With the clock ticking down to a Sept. 9 first day of class, primary school students will be able to use the library and will have a new gym floor to play on for the first time since Superstorm Sandy flooded the building.
The building is 100 percent functional, said Thomas Berger Red Bank School district facilities director.Watch the video above to see the work done.“There are still many things to do, but we did the things we needed to do to get the school operational,” he said. “Now, it’s catch up on the lose ends.”
Those things include replacing furniture on a one-to-one basis, some plumbing work and floor replacement under cabinets, he said.“Everything here works,” Berger said.The primary school, located on the banks of the Swimming River, had several inches of water in the one-story building when officials returned after Superstorm Sandy. Primary School students were temporarily housed at the middle school, while crews replaced carpeting with vinyl Ceramic tile in 16 of the 33 classrooms that are used daily in the primary school.
The primary school reopened on Nov. 26 after replacement and sanitizing work had been done to allow students to safely return to the building, but additional work remained in non-classroom areas.“I can say we’re in a much better place than when we reopened in November,” said Laura C. Morana, superintendent of schools. “The work our team has done has been happening for the last 10 months and is an ongoing process.”
There are tangible results, such as shiny new white floors in the school gym and library, both of which were damaged by flooding and put on the back burner to get class rooms repaired first, last fall.The gym is ready for use, however a large moveable wall to divide the gym had to be removed because it was water damaged, Berger said.
The library has been closed since the storm after it wound up being used as a storage area for class room furniture and items displaced from other parts of the building where work was going on. Equipment for a math and engineering class, which also used the library, was put on a cart and moved from room to room last school year, Morana said.New Primary School principal Luigi Laugelli joined the district on July 1 as the school moved into full repair mode. He said he wasn’t daunted by what he saw in the building.
“It’s not the physical structure, it’s the people inside, the quality of the staff and the families,” he said.Teachers came in early to working on their classrooms and volunteers helped out the district prepare the building, Laugelli said.Books and any supplies on lower shelves or on floors was lost to flooding, he said and new books have been ordered. When charities and other schools and individuals seeking to help after the storm contacted the district, Morana said the district asked for books. Those books went right in to class rooms last school term and may will find their way back to the library this year, she said.
Located just moments from Morgan Crossing and Grandview Corners, you'll be able to take advantage of everything the neighbourhood has to offer, including shopping, dining and recreation.
Inside your home, you'll find a spacious open floorplan with plenty of contemporary features. Among them is a chef's kitchen with a dining island, stainless-steel appliances, granite/quartz countertops and a modern designer porcelain tiles backsplash. The entire kitchen is complemented by the Metropolitan Evoke Wide Plank laminate flooring that continues through the living and dining area, with plush carpeting in the bedrooms and large porcelain tile in the bathrooms.
Adera is now offering homeowners a seriously amazing way to personalize their homes. Called I.D. By Me, the program allows the buyer to be their own interior designer and choose their own colour scheme, upgrade finishes or fixtures and several other choices. Among the options at Breeze are adding heated floors, upgrading the kitchen appliances and adding a washer/dryer package, along with several other ways to make your home your own.
Adera has long been committed to sustainable and green buildings, and this continues with Breeze. Among the ecologically friendly features you'll find here are LED street lamps (a first for Surrey), motion sensor lights in the bathrooms and ENERGY Star-rated windows and appliances. The lush landscaping outside of your home easily showcases the green lifestyle you will live at Breeze. All of the materials used in construction are locally sourced, which reduces the project's carbon footprint.
It's not, of course, radar at all. Household mobiles don't yet have radar technology and while the system can pick up the Bluetooth signal emanating from the sticker, it can't determine its direction. So you need to prowl around the house, mobile held on a fully extended arm, watching the screen for the blue dot to get closer or further away.
When you do get close, you can click a pager button, and the sticker will flash a blue light and emit a brief ping or buzz. The ping is so quiet, however, we couldn't hear it, unless we had an ear within centimetres of the sticker. So you end up depending on eyesight.
If you want to keep track of pets or small children, you can set a sticker to sound an alert when they wander out of range.By and large the sticker system works pretty well, though we'd certainly like a louder ping, and a thinner sticker. We have put one sticker on the back of a mobile, one inside our wallet. Stick-N-Find will locate the latter even if the wallet is closed.
And we have ordered two more stickers to go on car and household key rings. The stickers are too big to be applied to spectacle frames, alas: we look forward to the day when someone devises a tiny device for this purpose, possibly one that will answer when you whistle.Stick-N-Find mentions another use for the stickers. Put one on your luggage when travelling, then sit back and wait at the airport pick-up point. Stick-N-Find will alert you when your suitcase hits the carousel.
Total outlay for our four stickers including postage has been $142, which is pretty hefty, though peace of mind is valuable.A cheaper solution could be on the way. Another US company, Reveal Labs, has developed similar stickers dubbed Tiles, which are square rather than round, and says it will have them on the market in the coming US winter/Aussie summer.
Read the full products at http://www.tilees.com/!
2013年8月28日星期三
2013年8月19日星期一
After move, Dolce Vita improves
As any long-time Phantom fan knows, searching out authentic Italian meals in Central PA is both a challenge and a passion for your favorite restaurant reviewer.Such a challenge/passion often results in disappointment and lowered expectations.A good example was several years ago when I took Italian friends to a place I’d heard of in Enola called Dolce Vita (literally “sweet life”).
The experience was less than sweet, so far less that I didn’t even write about it. I figured I’d wait, give it a second chance, but I just never went back.So it was with suspicion and low expectations that I ventured out to the relocated Dolce Vita, which moved this year from Enola to Camp Hill.
Well, vivere e imparare — live and learn!For although Dolce Vita in Camp Hill is owned and operated by the same Nino Basic who owned and operated Dolce Vita in Enola, dining in the new location is very different.Maybe some of that is atmospheric. As I recall, Dolce Vita in Enola was just a cut above a working-class neighborhood saloon and about as Italianate as a blue-collar bar in Essen. Not that there’s anything wrong with establishments of Ceramic tile. It’s just they’re rarely home to well-made angel hair pasta. And the overall feel at Dolce Vita in Camp Hill is different.
Located in a renovated two-story house along the main drag of Market Street, it has a nice, quiet Italian feel thanks to its warm colors and lighting, an interior stone archway, tile floors, linen tablecloths, Italian art, a first-floor serving bar — although the place is BYOB — and Italian opera music playing in the background.
Appetizers included mushrooms stuffed with lump crab and baked clams casino with baby clams. Both were exceptional.The regular menu, which seems to me entirely sufficient, is accompanied with a list of “specials” (chicken meatballs and crabmeat-stuffed salmon, for example) that seem to outnumber the regulars.
This generally raises questions for me along the lines of: How can any kitchen, let alone a small one, offer such variety without liberal use of frozen foods? And, if one is eating frozen foods, why not dine at home?But, having said that, entrées sampled at my table were very good, and one was better than that.
I had steak di Napoli ($21), a New York strip steak with mushrooms, onions and green and red peppers in marinara sauce. Though the steak (ordered rare) was a tad tough and not quite rare, it was tasty. The peppers were great. And the side of pasta that comes with all nonpasta entrées was perfect.A dining partner had a “special,” capellini d’Angelo ($24), extra-thin spaghetti served with shrimp, large chunks of crab and asparagus. The dish drew rave reviews and was large enough to also provide lunch the following day.
The restaurant offers standards: red or white linguine with clams; veal or chicken Piccata or Marsala; spaghetti with meatballs or sausage; manicotti, baked ziti and just about any other classic Italian dish you can think of.But it also has offerings such as red snapper with shrimp dipped in eggs, and a house dish of sautéed veal with eggplant, porcelain tiles, ham, onions, tomato and mozzarella in a white wine sauce — in other words, variety.
This is the kind of place, largely due to its location, that can become a regular stop for a lot of people, including neighborhood walk-ins.If you bring wine, there is no corking fee. Ice buckets for white wine are available upon request. There’s better Italian in Central PA. But Dolce Vita of Camp Hill shows promise. Its challenge will be to maintain consistency given the wide variety it offers. The irony? Owner operator Nino Basic is from Yugoslavia. But, hey, everybody loves Italian.
Today’s kitchens easily supplant the bathroom as the home’s most dangerous room. While scalds and falls on tile can inflict serious harm in the bathroom, modern kitchen appliances and gadgets offer many more opportunities for injury. Even a seemingly simple kitchen task can result in a devastating injury.
Just ask April Stewart Klausner, a New York illustrator and accomplished cook. Recently Ms. Klausner, 56, severed four tendons, multiple nerves and a blood vessel in her hand while pitting an avocado, something she’d done countless times.
Gushing blood and unable to feel or move two fingers, she was taken by ambulance to an emergency room. The injury required more than three hours of surgical repair and many months of painful rehab. It will take at least a year for the injured nerves to heal, and Ms. Klausner can only hope her hand will function normally, enabling her to resume her career full-speed.
The therapists at Lang Hand Therapy in Manhattan told her she was the fourth “avocado victim” they’d seen that month. “So add that to immersion blenders and mandolines . . . and maybe the bathroom is not the most dangerous room in the house!” Ms. Klausner said in an e-mail.
Knowledge and mindfulness are the secrets to kitchen safety. My husband used to say, “From rushing no good can come.” Don’t try to do several things at once, and leave enough time to accomplish your tasks.
Use timers, especially for foods that cook a long time. I use them for everything I cook. My favorite is the battery-operated West Bend Kitchen Timer, easily set by punching in the numbers for hours, minutes and seconds — a worthwhile investment.
Read the full products at http://www.tilees.com/!
The experience was less than sweet, so far less that I didn’t even write about it. I figured I’d wait, give it a second chance, but I just never went back.So it was with suspicion and low expectations that I ventured out to the relocated Dolce Vita, which moved this year from Enola to Camp Hill.
Well, vivere e imparare — live and learn!For although Dolce Vita in Camp Hill is owned and operated by the same Nino Basic who owned and operated Dolce Vita in Enola, dining in the new location is very different.Maybe some of that is atmospheric. As I recall, Dolce Vita in Enola was just a cut above a working-class neighborhood saloon and about as Italianate as a blue-collar bar in Essen. Not that there’s anything wrong with establishments of Ceramic tile. It’s just they’re rarely home to well-made angel hair pasta. And the overall feel at Dolce Vita in Camp Hill is different.
Located in a renovated two-story house along the main drag of Market Street, it has a nice, quiet Italian feel thanks to its warm colors and lighting, an interior stone archway, tile floors, linen tablecloths, Italian art, a first-floor serving bar — although the place is BYOB — and Italian opera music playing in the background.
Appetizers included mushrooms stuffed with lump crab and baked clams casino with baby clams. Both were exceptional.The regular menu, which seems to me entirely sufficient, is accompanied with a list of “specials” (chicken meatballs and crabmeat-stuffed salmon, for example) that seem to outnumber the regulars.
This generally raises questions for me along the lines of: How can any kitchen, let alone a small one, offer such variety without liberal use of frozen foods? And, if one is eating frozen foods, why not dine at home?But, having said that, entrées sampled at my table were very good, and one was better than that.
I had steak di Napoli ($21), a New York strip steak with mushrooms, onions and green and red peppers in marinara sauce. Though the steak (ordered rare) was a tad tough and not quite rare, it was tasty. The peppers were great. And the side of pasta that comes with all nonpasta entrées was perfect.A dining partner had a “special,” capellini d’Angelo ($24), extra-thin spaghetti served with shrimp, large chunks of crab and asparagus. The dish drew rave reviews and was large enough to also provide lunch the following day.
The restaurant offers standards: red or white linguine with clams; veal or chicken Piccata or Marsala; spaghetti with meatballs or sausage; manicotti, baked ziti and just about any other classic Italian dish you can think of.But it also has offerings such as red snapper with shrimp dipped in eggs, and a house dish of sautéed veal with eggplant, porcelain tiles, ham, onions, tomato and mozzarella in a white wine sauce — in other words, variety.
This is the kind of place, largely due to its location, that can become a regular stop for a lot of people, including neighborhood walk-ins.If you bring wine, there is no corking fee. Ice buckets for white wine are available upon request. There’s better Italian in Central PA. But Dolce Vita of Camp Hill shows promise. Its challenge will be to maintain consistency given the wide variety it offers. The irony? Owner operator Nino Basic is from Yugoslavia. But, hey, everybody loves Italian.
Today’s kitchens easily supplant the bathroom as the home’s most dangerous room. While scalds and falls on tile can inflict serious harm in the bathroom, modern kitchen appliances and gadgets offer many more opportunities for injury. Even a seemingly simple kitchen task can result in a devastating injury.
Just ask April Stewart Klausner, a New York illustrator and accomplished cook. Recently Ms. Klausner, 56, severed four tendons, multiple nerves and a blood vessel in her hand while pitting an avocado, something she’d done countless times.
Gushing blood and unable to feel or move two fingers, she was taken by ambulance to an emergency room. The injury required more than three hours of surgical repair and many months of painful rehab. It will take at least a year for the injured nerves to heal, and Ms. Klausner can only hope her hand will function normally, enabling her to resume her career full-speed.
The therapists at Lang Hand Therapy in Manhattan told her she was the fourth “avocado victim” they’d seen that month. “So add that to immersion blenders and mandolines . . . and maybe the bathroom is not the most dangerous room in the house!” Ms. Klausner said in an e-mail.
Knowledge and mindfulness are the secrets to kitchen safety. My husband used to say, “From rushing no good can come.” Don’t try to do several things at once, and leave enough time to accomplish your tasks.
Use timers, especially for foods that cook a long time. I use them for everything I cook. My favorite is the battery-operated West Bend Kitchen Timer, easily set by punching in the numbers for hours, minutes and seconds — a worthwhile investment.
Read the full products at http://www.tilees.com/!
Fear and triumph
Dozens of Seddon residents have been told that if the Haldon dam breaches they will get 90 minutes' warning before their properties could be flooded.Marlborough District Council assets and services manager Mark Wheeler said that in a worst-case scenario 44 properties in Seddon could be affected if floodwater flowed into Starborough Creek.
The dam, in Starborough Creek, is about 15 kilometres out of Seddon and is owned by Seddon farmer Dick Bell. He was advised to lower the level after the magnitude 6.5 quake on July 21, but after Friday's magnitude 6.6 quake and subsequent heavy rain, the council sent an engineer to supervise an emergency plan to lower the water level.
A dam engineer overseeing the site also identified more issues with the dam's stability during the process, which was slowed by heavy rain at the weekend.Nearby residents were warned and emergency services were on standby in Seddon because of the increased risk, Mr Wheeler said.
A warning note was delivered to each household yesterday afternoon informing the occupants of the Ceramic tile and the possibility they might be asked to leave their homes at short notice.Emergency services would go door to door evacuating properties if necessary, Mr Wheeler said.
Properties at risk included eight rural properties, 12 houses and up to 24 sections in Seddon township on the southeastern side of Starborough Creek. The engineer said extreme flooding was unlikely but the council decided it was in the public interest to be prepared, Mr Wheeler said. Crew member Pani Rarere, of Kaikoura, said lines were bent and rock-ballast was slumped along the track between Ward and Seddon.
A 3km section at Hauwai near Grassmere was especially hard hit, he said.A work train had delivered six wagons of rock-fill from Hapuku, near Kaikoura, to fill collapsed areas beneath the rails, he said. Another 12 wagons were expected.A tamping machine from Greymouth packed down the rock.
A broken bridge was temporarily fixed ahead of a specialist bridging gang from Blenheim building a replacement.Bruce Pattie, who farms at Hauwai, said immediately after the quake, the lines resembled roller-coaster tracks. One section had fallen off the embankment and a bridge was out.
He rang KiwiRail to make sure no trains were coming. A 22-year-old Seddon woman had a weekend of horror, experiencing a 6.6 magnitude earthquake on Friday and then a bus crash on Sunday.
Micha Heard was travelling back to Palmerston North after spending a week with her family in the Awatere when the bus she was in crashed near Shannon.The former Marlborough Girls' College student had been staying with her parents in their Redwood Pass Rd home while on a study-break from her nursing studies at UCOL in Palmerston North.
She and her father were driving to Blenheim when the quake hit on Friday."People had stopped their Floor tiles and were checking their tyres," Miss Heard said.They carried on to Blenheim to check on her grandmother then drove home to help clean up the minor damage.
"It was just scary," she said."We ran outside every time there was an aftershock."After two days of being on unsteady ground, she caught the ferry back to Wellington on Sunday and got on a bus to Palmerston North along with 38 other passengers.
The bus was crossing a narrow bridge when the driver appeared to lose control, Miss Heard said."He seemed to click the bridge and then crashed into the grass gully," she said."Everyone was screaming, saying ‘we're going to crash'."Three people slammed on top of her as the bus veered off the road and tipped over at the northern entrance to Shannon.Miss Heard landed on the bottom and smashed her head on the glass window.
After struggling out from underneath the people piled on top of her, she climbed over the seat and helped some other passengers push the emergency window out.Apart from a big bump on her head and some bruising on her body, she was not seriously hurt, she said.
"I was shocked at what happened but I stayed calm," she said."Because I'd just been through the earthquakes, I think I was less worried."Those on board were taken by ambulance and police cars to the Club Hotel in Shannon, where a triage centre was set up by St John medics.Six people were taken to Palmerston North Hospital with minor to moderate injuries and were all discharged by yesterday.
QuadTech offers fully integrated solutions including register and ribbon control, color control, ink control, 100% web inspection and data management software for virtually all printing and converting situations. For example, QuadTech’s Inspection System has a modular architecture that enables the system to inspect at any resolution on a variety of substrate surfaces on any web width—regardless of whether a press is Gravure, Offset, Flexo or Digital. The system ensures 100% inspection on all print or non-print product, web or sheet, throughout the entire print run.
The QuadTech Color Quality Solution enables automatic sharing and processing of color data between in-line color control and off-line color measurement industry leaders.
QuadTech’s recently introduced Color Quality Solution is the world’s first in-line color and ink control for packaging presses. The solution enables automatic sharing and processing of color data between QuadTech’s in-line color measurement and off-line color measurement industry leader X-Rite. This enables a standard spectral color measurement from ink dispensing and printing stages. Comparisons of printed work with the original color information begin immediately and the Color Measurement System with SpectralCamTM shows real-time ?E, solid density and dot gain values via an operator touch screen.
QuadTech’s Color Measurement System with SpectralCam HD enables continuous, in-line monitoring of all packaging substrates, including challenging transparent, translucent and reflective films. It accurately measures the spectral response and calculates, and dot gain all at full press speeds, ensuring consistent results and minimal make-ready waste. The system also utilizes a web stabilizer unit that enables color measurement over a certified BCRA ceramic tile without risk of substrate corrugation.
Also available for the package printer is the Autotron 2600 with ClearLogic Register Guidance System, which is suitable for foil, film and paper, as well as for non-print processes such as die-cutting. Its unique scanning heads can detect a wide range of pale and low-contrast marks and are flexible to transition to any new production substrate.
Read the full products at http://www.tilees.com/!
The dam, in Starborough Creek, is about 15 kilometres out of Seddon and is owned by Seddon farmer Dick Bell. He was advised to lower the level after the magnitude 6.5 quake on July 21, but after Friday's magnitude 6.6 quake and subsequent heavy rain, the council sent an engineer to supervise an emergency plan to lower the water level.
A dam engineer overseeing the site also identified more issues with the dam's stability during the process, which was slowed by heavy rain at the weekend.Nearby residents were warned and emergency services were on standby in Seddon because of the increased risk, Mr Wheeler said.
A warning note was delivered to each household yesterday afternoon informing the occupants of the Ceramic tile and the possibility they might be asked to leave their homes at short notice.Emergency services would go door to door evacuating properties if necessary, Mr Wheeler said.
Properties at risk included eight rural properties, 12 houses and up to 24 sections in Seddon township on the southeastern side of Starborough Creek. The engineer said extreme flooding was unlikely but the council decided it was in the public interest to be prepared, Mr Wheeler said. Crew member Pani Rarere, of Kaikoura, said lines were bent and rock-ballast was slumped along the track between Ward and Seddon.
A 3km section at Hauwai near Grassmere was especially hard hit, he said.A work train had delivered six wagons of rock-fill from Hapuku, near Kaikoura, to fill collapsed areas beneath the rails, he said. Another 12 wagons were expected.A tamping machine from Greymouth packed down the rock.
A broken bridge was temporarily fixed ahead of a specialist bridging gang from Blenheim building a replacement.Bruce Pattie, who farms at Hauwai, said immediately after the quake, the lines resembled roller-coaster tracks. One section had fallen off the embankment and a bridge was out.
He rang KiwiRail to make sure no trains were coming. A 22-year-old Seddon woman had a weekend of horror, experiencing a 6.6 magnitude earthquake on Friday and then a bus crash on Sunday.
Micha Heard was travelling back to Palmerston North after spending a week with her family in the Awatere when the bus she was in crashed near Shannon.The former Marlborough Girls' College student had been staying with her parents in their Redwood Pass Rd home while on a study-break from her nursing studies at UCOL in Palmerston North.
She and her father were driving to Blenheim when the quake hit on Friday."People had stopped their Floor tiles and were checking their tyres," Miss Heard said.They carried on to Blenheim to check on her grandmother then drove home to help clean up the minor damage.
"It was just scary," she said."We ran outside every time there was an aftershock."After two days of being on unsteady ground, she caught the ferry back to Wellington on Sunday and got on a bus to Palmerston North along with 38 other passengers.
The bus was crossing a narrow bridge when the driver appeared to lose control, Miss Heard said."He seemed to click the bridge and then crashed into the grass gully," she said."Everyone was screaming, saying ‘we're going to crash'."Three people slammed on top of her as the bus veered off the road and tipped over at the northern entrance to Shannon.Miss Heard landed on the bottom and smashed her head on the glass window.
After struggling out from underneath the people piled on top of her, she climbed over the seat and helped some other passengers push the emergency window out.Apart from a big bump on her head and some bruising on her body, she was not seriously hurt, she said.
"I was shocked at what happened but I stayed calm," she said."Because I'd just been through the earthquakes, I think I was less worried."Those on board were taken by ambulance and police cars to the Club Hotel in Shannon, where a triage centre was set up by St John medics.Six people were taken to Palmerston North Hospital with minor to moderate injuries and were all discharged by yesterday.
QuadTech offers fully integrated solutions including register and ribbon control, color control, ink control, 100% web inspection and data management software for virtually all printing and converting situations. For example, QuadTech’s Inspection System has a modular architecture that enables the system to inspect at any resolution on a variety of substrate surfaces on any web width—regardless of whether a press is Gravure, Offset, Flexo or Digital. The system ensures 100% inspection on all print or non-print product, web or sheet, throughout the entire print run.
The QuadTech Color Quality Solution enables automatic sharing and processing of color data between in-line color control and off-line color measurement industry leaders.
QuadTech’s recently introduced Color Quality Solution is the world’s first in-line color and ink control for packaging presses. The solution enables automatic sharing and processing of color data between QuadTech’s in-line color measurement and off-line color measurement industry leader X-Rite. This enables a standard spectral color measurement from ink dispensing and printing stages. Comparisons of printed work with the original color information begin immediately and the Color Measurement System with SpectralCamTM shows real-time ?E, solid density and dot gain values via an operator touch screen.
QuadTech’s Color Measurement System with SpectralCam HD enables continuous, in-line monitoring of all packaging substrates, including challenging transparent, translucent and reflective films. It accurately measures the spectral response and calculates, and dot gain all at full press speeds, ensuring consistent results and minimal make-ready waste. The system also utilizes a web stabilizer unit that enables color measurement over a certified BCRA ceramic tile without risk of substrate corrugation.
Also available for the package printer is the Autotron 2600 with ClearLogic Register Guidance System, which is suitable for foil, film and paper, as well as for non-print processes such as die-cutting. Its unique scanning heads can detect a wide range of pale and low-contrast marks and are flexible to transition to any new production substrate.
Read the full products at http://www.tilees.com/!
2013年8月12日星期一
Asheville artist creates display
That’s certainly the case of ceramic artist Alex Irvine’s new installation in Mission Hospital’s Memorial Campus lobby.The 16-foot-high piece — made of tiles inspired by Mission’s dogwood and cross logo — is designed to attract visitors.“Alex’s work brings you over here,” said Manner-McLarty, creative consultant from Asheville project management company, Heurista. “It’s large and impressive, and would entice you to explore the interactive components.”
Irvine’s work frames a tribute to the Mission Foundation, which raised $11 million for patient services last year, and the 130-year-old hospital’s major donors. In addition to recognition of Ceramic tile, a television with an updatable list of donors, as well as a historical timeline, anchors the work.
Irvine installed the piece in about a week; it was unveiled quietly last week. Foundation officials will plan an official dedication later.John Locke at the Mission Foundation said a tribute of this nature has been talked about for two decades.“Mission has been supported by donations and grants since it was founded,” he said. “A lot of times, with new buildings and department changes, recognitions get lost or maybe not rehung after a redesign. We wanted something really classy in the lobby, and we are guaranteed that this won’t change for a while.”
Irvine wanted his work to respond to the lobby’s earthy tones and natural elements — like rock face and wood design.The logo elements also worked together aesthetically, Irvine said.The cross “was a great way to fill the negative space between leaves and flowers, and balance the organic elements,” he said. “If you just cut the organic image with the grid of the tile, it can seem contrived.
“But now there is the cross and the square created by the negative space of the cross. These geometric lines gives a context for the squareness of the tiles.”
The overarching theme in this test build of the RTM (release-to-manufacturing) build is usability. Specifically, first-time usability. You might be surprised to hear this, but it turns out that Windows 8, without a Start button and with most features hidden behind hard-to-discover menus, is hard for first-time users to grok. We’re not entirely sure why Microsoft did this — it breaks one of the most important rules of interface design. Furthermore, thousands of beta testers, and tech writers like myself, warned Microsoft that it simply wouldn’t fly. Unperturbed, convinced that it knew something that we didn’t, Microsoft pushed ahead with one of the worst interface blunders of all time.
First up, Windows 8.1′s built-in Metro apps now have a “three dots” button that reveals the app’s context menu — just like Windows Phone 8. Previously, the only way to find the context menu was to stumble upon it by accident (right clicking the mouse, or swiping up). Presumably other third-party apps will have the option of including this visual prompt, too.
In the same vein, and perhaps more importantly, Microsoft’s built-in apps will now remind users to swipe in from the right to reveal the Charms bar and the Start button. Again, the Charms bar was previously only discoverable by random luck, leaving many users to wonder how to get back to the Start screen. Many Metro apps link into Share and Search on the Charms bar, too — but a fat lot of good that did, if users couldn’t find those buttons.
The test build also includes a “Help + Tips” app, which includes some video tutorials that will help you find your way around all of Windows 8.1′s new features. This is a significant step up from the previous “tutorial,” which essentially consisted of an animated, noninteractive GIF during the installation process telling you to “move your mouse into any corner.” As for why Microsoft didn’t includes these video tutorials in the original release of Windows 8, I guess the only answer is hubris.
Rounding out the other changes found in the leaked build, Skype is now pre-installed as a stock app, and Facebook and Flickr photo integration have been dropped in favor of SkyDrive. This is an obvious and fairly obnoxious play for more market/usage share from Microsoft, and really a bit of a slap in the face for any Windows 8 users who upgrade and find that they’ve lost access to their Flickr and Facebook photos. It’s possible that some functionality will be preserved by the introduction of Facebook and Flickr apps, but it still seems like an overzealous move from Microsoft. There are also some new “parallax” Start screen wallpapers that move as you scroll through your tiles, including a robot and a dragon.
Read the full products at http://www.tilees.com/.
Irvine’s work frames a tribute to the Mission Foundation, which raised $11 million for patient services last year, and the 130-year-old hospital’s major donors. In addition to recognition of Ceramic tile, a television with an updatable list of donors, as well as a historical timeline, anchors the work.
Irvine installed the piece in about a week; it was unveiled quietly last week. Foundation officials will plan an official dedication later.John Locke at the Mission Foundation said a tribute of this nature has been talked about for two decades.“Mission has been supported by donations and grants since it was founded,” he said. “A lot of times, with new buildings and department changes, recognitions get lost or maybe not rehung after a redesign. We wanted something really classy in the lobby, and we are guaranteed that this won’t change for a while.”
Irvine wanted his work to respond to the lobby’s earthy tones and natural elements — like rock face and wood design.The logo elements also worked together aesthetically, Irvine said.The cross “was a great way to fill the negative space between leaves and flowers, and balance the organic elements,” he said. “If you just cut the organic image with the grid of the tile, it can seem contrived.
“But now there is the cross and the square created by the negative space of the cross. These geometric lines gives a context for the squareness of the tiles.”
The overarching theme in this test build of the RTM (release-to-manufacturing) build is usability. Specifically, first-time usability. You might be surprised to hear this, but it turns out that Windows 8, without a Start button and with most features hidden behind hard-to-discover menus, is hard for first-time users to grok. We’re not entirely sure why Microsoft did this — it breaks one of the most important rules of interface design. Furthermore, thousands of beta testers, and tech writers like myself, warned Microsoft that it simply wouldn’t fly. Unperturbed, convinced that it knew something that we didn’t, Microsoft pushed ahead with one of the worst interface blunders of all time.
First up, Windows 8.1′s built-in Metro apps now have a “three dots” button that reveals the app’s context menu — just like Windows Phone 8. Previously, the only way to find the context menu was to stumble upon it by accident (right clicking the mouse, or swiping up). Presumably other third-party apps will have the option of including this visual prompt, too.
In the same vein, and perhaps more importantly, Microsoft’s built-in apps will now remind users to swipe in from the right to reveal the Charms bar and the Start button. Again, the Charms bar was previously only discoverable by random luck, leaving many users to wonder how to get back to the Start screen. Many Metro apps link into Share and Search on the Charms bar, too — but a fat lot of good that did, if users couldn’t find those buttons.
The test build also includes a “Help + Tips” app, which includes some video tutorials that will help you find your way around all of Windows 8.1′s new features. This is a significant step up from the previous “tutorial,” which essentially consisted of an animated, noninteractive GIF during the installation process telling you to “move your mouse into any corner.” As for why Microsoft didn’t includes these video tutorials in the original release of Windows 8, I guess the only answer is hubris.
Rounding out the other changes found in the leaked build, Skype is now pre-installed as a stock app, and Facebook and Flickr photo integration have been dropped in favor of SkyDrive. This is an obvious and fairly obnoxious play for more market/usage share from Microsoft, and really a bit of a slap in the face for any Windows 8 users who upgrade and find that they’ve lost access to their Flickr and Facebook photos. It’s possible that some functionality will be preserved by the introduction of Facebook and Flickr apps, but it still seems like an overzealous move from Microsoft. There are also some new “parallax” Start screen wallpapers that move as you scroll through your tiles, including a robot and a dragon.
Read the full products at http://www.tilees.com/.
Jessamine County Burglary Suspect
Police say a Jessamine County burglary suspect who likely hurt himself after falling through the ceiling of a pawn shop early Monday has been arrested, and police say he is the same man who went through the ceiling to burglarize a Lexington business earlier this year.
Officers responded to a burglar alarm at Sam's Check Cashing and Pawn Shop on Lexington Road around 1 a.m. Monday. They say they found a hole in the building roof and a mess inside. Police say infrared surveillance video revealed a man, now identified as Paul Masters, 48, crawling above the store's ceiling, dropping down to the floor, and looking over merchandise. After repeating the process several times, the burglar fell through the porcelain tiles and landed on the floor. Masters allegedly then pried open a door, cut some razor wire over a fence, and hopped over.
It remains unclear if Masters got away with anything.The previous burglary happened in March. Masters allegedly scrambled through the attic of a Lexington store. Police say he also gave them a hard time before they could make an arrest.Police say Masters was sneaking around in the attic of the Roses general store off of Winchester Road hadn't gotten around to doing whatever it was he planned to do from up there, when employees heard him moving about from above the tile ceiling, and called police.
Police swarmed the shopping center, and chased Masters through the attic. Police say Masters ran probably about 50 yards through the attic area before the ceiling gave way and he fell about 12 feet through the tile ceiling to the ground.
The original design of the (Newfoundland & Labrador) building featured slate tiles adorning the intricate roof structure. However, the stone tiles became a problem when they began falling off during windy weather shortly after the building opened in 2010.At one point, a falling tile nearly struck a person attending the courthouse. The Department of Transportation and Works had to erect safety fencing around the entire perimeter and build wooden structures around the entrances to the building.
The department also asked the original roofing contractor, Allied Constructors, to determine if there had been a flaw in the initial design or in the installation of the roof. Government also threatened to take legal action against the contractor if it didn’t remediate the problem.In the meantime, action is being taken (in late July) to put fibreglass shingles that resemble the original slate tiles. The tender for that was issued this past spring and has been awarded to a different contractor, BDW Roofing based in Stephenville.
“So, you will have a similar effect (as slate tiles), but with a fibreglass shingle,” said Davis. “We know that’s what is widely used in many buildings and houses throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. They are sort of time-tested.”More importantly, Davis said completing this work will mean the unsightly safety fencing and polished tiles will finally be removed.“That’s the plan,” he said. “We hope to have it all done, completed and cleaned up this year and have it back to a finished condition like we hoped to have back in 2010.”
The Culver Archaeological Project (CAP), supported to the tune of ￡90,900 by the Heritage Lottery Fund, has also discovered a circular kiln, possibly for firing tiles, and a sunken tile-lined basin – which the team is struggling to find anything to compare it to in Britain.
The six-week dig at the Roman settlement began last month and smaller discoveries include glass beads, coins, lead weights, a stylus for writing on a wax tablet, a ceramic spindle whorl and a complete lower quern stone.Also brooch and glass vessel fragments, Samian pottery with a maker’s mark and hundreds of pieces of pottery and tile fragments from the Roman period.
CAP Deputy Archaeological Director David Millum said it appeared the urn could possibly very late Romano British or even post-Roman as it sat above the main Roman features – and was caught by the bucket of the mechanical digger when clearing away the topsoils.
Officers responded to a burglar alarm at Sam's Check Cashing and Pawn Shop on Lexington Road around 1 a.m. Monday. They say they found a hole in the building roof and a mess inside. Police say infrared surveillance video revealed a man, now identified as Paul Masters, 48, crawling above the store's ceiling, dropping down to the floor, and looking over merchandise. After repeating the process several times, the burglar fell through the porcelain tiles and landed on the floor. Masters allegedly then pried open a door, cut some razor wire over a fence, and hopped over.
It remains unclear if Masters got away with anything.The previous burglary happened in March. Masters allegedly scrambled through the attic of a Lexington store. Police say he also gave them a hard time before they could make an arrest.Police say Masters was sneaking around in the attic of the Roses general store off of Winchester Road hadn't gotten around to doing whatever it was he planned to do from up there, when employees heard him moving about from above the tile ceiling, and called police.
Police swarmed the shopping center, and chased Masters through the attic. Police say Masters ran probably about 50 yards through the attic area before the ceiling gave way and he fell about 12 feet through the tile ceiling to the ground.
The original design of the (Newfoundland & Labrador) building featured slate tiles adorning the intricate roof structure. However, the stone tiles became a problem when they began falling off during windy weather shortly after the building opened in 2010.At one point, a falling tile nearly struck a person attending the courthouse. The Department of Transportation and Works had to erect safety fencing around the entire perimeter and build wooden structures around the entrances to the building.
The department also asked the original roofing contractor, Allied Constructors, to determine if there had been a flaw in the initial design or in the installation of the roof. Government also threatened to take legal action against the contractor if it didn’t remediate the problem.In the meantime, action is being taken (in late July) to put fibreglass shingles that resemble the original slate tiles. The tender for that was issued this past spring and has been awarded to a different contractor, BDW Roofing based in Stephenville.
“So, you will have a similar effect (as slate tiles), but with a fibreglass shingle,” said Davis. “We know that’s what is widely used in many buildings and houses throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. They are sort of time-tested.”More importantly, Davis said completing this work will mean the unsightly safety fencing and polished tiles will finally be removed.“That’s the plan,” he said. “We hope to have it all done, completed and cleaned up this year and have it back to a finished condition like we hoped to have back in 2010.”
The Culver Archaeological Project (CAP), supported to the tune of ￡90,900 by the Heritage Lottery Fund, has also discovered a circular kiln, possibly for firing tiles, and a sunken tile-lined basin – which the team is struggling to find anything to compare it to in Britain.
The six-week dig at the Roman settlement began last month and smaller discoveries include glass beads, coins, lead weights, a stylus for writing on a wax tablet, a ceramic spindle whorl and a complete lower quern stone.Also brooch and glass vessel fragments, Samian pottery with a maker’s mark and hundreds of pieces of pottery and tile fragments from the Roman period.
CAP Deputy Archaeological Director David Millum said it appeared the urn could possibly very late Romano British or even post-Roman as it sat above the main Roman features – and was caught by the bucket of the mechanical digger when clearing away the topsoils.
2013年8月5日星期一
Officials Duck and Cover
As Talk of the Sound has previously reported, investigations by the New York State Department of Labor Asbestos Control Bureau and the New York State Education Department were initiated last week based on reporting by Talk of the Sound.Talk of the Sound had received information that asbestos tiles and material may have been improperly handled and disposed of illegally. The test results confirm this to have been the case.
By failing to stop work and seal off the area when workers found what they believed to be asbestos in the office of Principal Michael Galland on July 16th, a number of New York State and Federal laws were violated.The asbestos material was confirmed in tiles, dust and pieces of tile and dust stuck to a carpet ripped up by employees of district contractor George Wood Plumbing working at the direction of John Gallagher, Director of Buildings and Grounds. Gallagher is a contractor, employed by Aramark.
Asbestos in schools is heavily regulated by New York State and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.Staff and students in the building from July 16th to July 20th, may have been exposed to the cancer-causing material. School officials did confirm that students were in the building that week until noon each day along with staff and porcelain tiles.
By law, staff and students at a school must be notified immediately of possible exposure to asbestos. That has yet to happen.Talk of the Sound has reported for years on problems within the Buildings and Grounds Department including kickbacks, no-show jobs and shady contractors. This is just the latest example.
Assistant Superintendent John Quinn, the New Rochelle Board of Education cabinet official responsible for Buildings and Grounds, first became aware of the asbestos incident at Davis last Thursday from an email from Talk of the Sound seeking comment on the incident.
The tiles and contaminated carpet was carried from the principal's office, through the hallway, to the school lobby and out the front doors of the school, according to one source. The material was then transported in an open garbage truck to the district yard at 51 Cliff Street, co-mingled with other district trash and delivered to a waste transfer station in Mount Vernon.
By contrast, asbestos material taken from a second that was properly abated after Poretta and Sinkfield complained about asbestos exposure from the Principal's office, was sealed and removed in a special vehicle and carted to a special asbestos dump site in Pennsylvania.
“If a building was a superhero, that’s it,” said Helfrich, the team’s former offensive coordinator who was promoted to head coach when Chip Kelly left for the Philadelphia Eagles earlier this year.
The Ducks have an ever-growing national profile on the field, but the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex, as it is officially named, is undeniably world-class. Estimated conservatively at $68 million, the six-story, multi-wing football building was funded by Oregon alum and Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny.
The six-bedroom, five-bathroom home originally was constructed as a hunting lodge and given its name for a prominent Philadelphia family, the Cadwaladers, in the early part of the 1900s.
“The culmination of this whole project is this great room that has a first-story window that’s in the front facing the road, and a balcony around the whole room so that you can stand up on the second China ceramic tile and look out the big window,” Mrs. Spalter says. “That’s really the special feature.”
The fireplace in the great room has Mercer tiles that tell the story of the Cadwalader family, which is said to have been present at the signing of the Treaty of Penn and hails from Wales in the United Kingdom. Mercer tiles also tell the story of Rip Van Winkle. The tiles were handmade for a relative of Henry Mercer as a wedding gift, and afterward the molds were broken, Mrs. Spalter says.
“When he (Harry Cadawalader) built it, he built the fireplace in such a way that he had vents to every room so that he could warm the whole place with just the fireplace,” Mrs. Spalter says. “And then later a furnace was added and electricity and all the other things for today’s person.”The second fireplace is located in the library, in the oldest section of the house. The earliest iteration of the home was a two-room structure used by a farmhand that predates the Cadwaladers’ construction of the lodge.
Read the full products at http://www.tilees.com/.
By failing to stop work and seal off the area when workers found what they believed to be asbestos in the office of Principal Michael Galland on July 16th, a number of New York State and Federal laws were violated.The asbestos material was confirmed in tiles, dust and pieces of tile and dust stuck to a carpet ripped up by employees of district contractor George Wood Plumbing working at the direction of John Gallagher, Director of Buildings and Grounds. Gallagher is a contractor, employed by Aramark.
Asbestos in schools is heavily regulated by New York State and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.Staff and students in the building from July 16th to July 20th, may have been exposed to the cancer-causing material. School officials did confirm that students were in the building that week until noon each day along with staff and porcelain tiles.
By law, staff and students at a school must be notified immediately of possible exposure to asbestos. That has yet to happen.Talk of the Sound has reported for years on problems within the Buildings and Grounds Department including kickbacks, no-show jobs and shady contractors. This is just the latest example.
Assistant Superintendent John Quinn, the New Rochelle Board of Education cabinet official responsible for Buildings and Grounds, first became aware of the asbestos incident at Davis last Thursday from an email from Talk of the Sound seeking comment on the incident.
The tiles and contaminated carpet was carried from the principal's office, through the hallway, to the school lobby and out the front doors of the school, according to one source. The material was then transported in an open garbage truck to the district yard at 51 Cliff Street, co-mingled with other district trash and delivered to a waste transfer station in Mount Vernon.
By contrast, asbestos material taken from a second that was properly abated after Poretta and Sinkfield complained about asbestos exposure from the Principal's office, was sealed and removed in a special vehicle and carted to a special asbestos dump site in Pennsylvania.
“If a building was a superhero, that’s it,” said Helfrich, the team’s former offensive coordinator who was promoted to head coach when Chip Kelly left for the Philadelphia Eagles earlier this year.
The Ducks have an ever-growing national profile on the field, but the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex, as it is officially named, is undeniably world-class. Estimated conservatively at $68 million, the six-story, multi-wing football building was funded by Oregon alum and Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny.
The six-bedroom, five-bathroom home originally was constructed as a hunting lodge and given its name for a prominent Philadelphia family, the Cadwaladers, in the early part of the 1900s.
“The culmination of this whole project is this great room that has a first-story window that’s in the front facing the road, and a balcony around the whole room so that you can stand up on the second China ceramic tile and look out the big window,” Mrs. Spalter says. “That’s really the special feature.”
The fireplace in the great room has Mercer tiles that tell the story of the Cadwalader family, which is said to have been present at the signing of the Treaty of Penn and hails from Wales in the United Kingdom. Mercer tiles also tell the story of Rip Van Winkle. The tiles were handmade for a relative of Henry Mercer as a wedding gift, and afterward the molds were broken, Mrs. Spalter says.
“When he (Harry Cadawalader) built it, he built the fireplace in such a way that he had vents to every room so that he could warm the whole place with just the fireplace,” Mrs. Spalter says. “And then later a furnace was added and electricity and all the other things for today’s person.”The second fireplace is located in the library, in the oldest section of the house. The earliest iteration of the home was a two-room structure used by a farmhand that predates the Cadwaladers’ construction of the lodge.
Read the full products at http://www.tilees.com/.
2013年7月31日星期三
Never Lose Your Stuff
Here comes Tile! You might have heard about this revolutionary new lost and found device that’s been slinking its way around various online channels and pathways. The concept is simple: purchase the small block-shaped white chip, attach it to an item that you commonly misplace, and using the prescribed Tile app on your smartphone, track the object, utilizing nifty green bars that signal when you’re getting warmer or cooler. Oh, and you can also set your Tile to ring. Additionally, let’s say your bike is stolen. If you’ve been smart enough to attach a Tile to it, you can use the Tile app to alert all other Tile users in the area to your unfortunate plight so they can be on the lookout. Because, y’know, looking for our own lost stuff isn’t confusing enough.
Tile was created by Nick Evans and Mike Farley, two men who worked together for years in the hardware industry. The career jump seems logical; who doesn’t get pissed off when they lose their screwdriver? In a video promotion, Evans and Farley appeal to you, porcelain tiles, to buy a Tile and help them build the Tile community. They smile a lot, which helps. No one wants mean innovators.
So, for $18.95, I bit the bait and pre-ordered a Tile. Apparently, I was the eleventy-billionth person to do so, blowing away Evans and Farley’s initial fundraising start-up goal of twenty thousand dollars. With all the support for Tile, this thing must be amazing, right? To be honest, I’m a little bit skeptical.
First, the app can only pick up a Tiled object that’s within 150 feet. That doesn’t do me much good if, say, I attach it to my dog’s collar and she takes off. Secondly, since one of Evans and Farley’s claims is that it helps track down stolen objects, I can’t help but wonder why a thief wouldn’t just rip the Tile off and throw it away (think original Total Recall where Arnold yanks the tracking brain chip out of his nose and feeds it to a rat). And third, Tiles are only good for a year, at which point, you have to send them back to be recycled and purchase all new ones at the original price. Come on now!
Maybe I’m wrong and Tile will be the greatest thing since Al Gore invented the Internet! Quite frankly, I hope I’m wrong. My wife loses her keys like the Phillies lose games right now. I’ll be sure to give you a full report once my Tile arrives and I’ve had a chance to see what it can (and can’t) do. Until then, sit tight with this video…
A yearlong investigation by CNN and The Center for Investigative Reporting found widespread cheating and deception in California's taxpayer-funded drug rehab program for the poor. The problem is exacerbated by weak oversight of Drug Medi-Cal, part of the nation's largest Medicaid program.
State officials allowed a man convicted of organized crime to run a clinic despite a state law barring felons from doing so. The state approved another clinic operator even though he officially was blacklisted from billing Medicaid. And time and again, clinics accused of fraud and cited for serious violations have nonetheless managed to draw increasing amounts of government money.
"We are going to be fanning out statewide," Karen Johnson, the department's chief deputy director, said in an interview. "We are not going to stop just with those 16 clinics. We are going to review all of the Drug Medi-Cal providers in the state of California." Officials would not identify the targeted clinics, saying the information would compromise the China ceramic tile.
A California lawmaker said the department's recent actions were a good start, but he advocated for the state auditor to conduct an independent review of the rehab program.
"I want to know how this happened for so long, how pervasive is the fraud, and more importantly what can we do to change laws or regulations so the fraud doesn't occur in the future," state Sen. Ted Lieu, who represents parts of Los Angeles County, told CNN.Lieu said he was motivated by his belief in rehabilitation programs as a crucial tool for reducing crime and the prison population."I became very concerned," he said, "that if we don't fix this fraud immediately, it would undercut the public support for this entire program."
Ilouno said little more than "no, no, no," got in his Mercedes and sped off. His attorney later faxed a letter on Ilouno's behalf saying that counselors acted without the clinic's consent and that GB Medical will work on paying restitution, "if any." The attorney also said Ilouno was a certified counselor "and was thus authorized to bill for medical services rendered."
Los Angeles County authorities said that they were not aware of the arrest and that the clinic notified them that it would close effective July 1. A sign on the clinic door says it is no longer providing Drug Medi-Cal services.
Former employees of Tim Ejindu's clinics in Riverside and Los Angeles counties said they were pressured to falsify documents. A Los Angeles County audit of his clinic, the Pomona Alcohol and Drug Recovery Center, found evidence of what the county considers fraudulent practices.
At his red-tile-roofed counseling center in Pomona, Ejindu declined to answer questions and closed the clinic door on a reporter.
A third operator, Alexander Ferdman, was permitted to open a rehab clinic even after his felony conviction in 2000 for engaging in organized crime in Texas. State law calls for felons to be suspended from running Medi-Cal clinics.
Tile was created by Nick Evans and Mike Farley, two men who worked together for years in the hardware industry. The career jump seems logical; who doesn’t get pissed off when they lose their screwdriver? In a video promotion, Evans and Farley appeal to you, porcelain tiles, to buy a Tile and help them build the Tile community. They smile a lot, which helps. No one wants mean innovators.
So, for $18.95, I bit the bait and pre-ordered a Tile. Apparently, I was the eleventy-billionth person to do so, blowing away Evans and Farley’s initial fundraising start-up goal of twenty thousand dollars. With all the support for Tile, this thing must be amazing, right? To be honest, I’m a little bit skeptical.
First, the app can only pick up a Tiled object that’s within 150 feet. That doesn’t do me much good if, say, I attach it to my dog’s collar and she takes off. Secondly, since one of Evans and Farley’s claims is that it helps track down stolen objects, I can’t help but wonder why a thief wouldn’t just rip the Tile off and throw it away (think original Total Recall where Arnold yanks the tracking brain chip out of his nose and feeds it to a rat). And third, Tiles are only good for a year, at which point, you have to send them back to be recycled and purchase all new ones at the original price. Come on now!
Maybe I’m wrong and Tile will be the greatest thing since Al Gore invented the Internet! Quite frankly, I hope I’m wrong. My wife loses her keys like the Phillies lose games right now. I’ll be sure to give you a full report once my Tile arrives and I’ve had a chance to see what it can (and can’t) do. Until then, sit tight with this video…
A yearlong investigation by CNN and The Center for Investigative Reporting found widespread cheating and deception in California's taxpayer-funded drug rehab program for the poor. The problem is exacerbated by weak oversight of Drug Medi-Cal, part of the nation's largest Medicaid program.
State officials allowed a man convicted of organized crime to run a clinic despite a state law barring felons from doing so. The state approved another clinic operator even though he officially was blacklisted from billing Medicaid. And time and again, clinics accused of fraud and cited for serious violations have nonetheless managed to draw increasing amounts of government money.
"We are going to be fanning out statewide," Karen Johnson, the department's chief deputy director, said in an interview. "We are not going to stop just with those 16 clinics. We are going to review all of the Drug Medi-Cal providers in the state of California." Officials would not identify the targeted clinics, saying the information would compromise the China ceramic tile.
A California lawmaker said the department's recent actions were a good start, but he advocated for the state auditor to conduct an independent review of the rehab program.
"I want to know how this happened for so long, how pervasive is the fraud, and more importantly what can we do to change laws or regulations so the fraud doesn't occur in the future," state Sen. Ted Lieu, who represents parts of Los Angeles County, told CNN.Lieu said he was motivated by his belief in rehabilitation programs as a crucial tool for reducing crime and the prison population."I became very concerned," he said, "that if we don't fix this fraud immediately, it would undercut the public support for this entire program."
Ilouno said little more than "no, no, no," got in his Mercedes and sped off. His attorney later faxed a letter on Ilouno's behalf saying that counselors acted without the clinic's consent and that GB Medical will work on paying restitution, "if any." The attorney also said Ilouno was a certified counselor "and was thus authorized to bill for medical services rendered."
Los Angeles County authorities said that they were not aware of the arrest and that the clinic notified them that it would close effective July 1. A sign on the clinic door says it is no longer providing Drug Medi-Cal services.
Former employees of Tim Ejindu's clinics in Riverside and Los Angeles counties said they were pressured to falsify documents. A Los Angeles County audit of his clinic, the Pomona Alcohol and Drug Recovery Center, found evidence of what the county considers fraudulent practices.
At his red-tile-roofed counseling center in Pomona, Ejindu declined to answer questions and closed the clinic door on a reporter.
A third operator, Alexander Ferdman, was permitted to open a rehab clinic even after his felony conviction in 2000 for engaging in organized crime in Texas. State law calls for felons to be suspended from running Medi-Cal clinics.
2013年7月29日星期一
Scrabbling to the top
Last year was a bad year for competitive Scrabble. The 2012 USA National Scrabble Championship, which took part in Orlando, Florida, was hit by scandal. One player, a wunderkind of 13 years old, was exposed after a suspicious opponent noticed that he kept appearing to draw the prized blank tiles from the tile bag. It emerged that the little sneak was palming the blanks before each game and then pretending to draw them from the bag when it suited him. Max Karten, a former champion, complained to The Atlantic that cheating of this kind was degrading competitive Scrabble.
Nonetheless, the outcome – a judge was called, the tiles were counted, and the cheat expelled – was less dramatic than the way scenes might have unfolded at the World Scrabble Championships in 2011. There a Thai player demanded that his British opponent be strip-searched in the toilet, accused of hiding the letter “G”. The judges ruled that such a search would be undignified, and replaced the missing G tile with a new one. The Brit went on to win the game by just one point.
“Scrabble is a game of personal honour; opponents police themselves and each other,” a compelling Sports Illustrated feature stated in 1995. “As a result it is rife with feuds and imagined slights and Floor tiles. Players are as sensitive as flowers to any sign of ‘coffeehousing’ – the practice of trying to throw off an opponent by slurping a drink.”
South Africa’s newly-crowned Scrabble champion, Llewellin Jegels, says that these kinds of intimidation attempts are routine. “Absolutely, it happens all the time,” Jegels told the Daily Maverick. Competitive Scrabble sounds… intense. “Social players are quite shocked to see how we play,” Jegels agrees. “There’s a chess clock, it’s one-on-one, the game has to be finished in 50 minutes.”
The story goes that Scrabble was invented during the Great Depression by an unemployed architect called Alfred Butts. With a name like that, Mr Butts was surely no stranger to the power of word-play. Butts wanted to create a vocabulary-based game which nonetheless had an element of chance, and he called it the infinitely less-marketable ‘Criss-Cross Words’.
Butts was no linguist, but he hit on a cunning way to determine how frequently different letters should appear on Scrabble tiles: analysing the front page of the New York Times to see which were the most-used vowels and consonants in the English language. He deliberately limited the appearance of ‘S’ (just four per game) to deter plural words which would make the game too easy. A marketing partner suggested he change the name to ‘Scrabble’ after initial attempts to sell the game failed, and trademarked it in 1948. The rest is history – or at least, it was after the popular department store Macy’s began to stock the game, according to legend.
There’s a widespread notion that the people who work with language the most – writers, linguists – would be the best at Scrabble. Although Jegels himself is a writer and publisher, he says this idea simply doesn’t hold. “Many good Scrabble players are mathematicians. They seem to understand the probability of certain sets of tiles being picked. What is the probability of picking the word ‘retained?’ Very high; we’ve computed that.”
Scrabble players often rely on extremely obscure words to win their games. Jegels sends a photograph of the board after he’d won his final game at Nationals. The majority of words on it are unfamiliar: yag? Zoril? Qats?
“We don’t learn the meanings of all the words,” he explains. “It’s an extra memory burden to us. You just need to know that the word is there. As competitive players, the words represent opportunities to crush opponents with porcelain tiles. They’re like chess pieces.”
Like most competitive Scrabble players, Jegels learns lists of hundreds of thousands of words off by heart. Players take new words and re-arrange them alphabetically, to learn. Then, when the tiles are in front of the player, hopefully the memory prompt will supply the underlying word.
“We also have to learn all the anagrams of the words,” Jegels says. This allows players to choose the more obscure option, in order to make it more difficult for the next player to build off it. “Say you could play either RADIANT or INTRADA,” Jegels says.
Before tournaments, Jegels will play Scrabble intraday, every day. Sometimes he’ll have a flesh-and-blood training partner, he says, but more often than not he uses a software programme which analyses moves based on their potential score.
The computer programme he’s talking about is called “Quackle”, a seldom-heard word meaning “to choke”. In November 2006 it became the first piece of software to beat a Scrabble world champion in a best-of-5 match. “For competitive Scrabble players,” the Journal of Experimental Psychology noted, “the defeat of human intelligence by artificial intelligence is a watershed event comparable to the May 1997 win by IBM’s computer programme Deep Blue in a chess match against the reigning champion Gary Kasparov”.
The comparison between chess and Scrabble comes up several times during a conversation with Jegels, who loves playing chess as well. He acknowledges that Scrabble currently lacks the status or prestige of chess. “In time, that will come, but it will take a while because of its association with family fun,” he says. Jegels thinks one of the biggest misconceptions about Scrabble held by non-players is the role of luck.
Nonetheless, the outcome – a judge was called, the tiles were counted, and the cheat expelled – was less dramatic than the way scenes might have unfolded at the World Scrabble Championships in 2011. There a Thai player demanded that his British opponent be strip-searched in the toilet, accused of hiding the letter “G”. The judges ruled that such a search would be undignified, and replaced the missing G tile with a new one. The Brit went on to win the game by just one point.
“Scrabble is a game of personal honour; opponents police themselves and each other,” a compelling Sports Illustrated feature stated in 1995. “As a result it is rife with feuds and imagined slights and Floor tiles. Players are as sensitive as flowers to any sign of ‘coffeehousing’ – the practice of trying to throw off an opponent by slurping a drink.”
South Africa’s newly-crowned Scrabble champion, Llewellin Jegels, says that these kinds of intimidation attempts are routine. “Absolutely, it happens all the time,” Jegels told the Daily Maverick. Competitive Scrabble sounds… intense. “Social players are quite shocked to see how we play,” Jegels agrees. “There’s a chess clock, it’s one-on-one, the game has to be finished in 50 minutes.”
The story goes that Scrabble was invented during the Great Depression by an unemployed architect called Alfred Butts. With a name like that, Mr Butts was surely no stranger to the power of word-play. Butts wanted to create a vocabulary-based game which nonetheless had an element of chance, and he called it the infinitely less-marketable ‘Criss-Cross Words’.
Butts was no linguist, but he hit on a cunning way to determine how frequently different letters should appear on Scrabble tiles: analysing the front page of the New York Times to see which were the most-used vowels and consonants in the English language. He deliberately limited the appearance of ‘S’ (just four per game) to deter plural words which would make the game too easy. A marketing partner suggested he change the name to ‘Scrabble’ after initial attempts to sell the game failed, and trademarked it in 1948. The rest is history – or at least, it was after the popular department store Macy’s began to stock the game, according to legend.
There’s a widespread notion that the people who work with language the most – writers, linguists – would be the best at Scrabble. Although Jegels himself is a writer and publisher, he says this idea simply doesn’t hold. “Many good Scrabble players are mathematicians. They seem to understand the probability of certain sets of tiles being picked. What is the probability of picking the word ‘retained?’ Very high; we’ve computed that.”
Scrabble players often rely on extremely obscure words to win their games. Jegels sends a photograph of the board after he’d won his final game at Nationals. The majority of words on it are unfamiliar: yag? Zoril? Qats?
“We don’t learn the meanings of all the words,” he explains. “It’s an extra memory burden to us. You just need to know that the word is there. As competitive players, the words represent opportunities to crush opponents with porcelain tiles. They’re like chess pieces.”
Like most competitive Scrabble players, Jegels learns lists of hundreds of thousands of words off by heart. Players take new words and re-arrange them alphabetically, to learn. Then, when the tiles are in front of the player, hopefully the memory prompt will supply the underlying word.
“We also have to learn all the anagrams of the words,” Jegels says. This allows players to choose the more obscure option, in order to make it more difficult for the next player to build off it. “Say you could play either RADIANT or INTRADA,” Jegels says.
Before tournaments, Jegels will play Scrabble intraday, every day. Sometimes he’ll have a flesh-and-blood training partner, he says, but more often than not he uses a software programme which analyses moves based on their potential score.
The computer programme he’s talking about is called “Quackle”, a seldom-heard word meaning “to choke”. In November 2006 it became the first piece of software to beat a Scrabble world champion in a best-of-5 match. “For competitive Scrabble players,” the Journal of Experimental Psychology noted, “the defeat of human intelligence by artificial intelligence is a watershed event comparable to the May 1997 win by IBM’s computer programme Deep Blue in a chess match against the reigning champion Gary Kasparov”.
The comparison between chess and Scrabble comes up several times during a conversation with Jegels, who loves playing chess as well. He acknowledges that Scrabble currently lacks the status or prestige of chess. “In time, that will come, but it will take a while because of its association with family fun,” he says. Jegels thinks one of the biggest misconceptions about Scrabble held by non-players is the role of luck.
2013年7月22日星期一
Debris still plague coastal lakes
Superstorm Sandyslammed New Jersey's coastal lakes, saddling many with sand and debris, but eight months after the storm they remain a lower priority than beaches, according to environmental advocates.At least 15 scenic lakes still need sand, debris or fallen trees removed, and many pose flood threats to neighboring homes. Several lakes have overflowed during heavy rainstorms in recent weeks.
"The coastal lakes have been mostly forgotten," said Edward Bonanno, chairman of the Avon Environmental Commission and a former environmental crimes bureau chief in the state Attorney General's Office. "We hope there will be a solution for all the coastal lakes, a plan for porcelain tiles, for storm water management and for shoreline restoration" with restored habitats, Bonanno said.
The lakes are key elements of their communities, and it's unfortunate that lake restoration is getting less attention than other Jersey Shore restoration efforts, said President Stephen J. Souza of Princeton Hydro, a Ringoes, N.J.-based environmental consulting firm.
"It's been going much slower than what you see happening along the coastal areas, the boardwalks repairs and things like that," said Souza, a consultant to the Deal Lake Commission.For decades, coastal lakes in Monmouth and Ocean counties have served as giant receptacles for polluted stormwater runoff and sediment from their heavily developed watersheds.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has received few requests for Sandy relief money to restore coastal lakes in the two counties and the Army Corps of Engineers eventually may study lakes, according to officials.
The federal Natural Resources Conservation Service had received 37 applications from across the state for Emergency Watershed Protection Program money after Hurricane Sandy. Proposed projects ranged from debris removal to bulkhead repair, according to Carrie Mosley, state conservationist in the agency. But some of the applications were ineligible.
The Army Corps will conduct a $2.5 million study of Wreck Pond in Spring Lake and Sea Girt, N.J., focusing on how to reduce flooding and pollution. But the study will take several years to complete. Every year, rainfall triggers numerous ocean swimming bans at four beaches near the pond.
The state Department of Environmental Protection is seeking more information from communities about flooding, debris, sand and damage to storm water infrastructure, according to spokesman Larry Hajna. The agency will use the information to develop restoration strategies and is looking into possible sources of financing.
Federal officials have approved $59.7 million in grants to the state for contractors to remove sand and sediment debris from navigable waterways following Sandy. But officials had not determined whether any of the money would go toward dredging and cleaning up coastal lakes, according to spokesman Larry Ragonese of the Department of Environmental Protection.The surge affected about 100 named lakes in New Jersey. In general, Monmouth County had the worst damage, said Jill Lipoti, director of the Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Water Monitoring and Standards.
Before Sandy struck the Jersey Shore, officials lowered several lakes, including Silver Lake and Lake Como in Belmar, in an unsuccessful effort to prevent flooding.Nearly 25 years ago, the Monmouth County Health Department found generally poor water quality in nine lakes in the county.Erosion since the early 1900s has led to large amounts of glazed porcelain tile, sand and silt washing into the coastal lakes, according to a 2009 study by Monmouth University researchers and Souza. Stream banks were stripped of vegetation, flood plains were filled and tidal areas paved over, causing more flooding and worsening erosion in lake tributaries.
In February, Monmouth University hosted a Coastal Lakes Summit that focused partly on Sandy's effect on the 11 coastal lakes in Monmouth County and four in Ocean County.The Leap Motion Controller is a motion-sensor for your computer -- think of it as a tiny Kinect that works with a Windows PC or Mac. The Controller tracks your hands -- all 10 fingers, plus joints -- in 3D space, with far more precision than you’d expect: up to 1/100th of a millimeter accuracy, according to Leap Motion.
Put it down in front of your computer, in front of the keyboard or your laptop, and the space above it becomes a zone where you can use your hands to control stuff on your computer. Its sensory field, however, is limited to a narrow dome that extends above and around the tiny unit -- 2 feet above the controller, 2 feet wide, and 2 feet deep -- 8 cubic feet. It effectively covers a good chunk of your desktop space between you and your computer screen.
For people wondering what you can "do" with the Leap Motion Controller, the answer so far is: a lot, but not much that's useful. The Controller is compatible with Windows PCs and Macs, but it mostly works with software from the Airspace Store, an app store that's specifically designed for the unit. I tried the Controller on a MacBook Air, on an HP Elitebook Revolve, and on a bigger-screen Dell XPS 18. I played with about a dozen or so apps, and tried navigating Windows 8 and OS X with it.
Familiar apps like Google Maps and games like Cut the Rope have been Leap-enabled, and there were a host of other games and exploratory educational apps in the Airspace Store that were fun to noodle around with -- some even delivered a magic moment or two. But make no mistake: the Leap Motion Controller is a hobby accessory. No matter how cool it could be, or occasionally is, it won’t replace your touch pad, mouse, keyboard, and touch screen. It’s an experience more than an essential tool. For the most part, though, it works. And if the right apps were made available for it, it could get interesting.
An included “Orientation” tutorial you go through when you install the device shows you that virtual space and how your fingers are tracked. Immediately, you can see that it can sense subtle movements like a little finger waggle or rapid air-writing.
Once you’re done with the tutorial, you’re sent to Airspace Home, Leap Motion’s app launcher and gateway to the Airspace Store, where Leap Motion-compatible apps are sold. You need to set up an Airspace account; while the Leap Motion Controller could run apps outside the Airspace Store ecosystem (Google Earth 7.1 is one of them), the store’s a cleanly laid-out way to discover what apps are out there already, and a good chunk of them are free.
"The coastal lakes have been mostly forgotten," said Edward Bonanno, chairman of the Avon Environmental Commission and a former environmental crimes bureau chief in the state Attorney General's Office. "We hope there will be a solution for all the coastal lakes, a plan for porcelain tiles, for storm water management and for shoreline restoration" with restored habitats, Bonanno said.
The lakes are key elements of their communities, and it's unfortunate that lake restoration is getting less attention than other Jersey Shore restoration efforts, said President Stephen J. Souza of Princeton Hydro, a Ringoes, N.J.-based environmental consulting firm.
"It's been going much slower than what you see happening along the coastal areas, the boardwalks repairs and things like that," said Souza, a consultant to the Deal Lake Commission.For decades, coastal lakes in Monmouth and Ocean counties have served as giant receptacles for polluted stormwater runoff and sediment from their heavily developed watersheds.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has received few requests for Sandy relief money to restore coastal lakes in the two counties and the Army Corps of Engineers eventually may study lakes, according to officials.
The federal Natural Resources Conservation Service had received 37 applications from across the state for Emergency Watershed Protection Program money after Hurricane Sandy. Proposed projects ranged from debris removal to bulkhead repair, according to Carrie Mosley, state conservationist in the agency. But some of the applications were ineligible.
The Army Corps will conduct a $2.5 million study of Wreck Pond in Spring Lake and Sea Girt, N.J., focusing on how to reduce flooding and pollution. But the study will take several years to complete. Every year, rainfall triggers numerous ocean swimming bans at four beaches near the pond.
The state Department of Environmental Protection is seeking more information from communities about flooding, debris, sand and damage to storm water infrastructure, according to spokesman Larry Hajna. The agency will use the information to develop restoration strategies and is looking into possible sources of financing.
Federal officials have approved $59.7 million in grants to the state for contractors to remove sand and sediment debris from navigable waterways following Sandy. But officials had not determined whether any of the money would go toward dredging and cleaning up coastal lakes, according to spokesman Larry Ragonese of the Department of Environmental Protection.The surge affected about 100 named lakes in New Jersey. In general, Monmouth County had the worst damage, said Jill Lipoti, director of the Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Water Monitoring and Standards.
Before Sandy struck the Jersey Shore, officials lowered several lakes, including Silver Lake and Lake Como in Belmar, in an unsuccessful effort to prevent flooding.Nearly 25 years ago, the Monmouth County Health Department found generally poor water quality in nine lakes in the county.Erosion since the early 1900s has led to large amounts of glazed porcelain tile, sand and silt washing into the coastal lakes, according to a 2009 study by Monmouth University researchers and Souza. Stream banks were stripped of vegetation, flood plains were filled and tidal areas paved over, causing more flooding and worsening erosion in lake tributaries.
In February, Monmouth University hosted a Coastal Lakes Summit that focused partly on Sandy's effect on the 11 coastal lakes in Monmouth County and four in Ocean County.The Leap Motion Controller is a motion-sensor for your computer -- think of it as a tiny Kinect that works with a Windows PC or Mac. The Controller tracks your hands -- all 10 fingers, plus joints -- in 3D space, with far more precision than you’d expect: up to 1/100th of a millimeter accuracy, according to Leap Motion.
Put it down in front of your computer, in front of the keyboard or your laptop, and the space above it becomes a zone where you can use your hands to control stuff on your computer. Its sensory field, however, is limited to a narrow dome that extends above and around the tiny unit -- 2 feet above the controller, 2 feet wide, and 2 feet deep -- 8 cubic feet. It effectively covers a good chunk of your desktop space between you and your computer screen.
For people wondering what you can "do" with the Leap Motion Controller, the answer so far is: a lot, but not much that's useful. The Controller is compatible with Windows PCs and Macs, but it mostly works with software from the Airspace Store, an app store that's specifically designed for the unit. I tried the Controller on a MacBook Air, on an HP Elitebook Revolve, and on a bigger-screen Dell XPS 18. I played with about a dozen or so apps, and tried navigating Windows 8 and OS X with it.
Familiar apps like Google Maps and games like Cut the Rope have been Leap-enabled, and there were a host of other games and exploratory educational apps in the Airspace Store that were fun to noodle around with -- some even delivered a magic moment or two. But make no mistake: the Leap Motion Controller is a hobby accessory. No matter how cool it could be, or occasionally is, it won’t replace your touch pad, mouse, keyboard, and touch screen. It’s an experience more than an essential tool. For the most part, though, it works. And if the right apps were made available for it, it could get interesting.
An included “Orientation” tutorial you go through when you install the device shows you that virtual space and how your fingers are tracked. Immediately, you can see that it can sense subtle movements like a little finger waggle or rapid air-writing.
Once you’re done with the tutorial, you’re sent to Airspace Home, Leap Motion’s app launcher and gateway to the Airspace Store, where Leap Motion-compatible apps are sold. You need to set up an Airspace account; while the Leap Motion Controller could run apps outside the Airspace Store ecosystem (Google Earth 7.1 is one of them), the store’s a cleanly laid-out way to discover what apps are out there already, and a good chunk of them are free.
2013年7月14日星期日
You may think it's wood or stone
Yes -- but these products definitely are not the shiny orange sheet that covered your mom's kitchen floor, or the old peel-and-stick school hall tiles your dad plopped down in the foyer. Modern luxury vinyl is a broad category that includes wood- and stone-look products with colors and textures good enough to fool the eye.
It's a category that's growing rapidly. Sales of luxury vinyl hit $500 million last year -- up 13 percent, Floor Daily reported.For those who don't choose carpet, hardwood or hard tile, luxury vinyl -- instead of laminate -- is likely to be the favorite option.
Local flooring pros say they've seen the trend in their showrooms."In the past year, it's like it's a hot item," said Jennifer Fallon, owner of the Floor Gallery of Lake Norman in Mooresville. She sells slightly more of the tile-look luxury vinyl, but wood styles are not far behind.
At Hughes Flooring in Charlotte, N.C., Rodney Hughes reports the same. "It's taking off," he said. "[Floor companies] are putting a lot of marketing money into it ... and we're starting to see that."If you visit your favorite home center or floors website, you'll find lots of options. Online you'll find discussions of the best products and polished tiles.
If you have the top products installed by a pro, though, you can pay about as much for luxury vinyl as for some standard hardwood or ceramic tile. Say, $8 to $10 a square foot installed, Fallon estimated. Hughes said simply: "This is not a price-point product."
Again, the appearance is one reason. The tile-look products can be grouted, to make it look more like ceramic or stone. The wood-look planks feature rich colors and textures. Hughes said that the technology responsible for such looks is helping to drive the popularity.
It's softer under foot than tile, and stands up to spills and large pets better than hardwood, Fallon said. Hughes said one huge advantage for luxury vinyl is that it isn't damaged by moisture. "You can soak it in the bathtub and it won't swell or buckle," he said. "There's no wood inside."
These floors can be glued down, or they can be "floated." Individual tiles and planks can be clicked together and then installed without glue, to float on special underlayment. Floating floors can cover up minor imperfections in the subfloor during a renovation.
Luxury vinyl is thinner than hardwood, and thinner than stone or ceramic tile installed on the required underlayment. When remodeling, it's easier to match a thinner product to the level of the surrounding existing floors.
There are few good-looking options for the edge, or transition, where luxury vinyl abuts another type of flooring or a floor that's a slightly different level."They don't make a transition," Fallon said. "I sometimes have to use wood, and stain it to match. They make metal, like you'd use on an old vinyl floor. But it doesn't look good."
Our community deserves strong leadership. The city council is an integral part of the local government. As I complete my third term of office as a city councilman, I have been able to work together with the other council members, the mayor and community leaders from many groups and organizations to provide direction, vision, strategy and action. I still bring fresh ideas, energy and a professional financial perspective from pre-9/11 and post-9/11 eras. I tend to be more of a "financial advisor" and decision maker" than a politician.
The purchase of the new city hall property demonstrates a clear long-term vision and plan to reduce operating expenses, unnecessary costs and therefore provide more resources for general services, like recreation, parks, pools, libraries and the museum.
Leaders must make the tough decisions (the right decisions), even if they are not always the popular choice for special interest groups. I have demonstrated an ability to lead and make decisions based on the facts and information. I will continue to support the essential programs that provide a unique distinction between Dearborn and other communities in this area.
I truly understand the city’s financial challenges and the tools available to solve these problems. I work hard to understand the service mix and priorities for neighborhoods; maintaining the high quality services is the biggest challenge during a time of financial cutbacks and shrinking revenues. Throughout the budget process I strive to balance the “needs” and “wants” of everyone. This establishes a clear direction for the administration.
Click on their website http://www.tilees.com/.
It's a category that's growing rapidly. Sales of luxury vinyl hit $500 million last year -- up 13 percent, Floor Daily reported.For those who don't choose carpet, hardwood or hard tile, luxury vinyl -- instead of laminate -- is likely to be the favorite option.
Local flooring pros say they've seen the trend in their showrooms."In the past year, it's like it's a hot item," said Jennifer Fallon, owner of the Floor Gallery of Lake Norman in Mooresville. She sells slightly more of the tile-look luxury vinyl, but wood styles are not far behind.
At Hughes Flooring in Charlotte, N.C., Rodney Hughes reports the same. "It's taking off," he said. "[Floor companies] are putting a lot of marketing money into it ... and we're starting to see that."If you visit your favorite home center or floors website, you'll find lots of options. Online you'll find discussions of the best products and polished tiles.
If you have the top products installed by a pro, though, you can pay about as much for luxury vinyl as for some standard hardwood or ceramic tile. Say, $8 to $10 a square foot installed, Fallon estimated. Hughes said simply: "This is not a price-point product."
Again, the appearance is one reason. The tile-look products can be grouted, to make it look more like ceramic or stone. The wood-look planks feature rich colors and textures. Hughes said that the technology responsible for such looks is helping to drive the popularity.
It's softer under foot than tile, and stands up to spills and large pets better than hardwood, Fallon said. Hughes said one huge advantage for luxury vinyl is that it isn't damaged by moisture. "You can soak it in the bathtub and it won't swell or buckle," he said. "There's no wood inside."
These floors can be glued down, or they can be "floated." Individual tiles and planks can be clicked together and then installed without glue, to float on special underlayment. Floating floors can cover up minor imperfections in the subfloor during a renovation.
Luxury vinyl is thinner than hardwood, and thinner than stone or ceramic tile installed on the required underlayment. When remodeling, it's easier to match a thinner product to the level of the surrounding existing floors.
There are few good-looking options for the edge, or transition, where luxury vinyl abuts another type of flooring or a floor that's a slightly different level."They don't make a transition," Fallon said. "I sometimes have to use wood, and stain it to match. They make metal, like you'd use on an old vinyl floor. But it doesn't look good."
Our community deserves strong leadership. The city council is an integral part of the local government. As I complete my third term of office as a city councilman, I have been able to work together with the other council members, the mayor and community leaders from many groups and organizations to provide direction, vision, strategy and action. I still bring fresh ideas, energy and a professional financial perspective from pre-9/11 and post-9/11 eras. I tend to be more of a "financial advisor" and decision maker" than a politician.
The purchase of the new city hall property demonstrates a clear long-term vision and plan to reduce operating expenses, unnecessary costs and therefore provide more resources for general services, like recreation, parks, pools, libraries and the museum.
Leaders must make the tough decisions (the right decisions), even if they are not always the popular choice for special interest groups. I have demonstrated an ability to lead and make decisions based on the facts and information. I will continue to support the essential programs that provide a unique distinction between Dearborn and other communities in this area.
I truly understand the city’s financial challenges and the tools available to solve these problems. I work hard to understand the service mix and priorities for neighborhoods; maintaining the high quality services is the biggest challenge during a time of financial cutbacks and shrinking revenues. Throughout the budget process I strive to balance the “needs” and “wants” of everyone. This establishes a clear direction for the administration.
Click on their website http://www.tilees.com/.
2013年7月4日星期四
Second Toynbee Tile removed in Topeka
As he waited for the light to change, something caught his eye on the pavement just to his left.It was another rare Toynbee Tile, similar to one spotted and removed a couple of weeks ago three blocks away at 6th and S. Kansas Avenue.Toynbee Tiles originated around 30 years ago in Philadelphia and since have been found in some two dozen U.S. cities, as well as in the capitals of several South American countries.The tiles often contain short, cryptic messages.
City officials have said they consider the placement of Toynbee Tiles to be vandalism, on the same par as graffiti. Some local residents, however, consider them a type of folk art that need to be preserved.The city view prevailed for a second time in Topeka. The tile Bowen spotted Wednesday had been removed by Thursday morning, just as was the tile found and removed on the night of June 20.
Efforts to reach Topeka city officials on Thursday afternoon weren’t immediately successful.Bowen called The Topeka Capital-Journal on Thursday morning, and a reporter went over to check out the polished tiles.
There, in the left southbound lane on the north side of the intersection, was a license plate-sized rectangle of replacement asphalt, of the same approximate size as the Toynbee Tile that had been pulled up from 6th and S. Kansas Avenue.
Reached by phone Thursday afternoon, Bowen gave the following account of what he saw the day before:“I saw it there yesterday,” he said. “I just pulled up to the light in the southbound lane and looked down and there it was.“I didn’t take the time to see what all it said. When the light turned green, I had to go.”Bowen said he wishes now he would have pulled over and taken a picture of it.Though he didn’t read its message, he said the words were multi-colored — just like the other Toynbee Tile found a couple of weeks earlier in downtown Topeka.
BETA Holdings originated from Alpha Bricks, a company established in 1953 to manufacture bricks in the Mount Hampden area.In 1991 the company changed ownership and name to Beta Holdings, a brand that is now well recognised in Zimbabwe’s construction sector.Now Beta Holdings, through two of its operating units: Beta Bricks and Beta Tiles, has opened a distribution centre to offer services to Mutare and the surrounding areas. Quality clay bricks and concrete roof tiles will now be easily accessible to the local market.
Beta Holdings are coming into the Mutare market because we believe the area deserves quality products and services. Beta Holdings, as the largest construction material producer in Zimbabwe, cannot therefore afford neglect the Manicaland area as a whole.Beta is well known for their quality, value for money and customer focus.
As the largest brick and concrete roof tile supplier in the country and with a growing customer base, Beta can attest the expansion into Mutare as a clear signifier of their continued growth.Beta Bricks and Tiles is here to stay and will add more products and services through the depot here in Mutare.The Beta Bricks product range consists of 15 different clay brick types which are used for foundations, load bearing construction, laying of driveways, pavements and walkways, decorative exteriors as well as industrial, commercial and domestic building structures.
Beta clay bricks have the highest dimensional stability and compressive strength as well as being a durable and timeless building material that complements the aesthetic and functional needs of any building.As members of the Standards Association of Zimbabwe, Beta can guarantee that their clay bricks are of assured quality.
The Beta concrete roof tile is a modern tile made from cement, sand and pigments and is manufactured using an extrusion process resulting in utmost strength and density. The concrete roof tiles are manufactured from durable concrete made to strict strength specifications. There are 2 types of roof tile profiles currently available at Beta: the Mendip and the Double Roman.
The Mendip profile forms a gentle flowing pattern that gives instant visual appeal. It combines its exceptional strength and beautiful smooth surface with stunning aesthetics.The Double Roman profile is a modern version of the profile seen on roofs throughout Europe for over 2000 years and offers all the functional benefits of todays interlocking concrete technology.
After buying a new home in New York last November, the “House” actress had been trying to sell her Los Feliz home. Olivia Wilde first listed the place for $2.495 million and eight months later closed the deal for $2.19 million, according to property records.
The 3,284-square-foot home is a 1920s Spanish style with original Malibu tile, hardwood floors, stained glass and iron details throughout. With 4 bedrooms and 3.5 baths, as well as outdoor terraces and patios, the home had no shortage of living space for the 29-year-old star.
A larger California spread isn’t what the “The O.C.” actress is after, though. With her divorce from Italian filmmaker Tao Ruspoli finalized in 2011 and her engagement to actor Jason Sudeikis announced earlier this year, Wilde is ready to make her move to the Big Apple more permanent.
Read the full story at http://www.tilees.com/!
City officials have said they consider the placement of Toynbee Tiles to be vandalism, on the same par as graffiti. Some local residents, however, consider them a type of folk art that need to be preserved.The city view prevailed for a second time in Topeka. The tile Bowen spotted Wednesday had been removed by Thursday morning, just as was the tile found and removed on the night of June 20.
Efforts to reach Topeka city officials on Thursday afternoon weren’t immediately successful.Bowen called The Topeka Capital-Journal on Thursday morning, and a reporter went over to check out the polished tiles.
There, in the left southbound lane on the north side of the intersection, was a license plate-sized rectangle of replacement asphalt, of the same approximate size as the Toynbee Tile that had been pulled up from 6th and S. Kansas Avenue.
Reached by phone Thursday afternoon, Bowen gave the following account of what he saw the day before:“I saw it there yesterday,” he said. “I just pulled up to the light in the southbound lane and looked down and there it was.“I didn’t take the time to see what all it said. When the light turned green, I had to go.”Bowen said he wishes now he would have pulled over and taken a picture of it.Though he didn’t read its message, he said the words were multi-colored — just like the other Toynbee Tile found a couple of weeks earlier in downtown Topeka.
BETA Holdings originated from Alpha Bricks, a company established in 1953 to manufacture bricks in the Mount Hampden area.In 1991 the company changed ownership and name to Beta Holdings, a brand that is now well recognised in Zimbabwe’s construction sector.Now Beta Holdings, through two of its operating units: Beta Bricks and Beta Tiles, has opened a distribution centre to offer services to Mutare and the surrounding areas. Quality clay bricks and concrete roof tiles will now be easily accessible to the local market.
Beta Holdings are coming into the Mutare market because we believe the area deserves quality products and services. Beta Holdings, as the largest construction material producer in Zimbabwe, cannot therefore afford neglect the Manicaland area as a whole.Beta is well known for their quality, value for money and customer focus.
As the largest brick and concrete roof tile supplier in the country and with a growing customer base, Beta can attest the expansion into Mutare as a clear signifier of their continued growth.Beta Bricks and Tiles is here to stay and will add more products and services through the depot here in Mutare.The Beta Bricks product range consists of 15 different clay brick types which are used for foundations, load bearing construction, laying of driveways, pavements and walkways, decorative exteriors as well as industrial, commercial and domestic building structures.
Beta clay bricks have the highest dimensional stability and compressive strength as well as being a durable and timeless building material that complements the aesthetic and functional needs of any building.As members of the Standards Association of Zimbabwe, Beta can guarantee that their clay bricks are of assured quality.
The Beta concrete roof tile is a modern tile made from cement, sand and pigments and is manufactured using an extrusion process resulting in utmost strength and density. The concrete roof tiles are manufactured from durable concrete made to strict strength specifications. There are 2 types of roof tile profiles currently available at Beta: the Mendip and the Double Roman.
The Mendip profile forms a gentle flowing pattern that gives instant visual appeal. It combines its exceptional strength and beautiful smooth surface with stunning aesthetics.The Double Roman profile is a modern version of the profile seen on roofs throughout Europe for over 2000 years and offers all the functional benefits of todays interlocking concrete technology.
After buying a new home in New York last November, the “House” actress had been trying to sell her Los Feliz home. Olivia Wilde first listed the place for $2.495 million and eight months later closed the deal for $2.19 million, according to property records.
The 3,284-square-foot home is a 1920s Spanish style with original Malibu tile, hardwood floors, stained glass and iron details throughout. With 4 bedrooms and 3.5 baths, as well as outdoor terraces and patios, the home had no shortage of living space for the 29-year-old star.
A larger California spread isn’t what the “The O.C.” actress is after, though. With her divorce from Italian filmmaker Tao Ruspoli finalized in 2011 and her engagement to actor Jason Sudeikis announced earlier this year, Wilde is ready to make her move to the Big Apple more permanent.
Read the full story at http://www.tilees.com/!
2013年6月30日星期日
Is Needed to Address Climate Change
Before we get teary eyed with joy or scoff with derision, we should take a closer look at President Obama’s June 25 speech on climate change, and set it within the context of his five years in power. This is a position he himself argued for during his speech when he said that we need to “be more concerned with the judgment of posterity” than short–term political considerations.
So is Obama, in the words of World Resource Institute President Andrew Steer, really “resetting the climate agenda” and can we honestly say that “it’s a wonderful thing to see that he is really reclaiming this issue"?
While many other environmentalists, including Bill McKibben of 350.org, are fervently hoping that this is true, history and facts demonstrate otherwise. Obama’s dismal domestic and international track record on environmental issues—it was, Ceramic tile, he who was the lead protagonist in wrecking the international climate talks in Copenhagen in 2009—and his commitment to U.S. imperial power as a representative of American corporate interests surely point toward the need for a greater and more thoroughgoing critique than a character assessment of the man himself allows for.
Furthermore, it’s hard to take someone seriously when that person has presided over the biggest expansion of the security state in U.S. history and relentlessly pursued government whistleblowers with unprecedented ferocity, when they say simultaneously in a climate speech that they are directing the EPA to generate new standards for the regulation of existing power plants in “an open and transparent way.”
With a more systematic, broader analytical framework, unimpeded by misty visions of an Obama rebirth as a climate champion, one immediately recognizes the inadequacy of his Action Plan On Climate Change to keep the planet below the critical threshold of 2 degrees Celsius of average warming.
This needs to be acknowledged, even as we welcome the fact that—after a five–year hiatus, including a re–election campaign where he never even mentioned climate change—Obama has been forced to re–engage with the central issue of our time by the power of grassroots protest, even to the extent of referencing the divestment movement and the fight against the Keystone XL pipeline.
Rather than celebrating Obama’s renewed “commitment” to environmental action, we should recognize it for what it is: After five years of doing all he can to promote fossil fuel production, it’s the first, timid, grudging response of the U.S. state to the growing environmental movement against Obama and all that he represents: the economic, political and military priorities of U.S. imperial power.
The growth of the environmental movement and its threat to U.S. imperial and corporate interests has been well catalogued, tracked and, as we now know, extensively spied upon by the U.S. security apparatus. After reporting on a raft of documentary evidence to this effect, Dr. Nafeez Ahmed writes.
There is, therefore, the overriding requirement that we continue to build the movement independent of the limitations imposed by the Democratic Party, until we achieve the kind of changes that are actually necessary to prevent catastrophic climate change, by stitching together all forces aimed at this objective.
The biosphere of which humans are a part cannot afford half measures or rely on dubious “friends” in high places. Nor can we set our sights any lower than the swift dismantling of the fossil–fuel infrastructure of death and its replacement with publicly owned and democratically controlled clean energy systems. As many studies have shown, this is eminently doable with current technology and will create millions of worthwhile jobs through the generation of genuinely renewable energy from sources such as wind and solar power, alongside massive energy efficiency and conservation measures.
Such a transformation is far less utopian than believing that capitalism can solve the problem that it created. Such a transition cannot mean a continuation or expansion of the criminal agro–fuel production, still less the increase in natural gas production through fracking, the continuation of nuclear power and the entirely ridiculous concepts of “clean coal” and carbon capture and storage, all of which Obama includes as part of his planned solution—his “all of the above” strategy.
The fact that Obama is using executive authority to attempt to push through some changes to U.S. energy and climate policy, most significantly new rules on existing power plants, is a reflection not of strength, but of his preceding weakness on the issue, turning it from a positive into a negative, as the right wing has made all the running. Notwithstanding the catastrophic climate change that levels above 350 ppm of carbon portend and have already initiated—as droughts, floods, crop failures, super–storms and wildfires become the “new normal” across the globe from Australia to India, from the U.S. to Pakistan—politicians across the political spectrum greeted the news of 400 ppm of carbon earlier in May with a giant shrug of collective indifference.
While on the one hand Obama’s action plan doesn’t require Congressional approval, and that can be seen as encouraging in the face of an utterly recalcitrant Congress, it is also a flaw. The new rules will be vigorously challenged in the courts, and as and when the other corporate party manages to work out how to win an election again, they can be overturned just as easily, assuming they have even been implemented.
It needs to be highlighted that, in contrast to how Democrats and Obama like to portray the issue, it is not a solidly partisan one. While elected Republicans are certainly more likely to be climate–change denialists, the reality is that things are much more regional and dependent on which state a political representative is from. A much more reliable indicator of whether a state’s Representative is pro– or anti– climate change policy and clean energy, is whether the state’s economy is directly connected to fossil fuels or ethanol production, than whether they are Democrats or Republicans.
And on the ground, where people are forced to deal with the growing ramifications of climate change and the disruption and cost to their lives, the picture is very different. As reported in a recent survey of self–described Republicans and Republican–leaning independents, 62 percent said the U.S. should address climate change, and 77 percent said that the U.S. should use more renewable energy sources. This is all the more remarkable given that virtually no political representative from either party has been arguing for these things, and they have certainly not appeared on the TV screens or in the newspapers of the mainstream media.
In contrast to Obama’s glib reference to work being undertaken to prevent Miami from sinking below the waves, Jeff Goodell writing in Rolling Stone, paints a very different picture, underlining the calamitous reality of climate change in an article cheerily titled “Goodbye Miami.” On our present course, it is not a question of if, but when, the city of Miami—which vies with Las Vegas as the citadel to capitalist non–conformity with nature, along with most of southern Florida—will be underwater.
Read the full story at www.tilees.com!
So is Obama, in the words of World Resource Institute President Andrew Steer, really “resetting the climate agenda” and can we honestly say that “it’s a wonderful thing to see that he is really reclaiming this issue"?
While many other environmentalists, including Bill McKibben of 350.org, are fervently hoping that this is true, history and facts demonstrate otherwise. Obama’s dismal domestic and international track record on environmental issues—it was, Ceramic tile, he who was the lead protagonist in wrecking the international climate talks in Copenhagen in 2009—and his commitment to U.S. imperial power as a representative of American corporate interests surely point toward the need for a greater and more thoroughgoing critique than a character assessment of the man himself allows for.
Furthermore, it’s hard to take someone seriously when that person has presided over the biggest expansion of the security state in U.S. history and relentlessly pursued government whistleblowers with unprecedented ferocity, when they say simultaneously in a climate speech that they are directing the EPA to generate new standards for the regulation of existing power plants in “an open and transparent way.”
With a more systematic, broader analytical framework, unimpeded by misty visions of an Obama rebirth as a climate champion, one immediately recognizes the inadequacy of his Action Plan On Climate Change to keep the planet below the critical threshold of 2 degrees Celsius of average warming.
This needs to be acknowledged, even as we welcome the fact that—after a five–year hiatus, including a re–election campaign where he never even mentioned climate change—Obama has been forced to re–engage with the central issue of our time by the power of grassroots protest, even to the extent of referencing the divestment movement and the fight against the Keystone XL pipeline.
Rather than celebrating Obama’s renewed “commitment” to environmental action, we should recognize it for what it is: After five years of doing all he can to promote fossil fuel production, it’s the first, timid, grudging response of the U.S. state to the growing environmental movement against Obama and all that he represents: the economic, political and military priorities of U.S. imperial power.
The growth of the environmental movement and its threat to U.S. imperial and corporate interests has been well catalogued, tracked and, as we now know, extensively spied upon by the U.S. security apparatus. After reporting on a raft of documentary evidence to this effect, Dr. Nafeez Ahmed writes.
There is, therefore, the overriding requirement that we continue to build the movement independent of the limitations imposed by the Democratic Party, until we achieve the kind of changes that are actually necessary to prevent catastrophic climate change, by stitching together all forces aimed at this objective.
The biosphere of which humans are a part cannot afford half measures or rely on dubious “friends” in high places. Nor can we set our sights any lower than the swift dismantling of the fossil–fuel infrastructure of death and its replacement with publicly owned and democratically controlled clean energy systems. As many studies have shown, this is eminently doable with current technology and will create millions of worthwhile jobs through the generation of genuinely renewable energy from sources such as wind and solar power, alongside massive energy efficiency and conservation measures.
Such a transformation is far less utopian than believing that capitalism can solve the problem that it created. Such a transition cannot mean a continuation or expansion of the criminal agro–fuel production, still less the increase in natural gas production through fracking, the continuation of nuclear power and the entirely ridiculous concepts of “clean coal” and carbon capture and storage, all of which Obama includes as part of his planned solution—his “all of the above” strategy.
The fact that Obama is using executive authority to attempt to push through some changes to U.S. energy and climate policy, most significantly new rules on existing power plants, is a reflection not of strength, but of his preceding weakness on the issue, turning it from a positive into a negative, as the right wing has made all the running. Notwithstanding the catastrophic climate change that levels above 350 ppm of carbon portend and have already initiated—as droughts, floods, crop failures, super–storms and wildfires become the “new normal” across the globe from Australia to India, from the U.S. to Pakistan—politicians across the political spectrum greeted the news of 400 ppm of carbon earlier in May with a giant shrug of collective indifference.
While on the one hand Obama’s action plan doesn’t require Congressional approval, and that can be seen as encouraging in the face of an utterly recalcitrant Congress, it is also a flaw. The new rules will be vigorously challenged in the courts, and as and when the other corporate party manages to work out how to win an election again, they can be overturned just as easily, assuming they have even been implemented.
It needs to be highlighted that, in contrast to how Democrats and Obama like to portray the issue, it is not a solidly partisan one. While elected Republicans are certainly more likely to be climate–change denialists, the reality is that things are much more regional and dependent on which state a political representative is from. A much more reliable indicator of whether a state’s Representative is pro– or anti– climate change policy and clean energy, is whether the state’s economy is directly connected to fossil fuels or ethanol production, than whether they are Democrats or Republicans.
And on the ground, where people are forced to deal with the growing ramifications of climate change and the disruption and cost to their lives, the picture is very different. As reported in a recent survey of self–described Republicans and Republican–leaning independents, 62 percent said the U.S. should address climate change, and 77 percent said that the U.S. should use more renewable energy sources. This is all the more remarkable given that virtually no political representative from either party has been arguing for these things, and they have certainly not appeared on the TV screens or in the newspapers of the mainstream media.
In contrast to Obama’s glib reference to work being undertaken to prevent Miami from sinking below the waves, Jeff Goodell writing in Rolling Stone, paints a very different picture, underlining the calamitous reality of climate change in an article cheerily titled “Goodbye Miami.” On our present course, it is not a question of if, but when, the city of Miami—which vies with Las Vegas as the citadel to capitalist non–conformity with nature, along with most of southern Florida—will be underwater.
Read the full story at www.tilees.com!
2013年6月27日星期四
Human Recognition Systems to launch platform
According to the company, this new system, built on its MVerify platform, allows the automated capture and verification of student identity documents, such as passports and visas. In addition, says the company, MVerify also automates the capture of student attendance during teaching sessions using fingerprint or smartcard technology built into handheld devices.
Student attendance reporting is increasingly significant for institutions with international students enrolled, as visa restrictions as well as UK Home Office Tier 4 student immigration rules have tightened.
“Tier 4 compliance is set to be one of the key topics of discussion at this yeara€?s UKCISA as universities seek to attract international students while navigating the complex Home Office reporting requirements,” Jon Busby, Business Development at HRS said. “With our extensive expertise in identity management, we have developed a cost-effective solution for the higher education sector that can simplify the Tier 4 reporting structure, reduce time spent on manual data administration and lower the associated costs. Operated from a handheld device that can be passed among students, MVerify also supports an improved student experience by enabling more time to be spent on teaching rather than taking registers.”
Well, I think the time has come to change the make-up of this current Phillies team and make some moves at the trade deadline that will help build the team for the future.
I'm not taking this point of view because the Phillies are too far out or can't make the playoffs because I've seen crazier things happen and teams get hot.I think it's time to give this team a make-over because I don't think this collection of players will get hot, and the time to take advantage of some deals that can bring some promising young talent is now.
Let's start with Jonathan Papelbon. Right now there are a number of teams that are in the playoff hunt and need closers. The Detroit Tigers need a closer! Fortunately they have three great prospects in their farm system, and I think the Phillies can get two of the three.
Nick Castellanos is listed as the top hitting prospect for the Tigers. Avisail Garcia is their best outfield prospect, and Bruce Rondon is the best arm in their system and future closer. If the Phillies could get one of the outfield prospects coupled with Rondon, they could have an outfielder to play alongside Dom Brown for a good number of years to go along with a quality arm who should be their future closer.
The next Phillies player that could get an impact prospect back in return would be Cliff Lee. The Texas Rangers are once again in the playoff hunt and need a starter. This might be a perfect fit for Lee who does have a no-trade clause in his contract but would likely not mind pitching in Texas. He pitched for the Rangers in 2011 when they went to the World Series. The Rangers have the best prospect in baseball, Jurickson Profar, a shortstop/second baseman who offers great middle-infield skills with a big bat. Unfortunately for Profar, he's playing behind two All-Stars in Texas. This deal needs to be done.
Jimmy Rollins is getting old and still has a couple years on a big contract. If Profar can be acquired, there is no need for Rollins. Send Rollins to a needy suitor, get a couple more prospects and save $11 million.
Lastly I would get rid of Carlos Ruiz, who will be a free agent at the end of the year. The Yankees could use a veteran catcher and a quality right-handed hitter. The Phils could get a catching prospect in return such as Austin Romine. The only question with this deal is if the Yankees would take on a player with a history of using a banned substance.
I would say that the Phillies need to trade Chase Utley, but I know too many Phillies fans who have named their kids Chase. This would be like trading Derek Jeter if you are a Yankees fan. You just have a talk with Utley when the time comes and make him a coach and keep him a Phil for life.
Thurles-based Andrew Slattery has yet to secure his first win of the current Turf campaign, but Ucanchoose can put that right in the five-furlong handicap. With 18 modest sorts chasing a first prize of less than €5,000, this is wide open.
Still, Ucanchoose is the most appealing option, having run his best race of the year when leading to the furlong pole over six at the Curragh last time. Declan McDonogh's mount eventually finished fifth, so he should have a live chance of getting back to winning ways over his optimum trip off a pound lower mark now.
In the 12-furlong maiden, McDonogh is also trusted to land the nap on Mick Halford's Zarkiyr at the chief expense of Ballydoyle's Waver. This is a pretty weak heat, and Waver's Curragh second to the selection's stable-mate Dabadiyan is at least encouraging, but Zarkiyr is slightly more progressive.
Stepped up to this trip for a first time in a handicap at headquarters the same day, he stayed on with great effect to lose out by just a nose to Levanto off a mark of 80. That's the single most robust piece of form, so Zarkiyr is fancied to collect.
Goolds Cross-based David Wachman might get proceedings under way in the opening juvenile maiden with Little Fastnet, a Fastnet Rock debutante that is out of Wachman's former top-class juvenile Damson.
Little Fastnet is a three-parts sister to Requinto, another smart two-year-old for the stable that won a Listed race here in 2011 before scoring twice in Group company in England. Of the three in the nine-runner affair that have been placed, Celtic Man is feared most for Bansha's David Marnane, but Little Fastnet is bred to be a bit special.
Nurse Ryan might also plunder a popular local win for Martin and Shane Hassett of Killenaule. The dual hurdle-winning mare will be suited by the fast ground and trip in the Gathering Handicap.
Click on their website www.tilees.com for more information.
Student attendance reporting is increasingly significant for institutions with international students enrolled, as visa restrictions as well as UK Home Office Tier 4 student immigration rules have tightened.
“Tier 4 compliance is set to be one of the key topics of discussion at this yeara€?s UKCISA as universities seek to attract international students while navigating the complex Home Office reporting requirements,” Jon Busby, Business Development at HRS said. “With our extensive expertise in identity management, we have developed a cost-effective solution for the higher education sector that can simplify the Tier 4 reporting structure, reduce time spent on manual data administration and lower the associated costs. Operated from a handheld device that can be passed among students, MVerify also supports an improved student experience by enabling more time to be spent on teaching rather than taking registers.”
Well, I think the time has come to change the make-up of this current Phillies team and make some moves at the trade deadline that will help build the team for the future.
I'm not taking this point of view because the Phillies are too far out or can't make the playoffs because I've seen crazier things happen and teams get hot.I think it's time to give this team a make-over because I don't think this collection of players will get hot, and the time to take advantage of some deals that can bring some promising young talent is now.
Let's start with Jonathan Papelbon. Right now there are a number of teams that are in the playoff hunt and need closers. The Detroit Tigers need a closer! Fortunately they have three great prospects in their farm system, and I think the Phillies can get two of the three.
Nick Castellanos is listed as the top hitting prospect for the Tigers. Avisail Garcia is their best outfield prospect, and Bruce Rondon is the best arm in their system and future closer. If the Phillies could get one of the outfield prospects coupled with Rondon, they could have an outfielder to play alongside Dom Brown for a good number of years to go along with a quality arm who should be their future closer.
The next Phillies player that could get an impact prospect back in return would be Cliff Lee. The Texas Rangers are once again in the playoff hunt and need a starter. This might be a perfect fit for Lee who does have a no-trade clause in his contract but would likely not mind pitching in Texas. He pitched for the Rangers in 2011 when they went to the World Series. The Rangers have the best prospect in baseball, Jurickson Profar, a shortstop/second baseman who offers great middle-infield skills with a big bat. Unfortunately for Profar, he's playing behind two All-Stars in Texas. This deal needs to be done.
Jimmy Rollins is getting old and still has a couple years on a big contract. If Profar can be acquired, there is no need for Rollins. Send Rollins to a needy suitor, get a couple more prospects and save $11 million.
Lastly I would get rid of Carlos Ruiz, who will be a free agent at the end of the year. The Yankees could use a veteran catcher and a quality right-handed hitter. The Phils could get a catching prospect in return such as Austin Romine. The only question with this deal is if the Yankees would take on a player with a history of using a banned substance.
I would say that the Phillies need to trade Chase Utley, but I know too many Phillies fans who have named their kids Chase. This would be like trading Derek Jeter if you are a Yankees fan. You just have a talk with Utley when the time comes and make him a coach and keep him a Phil for life.
Thurles-based Andrew Slattery has yet to secure his first win of the current Turf campaign, but Ucanchoose can put that right in the five-furlong handicap. With 18 modest sorts chasing a first prize of less than €5,000, this is wide open.
Still, Ucanchoose is the most appealing option, having run his best race of the year when leading to the furlong pole over six at the Curragh last time. Declan McDonogh's mount eventually finished fifth, so he should have a live chance of getting back to winning ways over his optimum trip off a pound lower mark now.
In the 12-furlong maiden, McDonogh is also trusted to land the nap on Mick Halford's Zarkiyr at the chief expense of Ballydoyle's Waver. This is a pretty weak heat, and Waver's Curragh second to the selection's stable-mate Dabadiyan is at least encouraging, but Zarkiyr is slightly more progressive.
Stepped up to this trip for a first time in a handicap at headquarters the same day, he stayed on with great effect to lose out by just a nose to Levanto off a mark of 80. That's the single most robust piece of form, so Zarkiyr is fancied to collect.
Goolds Cross-based David Wachman might get proceedings under way in the opening juvenile maiden with Little Fastnet, a Fastnet Rock debutante that is out of Wachman's former top-class juvenile Damson.
Little Fastnet is a three-parts sister to Requinto, another smart two-year-old for the stable that won a Listed race here in 2011 before scoring twice in Group company in England. Of the three in the nine-runner affair that have been placed, Celtic Man is feared most for Bansha's David Marnane, but Little Fastnet is bred to be a bit special.
Nurse Ryan might also plunder a popular local win for Martin and Shane Hassett of Killenaule. The dual hurdle-winning mare will be suited by the fast ground and trip in the Gathering Handicap.
Click on their website www.tilees.com for more information.
2013年5月28日星期二
Herding old folk
The bus pass is under threat. And it won't be long before there's a bedroom tax to herd us older folk into small flats and out of the homes we have built up through toil and sweat.
And this cull of "bedroom blockers" will be to no avail. A report by the International Longevity Centre says relocating senior citizens will only make worse the housing shortage for first-time buyers. The report says more must be done to make retirement housing "aspirational". I presume they mean upmarket abodes of a comfortable and luxurious nature. Not a single-end up a non-wally close.
Pensioners of the world unite. If we must downsize, we should also upgrade. Say no to retirement homes with connotations of commodes and antimacassar-covered armchairs. Say yes to a condominium with a hint of pandemonium. Huge flat-screen tellies, HDMI dongles with YouTube videos of all your favourite rock stars.
This is not rage against the dying of the light. This is a determination to have some fun, fun, fun while roaming in the gloaming of the polished tiles.
Life need not be dull in shelter-ville. Residents can get together to mix and match prescription drugs. Pill-popping parties where tablets to relieve and prevent stiffness may be swapped for others with the opposite effect. Tonic wine tastings where a classy aromatic Wincarnis can be compared and contrasted to a cheeky young Buckfast or a full-bodied Sanatogen.
Hell's Angel-style outings on mobility scooters with all the pillion babes in Marianne Faithfull leather gear. Don't just sit and watch as years go by. With no other occupants in your retirement flat, every night is an "empty" and an excuse for a party. Splurge all the money you're saving on gas and electricity on Marks & Spencer ready meals.
Rock'n'roll retirement is all very well but we don't want ghettos for older folk. The generations should mix. Pensionistas might consider the option of taking rooms in these ultra-smart blocks of student flats that are all over the place these days. You may have to sign up at college for a course in the philosophy of hairdressing. But you will get a student discount card.
There can be symbiosis as auld yins show there is life beyond the pot noodle and the young give valuable information as to whether the lift is going up or down. Oldies should be considerate and not play music too loud when younger residents are studying for exams.
New Bills coach Doug Marrone and the front office made a bold move in drafting Manuel, thought to have an enormously high ceiling but viewed as a raw project, in the first round. Since the draft, however, Manuel has said that the Bills offense has been easier to learn than Florida State's, and new general manager Doug Whaley said he is open to Manuel being the Day 1 starter.
Prior to the draft, the Bills had signed former Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb, who has enjoyed some encouraging moments in the NFL during the occasional times he hasn't been injured. There is little question Kolb is more polished, but will the Bills be able to resist the temptation to turn the keys over to their prized draft pick?
This one could go down to the wire. If Manuel progresses quickly, the Bills would probably like to start him. If he experiences major growing pains (the more likely scenario), he could end up being the backup for, say, half the season before eventually assuming the job.
It's tough to predict how ready Manuel will be because we're two and a half months away from his first game action. Let's say it's roughly 60-40 in Kolb's favor to start on opening day, but that figure has the potential to change in a hurry when the preseason games begin.
Weeden is not a lock to open the season behind center, but it would be a fairly big upset if he doesn't. The presence of the other two guys, however, gives Cleveland one of the best backup quarterbacks in the league and probably the finest No. 3. The new staff and front office aren't married to Weeden, so he won't keep the job for long if he doesn't perform.
One thing working against Weeden is his age. Despite entering just his second NFL season, the former New York Yankees farmhand is going to turn 30 in October. Coach Rob Chudzinski and general manager Mike Lombardi are not going to be as patient with Weeden as they would be with the typical second-year quarterback.
Still, Weeden seems to be a decent fit for Chudzinski and offensive coordinator Norv Turner's vertical attack, and that would give him a decent chance to hang onto the job for a while.
And this cull of "bedroom blockers" will be to no avail. A report by the International Longevity Centre says relocating senior citizens will only make worse the housing shortage for first-time buyers. The report says more must be done to make retirement housing "aspirational". I presume they mean upmarket abodes of a comfortable and luxurious nature. Not a single-end up a non-wally close.
Pensioners of the world unite. If we must downsize, we should also upgrade. Say no to retirement homes with connotations of commodes and antimacassar-covered armchairs. Say yes to a condominium with a hint of pandemonium. Huge flat-screen tellies, HDMI dongles with YouTube videos of all your favourite rock stars.
This is not rage against the dying of the light. This is a determination to have some fun, fun, fun while roaming in the gloaming of the polished tiles.
Life need not be dull in shelter-ville. Residents can get together to mix and match prescription drugs. Pill-popping parties where tablets to relieve and prevent stiffness may be swapped for others with the opposite effect. Tonic wine tastings where a classy aromatic Wincarnis can be compared and contrasted to a cheeky young Buckfast or a full-bodied Sanatogen.
Hell's Angel-style outings on mobility scooters with all the pillion babes in Marianne Faithfull leather gear. Don't just sit and watch as years go by. With no other occupants in your retirement flat, every night is an "empty" and an excuse for a party. Splurge all the money you're saving on gas and electricity on Marks & Spencer ready meals.
Rock'n'roll retirement is all very well but we don't want ghettos for older folk. The generations should mix. Pensionistas might consider the option of taking rooms in these ultra-smart blocks of student flats that are all over the place these days. You may have to sign up at college for a course in the philosophy of hairdressing. But you will get a student discount card.
There can be symbiosis as auld yins show there is life beyond the pot noodle and the young give valuable information as to whether the lift is going up or down. Oldies should be considerate and not play music too loud when younger residents are studying for exams.
New Bills coach Doug Marrone and the front office made a bold move in drafting Manuel, thought to have an enormously high ceiling but viewed as a raw project, in the first round. Since the draft, however, Manuel has said that the Bills offense has been easier to learn than Florida State's, and new general manager Doug Whaley said he is open to Manuel being the Day 1 starter.
Prior to the draft, the Bills had signed former Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb, who has enjoyed some encouraging moments in the NFL during the occasional times he hasn't been injured. There is little question Kolb is more polished, but will the Bills be able to resist the temptation to turn the keys over to their prized draft pick?
This one could go down to the wire. If Manuel progresses quickly, the Bills would probably like to start him. If he experiences major growing pains (the more likely scenario), he could end up being the backup for, say, half the season before eventually assuming the job.
It's tough to predict how ready Manuel will be because we're two and a half months away from his first game action. Let's say it's roughly 60-40 in Kolb's favor to start on opening day, but that figure has the potential to change in a hurry when the preseason games begin.
Weeden is not a lock to open the season behind center, but it would be a fairly big upset if he doesn't. The presence of the other two guys, however, gives Cleveland one of the best backup quarterbacks in the league and probably the finest No. 3. The new staff and front office aren't married to Weeden, so he won't keep the job for long if he doesn't perform.
One thing working against Weeden is his age. Despite entering just his second NFL season, the former New York Yankees farmhand is going to turn 30 in October. Coach Rob Chudzinski and general manager Mike Lombardi are not going to be as patient with Weeden as they would be with the typical second-year quarterback.
Still, Weeden seems to be a decent fit for Chudzinski and offensive coordinator Norv Turner's vertical attack, and that would give him a decent chance to hang onto the job for a while.
Lien-clearing plan saves Wilkinsburg historic condos
Three of the eight units were vacant and two had liens that totaled more than $100,000, with owners who wouldn't respond to requests from the condo association.
"We almost lost the building," said longtime resident Rolynda Ford, whose advocacy of one vacant condo -- along with upstairs neighbor Suzanne Nuss' advocacy of another -- got the attention of the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County.
Because so many liens were owed to the borough, the redevelopment authority's program to clear the title took some convincing, but Wilkinsburg council eventually voted to approve letting the building go through the county's Vacant Property Recovery Program.
All eight units are now owned by people who pay condo association fees. Ms. Ford was able to buy the unit she is in now and Ms. Nuss bought another of the vacant units. She intends to sell one and stay in the China ceramic tile.
Tracey Evans, executive director of the Wilkinsburg Community Development Corp., said the condo building is one of the oldest to have been built specifically for condos, early in the 20th century. Another like it across the street was demolished in the 1990s.
The condos' dining rooms are wainscoted in tiger oak, and pocket doors separate the living and dining rooms. The kitchen floors are hand-laid tile. Each bathroom has mosaic tiling and tile lines the stairwells, whose treads are made of cork.
The Brighton festival's theatre programme ended with this extraordinary import from Argentina in which five actors recalled, with the aid of photos, letters, home movies and old clothes, the lives of their parents. Conceived and directed by Lola Arias, the show offered a compelling mix of personal memories and – since the actors were all born around the time of the 1976-83 dictatorship – a mosaic of modern Argentinian history.
I suspect Arias is an admirer of the Brazilian pioneer Augusto Boal, whose "theatre of the oppressed" dramatised communal issues. Here, the big question is how the actors either live up to the radicalism of a previous generation or, in one case, live down its collusion with dictatorship. The most moving story is that of a performer who discovered that her supposed brother was actually the child of a "disappeared" family and had been illegally abducted by her policeman father: there is both sadness and a sense of relief in the way she recounts that her guilty dad is currently serving an 18-year jail sentence. But amid the stories of parents who suffered death or exile for their politics, there are lighter moments. One actor brings his eight-year-old son and the boy's pet turtle on stage; as the reptiles allegedly have prophetic powers, we watch in suspense as the turtle slowly indicates whether there will be a future Argentine revolution.
Arias's production would doubtless have an even greater impact on a society that had lived through the events described. But it gives us a vivid picture of the high price paid by a previous Argentinian generation for opposing, either openly or covertly, a dictatorship. It is also inventively staged, with descending cascades of clothes symbolising the weight of the past, and performed with great verve: you had to admire the unfazed cool of Liza Casullo as she coped with a technical hitch in the midst of a filmic re-creation of the lives of her exiled parents. But that, one would guess, is the least of the problems this resilient and blazingly honest group of performers has ever had to face.
His “Memento” line for Ceramica Vallelunga looks like it was lifted from a 500-year-old palazzo in Castelfranco, the small town in Northern Italy where he lives. Somehow Barbieri has managed to infuse these look-alikes with the patina of age — the surface of all the tiles has the rounded, irregular wear pattern produced by thousands of footsteps over hundreds of years.
Unlike Barbieri’s work, the originality of Phillip Starck’s “Flexible Architecture” line for Ceramica Sant’Agostino is not apparent at first glance or even the first five minutes. The bold colors and patterns are captivating; the fact that five barely dissimilar tiles can be rearranged in a seemingly infinite variety of distinct patterns is cleverness itself.
Then the light bulb goes off, as you realize that the generating motif for all the patterns is the humble grout line, something that most tile designers regard as distracting, ugly and something to hide.
Starck has done the opposite, celebrating it by incorporating an exaggerated textured grout line into the tile itself. When the tiles are installed you can’t miss the “fake” grout line’s three-quarter-inch width; the actual grout line is one millimeter wide and nearly invisible because it’s colored to match the tile.
Starck also shows us that it doesn’t take much to create a three-dimensional effect — the one-quarter-inch difference in the thickness of the tiles in his “Flexible Architecture” line creates a distinct shadow line in every pattern.
"We almost lost the building," said longtime resident Rolynda Ford, whose advocacy of one vacant condo -- along with upstairs neighbor Suzanne Nuss' advocacy of another -- got the attention of the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County.
Because so many liens were owed to the borough, the redevelopment authority's program to clear the title took some convincing, but Wilkinsburg council eventually voted to approve letting the building go through the county's Vacant Property Recovery Program.
All eight units are now owned by people who pay condo association fees. Ms. Ford was able to buy the unit she is in now and Ms. Nuss bought another of the vacant units. She intends to sell one and stay in the China ceramic tile.
Tracey Evans, executive director of the Wilkinsburg Community Development Corp., said the condo building is one of the oldest to have been built specifically for condos, early in the 20th century. Another like it across the street was demolished in the 1990s.
The condos' dining rooms are wainscoted in tiger oak, and pocket doors separate the living and dining rooms. The kitchen floors are hand-laid tile. Each bathroom has mosaic tiling and tile lines the stairwells, whose treads are made of cork.
The Brighton festival's theatre programme ended with this extraordinary import from Argentina in which five actors recalled, with the aid of photos, letters, home movies and old clothes, the lives of their parents. Conceived and directed by Lola Arias, the show offered a compelling mix of personal memories and – since the actors were all born around the time of the 1976-83 dictatorship – a mosaic of modern Argentinian history.
I suspect Arias is an admirer of the Brazilian pioneer Augusto Boal, whose "theatre of the oppressed" dramatised communal issues. Here, the big question is how the actors either live up to the radicalism of a previous generation or, in one case, live down its collusion with dictatorship. The most moving story is that of a performer who discovered that her supposed brother was actually the child of a "disappeared" family and had been illegally abducted by her policeman father: there is both sadness and a sense of relief in the way she recounts that her guilty dad is currently serving an 18-year jail sentence. But amid the stories of parents who suffered death or exile for their politics, there are lighter moments. One actor brings his eight-year-old son and the boy's pet turtle on stage; as the reptiles allegedly have prophetic powers, we watch in suspense as the turtle slowly indicates whether there will be a future Argentine revolution.
Arias's production would doubtless have an even greater impact on a society that had lived through the events described. But it gives us a vivid picture of the high price paid by a previous Argentinian generation for opposing, either openly or covertly, a dictatorship. It is also inventively staged, with descending cascades of clothes symbolising the weight of the past, and performed with great verve: you had to admire the unfazed cool of Liza Casullo as she coped with a technical hitch in the midst of a filmic re-creation of the lives of her exiled parents. But that, one would guess, is the least of the problems this resilient and blazingly honest group of performers has ever had to face.
His “Memento” line for Ceramica Vallelunga looks like it was lifted from a 500-year-old palazzo in Castelfranco, the small town in Northern Italy where he lives. Somehow Barbieri has managed to infuse these look-alikes with the patina of age — the surface of all the tiles has the rounded, irregular wear pattern produced by thousands of footsteps over hundreds of years.
Unlike Barbieri’s work, the originality of Phillip Starck’s “Flexible Architecture” line for Ceramica Sant’Agostino is not apparent at first glance or even the first five minutes. The bold colors and patterns are captivating; the fact that five barely dissimilar tiles can be rearranged in a seemingly infinite variety of distinct patterns is cleverness itself.
Then the light bulb goes off, as you realize that the generating motif for all the patterns is the humble grout line, something that most tile designers regard as distracting, ugly and something to hide.
Starck has done the opposite, celebrating it by incorporating an exaggerated textured grout line into the tile itself. When the tiles are installed you can’t miss the “fake” grout line’s three-quarter-inch width; the actual grout line is one millimeter wide and nearly invisible because it’s colored to match the tile.
Starck also shows us that it doesn’t take much to create a three-dimensional effect — the one-quarter-inch difference in the thickness of the tiles in his “Flexible Architecture” line creates a distinct shadow line in every pattern.
2013年5月14日星期二
How long will you live?
Tomiko Kadonaga, who turned 100 on Jan. 8, will tell you she’s had an easy life. Others would say differently. Kadonaga, who was born in B.C. to Japanese-Canadian parents, was placed in an internment camp during the Second World War, housed with her husband, Saul, in buildings intended for livestock. “The stall where I was had a little blue card outside that said, ‘First Prize Cow,’ ” she says with a wry smile. “I thought, ‘At least I’m first prize.’ ” Her godmother offered Saul a job on a farm in Port Hope, Ont., and a way out; leaving all their possessions behind, they moved to the area in 1942, and had a daughter. Saul died of esophageal cancer in 1989.
Today, Kadonaga, who lives alone in a neatly kept townhouse in Toronto’s north end, is the picture of contentment. Her legs bother her a bit, she says (she gets around with a flowery purple cane), but otherwise she’s in good health. In Canada, average life expectancy is 81, yet more people than ever are living to be 100. In 2011, we had 5,825 centenarians, according to Statistics Canada, up from 3,795 10 years before. As life expectancy continues to rise, it could hit over 17,000 by 2031. Why some people outlive almost everyone else—and remain in good health, even into very old age—remains one of the grand questions of science. Researchers have credited everything from diet and exercise to genetics. A clue to the secret of Kadonaga’s longevity, one we’re only starting to understand, lies buried deep within her cells: the tiny bits of DNA that cap the ends of her chromosomes, called telomeres.
Telomeres shorten as we age, but the telomeres of centenarians are remarkably long, according to Gil Atzmon at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York—more like those of people three decades younger, or even younger than that. Often compared to the plastic ends that keep shoelaces from fraying, telomeres prevent chromosomes from unravelling and fusing to each other. Each time a cell divides, some of the telomere is lost; when it becomes too short, the cell dies. Telomeres are protected by a powerful anti-aging enzyme, one produced by our own cells: it’s called telomerase, which rebuilds telomeres and protects them from wearing down, a discovery that won scientists Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak the Nobel prize in 2009. Healthy people with longer telomeres seem to be at lower risk of age-related illness, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer—the main diseases that stop us in our polished tiles.
A growing number of researchers say telomere length is a critically important indicator of how old we really are, and of how many healthy years we may have in front of us. A new industry is sprouting up around the science of longevity, offering telomere testing to the public—and Nobel laureate Blackburn is a notable part of it. Her company, Telome Health , is set to launch a telomere test later this year, joining a handful of others that already do. On May 15, Blackburn will be in Toronto to give a lecture sponsored by Executive Health Centre, a private clinic that offers telomere testing in Canada. Like a cholesterol or blood-pressure test, telomere testing could one day become standard in doctors’ offices.
And maybe in the future, we’ll be able to slow or reverse the effects of aging—the vision of researchers searching for ways to boost telomerase, a goal already achieved in lab mice. Some are already marketing so-called “telomerase activators” to a public hungry for ways to stop the clock, although no such drugs have been approved. With so many companies rushing to come on board, “there’s a lot of weird stuff going on out there,” cautions Jerry W. Shay of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, an expert on cell biology and telomere length.
Even telomere testing isn’t without controversy. Greider, Blackburn’s former graduate student, insists that public testing is premature. Dr. Peter Lansdorp, another prominent expert on telomere biology, agrees. “It’s too early, and it’s not supported by scientific data,” he contends. But in an unpublished study presented in late 2012, Blackburn and her colleagues tracked 100,000 people (their average age was 63), and found that those with shorter-than-average telomeres had a 25 per cent greater risk of dying, from any cause, over three years. Telomere shortening is a dynamic process, and length can go up and down through life; there’s still a lot to learn, but “what happens to telomeres really does predict what happens to you later on,” says Blackburn, who’s based at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
For those who’d like a glimpse into their longevity—a hint at true biological age—scientists say they can peer at the tiny caps on their chromosomes and, for better or worse, tell them what they see.
To scientists who study aging, a person’s birth date is increasingly irrelevant. “There’s an idea that we can do nothing about age,” says Felipe Sierra, director of the U.S. National Institute on Aging’s division of aging biology, which funds research into everything from stem cells to telomeres. “While that is true of your chronological age—you have a birth certificate, and that’s it—you can affect the rate of aging.” Ultimately, he says, “chronological age is not so important.” He calls telomere length a “good biomarker of aging,” but won’t comment on whether the public should be seeking out tests.
Scientists are still figuring out what speeds up telomere shortening. Chronic stress seems important. With UCSF psychologist Elissa Epel, Blackburn studied the telomeres of mothers of children with long-term illnesses. Compared to moms of healthy kids, they had shorter telomeres and less telomerase. “We repeated this with spouses who were caretakers of Alzheimer’s patients; it showed the same result.” Other studies have revealed that victims of domestic abuse, or those who suffer from untreated depression, also have shortened telomeres, putting them at greater risk of age-related disease. Shorter telomeres have been associated with cardiovascular disease, some types of cancer, diabetes, osteoperosis, dementia and other conditions.
Blackburn decided to transfer her technology out of the university, to cope with demand. “All sorts of people were wanting to find out about telomere length,” says Blackburn. “We had in our minds it would be interesting for people to know about their health status.”
Still, the “million-dollar question,” as Telome Health president Calvin Harley calls it, remains what can be done about short telomeres. Studies suggest lifestyle interventions—diet, exercise, meditation—could help slow down telomere shortening or boost telomerase activity, but it’s still early days. Harley insists that telomere testing is valuable. He compares it to a “check-engine light, evidence your cellular aging may be accelerated.” A Canadian, he first got his telomeres tested in the late 1980s, when he was a professor of biochemistry at McMaster University. He’s been charting them on and off since. At times when he was under stress, “not exercising or eating as well as I should have been,” he saw a slight dip in his telomere length, which motivated him to make changes.
Telome Health will be launching in many countries, including Canada, later this year; a few others are already offering telomere testing, such as Life Length, based in Madrid, and SpectraCell Laboratories, in Houston. (Testing is typically done with a blood sample; Telome Health will use blood and saliva.)
Telomere tests are generally ordered by a doctor or health care professional on behalf of the patient. While Telome Health hasn’t announced how much it will cost, Life Length charges about $590 to physicians, although patients could be asked to pay more. Executive Health Centre in Toronto offers a “telomere performance program” that tests a patient’s telomere length, then prescribes interventions (from lifestyle changes to nutritional supplements or hormone replacement) based on results. “For years, I’ve been explaining to people that lifestyle affects aging, longevity and healthspan,” says chief medical officer Dr. Elaine Chin. “Now I have a marker to say, ‘Here you are on a continuum of telomere length.’ ”
Today, Kadonaga, who lives alone in a neatly kept townhouse in Toronto’s north end, is the picture of contentment. Her legs bother her a bit, she says (she gets around with a flowery purple cane), but otherwise she’s in good health. In Canada, average life expectancy is 81, yet more people than ever are living to be 100. In 2011, we had 5,825 centenarians, according to Statistics Canada, up from 3,795 10 years before. As life expectancy continues to rise, it could hit over 17,000 by 2031. Why some people outlive almost everyone else—and remain in good health, even into very old age—remains one of the grand questions of science. Researchers have credited everything from diet and exercise to genetics. A clue to the secret of Kadonaga’s longevity, one we’re only starting to understand, lies buried deep within her cells: the tiny bits of DNA that cap the ends of her chromosomes, called telomeres.
Telomeres shorten as we age, but the telomeres of centenarians are remarkably long, according to Gil Atzmon at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York—more like those of people three decades younger, or even younger than that. Often compared to the plastic ends that keep shoelaces from fraying, telomeres prevent chromosomes from unravelling and fusing to each other. Each time a cell divides, some of the telomere is lost; when it becomes too short, the cell dies. Telomeres are protected by a powerful anti-aging enzyme, one produced by our own cells: it’s called telomerase, which rebuilds telomeres and protects them from wearing down, a discovery that won scientists Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak the Nobel prize in 2009. Healthy people with longer telomeres seem to be at lower risk of age-related illness, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer—the main diseases that stop us in our polished tiles.
A growing number of researchers say telomere length is a critically important indicator of how old we really are, and of how many healthy years we may have in front of us. A new industry is sprouting up around the science of longevity, offering telomere testing to the public—and Nobel laureate Blackburn is a notable part of it. Her company, Telome Health , is set to launch a telomere test later this year, joining a handful of others that already do. On May 15, Blackburn will be in Toronto to give a lecture sponsored by Executive Health Centre, a private clinic that offers telomere testing in Canada. Like a cholesterol or blood-pressure test, telomere testing could one day become standard in doctors’ offices.
And maybe in the future, we’ll be able to slow or reverse the effects of aging—the vision of researchers searching for ways to boost telomerase, a goal already achieved in lab mice. Some are already marketing so-called “telomerase activators” to a public hungry for ways to stop the clock, although no such drugs have been approved. With so many companies rushing to come on board, “there’s a lot of weird stuff going on out there,” cautions Jerry W. Shay of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, an expert on cell biology and telomere length.
Even telomere testing isn’t without controversy. Greider, Blackburn’s former graduate student, insists that public testing is premature. Dr. Peter Lansdorp, another prominent expert on telomere biology, agrees. “It’s too early, and it’s not supported by scientific data,” he contends. But in an unpublished study presented in late 2012, Blackburn and her colleagues tracked 100,000 people (their average age was 63), and found that those with shorter-than-average telomeres had a 25 per cent greater risk of dying, from any cause, over three years. Telomere shortening is a dynamic process, and length can go up and down through life; there’s still a lot to learn, but “what happens to telomeres really does predict what happens to you later on,” says Blackburn, who’s based at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
For those who’d like a glimpse into their longevity—a hint at true biological age—scientists say they can peer at the tiny caps on their chromosomes and, for better or worse, tell them what they see.
To scientists who study aging, a person’s birth date is increasingly irrelevant. “There’s an idea that we can do nothing about age,” says Felipe Sierra, director of the U.S. National Institute on Aging’s division of aging biology, which funds research into everything from stem cells to telomeres. “While that is true of your chronological age—you have a birth certificate, and that’s it—you can affect the rate of aging.” Ultimately, he says, “chronological age is not so important.” He calls telomere length a “good biomarker of aging,” but won’t comment on whether the public should be seeking out tests.
Scientists are still figuring out what speeds up telomere shortening. Chronic stress seems important. With UCSF psychologist Elissa Epel, Blackburn studied the telomeres of mothers of children with long-term illnesses. Compared to moms of healthy kids, they had shorter telomeres and less telomerase. “We repeated this with spouses who were caretakers of Alzheimer’s patients; it showed the same result.” Other studies have revealed that victims of domestic abuse, or those who suffer from untreated depression, also have shortened telomeres, putting them at greater risk of age-related disease. Shorter telomeres have been associated with cardiovascular disease, some types of cancer, diabetes, osteoperosis, dementia and other conditions.
Blackburn decided to transfer her technology out of the university, to cope with demand. “All sorts of people were wanting to find out about telomere length,” says Blackburn. “We had in our minds it would be interesting for people to know about their health status.”
Still, the “million-dollar question,” as Telome Health president Calvin Harley calls it, remains what can be done about short telomeres. Studies suggest lifestyle interventions—diet, exercise, meditation—could help slow down telomere shortening or boost telomerase activity, but it’s still early days. Harley insists that telomere testing is valuable. He compares it to a “check-engine light, evidence your cellular aging may be accelerated.” A Canadian, he first got his telomeres tested in the late 1980s, when he was a professor of biochemistry at McMaster University. He’s been charting them on and off since. At times when he was under stress, “not exercising or eating as well as I should have been,” he saw a slight dip in his telomere length, which motivated him to make changes.
Telome Health will be launching in many countries, including Canada, later this year; a few others are already offering telomere testing, such as Life Length, based in Madrid, and SpectraCell Laboratories, in Houston. (Testing is typically done with a blood sample; Telome Health will use blood and saliva.)
Telomere tests are generally ordered by a doctor or health care professional on behalf of the patient. While Telome Health hasn’t announced how much it will cost, Life Length charges about $590 to physicians, although patients could be asked to pay more. Executive Health Centre in Toronto offers a “telomere performance program” that tests a patient’s telomere length, then prescribes interventions (from lifestyle changes to nutritional supplements or hormone replacement) based on results. “For years, I’ve been explaining to people that lifestyle affects aging, longevity and healthspan,” says chief medical officer Dr. Elaine Chin. “Now I have a marker to say, ‘Here you are on a continuum of telomere length.’ ”
2013年5月12日星期日
If the shoe fits
But he was a cool customer, according to Robert Michael Jennings, a retired special agent with Illinois State Police who interrogated Harris on Sept. 30, 2009, nine days after Raymond “Rick” Gee, his wife Ruth and three of their children were found beaten to death with a tire iron in their home in the tiny town of Beason.
When Jennings found Harris for a chat, he was at OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria, visiting Tabitha Gee with Nicole Gee, his ex-wife, the mother of his newborn son and the adult daughter of Rick Gee, the special agent testified Friday in Harris’ murder trial. Tabitha, the sole survivor of the attack and just three years old, had somehow survived a tire iron blow to her forehead and another to the side of her head.
No big deal, Jennings told Harris – your fingerprints were in the house, which isn’t surprising given your closeness to the family. We just need to ask you a few questions. Then Jennings asked to see the bottom of one of Harris’ K-Swiss tennis shoes in a hospital elevator. The tread matched bloody shoe prints found in the Ceramic tile, Jennings testified. What kind of vehicle do you drive? Pickup, painted primer grey, Harris answered.
Before hearing from Jennings, jurors on Friday listened to testimony from Michael Oyer, a retired Illinois State Police crime scene investigator who described the discovery of shoes that Harris had been wearing the night of the killings. They were easy to spot from a span over Sugar Creek between the Gee house and the Armington home where the defendant was staying with his brother Jason Harris, about 25 miles north of Beason.
Jason Harris may have led investigators to the shoes, which were found not far from a tire iron and a computer air card, used to access the Internet, that came from the Gees’ laptop computer. The discovery came on Oct. 6, 2009, the same day that police served a search warrant at Jason Harris’ home and found the laptop, covered in dirt and grass, in his pickup truck. It’s not clear what led police to Jason Harris, but prosecutors say that he accompanied his brother the night of the killings. The state has agreed to dismiss first-degree murder charges in exchange for his testimony. Under the deal, Jason Harris, who was facing a life in prison, will get a 20-year sentence for concealing a homicide, obstruction of justice and unlawful delivery of a controlled substance. With time off for good behavior, he will be free in six years.
Roads between the Gee household and Armington are bordered by farmland and vacant tracts. In the dark, the brothers could have thrown the shoes and tire iron most anywhere, forcing investigators with crossed fingers to comb many miles of rural roadside. Instead, they chose a bridge marked with yellow-and-black hazard signs. And they didn’t even hit the water. The shoes made it further than the tire iron into a field alongside the creek beneath the bridge, Oyer testified.
In at least one respect, the K-Swiss shoes found in the field didn’t match the ones that investigators took from the defendant the night that Jennings questioned Christopher Harris. The shoes that cops took from the defendant were size 12. The ones found in the field a week later were not. It is a difference that prosecutors have surrounded with neon.
Under their bed, Ruth and Rick kept a large tub filled with DVD’s and brightly colored sex toys clearly visible from outside the clear plastic tub. During pretrial motions, the defense had said that Dillen acted out against inanimate objects, and jurors heard Oyer say that numerous dents, gouges and scratches on doors and walls “were consistent with having been kicked and punched over a period of time.” The home, he said, was messy.
The only window in Dillen’s bedroom was covered up with a sheet of fiber board, supporting what defense counsel Peter Naylor had told the jury in opening statements: Dillen, who had a history of disciplinary problems at school, had once snuck out of the house, and so windows had been nailed shut.
Dillen’s bedroom was the only one that had no blood in it or other evidence of an attacker. It did contain a Sony PlayStation 2 video game system and three Mortal Kombat games in which the player is tasked with killing characters that meet bloody ends. The defense claims that Dillen’s love for violent video games is evidence that he killed his own family.
This was going to be such an easy answer. I'd just direct Jones to Travelex, which had a Chip and PIN (personal identification number) card, and that would be the end of it. The Travelex card would be a backup, because many places overseas can accept U.S. cards that have a magnetic stripe.
But the answer wasn't easy. Besides the fact that there isn't a convenient Travelex near Jones' home, Travelex has discontinued its C&P card, which worked well for me on a London trip last year. It was easy to get and use.
You may not even need a Chip and PIN card when you travel — but, then again, you may. You may need it when you try to buy a transportation pass at an unmanned kiosk in a London Tube station, which probably won't accept your U.S.-issued magnetic-stripe card. You may need it when you try to buy a mobile phone outside the heart of London, and the shop owner gives you a withering look and says, "Don't you have a smart card?"
That's when that Travelex card came in handy for me a year ago. But no more, the company says. At least, not for now. "We are working on a new and enhanced version of the card, which should be available later this year," Travelex rep Maria Brusilovsky told me in an email. "Unfortunately, we don't have a substitute at the moment."
When Jennings found Harris for a chat, he was at OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria, visiting Tabitha Gee with Nicole Gee, his ex-wife, the mother of his newborn son and the adult daughter of Rick Gee, the special agent testified Friday in Harris’ murder trial. Tabitha, the sole survivor of the attack and just three years old, had somehow survived a tire iron blow to her forehead and another to the side of her head.
No big deal, Jennings told Harris – your fingerprints were in the house, which isn’t surprising given your closeness to the family. We just need to ask you a few questions. Then Jennings asked to see the bottom of one of Harris’ K-Swiss tennis shoes in a hospital elevator. The tread matched bloody shoe prints found in the Ceramic tile, Jennings testified. What kind of vehicle do you drive? Pickup, painted primer grey, Harris answered.
Before hearing from Jennings, jurors on Friday listened to testimony from Michael Oyer, a retired Illinois State Police crime scene investigator who described the discovery of shoes that Harris had been wearing the night of the killings. They were easy to spot from a span over Sugar Creek between the Gee house and the Armington home where the defendant was staying with his brother Jason Harris, about 25 miles north of Beason.
Jason Harris may have led investigators to the shoes, which were found not far from a tire iron and a computer air card, used to access the Internet, that came from the Gees’ laptop computer. The discovery came on Oct. 6, 2009, the same day that police served a search warrant at Jason Harris’ home and found the laptop, covered in dirt and grass, in his pickup truck. It’s not clear what led police to Jason Harris, but prosecutors say that he accompanied his brother the night of the killings. The state has agreed to dismiss first-degree murder charges in exchange for his testimony. Under the deal, Jason Harris, who was facing a life in prison, will get a 20-year sentence for concealing a homicide, obstruction of justice and unlawful delivery of a controlled substance. With time off for good behavior, he will be free in six years.
Roads between the Gee household and Armington are bordered by farmland and vacant tracts. In the dark, the brothers could have thrown the shoes and tire iron most anywhere, forcing investigators with crossed fingers to comb many miles of rural roadside. Instead, they chose a bridge marked with yellow-and-black hazard signs. And they didn’t even hit the water. The shoes made it further than the tire iron into a field alongside the creek beneath the bridge, Oyer testified.
In at least one respect, the K-Swiss shoes found in the field didn’t match the ones that investigators took from the defendant the night that Jennings questioned Christopher Harris. The shoes that cops took from the defendant were size 12. The ones found in the field a week later were not. It is a difference that prosecutors have surrounded with neon.
Under their bed, Ruth and Rick kept a large tub filled with DVD’s and brightly colored sex toys clearly visible from outside the clear plastic tub. During pretrial motions, the defense had said that Dillen acted out against inanimate objects, and jurors heard Oyer say that numerous dents, gouges and scratches on doors and walls “were consistent with having been kicked and punched over a period of time.” The home, he said, was messy.
The only window in Dillen’s bedroom was covered up with a sheet of fiber board, supporting what defense counsel Peter Naylor had told the jury in opening statements: Dillen, who had a history of disciplinary problems at school, had once snuck out of the house, and so windows had been nailed shut.
Dillen’s bedroom was the only one that had no blood in it or other evidence of an attacker. It did contain a Sony PlayStation 2 video game system and three Mortal Kombat games in which the player is tasked with killing characters that meet bloody ends. The defense claims that Dillen’s love for violent video games is evidence that he killed his own family.
This was going to be such an easy answer. I'd just direct Jones to Travelex, which had a Chip and PIN (personal identification number) card, and that would be the end of it. The Travelex card would be a backup, because many places overseas can accept U.S. cards that have a magnetic stripe.
But the answer wasn't easy. Besides the fact that there isn't a convenient Travelex near Jones' home, Travelex has discontinued its C&P card, which worked well for me on a London trip last year. It was easy to get and use.
You may not even need a Chip and PIN card when you travel — but, then again, you may. You may need it when you try to buy a transportation pass at an unmanned kiosk in a London Tube station, which probably won't accept your U.S.-issued magnetic-stripe card. You may need it when you try to buy a mobile phone outside the heart of London, and the shop owner gives you a withering look and says, "Don't you have a smart card?"
That's when that Travelex card came in handy for me a year ago. But no more, the company says. At least, not for now. "We are working on a new and enhanced version of the card, which should be available later this year," Travelex rep Maria Brusilovsky told me in an email. "Unfortunately, we don't have a substitute at the moment."
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