text:
For other uses, see Asphalt (disambiguation). Note: The terms bitumen and asphalt are mostly interchangeable, Driveway Paving Near Me in Brakpan except where asphalt is used as a shorthand for asphalt concrete. Natural bitumen from the Dead Sea Refined asphalt The University of Queensland pitch drop experiment, demonstrating the viscosity of asphalt
Asphalt (/ˈæsˌfɔːlt, -ˌfɑːlt/), also known as bitumen (UK English: /ˈbɪtʃəmən, ˈbɪtjʊmən/,[1] US English: /bɪˈt(j)uːmən, baɪˈt(j)uːmən/)[2] is a sticky, black, and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term asphaltum was also used.
The primary use (70%) of asphalt Asphalt Driveway Paving Near Me is in road construction, where it is used as the glue or binder mixed with aggregate particles to create asphalt concrete. Its other main uses are for bituminous waterproofing products, including production of roofing felt and for sealing flat roofs.
The terms "asphalt" and "bitumen" are often used interchangeably to mean both natural and manufactured forms of the substance. In American English, "asphalt" (or "asphalt cement") is commonly used for a refined residue from the distillation process of selected crude oils. Outside the United States, the product is often called "bitumen", and geologists worldwide often prefer the term for the naturally occurring variety. Common colloquial usage often refers to various forms of asphalt as "tar", as in the name of the La Brea Tar Pits.
Permeable paving
Naturally occurring asphalt is sometimes specified by the term "crude bitumen". Driveway Paving Near Me Its viscosity is similar to that of cold molasses[6][7] while the material obtained from the fractional distillation of crude oil boiling at 525 °C (977 °F) is sometimes referred to as "refined bitumen". The Canadian province of Alberta has most of the world's reserves of natural asphalt in the Athabasca oil sands, which cover 142,000 square kilometres (55,000 sq mi), an area larger than England.
The word "asphalt" is derived from the late Middle English, in turn from French asphalte, based on Late Latin asphalton, asphaltum, which is the latinisation of the Greek ἄσφαλτος (ásphaltos, ásphalton), a word meaning "asphalt/bitumen/pitch" which perhaps derives from ἀ-, "without" and σφάλλω (sfallō), "make fall". Asphalt Driveway Installation Near Me the first use of asphalt by the ancients was in the nature of a cement for securing or joining together various objects, and it thus seems likely that the name itself was expressive of this application. Specifically, Herodotus mentioned that bitumen was brought to Babylon to build its gigantic fortification wall.[11] From the Greek, the word passed into late Latin, and thence into French (asphalte) and English ("asphaltum" and "asphalt"). In French, the term asphalte is used for naturally occurring asphalt-soaked limestone deposits, and for specialised manufactured products with fewer voids or greater bitumen content than the "asphaltic concrete" used to pave roads.
The expression "bitumen" originated in the Sanskrit words jatu, meaning "pitch", and jatu-krit, meaning "pitch creating" or "pitch producing" (referring to coniferous or resinous trees). The Latin equivalent is claimed by some to be originally gwitu-men (pertaining to pitch), and by others, pixtumens (exuding or bubbling pitch), which was subsequently shortened to bitumen, thence passing via French into English. From the same root is derived the Anglo-Saxon word cwidu (mastix), the German word Kitt (cement or mastic) and the old Norse word kvada.
In British English, "bitumen" is used instead of "asphalt". The word "asphalt" is instead used to refer to asphalt concrete, a mixture of construction aggregate and asphalt itself (also called "tarmac" in common parlance). Bitumen mixed with clay was usually called "asphaltum",[13] but the term is less commonly used today.[citation needed]
Toll road
In Australian English, "bitumen" is often used as the generic term for road surfaces.
In American English, "asphalt" is equivalent to the British "bitumen". However, "asphalt" is also commonly used as a shortened form of "asphalt concrete" (therefore equivalent to the British "asphalt" or "tarmac").
In Canadian English, the word "bitumen" is used to refer to the vast Canadian deposits of extremely heavy crude oil,[14] while "asphalt" is used for the oil refinery product. Diluted bitumen (diluted with naphtha to make it flow in pipelines) is known as "dilbit" in the Canadian petroleum industry, while bitumen "upgraded" to synthetic crude oil is known as "syncrude", and syncrude blended with bitumen is called "synbit".[15]
"Bitumen" is still the preferred geological term for naturally occurring deposits of the solid or semi-solid form of petroleum. "Bituminous rock" is a form of sandstone impregnated with bitumen. The tar sands of Alberta, Canada are a similar material.
Neither of the terms "asphalt" or "bitumen" should be confused with tar or coal tars.[further explanation needed]
See also: Asphaltene
The components of asphalt include four main classes of compounds:
The naphthene aromatics and polar aromatics are typically the majority components. Most natural bitumens also contain organosulfur compounds, resulting in an overall sulfur content of up to 4%. Nickel and vanadium are found at <10 parts per million, as is typical of some petroleum.
The substance is soluble in carbon disulfide. It is commonly modelled as a colloid, with asphaltenes as the dispersed phase and maltenes as the continuous phase.[16] "It is almost impossible to separate and identify all the different molecules of asphalt, because the number of molecules with different chemical structure is extremely large".
Asphalt may be confused with coal tar, which is a visually similar black, thermoplastic material produced by the destructive distillation of coal. During the early and mid-20th century, when town gas was produced, coal tar was a readily available byproduct and extensively used as the binder for road aggregates. The addition of coal tar to macadam roads led to the word "tarmac", which is now used in common parlance to refer to road-making materials. However, since the 1970s, when natural gas succeeded town gas, asphalt has completely overtaken the use of coal tar in these applications. Other examples of this confusion include the La Brea Tar Pits and the Canadian oil sands, both of which actually contain natural bitumen rather than tar. "Pitch" is another term sometimes informally used at times to refer to asphalt, as in Pitch Lake.
Bituminous outcrop of the Puy de la Poix, Clermont-Ferrand, France
The majority of asphalt used commercially is obtained from petroleum.[18] Nonetheless, large amounts of asphalt occur in concentrated form in nature. Naturally occurring deposits of bitumen are formed from the remains of ancient, microscopic algae (diatoms) and other once-living things. These remains were deposited in the mud on the bottom of the ocean or lake where the organisms lived. Under the heat (above 50 °C) and pressure of burial deep in the earth, the remains were transformed into materials such as bitumen, kerogen, or petroleum.
Natural deposits of bitumen include lakes such as the Pitch Lake in Trinidad and Tobago and Lake Bermudez in Venezuela. Natural seeps occur in the La Brea Tar Pits and in the Dead Sea.
Bitumen also occurs in unconsolidated sandstones known as "oil sands" in Alberta, Canada, and the similar "tar sands" in Utah, US. The Canadian province of Alberta has most of the world's reserves, in three huge deposits covering 142,000 square kilometres (55,000 sq mi), an area larger than England or New York state. These bituminous sands contain 166 billion barrels (26.4×10^9 m3) of commercially established oil reserves, giving Canada the third largest oil reserves in the world. Although historically it was used without refining to pave roads, nearly all of the output is now used as raw material for oil refineries in Canada and the United States.
Diverging diamond interchange
The world's largest deposit of natural bitumen, known as the Athabasca oil sands, is located in the McMurray Formation of Northern Alberta. This formation is from the early Cretaceous, and is composed of numerous lenses of oil-bearing sand with up to 20% oil.[19] Isotopic studies show the oil deposits to be about 110 million years old.[20] Two smaller but still very large formations occur in the Peace River oil sands and the Cold Lake oil sands, to the west and southeast of the Athabasca oil sands, respectively. Of the Alberta deposits, only parts of the Athabasca oil sands are shallow enough to be suitable for surface mining. The other 80% has to be produced by oil wells using enhanced oil recovery techniques like steam-assisted gravity drainage.
Much smaller heavy oil or bitumen deposits also occur in the Uinta Basin in Utah, US. The Tar Sand Triangle deposit, for example, is roughly 6% bitumen.
Bitumen may occur in hydrothermal veins. An example of this is within the Uinta Basin of Utah, in the US, where there is a swarm of laterally and vertically extensive veins composed of a solid hydrocarbon termed Gilsonite. These veins formed by the polymerization and solidification of hydrocarbons that were mobilized from the deeper oil shales of the Green River Formation during burial and diagenesis.
Bitumen is similar to the organic matter in carbonaceous meteorites.[23] However, detailed studies have shown these materials to be distinct.[24] The vast Alberta bitumen resources are considered to have started out as living material from marine plants and animals, mainly algae, that died millions of years ago when an ancient ocean covered Alberta. They were covered by mud, buried deeply over time, and gently cooked into oil by geothermal heat at a temperature of 50 to 150 °C (120 to 300 °F). Due to pressure from the rising of the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Alberta, 80 to 55 million years ago, the oil was driven northeast hundreds of kilometres and trapped into underground sand deposits left behind by ancient river beds and ocean beaches, thus forming the oil sands.
The use of natural bitumen for waterproofing, and as an adhesive dates at least to the fifth millennium BC, with a crop storage basket discovered in Mehrgarh, of the Indus Valley Civilization, lined with it.[25] By the 3rd millennia BC refined rock asphalt was in use, in the region, and was used to waterproof the Great Bath, Mohenjo-daro.
In the ancient Middle East, the Sumerians used natural bitumen deposits for mortar between bricks and stones, to cement parts of carvings, such as eyes, into place, for ship caulking, and for waterproofing.[3] The Greek historian Herodotus said hot bitumen was used as mortar in the walls of Babylon.
The 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) long Euphrates Tunnel beneath the river Euphrates at Babylon in the time of Queen Semiramis (ca. 800 BC) was reportedly constructed of burnt bricks covered with bitumen as a waterproofing agent.
Bitumen was used by ancient Egyptians to embalm mummies.[3][28] The Persian word for asphalt is moom, which is related to the English word mummy. The Egyptians' primary source of bitumen was the Dead Sea, which the Romans knew as Palus Asphaltites (Asphalt Lake).
Approximately 40 AD, Dioscorides described the Dead Sea material as Judaicum bitumen, and noted other places in the region where it could be found.[29] The Sidon bitumen is thought to refer to material found at Hasbeya.[30] Pliny refers also to bitumen being found in Epirus. It was a valuable strategic resource, the object of the first known battle for a hydrocarbon deposit—between the Seleucids and the Nabateans in 312 BC.
In the ancient Far East, natural bitumen was slowly boiled to get rid of the higher fractions, leaving a thermoplastic material of higher molecular weight that when layered on objects became quite hard upon cooling. This was used to cover objects that needed waterproofing,[3] such as scabbards and other items. Statuettes of household deities were also cast with this type of material in Japan, and probably also in China.
In North America, archaeological recovery has indicated bitumen was sometimes used to adhere stone projectile points to wooden shafts.[32] In Canada, aboriginal people used bitumen seeping out of the banks of the Athabasca and other rivers to waterproof birch bark canoes, and also heated it in smudge pots to ward off mosquitoes in the summer.
In 1553, Pierre Belon described in his work Observations that pissasphalto, a mixture of pitch and bitumen, was used in the Republic of Ragusa (now Dubrovnik, Croatia) for tarring of ships.
An 1838 edition of Mechanics Magazine cites an early use of asphalt in France. A pamphlet dated 1621, by "a certain Monsieur d'Eyrinys, states that he had discovered the existence (of asphaltum) in large quantities in the vicinity of Neufchatel", and that he proposed to use it in a variety of ways – "principally in the construction of air-proof granaries, and in protecting, by means of the arches, the water-courses in the city of Paris from the intrusion of dirt and filth", which at that time made the water unusable. "He expatiates also on the excellence of this material for forming level and durable terraces" in palaces, "the notion of forming such terraces in the streets not one likely to cross the brain of a Parisian of that generation".
But the substance was generally neglected in France until the revolution of 1830. In the 1830s there was a surge of interest, and asphalt became widely used "for pavements, flat roofs, and the lining of cisterns, and in England, some use of it had been made of it for similar purposes". Its rise in Europe was "a sudden phenomenon", after natural deposits were found "in France at Osbann (Bas-Rhin), the Parc (Ain) and the Puy-de-la-Poix (Puy-de-Dôme)", although it could also be made artificially.[35] One of the earliest uses in France was the laying of about 24,000 square yards of Seyssel asphalt at the Place de la Concorde in 1835.
Among the earlier uses of bitumen in the United Kingdom was for etching. William Salmon's Polygraphice (1673) provides a recipe for varnish used in etching, consisting of three ounces of virgin wax, two ounces of mastic, and one ounce of asphaltum.[37] By the fifth edition in 1685, he had included more asphaltum recipes from other sources.
The first British patent for the use of asphalt was "Cassell's patent asphalte or bitumen" in 1834.[35] Then on 25 November 1837, Richard Tappin Claridge patented the use of Seyssel asphalt (patent #7849), for use in asphalte pavement,[39][40] having seen it employed in France and Belgium when visiting with Frederick Walter Simms, who worked with him on the introduction of asphalt to Britain.[41][42] Dr T. Lamb Phipson writes that his father, Samuel Ryland Phipson, a friend of Claridge, was also "instrumental in introducing the asphalte pavement (in 1836)".[43] Indeed, mastic pavements had been previously employed at Vauxhall by a competitor of Claridge, but without success.
Claridge obtained a patent in Scotland on 27 March 1838, and obtained a patent in Ireland on 23 April 1838. In 1851, extensions for the 1837 patent and for both 1838 patents were sought by the trustees of a company previously formed by Claridge. Claridge's Patent Asphalte Company—formed in 1838 for the purpose of introducing to Britain "Asphalte in its natural state from the mine at Pyrimont Seysell in France",—"laid one of the first asphalt pavements in Whitehall". Trials were made of the pavement in 1838 on the footway in Whitehall, the stable at Knightsbridge Barracks,"and subsequently on the space at the bottom of the steps leading from Waterloo Place to St. James Park". "The formation in 1838 of Claridge's Patent Asphalte Company (with a distinguished list of aristocratic patrons, and Marc and Isambard Brunel as, respectively, a trustee and consulting engineer), gave an enormous impetus to the development of a British asphalt industry".[45] "By the end of 1838, at least two other companies, Robinson's and the Bastenne company, were in production",[50] with asphalt being laid as paving at Brighton, Herne Bay, Canterbury, Kensington, the Strand, and a large floor area in Bunhill-row, while meantime Claridge's Whitehall paving "continue(d) in good order".
Driveway Paving Near Me in Brakpan ?A diagram illustrating traffic movements in the interchange Plan of rejected diverging diamond interchange in Findlay, Ohio
A diverging diamond interchange (DDI), also called a double crossover diamond interchange (DCD),[1] is a type of diamond interchange in which the two directions of traffic on the non-freeway road cross to the opposite side on both sides of the bridge at the freeway. It is unusual in that it requires traffic on the freeway overpass (or underpass) to briefly drive on the opposite side of the road from what is customary for the jurisdiction. The crossover "X" sections can either be traffic-light intersections or one-side overpasses to travel above the opposite lanes without stopping, to allow nonstop traffic flow when relatively sparse traffic.
Like the continuous flow intersection, the diverging diamond interchange allows for two-phase operation at all signalized intersections within the interchange. This is a significant improvement in safety, since no long turns (e.g. left turns where traffic drives on the right side of the road) must clear opposing traffic and all movements are discrete, with most controlled by traffic signals.[2] Its at-grade variant can be seen as a two-leg continuous flow intersection.[3]
Additionally, the design can improve the efficiency of an interchange, as the lost time for various phases in the cycle can be redistributed as green time—there are only two clearance intervals (the time for traffic signals to change from green to yellow to red) instead of the six or more found in other interchange designs.
A diverging diamond can be constructed for limited cost, at an existing straight-line bridge, by building crisscross intersections outside the bridge ramps to switch traffic lanes before entering the bridge. The switchover lanes, each with 2 side ramps, introduce a new risk of drivers turning onto an empty, wrong, do-not-enter, exit-lane and driving wrongway down a freeway exit ramp to confront high-speed, oncoming traffic. Studies have analyzed various roadsigns to reduce similar driver errors.
Diverging diamond roads have been used in France since the 1970s. However, the diverging diamond interchange was listed by Popular Science magazine as one of the best innovations in 2009 (engineering category) in "Best of What's New 2009".[4]Pictures from the first diverging diamond interchange in the United States, in Springfield, Missouri
Top left: Traffic enters the interchange along Missouri Route 13
Top right: Traffic crosses over to the left side of the road
Bottom left: Traffic crosses over Interstate 44
Bottom right:Traffic crosses back over to the right side of the road. Southbound approach to the I-44/Route 13 interchange in Springfield
Prior to 2009 the only known diverging diamond interchanges were in France in the communities of Versailles, Le Perreux-sur-Marne (A4 at N486) and Seclin, all built in the 1970s.[5] (The ramps of the first two have been reconfigured to accommodate ramps of other interchanges, but they continue to function as diverging diamond interchanges.)
Despite the fact that such interchanges already existed, the idea for the DDI was "reinvented" around 2000, inspired by the former "synchronized split-phasing" type freeway-to-freeway interchange between Interstate 95 and I-695 north of Baltimore.[6]
In 2005, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) considered reconfiguring the existing interchange on Interstate 75 at U.S. Route 224 and State Route 15 west of Findlay as a diverging diamond interchange to improve traffic flow. Had it been constructed, it would have been the first DDI in the United States.[7] By 2006, ODOT had reconsidered, instead adding lanes to the existing overpass.[8][9]
The Missouri Department of Transportation was the first US agency to construct one, in Springfield at the junction between I-44 and Missouri Route 13 (at 37°15′01″N 93°18′39″W / 37.2503°N 93.3107°W / 37.2503; -93.3107 (Springfield, Missouri diverging diamond interchange)). Construction began the week of January 12, 2009, and the interchange opened on June 21, 2009.[10][11] This interchange was a conversion of an existing standard diamond interchange, and used the existing bridge.
The first interchange in Canada opened on August 13, 2017 at Macleod Trail and 162 Avenue South in Calgary, Alberta.[12]
The interchange in Seclin (at 50°32′41″N 3°3′21″E / 50.54472°N 3.05583°E / 50.54472; 3.05583) between the A1 and Route d'Avelin was somewhat more specialized than in the diagram at right: eastbound traffic on Route d'Avelin intending to enter the A1 northbound must keep left and cross the northernmost bridge before turning left to proceed north onto A1; eastbound traffic continuing east on Route d'Avelin must select a single center lane, merge with A1 traffic that is exiting to proceed east, and cross a center bridge. All westbound traffic that is continuing west or turning south onto A1 uses the southernmost bridge.
Additional research was conducted by a partnership of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center and published by Ohio Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers.[13] The Federal Highway Administration released a publication titled "Alternative Intersections/Interchanges: Informational Report (AIIR)" [14] with a chapter dedicated to this design.
As of January 19, 2018, 106 DDIs were operational across the world including:3D computer generated DCMI DCMI traffic flow patterns
A free-flowing interchange variant, patented in 2015,[21] has received recent attention.[22][23][24] Called the double crossover merging interchange (DCMI), it includes elements from the diverging diamond interchange, the tight diamond interchange, and the stack interchange. It eliminates the disadvantages of weaving and of merging into the outside lane from which the standard DDI variation suffers. As of 2016, no such interchanges have been constructed.
SidewalkAsphalt batch mix plant A machine laying asphalt concrete, fed from a dump truck
Asphalt concrete (commonly called asphalt,[1] blacktop, or pavement in North America, and tarmac or bitumen macadam or rolled asphalt in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland) is a composite material commonly used to surface roads, parking lots, airports, as well as the core of embankment dams.[2] It consists of mineral aggregate bound together with asphalt, laid in layers, and compacted. The process was refined and enhanced by Belgian inventor and U.S. immigrant Edward de Smedt.[3]
The terms asphalt (or asphaltic) concrete, bituminous asphalt concrete, and bituminous mixture are typically used only in engineering and construction documents, which define concrete as any composite material composed of mineral aggregate adhered with a binder. The abbreviation, AC, is sometimes used for asphalt concrete but can also denote asphalt content or asphalt cement, referring to the liquid asphalt portion of the composite material.As shown in this cross-section, many older roadways are smoothed by applying a thin layer of asphalt concrete to the existing portland cement concrete, creating a composite pavement.
Mixing of asphalt and aggregate is accomplished in one of several ways:[4]Hot-mix asphalt concrete (commonly abbreviated as HMA) This is produced by heating the asphalt binder to decrease its viscosity, and drying the aggregate to remove moisture from it prior to mixing. Mixing is generally performed with the aggregate at about 300 °F (roughly 150 °C) for virgin asphalt and 330 °F (166 °C) for polymer modified asphalt, and the asphalt cement at 200 °F (95 °C). Paving and compaction must be performed while the asphalt is sufficiently hot. In many countries paving is restricted to summer months because in winter the compacted base will cool the asphalt too much before it is able to be packed to the required density. HMA is the form of asphalt concrete most commonly used on high traffic pavements such as those on major highways, racetracks and airfields. It is also used as an environmental liner for landfills, reservoirs, and fish hatchery ponds.[5] Asphaltic concrete laying machine in operation in Laredo, Texas Warm-mix asphalt concrete (commonly abbreviated as WMA) This is produced by adding either zeolites, waxes, asphalt emulsions, or sometimes even water to the asphalt binder prior to mixing. This allows significantly lower mixing and laying temperatures and results in lower consumption of fossil fuels, thus releasing less carbon dioxide, aerosols and vapors. Not only are working conditions improved, but the lower laying-temperature also leads to more rapid availability of the surface for use, which is important for construction sites with critical time schedules. The usage of these additives in hot mixed asphalt (above) may afford easier compaction and allow cold weather paving or longer hauls. Use of warm mix is rapidly expanding. A survey of US asphalt producers found that nearly 25% of asphalt produced in 2012 was warm mix, a 416% increase since 2009.[6] Cold-mix asphalt concrete This is produced by emulsifying the asphalt in water with (essentially) soap prior to mixing with the aggregate. While in its emulsified state the asphalt is less viscous and the mixture is easy to work and compact. The emulsion will break after enough water evaporates and the cold mix will, ideally, take on the properties of an HMA pavement. Cold mix is commonly used as a patching material and on lesser trafficked service roads. Cut-back asphalt concrete Is a form of cold mix asphalt produced by dissolving the binder in kerosene or another lighter fraction of petroleum prior to mixing with the aggregate. While in its dissolved state the asphalt is less viscous and the mix is easy to work and compact. After the mix is laid down the lighter fraction evaporates. Because of concerns with pollution from the volatile organic compounds in the lighter fraction, cut-back asphalt has been largely replaced by asphalt emulsion.[7] Mastic asphalt concrete, or sheet asphalt This is produced by heating hard grade blown bitumen (i.e., partly oxidised) in a green cooker (mixer) until it has become a viscous liquid after which the aggregate mix is then added. The bitumen aggregate mixture is cooked (matured) for around 6–8 hours and once it is ready the mastic asphalt mixer is transported to the work site where experienced layers empty the mixer and either machine or hand lay the mastic asphalt contents on to the road. Mastic asphalt concrete is generally laid to a thickness of around 3⁄4–1 3⁄16 inches (20–30 mm) for footpath and road applications and around 3⁄8 of an inch (10 mm) for flooring or roof applications. High-modulus asphalt concrete, sometimes referred to by the French-language acronym EMÉ (enrobé à module élevé) This uses a very hard bituminous (penetration 10/20), sometimes modified, in proportions close to 6% on the weight of the aggregates, and a proportion of mineral powder also high, between 8–10%, to create an asphalt concrete layer with a high modulus of elasticity, of the order of 13000 MPa, as well as very high fatigue strengths.[8] High-modulus asphalt layers are used both in reinforcement operations and in the construction of new reinforcements for medium and heavy traffic. In base layers, they tend to exhibit a greater capacity of absorbing tensions and, in general, better fatigue resistance.[9]
In addition to the asphalt and aggregate, additives, such as polymers, and antistripping agents may be added to improve the properties of the final product.
Asphalt concrete pavements—especially those at airfields—are sometimes called tarmac for historical reasons, although they do not contain tar and are not constructed using the macadam process.
A variety of specialty asphalt concrete mixtures have been developed to meet specific needs, such as stone-matrix asphalt, which is designed to ensure a very strong wearing surface, or porous asphalt pavements, which are permeable and allow water to drain through the pavement for controlling stormwater.An airport taxiway, one of the uses of asphalt concrete
Different types of asphalt concrete have different performance characteristics in terms of surface durability, tire wear, braking efficiency and roadway noise. In principle, the determination of appropriate asphalt performance characteristics must take into account the volume of traffic in each vehicle category, and the performance requirements of the friction course. Asphalt concrete generates less roadway noise than a Portland cement concrete surface, and is typically less noisy than chip seal surfaces.[10][11]
Because tire noise is generated through the conversion of kinetic energy to sound waves, more noise is produced as the speed of a vehicle increases. The notion that highway design might take into account acoustical engineering considerations, including the selection of the type of surface paving, arose in the early 1970s.[12][13] With regard to structural performance, the asphalt behaviour depends on a variety of factors including the material, loading and environmental condition. Furthermore, the performance of pavement varies over time. Therefore, the long-term behaviour of asphalt pavement is different from its short-term performance. The LTPP is a research program by the FHWA, which is specifically focusing on long-term pavement behaviour.[14][15]Asphalt damaged by frost heaves
Asphalt deterioration can include crocodile cracking, potholes, upheaval, raveling, bleeding, rutting, shoving, stripping, and grade depressions. In cold climates, frost heaves can crack asphalt even in one winter. Filling the cracks with bitumen is a temporary fix, but only proper compaction and drainage can slow this process.
Factors that cause asphalt concrete to deteriorate over time mostly fall into one of three categories: construction quality, environmental considerations, and traffic loads. Often, damage results from combinations of factors in all three categories.
Construction quality is critical to pavement performance. This includes the construction of utility trenches and appurtenances that are placed in the pavement after construction. Lack of compaction in the surface of the asphalt, especially on the longitudinal joint can reduce the life of a pavement by 30 to 40%. Service trenches in pavements after construction have been said to reduce the life of the pavement by 50%, mainly due to the lack of compaction in the trench, and also because of water intrusion through improperly sealed joints.
Environmental factors include heat and cold, the presence of water in the subbase or subgrade soil underlying the pavement, and frost heaves.
High temperatures soften the asphalt binder, allowing heavy tire loads to deform the pavement into ruts. Paradoxically, high heat and strong sunlight also cause the asphalt to oxidize, becoming stiffer and less resilient, leading to crack formation. Cold temperatures can cause cracks as the asphalt contracts. Cold asphalt is also less resilient and more vulnerable to cracking.
Water trapped under the pavement softens the subbase and subgrade, making the road more vulnerable to traffic loads. Water under the road freezes and expands in cold weather, causing and enlarging cracks. In spring thaw, the ground thaws from the top down, so water is trapped between the pavement above and the still-frozen soil underneath. This layer of saturated soil provides little support for the road above, leading to the formation of potholes. This is more of a problem for silty or clay soils than sandy or gravelly soils. Some jurisdictions pass frost laws to reduce the allowable weight of trucks during the spring thaw season and protect their roads.
The damage a vehicle causes is proportional to the axle load raised to the fourth power,[16] so doubling the weight an axle carries actually causes 16 times as much damage. Wheels cause the road to flex slightly, resulting in fatigue cracking, which often leads to crocodile cracking. Vehicle speed also plays a role. Slowly moving vehicles stress the road over a longer period of time, increasing ruts, cracking, and corrugations in the asphalt pavement.
Other causes of damage include heat damage from vehicle fires, or solvent action from chemical spills.
The life of a road can be prolonged through good design, construction and maintenance practices. During design, engineers measure the traffic on a road, paying special attention to the number and types of trucks. They also evaluate the subsoil to see how much load it can withstand. The pavement and subbase thicknesses are designed to withstand the wheel loads. Sometimes, geogrids are used to reinforce the subbase and further strengthen the roads. Drainage, including ditches, storm drains and underdrains are used to remove water from the roadbed, preventing it from weakening the subbase and subsoil.
Good maintenance practices center on keeping water out of the pavement, subbase and subsoil. Maintaining and cleaning ditches and storm drains will extend the life of the road at low cost. Sealing small cracks with bituminous crack sealer prevents water from enlarging cracks through frost weathering, or percolating down to the subbase and softening it.
For somewhat more distressed roads, a chip seal or similar surface treatment may be applied. As the number, width and length of cracks increases, more intensive repairs are needed. In order of generally increasing expense, these include thin asphalt overlays, multicourse overlays, grinding off the top course and overlaying, in-place recycling, or full-depth reconstruction of the roadway.
It is far less expensive to keep a road in good condition than it is to repair it once it has deteriorated. This is why some agencies place the priority on preventive maintenance of roads in good condition, rather than reconstructing roads in poor condition. Poor roads are upgraded as resources and budget allow. In terms of lifetime cost and long term pavement conditions, this will result in better system performance. Agencies that concentrate on restoring their bad roads often find that by the time they've repaired them all, the roads that were in good condition have deteriorated.[17]
Some agencies use a pavement management system to help prioritize maintenance and repairs.A small-scale asphalt recycler
Asphalt concrete is 100% recyclable and is the most widely reused construction material in the world. Very little asphalt concrete — less than 1 percent, according to a 2011 survey by the Federal Highway Administration and the National Asphalt Pavement Association — is actually disposed of in landfills.[18]
There is asphalt recycling on a large scale (known as in-place asphalt recycling or asphalt recycling performed at a hot mix plant) and asphalt recycling on a smaller scale. For small scale asphalt recycling, the user separates asphalt material into three different categories:Blacktop cookies Chunks of virgin uncompacted hot mix asphalt which can be used for pothole repair. The use of blacktop cookies has been investigated as a less expensive, less labor-intensive, more durable alternative to repairing potholes with cold patch. In a program in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, workers purchased new hot mix asphalt and spread it liberally on the ground to produce approximately 25 lb. wafers. Once cooled, the wafers could be stored until reheated in a hotbox to make minor road repairs. Blacktop cookies may also be produced from leftover material from paving jobs.[19] Reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) Chunks of asphalt that have been removed from a road, parking lot or driveway are considered RAP. These chunks of asphalt typically are ripped up when making a routine asphalt repair, man hole repair, catch basin repair or sewer main repair. Because the asphalt has been compacted, RAP is a denser asphalt material and typically takes longer to recycle than blacktop cookies. Asphalt millings Small pieces of asphalt produced by mechanically grinding asphalt surfaces are referred to as asphalt millings. Large millings that have a rich, black tint indicating a high asphalt cement content are best for asphalt recycling purposes. Surface millings are recommended over full depth millings when choosing asphalt millings to recycle. Full depth millings usually contain sub-base contaminants such as gravel, mud and sand. These sub base contaminants will leach oil away from original asphalt and dry out the material in the recycling process. Asphalt milled from asphalt is better than asphalt milled from concrete. When milling asphalt from concrete the dust that is created is not compatible with asphalt products because it is not asphalt.[20]
Small scale asphalt recycling will usually involve high speed on-site asphalt recycling equipment or overnight soft heat asphalt recycling.
Small scale asphalt recycling is used when wanting to make smaller road repairs vs. large scale asphalt recycling which is done for making new asphalt or for tearing up old asphalt and simultaneously recycling / replacing existing asphalt. Recycled asphalt is very effective for pothole and utility cut repairs. The recycled asphalt will generally last as long or longer than the road around it as new asphalt cement has been added back to the material.[21]
For larger scale asphalt recycling, several in-place recycling techniques have been developed to rejuvenate oxidized binders and remove cracking, although the recycled material is generally not very water-tight or smooth and should be overlaid with a new layer of asphalt concrete. Cold in-place recycling mills off the top layers of asphalt concrete and mixes the resulting loose millings with asphalt emulsion. The mixture is then placed back down on the roadway and compacted. The water in the emulsion is allowed to evaporate for a week or so, and new hot-mix asphalt is laid on top.
Asphalt concrete that is removed from a pavement is usually stockpiled for later use as aggregate for new hot mix asphalt at an asphalt plant. This reclaimed material, or RAP, is crushed to a consistent gradation and added to the HMA mixing process. Sometimes waste materials, such as asphalt roofing shingles, crushed glass, or rubber from old tires, are added to asphalt concrete as is the case with rubberized asphalt, but there is a concern that the hybrid material may not be recyclable.


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Officials at a juvenile detention facility in Delhi have taken the unusual step of keeping the teenager isolated from other detainees for his own safety. They said the youth had proclaimed his innocence and blamed his co-accused.india Updated: Sep 08, 2013 13:05 IST
Behind a barbed wire-topped wall by a busy New Delhi highway a teenager sits alone in a locked room, accused of taking part in a gang rape that first sparked nationwide protests and now a debate over whether law in India is too lenient on juveniles.
Police allege the youth and five men lured a 23-year-old trainee physiotherapist and her male friend onto a bus where they repeatedly raped her and beat her with a metal bar before tossing the bleeding couple onto a road.
The woman died of internal injuries two weeks later.
Reuters has learned that officials at a juvenile detention facility in Delhi have taken the unusual step of keeping the teenager isolated from other detainees for his own safety.
They say the brutality of the attack angered the other inmates, some of whom have been convicted of murder.
Two officers from the team responsible for the youth's care have for the first time described in detail to Reuters the youth's life in the unit for violent young offenders since his arrest in connection with the December 16 rape.
The officers said the youth had proclaimed his innocence and blamed his co-accused.
"He says he has done nothing, the others have committed this crime," one of the officers said.
He has been assigned a defence lawyer under legal aid. His lawyer declined to comment on his client's guilt or innocence when approached by Reuters.
Authorities have not publicly disclosed any details about where the teenager is being held or the conditions in which he is being kept.
While his co-accused have been seen entering closed-door pre-trial hearings, the youth has been kept out of the media spotlight since his arrest at a New Delhi bus station on December 21.
Officials have also told how the youth was taken to hospital just days after his arrest, complaining of acute abdominal pains.
He was diagnosed with appendicitis and immediately operated on, according to three people, including a hospital official, with knowledge of his case.
All the officials interviewed spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case, which in December brought thousands of protesters onto the streets demanding better protection for women in a country where police say a rape is reported every 20 minutes.
Reuters was not permitted to enter the youth detention facility, which is wedged between the polluted Yamuna river and a six-lane road in the smoggy north of New Delhi.
Through the gate of the grimy yellow-coloured compound, small buildings and a treeless concrete courtyard could be seen.
The teenager has been mostly confined to a single room of the unit, two officers responsible for his care said. Most other inmates stay in rooms of two to four people.
The unit is reserved for offenders serving time for violent crimes who are considered a danger to inmates in other detention centres.
The boy is kept away from other detainees, who would attack him if they could, the officers responsible for his care said.
"They watch the television in the dormitories and get very angry when they see news of the rape," one of the officers said.
The youth is to be tried separately from his five adult co-accused. Their trial began on Tuesday. A Juvenile Justice Board comprising a magistrate and two other members will hear his case on February 14.
If found guilty, he will face a maximum of three years in juvenile detention because he was under the age of 18 at the time of the crime.
That has sparked debate about the leniency of Indian law on juvenile offenders. His co-accused face the death penalty.
Last week, authorities ruled he was 17, citing school records. However, questions remain about his age, in part because his mother says she does not know how old he is.
The officers described the teenager as introverted but bright. He is attended to health workers and is visited by a psychologist twice a week, they said.
He is not taking part in the daily exercise and education routine of other detainees. There is no television in his room and the officers say he is barely literate so he does not read.
The officers say they sometimes play ludo and other board games with him to give him some company.
Six-inch scar
The emergency operation the teenager underwent one night in December has left him with a six-inch scar on his abdomen. The pain has prevented him from performing daily prayers, the officers said.
An official at the government hospital confirmed the operation and said the youth was hospitalised for five days.
The officers said the boy showed no signs of physical harm when he arrived at the detention centre and had not reported being mistreated in police custody.
The youth, who the officers describe as short and frail, left home when he was 11 and got work in a roadside eatery, his mother told Reuters in January.
At first he sent about $12 a month home, but that stopped years ago, she said. In recent years he lived as a semi-vagrant, washing buses and collecting fares, according to a police report.
India's juvenile justice laws have evolved over the past decade and are now in line with UN norms focused on humane treatment of minors. India has raised the minimum age teenagers can be tried as adults to 18 from 16.
In response to the public outcry after the rape, the government last week fast-tracked new, tougher penalties for sex crimes. But it has resisted calls to return the adult age to 16.
Amod Kanth, a former Delhi police chief who helped draft the laws, said the youth had been unfairly judged by the police and media before a trial had taken place.
Kanth said it made no sense to change laws on the basis of one case.
Some 33,000 crimes were committed by juveniles in India last year, the highest number in a decade, but there has not been a large spike. Juveniles commit a tiny proportion of total crimes and far less than other nations such as the United States.
The detention centre officers are still unsure about the youth's age, even after a January 28 justice board ruling he was six months away from his 18th birthday at the time of the attack. Like millions born into poverty in rural India, the youth has no birth certificate.
Authorities often turn to teeth or bone examinations to estimate age, but these are generally only accurate within a couple of years. In cases where there is doubt, magistrates are required to accept the younger age.

subset: commoncrawl


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The motor yacht will be built according to the needs of the owner. Delivery 2022.
The installed engines will be:
2x1298 HP Top Speed 15 knots
SALOON on the main deck and on the upper deck.
Owner cabin with private study on the main deck - VIP cabin - Two double cabins - Two twin cabins - Six showerooms - Daily toilet.
GALLEY on the main deck
CREW QUARTER: Four twin cabins - Four showerooms.
Captain cabin on the upper deck. One showeroom.
Mess room - Kitchen - Fridges - Deep freezers
diesel: 80.000 lts
water: 15.000 lts
range: >4.000 n.miles
La FLORIO YACHT di PINOTTI Florio, da oltre 30 anni, effettua intermediazione nautica, perizie e compensazione di bussole magnetiche.
FLORIO YACHT of PINOTTI Florio, for over 30 years, makes brokerage, expertises and magnetic compass adjustement.
Via del Castillo, 12
Compass Adjuster - Sanremo (IM)


text:
ThereIsOnlyNow brauchte ein neues Logo Design und hat einen Wettbewerb auf 99designs gestartet.
Aus 77 Designs von 21 Designern wurde eine Gewinner gewählt.
Cognetix Engineering
I have recently re-established my own mechanical engineering practice. One personal quality that I want to use to my advantage is my high level of attention to detail. This, combined with my broad experience in various industries, enables me to produce well-rounded mechanical system or product designs. (As opposed to many engineers that produce designs with some great qualities, but not great all around. e.g., functional and reliable, but lacking design for manufacturability, ease of servicing, aesthetics, ergonomics, etc.).
Anyway, I'd like my logo to represent HIGH-QUALITY, DETAILED, MODERN, ELEGANT, AND STYLISH work with BALANCE and INTEGRITY all around.
Thank you so much. I look forward to seeing your imagination at play!
Being in the business of engineering and technical consulting, my target audience will be anyone involved in machine, mechanism, system, gadget, product design, etc. Anyone involved in engineering, research, and product development. Keep in mind, however, this goes beyond engineers and technical people -- My target audience includes project managers, directors, and company owners.
Please refer to the attached files.
1. The "full logo" must include my business name, "Cognetix Engineering", but "Cognetix" should stand out more than "Engineering".
2. I love the 3-dimensional, shading and lighting effects of my current logo (i.e., the lettering of "COGNETIX". See attached files). I'm open to everything, but depending on your ideas, I may request that you replicate the lettering effects – Too soon to tell.
3. The logo graphic should be able to stand on its own when I choose to not include "Cognetix Engineering".
4. The logo should imply high-quality, detailed, modern, technical work, with balance and integrity all around.
5. Logo must be modern, 3-dimensional, stylish, high-tech, and elegant.
6. Colors: Bright and deep, lively colors. (I seem to like silver/gray combinations with bright and DEEP BLUE colors, but PLEASE DON'T LIMIT YOURSELF. I'm open to everything at this point.)
7. Optional qualities that appeal to me if they work well: Lighting and shading effects, and features implying motion (as long as they also print well in b&w/grayscale).
8. Additional requirements: Must not closely resemble existing logos (currently used or available for purchase). Must print well in black and white/grayscale. Native graphics files must be supplied and files must have transparent background so that I may place logo against any color background.
Finden Sie heraus, wie ein Designwettbewerb funktioniert, oder lernen Sie mehr über unsere Logo-Design-Angebote.


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"A Festival Prelude" (A. Reed) Performed by: Merit Wind Symphony Director: Bryan Polacekuploaded by MeritSchoolofMusic on january 29, 2016 at 01:19 pm
Sign in or create a free account to leave a comment, follow this user, or like this video. You do not need to be a musician to create an account. Friends, family, and supporters are welcome!


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Product Information
WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics will improve your comfort when standing, walking or running.
However, before you wear them for the first time, it is important to read the following instructions.
Be patient
WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics are made from a durable, firm material designed to properly support your feet and keep them in alignment. Because orthotics work by restoring your natural foot function and changing the position of your feet, it could take as long as 2-3 weeks to adjust to your WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics. If you choose to start out on LOW or MED inserts, after a few weeks, you may want to try MED or HIGH to find your ideal fit. Remember, if after a few days the new inserts are not comfortable, go back to MED or LOW for greater comfort. The important thing is to choose the level that feels best to you.
Avoid Tight-Fitting Shoes
WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics will fit comfortably in most shoes, with the exception of tight-fitting shoes. If you experience this difficulty, try your orthotics with a pair of looser-fitting shoes.
Look Ahead to New Foot Comfort
Once your feet have adjusted to the WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics, you'll experience a noticeable increase in foot support and comfort. You'll hardly know you're wearing them... If you're like most people, you'll always want them in your shoes. You may even wish to order a second pair for added convenience – at the same low TV price – using the enclosed this order form. We know you will love your WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics. Thank you for your purchase.
Warning for Diabetics or Those with Circulation Problems
If you are a diabetic, suffer from chronic foot pain, persistent joint problems, have numbness in your feet or circulation problems, check with your physician before wearing WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics. Approval from your doctor is of great importance. If you suffer from one of the above conditions and a physician's approval cannot be obtained, please return your WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics for a refund.
Remove Extra Padding From Shoes
Some shoes and sneakers come with built-in arch supports and extra padding. WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics replace these built-in arch supports. To receive the proper result from WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics, remove the built-in supports and all extra padding. Leaving in arch supports and padding may cause significant discomfort when wearing those shoes.
Customizable Inserts
WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics come with three inserts: LOW, MED and HIGH. The height of the inserts is written on the back of each. The LOW inserts are already inserted for you. To switch to another pair of inserts, simply bend back the top of your orthotics and lift out the inserts. Place the new inserts in position and press down all over to ensure that they are securely in place. Try out each level of inserts to see which one feels most comfortable initially. If MED or HIGH seems most comfortable, choose MED or HIGH.
Wear Them Only One Hour at First
Orthotics work by changing the position of your feet. It may take some time before you are comfortable wearing them all day. To begin, wear the orthotics 1 hour the first day, 2 hours the second and so on, until you can wear them comfortably all day long. If you feel discomfort, remove them from your shoes. Begin wearing them the next day without increasing the time they are worn. Then continue to increase usage until they are comfortable. If you feel pain when wearing WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics, discontinue use and consult with your physician.
Order yours today!
WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics have been proven to eliminate posture problems, foot pain and leg pain!
In fact, in a scientific study conducted by physicians, this foot care orthotics product helped over 90% of the people tested to reduce pain levels in their feet, knees, spine and pelvis. Get rid of sore, aching feet, and get moving again—pain-free! Our amazing orthotics are designed by doctors for complete comfort—they even conform to your feet. And now you can get this great foot care insole product for less than 50% off the suggested retail price! CLICK HERE TO ORDER NOW!
WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics:
- Strengthen your heels and ankles
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- Protect your feet, legs and spine from the shocks
of running, walking and playing sports
WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics dramatically prevent and reduce foot pain.
What Can Orthotics Do For You?
The foot is made up of 28 bones with joints in between them, and muscles, ligaments and
tendons connecting them. When everything is functioning properly in the foot, it adapts
to the different types of surfaces that you are walking or running on. At the same time, the
foot must be capable of changing into a rigid structure to stabilize and move the body forward.
When excess strain, injury, or poorly constructed shoes affect the feet, this system of bones, joints, tendons and ligaments gets off balance. This can cause pain, as well as being the source of problems in the knees, hips and back. Abnormal foot functioning can throw your whole body off.
Orthotics are designed to restore your natural foot function. Many biomechanical complaints from walking, such as heel pain, knee pain and lower back pain, are caused by improper foot movement. Orthotics realign the foot and ankle bones to their natural position, thereby restoring proper foot movement. In turn, this helps alleviate problems in other parts of the body. In addition, foot care orthotics such as WalkFit® Platinum cause weight to be more evenly distributed over the foot, taking pressure off sore spots, as they provide shock absorption, which minimizes the effects of walking, running and standing.
Orthotics can be of great assistance to the casual walker or the professional athlete. Some parts of WalkFit® Platinum orthotics are specifically designed to act as a cushion as the foot strikes the ground, while other elements are used to support the arches. Our special heel cup helps prevent you from twisting your ankles.
For a child, these devices allow the normal development of bones and foot structures to occur as the child grows, and allows the child to participate in sports while helping to prevent serious injury. In the adult, orthotics allow normal motion to occur and prevent misalignment of the foot structures. Using WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics can bring instant pain relief and prevent future problems from occurring.
Foot care orthotics benefit people with foot pain or discomfort due to imbalances in weight distribution and improper movement. Imbalances while walking and running can alter the bony structure of your feet and lower legs. Our WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics, designed by physicians, strengthen the feet and ankles, evenly distribute weight, relieve imbalances and reduce foot pain.
Over 5 million customers have found that WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics help reduce foot pain, as well as making it easier to exercise! That's right—as you walk, run or play sports with our foot orthotics, your feet, arches and ankles are supported, reducing pain and impact in your feet, knees and back as well.
In sports, your feet can experience up to 300–400% more pressure than in walking or normal activities. This alone can cause foot pain.
WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics are designed by doctors to support the ligaments, tendons, bones and muscles in your feet, thereby immediately reducing foot pain.
WalkFit® Platinum, by Phase 4 Orthotics, provides extra metatarsal and longitudinal support and cushioning for your feet. Our WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics are ideal for complete foot support, comfort, correct posture and mechanics. Our doctor-designed orthotics are a unique foot support system intended to help relieve over-pronation, while preventing foot strain and injury. Designed with a prescription-like arch support, our foot orthotics prevent and treat foot pain. Wearing WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics prevents feet rolling inward (over-pronation), which can pull the entire lower body out of alignment.
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- Our refreshing peppermint foot massage lotion, to soothe away pain and stiffness from your feet.
- Acupressure massage insert.
So, what are you waiting for? Order your WalkFit® Platinum Orthotics now!


text:
Dear Unregistered,
This forum since 2011 has been supporting the open access knowledge and our main motto is that knowledge must be free. Our forum was maintained and supported by donators who donate their time and/or money. We hope you could support us with whatever you can; your knowledge, your veterinary materials, your time, or some money.
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We at Veterinary Medicine Electronic Library wish you and your family all the best. Be Safe #stayhome
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Carrier Plans Joint Venture with Bosch to Strengthen Geothermal and Water-Source Heat Pump Offerings
Carrier signed an agreement today with Robert Bosch North America Corporation to form a joint venture to develop and manufacture geothermal and water-source heat pumps for the North American residential and commercial segments. The transaction completion is pending necessary regulatory approvals. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Carrier, a world leader in high-technology heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration solutions, is a part of UTC Building & Industrial Systems, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX).
Geothermal heat pumps, which use the constant below-ground temperature of soil or water to heat and cool buildings, use 25-50 percent less electricity than conventional heating or cooling systems, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. With sales of geothermal heat pumps expected to nearly triple by 2020, Carrier entered into the agreement to enhance its offerings and service to the growing market. Moving forward, Carrier geothermal and water-source heat pumps will be developed and manufactured at the JV's Florida Heat Pump manufacturing plant in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Sales channels and the respective brands for each company will remain independent of one another.
"The Carrier team is excited by the opportunities this agreement will provide," said Chris Nelson, president, residential and commercial systems, Carrier. "By bringing together the strengths of both companies, from Carrier's rich legacy of innovation to Bosch's well-equipped manufacturing plant in Fort Lauderdale, we will deliver a high level of value to our customers."
"Geothermal heating is one of the most cost-effective and environmentally responsible heating and cooling options available to consumers," said Richard Soper, president, Bosch Thermotechnology Corp. "Establishing a relationship between Carrier and Bosch will allow us to leverage our research and development resources and continue to deliver high quality manufactured products to our customers."
Visit www.carrier.com to learn more or follow the company on Twitter: @CarrierGreen.
About Carrier
Carrier is the world's leader in high-technology heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration solutions. Carrier experts provide sustainable solutions, integrating energy-efficient products, building controls, and energy services for residential, commercial, retail, transport and food service customers. Founded by the inventor of modern air conditioning, Carrier improves the world around us through engineered innovation and environmental stewardship. Carrier is a part of UTC Building & Industrial Systems, a unit of United Technologies Corp., a leading provider to the aerospace and building systems industries worldwide. Visit www.carrier.com for more information or follow the company on Twitter:@CarrierGreen.


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With every new horizon one gets a glimpse of the future. From our snowkite session a week ago we got a taste of Deer Mountain. On the horizon was Elk Mountain. This past week we got to session Elk and it was awesome! You might like the deep snow on Elk Mountain. You might like the 800 feet of top-to-bottom fall line vertical. You will love the side-on wind. It's has a great view of the Centennials and it's given us another view of the future: Candyland!
Candyland is directly west of Elk Mtn and is a snowkiters dream: Ridge after wind-lipped ridge steadily climbing upward with soft features in every direction. We scouted Candyland on our sleds while we waited for the wind to fill in on Elk and Deer. The spot was very deep and we suspect that it will deliver the goods for an epic session, sometime in the near future.
Back to Elk and Deer: The wind turned on at around mid-day and until sunset we raged on these two mountains. The whole afternoon was filled with fresh, soft powder and sky-hi boosts. It is a big place and there were times when my partner and I would disappear from view, for a half hour to an hour at a time, each of us on our own separate mountain, or in a canyon of snow and wind, in our own little snowy world.
We have a hard time believing the vastness of the kite terrain in the Red Rock Valley. It is isolated and this adds to the feeling of vastness. Deer and Elk Mountains (and someday, Candyland!) have become our favorite new kite spot for this year.
Thanks for reading and see ya out there,


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Hi. Just wondering if there is any place to get Guerlain Vetiver or Caeser's man.
Also, does the L'Occitane outlet at takashimaya carry its vetiver cologne?
Thread: Singapore
Hi. Just wondering if there is any place to get Guerlain Vetiver or Caeser's man.
Also, does the L'Occitane outlet at takashimaya carry its vetiver cologne?
Have already checked out Mustafa Centre last week. Will probably do the rounds in orchard, Ion, takashimaya, and lucky centre.
I was looking at some frags in ozcosmetics, esp the creed line.
I was surprised by the difference in the photos
Green Irish Tweed
From Creedboutique:
From ozcosmetics:
Bois Du Portugal
From Creedboutique
From ozcosmetics:
From Creedboutique:
From ozcosmetics:
Question: are they the same or merely imitation?
I can't confirm whether they actually go on to sell those used and resealed fragrances, but once when I bought a fragrance from them, I could have sworn that there were fingerprints on the bottle when I opened it. The bottle did seem full, but one or two sprays would not have caused a visible difference to the liquid level anyway.
I suppose that's how they keep their prices low - by saving money on testers (which they sell to customers).
Yes, TF is finally here!
But they still have a few scents that are not available, e.g. TF Extreme
The price for the 250ml decanter is $799.
If anyone is willing to do a split, please let me know!
- - - Updated - - -
Dior La collection prive available in Tangs as well now.. wow!
Where I can find Amouage in downtown? I remember I did not see in Tangs
The Escentials counter at Tangs now carry Amouage after the renovations, but probably not the full range available. The outlet at Paragon has a more complete selection of all lines.
Oh thank u so much, Maque. Im going to back Sing in Jan and I will not miss it. Do u know Armani Store has Prive-Les Eaux Collection now? Last time i w there, they only have Armani Prive-La Collection.
Hi Bambino, sorry for the late reply. I had not visited the Armani boutique so I am not sure what it carries.
That said, many brands in SG does not carry their full lines: e.g. for some strange reason, Tom Ford Beauty did not bring in Black Violet; the Guerlain counter now has many exclusives, but does not have LIDGE and so on. So, I am not surprised if the Armani boutique does not bring in the Armani Privé Les Eaux.
Thanks again ^^ I will check. I heard that Hide & Seek is a nice place, so i will check it too
Yes, Hide and Seek is nice, with a rather good collection of hard-to-find scents. I recently visited it just to test Histoire de Parfums.
Yah, Great! I'm interested in Humiecki & Graef and Tauer. Very hard to find in Asia so I'll be happy if I can pick one of them
Hi! I'm wondering where to get knize 10 and houbigant fougere royale in SG.
Hi Guys, I saw the updates that Guerlain now carries the exclusives collections. Does anyone know if they carry L'heure de Nuit and if so is it at the Tangs store or Takashimaya. Also is the Dries Van Noten Par Frederic malle out yet in Singapore? (in Malmaison boutique or Dries Store at Hilton Hotel). I'm going to Singapore this friday and i really hope these 2 fragrance are available there.
Oops, this may come a little too late for andreas2x, but L'Heure de Nuit is at the Tangs Guerlain counter (with all the other exclusives).
Dries van Noten is only out next month (according to ST Urban) at Malmaison. I am not sure if it is available at Hilton.
Thanks for the reply maque, yes Dries van Noten is not yet available at malmaison. and so is L'heure de nuit. I was at tangs, they only have the tester but the SA told me that they don't have stock and it will only come around April.
On the side note, the price of Guerlain L'heure de Nuit is not so much different from the US price (I was counting it with the California Tax) and so is Tom Ford, still cheaper in the states around USD20-25. Chanel les exclusives on the other hand, the difference is major. about USD 80 even with tax refund.
Yes, unfortunately a lot of things are not cheap(er) in Singapore.
Sorry to hear about the lack of stock for L'Heure de Nuit.
Don't be sorry =) at least i still get to test it. Also Singapore is way better than Indonesia in term of finding niche.
Does Mustafa carry Guerlain?
From what I recall (I just visited it about a week ago), not really.
I'm looking forward to visiting my favourite Singapore fragrance haunts later this year. I wonder if I'll be lucky enough to bump into any Heely?
Is LIDGE available anywhere locally?
Heeley is not available in Singapore, sadly. Well, not that I know of yet.
LIDGE also, does not seem to be available in Singapore. The Guerlain counter at Tangs carried the tester initially, after the completion of the beauty hall renovations, but have since hidden or removed it, since they do not actually carry stocks of LIDGE.
Thanks Maque, much as I suspected. But then again I thought hot climate and everything. Luckily I will also be in Madrid, and I believe I can find Heely among other delicacies at Nadia's perfumeriea. I'm beginning to suspect the prices in the Big Noodle are as bad as here
Les Eaux (Figuier Eden, Oranger Alhambra, Rose Alexandrie, and Vetiver Babylone)
La Collection (Ambre Soie, Bois d'Encens, Cuir Amethyste, Eau de Jade, Eclat de Jasmin, and Pierre de Lune)
La Collections des Mille et Une Nuit (Ambre Orient, Cuir Noir, Oud Royal, and Rose d'Arabie).
OH! Sounds great, but yah... a little late I wish they could be available sooner. I have already Ambre Soie, Bois d'encens , Figuier Eden...and really wanna try Vetiver Babylone. Anw, im so happy when i picked up Tauer and Humiecki & Graef at Hide&Seek, really nice shop Thank you Maque so much, I will be come back Singapore soon ^^
I went to Blackmarket at #02-10, Orchard Central and Hide & Seek at 71, Bussorah Street yesterday to look for Tauer Perfumes but what I saw were empty lots. Do they ceased operation or just moved?
Last edited by t0n3; 30th December 2013 at 03:42 PM.
I am not sure about Blackmarket. Oblique at Hide & Seek does seem to have ceased operations, which is such a pity.
Your best bet may be to directly order from Tauer Perfumes, and it is cheaper too! Just that it is not easy to test anything now.


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Internet Explorer 9 == WPF 3?
Microsoft just released IE 9. You can tell when Microsoft are serious about a product release when they do it using yet another focus-group inspired website that will be offline before the end of the year (anyone remember the NetFX3 site?).
Here are some of IE 9's new features:
- They stole the combined address bar/search box from Chrome
(But they put it in the wrong place, so you have to choose between having more than 3 tabs open at once and being able to see the address of the web site you're looking at)
- Font rendering powered by Microsoft's patented Horse Manure Font Rendering Engine.
You might have heard of the Horse Manure Font Renderer before - it was the most hated feature of WPF 3.0 when it shipped.
Here's the engine in action (IE 9 on the left, Chrome on the right):
The font rendering problem in WPF was very tricky - few people preferred it, many really didn't, and most didn't notice. To me, personally, I find the text on the left very hard to read, and it gives me headaches.
It took a long time for Microsoft to acknowledge the problem in WPF, and even longer to fix it. While the problem existed, Microsoft kept insisting "I can't see the problem", it's "for the best", and it's "by design".
Internally, the WPF team took the complaints pretty seriously, and though it took forever, they did eventually fix it. The fix came in WPF 4.
I'm not just Microsoft bashing - everyone complained when Safari did this on Windows in 2007. I understand all of the reasons for it - but, on Windows, it makes text harder to read for me.
As Aaron pointed out below, on some machines the difference will be less apparent. The difference seems to be down to your ClearType settings - below are some examples at different contrast levels:
As you can see, adjusting ClearType to a low/medium level means the contrast isn't so bad, but personally, I prefer the high contrast setting for Chrome/Windows. I also notice a big difference on my 24" LCD monitor and my 16" RGB LED laptop screen.
Here's how this is going to play out.
- Microsoft will praise the new engine, because it makes super large fonts nicer, and because zooming is better. They'll conveniently forget that on the web, people like to read text. They might even suggest it's our fault for being scared of change*.
- MVP's and other shills will get on board, curbing any dissent
- IE 10 will be released, and the problem will be fixed, sometime around 2015.
- Those same Microsoft employees and MVP shills will blog about how bad the rendering was in IE 9, and how we should all upgrade to IE 10.
(* - the "scared of change" argument makes me smile - Chrome releases a new version every 6 weeks, and I don't complain. Hmmm, perhaps it's because Chrome releases don't suck?)
Welcome, my name is Paul Stovell. I live in Brisbane and work on Octopus Deploy, an automated deployment tool.
Prior to founding Octopus Deploy, I worked for an investment bank in London building WPF applications, and before that I worked for Readify, an Australian .NET consulting firm. I also worked on a number of open source projects and was an active user group presenter. I was a Microsoft MVP for WPF from 2006 to 2013.
But they put it in the wrong place, so you have to choose between having more than 3 tabs open at once and being able to see the address of the web site you're looking at
Right click on bar and check "Show tabs on separate row" :)
Although I risk being labeled a shill or anything I want to say a few things:
- IE stole the combined search box from Chrome who stole it from Firefox who stole it from Opera. Welcome to software, someone does something well and everyone else copies them. Hey, IE has had dev tools available since IE6, sure they aren't the best, but do you say Firebug cloned that, made it better and now everyone else is playing catch up?
- I don't know where you're getting your font rendering from:
Which one is Chrome and which one is IE9? My machine is Windows 7 x64 and I can't tell the difference between them. I don't know what page your source is coming from but I did my best to find a page which had the same font layouts (I used this page for reference).
Pro tip: Chrome is left, IE9 is right.
Personally I prefer the IE9 rendering:
This was taken tonight against IE9, Firefox 4 RC and Chrome 10.
I'm using IE 9 RTM on Windows 7 x64 too - did you do anything to change the rendering?
I think the difference is due to ClearType settings (search for 'adjust cleartype' in the Win7 start bar).
It seems that IE 9 uses the "darker" ClearType settings much more strongly than the rest of Windows/WPF. I can make mine look like yours by dropping the cleartype contrast all the way down, but then everything else looks bad too.
Have you checked your ClearType settings?
IE9 renders way better than that here too (as shown in this twitpic http://bit.ly/fHwrBc), although Chrome is still slightly better.
Never been through that wizard, my ClearType is using the OOTB settings.
Chrome was, to the best of my knowledge, the first browser to sport the Omnibox (the real of the combined address and search fields.) Firefox and Opera still have separate boxes for address and search, and while you may type in searches in the address field (as you can in any browser) it's not the same functionality and more importantly, not the same user experience as the Omnibox.
Not been able to reproduce Damien's font rendering sample, but my primary machines are all Macs, and OS X font rendering is pretty soft/excessive. Will see if I can reproduce it on my Windows machine tomorrow, but I find it hard to believe because I've never noticed it and I've used Chrome as my primary browser since launch...
You're wrong actually. IE9 stole WPF4 font rendering engine called DirectWrite.
You need to play with the ClearType wizard a bit. Firefox 4 rendering is affected for the wizard results also.
Actually, just got a laptop reimaged so gave both IE9 and Chrome10 equal pristine conditions. And apparently IE9 font is tiny bit better — the letters are rounder and less pixely, while still perfectly legible.
I love Chrome and don't really approve of IE donky style, but should say it does render text quite good and subtle.
Paul, you must have been meddling with your ClearType settings, that's why yours misbehaves.
I fully support this product and/or service and/or blog post. You're dead on the money.
What is even better is that you wrote your "Here's how it is going to play out" section at the end and it took less than an hour for someone to pile on with a large font example. Pretty fkn funny.
+2 points to calling Hanselman out.
You made my morning.
Well... I don't what's wrong but for the small text rendering IE9 is uberly unacceptable (por. http://i.imgur.com/bJDbH.jpg - left:ie9, right: opera, CT turned off system-wide). I know it looks ok for the bigger texts (25px+?) but for something in range 12pt or less it's barely readable... and most of the the web is in that size...
For anyone having problem with ClearType - use https://sites.google.com/a/softwareninjas.ca/www/dwrite-dll-wrapper - it brings sanity to IE9 text display


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The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee has scheduled a meeting next week to hear testimony on the expansion of Internet gaming. Because as much as 20 percent of pari-mutuel wagering occurs online, any expansion of Internet gaming is of great interest to the U.S. horse racing industry.
In the past two legislative sessions, Congress has failed to pass legislation to legalize Internet gaming, primarily poker. Despite these setbacks, the push continues with new legislation (H.R. 2282) introduced this year by Rep. Peter King (R-NY). The NTRA will continue its efforts to protect horse racing's interests in this process.
The NTRA has been at the forefront of Internet gaming legislation for more than a dozen years. Our involvement began in 2000 when the NTRA helped secure an important amendment to the Interstate Horseracing Act that legalized pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing via the Internet.
The NTRA's work continued when the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was introduced in 2006. That legislation was intended to halt all Internet gaming but the NTRA was able to secure provisions in the final version of UIGEA that maintained our industry's unique ability to offer legal online pari-mutuel wagering.
Preserving the horse racing industry's Internet gaming rights is fundamental to the NTRA's federal legislative function; we take that responsibility very seriously.


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The driver of a big-rig was killed early Thursday after being ejected from the cab of his truck and hit by a passing pickup.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the driver of a big-rig was driving southbound on U.S. 287 south of Rhome when he struck the trailer of another semi that was crossing the southbound lanes at the intersection of 287 and Ramhorn Hill Road.
The driver of the southbound rig lost control of the vehicle and was ejected from the cab. His rig continued on however, crossing the median and into the northbound lanes of 287 before finally crashing and catching fire on the far side of the highway.
The latest news from around North Texas.
The driver of the truck, whose name has not yet been released, was killed after being struck first by a pickup truck and then a number of other vehicles. He died at the scene.
The driver of the pickup also lost control of his vehicle, and he also crossed into the northbound lanes of 287 and rolled before coming to a stop about 20 feet from the flaming big rig. The driver of the pickup truck was transported to an area hospital where his injuries are not considered life-threatening.
The driver of the east-facing big-rig was not injured.
The Texas Department of Public Safety is investigating the crash.
"Out here, it's not like in the Metro are where we have street lights. It's very dark. The only thing we have is moonlight. So it would have been very difficult for anyone to see that person laying in the roadway," said Trooper Lonny Haschel, with the Texas DPS. "So we're going to look at driving conditions, roadway conditions, daylight conditions and then the conditions of the vehicle and the driver before they determine exactly what caused this."
Traffic Update:
The collision closed most of U.S. 287 at Tarrant County/Wise County line Thursday morning while officials cleared the scene and while HAZMAT crews cleaned a fuel spill.
Commuters were initially advised to take state Highway 114 east to Interstate 35W to bypass the crash, but 114 has also become congested. Drivers heading into Tarrant County from U.S. 287 or 114 north or west of Rhome are now encouraged to exit either Old Base Road or Farm-to-Market Road 3433. Both roads will lead to Farm-to-Market Road 718 which will lead to 287 south of the crash.
All lanes were reopened to traffic at about 11 a.m.
NBC 5's Keaton Fox and Samantha Davies contributed to this report.


text:
New countries join
Israel and the Soviet Union entered the Olympic Games for the first time, and fears that Cold War rivalries would lead to clashes proved unfounded. Particularly impressive were the Soviet women gymnasts who won the team competition easily, beginning a streak that would continue for 40 years until the Soviet Union broke up into separate republics.
Star performer
Czech long-distance runner Emil Zátopek produced a brilliant display of running. He won the 5,000m, successfully defended his 10,000m title and then took his third gold medal in his first-ever marathon to complete a triple that remains unique in Olympic history.
Equestrian becomes mixed
A change in the rules for equestrian competitions allowed women not only to enter, but also to compete alongside men in mixed events. One of the first women to do so was Lis Hartel of Denmark. Paralysed below the knees, Hartel had to be helped on and off her horse. Despite this, she claimed silver in the equestrian dressage.
For you, Dad
Back in 1924, Bill Havens was chosen to represent the US in a demonstration of canoe. However, he declined in order to stay home with his wife, who was expecting their first child. Twenty-eight years later, that child competed in Helsinki. His name was Frank Havens, and he claimed gold in the Canadian singles 10,000m canoeing event.
NOCs: 69
Athletes: 4,955 (519 women, 4,436 men)
Events: 149
Volunteers: n/a
Media: n/a
A more formal attribution procedure
A 30-minute presentation by each candidate city, the absences of IOC members from the countries involved during the time of the presentations, and voting up to the point of obtaining an absolute majority before a host city was elected.
The beginning of Olympic numismatics
The first commemorative coin of the modern Olympic Games was made in 1951-52.
Cultural events
Replacement of the art competition by exhibitions.
Women and men competing together
A change in the rules for equestrian competitions meant that, for the first time, women could not only enter, but could compete alongside men in the same "mixed" events.
Two new countries participating in the Games
The USSR and Israel came to the Olympic Games for the first time.
Helsinki 1952. Interior view of the Olympic Stadium during the Opening Ceremony in front of the witnesses.
Official opening of the Games by:
President Juho Paasikivi
Lighting the Olympic Flame by:
Paavo Nurmi and Hannes Kolehmainen (athletics)
Olympic Oath by:
Heikki Savolainen (artistic gymnastics)
Official Oath by:
The officials' oath at an Olympic Summer Games was first sworn in 1972 in Munich.
It was composed of the tower of the stadium with the Olympic rings at the top. It was worn as a badge by the dignitaries and VIP guests at the Games.
On the obverse, the traditional goddess of victory, holding a palm in her left hand and a winner's crown in her right. A design used since the 1928 Games in Amsterdam, created by Florentine artist Giuseppe Cassioli (ITA -1865-1942) and chosen after a competition organised by the International Olympic Committee. For these Games, the picture of victory is accompanied by the specific inscription: "XV OLYMPIA HELSINKI 1952".
On the reverse, an Olympic champion carried in triumph by the crowd, with the Olympic stadium in the background. N.B: From 1928 to 1968, the medals for the Summer Games were identical. The Organising Committee for the Games in Munich in 1972 broke new ground by having a different reverse which was designed by a Bauhaus representative, Gerhard Marcks.More info
Number of torchbearers: 3 042
Total distance: 7 492 km
Countries crossed: Greece, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland
It was the Paavo Nurmi poster, created for the 1940 Games, which were never held because of the Second World War. It was just updated with the dates and the lines around the countries, drawn in red on a globe in the background. 82,000 large format copies were made in nine languages and 33,000 small format copies in 20 languages.
"The official report of the Organising Committee for the Games of the XV Olympiad", was published in 1955 and in two separate editions, one in English, and one in Finnish. There were two different types of binding.
Helsinki 1952
Helsinki 1952Download"The official report of the Organising Committee for the Games of the XV Olympiad", was published in 1955 and in two separate editions, one in English, and one in Finnish. There were two different types of binding.
India Dominates Hockey
Lighting the cauldron (Helsinki 1952)


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You know what I think would be interesting?
Giving lots of people a piece of paper with 'Taylor Swift' written in the middle and an instruction to complete five minutes of automatic writing. Would anyone care to place bets regarding how many times 'crazy ex-girlfriend' is written? Or perhaps – horror of horrors – 'teen girl music'?
You see, the media has a strange problem with our Taylor – and that means that a lot of people outside the media end up having one, too. If the endless articles about why she's the fourth horse of the musical apocalypse had any serious grounding, I'd be inclined to listen to them. I mean, for starters, Swiftie has written some pretty problematic lyrics (Better Than Revenge, anyone?) which a lot of us could go to town on. But the media's coverage of Swift ignores this (perfectly legitimate) criticism and instead attacks her for usually one of two reasons (or both, if they're feeling generous): she is the 'crazy ex-girlfriend' songwriter, the songwriter for teen girls, the cutesy little emotional button who writes candidly about her relationships and often hilariously throws her exes to the dogs through the medium of song.
If you don't believe me that the media like to create a strange Taylor-Swift shaped monster possessing the key qualities of 'crazy', 'manipulative' and 'obsessive', often inciting reader comments with more colourful language, then just go ahead and click on the links above. But a creative person with a guitar writing about love shouldn't exactly be something to write home (or to Richard Littlejohn) about. Why is it that Taylor creates such a ruckus? Could it be time to sound out the SEXISM KLAXON?
Perhaps you don't need to be told that female confessional writing, like Taylor Swift's, is all too often seen as self-indulgent and unimportant – while men do exactly the same thing and it's 'profound' and 'poetic'. For further proof of this happening since, like, forever, I feel like now is a good point to mention I've heard so many criticisms of Sylvia Plath and Courtney Love for this very same reason – while their male counterparts (and often their boyfriends) are hailed as workers of genius. They're not crazy, manipulative and obsessive; they're deep, troubled and expressive. They're certainly not 'just prisoners of their hormones'.
Which brings us to the issue of teenage girls. Taylor Swift writes songs about heartbreak, falling in love – let's face it, issues that are appealing to teen girls everywhere (as well as the rest of the population, no doubt.) Pop songs are popular for one of two reasons: because they're catchy, or because people identify with them. TS has managed both. Go figure.
So why are the media so hell-bent in this case on shaming not only the artist who creates these songs, but also her fan base for liking them? Like, really? Are the media really shaming teen girls for crying at a Taylor Swift show? Do we actually live in a society that tells teenage girls the music they identify with isn't important? Do we seriously live in a place that dismisses and mocks a female artist for vocalising her emotions? I can't even begin to count the amount of times I've heard the word 'fangirling' in a negative context, or people dismissively describing something Swift-esque as 'teen girl central' – as if something associated with teen girls is automatically unworthy of our attention. In fact, more often times than I can count, 'teen girl' is seen as synonymous with 'worthless'. And I am really, really not okay with this.
The fact of the matter is that teen girls are subject to a whole range of criticisms and negative stereotyping, a unique shit-stirring cauldron of ageism and sexism – and, since teen girls are (broadly speaking) a large proportion of her fan base, Taylor Swift is subject to these too. Ergo, she is constantly punished for it.
Put simply, music for teen girls (if there's such a thing as music being solely for teen girls) is seen as unimportant and insignificant because the tastes, thoughts and interests of teen girls are undervalued and mocked. If anyone else would like to join me on a life-long project to defend teenage girls from the never-ending waves of unfair criticism, feel free to drop me an email (and I am available for parties.)
But one of my favourite things about Taylor Swift is that she's so aware of these illegitimate criticisms of her and deliberately plays up to them: whether it's saying 'That's a little fast – and I'm saying that' to her friend about a couple's trip to Italy, or a witty 'Whenever a man shows emotion, I appear', she knows how the media sees her, plays up to it and dismantles the criticisms by making fun of herself. Despite all articles to the contrary, Taylor Swift is a smart woman. And a pretty hella funny one at that.
Girls are socially conditioned to keep quiet about the things that irritate us, for fear of seeming 'irrational', 'hormonal', or 'bitchy'. Because of this, Swift is so important. We are taught explicitly to suppress our true feelings so as not to appear crazy. We are taught implicitly that those feelings aren't valuable or important or worthy of mainstream expression. But hey, Swift isn't afraid of seeming 'crazy'. She says what she means, with unflinching candour. She gives zero fucks.
When criticisms of pop culture are legitimate – and there are plenty of them – then it's important to discuss them. You might hate her problematic lyrics in her earlier work. Everyone has different tastes and, of course, you might just not like her sweet, sweet melodious music, which is totally fine. But for ages, I wouldn't even admit my love of Taylor Swift to myself – never mind my peers – because of these criticisms of her. Why? I'm talking sexist bullshit here.
So, to all the haters out there: I suggest you take a good hard look at yourself and wonder what really makes you hate Taylor so damn much.


text:
Neuroglyph Games: "Chris Dias has done a remarkable job in transforming 4E rules into something very useful to gamers looking to take a break from heroic fantasy – but still get to play a 4E style game! The rules are very innovative, as are the new mechanics for character design, and ...
Ultramodern 5 Redux
Between the fact that the creator keeps actively updating it and the beautiful artwork, you are looking at one of the best 5e supplements out there. Truly amazing mechanics make this a joy to play.
Nigel S
Roleplayers Chronicle (Todd Crapper): "Ultramodern4 is a magnificent accomplishment in alternative game design and I can't help but feel it is superior to D&D, even if it is required to play this game. It achieves what D&D could not because it was not held down to a particular reference point – previous versions of D&D ...
RPGNow: "This is a company to watch as they are to 4th edition as pathfinder was to 3.5 so if you have not picked up or looked at 4th please give this companys books a look, who knows you might find something you never knew you missed."
RPGNow: "D.E.M. Games has set the standard for 4e modern and has no apparent challengers."
URIEL: "Misha is just lifting things all day, fat guys, like Jim."
MISHA: "Then my hands would smell like mayo all day."
URIEL: "They already do. God, I hate the Dutch."
MISHA: "Can I use my STR instead of Cha for Intimidate?"
GM: "How?"
MISHA: "I just lift stuff…I AM SOOO POWERFUL!!"
JONAS: "Oh my god, he bench pressed Jim!"
AIDEN: "Who's Jim?"
EDWIN: "Jim could be a dragon…"
URIEL: "Or a real fat guy."
GM: "The vorpal critical strikes you Uriel. You are reduced to zero hit points and are deflected 50 feet from the battle area."
URIEL: "What…sorry, I couldn't hear you. You know, with the c#$& in your mouth."
EDWIN: "Why are you touching me? Lay on Hands?"
URIEL: "Yeah…sure…


text:
kthebestwayw wrote:http://www.nfl.com/player/johnabraham/2504171/careerstats
look at his stats the past few years.....uh YEAH we bring him in. He was a cap casualty in Atlanta. Bring him in. I don't care the age, 1-3 year contract. 7 Passes defended last year. 10 sacks...on the decline? nope? this team needs SOME veteran leadership!
Treefiddy wrote:Apparently on his way here for a visit
NinerLifer wrote:Treefiddy wrote:Apparently on his way here for a visit
Ya and then stopping by in San Fran too. Wonder which of our teams is the one trying to raise the cost of the other LOL.