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Internal documents reveal that the FDA is failing in its public health obligation to warn pregnant women about mercury in tuna.
Focus Pocus: Report Body
The FDA withholds information from pregnant women on mercury-contaminated fish, citing "focus groups" as justification
FDA takes the industry line
Internal FDA focus group transcripts considered together with publicly available FDA documents point to a complete collapse of the government's efforts to protect the public from mercury. The agency is failing to regulate mercury levels in seafood, has shut down its mercury monitoring program, has not issued an enforceable limit for mercury in fish, and has not implemented the mercury education program that it promised.
Instead, the agency has adopted a series of policies that mirror the positions of the seafood industry, contradict the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences, ignore significant new findings from the Centers for Disease Control that confirm elevated levels of mercury in the blood of the human population, and reject the positions of the participants in their focus group sessions. One is hard pressed to find a single important policy decision related to mercury in seafood where the agency has not adopted the industry line (Table 3 - see PDF). For example:
· Only the tuna industry and the FDA reject all existing peer reviewed epidemiological and animal studies that show mercury is toxic at very low doses, and instead use a single study as justification for not adopting more protective standards. The National Academy of Sciences advised: "because there is a large body of evidence showing adverse neurodevelopmental effects, including well-designed epidemiological studies, the committe concludes that an RfD should not be derived from a study...that did not observe any association with [mercury]." (NAS 2000) The U.S. EPA agrees with the NAS and has developed a mercury safety standard about an order of magnitude more stringent than FDA's unenforceable action level (EPA 2000).
· Only the tuna industry and the FDA argue that there is no need to protect pregnant women from mercury in seafood because women do not eat much fish (Table 3 - see PDF). The U.S. EPA safety standard protects all women regardless of how much fish they eat (EPA 2000). The NAS estimated that 60,000 pregnant women a year eat enough fish to put their babies at risk (NAS 2000). Blood montitoring results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 10 percent of American women of childbearing age eat sufficient fish to have mercury in their bodies at levels that put a fetus at increased risk for adverse neurological effects (CDC 2001). And pregnant women in FDA's focus groups describe how they increased their canned tuna consumption dramatically during pregnancy to satisfy their protein needs or other dietary concerns.
· Only the tuna industry and the FDA say that women will stop eating fish when given detailed information on fish to avoid during pregnancy (Table 3 - see PDF). When presented with draft health advisories, participants in FDA's own focus groups said that they would keep eating fish but avoid those with high mercury levels (Table 1 and Table 2).
1. FDA fails to set mercury regulation at level that protects public health
Seafood that is technically "safe" according to FDA's mercury action level is actually endangering public health. In a focus group session held in Boston, a senior FDA scientist that supposedly safe seafood could put a fetus at risk for neurological damage: " the action levels that we have in place for fish are not protective enough for this - the fetuses" (Macro International, Inc. 2000i - Boston, Nov 8, 8 pm, pg 65).
In the same focus group, a woman whose child has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder pressed an FDA scientist: "I mean, now you find a lot of Attention Deficit Disorder and they're really not saying where it is coming from But maybe it could be coming from eating too much fish - you know - I mean, is that a possibility?" The scientist replies, "Yes, that's why we're - yes, that is a possibility. That is why we're interested in this." "So my daughter is on medication, now, because I ate fish " FDA's scientist responds, "- now that we have this research, that now is a possibility." (Macro International, Inc. 2000i - Boston, Nov 8, 8 pm, pp 70-71)
In spite of these admissions, FDA has no plans to strengthen their action level for mercury in seafood, and has based their advisory to pregnant women on this same action level (one part per million of mercury in fish) that they admit does not protect the fetus.
2. FDA fails to justify their unprotective action level and advisory
Transcripts undercut FDA claims that consumer reactions justify withholding information
FDA's Dr. Michael Bolger claimed in a national news story (Burros 2001) that the FDA-sponsored focus groups proved "it was difficult to communicate to people the concept that there are safe fish, unsafe fish and some fish that should be eaten infrequently. When given such detailed information, members of the focus groups said they would stop eating fish altogether." Even though this is one of FDA's primary reasons for providing such a severely limited advisory to pregnant women, the focus group transcripts do not support this assertion.
In the 267 pages of transcripts from the final three focus groups, which were the only groups that were presented information in a form similar to FDA's final advisory, 80 percent of comments relating to seafood consumption (30 of 37 comments) indicated that after hearing FDA's proposed advisory, people would continue to eat seafood or would avoid just the high mercury fish (Table 1). Only seven individual comments support FDA's claim to the press. These seven individual comments came from, at most, three women in a focus group of pregnant women (Shawna, Monica, and an unidentified participant who echoed Monica's statement and may have been Monica speaking again). The remaining four comments came from, at most, three people pretending to be pregnant, one of them a man named Trevor (Table 2).
What some focus group participants did say was that they would stay away from moderately-contaminated tuna and would choose to eat low-mercury fish instead. "Gee, I don't think I'm going to eat tuna," said a pregnant woman in a Denver focus group after hearing that pregnant women should limit their consumption of canned tuna. (Macro International Inc. 2000g - Denver, Oct 17, 6 pm, pg 75). A woman in a Boston focus group describes how she will avoid fish with any consumption warning attached to them: "my inclination would be to go with things that aren't going to cause any risk of harm - but still eat fish." (Macro International, Inc. 2000i - Boston, Nov 8, 8 pm, pg 25)
And contrary to what FDA's Bolger told the public, between the first and the 11th focus group, FDA came a long way toward finding ways to communicate the hazards of mercury in seafood without turning people off to seafood. One pregnant woman in a Calverton focus group summed up the information like this: "My advice would be not to eat the mackerel, the shark and the swordfish. But, I would also put in a note; you should limit your intake of the tuna and then, you know, eat the rest of the fish in moderation. Don't consume large quantities of fish. Don't assume that you can." (Macro International, Inc. 2000j - Calverton, MD, Nov 14, 6 pm, pg 59). That is the message FDA was supposed to be trying to convey: that some - not all - fish are unacceptably high in mercury.
Further undercutting Bolger's claim are the reactions from male consumers in the focus groups. Most were completely comfortable with continuing to eat seafood after hearing it contains mercury. A grandfather from Calverton correctly points out that FDA's message to pregnant women was not intended for men: "Well, we haven't read anything yet that it is a negative thing to do unless you are pregnant. So, based on what we've read so far, I don't think I would change anything at this point." (Macro International, Inc. 2000k - Calverton, MD, Nov 14, 8 pm, pg 31). A Calverton father of two teenage sons is unimpressed with the level of risk mercury poses to him: "I've been in traffic here and there, played the dodge car show, see, and I guess my time was up five years ago, maybe twenty years ago, you never know. But, to make a long story short, I'll eat anything." (Macro International, Inc. 2000k - Calverton, MD, Nov 14, 8 pm, pg 33).
Of the approximately 100 people included in all 11 focus groups, only a handful voiced the opinion that they would stop eating seafood after hearing that it contains mercury. And some of those participants' remarks are difficult to interpret. For example, during one focus group, a participant is asked how she would respond to hearing that canned tuna consumption should be limited to four three-ounce servings a week. She replies, "I would never buy it again. I would cut back if I ate a lot. I would cut back on it quite a bit. I'd have it occasionally." (verbatim, Macro International, Inc. 2000g - Denver, October 17, 6 pm, pg 32).
In some cases, as focus group participants were led through information over the course of their session, their perceptions evolved. In a Calverton, Maryland focus group the moderator introduced the issue of mercury in fish by reading an excerpt from the National Academy of Sciences study that speaks to the risks. One participant's response: "once I read this article right here, then I'm going to stop eating fish. . . . Because it's - like it says small amounts. You don't know how many amounts, what quantity or what. So, I will stop eating fish, and I will call me a lawyer." (Macro International, Inc. 2000a - Calverton, October 11, 6 pm, pg 43) But later, after learning that farm-raised catfish and trout are considered safe, a participant considers backtracking on her original position:
"It seems like it's tempting, it's really, really tempting. It does. But - I mean, I don't want to sit up here - Once I set my mind to something, then I pretty much stick to it. But, you know, if it's saying that it's no mercury concern for these species, for farm-raised catfish or trout, to be honest and realistically speaking, it's a small possibility that I might have like a little teenie piece of the freshwater catfish or trout, just a little, teenie piece." (Macro International, Inc. 2000a - Calverton, October 11, 6 pm, pp 96-97)
A participant named Trevor in a Boston focus group said that if he were a pregnant woman, "I would not eat fish for the first trimester." (Macro International, Inc. 2000i - Boston, Nov 8, 8 pm, pg 24). To be conservative, we counted this as one of the people who would avoid fish entirely.
3. Focus group transcripts show that, contrary to what FDA says, some pregnant women eat significant amounts of tuna
The defense FDA offers in dropping tuna from its advisory is that fish is a small portion of the diet, and therefore the risk is not significant. Specifically, FDA cites a tuna trade association study purporting to show that "canned tuna consumption is not as great as anecdotal observations would indicate For this reason, the agency concluded that specific advice for canned tuna was not necessary and should be subsumed within the advice dealing with fish consumption in general." (FDA 2001b).
Two problems with this logic jump out immediately. First, the amount of tuna women eat should have no impact on whether they receive sound advice about safe consumption levels. And if, in fact, women don't eat much tuna, then advising them on safe consumption levels should raise few issues about the advisory's economic impact on the seafood industry.
On top of that, the focus groups strongly contradict the industry's contention that fish consumption, particularly for pregnant women, is overestimated.
One woman in a Calverton focus group describes the canned tuna diet prescribed to her by her doctor: "But see, when I had my first son I had gestational diabetes and I was put on a very strict diet. One of the things that I could eat was a can of tuna, and I think two tablespoons of mayonnaise, was my lunch every day for I think - well, while I was - five days a week. Okay, so every day, five days a week for lunch forseven weeks of my pregnancy. You know, so for seven weeks I'm eating more than they recommend." She reveals to the group that her baby was born prematurely and died of SIDS shortly after birth, a condition that has not been linked to mercury exposure. (Macro International, Inc. 2000j - Calverton, MD, Nov 14, 6 pm, pp 34-35,37).
Another pregnant woman recalls that her canned tuna consumption the previous summer probably exceeded FDA's safe level: "I ate during the summer a lot more tuna because I would just throw it on some lettuce and call it a salad. It was light. It was quick for work. It was done. So, now that I think about that, I did eat probably more than a can and a half in one week during the summer." (Macro International, Inc. 2000j - Calverton, Nov 14, 6 pm, pg 41).
Also, according to FDA's focus group research, the convenience of canned tuna can make it a preferred food for busy pregnant women: "for me it was what was most convenient. What was most convenient was taking a can of tuna fish, my two things of mayonnaise and my half an apple to work every day for lunch. That was what was convenient for me. " (Macro International, Inc. 2000j - Calverton, MD, Nov 14, 6 pm, pg 37.) And the price of canned tuna makes it a preferred food for others: "I just bought a whole bunch of it because it was on sale, too. They were like 39, 49 cents - you know - use your Safeway or Giant bonus card," a sentiment that another woman in the group sums up as "It is real cheap." (Macro International, Inc. 2000a - Calverton, October 11, 6 pm, pg 75).
A pregnant woman in an Calverton focus group describes how she ate tuna to lose weight before pregnancy: "I was doing it before I got pregnant because I was planning to get pregnant. As part of doing the Adkins Diet, you can have stuff like that with fish or your chicken, as much of that as you want to consume. So, I ate a lot of that bag of salad, can of tuna, hard-boiled egg, that was my lunch, or salmon or whatever" (Macro International, Inc. 2000j - Calverton, MD, Nov 14, 6 pm, pp 52).
Further undercutting FDA's faulty rationale is a major study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that ten percent of women of childbearing age (about 7,000,000 women) have mercury in their bodies at levels that may put a fetus at risk for adverse nervous system effects (CDC 2001 and (NAS 2000). FDA's low consumption estimates are irrelevant in the face of these direct measurements showing that 7,000,000 women have higher mercury exposure than FDA thought.
4. Contrary to FDA's claims, focus group participants wanted even more detailed information about mercury in seafood
A consistent theme throughout the focus groups was that participants wanted more information so that they could make informed decisions for themselves.
For example, when the moderator asks one group, "And what do they need to say in terms of telling you about the risks but, also, on the other hand, not over-scaring you?" a participant replies, "They need to tell you the truth. They can tell you - you know, if it is not good for you, then don't eat it. You know, they just need to tell you exactly what the study said - what the truth is. Then you can make up you own mind." Another participant adds, "And you need the facts to know whether or not you want to go ahead with this. There are no facts in this," or, as one women in the Boston group said about FDA's reluctance to give complete information: "Why don't they tell us?" (Macro International, Inc. 2000i - Boston, Nov 8, 8 pm, pp 46-47 and Macro International, Inc. 2000j - Calverton, MD, Nov 14, 6 pm, pp 37-8.)
Despite this strong consumer feedback from FDA-sponsored research, the agency severely limited its advisory, eliminating any reference to tuna and a number of additional fish that the agency's own data show have even higher levels of mercury than does tuna, including sea bass, orange roughy, halibut, red snapper, grouper, and mahi mahi (FDA 2001c).
5. FDA and the tuna industry reject all peer reviewed science that shows low level mercury toxicity
Timing of meetings with lobbyists suggest industry won deletion of health warning
Additional public documents show that FDA, by leaving their lax mercury consumer advisory in place, has followed the advice of the tuna trade association over the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences. Specifically, the U.S. Tuna Foundation urged FDA to consider data from a study that the NAS recommended against using in deriving health standards for mercury.
The use of data from this single study (the "Seychelle Islands study") results in the most lax safety standard possible. FDA met privately with the Seychelle Island scientists as they crafted their new advisory to pregnant women, but met with none of the scientists involved in the other, more sensitive studies (FDA 2001d).
In a November 6, 2000 U.S. Tuna Foundation meeting with FDA, industry advised the agency to use the Seychelle Islands data and leave a lax safety standard in place, and then warned of legal implications if FDA strengthened the mercury action level: "Canned tuna and other fishery products have been sold in the U.S. for more than a century. In recent years, FDA has repeatedly confirmed the safety of these products. Any change in this policy will be seen as an admission that earlier statements were inaccurate and will put in doubt the safety of these products. This would encourage spurious lawsuits to be filed against seafood producers by individuals who will now believe that the seafood product they thought was safe carried the risk of neurodevelopmental deficits." (U.S. Tuna Industry, 2000)
In sharp contrast to the tuna industry's recommendations, the National Academy of Sciences recommends: "because there is a large body of scientific evidence showing adverse neurodevelopmental effects, including well-designed epidemiological studies, the committee concludes that [safety standards] should not be derived from a study, such as the Seychelles study, that did not observe any associations with [mercury]" ((NAS 2000). In particular, the Academy cites the two major studies of children (in the Faroe Islands and New Zealand) that found evidence of adverse neurological effects at very low levels of maternal mercury exposure.
FDA chose to take the advice of the tuna industry over the National Academy of Sciences. On May 9, 2001 the NAS mercury committee chairman commented to The New York Times: "I had thought the F.D.A. would pay more attention to our report." (Burros 2001)
6. FDA fails to test and enforce
FDA does not monitor seafood or enforce mercury safety standards, but it admits to participants that mercury poses a real risk to a fetus
Despite FDA's admissions that mercury poses a real risk to the fetus, the agency abandoned its mercury testing program in 1998, going from testing a few hundred fish a year to testing no domestic seafood whatsoever (GAO 2001). When a focus group participant pressed FDA's scientist on the issue of testing: "Is the FDA considering inspecting fish the way the Department of Agriculture inspects meat?" FDA's scientist replies, "We don't do that. That's not the way we regulate things. What we tend to do is set standards, and that it is illegal not to adhere to the standards. So, if we identify a fish that exceeds the standard, that's violative and we can take action against it." "But is it periodically checked, across the board?" he is asked. "But we don't do proactive testing," he replies. (Macro International, Inc. 2000i - Boston, November 8, 8 pm, pg 61)
Later in the focus group session, FDA's senior scientists points out that, while "It's true that there is no proactive inspection system for fish, [t]he actual context for this information is that we do have these standards for mercury levels that can be in fish. They've been set, you know, 20 years ago." (Macro International, Inc. 2000i - Boston, Nov 8, 8 pm, pg 64)
These standards are non-enforceable action levels that, by FDA's own admission in these focus groups, are upheld by the Agency through a program that involves no testing.
One focus group exchange expresses the hope that commercially sold seafood is tested and safe: "I guess you could take a tester with you and put the fish in it, see how much, oh, 14%, throw it away." (Laughter) "We're hoping the FDA will do that for us." (Macro International, Inc. 2000g - Denver, Oct 17, 6 pm, pg 93) But after hearing first-hand how FDA fails to regulate seafood or test fish or warn consumers, a Boston focus group member advises the attending senior FDA scientist: "So my reaction is don't worry about the fishing industry. Just get the information out there. People will continue to eat fish because they like it and it's good for them. And, eventually, it will sort out; which fish isn't good for pregnant women." (Macro International, Inc. 2000i - Boston, November 8, 8 pm, pg 91)
By failing to test, FDA protects fishing industry - beyond tuna
Even by the agency's own relaxed health criteria, the limited available monitoring data show that many types of fish might pose health risks to pregnant women. In spite of this, FDA plans no further testing and plans no interim warnings to pregnant women.
A pregnant woman from Calverton hears about the problem of mercury in seafood for the first time during her focus group session, and is immediately concerned about the fish she ate early in pregnancy: "This is new to me, because in the beginning of my pregnancy it was still summer and we live at the beach, and my husband was fishing every night so we were having fresh fish every night for dinner. You know, for a good month during the first part of my pregnancy, you know, we've had, you know, as a side dish we'd have fish or as a main course we would have fish because there was tons of fish. I didn't know about this." (Macro International, Inc. 2000j - Calverton, Nov 14, 6 pm, pg 16).
Before she is given FDA's proposed lists of high and low mercury fish, she notes to the group, "This child's doomed." Later in the session the moderator reads the list of fish that should be avoided or eaten only in moderation during pregnancy, a list that includes tuna steaks and canned tuna and other even higher mercury species. The woman exclaims, "I am home free" - she ate bluefish from the Bay in the early months of her pregnancy, which appears nowhere on FDA's advisory (Macro International, Inc. 2000j - Calverton, MD, Nov 14, 6 pm, pp 31,33).
As it turns out, however, she may have consumed up to 10 times the amount of mercury that FDA considers safe for her baby. The two samples of bluefish that have been tested by the agency since its inception show about the same average mercury level (0.30 parts per million, or ppm) as the 191 tuna steaks in the Agency's database (0.32 ppm) (FDA 2001c). The Agency's draft advice for pregnant women was to limit tuna steak consumption to 18 ounces per month. If this woman ate 6 ounces of bluefish for 30 days, she would have eated 180 ounces of fish, exposing her fetus to 10 times the agency's "safe" dose of mercury.
FDA's monitoring data shows that many other types of fish that do not appear on the agency's advisory have levels of mercury even higher than tuna. Specifically, red snapper, marlin, orange roughy, and grouper are among the fish with average mercury levels higher than the levels in tuna steaks. Fish with mercury levels higher than what is found in canned tuna include all of those, as well as cod, mahi mahi, perch, pollock, halibut, and bluefish (FDA 2001c).
7. FDA has failed to educate the public about the hazards of mercury
FDA research finds pregnant women aren't getting the information it has already announced
FDA has failed to implement the consumer education program it promised more than a year ago, and has a long history of failing to educate the public about mercury in seafood. Since September 1994 FDA has had in place a consumer advisory warning of high levels of mercury in shark and swordfish, which counsels both pregnant women and the general population to limit their consumption of these fish (FDA 1994). Although this advisory had been in place for a full six years prior to FDA's focus group meetings, very few participants were familiar in any way with the notion that seafood can contain mercury, let alone which types of seafood have high levels.
At the outset of each focus group, participants were asked what they knew about sources of mercury exposure or, in a separate question, pollutants in fish. In each of two groups, a participant mentioned swordfish as a concern, and in two other groups tuna - but not swordfish - was mentioned as a concern. Environmental and consumer groups, not the FDA, have tried to alert the public to mercury in tuna.
This result, while not statistically significant, gives an indication that the few environmental and consumer groups who try to alert pregnant women about mercury in tuna, may have had as big an impact on public education as the FDA. It also indicates that public interest and consumer groups can no longer assume that FDA will succeed in educating the public about the very high mercury fish, the four fish that are now black-listed for pregnant women (shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish).
One of the two mentions of swordfish was dismissive: "I think they took - what was it - swordfish off the market. That was a while back. They claimed that it had a lot of mercury, but I think a lot of that is maybe a little exaggerated." (Macro International, Inc. 2000k - Calverton, MD, Nov 14, 8 pm, pp 8 and 9).
In another focus group the extent of knowledge about mercury in fish came from a woman who knew that "There was a mercury contaminant some time ago." (Macro International, Inc. 2000c - Calverton, October 12, 6 pm, pg 12) One woman sums up the agency's failure to educate the public in this way: "this is my fifth pregnancy and I haven't heard - never, ever, you know, in nine years heard anything about this So, why aren't we being informed?" (Macro International, Inc. 2000j - Calverton, MD, Nov 14, 6 pm, pg 38)
Women told FDA to distribute information through doctors, but officials admitted they'll rely on industry to publicize product hazards
Even though women in the focus groups identify their doctors as their primary source of health-related advice during pregnancy, FDA officials admit in the transcripts they will rely on the seafood industry, not women's obstetricians, to convey the health advisories for mercury.
Echoing the opinion of many women in the FDA focus groups, a pregnant woman in a Denver focus group advises FDA to use doctors as an information conduit: "Well, if it's only meant toward the pregnant women or women that are nursing a child, I think it should be given out during your visits with your doctor or care provider... That way you know right up front as soon as you're pregnant what's good and what's not." (Macro International, Inc. 2000e - Denver, Oct 16, 6 pm, pg 45)
Another pregnant woman questions an FDA scientist on how the Agency will get information to pregnant women: "Did you say, do you plan to notify OBs and pediatricians? I mean, because I am a nursing mother. . . it would be really nice if when I went in to take my baby in for its two week appointment my pediatrician says, oh, by the way - or some kind of literature. Your first OB appointment, you go in and the doctor hands you all this literature, and even in the new literature I've gotten I never heard anything about it. What are your stops?" (Macro International, Inc. 2000j - Calverton, MD, Nov 14, 6 pm, pg 84)
An FDA official explains why the agency does not plan to use doctors to convey to pregnant women the dangers of mercury in seafood, but they offer no evidence to justify their implication that doctor-based education initiatives would fail: "They have a lot of things to warn you about, and there's competition to get on their agenda. This particular threat is not high on their agenda. They quite reasonably argue that there's lots of other things that they need to talk about in terms of more importance. So, it's hard because you have to compete with a lot of other risks to get on their agenda." (Macro International, Inc. 2000j - Calverton, MD, Nov 14, 6 pm, pg 85)
Then in an exchange that involves a participant questioning an FDA scientist on why the Agency is worrying about the effects of the health advisory on the seafood industry, the scientist reveals that "The industry is probably going to be one of the major ways that this information gets put out." (Macro International, Inc. 2000i - Boston, Nov 8, 8 pm, pg 97) Federally-mandated, industry-driven consumer education has worked to some extent for alcohol and tobacco, which carry warning labels required by federal law, but it will be difficult at best for FDA to convince the seafood industry to voluntarily provide consumers with warnings about the risk their mercury-contaminated products pose to pregnant women.
Only one pregnant woman mentions that she might call "Sea King" to learn if their mercury-contaminated products cause birth defects. (Macro International, Inc. 2000g - Denver, Oct 17, 6 pm, pg 59). The seafood industry, however, has yet to warn women of the potential dangers of mercury. In fact, the industry used a recent study on the benefits of fish consumption (specifically, of Omega 3 fatty acids) to promote tuna consumption for pregnant women: "...this new study adds to the long list of startling health benefits scientists believe Omega-3s fatty acids provide to pregnant women and small children. The most convenient, economical source of Omega-3s for moms and kids is, quite simply, canned tuna!" (U.S. Tuna Foundation, 2001). This press release provides a clear indication that the tuna industry has no plan to protect its customers from the dangers of mercury by steering them toward safer fish.


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- Two-color audio status indicator LED. Green: Normal audio levels, Red: Excessive audio levels (overload / clipping)


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Cueup is the easiest way for you to find DJs in Ahmedabad. Just tell us about your event, and within 1 day you will receive non-binding offers from DJs near you.
Have the music your way
With Cueup you can easily hire a DJ in Ahmedabad. You can tell us exactly what music you want, and we'll have local DJs specialising in that music contacting you within a day. No matter if you're looking to hire a DJ for a wedding, birthday or an office party, the professional DJs at Cueup will help making your event unforgettable.
Compare DJ prices
You will receive offers from various DJs that are suitable to play at your event. Our partners ranges from professional DJs with decades of experience to novice DJs with cheap prices - allowing you to get the best price without compromising quality. If you're planning an event on a budget, put it in your description, and get offers within your budget.


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Salvia 'Lady in Red'
Salvia coccinea
Unavailable in 2020
Salvia coccinea
Plant Type: Annual
|Blooms all season
Members of the mint family, many Salvias are covered with oil glands that can emit a strong fragrance almost identical to that of other plants--often fruits such as pineapple and grapefruit.
A few species of Salvia possess that rarest of flower colors: rich, true blue. The red-flowered Salvias, with their tubular flower structure, are native to the New World and beloved by the hummingbird.
Salvias are known for their aromatic, attractive foliage in many different sizes, shapes, and hues, as well as for their bold, colorful blooms that flower over a long period. Heat and drought tolerant and loved by hummingbirds. Flowers are long-lasting and plants readily rebloom if deadheaded or if sheared back after flowering.


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BEIJING (Reuters) - China plans major bond market reform to raise the money the ruling Communist Party needs for a 40 trillion yuan ($6.4 trillion) urbanization program to buoy economic growth and close a chasm between the country's urban rich and rural poor.
The Party aims to bring 400 million people to cities over the next decade as the new leadership of president-in-waiting Xi Jinping and premier-designate Li Keqiang seek to turn China into a wealthy world power with economic growth generated by an affluent consumer class.
The urban development would be funded by a major expansion of bond markets, sources with leadership ties, and a senior executive at one of China's "Big Four" state banks, who was formerly at the central bank, told Reuters.
"The urbanization drive will push the domestic capital market liberalization agenda," the senior bank executive said on condition of anonymity. "Urbanization is Li Keqiang's big project. He has to get it right and he is willing to pursue innovation to make it a success."
Set to be confirmed as premier at the end of the annual meeting of China's rubber-stamp parliament, which opens next week, Li must find ways to pay for the urban development that he has made a policy priority.
Central and local governments, as well as bank loans, will fund the costs, the sources said. But, sweeping reforms to create a fully-functioning municipal bond market, boost corporate and high-yield bond issuance and actively steer foreign capital into the sector, are crucial to raising the sums of money China will need, they added.
Despite its ranking as the second-largest economy globally after three decades of stellar growth, China remains an aspiring middle-income country riven with inequality and dependent on state-backed investment.
"If we continue to walk down the path of government spending, it'll be like wearing new shoes, but walking the old road," a source with leadership ties said, requesting anonymity to avoid repercussions for speaking to foreign media without authorization.
China's economy largely relies on state-directed bank lending to fund investment projects, but the massive 40 trillion yuan outlay envisaged to urbanize the rural outskirts of some 270 cities is far beyond the means of the current system.
Bank credit quality was badly strained by the economic stimulus program of 2008 that, at a headline 4 trillion yuan, was only a tenth the size of the Urbanization program.
By the end of 2010, local governments had racked 10.7 trillion yuan of mainly bank debt to fund their commitments to the stimulus.
Total debt outstanding in China's fledgling bond market was 26.4 trillion yuan as of the end of January 2013, People's Bank of China (PBOC) data shows - barely a sixth of the size of the U.S. bond market - and most of what is traded is issued by policy banks to support their lending.
The need for bond market reform has grown more urgent since December, when Li accelerated a commitment in China's 12th five-year plan to spend 40 trillion yuan on Urbanization by 2030. That money will now be spent over the next decade.
"(Li) Keqiang changed the target date during the Central Economic Work Conference last December," said a second source with leadership ties.
Currently, China lacks a properly functioning municipal bond market and is only just developing high-yield bonds, both of which would be needed to attract the investment capital sought.
And Beijing's qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII) rules stop dedicated overseas bond funds participating in the market by insisting as much as half the money they plan to invest goes into equities.
In the face of slowing exports, the government wants to raise domestic consumption's share in the economy to close one of the world's widest gaps between rich and poor and quell discontent among those Chinese who feel they missed out on blistering economic growth of the past three decades.
The economy picked up in the fourth quarter as a spurt of infrastructure spending orchestrated by Beijing broke seven straight quarters of a slowdown.
Consumption's contribution to growth, however, fell in the fourth quarter for the third straight quarter.
About 13 percent of China's population still live on less than $1.25 per day, the United Nations Development Programme says. Average urban disposable income is just 21,810 yuan ($3,500) a year.
Meanwhile, China has 2.7 million millionaires in dollar terms and 251 billionaires, according to the Hurun Report, known for its annual China Rich List.
Urbanization could cure China's economic imbalances, a study by consultants at McKinsey showed last November, putting it on a path to domestic consumption-led growth within five years to replace three decades of investment and export-driven development that stoked global trade tensions.
The government hopes 60 percent of its population of almost 1.4 billion will be urban residents by 2020, from about half now, and will build homes, roads, hospitals and schools for them.
But Urbanization and market reform must go hand in hand, as simply adding to housing stock risks creating "dead cities", according to Xia Bin, a former adviser to the central bank and now head of the financial research institute at the cabinet's think-tank.
A senior financial diplomat in regular contact with Chinese officials concurred.
"The focus should not just be on construction. They should also focus on creating a market," the diplomat said. "If they fail to create a market, they will end up with an urban poor much worse off than the rural poor."
($1 = 6.2351 Chinese yuan)
Additional Reporting by Victoria Bi in HONG KONG and Aileen Wang in BEIJING; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Neil Fullick


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MOSCOW (AP) — Russia rallied support Friday for a Crimean bid to secede from Ukraine, with a leader of Russia's parliament assuring her Crimean counterpart that the region would be welcomed as "an absolutely equal subject of the Russian Federation." Across Red Square, 65,000 people waved Russian flags, chanting "Crimea is Russia!"
The strategic peninsula in southern Ukraine has become the flashpoint in the battle for Ukraine, where three months of protests sent President Viktor Yanukovych fleeing to Russia. Moscow calls the new Ukrainian government illegitimate, and has seized control of Crimea, where it has a major naval base on the Black Sea.
Crimea's parliament has called a March 16 referendum on whether the semi-autonomous region should join Russia outright, a move President Barack Obama has called a violation of international law.
Although President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia has no intention of annexing Crimea, he insisted that its residents have the right to determine the region's status in the referendum.
And Valentina Matvienko, the speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament, made clear Friday the country would welcome Crimea if it votes in the referendum to join its giant neighbor. About 60 percent of Crimea's population identifies itself as Russian.
"If the decision is made, then (Crimea) will become an absolutely equal subject of the Russian Federation," Matvienko said during a visit from the chairman of the Crimean parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov. She spoke of mistreatment of Russian-speaking residents in Ukraine's east and south, which has been Moscow's primary argument for possible intervention in Ukraine.
The Russian parliament is scrambling to make it easier for Crimea to join Russia. Russia's constitution allows the country to annex territory only by an agreement "initiated... by the given foreign government." That would entail signing an agreement with the new authorities in Kiev, whom Moscow doesn't recognize.
New legislation would sidestep that requirement, according to members of parliament, who initially said a new bill could be passed as soon as next week but have since indicated that they will wait until after the referendum.
On the other side of Red Square from the parliament building, 65,000 people gathered at a Kremlin-organized rally in support of Crimea.
"We always knew that Russia would not abandon us," Konstantinov shouted from the stage. He also called on Moscow not to forget other Russia-leaning regions in Ukraine.
"We must not leave the Ukrainian people at the mercy of those Nazi bandits," he said, referring to the new government in Kiev.
Russian state gas company Gazprom also increased the pressure on Ukraine's new government, which now owes $1.89 billion for Russian natural gas. Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller said if Ukraine doesn't pay off its debt, "there is a risk of returning to the situation of the beginning of 2009" when Russia cut off supplies to Europe because of a pricing dispute with Ukraine.
The new government, which is struggling to stabilize Ukraine's finances and failing economy, got encouraging news Friday from the International Monetary Fund, which said that economic assistance was on the way.
"I am positively impressed with the authorities' determination, sense of responsibility and commitment to an agenda of economic reform and transparency, Reza Moghadam, the IMF's European Department director, said in a statement after a two-day visit. "The IMF stands ready to help the people of Ukraine."
The referendum on Crimea's status will be conducted with what Crimean leaders have said are more than 11,000 pro-Russian forces in the region. The troops control all access to the peninsula and have blockaded all Ukrainian military bases that have not yet surrendered.
Russia has denied that its forces are active in Crimea, describing the troops who wear green uniforms without insignia as local "self-defense forces." But many of the troops, who are armed with advanced heavy weaponry, are being transported by vehicles with Russian license plates.
Hoping to pressure Russia to roll back its military presence, the U.S. imposed financial sanctions and travel bans on Russians and other opponents of the new Kiev government on Thursday. The European Union suspended talks with Russia on a wide-ranging economic agreement and on granting Russian citizens visa-free travel to the 28-nation bloc, a long-standing Russian objective.
Moscow belittled the moves, with Vladimir Chizhov, the Russian ambassador to the EU, telling Russian news agencies: "If someone thinks that they can scare us with such horror stories, then they are deeply mistaken."
Putin was in Sochi on Friday for the opening of the Paralympics, where he was shown on television telling the head of the International Paralympic Committee, Philip Craven, that he hoped the games "will lower the heat of passions over Ukraine."
The Ukrainian delegation to the Paralympics said it would participate in the opening ceremony in the Black Sea resort, but warned it could pull out of the 10-day event if Russia makes more military moves.
"I don't remember a situation when the organizing country during a Paralympics started an intervention on the territory of a country taking part," said Valeriy Sushkevich, president of the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine, in comments reported by the R-Sport agency. He said if the crisis were to escalate, "we cannot possibly stay here."
Sushkevich said he met with Putin on Thursday night to request peace during the games, and that Putin listened but made no guarantees.
Crimea would be the first territory to join Russia since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which broke away from Georgia after a brief 2008 war with Russia, have been recognized as independent by Moscow, but there have been few serious moves to enable them to join Russia.
For Putin, Crimea would be a dazzling acquisition, and would help cement his authority with a Russian citizenry that has in recent years shown signs of restiveness and still resents the loss of the sprawling empire Moscow ruled in Soviet times.
In the Crimean capital, Simferopol, 75 people turned out Friday for a rally at the local monument to 19th-century Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko. They spoke both Ukrainian and Russian, but waved Ukrainian flags and released white doves into the rainy sky.
One of those at the protest was native Russian speaker Anton Romanov, who said he opposes the occupation of Crimea by Russian troops.
"I'm against being forced to live in a different country," he said.
Tim Sullivan in Simferopol and Angela Charlton in Brussels contributed to this report.


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LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Sage Group (SGE.L) posted a 4 percent rise in profit on Wednesday after higher sales of subscriptions for IT support offset weaker demand for its software in key markets such as France and Spain.
The company, whose software is used by more than 6 million small businesses to run payroll and accounts, posted adjusted pretax profit of 356.3 million pounds ($574 million) for the year to end-September.
Analysts were expecting 346.6 million, according to a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S poll of 21 brokers.
Underlying revenue edged up 2 percent to 1.3 billion pounds, half the growth rate recorded in 2011, but it said growth accelerated towards the end of the year, particularly in North America.
Chief executive Guy Berruyer said on Wednesday that it was a solid performance in the context of a macro-economic environment that remained difficult in most of its markets.
Sage is paying a final dividend 6.67 pence per share, taking the total payout for the year to 10.15 pence, up 4 percent.
($1 = 0.6209 British pounds)
Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Kate Holton


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Tender Contracts
We are commited to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults and here you will find the current Child Safeguarding policy and our new Adult Safeguarding policy that reflects the changes from the Care Act 2014 and replaces the 'No secrets' Guidance 2000.
Safeguarding is 'everybody's business' and you will find guidance on preventing, identifying and reporting if you suspect a child or vulnerable adult is at risk or is suffering from neglect or abuse. You can report this to specifically trained Safeguarding Link Officers on 01246 242424 or if it is out of normal office hours call Starting Point on 01629 533190 or 08456 058 058. (24 hours a day 7 days a week).
Further information can be found on the Safer Derbyshire website.
VARMs can apply to anyone with mental capacity aged 18 years and over who is at risk of serious harm or death. This can be through self-neglect or other risk taking behaviour including self-harm or refusal or disengagement of services.
The VARM process is a multi-agency risk assessment meeting where actions are assigned to alleviate the risk.
In accordance with national policy and the Derbyshire Safeguarding Adults Board VARM framework, in order to consider a person for a VARM meeting all the following criteria should apply:
A person must have capacity to make decisions and choices regarding their life
There is a risk of serious harm or death by self-neglect, fire, deteriorating health condition, non-engagement with services or where an adult is targeted by local community, is the victim of Hate Crime or Anti-Social Behaviour or the victim of sexual violence and they do not meet the criteria for Safeguarding
There is a public safety interest
There are high levels of concerns from partner agencies.
If you have identified a person at risk or require any advice telephone: 01246 242424 and ask to speak to a VARM Champion. For further information and guidance see the VARM policy by clicking on the link below.
Vulnerable Adults Risk Management Policy
Further information can be found on the Safer Derbyshire website https://www.saferderbyshire.gov.uk/home.aspx


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About Lemon Mojo
Lemon Mojo provides a broad range of services in the software, design, web & mobile industries.
We also release products in these fields by ourselves.
History & Location
Lemon Mojo was established in January 2011 as an IT services agency. We have several years of experience in the software/web development and design industries so this is our core competence. In the last few years we expanded our competences to include mobile software development/design and game development. For further information regarding the services and products we provide, go to services or work.
While based in Vienna, Austria, we provide our services and sell our products on an international basis.
Our headquarter is located in the 15. district of Vienna. For further information go to contact.
At Lemon Mojo we have a passion for nice & clean design and we remain true to that passion in every way.
Whether we are working on a new website, a user interface, a mobile app or class/framework design for a large software project, we always try to keep it nice & clean.
We are not the kind of company that takes the logo and content from your existing site, puts it in some kind of CMS (Content Management System) with a pre-designed template and charges you an exorbitant amount of money for that. Instead, we always work closely with our clients and take the time it needs to ensure that we create a rich and unique experience.


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Rights areas:
During a round-table discussion on Roma violence, exclusion, insecurity at the European Parliament, FRA presented the findings of its recent Roma survey.
The meeting was organised in collaboration with Marie-Christine Vergiat MEP, to mark the publication of the European Association for the Defense of Human Rights' report, 'Roma people in Europe in the 21st century: violence, exclusion, insecurity'. The event involved a round-table discussion about violence towards Roma people (its forms, its reasons). This was followed by a discussion with Members of the European Parliament, to identify solutions to violence against the Roma in EU Member States and other European countries.
Watch the presentation by Michail Beis, FRA expert on Roma issues.
More information can be found on the conference website.


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Track - Wakefield Park
Car - AE86
Tyres - 195/55R15 Hankook Z221
Motor - 2GR-FE
Time - 1:07.5 (NatSoft)
Had more in it but ran out of brakes
Wakefield Park
AE86 Drift car
Hankook Z221 195/55/15
1974 MX22 MARK II CORONA HARDTOP COUPE - Awaiting a full restoration
Track - Wakefield Park
Car - AE86
Tyres - 195/55R15 Hankook Z221
Motor - 2GR-FE
Time - 1:07.5 (NatSoft)
Had more in it but ran out of brakes
Date: 5/10/2015
Car Make and Model: ADM ae86 Sprinter
Circuit Name: King Edward Park Hillclimb (last run ever) - hot and dry
Lap time: 46.13 (video below was my second last run, slightly slower)
Timing method: official timing
Engine: 4age, inlet cut and shut for bigger TB, boxed pod, Microtech Computer, standard manifold with sports exhaust (not sure on sizing)
Power: 66.6kw atw (DVS Tuning Dyno)
Suspension: 6kg springs front, mr2 inserts, 2* camber, max castor (flipped camber tops + max forward adjustment on caster arms), Cusco RCAs, XT130 LCA's, King spring lows in the rear, Disk T-series diff with 2 way LSD
Tyres: 185/60r14 Advan ao50 softs
Brakes: Stock ADM front, JDM disk rear
Car weight: unknown - expected around 950kg (full trim, no a/c)
Driver of the yellow ae86
Car Make and Model: JDM AE86 TRUENO
Circuit Name: WAKEFIELD
Lap time: 1:19.8
Timing method: RACECHRONO
Stock 4age engine
BC coilovers
Mixed match 10year old Chinese tyres
Unkown tyre pressure
Unknown pads
Noisy gearbox
Noisy LSD
Critique my driving. Feedback is most welcomed ( i want to go faster!!! )
Originally Posted by cicca_294
my dads mate is getting one, in white, aus delivered.
his mate has an imported on in white,
and their mate has a blood red one with a 25k new exhaust system...
i wish i had enough money for a freaking corolla
ADM 1985 ae86
Wakefield Park
8 laps
timing: Natsoft
4 year old AO50 225/50/15
custom suspension
modded 20v
T50 self destructed so its got abit more left in it
Wakefield Park
timing: RaceChrono
Beams 3SGE ITB / W58 / T series
Custom suspension
Advan AD08R 205/50/15
Pick up Sydney
Pics can be sent by phone
Emails ignored
Texts ignored
Private numbers ignored
Wankers abused
1985 jdm ae86 trueno
Smp south circuit (amaroo)
Timing natsoft
Standard big port (pod filter)
T3 coilovers
Ku36 205/50/15 (a few years old)
First time and held up a bit. Brake discs were worn.
went out to luddenham raceway the other day for a open day
54.5 seconds
nissan zenki s14
plenty of mods, approx 240kw atw
evo front brakes - skyline rears
nangkang semi slicks
was a unusual track to begin with, took about an hour and i was really enjoying the challenge
I know where I'm going and I know the truth, and I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want.
Muhammad Ali


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Lady GaGa was hit in the head during a concert in Auckland, New Zealand, on Sunday, June 10. One of the dancers accidentally struck Gaga on the head with a pole while she was performing her song 'Judas'. She touched her head briefly but continued singing before leaving the stage. News reports say that Gaga suffered a concussion in the accident but still managed to finish the show.
via Say OMG


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Terry Theise On the Price of Wine, Part 1
Editor's Note: You may know wine importer Terry Theise from his excellent book, Reading Between the Wines. Or you may know him from seeing his name on the back of a bottle. Or you may not know him yet, in which case you're in for a treat. This week, we asked Terry if he would address a few practical considerations that have come up among Serious Eaters when discussing wine. The questions: Why does wine cost what it does? When I buy wine, where does the money go? How do I spend my wine dollars wisely? Take it away, Terry.
The price of a wine is determined by five things:
- The cost to produce it and bottle it, both tangible (labor, quantity per unit of land, supplies and equipment, bottles, closures, capsules and cases, among other things) and intangible (e.g., debt service),
- The laws of supply and demand, along with the grower's willingness to price based on what the market will bear,
- Logistical and distribution costs to get the wine from the producer to you,
- Costs to comply with all federal, state and local regulations, and
- for imported wines, the prevailing value of the dollar.
Let's start with numbers 3, 4, and 5.
With imported wines, the costs of transportation and taxes are more or less fixed. Only state and local fees differ, sometimes markedly. A case of big-brand Cava, let's say, costs about $18-20 to ship from Spain to an east-coast port; the higher amount is for a temperature controlled container (the so-called "reefer"), and so it stands to reason that if the case sells for $56 wholesale, which includes its price from the winery, there's very little "value" in the bottle. Just a couple dollars' worth of wine; the rest is cost and the wholesaler's margin. Those $6.99 bottles actually represent poor value, whereas a trade-up to $9-10 gives you twice the wine, because the fixed costs of freight and duties are the same.
One hears of the so-called "3-tier system" set in place after Repeal. This refers to three entities handling the wine and taking a markup. One, the producer (or "supplier," i.e., the guys with the rights to sell the wine to wholesalers in different states), the wholesaler (a.k.a. the distributor), and finally the retailer. This system is said to be cumbersome and even unnecessary. No one likes the "middleman." This is an echo of the Aquarian Age, when all of us learned to assume that capitalism was inherently corrupt and based solely on greed. Sometimes these things are true.
But even if the wholesaler could somehow be eliminated, any system to take its place would have to allow wineries (or the marketing agencies who have sales rights for them) to do the legwork of cultivating thousands of individual accounts in every state—all those wine shops and restaurants—not to mention set up a freight entity to ship their orders next-day, as buyers have come to expect. Believe me, there are plenty of resourceful and creative people in the wine industry, and if it were possible to do away with wholesalers, it would long since have been done. Provided the individual state permitted it. (Some would, many would not.) Nor can you presume that a state where wholesalers weren't required, would actually do away with them. Example: I once wrote a 1,000 case German wine order for a big retailer in a state where he could own an import license AND a retail license. Theoretically he could have bought the wines directly from producers in Germany, if he wanted to pay for the staff to do the sourcing. After confirming the order, I asked him if he'd like to ship using his license, which would have saved him the wholesaler's handling and delivery fees, plus we'd have given him a discount. The drawback was, he'd have to do all his own freight-forwarding and U.S. Customs work, plus take delivery of the entire order in one chunk. He opted not to. For him, the service provided by the wholesaler, and most saliently the ability to draw the order in staggered smaller units was worth paying more for. I often think of this when the wholesaler's very right to exist is questioned.
I realize each of these statements prompts additional questions. Let me try to simplify it.
Say a hypothetical French wine costs 9 Euro per bottle, or about $12.87 at today's exchange rate. As we reckon in cases of 12, that's a cost of $154.44 for the case to leave the property that produced it.
It has to be picked up by a trucker, consolidated with other wines so that, ideally, a container is filled (which saves shipping costs), put on a boat to the U.S. port, cleared through Customs, and trucked to the distributor's facility. A typical cost for this, assuming an east coast destination and a "reefer" container, is about $11 per case, give or take. So: the distributor's cost to "lay-in" the wine is $165.44.
He has to warehouse it, pay for a sales force to sell it, drivers and vehicles to deliver it, and finance it. It's unlikely he'll have sold it all before the producer must be paid. The profit margin he takes is based on his size. If he's large enough to have economies of scale, and if he has a few cash-cow brands he sells easily and in large units, he can work for a few points less, but if he's a small fine-wine house his business is far riskier and more labor-intensive, and he marks up higher. This assumes he's at liberty to decide this for himself; there are, astonishingly, states which mandate his markup. But let's choose a figure somewhere in the middle—say he'll sell the wine that cost him $165.44 for about $220. That's a profit margin of 25%, which is a reasonable median figure. His actual net will range from 4-7% depending on his operational costs. These are not huge profits.
Your local wine shop pays $220 per case, or $18.33 per bottle. His standard markup is 50% (because he's smaller than the distributor) and so he puts the wine on the shelf for $27.49, though he might go up to $27.99. Retailers are always looking for "long-margin" wines they can go above their standard markups on. Often they buy these wines in multiple cases, and often the price looks attractively low. But in fact the retailer is making extra profit—for which I don't remotely blame him! Very very few people get rich in the wine business.
Sometimes someone will return from a trip to France where he has visited the producer of the wine he's been paying $27.99 for, and he's shocked to see he can buy it at the winery for 9 Euro. He assumes a retinue of greedy capitalists have squeezed every shekel they could eke out of the wine.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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How do electric motors work?
The short answer to this question is that electric motors convert electrical energy into magnetic energy, and then into rotational force. But it is clearly not that simple. An electric motor is the fundamental electro-mechanical energy converter that uses the forces of electricity, magnetism, angular momentum, and inertia, as well as electro-magnetic theory, Faradays theories of electric current, and Tesla's theories of alternating current. Now if that is not an impressive list, I don't know what is.
Magnets? I thought you use electricity?
You do, but electricity alone will not create rotation. The fundamental principle at work in an electric motor is magnetism. Imagine you have a paper clip on a table and you slowly move a magnet towards it. As the magnet comes close to the paper clip, one of two things will happen. The paper clip will either jump toward the magnet, sticking firmly, or it will slide away from the magnet until it gets far outside of its magnetic field. If you turn the magnet around in your hand, the opposite will happen. This is called the magnetic moment, and regardless of its shape, size or material, the magnet will always have a "pulling" force on one side and a "pushing" force on the other.
Now imagine replacing the paper clip with a magnet. What would happen if the "pushing" side of the magnet in your hand were pointed at the table magnet? Again, it depends on the orientation of the magnet on the table. If the same side of this magnet (the "pushing" side) were pointed at the magnet in your hand, the magnet on the table would slide away from you just as you would expect. However, if the magnet on the table had the "pulling" side pointed at the same "pushing" side of the magnet in your hand, the magnet would then jump off of the table and stick to the magnet in your hand. The point here is that by changing the polarity (or pushing/pulling side) of the magnet, you can change the direction that the magnet moves.
But how does that apply to motors?
A motor works exactly the same way, by controlling the orientations of the magnets inside it for a specific result. Inside of a motor, there are essentially four magnets. Two are on opposite sides of the outer casing (the stator), with one that is "pulling" and one that is "pushing." Two other magnets are on opposite sides of the spinning shaft; these switch between one "pulling" and one "pushing" at the same time.
The idea is that the one of the shaft magnets is set to "push" and the other to "pull," so they are pushed away from the closest stator magnet and pulled towards the next magnet. Just as they get to the halfway point between the two stator magnets, they switch to polarity and are attracted to the next stator magnets. At the exact second that the shaft magnets are closest to the stator magnets, they switch again and are then repelled by the closest magnet and attracted to the next, and continue to rotate. This happens forever as long as the mechanism exists to switch the polarity of the shaft magnets, which we will get to in a little bit.
But why does the shaft continue to spin in the same direction? Why doesn't it get stuck in the middle or spin the other way when the polarity changes?
The shaft continues to rotate in the same direction because of angular momentum and inertia. Inertia is the force that keeps you moving once you start, and what makes it difficult to start, if you are stopped. Imagine riding a bicycle. It is hard to start moving, easy to continue moving one you have started, and then hard to stop once you are going. Angular momentum is the force that makes a pendulum work, making a heavy thing on a string spin. As you rotate the object through the air on a string, it spins around your hand. When you stop moving your hand, the object continues to spin. It is because of this that the magnets on the shaft, called the armature, keep going in the same direction after they have started moving.
They don't get stuck because, well, real motors actually have three armature magnets and only two stator magnets, called permanent magnets. In this case, there is always an imbalance of magnetic force as two of the armature magnets pull toward one permanent magnet, while only one repels it. This guarantees that the motor never gets stuck on one position.
But what about that polarity switching mechanism and all this talk of electricity?
The magnets in the armature aren't exactly your standard type of magnets. These are called electromagnets and work by a principle of electro-magnetism that states that when electricity flows through a loop of wire, a magnetic field is generated. You can build one of these. You will need a non-magnetic screwdriver or iron nail, a battery, and some bare copper wire. Wrap the wire around the shaft of the nail a dozen or so times, then connect the ends of the wire to a battery. Your nail is now magnetic.
If you turn the battery around, you can see that your nail begins to repel metal objects. This is how the armature magnets work. A coil of wire is connected to the incoming power of the motor. As the power enters the loop, a magnetic field is generated for a moment in one direction. As the motor spins, the coil is disconnected from the power at the commutator and then reconnected backwards, thus creating the opposite polarity. This happens simultaneously with three coils of wire, some of which are connected forwards, and some backwards, creating rotation and a switching of the magnetic field.


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SINGAPORE -- The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), the industry association focused on driving the next generation Wi-Fi experience, today announced that 14 new members have joined its efforts to unite the ecosystem and progress the development of Carrier Wi-Fi throughout the world. Since January 2014, new members include Airi Ventures,Alcatel-Lucent, BAI, Broadcom, Charter Communications, DigiCert, Elitecore, Gemalto, Global Reach, Liberty Global, Linktel, Mobily, Telstra and Telus. They join at a pivotal time when Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) networks are now a commercial reality and operators are reaping the benefits of an improved carrier-grade of Wi-Fi.
Almost every continent in the world is represented by these new members from Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America, spanning a diversity of sectors from large mobile operators, to device manufacturers to chipset vendors. Together the membership will engage in various WBA-led initiatives including the promotion of Global Wi-Fi Roaming, the Interoperability Compliance Program (ICP) and trials of the Next Generation Hotspot, all laying the groundwork to make Wi-Fi truly seamless, interoperable and secure.


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The 2013 Digital Humanities awards came out relatively recently, offering an array of amazing projects to peruse — some public, some academic, all worth a gander. It is worth highlighting that the best InfoGraphic award covered statistics on why "Humanities Matter" [PDF] — making the infographic a meta-DH project of sorts.
As a follow-up to the UCL Centre for Digital Humanities' "Quantifying Digital Humanities" infographic from 2012 (PDF), The Humanities Matter! starts a more expansive effort by the Center and 4Humanities to gather statistics and create infographics about the humanities. The Humanities Matter! is part of the 4Humanities Humanities Infographics initiative, including Infographics Friday online posts.
Another DH-for-fun award went to Serendip-o-matic — which acts as a federated-serendipitous-search engine: insert a block of text, and the applet finds related images culled from the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and Europeana digital Libraries.
If you are curious about Digital Humanities at St. John's, the next CTL Interdisciplinary Roundtable discussion will focus on Digital Humanities, on Monday April 7th; where Jen Travis will facilitate discussions about "projects and pedagogies of this emerging field." If you are interested in learning more about creating infographics, or using them as an alternative research project, the University Libraries are hosting an edutech workshop on infographics on Wed. April 2nd. Does unearthing the treasures of the DPLA sound appealing? Does making your own a mash-up of the DPLA resource-data sound sound intriguing ? If so, join us Wednesday, April 9th, for a workshop on DPLA and engage with new treasure trove of primary resources and the meta-data that makes it tick!


text: The Universal Aesthetic Thanks to globalization and the internet, ideas are traveling wider and faster than at any point in history, giving design the opportunity to become a truly universal language—but is there a downside? 01/29/2014 By Felice Silverman, IIDA Photography courtesy of IIDA Does design shape culture, or does culture shape design? It's a bit of a "chicken and egg" question, as each certainly influences and is influenced by the other. To properly answer the question, we first have to ask, "What is culture?" Many factors define culture, including history, current events, local context, and, most importantly, people. Design and the arts are a response to whatever is happening in a culture. But culture isn't only a regional phenomenon—it exists in all sorts of communities, from the virtual to the real, from the neighborhood to the workplace. As designers, we are experts in defining and designing for each client's culture, whatever that culture may be. I recently did a little experiment to see if I could identify "culture" in the design of spaces. At the time of this writing, the winners of our Global Excellence Awards had recently been announced, and we were anticipating their celebration at Maison&Objet in Paris. As in every year, we awarded projects from a diverse range of countries, including Lebanon, China, Estonia, Italy, Mexico, Australia, Hong Kong, Great Britain, Japan, and Greece. To test myself, I examined the images of the winning projects before looking at their titles or locations, and tried to discern where the projects were and where their designers were from. I expected that I would be able to guess, but I could not, proving that good design truly is universal. This is a positive as far as the globalization of design is concerned, and evidence that our field is helping to shape culture worldwide. With the progress of globalization and the homogenization of workplace technologies—the platforms on which innovative ideas are now shared—the needs of each culture have come to resemble the needs of others. It thus seems logical that good design decisions and innovations will become more universally adopted and commonplace around the world than they might have been in previous decades. We all design for people, whether those people are from Estonia, Hong Kong, or Boston, and what we learn in one part of the world influences the rest of it. The Eames splint provides a wonderful example of the symbiotic interplay of culture and design. In designing it, the Eameses used a new technique for molding plywood to create a lightweight, inexpensive splint that could be easily mass-produced for use in World War II. The splint responded to an immediate cultural need, and the success of its innovative design led to the development of the Eameses' groundbreaking furnishings. In this instance, the design was so influential that it not only shaped culture, but it became culture. Maybe what I'm seeing in the common aesthetics among our Global Excellence Award winners is another example of design becoming a culture unto itself. But is this necessarily a good thing? By moving in the direction of a one-size-fits-all approach, are we in danger of losing authenticity in design? One could arguably point to the Eames splint as an example of one-size-fits-all design. It was revolutionary and its impact was felt not just by the soldiers who benefited from its intended purpose; the molded plywood technique used in their manufacture became a signature of the Eameses' furniture designs, and has influenced generations of designers everywhere. As wonderful as their creations were, the breadth and endurance of their global impact almost necessarily implies the loss of other equally valid, highly individual design solutions from any number of cultures around the world—our obvious collective approval of the Eameses' design work and influence notwithstanding. Based on the speed and agility with which new and innovative ideas are finding their way across the world, there's no reason to expect that the advance of a global design aesthetic will slow. But in the rapid approach of a universal style, I would suggest that something is being lost in the transition to a world of freely exchanged ideas. The beauty of cultural distinction and identity is in danger of becoming a casualty, in the same way that opponents of globalization fear Westernization or Americanization in other parts of the world, or the manner in which rapid development and commercial growth in countries like China have led to entire cities that lack a distinctive design character. With this escalating risk of increasingly homogenized design in mind, I would challenge designers worldwide to strive for balance in their work with respect to the culture/design cycle of influence, taking the best innovations from wherever they can be found and seeking the solution that best integrates that new idea into the existing culture in which one's identity has its root. In this way, we will not only guard against the eventual erosion of unique cultural identity, but will keep alive the expansive and rich palette of ideas available to us from around the world. IIDA President Felice L. Silverman, IIDA is president and a principal at Silverman Trykowski Associates Inc. in Boston. You can reach IIDA at (312) 467-1950 or at firstname.lastname@example.com. Related Articles Business Tips Not Taught in Architecture and Design School New Fuse Technical Program Aims to Solve Multiple Flooring Issues How Will Our Spaces Change as We Continue to Practice Social Distancing?


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Tips to Prioritize a Product Backlog From Mike Cohn
2012/01/31 1 Comment
Lately I found a true pearl about product backlog prioritization. It's a talk from Mike Cohn. He presents what backlog prioritization is all about and shows four methods: Kano Analysis, Theme-Screening, Theme Scoring and Relative Weighting.
The importance of a well-groomed backlog
Mike Cohn emphasizes the importance of a well-groomed product backlog. He observed lots of development teams in the last decades and all the good ones used about ten percent of their time to groom the product backlog. This can happen e.g. as a backlog grooming workshop.
Every decision you take for the backlog prioritization should have a sound basis. You can use surveys for that reason. In Mikes opinion it has not to be statistically significant results. A survey with 20 to 30 users is just good enough to get a good insight in what users wish and need.
On this solid ground you can use the following four techniques for product backlog prioritization.
Kano Analysis
You do a survey for the Kano Analysis that helps you to classify features in different categories:
- Basic attributes: It's self-evident for the user that these features are present. If they're present it doesn't have a positive effect on the users satisfaction, because they expected it. If they are not present, the users get dissatisfied.
- Performance attributes: These attributes have a linear impact on the user satisfaction. More functionality results in a bigger satisfaction with the product.
- Excitement attributes: The users don't expect them and get excited when they learn that the product offers this feature.
As an example Mike Cohn invokes a can holder in a car, that his wife found gorgeous, when she discovered it in a car back in 1993. Such small exciters can turn the scale in a purchase decision.
Sometimes it's okay to make guesses about the category a feature belongs to. But it's more useful to make a little survey for 20 to 30 users.
Mike Cohn's tip: If you build a product plan to offer all the basic attributes to avoid dissatisfaction. Beyond that integrate some performance attributes and some exciters to make people love your product.
More information about the Kano Analysis:
The procedure behind Theme Screening goes as follows:
- First identify the criteria for the next release. E.g. the satisfaction of existing users or generating revenue. You put these criteria in the rows of a table. It should be 5 to 9 criteria.
- Next thing is to choose a "baseline theme". You use this User Story or Theme to rate the others on a mutual basis. Good "baseline themes" are such that are likely to be chosen for the next release and that all team members know well. But it shouldn't be the most important one because in this case all others would rate lower.
- All themes or stories get rated in relation to the "baseline theme". Use "+" for themes that rank "better than" the baseline theme, "-" for themes that rank "worse than" the baseline theme and "0" for themes that rank "equal" to the baseline theme.
- Calculate the "Net Score" by summing up all the plusses and minuses. The theme with the highest Net Score receives the Rank number one.
Make sure to check out this little tool for Theme Screening on Mike Cohns website.
More information about Theme Screening:
Theme-Scoring and Theme-Screening are quite similar. It's also about weighing different themes. The first step is to gather different criteria for the prioritization. Than you give each criteria a percent value. All criteria should sum up to 100 percent.
Now you place them side by side and score them on a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 means a bad accomplishment of the criteria and 5 means a good accomplishment of the criteria.
It helps to work with a reference theme which has a value of 3. That makes it easier to score the themes in relation to the reference theme.
Mike Cohn offers a little tool for Theme Scoring on his website.
Relative Weighting
Relative Weighting is a prioritization technique which includes the effect of the presence as well as the absence of a feature for the valuation. Every feature gets a score from 0 (low) to 9 (high).
You add the themes in the rows of a table. Than you give every theme a score for the value of the presence of a feature as well as the penalty for the absence of the theme. Additionally you add a score for the estimated effort to implement the theme, e.g. as Story Points or as a money amount.
Now look at the features share of the total value and the features share of the total costs. Divide them and you'll receive a prioritization indicator.
|Share of total value
|Share of total costs
The second feature in this example offers a lower value, but is much cheaper than the first one. That's why its Return on Investment (ROI) is higher.
You can find a handy tool for relative weighting on Mike Cohn's website.
Mike Cohn's talk
Link to the talk from Mike Cohn
Presentation files from Mike Cohn (PDF)
Photo: peterstev