in FIG. 5, or the straps may be omitted and the tire blocks merely laid in the pattern shown. The tire blocks have sufficient weight to maintain their positions in a layered arrangement, although in some situations it may be desirable to bind them together by straps or the like as shown in FIG. 5.


Projectors (beamers) allow an image to be produced of almost any size usually from 20″ – 300″. The differences between the different models are important in what you look for if you are trying to choose a certain projector:
Lumen Rating (Brightness):
This rating tells how bright the projector will be. Most projectors are between 1000-3000 lumen. The larger the number the brighter the image will be. There are also settings on most projectors to turn the bulb on econo mode, which dims the brightness, but adds more life to the bulb, which need to be replaced when it reaches the end of its life. Pico projectors which are becoming popular now have very low lumen rating, usually a couple hundred lumen. This means that in a room that is not totally or nearly dark, the image will be hard to make out. The lumen rating is important when you are designing your table for certain environments, where the image will need to be brighter than the ambient light so that it can be well seen.
This number tells how well the optics inside the projector are at throwing an image at a certain distance. Useful tools to use with this are projection calculators and image-mirror tools which calculate the final image after the image from a projector is reflected or “bent” by mirrors. There are projectors known as Short Throw Projectors which are able to produce larger images at a closer distance which are popular in building smaller multi-touch setups, though usually more expensive.
The resolution for projectors is just like TV and computer monitors. Standard Definition (SD) is the lowest resolution and is not HD. An example of SD resolution is 800×600. High Definition (HD) resolution is a much better image: 720p is anything that has a 720 or 768 in the last number. So for example, 1280×720, 1280×768, 1024×720, 1024×768 are all 720p HD resolution; 1080i (or 1080p) is anything that has a 1080 or higher as the last number. So for example, 1920×1080 and 1900×1200 are both capable of 1080 HD resolution.
There are two formats for resolution: they are 4:3 (which I call “square”) and 16:9 (which I call “rectangle”). When deciding on a projector the native resolution is important because that is the resolution that will give you the truest quality. For instance if your native resolution is 800×600, but it has the ability to go up to 1280×768, you would be enlarging the pixels and creating a simulated HD image. Simulated since the pixels wont really be creating an HD image due to the enlarged pixels, and you may get noticable pixelation in fast video/animations. For most people working on multitouch tables, they usually get low-end 800×600 projectors since they are cheaper and easier to find. The low resolution is usually fine for most basic animations that arnt coded for HD screens. The problem with the low resoltion projectors though is that the above categories like throw ratio and lumen aren’t usually very good.
When buying a projector, I look at the spec sheets for the above things, and then I figure out the limitations in the image size due to the throw ratio on the projector by using a projection calculator. Then I go look at as many reviews as I can, noting little things like db rating (how loud the projector is when on) and over all quality of the image.
Playstation 3 Eye Webcam(New Weapon)
The PS3 Eye Web camera was built to be used only on the Playstation 3 System, but thanks to AlexP from the NUI Group forums, it is now able to be used on computer systems.
- Very inexpensive. Retails for $40 USD, but can be found for cheaper at places like Amazon.com
- Capable of 320×240 resolution at 125fps, and 640×480 resolution at 75fps.
- Easily able to take the camera apart and remove/insert neccessary filters
- Uses the USB port, which is more common than the Firewire port used on more expensive camera
Infrared Light Sources
Single through-hole LEDs are a cheap and easy to create LED frames when making FTIR, DSI, and LED-LP MT setups. They require a knowledge in soldering and a little electrical wiring when constructing. LED calculators like here and here make it easy for people to figure out how to wire the LEDs up.The most common through-hole IR LED used are the OSRAM SFH 485 P.
If you are trying to make a LCD FTIR, you will need brighter than normal IR LEDs, so these are probably your best bet.
The easiest solution for making LED frames instead of soldering a ton of through-hole LEDs, LED ribbons are FFC cables with surface mount IR LEDs already soldered on them as seen here. They come with an adhesive side that can be stuck into a frame and wrapped around a piece of acrylic with a continuous LED ribbon. All that is required is wrap and plug the ribbon into the power adapter and done.The best quality ribbons can be found at environmentallights.com.
When making Rear DI or Front DI setups, pre-built IR emitters are much easier than soldering a ton of single through-hole LEDs together. For most Rear DI setups, 4 of these are usually all that is needed to completely cover the insides of the box. By buying the grouped LEDs, you will have to ellimate “hot spot” IR blobs caused by the emitters by bouncing the IR light off the sides and floor of the enclosed box.
Infrared lasers are an easy and usually inexpensive way to create a MT setup using the LLP method.
Most setups go with 2-4 lasers, postioned on the corners of the touch surface.The laser wattage power rating (mW,W) is related to the brightness of the laser, so the more power the brighter the IR plane will be.The common wavelenght to use is 780nm and 940nm as those are the wavelengths available on the Aixiz.com website where most people buy their laser modules.
Laser modules need to have line lenses on them to create a light plane. The 120 degree line lens is usually the common one used.
You can check out the data sheet on an Aixiz 780nm laser
*Safety when using lasers of any power is important, so excersize common sense and be mindful of where the laser beams are traveling
Buying acrylic depends on the MT setup that you are trying to make. Acrylic is usually favored over lexan and plexiglass.
- 8-10mm thick optically clear acrylic
8-10mm thick Endlighten or similar composition acrylic. Endlighten acrylic has mirror-like particles suspended throughout to frustrate the light over the whole surface. Below are three pdfs on explaining about Endlighen acrylic.


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31 Reviews | Capitola, CA
Just Cake is a cake studio based in Capitola, California. They specialize in customized cakes with a blend of artistry, talent, and taste of creation. The cake studio was launched in 2003, focusing on stylized cakes with tradition and innovation, simplicity, and decadence. Experience Marina Sousa is a prominent cake designer and owner of the cake studio. She has worked with world-class event designers and celebrities. Marina graduated in the world’s premier culinary college, Culinary Institute of America, in Napa Valley. She graduated at the top of her class with a degree in baking and pastry arts. She also achieved popularity, being featured in several magazines, television networks, and blogs. Services Offered Just Cake offers a variety of desserts, including cakes, cupcakes, groom’s cakes, cookies, and dessert buffets. Cake services offered includes: Consultations Delivery Set-up Custom design Private tastings
Lark Cake Shop
9 Reviews | Los Angeles, CA
Your Special Day Deserves A Special Cake. Let us provide you with a wedding cake or dessert bar you and your guests are sure to remember. We are committed to providing our customers with amazing cakes, exceptional value and a customer service experience that is second to none. It starts with the wedding consultation, where you will meet with us to discuss all of the details of your big day. During the consultation, you will taste the flavors you are interested in. The wedding consultations are held on Saturday mornings at 9am, 10am, 11am at our Silver Lake location and are free of charge. For those of you who are unavailable on Saturdays, we also try and accommodate weekday morning and early afternoon consultations when possible. We can also schedule appointments at our Pasadena location if it’s more convenient for you. You can schedule your consultation by clicking here to fill out the Wedding Consultation Information form. We will respond within 24 hours and we look forward to hearing from you!
The French Gourmet
132 Reviews | San Diego, CA
The French Gourmet is a wedding cake and catering company based in San Diego, California. The company helps couples customize their menu and design the cake depending on their tastes and preferences. All the products used are freshly prepared daily to ensure the satisfaction of the couples and the guests. The French Gourmet is a licensed and insured bakery and is one of the few off-premise wedding caterers in San Diego. The French Gourmet has been providing quality service and delicious food since 1979. Services Offered In addition to cake, The French Gourmet makes cookies, cupcakes, croquembouches, groom's cakes, pastries, fruit, cheese, and dessert buffets. They can accomodate kosher, gluten-free, lactose-free, and vegan dietary restrictions. Their dessert services include: Consultations Custom design Delivery Private tastings Set up Cake stands Other Services Aside from baking, The French Gourmet also caters wedding events. The professional culinary team offers different styles including American, Italian, Asian, Caribbean, and more. Food may be served in various styles such as buffet, plated, stations, family-style, and more. The French Gourmet can accomodate dietary restrictions such as kosher, no pork, vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and organic. They also offer bar services which include bartenders, a champagne toast, house liquor, premium liquor, signature drinks, specialty wine, and more. When catering, their services include: Delivery Set up Clean up Tables and chairs Food/beverage items such as barware, glassware, flatware, china, linens, and chocolate fountains
200 Reviews | Huntington Beach, CA
Truly a cake to remember... Eye catching cakes, attention to detail, quality ingredients, mouthwatering flavors, with friendly approachable service! Your cake artist takes you through your tasting, bakes your cake, decorates it and delivers it to ensure your cake is given the attention it deserves. For 22 years Tomfoolery Serious Chocolate was known throughout Orange County for it's deserts, chocolates and hand dipped chocolate wines and champagnes. However in 2004, we expanded our business to include wedding and unusual cakes and changed our name to Sweet Traders to better define all that we do! Our cake artists like to take the time to get to know our clients during the cake consultations and we take our cakes seriously and are passionate about what we do, how a cake tastes and looks holds equal importance in our opinion. Your cake is baked specifically for you and designed to suit your personality, whether you like classical, elegant, trendy or whimsical we can do it all. We encourage you to call or email to schedule your consultation and come taste our delicious cakes! (And don't forget to ask about our delicious chocolate wedding favors!) Located in North Huntington Beach we service both Orange County and Los Angeles county and are accessibe from both the 405 and 22 Freeways. Wedding Wire member since 2010
280 Reviews | Azusa, CA
Hello! Thanks for visiting "Artistic Cakes. My name is Martha and I have been a cake designer for 12 years Certified from "A’belles School of Cake Decorating" in Long Beach, California and a Graduate from "The National School of Design" in Havana, Cuba, my training and artistic sense gives me the unique expertise to reflect and provide the client’s taste and preferences. At "Artistic Cakes", I work with all kinds of icings such as Buttercream, Chocolate, Cream Cheese Frosting and Fondant. However, the house specialty are 3 lightly sweetened gourmet creams I offer that provides every cake with a soft flavor, incredible for tiered cakes helping its stability for a long time, even in outdoor events and specially for summer. I take pride in working closely with the bridal party to create the cake of her dreams, inside & out! I make cakes for all occasions and budgets. Prices depend on the type of icing, filling, tiers, & decoration. Also Including in my services I offer a Candy or Dessert Bar Buffet well designed. You can reach me at (626) 804-3614. We are open now by appointment only and I will try to do my best to accomodated you. Once again, thank you very much for your visit and I hope to hear from you soon....!!!!!!
18 Reviews | Temecula, CA
Here at Frosting Fanatic we offer a personalized cake and cupcake experience. Serving the San Diego, Orange, and Riverside County areas, we offer customized cakes, cupcakes, cookies and more, creating exactly what you need. Have an idea of what you want your cake to look like? Send us an email and we can design the cake of your dreams!
Sweet Zulu Bakeshop
3 Reviews | Paso Robles, CA
Located in Paso Robles, California, Sweet Zulu Bakeshop is your destination for something non-ordinary. Sweet Zulu Bakeshop is born out of the need for a healthier alternative to the typical chemical and preservative packed dessert found in today's market. Desserts have always been about a memorable experience in peoples' lives and here at Sweet Zulu we dedicate ourselves to make each dessert with love, baked from scratch, using the highest quality non-GMO, organic and natural ingredients. This process results in a quality product with a superior taste. To us there is nothing better than creating smiles and seeing happy faces. Everyone deserves the best and must be appreciated. That is what we strive for - excellence! Feel free to check out our website for more information or contact us by phone or email ( email@example.com )
18 Reviews | Santa Rosa, CA
Where sugar meets art. I would love to create an edible work of art for any occasion you can think of. I work with each individual client to make the experience and the cake as personal as possible. My goal is make something that is both delicious and beautiful that will only enhance your special day.
Flour Power Cakery
204 Reviews | La Jolla, CA
With more than 30 years in business, Flour Power has earned a well-known and respected reputation with San Diego's finest venues and community members. We are partnered with hundreds of local hotels, restaurants, and private venues, and can create the ideal cake for every occasion. From the finest, elaborate wedding experience to a cozy, romantic backyard celebration, Flour Power has a cake to match. Our professional Customer Care Staff understands the importance of your wedding day, and are ready to provide calm reassurance and helpful suggestions. Our skilled Wedding Consultants and Decorators will work with you to tailor a cake that perfectly fits your specific taste and preference. Bring us your ideas and we'll share ours, and together we'll make the perfect cake for your occasion. Let our experience take the weight off your shoulders. We will organize and plan all of the details, from cake size to delivery, so that you can simply relax and enjoy your special day. Email us anytime at firstname.lastname@example.org or give us a call at 619-697-4747.
119 Reviews | Escondido, CA
Jill Reilly, Owner and Cake Artist at Cute Cakes, expanded her clientele with the January 2010 purchase of Gloria’s Bakery. Gloria's Bakery was established in the early 1980’s, and has long been a tradition in North San Diego County for custom wedding and designer cakes. By combining the two companies, Jill was able to offer a truly delicious, beautiful product and personalized, professional customer service to a wider range of clientele in the North County market. At Cute Cakes, we feel that your wedding cake should be unique to you as a couple. During your tasting and design appointment, we take our time to listen to both bride and groom, and then together we will formulate a design that is perfect for your once-in-a-lifetime celebration. All of our cake artists are experienced in buttercream and fondant, stacked and pillared, traditional and non-traditional designs. Our moist, incredibly delicious cakes, baked from southern family recipes, will be a sweet finale to your reception meal. In preparation for your tasting appointment, browse our online portfolio of custom designed wedding cakes, as well as our gallery of fun and creative cakes… perfect for grooms cakes, bridal showers and rehearsal dinners. We even offer delicious, personalized designer cookies that make wonderful guest favors or place holders. Are you interested in a dessert bar for your reception? Cute Cakes has you covered there as well. We offer a wide assortment of full or bite sized desserts… certain to please all palettes. Stop by our bakery for a visit today, or call to set up your personalized tasting appointment. Life Is Sweet! Celebrate Tastefully Contact us at our two locations! Cute Cakes Escondido Cute Cakes Gaslamp 345 West Grand Ave. 518 6th Avenue Escondido, CA 92025 San Diego, CA 92101 760-745-5278 619-235-9235
74 Reviews | Santa Barbara, CA
Crushcakes is the perfect addition to your wedding or event! All of our cakes, cupcakes, desserts, and pastries are made with love using only the freshest and finest ingredients. We offer a wide variety of cake flavors and sizes from mini cupcakes to 4-tiered wedding cakes as well as desserts such as brownies, lemon bars, french macarons, and cookies to make the perfect dessert bar at your event. Freshly baked in our kitchens daily ensures the freshest and most delicious cakes and desserts possible!
19 Reviews | Oakland, CA
Natty Cakes is an Oakland based small bakery that specializes in dessert bars and small tiered wedding cakes. Treats are organic and made from locally sourced ingredients, where possible. Our dessert bars and cakes are simple and elegant. We love customizing your wedding treats to fit your special day!
Vanilla Bake Shop
126 Reviews | Santa Monica, CA
Vanilla Bake Shop is a wedding cake company located in Santa Monica, California. The bakery has been part of the wedding cake industry for more than seven years, providing services throughout the local areas of Malibu, Orange County, and Los Angeles. Vanilla Bake Shop specializes in baking delicious cakes, cupcakes, French macarons, and cookies. Through consultations, the couples can discuss the styles, designs, and other ideas they have for the baker to create a personalized wedding cake. With its professionally trained and highly skilled cake designers, Vanilla Bake Shop aims to bake each couple’s dream wedding cake. Services Offered Vanilla Bake Shop bakes from scratch, using only high-quality ingredients. The bakery offers a variety of desserts such as cake pops, cookies, and cupcakes. It also provides gluten-free cakes for couples who have dietary needs. The company's services include: Consultations Custom design Delivery Private tastings Setup
Lulu's Custom Cakery
5 Reviews | Pacific Palisades, CA
Lulu’s Custom Cakery is a small, professional cake shop in Los Angeles, California. Owner and baker, Luciana, began her one-woman, in-home kitchen shop with her love for sweets and baking. She has created beautiful, delicious cakes for countless weddings and special events throughout the Los Angeles area. Lulu’s Custom Cakery designs each cake and cupcake to personally reflect your unique wedding-day vision. Products Offered Lulu’s Custom Cakery's sweets are customizable in every way. From design, to flavor and fillings, your cake or dessert will meet all your heart’s desires. Luciana primarily works with buttercream and fondant finishes to compliment the yummy flavors and fillings. Each cake is baked with fresh, non-GMO ingredients no matter which flavor or style you choose. Lulu’s Custom Cakery caters to an array of dietary needs, from food allergies to gluten free and diabetic-friendly options. The dessert options available are: Cakes Cake pops Cupcakes Groom’s cake Cookies Pastries Dessert buffet
7 Reviews | Santa Barbara, CA
Santa Barbara Wedding Cakes At Lilac Pâtisserie, we believe that designing a wedding cake should be a unique and memorable experience for each couple. Lilac Pâtisserie offers a selection of luxurious and decadent cakes — 22 signature flavors — that are as beautiful as they are delicious. We use only the finest ingredients in our cakes, including intoxicating Madagascar vanilla, rich Belgian chocolate, and the freshest produce. Lilac Pâtisserie’s welcoming space includes a full-service Italian espresso bar, bistro dining, and the Cake Counter, a decorating station where Lilac Pâtisserie’s cake artists skillfully sculpt, craft and design each wedding masterpiece. Gluten Free Wedding Cakes Chef Gillian Muralles is focused on luxurious gluten-free baking. Along with co-owner — and husband — Chef Alam Muralles, every recipe the duo creates meets their high standards, and passes the three criteria for the Lilac Pâtisserie work-of-art test: taste, texture and appearance. Everything made at Lilac Pâtisserie is gluten free, but if we didn’t mention it, you might never know. Wedding Cake Tasting & Consultation We know that planning a wedding can be a big headache and we want to make the cake the best part! Well, maybe second to the “I Dos.” Your wedding consultation at Lilac Pâtisserie means that our custom cake consultants will get to know you as a couple and better understand your design aesthetic. Over your choice of five samples of our signature cakes, we’ll work with you to develop and design the perfect cake for your special day. Wedding cake tastings are by appointment only and cost $25. Please call us at 805.845.7400 or email us at email@example.com to set up your wedding cake tasting.
The Sweet Apron
19 Reviews | Temecula, CA
I'm Karen Anderson. I've always had a love of baking and after several cake decorating courses, I was officially hooked. Now, after opening a custom cakery, my goal is to bring your vision to life to add a wow factor to your wedding or event. I take pride in creating cakes that my clients absolutely love, so dream something up, go crazy on pinterest, or browse something in the galleries to find the perfect centerpiece for your next event.
SpiderMonkey's Dessert Studio
2 Reviews | Sacramento, CA
Jamie Marlene brings over 20 years of experience as a Cake Artist and Dessert Chef. She is currently the Chef/Owner of SpiderMonkey's Dessert Studio in Sacramento, Ca. Jamie's client list includes the Hollywood elite and also serves as a local fan favorite. You can find her awesome desserts on Instagram @spidermonkey_art.
Sweetcakes by Bernadette Martin
18 Reviews | Baldwin Park, CA
At Sweetcakes, we LOVE what we do. I offer complimentary tastings and consultations where you will sample three flavors that you have previously chosen from my menu. During our appointment, I will get to know you as a couple and learn what it is that you would like to display at your wedding. To keep your wedding day as stress free as possible, I will work with your Venue to iron out all the details for delivery and set up. I offer many styles of cakes and cupcakes including formal, rustic, country, eclectic, sports themes....whatever it is you desire! My services include candy/popcorn bars, cake pops, dessert tables, cupcakes and cakes!
Other Wedding Vendors near California


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Homeless to be evicted soon, what’s next?
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) -
For months, residents have been calling out city leaders about the homelessness issue in South Bend.
Friday, President of the Monroe Park Neighborhood Association Mike Coman said the city is facing a “humanitarian crisis.”
“The weather amnesty closed at the end of April. The folks were let go, out onto the street, with no where to go, and some people provided some tents. They found an empty vacant lot, and it’s been one eviction after another,” Coman said.
As 16 News Now previously reported, homeless individuals recently set up camp at the old BMV, but will soon be evicted.
“The mayor and the powers at be that make the administrative decisions about something like this in a national pandemic can’t respond publicly by saying ‘We are working on something. We’ve got a plan,‘' Coman said.
For a couple months, residents, some South Bend Common Council members, and other community leaders said they have felt frustrated by, in their words, “a lack of response” from South Bend Mayor James Mueller.
“And that’s been frustrating for ourselves and the neighborhood, and for Lori Hamann and the other council people who are trying to figure out what we can do,” Coman said.
In a statement, Mueller’s administration said in part: “The City has met with the homeless service providers multiple times to try and find a short-term solution, but those conversations have not led to an immediately viable solution. Additionally, the administration has convened an implementation group of community members, service providers, and other stakeholders to explore long-term solutions to chronic homelessness.”
Las month, some South Bend Common Council members, like Troy Warner, voted to not override Mueller’s veto of a resolution that asked the mayor to come up with a plan to house the homeless.
In a statement Warner said in part: “Over the years we have seen multiple solutions with much planning fail. Rushing into solutions only results in failure.”
“Good leadership is going to instill a sense of moral and social responsibility,” Coman said.
What is next? That is still unknown.
Copyright 2020 WNDU. All rights reserved.


text:
Jim Carrey was the first to bring animal investigation to the masses when he tracked down a missing dolphin in the 1994 movie, Ace Ventura.
But did you know it’s actually a genuine occupation?
Watch the full story above
Watch The Morning Show on Channel 7 and stream it for free on 7plus >>
Meet Colin Butcher - the real-life pet detective helping locate missing fur babies right across England.
With a 90 per cent track record, the former police constable has reunited countless pets with their rightful owners, infiltrated exotic animal breeding rings, and worked with cats, dogs, horses, reptiles and even missing ducks.
“I set up a private detective agency, and a lot of our private clients owned horses,” Butcher said.
“Slowly and surely, around Britain, we became the organisation to go to if there was ownership dispute over a horse theft.
“All the other animals came after that, so we set up an agency dedicated to recovering stolen and missing animals.”
Increase in dog theft
During COVID, there’s been a huge spike in dog theft in the UK - and Colin says this is because usually a lot of dogs come into the country illegally from overseas.
With borders shut, more people are stealing dogs to either sell on or use them to breed with and then sell the puppies for profit.
“It is the worst year we have had,” Butcher said.
“Puppies have been stolen, pregnant dogs have been stolen, and a lot of kennels are being raided.
“It has gotten very, very serious at the moment.
“The agony that it causes to families when their dogs are stolen is very traumatic.”
Hunting down thieves
“A lot of the dog thieves who put them into puppy mills and have them tucked into all sorts of places,” Butcher said.
“It’s a case of trying to outsmart the thieves and get one step ahead of them and understand how they operate.
“They all think they are a bit smart, but invariably they do the same thing over and over again, which is how we catch them.”
Cat detection dog
Colin’s partner in crime-fighting is also the UK’s one and only ‘cat detection dog’ - Molly the Cocker Spaniel.
“It took a year and a half to train her, and she has now had 117 recoveries of missing cats,”
“She just takes it in her stride.
“Every single cat has a unique scent profile and it’s how they communicate.
“What we do is we take that profile, present it to Molly, and there are certain commands that she works to and then she’ll just track that particular cat and ignore all the others.
“She is very good at what she does.”
Colin Butcher’s book, Molly, The Pet Detective Dog, is out now - find out more here.

domain: pet


Maradona Goes International
On 27 February 1977, Argentina beat Hungary 5-1 in a friendly that marked the international debut of 16-year old Diego Maradona. At the time, Hungary had been the more successful team, with two World Cup finals (1938 and 1954), three Olympic gold medals (1952, 1964, 1968) and one silver medal (1972). But they were in decline, failing to qualify for the 1974 World Cup, the 1976 Olympics, or the 1976 European Championship. Argentina, meanwhile, had reached the Olympic final in 1928 and the World Cup final in 1930, but had since done little on the global stage (they did have 12 Copa América trophies, however).