text:
Contact me
Tamer El-Diraby
Dept. of Civil Engineering
University of Toronto
35 St. George St.
Toronto, Ontario
Canada, M5S 1A4
Tel: 416-978-8653
Fax: 416-978-6813
Research Interests
Construction project management, Knowledge management systems (ontology, semantic systems, process management); Infrastructure management systems (asset management, sustainable construction); Context sensitive design (value analysis, constructability analysis)
Construction Management | Visit the i2c website
Education and Designations
BSc., MSc. (Zagazig, Egypt)
Ph.D. (Texas)
|Course Code
|Title & Description
|Start Time
|Prof. Tamer El-Diraby, Edvard Bruun, Prof. Oya Mercan, Prof. Jeffrey Packer, Prof. Daman Panesar, Prof. Shoshanna Saxe, Kyle Tousignant, Prof. Kaiwen Xia
|Fall 2017
|Scheduled by the Office of the Faculty Registrar.
|Prof. Tamer El-Diraby
|Fall 2017
|Prof. Tamer El-Diraby
|Winter 2018
|Scheduled by the Office of the Faculty Registrar.
My research work focuses on knowledge engineering in construction management with a focus on integrated civil infrastructure systems. Within this scope, my research agenda covers knowledge engineering in three major domains: construction engineering/constructability analysis, information systems, and sustainable construction. The agenda also covers two related (minor) domains: smart systems and construction business practice. Within these domains, my research spans three main thrusts of knowledge engineering: knowledge acquisition (understanding and documenting industry best practices and problems), knowledge modeling (developing formal reusable models of construction systems), and knowledge management (systems to infuse knowledge into decision making).
The construction industry has one of the lowest rates of IT/e-business implementations. Given the nature of the industry (especially its labour-intensive nature), I believe that integrating knowledge management (KM) with e-business tools is what is needed to foster a breakthrough in the usability of information systems in the industry. This belief was fostered by the following drivers:
- The shift from IT to KM: KM goes beyond software interoperability and e-business transactions to encompass the modeling of human knowledge (both tacit and explicit), developing advanced work processes that encapsulate the wisdom of past mistakes (with an emphasis on human interaction over software automation), and the consistent harnessing of best practices to support continuous improvements. On the technical level, the desire for advanced KM tools is supporting a shift from traditional Web technology to semantic Web technologies (ontology-based systems).
- The emergence of neo IT research: Traditional IT research has focused on the engineering (design, in particular) aspects of projects. The evolution of e-society and the knowledge economy is pushing for more emphasis on new domains such as sustainability and life cycle management, which are better addressed by KM tools.
- Globalization: Multinational organizations (in many cases, virtual) and projects are becoming an increasing reality in the construction industry. There is a pressing need for establishing means for managing the flow of information and knowledge and coordinating decisions in such organizations.
- The needs for managing information systems: With the plethora of ever-changing IT tools, organizations are in dire need for dynamic means for assuring interoperability among the usually heterogeneous systems used for business, engineering and administrative tasks. The ability to configure systems to particular project needs and the timely and efficient update of system configurations are now essential for the competitiveness of any organization in the new economy.
- From e-building to e-infrastructure: In contrast to building projects, infrastructure projects have larger scales, span a diversified set of disciplines, and have been characterized with lower levels of IT use. The deterioration of infrastructure systems and the interests of the private sector (local and global) for investments in infrastructure have created an opportunity for establishing what could be called as "e-infrastructure" (interoperable systems for managing design and construction).
Knowledge is a human-centered "mix of framed experience, values, contextual information, and expert insight that provides a framework for evaluating and incorporating new experiences and information. It originates and is applied in the minds of the knowers (Davenport and Prusak, 1998)[1]". One can recognize at least three dimensions to knowledge (Onions, and Orange, 2002)[2]:
- "The known (ontology): what is known.
- The knower (knowledge systems): The viewpoint and context introduced by the mind of the holder of what is known, the who, why and the where.
- Knowing (epistemology): The processes associated with knowing what is known, specific to the knower, the how and some of the why."
[1] Davenport, T. H., and Prusak, L. (1998). "Working Knowledge, "Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.
[2] Onions, P., and Orange, G. (2002). "The Three K's: A model for knowledge that supports ontology and epistemology," Working Paper—IMRIP 2002-12, School of Information Management, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK.
My research mission is to support a breakthrough in the management of construction knowledge through a fundamental re-examination, modeling and implementation of industry-relevant knowledge with the objective of understanding infrastructure interdependency, achieving semantic interoperability among engineering and management systems, integrating design and construction, and ultimately, blending infrastructure systems in the fabric of its community.
In my view, a major premise of "urban engineering" is to design and manage civil engineering products (buildings and infrastructure) in an optimized, sustainable manner that takes into account the life cycle of products, their impacts on the environment, influence on local economy and interaction with local communities. To that end, I defined my role/contribution to urban engineering as exploiting R&D and teaching capacities to support the creation and management of a knowledge ecology in the infrastructure domain, where software, work processes, and the organizational culture support integrated, human-based generation and sharing of knowledge. The perceived outcome of this ecology are systems that support better understanding of the interdependencies between different infrastructure system, hence, produce more resilient infrastructure; quantification and integration of sustainability issues into the design of infrastructure; and creating collaborative knowledge-based mechanisms for decision making.
The main focus of my research agenda is on knowledge and IT tools as they relate to engineering and management processes in the infrastructure domain. It is important here to clarify that, while my research touches on the following domains, they are not part of my research agenda: computer applications in construction, construction simulation, and CAD data exchange standards.
My strategy in achieving this mission includes the following four major stages (see figure below):
Stage 1—Foundations of e-infrastructure: in this stage I focused on establishing a continuum of R&D and teaching activities to support KM in civil infrastructure. This phase created an interoperable semantic platform for construction knowledge and for interdependency in infrastructure systems; developed prototypical software (in virtual teaming, e-society and life cycle costing); and introduced KM concepts into new (or amended) courses.
Stage 2—The Centre for Information Systems in Infrastructure and Construction (i2c): this centre aims at establishing and industry-academia alliance for the infusion of advanced KM systems into coordinating the design and construction of infrastructure systems on a citywide scale.
Stage 3—Smart Organizations: while i2c is aimed at cross-jurisdiction collaboration, this stage aims at implementing advanced KM and corporate memory systems in individual organizations to achieve competitiveness on local and global levels.
Stage 4—Knowledge cities: the long term goal is to utilize R&D results to achieve full engagement of stakeholders in the sustainable, coordinated development of smart, optimized infrastructure.
In regards to stage 1 of my strategy, my main research accomplishment is the creation of a set of integrated semantic systems (ontology-based) for knowledge engineering and management in the infrastructure domain. The main focus of these systems is to assure interoperability among information systems and embedding interdependency in our knowledge models.
My work span three main thrusts of knowledge engineering: knowledge acquisition, knowledge modeling, and knowledge management (see Figure 1). These complementary thrusts help assure that the ontologies are based on practical (human-based) expertise (through knowledge acquisition); support the development of interoperable semantic models of industry knowledge (through knowledge modeling); and implement these models (through knowledge management tools) to support knowledge-based, collaborative decision making.
To be effective, KM systems have to be integrated in the organizational culture, encompass all business and technical processes, and engage all stakeholders. My research work, therefore, covered three major domains: construction engineering (to address the technical aspects of projects, especially during design), information systems (to optimize information flow and communication), and sustainable construction (to assure the consideration of environmental and community aspects). These three domains were supported with work on two additional (minor) domains: construction business (to assure all tools have "business value") and smart systems (to support effective data collection).
The following notation has been used to indicate the status of my journal papers: published (P), submitted (S), ongoing (G), future papers (F). The Figure below shows a map of my research work in relationship to a matrix of knowledge engineering thrusts and relevant knowledge domains.
Knowledge Acquisition
This research thrust focuses on active engagement with industry to solicit and formalize field problems and best practice. Throughout the last 5 years, my students and I have conducted interviews with more than 159 industry experts in various research projects. Work in this thrust also helped me develop a set of guidelines for designing research methodologies in field-based settings [P5]. The following research work was conducted within this thrust (across all five knowledge domains):
Constructability of Infrastructure Systems
Urban Bridge Constructability: during my study at the University of Texas at Austin, I worked with my supervisor, Prof. James T. O'Connor, on a research project with the Texas Dept. of Transportation (TxDOT). The project included the rehabilitation of a 23 Km stretch of Highway 35 (including 23 bridges) in the heart of downtown Dallas, TX—a typical urban renewal project [P1].
Bridge Superstructure Rotation Construction Method: This project documented an innovative, environmentally friendly bridge construction technology and benchmarked its best practices in China. The study also developed a model for the constructability of the method [P13]. The study was conducted with help from my PhD student Zhang, J.
IT/KM Practice in the Construction Industry
Implementation of Construction IT: One of my MASc. students (Gill, S.) and I participated in a nationwide research project to map IT implementation at Canadian construction companies [P3].
KM Practices in Construction: This study documented/analyzed practitioners' use of semantic web-based systems, including industry needs, best practices and the advantages of semantic systems [P16].
Public Consultation Practice: This research work was conducted through collaboration with the city of Toronto to analyze aspects of sustainable construction and means for engaging the public in project development [P19]. This study was conducted by two of my PhD students (El-Gohary, N. and Osman, H.) under my supervision.
The Business of Construction
Market Attractiveness and Company Competitiveness: to find their way to implementation, IT/KM tools have to make business sense and produce "value" to end users. This research work focused on modeling drivers for marketing/business strategies of contractors and the importance of KM/IT tools in the competitiveness of construction companies on local and global scales [P15]. This study was conducted by one of my undergraduate students (Do Couto, T.) and a research associate (Singh, S.).
Marketing Canadian Housing Products in Mexico: this work was conducted by my MASc student, Cariaga, I. and with collaboration from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and Royal Industries to develop a model to assess the profitability of housing products in the Mexican market [S7].
Knowledge Modeling
Work in this thrust included modeling industry knowledge into practical systems, the development of a platform of interoperability in construction knowledge along with a set of formal ontologies for construction knowledge, and an integrated ontology for infrastructure interdependency:
Knowledge-based Models
A Model for Bridge Construction Planning: This model was developed as part of my PhD. research at the University of Texas at Austin. It was funded by the Texas Dept. of Transportation (total funds =$660,000). The model evaluates the effectiveness of bridge construction plans (BCP) through five major factors: Safety, Accessibility, Carrying Capacity, Schedule, and Budget. The model also included 22 subfactors to help evaluate these major factors with specific definitions of each sub-factor, their data sources and measurement techniques [P2].
The model, along with other research findings, was applied to more than ten bridge reconstruction projects in Dallas, TX and elsewhere. On one Dallas project, where the research team utilized the model, the schedule was cut in half, $1 million in hard costs were saved, and $36 million in user costs were eliminated. This research has garnered three national team awards in as many years: the Texas Quality Initiative Award, the National Value Engineering Award, and the National Quality Initiative Award.
Subsurface Utility Engineering: developed a cost model for the impacts and best practices of information reliability (through subsurface utility engineering) on the performance of infrastructure projects [S4]. This work was supported by NSERC, Toronto Sewer and Watermain Contractor Assoc., and Ontario Sewer and Watermain Contractor Assoc. The two associations are recommending the use of the model as best practice to their members. The Toronto Public Utility Coordinating Committee has expressed interest in recommending the use of the model to other organizations in Toronto. This study was conducted by my PhD student Osman, H. under my supervision.
Smart Infrastructure Systems: This project developed a model for the life cycle costs of smart infrastructure systems and a framework for the utilization of real-time data in decision making [P4]. This study was part of the thesis work of my MASc. student Rasic, I.
Semantic e-Infrastructure Platform
This work was funded by NSERC and other UofT grants (total funds=$125,000). The work was conducted in collaboration with CSTB (Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment, France) as part of the e-COGNOS project (Consistent knowledge management across projects and between enterprises in the construction domain--IST-2000-28671). Since then, I extended the ontology both in depth and coverage. Currently, the ontology network encompasses 20,000 concepts, including:
A core taxonomy for construction knowledge: this was the first semantic representation of construction concept as a starting point towards building a formal ontology for construction knowledge [P9]. The taxonomy encompasses construction projects, processes, products, actors and resources. In addition, it provides definition and semantic representation of related domains such as project management, constructability, finance and interoperability.
Self-Describing Concepts: developed a core metadata schema for construction knowledge, which supports interoperability between domain ontologies. Further, this schema can support self describing concepts. This could support dynamic semantic reconciliation of different organizations' taxonomies and/or processes [S1].
A System for Ontology Merger: the proposal uses formal concept analysis and lattice algebra to dynamically merge two or more ontologies of different organizations. This system is part of the thesis work of my PhD student El-Gohary, N. [S5].
Sub-Domain Taxonomies/Ontologies: The core platform was used to build a set of interoperable sub-domain taxonomies/ontologies to capture the knowledge in a certain domain:
- Engineering Aspects:
- Highway construction knowledge: This research developed a distributed ontology architecture including a link to ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems). The work was done by my MASc. student Khan, K. [P7].
- Telecommunication infrastructure: This research work developed a taxonomy for the outside construction concepts. The work was done by my MEng student Brecino, F. [P8].
- Infrastructure products: This research work was an attempt to model the core knowledge in the physical products in different infrastructure systems as a step towards supporting collaborative design of collocated infrastructure (with emphasis on urban systems). The work was done by my PhD student Osman, H. [P18].
- Business Aspects
- Privatized infrastructure finance. Work done by my MASc. student Gill, S.
- Sustainability/Public policy [P14].
- Sustainability in Highway construction. Work done by my MASc student Wang, B. [P10].
- Green concrete. Work done by my MEng student Ahmed, N. [G1].
Interoperable Information Schemas: while previous work focused on knowledge representation (using Web Ontology Language—OWL), the following studies focused on establishing interoperability schema (using XML). This is mainly due to the lack of clear consensus in the following domain. Future work will attempt to upgrade the XML schemas into full OWL schema:
- Infrastructure performance measures: This schema is an attempt to streamline the way different infrastructure sectors define and measure the performance of their infrastructure components. The work was done by my MASc. student Abdel-Rahman, A. [S3].
- Environmental costs in Highway construction: This schema presents a consistent way to communicate the impacts and costs of different elements of highway construction on surrounding environment and local community. This work was done by MASc student Surahyo, M. [S2].
Prototype Ontology for Building construction. While all previous work focused on civil infrastructure, this study developed a prototype ontology for building construction. The work was done by, then, my MASc student Zhang, J. [P11].
Knowledge Management
Each of the aforementioned ontologies was used to create a set of web services to support a facet of KM. These complementary web services present a platform of interoperable web-based tools for the exchange of semantic knowledge. These web services covered the following facets of KM:
Knowledge-enabled Decision Making
Feasibility of Urban Transit Infrastructure: As part of supporting an integrated engineering approach for the design and management of urban infrastructure, I co-supervised an MASc. student (Pramod, K. C.) with Prof. Abdulhai to develop a system for integrating sustainability in the feasibility analysis of urban transit infrastructure. The project conducted a prototypical feasibility study of a monorail in downtown Toronto. The project developed a model for integrating traffic, construction and community needs in the decision making [P6]. The project was supported by NSERC, Toronto and Area Road Builders Assoc. and Heavy Construction Assoc. of Toronto.
Web Services Environment for Life Cycle Costing: This work was mainly conducted by myself (with some support from my graduate and undergraduate students). The environment was developed to support collaborative probabilistic system for estimating and managing life cycle costs of construction products using web services [P12].
Design Optimization: This study developed a model that combines life cycle costing, value analysis quality function deployment, and data envelopment analysis (DEA) for identifying the most optimum project scope [S6].
e-business systems
Collaborative Projects: using ontologies to support an interactive semantic system for knowledge exchange during project risk analysis and for optimizing project life cycle costs [P12, P14].
Corporate Memory: using semantic systems and workflow management systems to support semi-automated generation of work report and feeding previous projects knowledge into new projects [P11].
Virtual Organizations: using semantic systems to support virtual teaming and the creation of semantic-based communities of interest [P8].
Knowledge-Enabled Analysis for Sustainable Construction
Prototype e-Society Portal: using an ontology to communicate project designs to local communities [P10]. Work was funded through grants from Toronto and Area Road Builders Assoc. in collaboration with the City of Toronto. The applicant is working with the City to expand and deploy a prototypical version in two actual projects.
Knowledge Management in Environmental Costing: a web-based system for documenting and estimating the environmental costs of highway projects [S3].
Incorporation of Data exchange Standards into e-Business Taxonomies: because data exchange standards such as industry foundation classes (IFC) have been used extensively in the construction sector (especially in CAD, scheduling and cost estimation), it is beneficial to develop systems that integrates these standards in new e-business taxonomies to assure smooth transition into semantic systems [P18].
Knowledge Acquisition
Mobile Computing: study of the benefits of mobile computing in construction. The work includes developing a "value map" for mobile computing in construction. It aims at identifying specific industry needs and where and how can mobile technology provide "value" in meeting these demands [G5]. This work is being done by my MASc. student, Ballan, S.
Stakeholder Management in Urban Infrastructure: three PhD students and myself have been granted access to attend project meetings in four major projects in Toronto (including the Don Valley Corridor—a major thoroughfare in Toronto). To support formal mining, a "profile" will be created for each meeting. This includes recording the "issues profile" (their extent and relevance, and attributes); documenting the profiles of actors involved (their roles, expertise, contributions and constraints) [F8].
Knowledge Modeling
Infrastructure Interdependency: I am leading a national multidisciplinary team to use the e-infrastructure platform to develop the first comprehensive ontology for infrastructure interdependency. The project is funded by the Joint Infrastructure Interdependency Research Program (JIIRP), NSERC and several industrial partners (total funds=$535,000). The project team includes three other Canadian Professors (from UofT, UBC and UofR). JIIRP is a major national initiative in Canada.
Two of my PhD students are working on elements of this ontology (hereinafter called JIIRP ontology):
- An ontology for infrastructure management processes as part of the PhD work of ElGohary, N. [F10].
- An ontology for infrastructure stakeholders as part of the PhD work of Zhang, J. [F14].
Two other students are working to support this ontology:
- A taxonomy for Gas utilities. This work is being done by my MEng. student Saliah, Y.[F6]
- Benchmarking interdependency best practices. This work is being done by my MEng. student Wensierski, M. [F11].
An epistemological model for interdependency knowledge: While current research by the applicant has focused on the 'known' aspect of knowledge (interoperable ontologies), this research project branches into the 'knowing' aspect at the human and corporate levels. The main contribution of the project is the establishment of a human-centered ecology for KM in the interdependency domain through integrating best practices from epistemology and sociology into the engineering and business aspects of KM. The ecology integrates organizational structures, work processes and software system in a customizable environment for managing individual and group knowledge to empower teams of workers to coordinate their decisions. The research aims at formalizing an epistemological model for knowledge evolution and 'knowing' practice in the infrastructure design/construction domain. This includes: 1) identifying the human and environmental (physical, psychological, social, political and corporate) factors that have bearing on knowledge development in the domain; 2) modeling typical scenarios for knowledge evolution; 3) understanding knowing patterns by different actors in different scenarios; and 4) linking environmental factors to typical knowing patterns.
Knowledge Management
Street Manager: using JIIRP ontology, web services and GIS-based systems to create a decision support system to optimize the routing of urban buried infrastructure systems. The system integrates engineering, sustainability (particularly traffic and community impacts) and life cycle costing into the design and construction of buried infrastructure systems [F9]. This is the implementation part of the work of my PhD student Osman, H. A prototype GIS system (StreetManager) was developed to test how multi-organization constraint satisfaction can be accomplished to support micro-level utility routing. Primary users of the portal include local municipalities and utility companies who own/mange infrastructure within a ROW. The system relies on three main components: (1) An object oriented geo data model that is built on an Infrastructure Product Ontology developed, (2) an XML-spatial constraint model, and (3) A dynamic spatial constraint knowledge base which is built according to the XML-schema.
Establishing an agent-based KM system: this research work aims at utilizing agent technology and peer-to-peer architecture to support effective flow of knowledge to the right person at the right time. This is the implementation part of the PhD work of my student Zhang, J. The work includes deploying interdependency ontologies and is to implement the epistemological model to establish a customizable environment to support human-centered exchange of knowledge. At the core of the portal is an interoperability layer where the ontologies reside. Built on top of this layer is a control layer, where a set of agents will control the access, retrieval, modification and customization of information [F15].
A framework for virtual organizations: using the principles of process reengineering, enterprise modeling and work flow management to develop a framework for situated cognition or organizational learning. The framework will include guidelines and tools for creating dynamic work processes that matches the needs of specific project. Managers can use the ontology to map the knowledge needed to perform a task (the known) and use the epistemological model to analyze the flow of knowledge among team members (the knowing process). Customizable agents can capture and distribute relevant information to team members (manage the knowers) [F7]. This work is being done by my PhD student ElGohary, N.
Semantic Web-based Open engineering Platform (SWOP): This project is funded by the 6th Framework of The European Union and includes participation from a multitude of international research groups. The project will offer a radically new and extensible approach for ICT-support in the production of complex products and services. The approach is a breakthrough in manufacturing:
- An open, semantic, web based, distributed engineering platform, including multi-dimensional constraint-based and decision-making ICT tools, for
- Fast and flexible production of customized, but "industrialised3" complex solutions,
- With intensive input of knowledge capital of engineering and expertise expressed in parametric object catalogues together with reference design patterns.
The Open Engineering Platform will be mainly built on a combination of two state-of-the-art ICT technologies with high potential for business application and impact: Semantic Web (SW) technologies and Genetic Algorithms (for smart manipulation of semantic data).
My plans for future work focus on extending the scope of i2c, work on implementing KM tools in individual organizations, and using web services tools to support the evolution of knowledge cities.
Second Phase of i2c
The second phase of i2c builds on the results of current research. It includes three main research initiatives (see Figure below) and the establishment of an industry forum:
Smart Toronto: A Sensor Network for Real-Time Data Collection: installing a network of sensors, actuators, and cameras to collect real time data about existing infrastructure systems in Toronto. The network will be designed through collaboration with Prof. Sinfield, Purdue University, and, possibly, Prof. Ian Smith, EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology). The network design will be based on a survey of the state-of-the-art sensing technologies and a comprehensive analysis of data needs and their relevance to effective infrastructure operations and long term planning.
Ontario Infrastructure Portal: A GIS-based web portal for relevant infrastructure information (location, specifications, performance levels, surrounding area statistics and needs, etc.) along with knowledge-based systems for decision support that can help decision makers integrate the designs of several infrastructure systems, coordinate the construction planning of various projects in a manner that optimizes direct project cost (reducing rework and delays) and user costs (impacts on traffic, business and the environment). The portal will feature knowledge enabled web services that allow a decision maker to evaluate the attributes and impacts of different options on social, economic and environmental aspects in addition to life cycle costs. Work in this regard includes collaboration with CSTB and, possibly, University of Bonn.
Infrastructure policy analysis: defining, measuring and integrating sustainability into the development process; benchmarking successful implementations; developing legal frameworks for e-infrastructure; modeling policy components and issues into policy objects that can be used to for simulating the impacts of different policy combinations.
A major constraint on all stakeholders is the set of regulations that define their work system boundaries. The work will model the objectives and role of Canadian regulations; and ultimately, how they support collaboration. This will also include identifying basic requirements, methodologies, and mismatches between existing codes. Finally, this task will benchmark efforts for code consistency in other countries and other industries.
Industry forum: The Centre will create an infrastructure forum that will hold regular meeting for industry executives, conduct informative seminars, analyze industry standard, and ultimately act as a catalysts for knowledge-based collaborations. This includes the creation of digital libraries that will be available to users, such as engineers, developers, financiers, etc.; and nourishing the development and exchange of infrastructure "knowledge products" to foster coordinated optimized developments.
Intelligent Organizations
With an effective free market, highly qualified labour, and abundance of natural resources, the Canadian construction market is a lucrative place for multi-national organizations. Canadian companies will need to acquire top-notch technologies, motivated and well-trained personnel and reliable IT strategies to be able to compete in this market. In addition, companies need to establish strong mechanisms to harness the best of construction knowledge and business expertise, as globalization essentially depends on organizations' ability to capture, package and market their expertise, rather than their physical resources (i.e. labour, equipment and materials).
Human Factors in Knowledge Management: this research work emphasizes the socially embedded and contextual character of knowledge. It aims at bringing human factor to the fore of KM systems through the use of data mining (to discover knowledge patterns), epistemology (to model the knowing/learning process) and agent technology (to provide autonomous intractable representation of actors' knowledge)..
Competitiveness in Global economy: There is a need for a paradigm shift among infrastructure developers to start perceiving their expertise in infrastructure development and operations as marketable products. This emphasizes the need to instill the following business tools and paradigms in the infrastructure industry:
- Best of breed practice: firms have to instill a culture for harnessing best of breed solutions in construction technology, human capital, project development processes and project finance schemes to be able to compete.
- Dynamic organizations: organizations need to concentrate on core competence and re-invents their offerings by re-configuring its virtual enterprises per project. More importantly, organizations have to master the capabilities and vision to lead/adapt to changes as they occur in the market.
- Time to market: well-prepared plans to penetrate markets through detailed analysis of conditions and potential projects and possible partners.
Virtual organizations: reengineer the process of infrastructure provision to foster a new information culture that emphasizes data collection, use of advanced technology and sharing of information among project participants—specifically:
- Establishing flexible and modular process structures that reduce information noise upon organization interface.
- Developing distributed project decision-making cycles that allow end-users to use their proprietary and commercial applications to synchronize and integrate the elements of an infrastructure project.
- Developing means and best practice standards for coordinating the interaction between individuals and firms in a dynamic virtual development enterprise.
From Environmental Assessment to Sustainability Promotion: This research project aims at establishing a knowledge-based system for enhancing the processes of environmental assessment and community consultation and integrating the results of these two processes into the design process. To help upgrade the current practice from mere analysis of the environmental impacts into a comprehensive consultative and innovative process for consideration of sustainability, the following research tasks will be undertaken:
- Formal documentation of the process: using formal computer systems to document the EA process to facilitate the development of web-based systems for managing the knowledge gained during EA implementation.
- Synthesis of the knowledge gained in EA implementation: identification of major issues and best practices of EA through analysis of representative cases and interviews with experts.
- Database of EA cases: currently most EA cases are not kept. The knowledge gained during the consideration of these cases is lost. This task aims at proposing a semantic database system to document EA cases in a reusable format.
- EA knowledge portal: establish a web-based portal for supporting and exchanging best practices about EA, including establishing design aids that support engineers during the design phase to incorporate EA best practices in their design.
This work will be done by my incoming MASc. student Bucci, M. (starting Sept. 2006).
Knowledge Cities
A knowledge city is achieved mainly through active citizens, NGO (non-government organizations) and private sector contribution to the achievement of sustainable knowledge economy within a conducive culture and business environment set up by city leaders. Consequently, in a knowledge city, virtually all urban projects are commissioned through active participation of citizens.
Community impacts and involvement: the true essence of sustainability is in blending infrastructure project into the socio-economic fabric of our neighborhoods. Smart growth initiatives should intertwine, in addition to environmental protection, community protection into the development of infrastructure through emphasizing reliable public and emergency services, enforcing safe practice in infrastructure design, construction and operation, and instilling a customer-orientation and satisfaction mentality in every development effort. This includes:
- document the rationale and consequence of each decision (for future data mining);
- empower citizens with enough information and means to study, comment, propose and evaluate creative solutions and design alternatives.
- provide local communities and business with a clear perspective of the short and long term impacts of a new project on the environmental, social and economic sustainability. This will allow local business to integrate new project in their future plans.
- drawing on the expertise of all relevant stakeholders. This is becoming more relevant given the increasing role of non-technical issues in urban project development. Moreover, in a knowledge city, community members are expected to posses and to be able to communicate valuable innovative ideas.
Infrastructure economy: infrastructure development strategy should consider innovative finance options that provide not only required project finance but, more importantly, complement overall development policy objectives. For example, highway financing through transit pricing policies that induce a communal paradigm shift from "mobility" to "access" or energy use policies that finance alternative energy systems through taxing traditional ones. On a higher level, infrastructure should be provisioned to complement our socio-economic development objectives. The introduction of an infrastructure component in a community pond should create balanced reliable rebel effects that boost the local economy through local employment and facilitating goods and people movement.
Integrated development: cultivating all desired aspects of sustainability will never be realized without packaging development efforts in a "band" of projects orchestrated to eliminate rework, reduce the staggering user and business cost; prioritize and allocate budgets in a balanced long term approach, and optimize public investment. This includes threading engineering, management and business concepts in infrastructure development. For example, using smart durable materials to reduce life cycle cost, establishing rigorous operational, maintenance and rehabilitation systems that emphasis infrastructure function as a conduit for our economic and communal activities.
I have established strong collaboration with CSTB, France. This included work on the e-COGNOS Project (Consistent knowledge management across projects and between enterprises in the construction domain--IST-2000-28671). This project was funded by the 5thFramework of the European Union and included support from leading European construction organizations and universities: Taylor Woodrow Ltd. (UK), Hochtief AG ( Germany), YIT Building ( Finland ), DERBi (France), CSTB (France), ARISEM (France), ISI-University of Salford (UK). The project was the first attempt to develop a comprehensive ontology-based system for KM in construction [P9, P16, P17].
I was also invited to be the first academic member of the 2nd work group of FiaTech. FiaTech is a major industry alliance in the US aiming at establishing an IT-Based roadmap for the construction industry. The alliance includes the major players in the construction industry (owners, contractors and software vendors). NSF has adopted FiaTech roadmap as the basis for accepting new research indicatives in construction IT.
I was also invited by CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) to join Canada-Mexico Partnership (CMP) Working Group on Housing. The group is led by CMHC and their Mexican counterpart (CONAFOVI). The objective of the group is to promote sustainable technologies and products in their projects throughout Mexico . The Caanda-Mexico Partnership (CMP) was launched on October 24, 2004, within the context of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and Mexico and the 10th anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Additional collaborative work includes:
- Case Studies on the Use of IT in the Canadian Construction Industry. This project was funded by the Canadian Society for Civil Engineers and included collaboration with Prof. Rivard, ETS (P. I.), Froese, UBC, and Waugh, UNB.
- An ontology for infrastructure interdependency: This project is funded by the NSERC and the Joint Infrastructure Interdependency Research Program (JIIRP). I am the P.I. in this project, which includes collaboration with Prof. Karney, UofT, Froese, UBC, and El-Darbiey, UofR.
Stage 2 of my strategy focused on the establishment of the new Centre for Information Systems in Infrastructure and Construction (i2c)." The Centre is a node for industry-academia collaboration to enable the adoption of information technology in the construction industry. The Center's main objective is to optimize project development through coordinating planning and operations across independent jurisdictions, nourishing a thriving information supply chain in the construction marketplace including the advancement of smart workplaces and intelligent infrastructure systems. For more details about the mission of the centre please visit the Centre's website
Funding for the Centre was secured through grants from CFI, OIT, UofT and industry. The total budget of the centre is around $1.8 million. The centre facility is designed as a smart facility and a live lab, where students can control the environmental aspects of the facility and study their impacts on energy consumption, user comfort, and facility use. Attachment RA5.3 provides a summary of the main features of the facility. To that end, i2c allowed a very effective means for engaging the industry in my research and supporting my plans for putting my research into action. i2c is currently engaged in several collaborative research projects with Canadian, European and US teams.
The Center's objective is to conduct research and develop implementation tools in:
- Smart homes and workspace: integrate home information systems to optimize user comfort; and blending home information systems with "Green Design" practice.
- Smart infrastructure: integrating designs of infrastructure across jurisdictions; coordinating execution plans to optimize associated user and business costs; and assuring design sustainability.
- Intelligent companies: supporting the creation and dissemination of best-of-breed solutions in technology, human capital, project development and finance schemes.
- Intelligent policies/management systems: harnessing best practice in deregulation schemes; embracing globalization through awareness of the opportunities; and innovative legislations and trade agreements that foster Canadian competitiveness.
Five overlapping tools have been identified to realize these objectives:
- Research: integrating deigns of collocated projects; coordinating construction plans; establishing collaborative virtual organizations; defining, measuring and integrating sustainability into the development process; modeling the needs and techniques for ecosystem restoration; establishing measures and tools to optimize public investments; benchmarking successful implementations in other industries and other countries; developing legal frameworks for e-infrastructure;
- Real-time data collection: a network of digital cameras, sensors, intelligent devices (such as smart gas valves, traffic signals, pollution monitoring stations, etc.) will be installed throughout Toronto. The Centre will integration data collected from all sorts (manually, sensor-based or network-based) into a harmonious repository of "infrastructure data" to support investment decisions.
- Software systems and web services: support a collaborative portal for integrating infrastructure design, coordinating construction, analysis of infrastructure inter-dependency, and optimizing public investments.
- Industry Forum: engaging industry to define research agendas, and validate/implement research results. Establish collaborative work environments, investigate impacts of public policy on the industry, and analyze strategies to benefit from globalization.
- e-society portal: engaging the community in infrastructure development through a web portal designed to solicit community input in the design of future infrastructure (including simplifying decision options for the public and building consensus).
- Inter-disciplinary education: I believe in introducing operations research and knowledge engineering concepts to civil engineering students. Students need such background to be able to manage/communicate in the upcoming world of (virtual and real) network-based design and construction, which is the hallmark of the knowledge-economy.
- Industry interaction: I envision a learning environment that will create partnership between the university and the industry. In this partnership, students will get a hands-on learning experience in the field and industry leaders and faculty will work together to shape curriculum and research agenda.
CIV320—Management of Construction
I taught this course in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2006. This is a required course of all civil engineering students. It aims at introducing students to the basics of construction engineering and management. I redeveloped the course to focus more on the management angle. While other courses (such as Building Science, Construction Engineering, and Municipal Engineering) introduced aspects of construction engineering, no other course offered the management aspects of civil projects. I also believed that the management aspect is more needed to support the new Dept. strategy, which focused on sustainability and urban engineering. Sound understanding of project management is the basis for integrating the works of different civil engineering disciplines and that of other domains (such as project finance and environmental management).
By its very nature, teaching construction management includes an item of training. This includes training students on safety code, scheduling software and reading construction drawings. For this portion, I invited industry experts to lecture my students.
The course covers the issues of construction industry structure, project planning, cost estimating, resource management, project control, financial management, safety, communication, IT, and quality management. Elements of current research in the areas of IT, and infrastructure privatization and finance are also introduced to students. The course includes a module for teaching a major project scheduling software and a mandatory project on using this software in scheduling a construction project. In 2005, I introduced an optional module and project on 4D. In 2007, I plan to upgrade the scheduling project into a full scale project on estimating, scheduling and bidding on one of the many construction project taking place at UofT. The project will be evaluated by the project architect, contractor, and the manager of UofT capital projects.
CIV101—Structures, Materials and Design
This is a mandatory course for all incoming engineering students at UofT. I taught the course in 2004 and 2005 to the mechanical engineering students. The course syllabus, text, and outline were developed by the course coordinator, Prof. Wright.
Knowing that this course is one of the first that exposes students to engineering science, I focused on teaching them not only the theory of structures and how to solve problems, but also introduced them to the rational analytical techniques for systems analysis through the following tools:
- Developed and engaged students in modeling the basic principles of the course into a UML model. This helped them understand the basic entities and their interrelationships.
- Real-life cases: in addition to the typical problems, I introduced an optional assignment called "analyze this", which challenged the students to apply structural analysis principles to every day events/structures. The assignments progressed form simple observations, to analysis of unusual structures to the design of innovative systems.
CIV1278—Pre-Project Planning and Constructability Analysis
I offered this course for the last 5 years. I redeveloped the course contents to focus on advanced topics in project planning. The course contents evolved based on the feed back that I received from students. Currently, the main elements of the course are:
- Value engineering
- Constructability analysis
- Partnering
- Pre-project planning
CIV1283—IT Applications in Construction
This is a new course that I developed and offered in 2001 and 2004. The course introduces students to the following main topics:
- System analysis and modeling: UML, STEP, Process modeling
- Data exchange standards: IFC (industry foundation classes)
- Semantic and knowledge-based systems: taxonomies and ontologies
- Applications of IT in construction.
CIV1299—The Business of Construction
This is a new special studies course that I offered in 2003. The course included the following topics:
- Construction industry structure
- Relationship between construction industry and economic development and performance
- Construction marketing
- Strategic planning in construction.
Between 1991 and 1993, I supervised the development and delivery of a comprehensive training program in construction management for Egyptian Civil engineers (total of 1500 engineers), which was funded by the World Bank. Through my membership in the sustainable development committee, I conducted the following courses:
- Sustainable Infrastructure Professional Development course, Human Resources Canada & CSCE, Toronto, November, 2002
- Sustainable Engineering in an Urban Environment Professional Development Course, CSCE, Toronto, November, 2002
- Environmentally Sustainable Construction--An Introductory One Day Workshop, Moncton, June 4, 2003
I also conducted the following course:
- Construction Project Management—A three day professional development training course, May 20-22, 2005, ACAPE, Toronto, Ontario
- Study of Research Methodology: to me the essence of graduate studies, especially at the PhD level, is the ability to understand, develop and conduct research using sound, effective and valid research methodologies [P5]. Immediately as my students arrived, I challenged them to present a report about different research methodologies. Next I instructed them to develop a research scope and methodology with their first year at UofT. This helped create more rounded students and faster tenure at school.
- Focusing on Research Implementation: each student is responsible for implementing his/her research work into an industry-relevant software/decision support system. Each student is working with at least one industry organization to secure field-based data collection and validation of their research.
- Publication: I encouraged my PhD students to write papers based on their research work as soon as possible [P18, P19, S4, S5]. I also encouraged them to write papers outside their research scope whenever possible—for example P13, S6 and:
- Osman, H. (2005) "Risk-based Life Cycle Cost Analysis of Privatized Infrastructure" Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. No 1924, TRB, National Research Council, Washington D.C. pp 192-196.


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'Maur' joy for Rush school
Rory Kerr at Parnell Pk
RUSH's remarkable run in schools competitions continued at Parnell Park last Wednesday when they captured their third trophy in two years.
Under St Maur's defender Ronan McGinty, Rush captured both the Cumann Na Mbunscoil titles last season, but this latest win was arguably equally as good.
Having conceded two early goals, Rush had a big job on their hands, but guided by mentors Richard Sheridan and Padraic O'Hara, they pulled off a terrific comeback before a sizeable Maur's support.
Maur's defended admirably in the closing stages as Ratoath piled on the pressure, and with Andy Doran pulling off some crucial interventions at full back, the Fingal boys held firm.
Ratoath had got off to a good start, and after raising the white flag then found the back of the net on five minutes. Cian Murphy, having taken a crossfield pass off James McCann, cut in from the left before driving low past the keeper at the far post.
Maur's response was good, however, with Harry Groome switching on to his left foot before splitting the posts.
An inch perfect pass from Liam Doran then set up Jise Bankole for Maur's second point, but Ratoath then opened Rush up for a second time when Killian Cahill burst the back of the Maur's net with a superb finish.
An angled point from Ben Fullam was to keep Maur's in touching distance, with Fionn Murphy and Groome then trading points.
Then began Rush's remarkable comeback, with their captain Stephen Bogan pointing to put just three between the sides. Off the subsequent kickout Groome beat the keeper with a fantastic finish. The Ratoath keeper was then beaten for a second time a few moments later despite having blocked an initial effort from Bogan. Fulham was on hand to turn home the rebound, with Liam Doran then taking a return pass of off Bankoso to fire home Rush's fourth.
Ratoath finished the half with a point to trail by 4-5 to 2-3 at the break, with the two sides then trading a free at each end.
Maur's keeper Sean Keegan was then called into action for the first time when he was on hand to deny Ratoath captain Luke Newe, after the centre back had made a terrific break through the middle.
And it was to prove a crucial intervention, with Rush then breaking upfield to claim their fifth goal through Fulham who showed good composure to beat the advancing Ratoath keeper. Ratoath, to their credit, showed their character to register 1-4 without reply in the closing stages, but while Evan Weir would land a penalty for Ratoath the Rush net was not breached again, with Keegan pulling off two fine saves.
Rush N.S: Sean Keegan, Fionn Jones, Andy Doran, Evan Doyle, Cian Rock, Owen Harford, Aaron McCann, Liam Doran 1-0, Harry Groome 1-2, Jason Collins, Stephen Bogan 1-2, Joseph Whyte, Ben Fullam 2-1, Jise Bankole 0-1, Daniel Thorne, Lee O'Sullivan, Cameron Coffey, Sean O'Neill, Aaron O'Reilly, Dylan Hanratty Russell, Michael Jones, Luke Fichtner.
Fingal Independent

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Dabangg 2 Down On Second Friday
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Dabangg 2 was down on its second Friday mainly due to the 20/20 cricket match between India and Pakistan which may have taken around 75 lakhs out of the film as it hit the peak evening shows.
The second Friday had collections in the 4-4.25 crore nett range which took the film over the 100 crore nett mark.
The drop from the first day is over 75% but the film will should have a huge jump on Saturday. Dabangg 2 is heading for record business in Bihar while the other circuits will be amongst the top three.
Tagged boxoffice


text:
What does quick response force mean?
Definitions for quick response force
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word quick response force.
Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms
quick response force
A company-sized force providing responsive, mission-tailored, lightly armed ground units that can deploy on short notice, with minimal lift assets, and capable of providing immediate or emergency response. Also called QRF.
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of quick response force in Chaldean Numerology is: 4
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of quick response force in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3
Images & Illustrations of quick response force
Translations for quick response force
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- kekuatan respon cepatIndonesian
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"quick response force." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2018. Web. 20 Mar. 2018. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/quick response force>.


text:
Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes admits they're interested in Athletic Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez.
Bayern will again be challenging for glory in both the Bundesliga and the UEFA Champions League over the coming 12 months, and Heynckes feels he needs greater competition for places.
"You need to read these statements (from Martinez) right. The transfer fee is exorbitant, this is the main problem," Heynckes told Bild.
"Still, it's a fact he is a part of our plans.
"Our club, Bayern Munich, will again have to juggle many balls in the new season. Therefore we need to rely on many good players.
"We need to have good alternatives, as we did not have these options in terms of players last season."


text:
Women's Metallic Stelle 10 Silver Ring
Stunning silver plated brass statement ring with chain by Yael Salomon. Features four sleek gold tone double bands with sparkly cubic zirconia studded between them to catch the light. Wear this dramatic piece as a cocktail ring or dress up an everyday look. Silver plated over brass. Thailand. One size. Colour: metallic


text:
The future of the East Coast Macworld Expo trade shows was called into question by the recent dispute between Apple and IDG World Expo, and the cancelling of Macworld Expo Tokyo in 2003 added to the uncertainty. And yet, Apple released a statement saying "Apple will continue to participate in Macworld San Francisco in January" without specifying a year. So even though it sounds like Macworld Expo in San Francisco has a future, it also seems likely that the world of Macintosh trade shows will see radical changes in 2003. If you're planning on attending, make the most of this year's show.
We've heard of almost no public events this year, but Ilene Hoffman is just about to start updating the Robert Hess Memorial Events List for this show, so it's worth checking the list before the show for parties to attend.
TidBITS Events -- A number of TidBITS staff members, including myself, Jeff Carlson, Matt Neuburg, and Mark Anbinder, will be at the show and speaking on a variety of topics. We certainly hope to see the regulars, and if it's your first time at Macworld Expo, be sure to stop by and say hello, since we have a few of the coveted TidBITS t-shirts to hand out to Macworld first-timers.
On Tuesday, January 7th at 3 PM, Glenn Fleishman and I will be talking about troubleshooting wireless networks at the Aladdin booth (#1407). Bring your questions!
On Wednesday, January 8th, I'll be chatting with user group members about Apple's show announcements and more from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM in the User Group Lounge, which is room 250/262 (West Mezzanine in the South Hall of Moscone, one level above the show floor). After that, from 1:15 PM to 2:30 PM, I'll be giving a Macworld Users conference session entitled "Getting Started with iPhoto" in room 301. I plan to do an overview of iPhoto with tips and tricks. From 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM in Room 120, Matt Neuburg will be delivering a Macworld Pro conference session entitled "Taking Control of Mac OS X." Matt always puts on a great show, so if you've been wondering about how to automate applications like FileMaker Pro, Eudora, and Microsoft Word in Mac OS X using tools like QuicKeys, BBEdit, Script Debugger, REALbasic, and Cocoa, don't miss him.
<http://www.mugcenter.com/macworld/mwsf2003/ ugl.html>
<http://www.macworldexpo.com/macworld2003/V33/ conference/session.cvn?eID=138>
<http://www.macworldexpo.com/macworld2003/V33/ conference/session.cvn?eID=106>
On Thursday, January 9th from 12:30 to 1:15 PM, Bob LeVitus, Ted Landau, and I ("The Mad Dogcows") will be taking on Shawn King, Chris Breen, and Andy Ihnatko (the "X.F.L. Team") in the MacBraniac Challenge Macintosh trivia contest, hosted by David Pogue. We're already in the lead on the basis of having a better name, but be sure to come to the keynote hall to find out which team can pull more useless Macintosh trivia from their brains. From 2:00 to 3:00 PM I'll be at the Peachpit booth to talk about iPhoto, and from 5:00 to 6:00 PM I'll be back at the Peachpit booth with Glenn Fleishman to turn you on to all the latest and greatest happenings in the world of wireless networking.
<http://www.macworldexpo.com/macworld2003/V33/ index.cvn?id=10017>
On Friday, January 10th at noon, come listen to Jeff Carlson and a panel of authors at the Peachpit booth talk about digital video and how to get the most out of that digital camcorder you received for Christmas.
Netter's Dinner -- Sure, it may be formulaic, but it's a formula we like. For the 17th straight year, the annual Netter's Dinner will take place Thursday, January 9th at the Hunan at Sansome and Broadway, where the hot and spicy Chinese food (vegetarian dishes are included too) costs $18. You must register by 07-Jan-02 via Kagi - use the link below. As has happened the last few years, the booming voice and Hawaiian shirt of our fearless organizer, Jon Pugh, will once again be absent, so I'll be moderating the boisterous raise-your-hands survey. Help me avoid sounding unprepared on stage by sending me suggestions for questions, and when you're yelling suggestions from the audience, yell loudly!
<http://www.seanet.com/~jonpugh/ nettersdinner.html>
As in previous years, meet at the top of the escalators on the south side of Moscone at 6:00 PM and be prepared for a brisk, sometimes damp walk that snarls traffic throughout downtown San Francisco. I may show up a few minutes after 6:00 PM, but we'll leave no later than 6:30 PM for the restaurant.


text:
Your man doesn't need to hear about any mean things your friends or family have said about him. Unless it's relevant and important to your relationship, there's no need to hurt him with their not-so-nice words. To do so would just rock the boat. You want your family and friends to like him, and you want him to like your family and friends, so avoid creating an unnecessary rift.
Being open and sharing opinions that can help move the relationship forward is a must, but being critical about things your partner can't easily change (his baldness, his height) isn't fair. Your opinion matters to him and whether you see him as attractive is most likely very important to him, so if he can't change something about his appearance, why tell him?
If a friend confides in you and asks you not to tell anyone, respect her wishes and keep her secret — even from your guy. Unless you need his assistance or are troubled by the information, keep it to yourself. You're in no way obligated to share other people's secrets with your partner, especially when they don't have anything do with him.
You might not love his family, but keep your negative comments about them to yourself. Let's face it; he wants you to like his family, and he's most likely sensitive about those people in his life. If there is a legitimate problem with one of his family members, ask his advice about how to resolve the issue, but don't go overboard. Don't reveal lots of negative feelings especially if those family members can't change what you are annoyed with.
It's OK to think other people are attractive (hello, Ryan Gosling), but you don't need to tell your partner, especially if it's someone he knows. Yes, these feelings are only thoughts and you (ideally) haven't acted on them, but there is no need to stir up feelings that might promote or inspire jealousy.
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text:
My Travel Uniform
Outfit Details:
Max Mara Coat (also love this pink one, similar less expensive here and here), GAP Turtleneck (old, similar here), MOTHER Jeans (last seen here), Nike Sneakers, Chanel Bag, Cuyana Laptop Bag, Steamline Carry-On
It's been a while since I last shared a post on my travel style. And to be completely honest, not much has changed! It really depends on where we're going, but for the most part, I sort of have my go-to outfit nailed down. As you can see from this post and now this post, my look usually consists of a soft/cashmere sweater, jeans, sneakers, a coat if I'm heading somewhere cooler or a big cozy scarf to wrap up in. It's really just a never-fail combo that feels put together enough but still comfortable. Plus, many of the items are things I'll keep re-wearing wherever I'm heading to.
These Nike Air Max Thea sneakers are my favorite! I have them in grey and have worn them so, so much. When I saw them come out in this blush color, I ordered them immediately from my phone. I love them because they're not only a great athletic shoe (I do workout in them!), but they were the first sneaker that I could actually style with real clothes. I never got into the whole athleisure thing, until I found these. I could also see this color and this color pairing really nicely with just some jeans and a white tee.
The other thing I never travel without is my Steamline carry-on. Before buying it, I didn't know how often I would actually travel with it. I didn't know if it would be durable enough and if it could carry all my stuff (most of the time we travel with much more luggage than this). Well, turns out, it's not just a pretty face. It's traveled with me almost everywhere and has been my favorite travel accessory, toting along all of my personal belongings I may or may not actually need for our trips.
Travel Style
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114 Comments
Leave a Comment Cancel reply
I've been looking for that exact kind of laptop sleeve! Thanks for sharing.
The perfect travel look! I love your sneakers :)
xx Kathryn
That laptop bag is a dream! Loving the blush colour palette.
Mom jeans are my current favorite trend! Love them on you.
xo Jordyn
Everyone has a travel uniform lol
I love yours <3
Mim Xx
These sneakers are AMAZING! Everything you wear is so amazing that by the time I get to it, it is sold out!
They're available on foot locker website
Thank you so much for sharing your travel style, such great looks – chic yet comfy. I totally agree with you about not fully embracing "athleisure", and love the way you styled the Nike's so your outfits still look pulled-together.
love the sneakers!!
Lovely post! Any idea what that Chanel bag style is called? Thanka!
Julia, I LOVE the steamline luggage, but can't find a lot of reviews on them. I'm wondering if the carry-on you use fits under the plane seat in front of you or if it has to be stowed in the overhead compartment?


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Alcatel-Lucent to sack further 4,000 workers
Alcatel-Lucent announced "aggressive" plans yesterday to sack a further 4,000 staff by 2009 and fired its finance chief, Jean-Pascal Beaufret. Pat Russo, chief executive, who was under pressure to find a rescue plan after three profits warnings this year or face the chop herself, said the three-point growth and savings plan would help deliver the benefits of the merger between the US and French telecoms equipment firms. Alcatel-Lucent, which is already cutting 12,500 jobs, wants further annual savings of €400m (£280m) and €600m this year after it made a third-quarter net loss of €345m.
David Gow
Friends Reunited follows rivals by ending charges
Friends Reunited is ditching its subscription system in an attempt to stop users migrating to newer, free sites such as Facebook and MySpace. The ITV-owned website allows free searches for old school and university friends but it charges £7.50 for a six-month membership that allows users to contact other members. Subscriptions account for the majority of revenues, while its rivals fund their services through advertising. Michael Grade, ITV executive chairman, had hinted last month that more of Friends Reunited would be opened up, describing the site as being "at the sweet spot" of the internet.
Jemima Kiss


text:
(P)1998 by Blackstone Audiobooks
There are no listener reviews for this title yet.
"Great Story, Terrific Narration, Horrible Sound"
I first checked this audiobook out from my library, but I liked it so much I decided to buy it here. That was a mistake. While the story and narration were still excellent, the sound quality of this Audible version was terrible. It sounded like they had taken the original recording to a tunnel and made a cassette tape copy of it there. Oddly enough, the chapters didn't match up either. For example, clicking on chapter four not only takes you to the middle of a chapter, but the middle of a sentence. I was extremely disappointed and will be returning this audiobook.
"An engrossing read..."
I selected this book because it was "on sale," thinking it would be low risk if I didn't like it. I loved it! The story is engrossing, the narrator excellent. My only gripe is with the sound quality -- there seems to be a lot of background noise/feedback.
"A fascinating history -- and Dumas as well"
Le bon roi Henri is the most beloved king in France's history. Catherine de Medici is one of the most despised (rightly or wrongly) figures of the Renaissance, the archetype schemer and poisoner. La reine Margot became one of the fairy tale princesses of French history. All because of this book. It's a great story, a true story, mostly, and Dumas is the greatest storyteller in history. Unfortunately, the gallant style is not Robert Whitfield's (Simon Vance's) forte, but he still does a passable job. It's worth the money/credit. I would bet that you listen to this more than once in your life.
"Pre-Musketeer Joy!"
I absolutely loved this book. Fast paced swashbuckling adventure, brotherly love and Bromance, Romantic intrigue with beautiful women, and the murderous machinations of Catherine de Medicis! Lust and vengeance at every turn!
What's not to like?
The two Heros are very much in the style of the later humorous and wonderful Musketeers of the 'D'Artagnan' series by Dumas. Those readers, like me, who've craved for similar stories of honour and adventure and the goodness of men against evil, will thoroughly enjoy this book and it's brilliant narrator, Robert Whitfield.
"Beautifully read, but not up to Dumas standard"
Somehow, I keep getting bogged down. The story drags, although this IS Dumas, and the reader is excellent. The prose is elaborately wordy, which might read better on paper than as a listen. But if one gets bored in listening to the description of a major battle and desperate rescue, there is a problem...
"Queen Margot (Unabridged)"
This wasn't the best book for me. It's written in "old fashioned" style, so while I find the subject fascinating, I couldn't get past the verbose prose. Someone who likes reading period books in period style would like this book.
"The last French Kings of Valois and their Mum."
Catherine de Medici, mother of Charles of France must vie with Livia, the wife of the Emporer Augustus of Rome (as described in 'I Claudius' by Robert Graves) as the nastiest, most evil woman in European history.
I was reminded too of Eco's 'Name of the Rose' in the attempt to poison Henry that ended with Catherine's murder of her son. I think I could find many other gems of plot that have been developed by later authors in the construction of other authors' subsequent novels.
With great humour Dumas presents us a Grand Melodrama.Though I do not know this, it was possibly published in serial form in the newspapers of his day.
This story written in 1845 is set in the late 1500's. Religious massacres and gross betrayal, contrived by Catherine, follows the diplomatic marriage of her daughter, Margot to the Huguenot King Henry of Navarre. Having lulled the Huguenots to drop their guard the Saint Bartholomew Massacre of the Huguenots begins.
Read so very well by 'Robert Whitfield', I found this Audio far more enjoyable than my reading of the hardcopy and the movie made in the 1990's.
"Not Dumas' best"
but still a compelling romance full of political intrigue.
"Don't bother."
This was very disappointing. Frivilous plot, feeble characters, unsatisfying and vague ending. Seems like Dumas, whose work I love, was so bored with it himself he decided to just abruptly end it and move on.
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text:
If You Aint Lovin Then You Aint Livin George Strait
[G]If you got a [D]Cadillac, boy, and a forty-room shack, [G]boy,
A bucket full of [D]money and a tree full of [G]honey,
But if you're gettin' no [C]huggin', no smoochin' or a-[G]muggin'.
If you ain't [D]lovin', then you ain't [G]livin'.
If you're ridin' on a [D]gravy train instead of walkin down [G]lover's lane,
You can't make [D]hay, boy, 'cause you're goin' the wrong [G]way boy.
You gotta get a little [C]honey, it's better than [G]money.
If you ain't [D]lovin', then you ain't [G]livin'.
If they call you a [D]big man 'cause you gotta lotta [G]bottom land.
If you're kin to the [D]president and you help run the [G]government,
But if you're gettin' no at[C]tention, you're better off on a [G]pension.
If you ain't [D]lovin', then you ain't [G]livin'.
If you got a [D]string of long cars and you're smokin' them [G]four-bit cigars.
You ain't so [D]well to do unless you get a little [G]koochi-koo.
It takes a little bit of [C]smackin' - all your life's a-[G]lackin'.
If you ain't [D]lovin', then you ain't [G]livin'.
Important: The song above is NOT stored on the Chordie server. The original song is hosted at www.guitaretab.com. Chordie works as a search engine and provides on-the-fly formatting. Chordie does not index songs against artists'/composers' will. To remove this song please click here.
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Four warrior Clans have shared the land around the lake as equals for many moons. But a prophecy foretells that three ThunderClan cats will hold the power of the stars in their paws. Jayfeather and Lionblaze know that they are two of the cats in the prophecy. Now the brothers must wait for a sign from StarClan to discover the identity of the third cat.
Meanwhile, Dovekit and Ivykitkin of the great leader Firestar are poised to become ThunderClan apprentices. Soon one sister will have an ominous dream - and will begin to realize that she possesses mystical skills unmatched by any other cat.
In the midst of a cruel season that threatens the lives of all four warrior Clans, bonds will be forged, promises made, and three young cats will start to unravel the secrets that bind them together.
©2009 Working Partners Limited (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers
"great story"
I really enjoyed this story! I was really engaged in this audio CD! I have listened to it many times and it never gets old! On a scale of 1-10 I would rate this 9 and a 1\2.
"Amazing! ❤❤❤"
The narrator was amazing, and had different voices for each cat. It fits with the feelings of characters, and the drama. I love the this book series. I highly advise people who like adventure stories to read the story.
"Best narrator"
Kathleen McInerney can be a tom, a she-cat, and a playful kit and more perfectly. She is the best warriors narrator out of all. Far better than Nanette Savard.
I love it a great book! It has so much drama. And the voices of the cats kinda tell there feelings! 👍👍👍
"Great listening"
This book got us through a long road trip. The kids loved it! A bit confusing at first, but the names of the cats start becoming clear in a short time.
"Did not really grab me until near the end."
Do take note that this is from Harper Children's Audio. The narrator lends a cartoonish aspect where even many of the older characters still sound like children--which can be hard to listen to at first. There were also so many names being thrown around, that initially it was hard to follow and to know which of the characters were of actual consequence to the plot. Otherwise the story line was okay, but I probably won't go out of my way to get more books in the series.
"i love these books!"
i didnt like the narrator much but the book is great! i never listened to a audio book before but it was cool!
"Love it"
I love this audio book, nothing to dislike about it.
I love that there are different voices for each character
The music at the beginning and the and was very enjoyable and peaceful
"bad book"
no because all her books are terible
not one of these
no I will never listen to one of her books again
all of them
do not by this book
Report Inappropriate Content
If you find this review inappropriate and think it should be removed from our site, let us know. This report will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.


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Elton John is recovering from a "serious" respiratory infection that landed him in Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai hospital Wednesday, his rep tells Us Weekly in a story on the website.
The 65-year-old fell ill during a May 20 performance of his "Million Dollar Piano" concert at The Colosseum in Las Vegas.
US reports:
Admitted to Cedars-Sinai on Wednesday morning, John underwent a battery of tests that led doctors to suggest that he cancel upcoming concerts in order to fully recover.
His representative told the website: "Those tests resulted in the attending physician recommending that Elton not perform any concerts for approximately seven days with complete rest and antibiotic treatment to cure his respiratory infection and prevent any damage."


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I saw this script posted over on Digg today:
It's sort of an "automatix" for science-related programs. I came here to do a quick search and learn more about it, but I didn't pull up any posts in the forums.
Does anyone use this? Anyone interested in setting up a wiki for documentation of the included programs?


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02 Sep 2007
VERDI: Giovanna d'Arco
Giovanna d'Arco, dramma lirico in a prologue and three acts.
Music composed by Giuseppe Verdi. Libretto by Temistocle Solera.
Alceste. Tragedia in three acts (Italian version). Alceste. Tragédie opéra in three acts (French version).
Hamlet: Opéra in five acts. Music composed by Ambroise Thomas. Libretto by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier after The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare.
Advertised in the program as the first opera written in the New World, La Púrpura de la Rosa (PR) was premiered in 1701 in Lima (Peru), but more than the historical feat, true or not, accounts for the piece's interest.
Das Liebesverbot: Grosse komische Oper in two acts.
Opera in three acts. Words and music by Richard Wagner.
Parsifal. Bühnenweihfestspiel ("stage dedication play") in three acts.
"German poet, dramatist and novelist. One of the most important literary and cultural figures of his age, he was recognized during his lifetime for his accomplishments of almost universal breadth. However, it is his literary works that have most consistently sustained his reputation, and that also serve to demonstrate most clearly his many-faceted relationship to music. . . .
This theme relates to operas based on the works of Friedrich von Schiller.
Here are operas based on French literature from Balzac, Hugo and beyond:
Le Cid, Opéra in 4 acts
I puritani, opera seria in three acts
Zaira, Tragedia lirica in two acts.
Athalia: Oratorio (sacred drama) in 3 acts
Lucrezia Borgia: Melodramma in a prologue and two acts.
La Esmeralda: Opéra in four acts.
Ernani: Dramma lirico in four parts.
Oberst Chabert (Colonel Chabert): Tragic opera in 3 acts.
Otello: Dramma lirico in four acts.
Music composed by Giuseppe Verdi. Libretto by Arrigo Boito after The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice by William Shakespeare.
A Midsummer Night's Dream, a comedy in five acts with incidental music.
Le Marchand de Venise ("The Merchant of Venice"): Opéra in three acts.
Giovanna d'Arco, dramma lirico in a prologue and three acts.
Music composed by Giuseppe Verdi. Libretto by Temistocle Solera.
Streaming Audio
First Performance: 15 February 1845, Teatro alla Scala, Milan
|Principal Characters:
|Carlo VII, King of France
|Giovanna, daughter of Giacomo
|Giacomo, shepherd in Dom-Remi
|Delil, an official of the King
|Talbot, Supreme Commander of the English
Setting: France during the Hundred Years' War (1338-1453)
The action takes place in the village of Dom-Remy, where Giovanna was born, then in Reims and near Rouen during the Hundred Years' War, in 1429. Loosely based on historical events, the drama has as its protagonist the shepherdess Giovanna. Urged by a group of angels who have appeared to her in a dream, she persuades the King, Carlo VII, to put her in command of the French troops, which she then leads to victory against the English. Suspected of witchcraft by her father Giacomo, she is handed over by him to the enemy to be burnt at the stake. She implores God's help and Giacomo, realizing that he has accused her unjustly, frees her shortly before the decisive conflict. Giovanna rushes into the fray, and the French troops led by her rout the enemy. But the King's joy is short-lived because he is in love with the heroine who has been wounded in battle. Before dying, she sees the heavens open and the Virgin Mary comes to meet her.


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18th > July > 2006 Archive
Microsoft buddies up with open source rival - true
Microsoft's tolerance for Linux expanded today via an alliance with open source server virtualization backer XenSource.
UK gambling boss arrested in Dallas
Shares in online gaming firm Betonsports have been suspended this morning to allow markets to digest news that David Carruthers, the outspoken chief executive of Betonsports, has been arrested in Dallas.
Suited phoneys vs honourable technocrats
CommentSmart suits, I've come to understand, are a sure sign of a business involving a bunch of phoneys. After this year's visit to the 1950s (otherwise known as the Farnborough Airshow) I've also discovered something just as important: I'm allergic to these guys.
Discovery touches down in Florida
Shuttle has landed at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, after nearly a fortnight in space, and with one crew member less than when it took off.
Apple to announce movie rentals next month?
The Mac Pro may not be the only thing Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveils at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference next month: he'll pull the rabbit of iTunes Music Store movie downloads out of his hat too, one Apple-watching website claims.
Yes! It's the all-out nuclear war USB hub!
Had enough of being beaten into the submission by other USB Missile Launcher-wielding workmates? Just had a bad day with the boss? Then it's time to fall back on the ultimate sanction: the USB nuclear armageddon button. One push and... boom.
Sky crashes into free broadband
Sky is the latest company to get on the convergence wagon by offering broadband internet access alongside other comms services.
The UK office: hotbed of Bacchanalian lust
It's official: the UK office is a steaming cauldron of sexual desire in which colleagues exchange flirtatious emails and smouldering looks as a ritual prelude to forming the work-based beast with two backs.
Brussels to send 'crats into the real world
The European Commission would like its bureaucrats to have a better understanding of the real world, so it plans to send them them out on a terrifying expedition into the land of the SME.
Intel to cut Celeron D prices in July, October?
Intel will introduced its latest Celeron D budget desktop processor on 27 August - the day it ships 'Tulsa', the 65nm dual-core Xeon MP, incidentally - before slashing the line-up's prices on 22 October, it has been claimed.
Intel to fork 'Conroe'
Intel looks set to fork its 'Conroe' Core 2 Duo desktop processor line-up in much the same way it's going to split its 'Merom' Core 2 Duo mobile family in two. Recently leaked roadmaps show a Core 2 Duo E4300 turning up in Q1 2007.
AMD plans July, October price cuts - report
Details have emerged of the wide-ranging price cuts AMD is expected to implement later this month in response to Intel's launches of 'Merom' and 'Conroe' - the chip giant's next-generation architecture mobile and desktop Core 2 Duo processors.
Curse of Blunkett strikes Home Office minister
Joan Ryan, Home Office junior minister i/c ID cards, has not exactly gained glowing reviews of her performance defending the wretched things in the Commons yesterday. And on top of all that hard-won opprobrium, she seems to have inadvertently called down the Curse of Blunkett on herself.
SanDisk preps 4GB SDHC memory card
Solid-state memory specialist SanDisk will this month ship its first 4GB SD card, based on version 2.0 of the SD standard, also known as SDHC. The company said it plans to bundle the card with a compact USB adaptor - handy given the paucity of devices with SDHC slots.
Multivalued datatypes considered harmful
Increasingly developers are required to write applications that interact with database engines – typically Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, MySQL or Access. In many ways the database engine is pretty much immaterial; no matter what the flavour it's still simply a matter of tables, columns, rows and a variety of data types; text, memo, BLOB, numeric, whatever. However if you work with Access, a completely new data type is on the horizon for 2007 – multi-valued. Unfortunately, this isn't just-another-data-type; this is a whole different ball game and a dangerous one – more like rollerball than baseball.
Cingular claims US first with HSDPA handset
Cingular yesterday claimed a US first for its new HSDPA phone, a skinny black clamshell from LG, dubbed the CU500.
Microsoft keelhauls 26 pirates
Microsoft has set the lawyers on 26 computer dealers for allegedly selling pirate software.
Judge slashes Rambus damages award
Hynix will not have to pay Rambus as much for infringing the memory technology company's patents as it had expected to after the judge presiding over the case slashed the damages awarded against it.
Channel 4 to televise UK's first 'Masturbate-a-thon'
NSFWNot content with dragging the good old US of A straight down to Hell with its public displays of mass masturbatory degeneracy, the San Fran-based Centre for Sex and Culture - organiser of the legendary "Masturbate-a-thon" - will in August travel to London for a similar event in which Brits will be invited to tug the trouser snake and pet the beaver for the benefit of safe sex charities and Channel 4 viewers.
Fujitsu Siemens unveils 'lightest, smallest' sat nav box
Fujitsu Siemens today unveiled its latest Pocket Loox PDAs: a pair of models featuring integrated GPS receivers, route-planning code, a music player app and full personal information management functionality all in a unit weighing just 110g - a record, the company claimed.
Anyone for Cider?
Imagine CupWe recently spent a week at the Microsoft Technology Centre in Reading. We had a great time, including an all-night code/debug-athon and copious amounts of Coca Cola.
DTI backs unmanned aircraft programme
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is to provide funds for the development of unmanned aviation vehicles to support public services.
Where's my 3.5G handset?
The number of 3.5G mobile broadband subscribers globally will soar from around 2.5m to more than 300m in 2011 despite a shortage in compelling devices, according to a new study.
Elonex: the end of an era
AnalysisThe reaction of many people in the PC business to the news that Elonex Plc (UK) was in administration was a shrug: Elowho?
Turn off the aircon and take off your clothes
As UK temperatures head for a possible all-time high, British unions have called for UK companies to adopt a more relaxed dress code, the BBC reports.
Monster roadsigns block Channel Five
Residents close to a Buckinghamshire A-road are up in arms at giant roadsigns which are not only ruining views of the countryside but, far worse, blocking reception of Channel Five.
Flash drives to rule laptop market (one day)
Flash-based solid state drives could become the dominant storage device in laptops.
My mobile is...a...um...
Mobile phone operators are missing an opportunity to sell high-cost multimedia mobile services because more than half their customers don't have a clue what phone they are using, according to research.
All forms of life wound up by same key
You have more in common with E. coli than you may think. US researchers have demonstrated that DNA replication is triggered in exactly the same way whether you happen to be a bacterium, an archaeum or a eukaryote (that's modern bacteria, old bacteria, or cells with a nucleus, to you and me).
Sony unveils 1080p HD LCD TV, 80GB twin-tuner DVR
Sony has launched a slimline DVR that allows viewers to watch one Freeview channel while recording another on the box's built-in 80GB hard drive. The consumer electronics giant also introduced the first of its 1080p HD Ready Bravia LCD TVs into the UK.
Round up the youthful suspects! Govt to target crime at birth
Children's Minister Hilary Armstrong was due today to outline what could become one of Project Blair's most ambitious, misguided and hubristic projects yet. The Government will attempt to identify children at risk of failure, violent behaviour or criminality at birth, and take the necessary corrective actions to steer them onto a law-abiding and successful path.
Google-based malware search tool surfaces
The creator of the Metasploit hacking tool has released code that can be used to find malicious software using specially-crafted Google search queries. The malware search engine created by H.D. Moore can be found here.
Moving airbases, codebreaking and supermodel behaviour
LettersThe faithful gather to worship at the altar of Ballmer in Boston. Perhaps we missed the importance of Microsoft's relationship with its partners. You were quick to set us straight:
Open source blamed for malware development
Malware authors are adopting open source development models to develop more potent threats. It's well known among security experts that botnet clients such as SDBot are written in a modular framework that allows hackers to add features that, for example, facilitate its spread through IM networks or add more potent attack features.
Intel hopes users see more than double with Montecito
"They can take our revenue, but they'll never take our freedom!"
Microsoft and Nortel unite on communications
Nortel has signed a four-year deal with Microsoft for the development and installation of integrated voice and data communications products running on Windows.
Server misfire dampens IBM's Q2
IBM could solve two problems at once by getting its global services division to fix the server division's manufacturing woes. The IT giant today reported that weaker services revenue coupled with a derailed server supply chain hurt second quarter revenue. All told, however, IBM beat out analysts' expectations and pleased investors.


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IT COULD be great – but we need lots of investment.
That's the reaction from the people and business bosses of Hartlepool after hearing about the Vision for the very first time.
Yet one overall message emerged from everyone the Hartlepool Mail interviewed – this could be a real boost for the town with the right backing.
Paul Stewart, 47, from the Headland and who works as a fisherman, said: "Whatever they do, they need to do something to lift Hartlepool, especially the town centre and Church Street.
"And they need to bring in more employment for people. That should be a priority."
Retired couple Linda Lewis, 67, and her husband David, 73, a former fitter, called for investment in Jacksons Landing.
Linda added: "It used to have lovely little shops but all of a sudden it closed. We don't need boutiques, we need to have individual traders again. We need to encourage the small entrepreneur."
Tammy Bennett, a business development manager with Hartlepool company Seymour civil engineering, said: "I think the Vision is a fantastic idea. Hopefully, it will mean jobs for local people.
"It is certainly nice to see that something is going to be done with Jacksons Landing. If the Vision is something that brings people into Hartlepool, it has got to be good."
Three sisters from the West View area of Hartlepool all spoke to the Mail.
Full time mother-of-eight Leanne Hall, 39. said: "It could be good but they need to do something with Jacksons Landing."
Gemma Rhead, 36, who works as a carer, said: "Seaton seafront needs more work and it could do with something like an adventure park."
She also called for more facilities for people with special needs.
Kelly Athey, 41, urged the Vision campaigners to bring in facilities such as ice rinks to stop people from leaving town. She added: "There needs to be a lot more for the youth of this town. Too many kids are finding that they have to go to places like the Forum at Billingham."
The Vision was also welcomed by Allan Henderson, the director of Hartlepool Marina Ltd.
"It is exciting," he said. "We have a fantastic vision of how we see this going."
Hartlepool Marina Ltd co-director Adam Henderson said: "We were very excited when this was presented to us.
"Who knows, it might lead to us seeing overseas investment in Hartlepool. Perhaps we will get more visitors from the continent."


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Other characteristics:
milling, CNC, three-axis, universal
The unique open gantry, combined with a compact and space-saving design, allows for any size work piece. As with the C4, the stone is worked polished side up for ease of set up. It also has a tilt table so you dont need to worry if your marble and granite isnt calibrated, and is suitable for drainers and flutes.
The entire process is run from the integrated PC Windows® control panel. The easy-to-operate interface in the modern computer makes it possible to draw, change and save thousands of drawings and figures at the machine. Like all of ScandInvents CNC stone fabrication machines and equipment, the C3 includes ScandSOFT™. The user-friendly software is designed and developed by ScandInvent to make CNC programs of any sink or cooking top.


text: asteve76 Profile Topics Started Replies Created /** * User Profile * * @package bbPress * @subpackage Theme */ ?> Profile Forum Role: Participant Topics Started: 6 Replies Created: 46 Login! Log In Username: Password: Keep me signed in Log In Register Create an Account Your username must be unique, and cannot be changed later. We use your email address to email you a secure password and verify your account. Username: Email: Register Latest... A539 road closure in Penley while vehicle is recovered Wrexham Glyndwr University 'looks to the future' at Annual Open Meeting New 'unique foodie experience' Plât Bach announced for Tŷ Pawb


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There are a lot of great butts out there on the Internet. Trust me, it's kind of my job to be a butt connoisseur. We all know and love the likes of Jen Selter, who reigns supreme as the not-so-arguable Queen Of Instagram Butts. But what about the underdogs? What about the likes of Nicole Laurell? That's right, Nicole Laurell deserves to be mentioned amongst the best butts on the Internet.
Need proof? Just check out her Instagram page for evidence. This fitness model has such a jaw-dropping backside, it's almost impossible to look away. Take a peek at some of her best photos and then tell me you disagree.
RELATED: Speaking of Great Butts, Check Out Caitlin Rice's Amazing Pics


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I note the excellent theme I use Greyzed, by The Forge Web Creations, was updated on 1st September 2010 on their website and I have searched wordpress.com themes,and it seems the theme has not been updated. Can I update my blog another way or do I need to wait until you guys update it in the themes section?
If this is the case how long does it take to upgrade it please?
The blog I need help with is aussiecriminals.wordpress.com.


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On a nearly monthly basis, WPTC hosts tennis socials for members and prospective members to meet, play tennis and of course eat! Socials are a great opportunity to socialize with old friends and make new ones, put that new shot you've been working on to the test or show off your prowess in the kitchen!
Who Can Participate
How Our Socials Work
Socials are often themed events with a round-robin style playing format over a period of approximately 4 hours. We strive to give everyone about 2 hours of playing time and 2 hours of time to socialize.
When Are They Held
Summer Socials
August is The Challenge
August is time for Wash Park TC and Lakewood TC face off in a head-to-head battle of the clubs! The winning club not only takes home the annual trophy, but more importantly has bragging rights for 365 days! Learn More
Winter Socials