Well, while we can (and we must!) check what the final
logo/colour/packaging communicates to them, we cannot ask them to pick
colours for us or to come up with design ideas. They are not graphic
designers, they are doctors, lawyers, executives or more frequently call
centre operators, receptionists and homemakers. We need to rather focus
on what they are real experts in, themselves! So what is really
critical for brands and businesses to know is: how your consumers live;
how they think and feel about the category that your brand is operating
in, what their real pain and pleasure points are and how the current
category players' communication resonates or doesn't with them.
Thankfully,Find detailed product information for Sinotruk howo truck.
our clients are making this shift and recognising that consumer
research should inform product and packaging design as well as brand
communication and not only test it once the design process is
complete.Selecting the best rtls
solution is a challenging task as there is no global solution like GPS.
This year we have done a lot more of the kind of research that aims to
really understand consumers and what their lives look like, what their
fears and frustrations are,The stone mosaic
comes in shiny polished and matte. their hopes and dreams and of course
how they engage and interact with the category and brands in that
category.
Sadly I didn't go to Cannes but in viewing the reel, I
was struck by how many brilliant examples there were of how creativity
works hardest when it is based on an enduring consumer truth.
The
hard-working campaigns went way beyond the basics of communicating a
proposition, they showed a deep understanding of how real people
actually behave and what they care about.
It was designed and
conceived of by a small pizza spot in Dubai. This device sits
innocuously on your fridge but it holds your pizza preference and
ensures that your order gets through seamlessly to the pizza place and
the chap actually making your pizza. So how much time does it actually
save,This document provides a guide to using the ventilation system
in your house to provide adequate fresh air to residents. well
realistically not that much, it is only the time that it takes to call
that order through,HOWO trucks are widely used and howo spare parts for sale are also welcomed . five minutes at the maximum, it seems ridiculous that this would make a difference.
But
what we know from the work that we have done in the fast-food category
is that instant gratification is the name of the game, many fast-foodies
will actually select their meal based on how quickly it will get to
them! Once a consumer has got a fast-food craving, they literally cannot
get their hands on it quickly enough, that is why food production time
and reducing "time-to-serve" is key in this category - they really are
that impatient.
What is abundantly clear is that the people
designing this devise and this campaign also had that insight, this was
not only a gimmick and a talking-point but it really answers a very real
issue that consumers have with fast-food and that is that it is simply
not fast enough!
This campaign is built on an insight that there
is a growing questioning, even if only amongst a small audience of
consumers, who ask questions about where their food originates.
This
campaign taps into this growing consciousness about factory farming and
the origin of food. Aligning one's brand with an issue that is close to
your market's heart is only possible if that market is understood in
the first place. In order to get to this insight, one has to use
consumer research to ask deeper questions than "how much are you
prepared to pay for this burger?" One has to really get to know what
moves them and what they really care about.
2012年10月24日 星期三
2012年7月10日 星期二
Is the Maccabees’ age-old abstruseness abutting to solution?
Few age-old sites
in the Angelic Land accept afire the acuteness like the absent tombs of the
Maccabees, the ancestors that led a Jewish insubordinate army to achievement
adjoin Seleucid religious repression in the additional aeon BCE.
Beginning added than 140 years ago, travelers, clergymen and agog advisers of capricious levels of religious animation and adequacy accept been searching for the tomb website – declared in abreast sources as a arresting Hellenistic cairn that included pyramids and ships of carved bedrock and could be apparent by sailors on the Mediterranean Sea, 18 afar away. The circuitous was one of the greatest counterfeit landmarks in age-old Judea.
For the aboriginal archaeologists who accustomed in Ottoman Palestine with shovels, Bibles, and a appetite for the concrete traces of the contest declared in Scripture, the tombs were a aperitive mystery. Added than a aeon later, so they remain.
Many locals and visitors apparently don’t apprehend there is a abstruseness at all. Off a alley abreast the city-limits of Modi’in in axial Israel is a assurance in English and Hebrew pointing actually to the “Maccabean Graves,” and a aisle leads to 20 bedrock tombs cut abysmal into the bedrock on a adjacent hillside. Prayers are captivated actuality every year on Hannukah, the anniversary that celebrates the celebration of Mattathias the Priest and his 5 sons, who rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem in 165 BCE and accustomed the Hasmonean aristocratic dynasty.
But while it is not bright absolutely who was active in these tombs, it is absolutely bright that it was not the Maccabees. The graves are agnostic or Christian, andIf you are looking to buymosaic art, were fabricated centuries afterwards the time of the Maccabees. Aboriginal afield affiliated to the Maccabees in the 19th aeon by a European explorer, the graves were afterwards accepted by aboriginal Zionists as concrete debris of the age-old Jewish heroes they saw as role models. This is not exceptional: In avant-garde Israel, religious sentiment, ambitious cerebration and a affectionate of airy apathy for the inconveniences of actual analysis accept generally led to grave sites getting blithely misidentified, aggrandized and adapted to Judaism.
Written descriptions that survive from the time of the Maccabees accomplish bright that this accurate tomb circuitous did not resemble an accustomed burying cave.
“And Simon congenital a cairn over the tomb of his ancestor and his brothers; he fabricated it top that it ability be seen, with able bedrock at the foreground and back,Alfa plast mould is plasticmoulds Manufacturer and plastics Mould Exporters” reads the description of the tombs in the Book of Maccabees, a argument accounting in Judea several decades afterwards the Maccabees’ revolt. Simon was a brother of Judah the Maccabee and one of the 5 sons of Mattathias.
The aboriginal flurry of absorption in award the absent tombs began in ardent in 1866, as biblical archaeology became accepted in Europe. The name Modi’in, a French Catholic priest appropriate that year, was preserved in the name of an Arab apple in the breadth – al-Midiya. This is still abundantly advised to be a analytic conclusion. The tombs, it stood to reason, could be begin nearby.
In 1869, addition charlatan came to the breadth allurement about the tombs of the Maccabees, and bounded villagers acicular him to a array of age-old graves they alleged Qubur el-Yahud, or the “Jewish tombs.” Though these tombs akin none of the age-old descriptions – the sea was not visible, for example, and there were no signs of awe-inspiring architecture – the charlatan declared that he had begin the site. This identification was never taken actively by scholars, but it has nonetheless accepted resilient, bequeathing to us the “Maccabean Graves” that are signposted forth the alley from Modi’in to Tel Aviv, ambiguous accidental passers-by added than 140 years later.
The next year, 1870, saw the accession of addition Frenchman, Victor Guérin, who was absorbed in a altered area adjacent — a website home to a domed Arab tomb of adequately contempo best and accepted as Sheikh el-Gherbawy. Guérin apparent the charcoal of an age-old ellipsoidal anatomy that was divided, he thought,To estimate the number of ceramictile you need for your project, into seven crypts. That, he noted, akin the actual amount of tombs.
His action rising, he went on to acquisition pieces of bedrock that he articular as traces of the complex’s pyramids.If you are looking for offshoremerchantaccounts, Then he begin bits of cartilage and declared, in the agog archaeological appearance of those times, that these were no beneath than “the ashes of the ballsy and angelic old man Mattathias.”
The next to access was Charles Clermont-Ganneau, a accurate French academic who would go on to columnist a archetypal 1896 argument on Angelic Land archaeology,A Sharp FU-888SV Plasmacluster airpurifier. “Archaeological Researches in Palestine.” He showed up at the aforementioned website the afterward year, accepting set out from Jerusalem in the rain on horseback with a French companion, a elastic cape and a revolver. “Palestine was devastated by famine, abounding peasants had died of hunger, and the anchorage were hardly safe,” he wrote. “We followed an age-old Roman way which actuality was calmly apparent with its pavement and its binding of ample blocks still in a acceptable accompaniment of preservation. We larboard it to about-face northwards and absolute our advance to el Midieh.”
Beginning added than 140 years ago, travelers, clergymen and agog advisers of capricious levels of religious animation and adequacy accept been searching for the tomb website – declared in abreast sources as a arresting Hellenistic cairn that included pyramids and ships of carved bedrock and could be apparent by sailors on the Mediterranean Sea, 18 afar away. The circuitous was one of the greatest counterfeit landmarks in age-old Judea.
For the aboriginal archaeologists who accustomed in Ottoman Palestine with shovels, Bibles, and a appetite for the concrete traces of the contest declared in Scripture, the tombs were a aperitive mystery. Added than a aeon later, so they remain.
Many locals and visitors apparently don’t apprehend there is a abstruseness at all. Off a alley abreast the city-limits of Modi’in in axial Israel is a assurance in English and Hebrew pointing actually to the “Maccabean Graves,” and a aisle leads to 20 bedrock tombs cut abysmal into the bedrock on a adjacent hillside. Prayers are captivated actuality every year on Hannukah, the anniversary that celebrates the celebration of Mattathias the Priest and his 5 sons, who rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem in 165 BCE and accustomed the Hasmonean aristocratic dynasty.
But while it is not bright absolutely who was active in these tombs, it is absolutely bright that it was not the Maccabees. The graves are agnostic or Christian, andIf you are looking to buymosaic art, were fabricated centuries afterwards the time of the Maccabees. Aboriginal afield affiliated to the Maccabees in the 19th aeon by a European explorer, the graves were afterwards accepted by aboriginal Zionists as concrete debris of the age-old Jewish heroes they saw as role models. This is not exceptional: In avant-garde Israel, religious sentiment, ambitious cerebration and a affectionate of airy apathy for the inconveniences of actual analysis accept generally led to grave sites getting blithely misidentified, aggrandized and adapted to Judaism.
Written descriptions that survive from the time of the Maccabees accomplish bright that this accurate tomb circuitous did not resemble an accustomed burying cave.
“And Simon congenital a cairn over the tomb of his ancestor and his brothers; he fabricated it top that it ability be seen, with able bedrock at the foreground and back,Alfa plast mould is plasticmoulds Manufacturer and plastics Mould Exporters” reads the description of the tombs in the Book of Maccabees, a argument accounting in Judea several decades afterwards the Maccabees’ revolt. Simon was a brother of Judah the Maccabee and one of the 5 sons of Mattathias.
The aboriginal flurry of absorption in award the absent tombs began in ardent in 1866, as biblical archaeology became accepted in Europe. The name Modi’in, a French Catholic priest appropriate that year, was preserved in the name of an Arab apple in the breadth – al-Midiya. This is still abundantly advised to be a analytic conclusion. The tombs, it stood to reason, could be begin nearby.
In 1869, addition charlatan came to the breadth allurement about the tombs of the Maccabees, and bounded villagers acicular him to a array of age-old graves they alleged Qubur el-Yahud, or the “Jewish tombs.” Though these tombs akin none of the age-old descriptions – the sea was not visible, for example, and there were no signs of awe-inspiring architecture – the charlatan declared that he had begin the site. This identification was never taken actively by scholars, but it has nonetheless accepted resilient, bequeathing to us the “Maccabean Graves” that are signposted forth the alley from Modi’in to Tel Aviv, ambiguous accidental passers-by added than 140 years later.
The next year, 1870, saw the accession of addition Frenchman, Victor Guérin, who was absorbed in a altered area adjacent — a website home to a domed Arab tomb of adequately contempo best and accepted as Sheikh el-Gherbawy. Guérin apparent the charcoal of an age-old ellipsoidal anatomy that was divided, he thought,To estimate the number of ceramictile you need for your project, into seven crypts. That, he noted, akin the actual amount of tombs.
His action rising, he went on to acquisition pieces of bedrock that he articular as traces of the complex’s pyramids.If you are looking for offshoremerchantaccounts, Then he begin bits of cartilage and declared, in the agog archaeological appearance of those times, that these were no beneath than “the ashes of the ballsy and angelic old man Mattathias.”
The next to access was Charles Clermont-Ganneau, a accurate French academic who would go on to columnist a archetypal 1896 argument on Angelic Land archaeology,A Sharp FU-888SV Plasmacluster airpurifier. “Archaeological Researches in Palestine.” He showed up at the aforementioned website the afterward year, accepting set out from Jerusalem in the rain on horseback with a French companion, a elastic cape and a revolver. “Palestine was devastated by famine, abounding peasants had died of hunger, and the anchorage were hardly safe,” he wrote. “We followed an age-old Roman way which actuality was calmly apparent with its pavement and its binding of ample blocks still in a acceptable accompaniment of preservation. We larboard it to about-face northwards and absolute our advance to el Midieh.”
2012年3月4日 星期日
Blood-covered monsters and solar panels
One of the most well-known carnivals is in Lanz, a small town 25 km from Pamplona. The parade begins at midnight on the first day of the carnival with cries and shouts from Ziripot, a chubby character dressed in straw-filled sacks, who is comically and consistently pushed over by Zaldiko. Luckily Ziripot’s falls are cushioned by his big straw body. Zalidiko, wild and untameable, is a man disguised as a horse. He is encircled by young dancers called Txatxos while the spectators are taunted by more sack-wearing Perretzaileaks. And that’s just the first night!
The road from Pamplona to Lanz was once a treacherous route plagued by holdups and highway robberies. The main character of the parade is Miel Otxin. According to legend, he was an infamous bandit that terrorized the area. His appearance is clown-like. He wears a psychedelically patterned shirt and a tall cone-shaped hat decorated with bright rings of colour made from scrunched up tissue paper. People dress up in this ensemble and walk through his historical territory. On the final day of the carnival,Sharps include syringe needle, the villagers carry a reincarnation of the evil Miel Otxin through the streets. The procession culminates with a 5th of November type public burning of the protagonist. It is a dark ritual, but it is also really quite funny and ends in a vibrant village feast full of clowns and hessian sacks.
Similar themes are represented in all the carnivals in the region. An atypical evil character is always present and therefore it is not for the faint-hearted.
One English teacher described her experience in the town of Alsasoa.Handmade oil paintings for sale at museum quality, People of this town dress up in animals skins and balance huge ram horns on their head. They carry wooden pitchforks which they frighten the audience with on their passage through the town. This young teacher had her ankles whipped by these crazed monsters dripping with blood. (I forgot to mention the blood that is thrown over the costumes for that authentic horror movie feel). She fled screaming all the way into the dining tent where a traditional feast was served and the evil quickly evaporated.
There are varying levels of carnivals in this region, some are dark and mysterious in origin, others are parades with less sinister characters, such as the baby-tossing male nannies in Bera and Alzate,Your source for re-usable Plastic moulds of strong latex rubber. but they are all taken extremely seriously.
In the schools of two more teachers I’ve been speaking to,Museum Quality hand-painted oil painting reproduction on canvas. the costume design, dance choreography and dress rehearsals for their carnivals had been going on since September.
In the village of Isaba, the school’s theme was cinema, and the commitment was huge. The teacher of class 6, a strapping dark Basque man with a very prominent beard and strong shoulders, dressed up as Princess Fiona for their interpretation of the song Accidently in Love from Shrek 2. The little ones were dressed as sheep who waddled around in big balls of fluff. There was even a controversial and slightly bizarre Costa Concordia fashioned out of a shopping trolley. My friend dressed up as a penguin and led the 5 year olds through the village’s principle and only street to the tune of a Basque song whilst the traffic queued and waited. Great fun, I was assured! Just Choose PTMS Injection Mold Is Your Best Choice!
Then, in Lumbier, another friend, had renewable energy as her slightly less exciting theme. One of her tasks as a classroom assistant was to construct head dresses that looked like solar panels for every member of the class. What a job!
This crazy tradition of carnival week varies wonderfully in Navarra and across the whole of Spain.Our guides provide customers with information about porcelain tiles vs. It certainly beat my attempt at Pancake Day anyway.
The road from Pamplona to Lanz was once a treacherous route plagued by holdups and highway robberies. The main character of the parade is Miel Otxin. According to legend, he was an infamous bandit that terrorized the area. His appearance is clown-like. He wears a psychedelically patterned shirt and a tall cone-shaped hat decorated with bright rings of colour made from scrunched up tissue paper. People dress up in this ensemble and walk through his historical territory. On the final day of the carnival,Sharps include syringe needle, the villagers carry a reincarnation of the evil Miel Otxin through the streets. The procession culminates with a 5th of November type public burning of the protagonist. It is a dark ritual, but it is also really quite funny and ends in a vibrant village feast full of clowns and hessian sacks.
Similar themes are represented in all the carnivals in the region. An atypical evil character is always present and therefore it is not for the faint-hearted.
One English teacher described her experience in the town of Alsasoa.Handmade oil paintings for sale at museum quality, People of this town dress up in animals skins and balance huge ram horns on their head. They carry wooden pitchforks which they frighten the audience with on their passage through the town. This young teacher had her ankles whipped by these crazed monsters dripping with blood. (I forgot to mention the blood that is thrown over the costumes for that authentic horror movie feel). She fled screaming all the way into the dining tent where a traditional feast was served and the evil quickly evaporated.
There are varying levels of carnivals in this region, some are dark and mysterious in origin, others are parades with less sinister characters, such as the baby-tossing male nannies in Bera and Alzate,Your source for re-usable Plastic moulds of strong latex rubber. but they are all taken extremely seriously.
In the schools of two more teachers I’ve been speaking to,Museum Quality hand-painted oil painting reproduction on canvas. the costume design, dance choreography and dress rehearsals for their carnivals had been going on since September.
In the village of Isaba, the school’s theme was cinema, and the commitment was huge. The teacher of class 6, a strapping dark Basque man with a very prominent beard and strong shoulders, dressed up as Princess Fiona for their interpretation of the song Accidently in Love from Shrek 2. The little ones were dressed as sheep who waddled around in big balls of fluff. There was even a controversial and slightly bizarre Costa Concordia fashioned out of a shopping trolley. My friend dressed up as a penguin and led the 5 year olds through the village’s principle and only street to the tune of a Basque song whilst the traffic queued and waited. Great fun, I was assured! Just Choose PTMS Injection Mold Is Your Best Choice!
Then, in Lumbier, another friend, had renewable energy as her slightly less exciting theme. One of her tasks as a classroom assistant was to construct head dresses that looked like solar panels for every member of the class. What a job!
This crazy tradition of carnival week varies wonderfully in Navarra and across the whole of Spain.Our guides provide customers with information about porcelain tiles vs. It certainly beat my attempt at Pancake Day anyway.
ENC teens named finalists for Military Child of the Year
Two teens from Eastern North Carolina found out Thursday they are finalists for Military Child of the Year.
On March 1, Erika Booth of Jacksonville was named among the top five in the running for Marine Corps Military Child of the Year, and Collin Edge of Morehead City was named a finalist in the Coast Guard. The competition, sponsored by the organization Operation Homefront, recognizes military kids who show resilience, strength of character in overcoming the challenges of military life and leadership in their communities.
In addition to overcoming obstacles and setting an example, the kids have something else in common: they didn’t know they had been nominated until they made it to the semi-final rounds.
Booth, a 17-year-old junior at Southwest High School, said she had been secretly nominated by her parents, Ginger Booth and Sgt.Sharps include syringe needle, Maj. Scott Booth, sergeant major for Marine Aircraft Group 26 aboard New River.
“I didn’t even realize I was even in it until they announced the top 20,” Booth said. “I was really excited that they thought that much of me and what I do around the community to really nominate me.” Just Choose PTMS plastic injection mould Is Your Best Choice!
Booth lives with the autoimmune disease lupus, but it hasn’t stopped her from making top grades in school and volunteering for New River’s Exceptional Family Member Program, the Special Olympics, USO and other organizations.
She said her inspiration for her volunteer work was her 13-year-old brother, who has autism.Our guides provide customers with information about porcelain tiles vs.Museum Quality hand-painted oil painting reproduction on canvas. If she goes on to win the competition, Booth said she would continue to work to be a role model for other military children.
“It’s built me into a person where I know how to deal with change and I know how to adapt,” she said. “The military definitely molds you into that.”
Sgt. Maj. Booth said he was pleasantly surprised to see his daughter come so far in the competition.
“We’re really proud of her; she’s a great kid,” he said. “When I found out, I was like ‘oh my gosh, she’s a finalist, I can’t believe it.’ For her to chosen as finalist, it was unbelievable.”
Edge, a 17-year-old junior at West Carteret High School, whose father, Joseph, is a chief warrant officer 3 stationed at Fort Macon, was quietly nominated by his mom, Liz Edge.
“We think he’s a great kid, but wow.Your source for re-usable Plastic moulds of strong latex rubber. We’re pretty excited,” she said. “It’s humbling at the same time though to think he would qualify, and that people would look at him as one of the top kids in the country.”
On top of school, Collin daily helps his family with his younger siblings and is an Eagle Scout.Handmade oil paintings for sale at museum quality, In 2008, The Daily News reported on his efforts to collect school items for foster kids. And last year, he organized an effort to clean up litter in the marshes around Fort Macon.
He said he plans to enter the Coast Guard Academy or go to school for pharmaceutical chemistry when he graduates high school, and added that he plans to keep up his volunteer efforts, whether or not he is named Military Child of the Year.
“I’m trying to set up another marsh cleanup this year,” he said. “It was fun last year and it helps a lot of people.”
On March 1, Erika Booth of Jacksonville was named among the top five in the running for Marine Corps Military Child of the Year, and Collin Edge of Morehead City was named a finalist in the Coast Guard. The competition, sponsored by the organization Operation Homefront, recognizes military kids who show resilience, strength of character in overcoming the challenges of military life and leadership in their communities.
In addition to overcoming obstacles and setting an example, the kids have something else in common: they didn’t know they had been nominated until they made it to the semi-final rounds.
Booth, a 17-year-old junior at Southwest High School, said she had been secretly nominated by her parents, Ginger Booth and Sgt.Sharps include syringe needle, Maj. Scott Booth, sergeant major for Marine Aircraft Group 26 aboard New River.
“I didn’t even realize I was even in it until they announced the top 20,” Booth said. “I was really excited that they thought that much of me and what I do around the community to really nominate me.” Just Choose PTMS plastic injection mould Is Your Best Choice!
Booth lives with the autoimmune disease lupus, but it hasn’t stopped her from making top grades in school and volunteering for New River’s Exceptional Family Member Program, the Special Olympics, USO and other organizations.
She said her inspiration for her volunteer work was her 13-year-old brother, who has autism.Our guides provide customers with information about porcelain tiles vs.Museum Quality hand-painted oil painting reproduction on canvas. If she goes on to win the competition, Booth said she would continue to work to be a role model for other military children.
“It’s built me into a person where I know how to deal with change and I know how to adapt,” she said. “The military definitely molds you into that.”
Sgt. Maj. Booth said he was pleasantly surprised to see his daughter come so far in the competition.
“We’re really proud of her; she’s a great kid,” he said. “When I found out, I was like ‘oh my gosh, she’s a finalist, I can’t believe it.’ For her to chosen as finalist, it was unbelievable.”
Edge, a 17-year-old junior at West Carteret High School, whose father, Joseph, is a chief warrant officer 3 stationed at Fort Macon, was quietly nominated by his mom, Liz Edge.
“We think he’s a great kid, but wow.Your source for re-usable Plastic moulds of strong latex rubber. We’re pretty excited,” she said. “It’s humbling at the same time though to think he would qualify, and that people would look at him as one of the top kids in the country.”
On top of school, Collin daily helps his family with his younger siblings and is an Eagle Scout.Handmade oil paintings for sale at museum quality, In 2008, The Daily News reported on his efforts to collect school items for foster kids. And last year, he organized an effort to clean up litter in the marshes around Fort Macon.
He said he plans to enter the Coast Guard Academy or go to school for pharmaceutical chemistry when he graduates high school, and added that he plans to keep up his volunteer efforts, whether or not he is named Military Child of the Year.
“I’m trying to set up another marsh cleanup this year,” he said. “It was fun last year and it helps a lot of people.”
Digital pictures punch up decor
I've always loved the wow factor in decorating; a special flourish in a room that makes me smile and draws me in. That's what I found at the Interior Design Show in Toronto last month.Our guides provide customers with information about porcelain tiles vs.
Superb design everywhere, paired up with natural materials, lots of recycling and tantalizing textiles. I will be featuring some of the many highlights that this annual feast for the imagination offers in upcoming columns.
Today it's all about the marvels of digital print.
For Nicole Piach, every surface is seen as though it's a blank canvas waiting to be personalized. Her background in graphic, interior and environmental design gave Nicole the tools to create products inspired by what she saw being used in the couture fashion houses and textile companies in the U.K., Europe and Asia. Nicole's company, Digital Print Specialties, produces a unique line of printable products made exclusively for the field of design.
Fabrics,Sharps include syringe needle, wallcoverings, wall murals, sound-absorption art panels, ceramic and porcelain tiles, privacy art panels for glass and lighting shades are all transformed with custom color, pattern or imagery.
Images can be drawn from anywhere: new or vintage personal photographs, stock photography,Handmade oil paintings for sale at museum quality, books, paintings, pictures, the
Internet. The custom fabrics are produced using a heat-transfer process that fuses the image "into" the fibers.Your source for re-usable Plastic moulds of strong latex rubber.
Eco-friendly aqueous-based paints provide high-color resolution, and the finished product is durable and washable. These printed textiles are employed anywhere you would use fabric: upholstery, draperies, padded and acoustic wall panels and privacy screens.
Wallcoverings continue to grow in popularity, in particular, large patterns applied to a focal wall. Texture is an important element; Digital Print Specialties has 14 different paper textures to enhance the mood of your chosen image. Just Choose PTMS plastic injection mold Is Your Best Choice!
Some options: A corduroy texture gives the paper a natural fabric feeling; a creased surface gives the appearance of fine leather,Museum Quality hand-painted oil painting reproduction on canvas. good for a den or office; a smooth, semigloss finish works well for landscapes; a cracked plaster effect is popular for adobe or Southwestern decor.
The proliferation of wall tiles has changed the look of today's kitchens and bathrooms.
Backsplashes and showers gain eye-catching appeal with accent tiles used on their own or in a pattern. Tiles are painted with a dye sublimation process; the image is heat-transferred and permeates into the tile surface.
Ceramic tiles offer the best reproduction, while porcelain Venetian stone has a tumbled, Old World look. For glass tiles, the image is printed on the back. Murals are created in one piece and then the tiles are cut according to the size you want.
Looking for some window privacy but still want natural light? Self-adhesive printable window films do just that. The translucent film diffuses light and objects while adding a decorative feature. Use it for glass shower doors, entry-door windows and side panels. Colors can mimic stained glass or watercolor painting, all digitally printed onto the film.
Superb design everywhere, paired up with natural materials, lots of recycling and tantalizing textiles. I will be featuring some of the many highlights that this annual feast for the imagination offers in upcoming columns.
Today it's all about the marvels of digital print.
For Nicole Piach, every surface is seen as though it's a blank canvas waiting to be personalized. Her background in graphic, interior and environmental design gave Nicole the tools to create products inspired by what she saw being used in the couture fashion houses and textile companies in the U.K., Europe and Asia. Nicole's company, Digital Print Specialties, produces a unique line of printable products made exclusively for the field of design.
Fabrics,Sharps include syringe needle, wallcoverings, wall murals, sound-absorption art panels, ceramic and porcelain tiles, privacy art panels for glass and lighting shades are all transformed with custom color, pattern or imagery.
Images can be drawn from anywhere: new or vintage personal photographs, stock photography,Handmade oil paintings for sale at museum quality, books, paintings, pictures, the
Internet. The custom fabrics are produced using a heat-transfer process that fuses the image "into" the fibers.Your source for re-usable Plastic moulds of strong latex rubber.
Eco-friendly aqueous-based paints provide high-color resolution, and the finished product is durable and washable. These printed textiles are employed anywhere you would use fabric: upholstery, draperies, padded and acoustic wall panels and privacy screens.
Wallcoverings continue to grow in popularity, in particular, large patterns applied to a focal wall. Texture is an important element; Digital Print Specialties has 14 different paper textures to enhance the mood of your chosen image. Just Choose PTMS plastic injection mold Is Your Best Choice!
Some options: A corduroy texture gives the paper a natural fabric feeling; a creased surface gives the appearance of fine leather,Museum Quality hand-painted oil painting reproduction on canvas. good for a den or office; a smooth, semigloss finish works well for landscapes; a cracked plaster effect is popular for adobe or Southwestern decor.
The proliferation of wall tiles has changed the look of today's kitchens and bathrooms.
Backsplashes and showers gain eye-catching appeal with accent tiles used on their own or in a pattern. Tiles are painted with a dye sublimation process; the image is heat-transferred and permeates into the tile surface.
Ceramic tiles offer the best reproduction, while porcelain Venetian stone has a tumbled, Old World look. For glass tiles, the image is printed on the back. Murals are created in one piece and then the tiles are cut according to the size you want.
Looking for some window privacy but still want natural light? Self-adhesive printable window films do just that. The translucent film diffuses light and objects while adding a decorative feature. Use it for glass shower doors, entry-door windows and side panels. Colors can mimic stained glass or watercolor painting, all digitally printed onto the film.
2012年2月27日 星期一
Medical device can propel itself through the bloodstream
At the International Solid-State Circuits Conference before an audience of her peers, electrical engineer Ada Poon demonstrated a tiny, wirelessly powered, self-propelled medical device capable of controlled motion through a fluid—blood more specifically. The era of swallow-the-surgeon medical care may no longer be the stuff of science fiction.
Poon is an assistant professor at the Stanford School of Engineering. She is developing a new class of medical devices that can be implanted or injected into the human body and powered wirelessly using electromagnetic radio waves. No batteries to wear out.Here's a complete list of oil painting supplies for the beginning oil painter. No cables to provide power.
"Such devices could revolutionize medical technology," said Poon. "Applications include everything from diagnostics to minimally invasive surgeries."
Certain of these new devices, like heart probes, chemical and pressure sensors, cochlear implants, pacemakers, and drug pumps, would be stationary within the body. Others, like Poon's most recent creations, could travel through the bloodstream to deliver drugs, perform analyses, and perhaps even zap blood clots or removing plaque from sclerotic arteries.
The idea of implantable medical devices is not new, but most of today's implements are challenged by power, namely the size of their batteries, which are large, heavy and must be replaced periodically. Fully half the volume of most of these devices is consumed by battery.Distributes and manufactures RUBBER SHEET,
"While we have gotten very good at shrinking electronic and mechanical components of implants, energy storage has lagged in the move to miniaturize," said co-author Teresa Meng, a professor of electrical engineering and of computer science at Stanford. "This hinders us in where we can place implants within the body, but also creates the risk of corrosion or broken wires, not to mention replacing aging batteries." Just Choose PTMS plastic injection mould Is Your Best Choice!
Poon's devices are different. They consist of a radio transmitter outside the body sending signals to an independent device inside the body that picks up the signal with an antenna of coiled wire. The transmitter and the antenna are magnetically coupled such that any change in current flow in the transmitter produces a voltage in the coiled wire — or, more accurately, it induces a voltage. The power is transferred wirelessly. The electricity runs electronics on the device and propels it through the bloodstream, if so desired.
It sounds easy,Silicone Mold Making Rubber, but it is not. Poon had to first upend some long-held assumptions about the delivery of wireless power inside the human body. For fifty years, scientists have been working on wireless electromagnetic powering of implantable devices, but they ran up against mathematics. According to the models,All RUBBER MATS is comprised of all types of mats, high-frequency radio waves dissipate quickly in human tissue, fading exponentially the deeper they go. Low-frequency signals, on the other hand, penetrate well, but require antennae a few centimeters in diameter to generate enough power for the device,Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists. far too large to fit through all but the biggest arteries. In essence, because the math said it could not be done, the engineers never tried.
Poon started to look more closely at the models. She realized that scientists were approaching the problem incorrectly. In their models, they assumed that human muscle, fat and bone were generally good conductors of electricity, and therefore governed by a specific subset of the mathematical principles known as Maxwell's equations — the "quasi-static approximation" to be exact. Poon took a different tack, choosing instead to model tissue as a dielectric — a type of insulator. As it turns out human tissue is a poor conductor of electricity. But, radio waves can still move through them. In a dielectric, the signal is conveyed as waves of shifting polarization of atoms within cells. Even better, Poon also discovered that human tissue is a "low-loss" dielectric — that is to say little of the signal gets lost along the way.
She recalculated and made a surprising find: Using new equations she learned high-frequency radio waves \ travel much farther in human tissue than originally thought. "When we extended things to higher frequencies using a simple model of tissue we realized that the optimal frequency for wireless powering is actually around one gigahertz," said Poon, "about 100 times higher than previously thought."
More significantly, however, her revelation meant that antennae inside the body could be 100 times smaller and yet deliver the same power.
Poon was not so much in search of a new technology; she was in search of a new math. The antenna on the device Poon demonstrated at the conference is just two millimeters square; small enough to travel through the bloodstream.
She has developed two types of self-propelled devices. One drives electrical current directly through the fluid to create a directional force that pushes the device forward. This type of device is capable of moving at just over half-a-centimeter per second. The second type switches current back-and-forth in a wire loop to produce swishing motion similar to the motion a kayaker makes to paddle upstream.
Poon is an assistant professor at the Stanford School of Engineering. She is developing a new class of medical devices that can be implanted or injected into the human body and powered wirelessly using electromagnetic radio waves. No batteries to wear out.Here's a complete list of oil painting supplies for the beginning oil painter. No cables to provide power.
"Such devices could revolutionize medical technology," said Poon. "Applications include everything from diagnostics to minimally invasive surgeries."
Certain of these new devices, like heart probes, chemical and pressure sensors, cochlear implants, pacemakers, and drug pumps, would be stationary within the body. Others, like Poon's most recent creations, could travel through the bloodstream to deliver drugs, perform analyses, and perhaps even zap blood clots or removing plaque from sclerotic arteries.
The idea of implantable medical devices is not new, but most of today's implements are challenged by power, namely the size of their batteries, which are large, heavy and must be replaced periodically. Fully half the volume of most of these devices is consumed by battery.Distributes and manufactures RUBBER SHEET,
"While we have gotten very good at shrinking electronic and mechanical components of implants, energy storage has lagged in the move to miniaturize," said co-author Teresa Meng, a professor of electrical engineering and of computer science at Stanford. "This hinders us in where we can place implants within the body, but also creates the risk of corrosion or broken wires, not to mention replacing aging batteries." Just Choose PTMS plastic injection mould Is Your Best Choice!
Poon's devices are different. They consist of a radio transmitter outside the body sending signals to an independent device inside the body that picks up the signal with an antenna of coiled wire. The transmitter and the antenna are magnetically coupled such that any change in current flow in the transmitter produces a voltage in the coiled wire — or, more accurately, it induces a voltage. The power is transferred wirelessly. The electricity runs electronics on the device and propels it through the bloodstream, if so desired.
It sounds easy,Silicone Mold Making Rubber, but it is not. Poon had to first upend some long-held assumptions about the delivery of wireless power inside the human body. For fifty years, scientists have been working on wireless electromagnetic powering of implantable devices, but they ran up against mathematics. According to the models,All RUBBER MATS is comprised of all types of mats, high-frequency radio waves dissipate quickly in human tissue, fading exponentially the deeper they go. Low-frequency signals, on the other hand, penetrate well, but require antennae a few centimeters in diameter to generate enough power for the device,Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists. far too large to fit through all but the biggest arteries. In essence, because the math said it could not be done, the engineers never tried.
Poon started to look more closely at the models. She realized that scientists were approaching the problem incorrectly. In their models, they assumed that human muscle, fat and bone were generally good conductors of electricity, and therefore governed by a specific subset of the mathematical principles known as Maxwell's equations — the "quasi-static approximation" to be exact. Poon took a different tack, choosing instead to model tissue as a dielectric — a type of insulator. As it turns out human tissue is a poor conductor of electricity. But, radio waves can still move through them. In a dielectric, the signal is conveyed as waves of shifting polarization of atoms within cells. Even better, Poon also discovered that human tissue is a "low-loss" dielectric — that is to say little of the signal gets lost along the way.
She recalculated and made a surprising find: Using new equations she learned high-frequency radio waves \ travel much farther in human tissue than originally thought. "When we extended things to higher frequencies using a simple model of tissue we realized that the optimal frequency for wireless powering is actually around one gigahertz," said Poon, "about 100 times higher than previously thought."
More significantly, however, her revelation meant that antennae inside the body could be 100 times smaller and yet deliver the same power.
Poon was not so much in search of a new technology; she was in search of a new math. The antenna on the device Poon demonstrated at the conference is just two millimeters square; small enough to travel through the bloodstream.
She has developed two types of self-propelled devices. One drives electrical current directly through the fluid to create a directional force that pushes the device forward. This type of device is capable of moving at just over half-a-centimeter per second. The second type switches current back-and-forth in a wire loop to produce swishing motion similar to the motion a kayaker makes to paddle upstream.
Businesses see a mixed blessing in mild winter
During a normal winter season, contractors are working inside, hardware stores are selling sleds and shovels, and most residents are staying snug indoors. This has not been the case with the winter of 2011.Here's a complete list of oil painting supplies for the beginning oil painter. Contractors and hardware retailers said the warmer weather has had contractors working outside and retailers selling few sleds, shovels or heating units. Bud Funkhouser, owner of Bud's True Value Hardware in Mount Vernon, said business this winter season has been slower than normal.
"It was too warm," Funkhouser said. "There was no snow, so we didn't sell any sleds, ice-melts, heat tapes or things like that."
Business was not as bad as it could have been, with only a two to three percent slip in sales. Funkhouser said the large part of his 40 year old business depends on basic hardware.
"We're a nuts-and-bolts store," Funkhouser said. "That's what keeps us going, winter sales don't make or break us."
The case is the same for other hardware stores. Ryan's ACE Hardware sold few if any winter supplies this season. ACE assistant manager Ron Kriegshauser said the lack of winter sales put a small drain on the store. Just Choose PTMS plastic injection mould Is Your Best Choice!
"It certainly isn't good, but it didn't kill us," Kriegshauser said.
Some winter supplies did sell well in comparison to others. Gloves, ice-scrapers and ice-melts sold well at ACE. Kriegshauser said overall sales were up from last year, an increase he attributed to the weather.
"This warmer weather has people going out more," Kriegshauser said. "So when they do go out, sometimes they stop in here and buy something."
Warmer weather is not the only deterrent for winter supplies sales. Funkhouser said the economy has people cutting back on what they are buying.
"The biggest complaint I hear is the price of gas," Funkhouser said.All RUBBER MATS is comprised of all types of mats, "People would rather have gas in their car than a new hammer or sled or anything like that."
Kriegshauser also cited the economy as affecting sales. He said people are hard up and won't buy on impulse as readily.
"With things the way they are, people won't buy anything they don't think they'll use," Kriegshauser said. "They are waiting until the last minute when they need something to buy it. And for winter supplies, that moment never came.Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists."
Funkhouser isn't sure why Bud's True Value did better in the month of January than in December. He guessed it was because contractors were coming in for hardware supplies.
"We supply a lot of independent and commercial contractors," Funkhouser said. "They were getting out and working a bit more because of the weather."
Tim Bartlett, co-owner of B&S Home Improvement LLC,Silicone Mold Making Rubber, confirmed that assessment. He said the weather has allowed his employees to work outside during months they normally would be inside.
"We usually can't do roof work in February because it is too icy and cold," Bartlett said. "But now we've been roofing and painting in February when we would have to normally wait until March or April."
In the months leading up to the winter season, the scare of a heavy winter had residents making emergency improvement requests. Bartlett said their schedule is planned out for the year in advance, but they sometimes make emergency repairs or improvements.
"We had to squeeze some paint jobs in before winter," Bartlett said. "Then the (mild) weather came and we got to paint in February too."
Working throughout the year eases the workload for contracting companies such as B&S. Bartlett said it allows them to spread the work they do on the outside and inside evenly, instead of delaying it.
"We've really been able to get out there and get it done," Bartlett said.Distributes and manufactures RUBBER SHEET, "We wouldn't be able to do half this stuff if the weather was bad."
For hardware stores, the winter season wasn't all bad. Since he didn't sell much of his winter supplies, Funkhouser said his winter inventory is full.
"One good thing is we don't have to restock on any of this next year," Funkhouser said. "This stuff is not like lettuce or milk, it doesn't go bad."
"It was too warm," Funkhouser said. "There was no snow, so we didn't sell any sleds, ice-melts, heat tapes or things like that."
Business was not as bad as it could have been, with only a two to three percent slip in sales. Funkhouser said the large part of his 40 year old business depends on basic hardware.
"We're a nuts-and-bolts store," Funkhouser said. "That's what keeps us going, winter sales don't make or break us."
The case is the same for other hardware stores. Ryan's ACE Hardware sold few if any winter supplies this season. ACE assistant manager Ron Kriegshauser said the lack of winter sales put a small drain on the store. Just Choose PTMS plastic injection mould Is Your Best Choice!
"It certainly isn't good, but it didn't kill us," Kriegshauser said.
Some winter supplies did sell well in comparison to others. Gloves, ice-scrapers and ice-melts sold well at ACE. Kriegshauser said overall sales were up from last year, an increase he attributed to the weather.
"This warmer weather has people going out more," Kriegshauser said. "So when they do go out, sometimes they stop in here and buy something."
Warmer weather is not the only deterrent for winter supplies sales. Funkhouser said the economy has people cutting back on what they are buying.
"The biggest complaint I hear is the price of gas," Funkhouser said.All RUBBER MATS is comprised of all types of mats, "People would rather have gas in their car than a new hammer or sled or anything like that."
Kriegshauser also cited the economy as affecting sales. He said people are hard up and won't buy on impulse as readily.
"With things the way they are, people won't buy anything they don't think they'll use," Kriegshauser said. "They are waiting until the last minute when they need something to buy it. And for winter supplies, that moment never came.Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists."
Funkhouser isn't sure why Bud's True Value did better in the month of January than in December. He guessed it was because contractors were coming in for hardware supplies.
"We supply a lot of independent and commercial contractors," Funkhouser said. "They were getting out and working a bit more because of the weather."
Tim Bartlett, co-owner of B&S Home Improvement LLC,Silicone Mold Making Rubber, confirmed that assessment. He said the weather has allowed his employees to work outside during months they normally would be inside.
"We usually can't do roof work in February because it is too icy and cold," Bartlett said. "But now we've been roofing and painting in February when we would have to normally wait until March or April."
In the months leading up to the winter season, the scare of a heavy winter had residents making emergency improvement requests. Bartlett said their schedule is planned out for the year in advance, but they sometimes make emergency repairs or improvements.
"We had to squeeze some paint jobs in before winter," Bartlett said. "Then the (mild) weather came and we got to paint in February too."
Working throughout the year eases the workload for contracting companies such as B&S. Bartlett said it allows them to spread the work they do on the outside and inside evenly, instead of delaying it.
"We've really been able to get out there and get it done," Bartlett said.Distributes and manufactures RUBBER SHEET, "We wouldn't be able to do half this stuff if the weather was bad."
For hardware stores, the winter season wasn't all bad. Since he didn't sell much of his winter supplies, Funkhouser said his winter inventory is full.
"One good thing is we don't have to restock on any of this next year," Funkhouser said. "This stuff is not like lettuce or milk, it doesn't go bad."
2012年2月21日 星期二
Postpartum moms can suffer from digestive issues
New moms are often surprised when they experience a bout of consDistributes and manufactures RUBBER SHEET,tipation after giving birth, unaware that this is actually a very common postpartum complaint.Listing of Taiwan & China Mold Maker manufacturer & suppliers.
Many women may experience constipation following childbirth, due to the slowdown of the digestive system and temporary loss of muscle tone in the abdomen. But there are other explanations. Factors that may contribute to constipation include: medications administered for postpartum pain, prenatal vitamins continued while breast feeding and anesthesia administered during labor. Just Choose PTMS Injection Molding Is Your Best Choice!
A fear of pushing can also cause a cycle of constipation. New moms may be hesitant to strain themselves because of post-childbirth tenderness,All RUBBER MATS is comprised of all types of mats, fear of tearing a stitch or pain from hemorrhoids. C-sections can also contribute.
Mothers should know that this situation is very common. In one survey of about 1,000 new moms conducted by Russell Research in collaboration with Purdue Products, the makers of Colace Capsules, it was found that 47 percent of new moms experienced constipation or other digestive issues after giving birth, and 89 percent of those mothers experienced problems with bowel movements in the days immediately after childbirth.
There are many ways to combat this issue. While it may be hard to get back into gear after the ordeal your body has just been through, it may help to exercise a little each day once you have been told by your doctor that it's okay. Adequate daily fiber is also key to keeping away constipation. Eating bran muffins, high-fiber cereal and lots of fruits and vegetables is a great way to make sure you're getting your daily intake. It is also important to drink plenty of fluids.
According to the survey, 77 percent of new mothers with constipation took aOnline fine art gallery of quality original landscape oil paintings, stool softener, such as Colace Capsules. Since the active ingredient is docusate sodium, Colace Capsules help avoid the painful straining associated with occasional constipation.Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists. Colace Capsules is the leading product recommended by doctors and pharmacists to provide reliable relief. Of course, if you are pregnant or nursing, you should consult with your doctor before use, and remember to tell your doctor about any other medications you are taking.
Many women may experience constipation following childbirth, due to the slowdown of the digestive system and temporary loss of muscle tone in the abdomen. But there are other explanations. Factors that may contribute to constipation include: medications administered for postpartum pain, prenatal vitamins continued while breast feeding and anesthesia administered during labor. Just Choose PTMS Injection Molding Is Your Best Choice!
A fear of pushing can also cause a cycle of constipation. New moms may be hesitant to strain themselves because of post-childbirth tenderness,All RUBBER MATS is comprised of all types of mats, fear of tearing a stitch or pain from hemorrhoids. C-sections can also contribute.
Mothers should know that this situation is very common. In one survey of about 1,000 new moms conducted by Russell Research in collaboration with Purdue Products, the makers of Colace Capsules, it was found that 47 percent of new moms experienced constipation or other digestive issues after giving birth, and 89 percent of those mothers experienced problems with bowel movements in the days immediately after childbirth.
There are many ways to combat this issue. While it may be hard to get back into gear after the ordeal your body has just been through, it may help to exercise a little each day once you have been told by your doctor that it's okay. Adequate daily fiber is also key to keeping away constipation. Eating bran muffins, high-fiber cereal and lots of fruits and vegetables is a great way to make sure you're getting your daily intake. It is also important to drink plenty of fluids.
According to the survey, 77 percent of new mothers with constipation took aOnline fine art gallery of quality original landscape oil paintings, stool softener, such as Colace Capsules. Since the active ingredient is docusate sodium, Colace Capsules help avoid the painful straining associated with occasional constipation.Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists. Colace Capsules is the leading product recommended by doctors and pharmacists to provide reliable relief. Of course, if you are pregnant or nursing, you should consult with your doctor before use, and remember to tell your doctor about any other medications you are taking.
2012年2月12日 星期日
Boulder's STEELIE gets a grip on smart phones, tablets
In a world increasingly defined by technology, smart phones and tablets have become all the rage.
Many people are virtually inseparable from their devices, burrowing their heads and spending hours upon hours of time consumed by such electronics. In fact, it's been projected that businesses alone will buy $12 billion worth of tablets in 2012.
While these devices may make our lives easier, they contain one notable pitfall: They aren't hands-free.Handmade oil paintings for sale at museum quality,
That's where Boulder-based Blackglass LLC's STEELIE comes in. Launched in November, STEELIE is a magnetic ball-and-socket system that connects your electronic device to different mounts.Daneplast Limited UK are plastic injection mould & toolmaking specialists.
The system works by attaching a slim magnetic ring socket to the back of a phone or tablet, which then connects to a steel ball on a mount, allowing the device to be rotated in virtually any position. It is the steel ball that gives STEELIE its name.
"Everyone loves their phones so much and we wanted to provide a home for them," said Rich Garcia, a partner in STEELIE.
Users can purchase the Phone Kit that comes with a mount to place on their cars' dashboards, giving them easy access to their phones' GPS. There's also the Table Top Kit, which includes an easily transportable stand to place devices on for while on the go. Another option is the Hobknob, which provides a non-slip surface, functioning as both a stand and handle for a tablet.
But it's the manufacturing process that makes STEELIE unique, company officials say.
Under the mantra "four guys, four walls," Blackglass manufactures nearly all of its parts by hand in Boulder, taking out the middle man and providing quality products to consumers directly.
"Everything seems so disposable in today's society, so we wanted to make something that would last,Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists." Garcia said.
Garcia, Frank Vogel, Paul Turner and Andy Emanuel make up the four guys who design and manufacture up to 500 STEELIEs a week . Aluminum rods are manually fed into a 25-year-old machine called Mazak that produces nearly all of STEELIE's various parts.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, While Mazak works well, it still has its hiccups.
The team tries to outsource labor as little as possible, doing nearly everything in their shop, from assembling to tooling to labeling to packaging.
"The design is such that we make everything so you know that is what I really wanted to prove that you can be profitable and you can get into the customers' hands directly," Vogel said.
Available in an "everything you need" kits or individual parts, users can mix and match any of the pieces to come up with their own ways of using STEELIE.
The rare-earth neodymium magnet that STEELIE uses is strong enough to securely hold a phone or tablet to any metal surface. In fact, once you place the ring socket on the back of your device, you can place it on anything that is metal, such as refrigerators or lockers. Also, the ring socket that you place on your phone contains a silicone friction pad,The magic cube is an ultra-portable, preventing any unwanted movement.
"Bottom line, we use the best materials and the best craftsmanship which we think keeps us ahead of everyone else," Garcia said.
STEELIE's success attests to this belief. The company has been successful selling its products on an international level, with orders coming in from places all over the world, including Russia, Austria, Hungary and Italy to name a few. STEELIE products are available online, at McGuckin Hardware in Boulder and at select retail outlets.
On Feb. 17, STEELIE will launch its Kickstarter campaign. Kickstarter is one of the world's largest funding platforms for creative products. As an online threshold pledge system, the site gives creatives the opportunity to expose their ideas to the public.
Many people are virtually inseparable from their devices, burrowing their heads and spending hours upon hours of time consumed by such electronics. In fact, it's been projected that businesses alone will buy $12 billion worth of tablets in 2012.
While these devices may make our lives easier, they contain one notable pitfall: They aren't hands-free.Handmade oil paintings for sale at museum quality,
That's where Boulder-based Blackglass LLC's STEELIE comes in. Launched in November, STEELIE is a magnetic ball-and-socket system that connects your electronic device to different mounts.Daneplast Limited UK are plastic injection mould & toolmaking specialists.
The system works by attaching a slim magnetic ring socket to the back of a phone or tablet, which then connects to a steel ball on a mount, allowing the device to be rotated in virtually any position. It is the steel ball that gives STEELIE its name.
"Everyone loves their phones so much and we wanted to provide a home for them," said Rich Garcia, a partner in STEELIE.
Users can purchase the Phone Kit that comes with a mount to place on their cars' dashboards, giving them easy access to their phones' GPS. There's also the Table Top Kit, which includes an easily transportable stand to place devices on for while on the go. Another option is the Hobknob, which provides a non-slip surface, functioning as both a stand and handle for a tablet.
But it's the manufacturing process that makes STEELIE unique, company officials say.
Under the mantra "four guys, four walls," Blackglass manufactures nearly all of its parts by hand in Boulder, taking out the middle man and providing quality products to consumers directly.
"Everything seems so disposable in today's society, so we wanted to make something that would last,Omega Plastics are leading plastic injection moulding and injection mould tooling specialists." Garcia said.
Garcia, Frank Vogel, Paul Turner and Andy Emanuel make up the four guys who design and manufacture up to 500 STEELIEs a week . Aluminum rods are manually fed into a 25-year-old machine called Mazak that produces nearly all of STEELIE's various parts.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, While Mazak works well, it still has its hiccups.
The team tries to outsource labor as little as possible, doing nearly everything in their shop, from assembling to tooling to labeling to packaging.
"The design is such that we make everything so you know that is what I really wanted to prove that you can be profitable and you can get into the customers' hands directly," Vogel said.
Available in an "everything you need" kits or individual parts, users can mix and match any of the pieces to come up with their own ways of using STEELIE.
The rare-earth neodymium magnet that STEELIE uses is strong enough to securely hold a phone or tablet to any metal surface. In fact, once you place the ring socket on the back of your device, you can place it on anything that is metal, such as refrigerators or lockers. Also, the ring socket that you place on your phone contains a silicone friction pad,The magic cube is an ultra-portable, preventing any unwanted movement.
"Bottom line, we use the best materials and the best craftsmanship which we think keeps us ahead of everyone else," Garcia said.
STEELIE's success attests to this belief. The company has been successful selling its products on an international level, with orders coming in from places all over the world, including Russia, Austria, Hungary and Italy to name a few. STEELIE products are available online, at McGuckin Hardware in Boulder and at select retail outlets.
On Feb. 17, STEELIE will launch its Kickstarter campaign. Kickstarter is one of the world's largest funding platforms for creative products. As an online threshold pledge system, the site gives creatives the opportunity to expose their ideas to the public.
2012年2月5日 星期日
Handmade skis pass the test for Colville teen
Elise Loggers deserves an “A” simply for the idea she proposed to fulfill her required senior project at Colville High School.
She could have stoked energy on an assignment destined for a teacher’s trash bin. Instead, she teamed with a Spokane ski maker to build custom alpine boards that will satisfy the school’s short-term criteria – and fulfill Loggers’ deep powder research for years to come.
“I had to learn Adobe Illustrator to do the graphics,” she said, referring to computer software used to design the Alaska-themed images on her skis.
Loggers negotiated a deal with T. J. Sneva, who builds custom skis in his north Spokane shop. He guided the operation, but Loggers had a hand in virtually every step.
The work spanned months as they juggled schedules. In the end, Loggers tallied 14 hours of shop work on the skis and 24 hours in the graphics.
She finished the pair in October after a soccer game in Spokane, but she’d been stewing on the project for two years after testing a pair of Sneva skis at 49 Degrees North.
While the skis impressed her,Overview description of rapid Tooling processes. she was equally fascinated that they were made by hand in Spokane.
Sneva, of the famous Spokane auto racing family, has been making custom skis and snowboards since 1994, when he began building twin tip skis for freestyle friends who wanted to go backward as well as frontward on the slopes.
“It was three years later before Salomon produced them for the mass market,” Sneva said.
“There was a big learning curve to get over. I didn’t have the luxury of help from the Internet. It was mostly trial an error. We’ve wasted a lot of materials getting to where we are now.”
Working with Sneva, Loggers learned about P-tex bases, installing steel edges, applying Sneva’s patented penta weave fiberglass technology and how to achieve the optimum wood core combination of maple and poplar for ski flex to match her size and style.
Sneva offers snowboards and about 30 ski models for all types of skiers, including free-heelers. Skis can have twin tips or tails that are flat or notched to hold climbing skis.Johnson Tiles UK offer the largest range of porcelain tiles online,
Traditional camber can be dialed in, but Loggers went for the rocker that’s the rage in new skis.
Many companies make the shape of ski Loggers wanted, but a custom job is theHandmade oil paintings for sale at museum quality, only way to design the ski to her criteria from tail to tip.
Sneva offers a service to draft custom graphics for his clients. Snowboarders, for example, could bring photos of their moms for a personalized design, if they were brave enough.
Loggers designed her own graphics, inspired by a family vacation to Denali National Park.
“It was an unforgettable trip,” she said.
A friend who’s a wildlife photographer let her use his photos of Mount McKinley and a howling wolf.
She recreated her images of the Northern Lights on a computer.
First, she had to roll up her sleeves in the shop, plane the wood core, cut the fiberglass sheets and learn how Sneva applies a gooey layer of epoxy on the bases before applying a layer of biaxial weave fiberglass.The magic cube is an ultra-portable,
He would do one ski. Loggers would follow his lead on the other.
They continued with another layer of epoxy and a layer of triaxial weave fiberglass overlapping to form “penta weave.”
“Making skis is like making a cake with layers,” she said.
Instead of adding plastic sidewalls that give skis a “finished” look on retail store racks, Sneva extends the core to the edge of the ski and seals it with urethane.
“We stopped using plastic sidewalls years back,” he said. “It helps with the manufacturing process and keeps the ski more tortionally stiff through the center with no weak spots.
“What ever the metal edge comes against,whether it’s the core or plastic, the metal is going to win,” he said. “But at the end of the season, if you have nicks on plastic sidewalls you’re pretty much stuck with them. With our skis, you can sand out the nicks, add a coat of urethane and they will look new again.”
Sneva operated the machinery that compressed the layers they had prepared into a mold that formed the camber and upturned tips. He also manned the band saw that cut the shapes.
“One mistake with the band saw and we’d have had to start all over,” Loggers said.
They ground the sidewalls and beveled the edges before sanding and grinding the bases.
“I never expected there to be so many little details,” she said.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free,
Sneva used a nifty process to infuse Loggers graphics to the ski tops before they sealed the skis with a coat of spar urethane.
She could have stoked energy on an assignment destined for a teacher’s trash bin. Instead, she teamed with a Spokane ski maker to build custom alpine boards that will satisfy the school’s short-term criteria – and fulfill Loggers’ deep powder research for years to come.
“I had to learn Adobe Illustrator to do the graphics,” she said, referring to computer software used to design the Alaska-themed images on her skis.
Loggers negotiated a deal with T. J. Sneva, who builds custom skis in his north Spokane shop. He guided the operation, but Loggers had a hand in virtually every step.
The work spanned months as they juggled schedules. In the end, Loggers tallied 14 hours of shop work on the skis and 24 hours in the graphics.
She finished the pair in October after a soccer game in Spokane, but she’d been stewing on the project for two years after testing a pair of Sneva skis at 49 Degrees North.
While the skis impressed her,Overview description of rapid Tooling processes. she was equally fascinated that they were made by hand in Spokane.
Sneva, of the famous Spokane auto racing family, has been making custom skis and snowboards since 1994, when he began building twin tip skis for freestyle friends who wanted to go backward as well as frontward on the slopes.
“It was three years later before Salomon produced them for the mass market,” Sneva said.
“There was a big learning curve to get over. I didn’t have the luxury of help from the Internet. It was mostly trial an error. We’ve wasted a lot of materials getting to where we are now.”
Working with Sneva, Loggers learned about P-tex bases, installing steel edges, applying Sneva’s patented penta weave fiberglass technology and how to achieve the optimum wood core combination of maple and poplar for ski flex to match her size and style.
Sneva offers snowboards and about 30 ski models for all types of skiers, including free-heelers. Skis can have twin tips or tails that are flat or notched to hold climbing skis.Johnson Tiles UK offer the largest range of porcelain tiles online,
Traditional camber can be dialed in, but Loggers went for the rocker that’s the rage in new skis.
Many companies make the shape of ski Loggers wanted, but a custom job is theHandmade oil paintings for sale at museum quality, only way to design the ski to her criteria from tail to tip.
Sneva offers a service to draft custom graphics for his clients. Snowboarders, for example, could bring photos of their moms for a personalized design, if they were brave enough.
Loggers designed her own graphics, inspired by a family vacation to Denali National Park.
“It was an unforgettable trip,” she said.
A friend who’s a wildlife photographer let her use his photos of Mount McKinley and a howling wolf.
She recreated her images of the Northern Lights on a computer.
First, she had to roll up her sleeves in the shop, plane the wood core, cut the fiberglass sheets and learn how Sneva applies a gooey layer of epoxy on the bases before applying a layer of biaxial weave fiberglass.The magic cube is an ultra-portable,
He would do one ski. Loggers would follow his lead on the other.
They continued with another layer of epoxy and a layer of triaxial weave fiberglass overlapping to form “penta weave.”
“Making skis is like making a cake with layers,” she said.
Instead of adding plastic sidewalls that give skis a “finished” look on retail store racks, Sneva extends the core to the edge of the ski and seals it with urethane.
“We stopped using plastic sidewalls years back,” he said. “It helps with the manufacturing process and keeps the ski more tortionally stiff through the center with no weak spots.
“What ever the metal edge comes against,whether it’s the core or plastic, the metal is going to win,” he said. “But at the end of the season, if you have nicks on plastic sidewalls you’re pretty much stuck with them. With our skis, you can sand out the nicks, add a coat of urethane and they will look new again.”
Sneva operated the machinery that compressed the layers they had prepared into a mold that formed the camber and upturned tips. He also manned the band saw that cut the shapes.
“One mistake with the band saw and we’d have had to start all over,” Loggers said.
They ground the sidewalls and beveled the edges before sanding and grinding the bases.
“I never expected there to be so many little details,” she said.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free,
Sneva used a nifty process to infuse Loggers graphics to the ski tops before they sealed the skis with a coat of spar urethane.
Pot Spring students send heartfelt Valentine's gift to sick
For most of the Pot Spring Elementary School students who made Valentine's Day cards for seriously ill and disabled children around the world, the exercise was simply an arts and crafts project.
Michelle Doyle told her first-grade students about the meaning of the project two days before the Jan. 27 event, but when pressed about its purpose in between cutting out their heart-shaped valentines and writing supportive messages on the cards,The magic cube is an ultra-portable, few could remember exactly why they were doing it.
But for one of her students, 6-year-old Ethan McWilliams, the project took on a special meaning.
"I have a cousin that went through the same thing,Overview description of rapid Tooling processes." Ethan said as he decorated his valentine.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, "He had really bad cancer and had to die,Johnson Tiles UK offer the largest range of porcelain tiles online, so it's very special to me."
The Valentine he made — which read, "Be strong! Don't give up, 'cause I know you will feel better" — went to a child he would likely never meet.
Still, Ethan expressed desire to make another one for his late cousin.
"I want to make one and put it on a balloon and send it up to the sky," he said.
The meaning and the message behind on each card varied across Doyle's classroom — and in four other first-grade classes, two second-grade classes and two kindergarten classes. But a passion for the project was evident in every student.
Hassan Hallal, who sits across from Ethan, wrote, "You are awesome and I am six" on his card, which he made for a sick child, "because they don't get to do stuff for Valentine's Day," he said, "and we're doing something for them."
Jaylin Mitchell, 7, said she hoped her valentine, which read "Be Strong! Don't Give Up!" would brighten the day of a sick child somewhere.
She even added a personal touch: to go along with her pink shirt and pink plastic flowers in her hair — she made her valentine on pink construction paper with pink foam hearts pasted on.
Across the room, Kevin Graziano scrawled, "Be brave" across his paper heart in slanted, multi-colored writing.
Though the children treated it as a regular Friday morning, Doyle said the project has far-reaching effects that her students would benefit from.
"Our school sent 200 Valentines to these courageous children," Doyle said. "That means 200 more lives have been touched in a loving way by our students, and 200 children just learned a little more about compassion and how they can truly make a difference to another person."
As an educator, Doyle said she valued the chance to teach her children a lesson about how to give back to others.
"I believe that any time we, as educators, can provide our students with meaningful authentic learning experiences, the greater the impact," she said.Handmade oil paintings for sale at museum quality, "It is my hope that by giving children these opportunities, and planting seeds in their elementary education, that they will grow into compassionate empathetic young men and women that will continue to find ways to make our world a better place.
The project was organized by Kimberly Nelson, a mother of a kindergartner and second-grade student at Pot Spring whose daughter was in Doyle's class the previous year.
Doyle said Nelson is always coming up with projects like the valentines — an idea she found online being organized through the Illinois-based nonprofit, Inspiration Through Art.
Nelson said that sometimes it can be hard to make the children understand that there are ways that even they could give back and help others.
"You don't always have to give money," she said. "There are other ways to give back."
Michelle Doyle told her first-grade students about the meaning of the project two days before the Jan. 27 event, but when pressed about its purpose in between cutting out their heart-shaped valentines and writing supportive messages on the cards,The magic cube is an ultra-portable, few could remember exactly why they were doing it.
But for one of her students, 6-year-old Ethan McWilliams, the project took on a special meaning.
"I have a cousin that went through the same thing,Overview description of rapid Tooling processes." Ethan said as he decorated his valentine.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, "He had really bad cancer and had to die,Johnson Tiles UK offer the largest range of porcelain tiles online, so it's very special to me."
The Valentine he made — which read, "Be strong! Don't give up, 'cause I know you will feel better" — went to a child he would likely never meet.
Still, Ethan expressed desire to make another one for his late cousin.
"I want to make one and put it on a balloon and send it up to the sky," he said.
The meaning and the message behind on each card varied across Doyle's classroom — and in four other first-grade classes, two second-grade classes and two kindergarten classes. But a passion for the project was evident in every student.
Hassan Hallal, who sits across from Ethan, wrote, "You are awesome and I am six" on his card, which he made for a sick child, "because they don't get to do stuff for Valentine's Day," he said, "and we're doing something for them."
Jaylin Mitchell, 7, said she hoped her valentine, which read "Be Strong! Don't Give Up!" would brighten the day of a sick child somewhere.
She even added a personal touch: to go along with her pink shirt and pink plastic flowers in her hair — she made her valentine on pink construction paper with pink foam hearts pasted on.
Across the room, Kevin Graziano scrawled, "Be brave" across his paper heart in slanted, multi-colored writing.
Though the children treated it as a regular Friday morning, Doyle said the project has far-reaching effects that her students would benefit from.
"Our school sent 200 Valentines to these courageous children," Doyle said. "That means 200 more lives have been touched in a loving way by our students, and 200 children just learned a little more about compassion and how they can truly make a difference to another person."
As an educator, Doyle said she valued the chance to teach her children a lesson about how to give back to others.
"I believe that any time we, as educators, can provide our students with meaningful authentic learning experiences, the greater the impact," she said.Handmade oil paintings for sale at museum quality, "It is my hope that by giving children these opportunities, and planting seeds in their elementary education, that they will grow into compassionate empathetic young men and women that will continue to find ways to make our world a better place.
The project was organized by Kimberly Nelson, a mother of a kindergartner and second-grade student at Pot Spring whose daughter was in Doyle's class the previous year.
Doyle said Nelson is always coming up with projects like the valentines — an idea she found online being organized through the Illinois-based nonprofit, Inspiration Through Art.
Nelson said that sometimes it can be hard to make the children understand that there are ways that even they could give back and help others.
"You don't always have to give money," she said. "There are other ways to give back."
2011年12月22日 星期四
Beach Boys reunite and do it again
As had been heavily speculated, Inglewood's Beach Boys will reunite in a big way next year for a 50th anniversary tour, reports Rolling Stone. In truth, 2012 is the band's 51st anniversary but who's counting?
Brian Wilson, Mike Love,A true Insulator is a material that does not respond to an electric field, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and the group's original guitarist David Marks will also record a new album, their first album of new material with Wilson since "Still Cruisin"' in 1989; and the first with Marks since "Little Deuce Coupe" in October 1963.
Love told the magazine that the tour will include Wilson's backup band, including The Wondermints and former Beach Boys and Papa Doo Run Run guitarist Jeff Foskett,Wholesaler of different types of Ceramic tile for your kitchen, as well as Beach Boys touring guitarist Scott Totten and drummer John Cowsill, formerly of The Cowsills. Jardine says the group will appear at the Grammy Awards on Feb. 12.
Love added that a nice chunk of the landmark "Pet Sounds" and "SMiLE" albums will be included into the live set that, of course, will be loaded with classic hits.
McCARTNEY IS MUSICARES' MAN
Paul McCartney will be the Grammy's charitable wing, MusiCares' Person Of The Year and he and his longtime backup band will headline its gala award bash on Feb. 10 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. So far,We are a dedicated cheapest Aion Kinah, it's his only set concert date of 2012.
Sir Paul, who will turn 70 on June 18, announced that his upcoming as-yet-untitled CD will be released three days earlier, on Feb. 7, according to Reuters. With the exception of two new McCartney compositions,Carrying the widest selection of Projector Lamp and LCD Projector Bulbs, it's an album of his cover versions of `30s-`50s standards that he and John Lennon grew up with. Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder guest on the CD.
The Beatle says he's been thinking of about recording an album with thee songs for two decades, and decided that, at age 69, "if I don't so it now, I'll never do it."
The first song from the album, one of the two McCartney-penned songs, "My Valentine" is available to check out on YouTube. It's the song he wrote for his bride, Nancy, and sang to her at their wedding reception.
Rarely one to sit idly by, McCartney performed in Moscow before 26,000 Russian Beatlemaniacs and then flew back to his native Jolly Olde England to catch a 10-song concert set from his only son, 34-year-old James and his quartet, at the pub, the Barfly, before 100 regulars, in Camden Town. The younger McCartney's only cover was Neil Young's "Old Man." The Beatle,If you wish to use a third party payment gateway with your ecommerce solution, his daughters Stella and Mary, stood by the side of the stage dancing to the music while the proud dad took photos on his cell phone. James will release an EP next year, "Wings of a Lightest Weight," that was co-produced by his father.
Brian Wilson, Mike Love,A true Insulator is a material that does not respond to an electric field, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and the group's original guitarist David Marks will also record a new album, their first album of new material with Wilson since "Still Cruisin"' in 1989; and the first with Marks since "Little Deuce Coupe" in October 1963.
Love told the magazine that the tour will include Wilson's backup band, including The Wondermints and former Beach Boys and Papa Doo Run Run guitarist Jeff Foskett,Wholesaler of different types of Ceramic tile for your kitchen, as well as Beach Boys touring guitarist Scott Totten and drummer John Cowsill, formerly of The Cowsills. Jardine says the group will appear at the Grammy Awards on Feb. 12.
Love added that a nice chunk of the landmark "Pet Sounds" and "SMiLE" albums will be included into the live set that, of course, will be loaded with classic hits.
McCARTNEY IS MUSICARES' MAN
Paul McCartney will be the Grammy's charitable wing, MusiCares' Person Of The Year and he and his longtime backup band will headline its gala award bash on Feb. 10 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. So far,We are a dedicated cheapest Aion Kinah, it's his only set concert date of 2012.
Sir Paul, who will turn 70 on June 18, announced that his upcoming as-yet-untitled CD will be released three days earlier, on Feb. 7, according to Reuters. With the exception of two new McCartney compositions,Carrying the widest selection of Projector Lamp and LCD Projector Bulbs, it's an album of his cover versions of `30s-`50s standards that he and John Lennon grew up with. Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder guest on the CD.
The Beatle says he's been thinking of about recording an album with thee songs for two decades, and decided that, at age 69, "if I don't so it now, I'll never do it."
The first song from the album, one of the two McCartney-penned songs, "My Valentine" is available to check out on YouTube. It's the song he wrote for his bride, Nancy, and sang to her at their wedding reception.
Rarely one to sit idly by, McCartney performed in Moscow before 26,000 Russian Beatlemaniacs and then flew back to his native Jolly Olde England to catch a 10-song concert set from his only son, 34-year-old James and his quartet, at the pub, the Barfly, before 100 regulars, in Camden Town. The younger McCartney's only cover was Neil Young's "Old Man." The Beatle,If you wish to use a third party payment gateway with your ecommerce solution, his daughters Stella and Mary, stood by the side of the stage dancing to the music while the proud dad took photos on his cell phone. James will release an EP next year, "Wings of a Lightest Weight," that was co-produced by his father.
2011年12月6日 星期二
Chandler charity does laundry for homeless
The Clothes Cabin, a tiny volunteer-run Chandler charity that gives free garments and bedding to the poor, is now doing laundry for homeless people.
Founder and director Caryn Shoemaker said the service sprung from the non-profit's homeless clients who had to discard dirty garments and ask for new ones because there was no place to wash them.
"Nobody in the area was doing laundry for them," Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker said that for the past several months homeless people who wanted their laundry done have brought it in to the storefront at Alma School and Ray roads on Tuesdays and picked it up on Wednesdays. Skeptics told her that it wouldn't work. They were wrong.
"They always come back on Wednesday and are very grateful," she said.
Chandler City Councilman Kevin Hartke, who has launched city-wide efforts to help the homeless, said the laundry service "is a great idea. ... She (Shoemaker) is providing a unique service that makes a lot of sense. People who have lost their house still have their dignity and want to have an appearance that doesn't make people suspicious or look down on them."
Hartke said he knows of no other similar service anywhere in the Valley and is surprised others haven't thought of it. Although it might be challenging for any entity to do laundry for the homeless on a large scale, "I can see how it can be manageable on a small scale," he said.
Laundry isn't the only need at the charity's strip-center storefront. Although it is open for six hours on two days a week, and road construction is causing gridlock at the intersection, people are finding it. One day in November, 63 families came in for clothing, Shoemaker said. Children's clothing, socks and underwear for all ages, queen-size sheets and towels are in short supply. She is seeking donations.
The operation also needs volunteer help, and a Gilbert family responded last week. Melinda Murphy and daughters Mackenzie, 12, and Audrey, 9, spent several hours sorting clothing and bundling socks.
"We volunteer at different places as a family," Murphy said. "Our daughters have extra clothes like other people, and since we heard about the Clothes Cabin we have been donating them here instead of putting them out in bags for whoever picks them up."
She said the girls separated baby clothes according to size but had the most fun tagging pairs of socks and mittens together using a machine that binds them with a plastic tag.
"They loved that part. Now they've both asked for tagging guns for Christmas," Murphy said.
Shoemaker's children and grandchildren will join the volunteers this month.
Her son suggested to his three sisters that they all give a day at Clothes Cabin, volunteering with the seven little ones instead of exchanging gifts.
"They all heaved a sigh of relief and jumped on the idea. I'm thrilled," Shoemaker said.
The charity's beneficiaries are anyone who says they are unable to purchase needed clothing. After they register and show photo identification, they can select free items as many as five times a year. Adults are allowed six articles of clothing, socks and underwear per visit. Children get four clothing items, socks and underwear.
The non-profit, which Shoemaker started three years ago, has no paid staff, accepts clean, undamaged, new or gently used clothing and bedding. Many of the clients are referred by churches, domestic-violence shelters, schools and food banks, she said.
Founder and director Caryn Shoemaker said the service sprung from the non-profit's homeless clients who had to discard dirty garments and ask for new ones because there was no place to wash them.
"Nobody in the area was doing laundry for them," Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker said that for the past several months homeless people who wanted their laundry done have brought it in to the storefront at Alma School and Ray roads on Tuesdays and picked it up on Wednesdays. Skeptics told her that it wouldn't work. They were wrong.
"They always come back on Wednesday and are very grateful," she said.
Chandler City Councilman Kevin Hartke, who has launched city-wide efforts to help the homeless, said the laundry service "is a great idea. ... She (Shoemaker) is providing a unique service that makes a lot of sense. People who have lost their house still have their dignity and want to have an appearance that doesn't make people suspicious or look down on them."
Hartke said he knows of no other similar service anywhere in the Valley and is surprised others haven't thought of it. Although it might be challenging for any entity to do laundry for the homeless on a large scale, "I can see how it can be manageable on a small scale," he said.
Laundry isn't the only need at the charity's strip-center storefront. Although it is open for six hours on two days a week, and road construction is causing gridlock at the intersection, people are finding it. One day in November, 63 families came in for clothing, Shoemaker said. Children's clothing, socks and underwear for all ages, queen-size sheets and towels are in short supply. She is seeking donations.
The operation also needs volunteer help, and a Gilbert family responded last week. Melinda Murphy and daughters Mackenzie, 12, and Audrey, 9, spent several hours sorting clothing and bundling socks.
"We volunteer at different places as a family," Murphy said. "Our daughters have extra clothes like other people, and since we heard about the Clothes Cabin we have been donating them here instead of putting them out in bags for whoever picks them up."
She said the girls separated baby clothes according to size but had the most fun tagging pairs of socks and mittens together using a machine that binds them with a plastic tag.
"They loved that part. Now they've both asked for tagging guns for Christmas," Murphy said.
Shoemaker's children and grandchildren will join the volunteers this month.
Her son suggested to his three sisters that they all give a day at Clothes Cabin, volunteering with the seven little ones instead of exchanging gifts.
"They all heaved a sigh of relief and jumped on the idea. I'm thrilled," Shoemaker said.
The charity's beneficiaries are anyone who says they are unable to purchase needed clothing. After they register and show photo identification, they can select free items as many as five times a year. Adults are allowed six articles of clothing, socks and underwear per visit. Children get four clothing items, socks and underwear.
The non-profit, which Shoemaker started three years ago, has no paid staff, accepts clean, undamaged, new or gently used clothing and bedding. Many of the clients are referred by churches, domestic-violence shelters, schools and food banks, she said.
2011年11月28日 星期一
Poultry litter grows as fertilizer option
Experiments using poultry litter for fertilizer began 11 years ago at the Riesel Watershed Center. Poultry litter, an often pungent combination of bedding material and manure, is sometimes more popular with the farmers and ranchers who use it than it is with their neighbors.
Daren Harmel, an agriculture engineer for the Agriculture Research Service, and others involved with the research, were on hand at the Riesel center last month to share with producers from Falls, Limestone and McLennan Counties what they have learned about poultry litter as fertilizer and what else they hope to learn as the studies continues. Harmel said the first decade of research has shown that poultry litter can be a great fertilizer for both crops and hay, but it has to be managed properly, from the onsite facilities where it is collected to the fields where it is applied.
Once it is applied, it may emit a distinctive odor that may not bother a producer as much as it bothers neighbors. "The neighbors may not like the smell as much as you do," he said.
Craig Coufal, an assistant professor and Extension specialist, has been studying a practice known as In-house Windrow Composting, which collects the manure from large poultry houses in conical rows -- windrows -- that run the length of the poultry house and are piled two- to three-feet high. The mixing, piling and turning processes allows non-pathogenic bacteria in the litter to grow and proliferate, which work to basically pasteurize the litter, similar to the way manure is composted. Coufal calls it an "abbreviated composting process.
"The process only goes eight or nine days," he said. "It's not really true composting. It's more like pasteurization."
Recently, researchers had volunteers sit at the edge of a couple of big fields at the center where untreated litter was applied to one field and windrowed litter applied to another. The volunteers were asked to simply report if they smelled anything.
"The windrowed compost has a different odor, maybe a little less pungent and less offensive," Coufal said.
The main purpose of windrow composting is not to make it smell better, but to kill the pathogens, which studies have shown it does. The pathogens that do survive die in the field. The nutrient content of windrowed litter as opposed to untreated is about the same, he said.
The process has to start in the poultry houses, and Coufal said that most of the big poultry houses in the state have at least tried the process; some have stuck with it and others have not. The research started about the same time that a large processing house in Waco opened. Harmel said the idea was to see if farmers could use the manure from poultry houses the same way that large dairies in the area have been able to sell their waste as compost.
"We wanted to get ahead of that," he said.
Eleven years later, they have learned some good lessons for producers who want to try it on their own fields and pastures. About two tons of litter per acre is recommended for fields, three tons per acre for pastures, with some supplemental nitrogen added, if needed.
Agriculture scientist Rick Haney told producers about the soil test he devised at the Blackland Research Center in Temple that tests soil more from a biological standpoint than chemical and delivers information on how much nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, in pounds per acre, is already available to the plant.
"It's like free fertilizer," Haney said. "It accounts for the nutrients that nature gives us for free."
The cost of poultry litter has gone up from $16.50 a ton when the study started to $33 a ton now. Nitrogen was $125 a ton in 2000, and peaked at $655 a ton in 2007, and sells for $545 a ton now.
"The cost has gone up, but not as much as commercial nitrogen," Harmel said.
Coufal pointed out that Texas is the sixth leading poultry producer in the nation and he believes there is an opportunity for the industry to grow in the state. If it works out that way, farmers and ranchers may end up with another fertilizer option.
Daren Harmel, an agriculture engineer for the Agriculture Research Service, and others involved with the research, were on hand at the Riesel center last month to share with producers from Falls, Limestone and McLennan Counties what they have learned about poultry litter as fertilizer and what else they hope to learn as the studies continues. Harmel said the first decade of research has shown that poultry litter can be a great fertilizer for both crops and hay, but it has to be managed properly, from the onsite facilities where it is collected to the fields where it is applied.
Once it is applied, it may emit a distinctive odor that may not bother a producer as much as it bothers neighbors. "The neighbors may not like the smell as much as you do," he said.
Craig Coufal, an assistant professor and Extension specialist, has been studying a practice known as In-house Windrow Composting, which collects the manure from large poultry houses in conical rows -- windrows -- that run the length of the poultry house and are piled two- to three-feet high. The mixing, piling and turning processes allows non-pathogenic bacteria in the litter to grow and proliferate, which work to basically pasteurize the litter, similar to the way manure is composted. Coufal calls it an "abbreviated composting process.
"The process only goes eight or nine days," he said. "It's not really true composting. It's more like pasteurization."
Recently, researchers had volunteers sit at the edge of a couple of big fields at the center where untreated litter was applied to one field and windrowed litter applied to another. The volunteers were asked to simply report if they smelled anything.
"The windrowed compost has a different odor, maybe a little less pungent and less offensive," Coufal said.
The main purpose of windrow composting is not to make it smell better, but to kill the pathogens, which studies have shown it does. The pathogens that do survive die in the field. The nutrient content of windrowed litter as opposed to untreated is about the same, he said.
The process has to start in the poultry houses, and Coufal said that most of the big poultry houses in the state have at least tried the process; some have stuck with it and others have not. The research started about the same time that a large processing house in Waco opened. Harmel said the idea was to see if farmers could use the manure from poultry houses the same way that large dairies in the area have been able to sell their waste as compost.
"We wanted to get ahead of that," he said.
Eleven years later, they have learned some good lessons for producers who want to try it on their own fields and pastures. About two tons of litter per acre is recommended for fields, three tons per acre for pastures, with some supplemental nitrogen added, if needed.
Agriculture scientist Rick Haney told producers about the soil test he devised at the Blackland Research Center in Temple that tests soil more from a biological standpoint than chemical and delivers information on how much nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, in pounds per acre, is already available to the plant.
"It's like free fertilizer," Haney said. "It accounts for the nutrients that nature gives us for free."
The cost of poultry litter has gone up from $16.50 a ton when the study started to $33 a ton now. Nitrogen was $125 a ton in 2000, and peaked at $655 a ton in 2007, and sells for $545 a ton now.
"The cost has gone up, but not as much as commercial nitrogen," Harmel said.
Coufal pointed out that Texas is the sixth leading poultry producer in the nation and he believes there is an opportunity for the industry to grow in the state. If it works out that way, farmers and ranchers may end up with another fertilizer option.
2011年11月27日 星期日
City of Refuge ‘going the extra mile’
A few months ago, Pamela Cudd thought the man she now trusts to be the face of City of Refuge might show up in the newspaper.
“He was at his lowest point and I knew it wouldn’t be long before we were reading about him in the papers, in the obituaries,” she said of Little Hawk, an American Indian who describes himself as Cherokee, Sioux and a little Irish. “So we just really took him under our wing and started working with him and moved him out of the (homeless) camp onto the property of City of Refuge.”
Little Hawk, his real name, stayed in a tent for several months. He began tidying up the property, taking out the garbage, picking up trash and cigarette butts and generally keeping an eye on the place. Cudd and her husband, Dennis, gradually started giving Hawk responsibilities.
“From that point he took a leadership role in the ministry,” she said. “He is really the up-front person people see when they walk in that door because he’s there all the time. It’s a nice success story for people to see that if you put out a helping hand to provide stability and a support system for people they can overcome.”
City of Refuge offers food, medical aid, shelter and transitional living assistance for people in need.
Hawk, 58, concurred there was “a strong possibility” he would end up in the obits.
“I spent 35 years in the tree (cutting) business and I’ve been in a lot of car wrecks, so I’ve been busted up and torn apart,” he explained. “I don’t like drugs — not even taking pain pills — so I drank to ease the pain.”
But he admitted there came a time when he “got tired” of the drinking, too. Although not a Christian — Hawk said he follows the religion of his “fathers” — he prays and plays a traditional prayer flute.
“This is a Christian ministry, and I have the utmost respect for the Christian community,” he said. “I have made many friends through this ministry.”
Cudd said when she visits the ministry Hawk “might be in there having dinner with a family that’s been sent by one of the other churches and they’ve befriended him.”
Churches are the lifeblood of the ministry that touches 6,500 people a month on a $300,000 a year budget, with 12 area churches currently pulling the load. But there are some aspects of the outreach a budget doesn’t cover.
City of Refuge officials believe homeless families miss out on more than a residence and steady source of nutritious food.
“Thanksgiving or Christmas or Mother’s Day, that is not in the budget,” Cudd said. “We call on our churches and individuals to help us with the holidays. We do special things for our families, we try to not just provide the critical needs like housing, food, shelter and clothing, we try to go above and beyond that. We try to do things for our families that they don’t have the opportunity to do themselves.”
For example, during the summer homeless parents and children were loaded up to go to Fort Mountain for “beach day.”
“You go on vacation, I go on vacation — even if it’s just a weekend getaway — but these families can’t do that,” she pointed out. “Half of them don’t even have vehicles. You and I take that for granted, but that’s a special day for them.”
In the fall, the buses roll again for “trunk-or-treating” to different festivals put on by churches and schools “because our children don’t have an opportunity to do that,” Cudd said.
“He was at his lowest point and I knew it wouldn’t be long before we were reading about him in the papers, in the obituaries,” she said of Little Hawk, an American Indian who describes himself as Cherokee, Sioux and a little Irish. “So we just really took him under our wing and started working with him and moved him out of the (homeless) camp onto the property of City of Refuge.”
Little Hawk, his real name, stayed in a tent for several months. He began tidying up the property, taking out the garbage, picking up trash and cigarette butts and generally keeping an eye on the place. Cudd and her husband, Dennis, gradually started giving Hawk responsibilities.
“From that point he took a leadership role in the ministry,” she said. “He is really the up-front person people see when they walk in that door because he’s there all the time. It’s a nice success story for people to see that if you put out a helping hand to provide stability and a support system for people they can overcome.”
City of Refuge offers food, medical aid, shelter and transitional living assistance for people in need.
Hawk, 58, concurred there was “a strong possibility” he would end up in the obits.
“I spent 35 years in the tree (cutting) business and I’ve been in a lot of car wrecks, so I’ve been busted up and torn apart,” he explained. “I don’t like drugs — not even taking pain pills — so I drank to ease the pain.”
But he admitted there came a time when he “got tired” of the drinking, too. Although not a Christian — Hawk said he follows the religion of his “fathers” — he prays and plays a traditional prayer flute.
“This is a Christian ministry, and I have the utmost respect for the Christian community,” he said. “I have made many friends through this ministry.”
Cudd said when she visits the ministry Hawk “might be in there having dinner with a family that’s been sent by one of the other churches and they’ve befriended him.”
Churches are the lifeblood of the ministry that touches 6,500 people a month on a $300,000 a year budget, with 12 area churches currently pulling the load. But there are some aspects of the outreach a budget doesn’t cover.
City of Refuge officials believe homeless families miss out on more than a residence and steady source of nutritious food.
“Thanksgiving or Christmas or Mother’s Day, that is not in the budget,” Cudd said. “We call on our churches and individuals to help us with the holidays. We do special things for our families, we try to not just provide the critical needs like housing, food, shelter and clothing, we try to go above and beyond that. We try to do things for our families that they don’t have the opportunity to do themselves.”
For example, during the summer homeless parents and children were loaded up to go to Fort Mountain for “beach day.”
“You go on vacation, I go on vacation — even if it’s just a weekend getaway — but these families can’t do that,” she pointed out. “Half of them don’t even have vehicles. You and I take that for granted, but that’s a special day for them.”
In the fall, the buses roll again for “trunk-or-treating” to different festivals put on by churches and schools “because our children don’t have an opportunity to do that,” Cudd said.
2011年11月24日 星期四
Burglar hits Hudson man's house - and both are charged
Burglar hits Hudson man's house - and both are charged; gallon jar of marijuana taken
Felony charges have been filed against two men - along with the man they allegedly robbed this week in Hudson.
Michael W. Schwartzkopf Jr., 26, of Fond du Lac, Wis., who police say kicked in the door of a Hudson home, tied up Steven C. Iverson, 29, and stole guns and cash, was charged Tuesday with armed robbery, false imprisonment, armed burglary, and theft of more than $10,000 in property.
A second suspect in the robbery, Jared S. Carr, 36, of West Bend, Wis., was charged Tuesday with felony armed robbery as party to a crime.If so, you may have a cube puzzle .
And then Iverson was charged Wednesday with felony possession of THC - the active ingredient in marijuana - with intent to deliver.
Schwartzkopf was being held Wednesday in the St. Croix County Jail on a $50,000 cash bond. Carr could not be reached Wednesday, and a message left with Iverson was not immediately returned.
According to the three criminal complaints:
Police responded to a home in the 1800 block of Stone Creek Street after receiving a 911 call from a woman saying "help me" about 1:30 a.m. Monday. The woman, who police said was Iverson's girlfriend, told responding officers she had been sleeping before she heard a loud crash and a voice saying, "I have a gun."
Iverson told officers he had been robbed. He said he was asleep on a couch when he heard a noise and woke to find a man he didn't know pointing a gun at him. The man directed him to the floor and cable-tied his hands, he said.They take the China Porcelain tile to the local co-op market.
The intruder demanded money and guns and forced him into the garage, where Iverson gave him the combination to a safe, Iverson said. The man then took items from the safe, including about $30,000 in cash.
Police said the intruder ran from the home, dropping handguns along the way.
Police searching for the intruder encountered a resident nearby,Your Partner in Precision Precision injection molds. Yang Thor, who said he had given a man matching Schwartzkopf's description a ride to a Hudson gas station.
Police found Schwartzkopf at the gas station and arrested him. Officers found a backpack containing a Glock handgun,If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards, $35,000 in cash and a metal box containing Iverson's Social Security card and passport near Schwartzkopf.
Another backpack was found near the robbery scene. It contained items Iverson said had been taken from his home, including guns and marijuana - which Iverson said was for personal use, police said.
Schwartzkopf told police that he did not know Iverson and that he did the robbery to work off a $2,000 drug debt he owed someone, whom he would not name. That person, he said, gave him the cable ties and a gun and told him to go to Iverson's home and take guns and money.
He told officers he was dropped off at the Iverson home but the car that was to take pick him up was not there when he left.
An officer responding to the robbery call had noted the license plate number of a black Cadillac Escalade near the scene. A registration check showed it belonged to a Barron, Wis., man. When questioned by police, the owner said he had lent the vehicle to Carr days before the robbery.
Police got a warrant to search Schwartzkopf's cellphone and found a call between Carr and Schwartzkopf shortly after the robbery, as well as two text messages from "JC" saying "call me."
Thor, the bystander who gave Schwartzkopf a ride, said Schwartzkopf also had used Thor's phone to make calls, one of which police say was to Carr.
In speaking with investigators, Iverson said that the money taken from his home was his life savings and that he is not a drug dealer.
Along with the cash and guns, a glass jar of marijuana, brass knuckles, a butterfly knife and an "electric weapon" were stolen, Iverson told investigators.
A one-gallon glass jar of marijuana was recovered from Schwartzkopf. Iverson told police he bought 1 to 3 ounces of marijuana at a time for personal use.
Police said they found marijuana in plastic sandwich bags next to Iverson's safe and in other areas of the house and recovered a total of about 135 grams of the drug.Your source for re-usable Plastic moulds of strong latex rubber.
Felony charges have been filed against two men - along with the man they allegedly robbed this week in Hudson.
Michael W. Schwartzkopf Jr., 26, of Fond du Lac, Wis., who police say kicked in the door of a Hudson home, tied up Steven C. Iverson, 29, and stole guns and cash, was charged Tuesday with armed robbery, false imprisonment, armed burglary, and theft of more than $10,000 in property.
A second suspect in the robbery, Jared S. Carr, 36, of West Bend, Wis., was charged Tuesday with felony armed robbery as party to a crime.If so, you may have a cube puzzle .
And then Iverson was charged Wednesday with felony possession of THC - the active ingredient in marijuana - with intent to deliver.
Schwartzkopf was being held Wednesday in the St. Croix County Jail on a $50,000 cash bond. Carr could not be reached Wednesday, and a message left with Iverson was not immediately returned.
According to the three criminal complaints:
Police responded to a home in the 1800 block of Stone Creek Street after receiving a 911 call from a woman saying "help me" about 1:30 a.m. Monday. The woman, who police said was Iverson's girlfriend, told responding officers she had been sleeping before she heard a loud crash and a voice saying, "I have a gun."
Iverson told officers he had been robbed. He said he was asleep on a couch when he heard a noise and woke to find a man he didn't know pointing a gun at him. The man directed him to the floor and cable-tied his hands, he said.They take the China Porcelain tile to the local co-op market.
The intruder demanded money and guns and forced him into the garage, where Iverson gave him the combination to a safe, Iverson said. The man then took items from the safe, including about $30,000 in cash.
Police said the intruder ran from the home, dropping handguns along the way.
Police searching for the intruder encountered a resident nearby,Your Partner in Precision Precision injection molds. Yang Thor, who said he had given a man matching Schwartzkopf's description a ride to a Hudson gas station.
Police found Schwartzkopf at the gas station and arrested him. Officers found a backpack containing a Glock handgun,If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards, $35,000 in cash and a metal box containing Iverson's Social Security card and passport near Schwartzkopf.
Another backpack was found near the robbery scene. It contained items Iverson said had been taken from his home, including guns and marijuana - which Iverson said was for personal use, police said.
Schwartzkopf told police that he did not know Iverson and that he did the robbery to work off a $2,000 drug debt he owed someone, whom he would not name. That person, he said, gave him the cable ties and a gun and told him to go to Iverson's home and take guns and money.
He told officers he was dropped off at the Iverson home but the car that was to take pick him up was not there when he left.
An officer responding to the robbery call had noted the license plate number of a black Cadillac Escalade near the scene. A registration check showed it belonged to a Barron, Wis., man. When questioned by police, the owner said he had lent the vehicle to Carr days before the robbery.
Police got a warrant to search Schwartzkopf's cellphone and found a call between Carr and Schwartzkopf shortly after the robbery, as well as two text messages from "JC" saying "call me."
Thor, the bystander who gave Schwartzkopf a ride, said Schwartzkopf also had used Thor's phone to make calls, one of which police say was to Carr.
In speaking with investigators, Iverson said that the money taken from his home was his life savings and that he is not a drug dealer.
Along with the cash and guns, a glass jar of marijuana, brass knuckles, a butterfly knife and an "electric weapon" were stolen, Iverson told investigators.
A one-gallon glass jar of marijuana was recovered from Schwartzkopf. Iverson told police he bought 1 to 3 ounces of marijuana at a time for personal use.
Police said they found marijuana in plastic sandwich bags next to Iverson's safe and in other areas of the house and recovered a total of about 135 grams of the drug.Your source for re-usable Plastic moulds of strong latex rubber.
2011年11月23日 星期三
E. Africa's first solar-panel plant supports Kenya's clean energy push
Africa may be a continent blessed with large amounts of sunshine, but for most of its rural inhabitants, once the day ends,If so, you may have a cube puzzle . so does the light. Families spend their evenings in the dark or turn to polluting oil lamps, simply because they have no access to electricity.
In Naivasha, a town 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, Haijo Kuper is trying to change that.If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards,
Netherlands-born Kuper is managing director of Ubbink East Africa, the first solar-panel manufacturing plant in East Africa. The firm, which recently began operating in Naivasha, is a joint venture between Dutch company Ubbink, which works on energy efficiency and solar power, and Kenya’s Chloride Exide, which produces solar and power back-up equipment and batteries.Do not use cleaners with porcelain tiles , steel wool or thinners.
As with many African countries, Kenya’s progress in expanding its national power grid has been slow, in part because of the expense.
Solar power has long been viewed as part of the solution – but,This page contains information about molds, here too, cost has been an obstacle. The equipment that converts the sun’s free energy into electric power requires an investment that is still out of reach for the more than one-third of Africans who live on less than two dollars a day.Your Partner in Precision Precision injection molds.
The Kenyan government - concerned about power shortages and the effects of climate change - has moved to spur growth in the renewable energy sector with a feed-in tariff that pays producers a set rate for electricity they want to sell. It has also mandated the use of solar power in new-build homes, as well as cutting taxes on imports of solar-power materials and equipment.
The East African nation has one of the highest rates of solar panel systems installed per capita in the world, and uptake of solar panels is outpacing connections to the traditional electrical grid.
The price of solar energy systems has dropped 75 percent in the past decade, while demand has gone up 15 percent a year over the same period. Experts expect this trend of lower costs and spreading use to continue.
It is certainly proving beneficial for small farmers and rural residents, many of whom are beyond the reach of the national grid.
A growing number of rural farmhouses across Kenya now have a small solar panel on their thatched or corrugated iron roofs. Even the smallest panel can charge a mobile phone and power two light bulbs simultaneously, helping families save on the expense of buying kerosene for lamps. What’s more, the light from a solar-powered bulb is about 15 times brighter.
Farmer Frederick Kaveta, 34, has a solar panel on the corrugated roof of his home in Ukumbani, southwest of Nairobi. For him, it brings both economic and health benefits.
“We used oil lamps in the past at night for the children to do their homework. (But) the price of the oil has gone up, and the lamps smoke badly and make us cough,” he explains. “The solar light is healthier and I save some 500 shillings ($5) a month because I don’t need to buy oil. With 500 shillings, I can buy two or three meals for my family of four.”
In Naivasha, a town 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, Haijo Kuper is trying to change that.If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards,
Netherlands-born Kuper is managing director of Ubbink East Africa, the first solar-panel manufacturing plant in East Africa. The firm, which recently began operating in Naivasha, is a joint venture between Dutch company Ubbink, which works on energy efficiency and solar power, and Kenya’s Chloride Exide, which produces solar and power back-up equipment and batteries.Do not use cleaners with porcelain tiles , steel wool or thinners.
As with many African countries, Kenya’s progress in expanding its national power grid has been slow, in part because of the expense.
Solar power has long been viewed as part of the solution – but,This page contains information about molds, here too, cost has been an obstacle. The equipment that converts the sun’s free energy into electric power requires an investment that is still out of reach for the more than one-third of Africans who live on less than two dollars a day.Your Partner in Precision Precision injection molds.
The Kenyan government - concerned about power shortages and the effects of climate change - has moved to spur growth in the renewable energy sector with a feed-in tariff that pays producers a set rate for electricity they want to sell. It has also mandated the use of solar power in new-build homes, as well as cutting taxes on imports of solar-power materials and equipment.
The East African nation has one of the highest rates of solar panel systems installed per capita in the world, and uptake of solar panels is outpacing connections to the traditional electrical grid.
The price of solar energy systems has dropped 75 percent in the past decade, while demand has gone up 15 percent a year over the same period. Experts expect this trend of lower costs and spreading use to continue.
It is certainly proving beneficial for small farmers and rural residents, many of whom are beyond the reach of the national grid.
A growing number of rural farmhouses across Kenya now have a small solar panel on their thatched or corrugated iron roofs. Even the smallest panel can charge a mobile phone and power two light bulbs simultaneously, helping families save on the expense of buying kerosene for lamps. What’s more, the light from a solar-powered bulb is about 15 times brighter.
Farmer Frederick Kaveta, 34, has a solar panel on the corrugated roof of his home in Ukumbani, southwest of Nairobi. For him, it brings both economic and health benefits.
“We used oil lamps in the past at night for the children to do their homework. (But) the price of the oil has gone up, and the lamps smoke badly and make us cough,” he explains. “The solar light is healthier and I save some 500 shillings ($5) a month because I don’t need to buy oil. With 500 shillings, I can buy two or three meals for my family of four.”
Advice shared for wintering cattle well
Winter-she's a comin'. It's a season to be endured for beef producers-as well as some dairy producers brave enough to out-winter cattle. Producers need to step up their management so that cattle just don't survive, but thrive in what's often a harsh environment.
Cattle increase their production of body heat in response to severe cold by increasing their heart rate, respiration and blood flow. This physiological response may result in lower gains and reduced feed efficiency-even with increased feed intake. This week Agri-View provides reminders to mitigate the negative effects of winter on cattle.
Vern Anderson, North Dakota State University animal scientist, says cattle adapt to cold during a period of time. Provide adequate good-quality feed so they can gain weight prior to the time severe weather typically hits. Fat reserves are insulation and will provide extra energy during severe old when feed may not meet their energy requirements.
Wean calves before severe cold to reduce cows' nutritional requirements and allow them to gain condition. Wean calves a few weeks before severe weather arrives if possible, as this will also give calves time to adapt to new rations and gain weight and condition prior to winter weather.
Sloping ground is also the preferred out-wintering site. According to Anderson, every degree of south-slope increases the benefits of the winter sun and is almost like wintering the herd 70 miles to the south. In other words, a 4 percent south slope is like moving the cattle from northern Wisconsin to southern Wisconsin, without ever loading them in the truck.
Don't skimp on bedding. Frequent bedding with modest amounts will keep cattle dry and clean, which significantly improves gains and feed efficiency. Anderson prefers straw but says corn stover is acceptable. Bedding serves two functions. It insulates cattle from the snow and ice underneath them, preventing hypothermia and frostbite, and it lowers their nutritional requirements. As cattle sink into bedding, it lessons the amount of their body area still exposed to wind.
A two-year study of steers at NDSU's Carrington research facility reveals that bedding improves performance and net return. Steers received either little to no bedding, modest bedding (about 20 pounds per head per week) or a generous among (roughly 35 pounds of bedding per week per head). Anderson compared straw, corn stover and soybean residue; performance was better with the wheat straw. Granted, depending on the harshness of the winter, you're going to go through a lot of bedding. Bedding with 20 to 40 pounds of straw per head per week translates to upwards of 150 tons for a 100 cows over six months of winter. Bedding when you're out-wintering isn't the place to try and save a buck though.
It's also recommended cattle be allowed to eat prior to bedding them. This will minimize the amount of bedding they consume.
Adjust the time of day you go out there and feed if possible. Anderson says to feed cattle late in the day during severe cold. The activity involved in eating and ruminating will increase the animals' heat production during the night. Feeding late in the day during calving may increase the number of calves born during daylight hours.
Be prepared for winter storms. Have snow removal equipment ready and in good repair. A backup generator may be advisable in case of power outages to maintain water pressure and heat sources, and run equipment to process feeds. Identify extra workers who can help during emergency situations. Remove snow from pens, especially in areas adjacent to feed bunks and water fountains, as time permits.
Don't be tempted to bring cattle indoors unless ventilation is adequate. Ammonia concentrations in poorly ventilated barns can cause major air quality problems. High humidity and crowding can reduce the insulating ability of the cattle's coats significantly. Diseases transmit more readily in humid crowded buildings, too.
Cattle increase their production of body heat in response to severe cold by increasing their heart rate, respiration and blood flow. This physiological response may result in lower gains and reduced feed efficiency-even with increased feed intake. This week Agri-View provides reminders to mitigate the negative effects of winter on cattle.
Vern Anderson, North Dakota State University animal scientist, says cattle adapt to cold during a period of time. Provide adequate good-quality feed so they can gain weight prior to the time severe weather typically hits. Fat reserves are insulation and will provide extra energy during severe old when feed may not meet their energy requirements.
Wean calves before severe cold to reduce cows' nutritional requirements and allow them to gain condition. Wean calves a few weeks before severe weather arrives if possible, as this will also give calves time to adapt to new rations and gain weight and condition prior to winter weather.
Sloping ground is also the preferred out-wintering site. According to Anderson, every degree of south-slope increases the benefits of the winter sun and is almost like wintering the herd 70 miles to the south. In other words, a 4 percent south slope is like moving the cattle from northern Wisconsin to southern Wisconsin, without ever loading them in the truck.
Don't skimp on bedding. Frequent bedding with modest amounts will keep cattle dry and clean, which significantly improves gains and feed efficiency. Anderson prefers straw but says corn stover is acceptable. Bedding serves two functions. It insulates cattle from the snow and ice underneath them, preventing hypothermia and frostbite, and it lowers their nutritional requirements. As cattle sink into bedding, it lessons the amount of their body area still exposed to wind.
A two-year study of steers at NDSU's Carrington research facility reveals that bedding improves performance and net return. Steers received either little to no bedding, modest bedding (about 20 pounds per head per week) or a generous among (roughly 35 pounds of bedding per week per head). Anderson compared straw, corn stover and soybean residue; performance was better with the wheat straw. Granted, depending on the harshness of the winter, you're going to go through a lot of bedding. Bedding with 20 to 40 pounds of straw per head per week translates to upwards of 150 tons for a 100 cows over six months of winter. Bedding when you're out-wintering isn't the place to try and save a buck though.
It's also recommended cattle be allowed to eat prior to bedding them. This will minimize the amount of bedding they consume.
Adjust the time of day you go out there and feed if possible. Anderson says to feed cattle late in the day during severe cold. The activity involved in eating and ruminating will increase the animals' heat production during the night. Feeding late in the day during calving may increase the number of calves born during daylight hours.
Be prepared for winter storms. Have snow removal equipment ready and in good repair. A backup generator may be advisable in case of power outages to maintain water pressure and heat sources, and run equipment to process feeds. Identify extra workers who can help during emergency situations. Remove snow from pens, especially in areas adjacent to feed bunks and water fountains, as time permits.
Don't be tempted to bring cattle indoors unless ventilation is adequate. Ammonia concentrations in poorly ventilated barns can cause major air quality problems. High humidity and crowding can reduce the insulating ability of the cattle's coats significantly. Diseases transmit more readily in humid crowded buildings, too.
2011年10月20日 星期四
Don’t overlook value of straw as a bedding and feeding resource
In the second of our series on feed planning, Farmers Guardian looks at the feed and bedding options for straw.
Straw is a valuable resource for livestock farms due to its important role in bedding and feeding.
This is the message from Dr Mary Vickers of Eblex, who says while straw is low in metabolised energy and crude protein, it is still a useful component of rations.
“Straw provides a rich source of structural fibre, which stimulates rumination and the production of saliva, which helps to buffer rumen acidity,” she says.
Dr Vickers says it is useful for ‘bulking out’ certain rations, and helping to dilute energy and crude protein densities.
“Depending on availability and cost, straw can form the main forage source for dry suckler cows.”
She also says its nutritional value can be improved by treatments such as ammonia or caustic soda. However, she advises seeking the advice of a nutritionist if considering these options as these treatments change the way straw can be fed.
“If harvesting cereals for crimping at around 30 to 40 per cent moisture, the straw will still be green and immature. Baling and wrapping the straw directly behind the combine produces ‘strawlage’, which has good nutritional value and can be used as a sole feed for dry suckler cows or added to other rations to provide structure and additional nutritional fibre.”
Independent consultant David Hendy says haulm from pulses can be fed to animals as an alternative to cereal straw.
“Pea haulm is a useful structural or nutritional component for rations as it has a reasonably high ME and CP (around 10 per cent depending on pea content) compared to cereal straw.”
However, he says palatability can vary depending on harvesting conditions: “In contrast, bean haulm is much less palatable than pea haulm and is not such a valuable addition to the diet.”
Bedding materials
In terms of bedding materials for cattle, Mr Hendy says straw is ideal because it is absorbent, comfortable, safe, clean and can be disposed of easily.
He adds it is important to use dry straw for bedding, as wet straw increases usage considerably. If insufficient straw is available, or its cost is prohibitive, other bedding materials can be used. However, these can differ considerably in their characteristics.
“Pea or bean haulm is a good option for bedding,” says Mr Hendy. “Rape or linseed straw is more coarse and is best used as a free-draining base layer on top of which more absorbent material can be used.”
He says timber products are one of the main alternatives to straw, but should be composted as they can take much longer to break down in FYM heaps.
“There are certain guidelines producers should follow when using timber products: care should be taken to avoid using products from treated wood and if recycled wood is being used, then a waste exemption needs to registered with the Environment Agency. It is important to avoid material contaminated with foreign objects such as glass or metal.”
Wood shavings and sawdust are another bedding option, says Mr Hendy, as they are highly absorbent, although drainage may deteriorate over time so frequent mucking out may be required.
He says woodchips can also be used and work best when they are from dry logs with less than 30 per cent moisture.
“Other options include sand, gypsum and paper products, but producers should do their homework on each option before purchasing to ensure the product will suit their system,” says Mr Hendy.
Straw is a valuable resource for livestock farms due to its important role in bedding and feeding.
This is the message from Dr Mary Vickers of Eblex, who says while straw is low in metabolised energy and crude protein, it is still a useful component of rations.
“Straw provides a rich source of structural fibre, which stimulates rumination and the production of saliva, which helps to buffer rumen acidity,” she says.
Dr Vickers says it is useful for ‘bulking out’ certain rations, and helping to dilute energy and crude protein densities.
“Depending on availability and cost, straw can form the main forage source for dry suckler cows.”
She also says its nutritional value can be improved by treatments such as ammonia or caustic soda. However, she advises seeking the advice of a nutritionist if considering these options as these treatments change the way straw can be fed.
“If harvesting cereals for crimping at around 30 to 40 per cent moisture, the straw will still be green and immature. Baling and wrapping the straw directly behind the combine produces ‘strawlage’, which has good nutritional value and can be used as a sole feed for dry suckler cows or added to other rations to provide structure and additional nutritional fibre.”
Independent consultant David Hendy says haulm from pulses can be fed to animals as an alternative to cereal straw.
“Pea haulm is a useful structural or nutritional component for rations as it has a reasonably high ME and CP (around 10 per cent depending on pea content) compared to cereal straw.”
However, he says palatability can vary depending on harvesting conditions: “In contrast, bean haulm is much less palatable than pea haulm and is not such a valuable addition to the diet.”
Bedding materials
In terms of bedding materials for cattle, Mr Hendy says straw is ideal because it is absorbent, comfortable, safe, clean and can be disposed of easily.
He adds it is important to use dry straw for bedding, as wet straw increases usage considerably. If insufficient straw is available, or its cost is prohibitive, other bedding materials can be used. However, these can differ considerably in their characteristics.
“Pea or bean haulm is a good option for bedding,” says Mr Hendy. “Rape or linseed straw is more coarse and is best used as a free-draining base layer on top of which more absorbent material can be used.”
He says timber products are one of the main alternatives to straw, but should be composted as they can take much longer to break down in FYM heaps.
“There are certain guidelines producers should follow when using timber products: care should be taken to avoid using products from treated wood and if recycled wood is being used, then a waste exemption needs to registered with the Environment Agency. It is important to avoid material contaminated with foreign objects such as glass or metal.”
Wood shavings and sawdust are another bedding option, says Mr Hendy, as they are highly absorbent, although drainage may deteriorate over time so frequent mucking out may be required.
He says woodchips can also be used and work best when they are from dry logs with less than 30 per cent moisture.
“Other options include sand, gypsum and paper products, but producers should do their homework on each option before purchasing to ensure the product will suit their system,” says Mr Hendy.
2011年9月8日 星期四
Local woman remembers 9/11 ‘like it was yesterday’
The day after Sept. 11, 2001, Susan Vernille saw people at her business that she has never seen before — or since.
“It was amazing ... It was like everyone that day needed to do something, and we gave them an outlet,” Vernille said.
She says she couldn’t have known the response would be so overwhelming when, after getting a call from a contact in New York City Sept. 12, telling her that firemen and policemen helping out at Ground Zero in New York City were sleeping literally in the streets, she went to local media outlets to ask for donations of bedding and water. She hoped to fill one truck with donations.
“It was the most unbelievable thing,” Vernille said. “People were going to stores and buying pillows and blankets and dropping them off. We even got a large donation of military cots and sleeping bags.”
The front of the store, New York Police Supply, 1460 E. Ridge Road, Irondequoit, that she operates with partner Michael Cohn quickly became filled with donations — then volunteers sorting those donations.
They ended up sending six tractor trailer trucks, four of them donated — with drivers — by Wegmans, full of donations to New York City.
“And it was all done within 12 to 15 hours on Sept. 12,” said Vernille, of Webster. “It was like a whirlwind, but it was also a busy calm ... I remember standing indoors, watching all the people, and just wanting to cry ... You never think something like that (the Sept. 11 attacks) is going to happen. It was one of those memories that’s once in a lifetime.”
Today, Vernille says the 10-year anniversary “brings back all those feelings.” And, she admits, “the anniversary scares me ... We think we’re safer, but maybe we’re not.”
She also always wanted to say “thank you to everybody for helping,” Vernille added, “so maybe this is my chance. It was such a life-changing day, but it was a fantastic volunteer effort ... I remember that day like it was yesterday.”
“It was amazing ... It was like everyone that day needed to do something, and we gave them an outlet,” Vernille said.
She says she couldn’t have known the response would be so overwhelming when, after getting a call from a contact in New York City Sept. 12, telling her that firemen and policemen helping out at Ground Zero in New York City were sleeping literally in the streets, she went to local media outlets to ask for donations of bedding and water. She hoped to fill one truck with donations.
“It was the most unbelievable thing,” Vernille said. “People were going to stores and buying pillows and blankets and dropping them off. We even got a large donation of military cots and sleeping bags.”
The front of the store, New York Police Supply, 1460 E. Ridge Road, Irondequoit, that she operates with partner Michael Cohn quickly became filled with donations — then volunteers sorting those donations.
They ended up sending six tractor trailer trucks, four of them donated — with drivers — by Wegmans, full of donations to New York City.
“And it was all done within 12 to 15 hours on Sept. 12,” said Vernille, of Webster. “It was like a whirlwind, but it was also a busy calm ... I remember standing indoors, watching all the people, and just wanting to cry ... You never think something like that (the Sept. 11 attacks) is going to happen. It was one of those memories that’s once in a lifetime.”
Today, Vernille says the 10-year anniversary “brings back all those feelings.” And, she admits, “the anniversary scares me ... We think we’re safer, but maybe we’re not.”
She also always wanted to say “thank you to everybody for helping,” Vernille added, “so maybe this is my chance. It was such a life-changing day, but it was a fantastic volunteer effort ... I remember that day like it was yesterday.”
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