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How do electric vehicles work?
How do electric vehicles work?
Unlike gas-powered vehicles, electric vehicles (EVs) do not require internal combustion engines to operate. Outfitted with an electric motor and rechargeable battery pack, EVs move along our roadways without burning up gasoline, without producing harmful exhaust emissions, and making less noise. If you're thinking about making the switch to 100% electric driving, Five Star Nissan of Albany has detailed information on EVs and how going EV can work for you and your lifestyle.
The basics of electric vehicles
How do electric vehicles work? EVs receive energy from a charging station and store the energy in their batteries. These batteries give power to the motor which moves the wheels. Many electrical parts work together in the background to make this motion happen, but overall EVs have fewer moving parts than conventional gas-powered vehicles. Pretty simple.
From electricity to motion
Forget gas - Nissan EVs use electricity stored in rechargeable, high-voltage batteries to power an electric motor. The motor converts this electric energy into mechanical power that moves the wheels and allows the vehicle to operate.
Plug in, ride on
Electric vehicle batteries need to be charged with electricity. That electricity is supplied from a power outlet. All you need to do is plug in your EV at home or at a public charging station and let the grid do the rest.1 Soon you'll be fully charged and ready for the road.2
Creating energy as you drive
Every time you step on the brakes, energy is lost in the form of heat. Regenerative brakes can capture that energy and store it in the battery so you can use it to let your EV take you even further.
Key parts of an electric vehicle
Breaking down the key parts that make up an electric vehicle is essential to
understanding how they work. These key components include:
Types of electric vehicles
Different types of electric vehicles provide drivers with a variety of
features and varying benefits. The most common types of EVs include: to
Battery electric vehicles (BEV)
A battery electric vehicle (BEV) is a zero-tailpipe emission electric vehicle that is powered solely from a battery pack. BEVs do not utilize internal combustion engines or gasoline to operate, so they do not produce harmful tailpipe emissions. These vehicles receive all their energy from Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) that draws electricity from the grid. Nissan ARIYA and Nissan LEAF are both Battery Electric Vehicles. For more information on ARIYA or LEAF, contact Five Star Nissan of Albany.
Plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV)
A plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) features both an electric traction motor and an internal combustion engine, which means they require EVSE charging and gasoline to operate. A PHEV runs on electricity until its battery pack runs out of power, in which case its internal combustion engine turns on and runs on gasoline.
Hybrid electric vehicles (HEV)
A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is a low-emission vehicle that utilizes a small battery pack to assist an internal combustion engine. These vehicles receive most of their power from gas and cannot be plugged in to charge. Instead, their battery packs are charged through regenerative braking and using a generator connected to the gas engine. Although HEV's HEVs can't run solely on electric power, they maximize fuel economy by allowing the use of a high efficiency, lower power gasoline engine, running that engine in a more efficient way and only turning it on when necessary.
NissanConnect EV Services
You'll have everything you need to know about your EV's range and charging available at your fingertips on your compatible phone with NissanConnect EV Services.3 Figure out estimated driving range, find charging stations, set charging reminders, start charging your vehicle, and more all through the NissanConnect app.4
Nissan electric vehicles
Nissan ARIYA
The All-New, All-Electric 2023 Nissan ARIYA is our newest EV. Depending on the trim you choose, the ARIYA offers up to 304 miles EPA estimated range.5 Battery size and two-wheel drive or e-4ORCE All-Wheel Drive provide different range options.
Nissan LEAF
The LEAF is Nissan's first-ever mass-produced 100% electric vehicle. The standard 40 kWh battery delivers 100% torque every time you step on the accelerator.
Nissan LEAF SV Plus model uses a 60 kWh battery that takes EV power to the next level.
1 Public charging networks are provided by independent companies, and are not within Nissan's control. Availability of charging stations not guaranteed.
2 Charging time and capacity may vary based on battery temperature. For Level 1 home charging use only a 110-120 volt, 15-amp dedicated outlet for charging. See Customer Disclosure Form for details.
3 Feature availability is dependent on vehicle model, trim level, packaging and options. Trial included with vehicle purchase. Compatible connected device and wireless network may be required. Refer to connected device's owner's manual for details. Late availability for some features.
4 Enrollment, owner consent, personal identification number (PIN), and subscription agreement may be required to receive full suite of features and services. Trial periods (if applicable) begin on the date of vehicle purchase or lease of a new Nissan. Trial periods and feature availability may be subject to change at any time and may be subject to early termination without notice. Required subscriptions may be sold separately for each available feature or service after trial period ends, and may continue until you call service provider to cancel. Installation costs, one-time activation fee, other fees and taxes may apply. Fees and programming subject to change. Feature may be subject to age restrictions in some areas. Subscriptions governed by service provider's subscription agreement, terms and conditions and privacy statements available at service provider's website. Text rates or data usage may apply. NissanConnect with WiFi terms and conditions of subscriber agreement apply. Included with vehicle purchase 1 GB or 30 Day Trial on equipped new Nissan vehicles. Once your vehicle has exceeded the coverage parameters of the roadside assistance benefits included with your vehicle purchase, you will be responsible for any charges incurred by obtaining roadside assistance for your vehicle. For complete information concerning warranty coverage, conditions and exclusions, please see your Nissan dealer and read the warranty information booklet.
5 ENGAGE e-4ORCE AWD: Preliminary Nissan-estimated combined city/highway driving range up to 205 miles for ENGAGE e-4ORCE AWD. Based on Nissan internal simulation results, subject to EPA confirmation. Actual mileage will vary with trim levels, options, and driving conditions. Use for comparison only. ENGAGE+ e-4ORCE AWD and EVOLVE+ e-4ORCE AWD: Preliminary Nissan-estimated combined city/highway driving range up to 270 miles for ENGAGE+ e-4ORCE AWD and EVOLVE+ e-4ORCE AWD. Based on Nissan internal simulation results, subject to EPA confirmation. Actual mileage will vary with trim levels, options, and driving conditions. Use for comparison only.


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Download The Board authorizes the Superintendent to accept all employee resignations. Such acceptance shall be effective when first communicated to the employee orally or in writing. Acceptance shall be confirmed in writing to the employee. The resignation of its acceptance shall be report as information to the Board at the next regular or special meeting.
First Reading: January 8, 2015 Second Reading: January 22, 2015 Adoption: January 22, 2015

subset: commoncrawl


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No matter who winds up playing quarterback in Tampa Bay, Buccaneers offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford plans to drive fantasy owners insane in the backfield come September.
With Doug Martin, Mike James, Bobby Rainey and rookie Charles Sims at his disposal, the team's first-year play-caller is promising to use a committee of runners.
"I think you have to alternate," Tedford said Tuesday, per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. "... I don't believe that one back can carry the load. It's just too physical. I think you probably need to have two to three guys to bring different things to the table."
Translation: Martin isn't likely to climb anywhere near the 368 touches he enjoyed during his Pro Bowl rookie campaign in 2012.
The Bucs last season showed their depth after Martin was lost for the year in October. In his absence, Tampa -- behind James and Rainey -- went on to average 144.8 yards per game over the next four weeks (after just 101.2 yards per outing during Martin's six starts).
On a team angling to scorch opponents through the air with highly touted rookie targets Mike Evans and Austin Seferian-Jenkins, the days of the workhorse in Tampa look like a thing of the past.
The latest "Around The League Podcast" picks their favorites for Comeback Player of the Year and takes listener calls.


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The occupancy rate exceeds 90%, and the summer hotel craze in Beijing will continue in mid to late August
Date: 2023-07-10
The summer tourism market in Beijing has seen a surge in parent-child passenger flow, and the occupancy rates of major hotels in the city have also skyrocketed. On July 9th, the reporter found that since entering the summer season, many core business district hotels in Beijing have had occupancy rates of over 90%, and even some hotels have been almost fully booked in the past week. Overall, the occupancy rate and average room rate of Beijing hotels in early July have already surpassed the same period in 2019. According to Ctrip data, the average hotel prices in Beijing during the summer period increased by 51% compared to 2019. At present, the Beijing hotel has returned to normal, and the hot situation is expected to continue until mid to late August. At the same time, when the demand for travel is concentrated and released, providing corresponding services for guests will also be a problem that hotels will face.
All rooms have been fully booked in the past week
The popularity of tourism in Beijing is not only reflected in scenic spots, but also in hotels.
The summer situation this year is very good, and the rental rate has not dropped by 85% since July, "said the person in charge of Xiyuan Hotel. Similarly, Fan Jianjun, the general manager of Beijing Hepingli Hotel, also smiled. "There are many hotel guests now, and the recent occupancy rate is almost over 90%." According to Ctrip App, there are no room types available for booking at Beijing Hepingli Hotel from July 9th to 12th and 14th.
At present, the occupancy rate of the hotel in July has reached as high as 95%, "said the person in charge of a five-star hotel in Beijing." Recently, it has been the busiest time in recent years
Hotels located in the core location of the Wangfujing area in Beijing are also "hard to find one room". According to Qi Ning, the Chinese general manager of Beijing Novotel Peace Hotel, there has been a surge in summer tourists, and the hotel has been fully booked every day from the end of June to the beginning of July. Currently, the average occupancy rate in July is higher than that in June, reaching 90%. The popularity of hotels in the Wangfujing area is not only reflected in one, "Tiananmen Yifei Hotel has been fully booked every day since July 1st, and the booking rate for the entire month of July has reached 90%. Full month rooms should not be a problem. Li Jiang, General Manager of Marketing at Yifei Hotel Group, revealed.
According to the Ctrip App, on July 9th, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Wangfujing, Beijing only had luxury king bed rooms and noble king bed rooms left. Rooms such as garden suites and Oriental suites that usually cost over 10000 yuan have been fully booked. The hotel market in the Wangfujing area is showing a phenomenon of oversupply.
As the focal point of the night economy in the capital city, the occupancy rate of hotels near the Liangmahe commercial district has also been fully increased. The person in charge of the Kempinski Hotel in Beijing Yansha Center told Beijing Business Daily that the room has been mostly full for the past week. Currently, the booking situation in early July has exceeded that of 2019, and the overall summer forecast is very optimistic.


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Celebrate Brown v. Board with a reading or production of the play Now Let Me Fly!
"Are you with me? Are we gonna walk? Are we gonna fly?"
Barbara Johns — Scene 7
Marcia Cebulska's inspiring, educational and entertaining play is based on oral histories and personal interviews with the real people involved in the struggle leading to Brown v. Board.
"'Separate But Equal?' Show me the equal!"
Thurgood Marshall — Scene 2
With the invaluable leadership of Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP, Brown v. Board jump-started the civil rights movement by overturning "Separate But Equal." Years before that landmark court case, brave citizens held grassroots meetings across the nation in homes, schools, church basements and barbershops. In honor of their courage, Now Let Me Fly takes us again to our community meeting places, this time for an uplifting play that brings to life the unsung heroes and heroines who set the stage for legal action.
"A little less 'mad' and a little more 'do.'"
Gardner Bishop — Scene 5
Now Let Me Fly is available in three versions and is royalty-free for most performances. Now Let Me Fly has been performed at over 100 venues, including schools, colleges, theatres and other organizations, and has been used by teachers in thousands of classrooms around the world.
"Go on now, fly!"
Charles Houston — Scene 14
Help keep the Brown v. Board story alive and join us in this exciting theatrical act of unity. You can open hearts and minds, bringing the issues of race, education and equality to the forefront of the national dialogue.
Ready? Set? Click your way to 10 Steps to plan your reading or production!


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Do you want to buy your first investment property, but you aren't sure how you'll finance it? Here are 6 ways to get the cash you need to invest here locally in the West Chester area!
Making an investment in West Chester real estate is never a bad idea. With consistently strong returns, real estate investment is one of the best ways for people to build wealth. For many people, it's the purchase of that first property that is the hardest part. Once you are able to clear that hurdle, investing in real estate becomes easier and easier. As you build up equity and experience, you will be better able to spot deals and have the means to quickly turn them into profit-producing investments.
Find A Partner
Partnering up is one of the best ways for first-time investors to get their hands on a good piece of property. It's important that you work with the right people so that you can avoid any buyer's remorse down the road. To find the right partner, you can join local investment groups, reach out to people in online forums, or reach out to the people you see who are doing a lot of the buying in your area. These more experienced buyers may not only be able to work with you, but they may be able to mentor you as well. When reaching out to more experienced investors,
Utilize A Private Lender
Working with a private lender in West Chester can help you to get the cash you need to make your first property investment. They will typically have different requirements for getting a loan than a conventional bank does. You will likely be able to get your money faster, without having to jump through as much red-tape.
Sell An Asset
Do you own land? Maybe an extra vehicle? Many people have a valuable asset just laying around that could be liquidated and reinvested into something of greater value. Often times these types of assets aren't even thought about because they've been sitting idle for so long. Take a look at the things you own and what you have of value. If it isn't making you money or deeply sentimental, consider how selling it could help you buy your first real estate investment in West Chester.
Save For Your Down Payment
Depending on where your finances stand today, saving for your downpayment may be easier than you think. In most cases, to borrow money from a traditional lender, you will need to put 20% down. Your first investment property doesn't have to be anything flashy. In many parts of the country, you can pick up a property for less than $100k. While saving up $20k may sound daunting, it can be done when the right budget is put in place.
Utilize The Owner/Occupant Loophole
Many investors get their start with an owner-occupied investor property. Using an FHA loan, you are able to buy a property of up to four units. The catch is that you must live onsite for about two years. While multi-family housing may not be what you are looking for personally, by living there for a short period of time you will be able to achieve free room and board while putting money toward a multi-family, income-producing asset, that can benefit you for years to come. For many investors, the trade is often worth it!
Single investors who want to buy their first home or investment property can apply the same concept to a single-family home. By renting out the rooms to friends or family, you'll be able to pay your mortgage, possibly living for free. Down the road, you'll be able to rent out the house in its entirety or you will be able to move into the property yourself and your future family, with much of the balance owed already paid off.
Get A Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)
A home equity line of credit or HELOC can help you purchase your first investment property by providing you with a loan that is secured against the current equity you have in your primary residence. It is also known as a second mortgage. Unleveraged equity is basically money that is just sitting there. When you use a HELOC to buy an investment property in West Chester, you are putting that money to work for you, which will pay off in the long run. HELOCs can be secured rather quickly and offer very competitive interest rates.
Purchasing your first investment property in West Chester is a big deal! At Benchmark Properties Group, LLC, we can help you to reach your investment goals by helping you find the perfect property. We offer discounted real estate in West Chester, working with investors or people looking to save money on a home of their own. When you are ready to buy a house in West Chester, find out how Benchmark Properties Group, LLC can be of assistance.


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Java Programming, Lecture Notes #1035
- Preface
- Preview
- Introduction
- Sample Program
- Interesting Code Fragments
- Summary
- What's Next
- Complete Program Listing
Viewing tip
You may find it useful to open another copy of this lesson in a separate browser window. That will make it easier for you to scroll back and forth among the different figures and listings while you are reading about them.
Recommended supplementary reading
In the lesson entitled Alignment Properties and BoxLayout, Part 1, I recommended a list of Swing tutorials for you to study prior to embarking on a study of this set of lessons.
The lessons identified on that list will introduce you to the use of Swing while avoiding much of the detail included in this series.
Where are they located?
You will find those lessons published at Gamelan.com. However, as of the date of this writing, Gamelan doesn't maintain a consolidated index of my Java tutorial lessons, and sometimes my lessons are difficult to locate there. You will find a consolidated index at Baldwin's Java Programming Tutorials.
The index on my site provides links to the lessons at Gamelan.com.
These methods will differ from the factory methods in several important respects.
One of the methods will make it possible to produce an elastic spacer component (glue) with an upper limit on how far the component will stretch.
Another method will return a reference to an object that provides the functionality of glue and struts in a single object.
In the lesson entitled Alignment Properties and BoxLayout, Part 1, I introduced you to the BoxLayout manager. I will use BoxLayout in the sample program in this lesson.
Glue and struts
In the lesson entitled Swing from A to Z, Glue, Struts, and BoxLayout, I introduced you to the use of glue and struts. At that point in time, they were pretty mysterious. All we knew was that there were some factory methods that would return references to different types of invisible components that exhibited the behavior of glue and struts.
Invisible components were of type Component
The references were returned as type Component. We didn't really know the actual type of the components that were returned by the factory methods (and also didn't need to care, except out of curiosity).
The size properties
At that point in time, we didn't have the tools to unravel the mystery, because we hadn't yet studied the size properties that we studied later in the lesson entitled Swing from A to Z, Minimum, Maximum, and Preferred Sizes.
My earlier promise
In the previous lesson entitled Swing from A to Z: Demystifying Glue and Struts, Part 1, I introduced you to the output of a program that is designed to take the mystery out of glue and struts. I showed you some screen shots produced by that program. I promised that in this lesson, I would introduce you to the code from that program.
What are minimum, maximum, and preferred sizes?
All components that extend JComponent inherit the following three properties that support the use of layout managers:
- preferredSize
- minimumSize
- maximumSize
I discussed them at length in the lesson entitled Swing from A to Z, Minimum, Maximum, and Preferred Sizes.
Sample Program
Must resize to see the effect
This program uses a JFrame to illustrate the use of invisible fixed-width and elastic spacers to control the separation between components. In order to see the effect of the spacers, you must manually resize the JFrame object to make it larger and smaller.
BoxLayout can be used with many containers
This program also demonstrates that BoxLayout can be used with containers other than Box. This program uses a JButton as a container. The layout manager for the JButton is set to BoxLayout.
Some screen shots
The following three screen shots were discussed in the previous lesson entitled Swing from A to Z: Demystifying Glue and Struts, Part 1. I am presenting them again here for convenient viewing.
At startup
The following screen shot shows the output when you start the program. The large JButton contains three green JButton components, two yellow JLabel components, and several invisible spacer components.
When you make it narrower
Figure 2 shows the behavior of the BoxLayout manager with this set of components when the width of the container is decreased. The space between the components does not decrease, and the right-most component gets clipped at the edge of the JButton.
When you make it wider
Figure 3 shows what happens when you increase the width of the JFrame.
Elastic spacers were used
Elastic spacers were inserted on both sides of the button labeled b2, and on the left side of the button labeled b3. These spacers have an upper limit on their elasticity, and once they reach that limit, they won't stretch any further. Once they quit stretching, the layout manager takes up the slack by inserting space at the right end of the large JButton container.
Interesting Code Fragments
I will break this program down and discuss it in fragments. A listing of the entire program is provided in Listing 5 near the end of the lesson.
The controlling class
Listing 1 shows the beginning of the controlling class and the main() method. You have seen code like this in several previous lessons. Therefore, I won't discuss it further here.
class Swing20 extends JFrame{ |
Significant new material
Listing 2 contains significant new material. This is the first of three listings that show the code for methods that return invisible spacer components of my own design.
Box.Filler myFixedSpacer(int x, int y){ |
A convenience method
The method that is shown in Listing 2 instantiates and returns a reference to an invisible fixed-size spacer component with specified width and height dimensions.
The width is specified by the incoming parameter named x and the height is specified by the incoming parameter named y.
An instance of the Box.Filler class
This method instantiates and returns a reference to an object of the Box.Filler inner class. (If you are unfamiliar with inner classes, you might need to review my tutorials on that topic. Those tutorials are published at Gamelan.com. You will find a Table of Contents with links to those lessons at my personal web site.)
What is the Box.Filler inner class?
Here is what Sun has to say about this class.
public static class Box.Filler extends Component implements Accessible An implementation of a lightweight component that participates in layout but has no view. |
A component that "has no view" is an invisible component. (If you are unfamiliar with the concept of view, as embodied in the Model View Control (MVC) paradigm, I have previously written some tutorials on this topic as well.)
Constructor for Box.Filler
This class has a single constructor that is described by Sun as follows:
public Box.Filler(Dimension min, Dimension pref, Dimension max) Constructor to create shape with the given size ranges. Parameters: |
Note the parameters
Our chief interest here lies in the three parameters. On the basis of your studies of the earlier lesson entitled Swing from A to Z, Minimum, Maximum, and Preferred Sizes, you should recognize that the Dimension objects passed as parameters to the constructor are used to set the value of the following properties of the Box.Filler object:
- minimumSize
- preferredSize
- maximumSize
Method to change the properties
Although I didn't use it in this program, there is also a method that can be used to modify these properties for an existing object of the Box.Filler class. That method is described below for the sake of completeness.
public void changeShape( Dimension min, Dimension pref, Dimension max) Change the size requests for this shape. An invalidate() is propagated upward as a result so that layout will eventually happen with using the new sizes. Parameters: |
Now look at my code
Please refer back to Listing 2. The method named myFixedSpacer() receives a pair of int values that specify the width and height values for an invisible component.
Set three size properties to same value
The code in the method uses these two values to set the minimum, preferred, and maximum size properties of a Box.Filler object to the same size.
How does BoxLayout behave?
The behavior of the BoxLayout manager, when confronted with a component having the same values for all three properties, is to neither expand nor shrink that component during layout.
A fixed-size invisible component
Thus, the object that is returned by the method named myFixedSpacer() functions as an invisible component whose size is fixed when used with BoxLayout. This makes it useful for insertion between two visible components to create a fixed amount of blank space between them when used with BoxLayout.
Similar to Box.createHorizontalStrut()
Although I haven't investigated it down to the source code level, I believe that this is essentially the behavior of the factory method named Box.createHorizontalStrut() that was used in the earlier lesson entitled Swing from A to Z, Glue, Struts, and BoxLayout to get a strut.
In that case, there are separate factory methods provided for getting horizontal and vertical struts. However, I elected to combine both capabilities into a single method.
The mystery is solved
So now, the mystery is solved. The factory methods provided for obtaining struts and glue in the Box class probably return references to objects of the class named Box.Filler. If they don't, they could. (I will leave it as an exercise for the reader to write and test the code to confirm or deny this hypothesis. A major hint on how to do that is provided later in this lesson.)
What about type Component?
As mentioned earlier, the factory methods return references to the invisible components as type Component.
Since Box.Filler extends Component, and since we don't need to access any members of the objects returned by the factory methods such as Box.createHorizontalStrut(), it is satisfactory for the factory methods to return references to the struts and glue objects as type Component.
So what! you say
Although I believe that I have made it clear just what is going on with struts and glue, so far, I haven't done much to improve on the use of the available factory methods (other than to make it possible to invoke changeShape() on the spacer object, which is not possible with a strut unless you downcast it to type Box.Filler).
The next method does provide improvement
However, the code in Listing 3 does provide some improvement over the factory method named Box.createGlue().
//Creates and returns an elastic spacer |
No practical limit on stretch
When you invoke that factory method, you get back a glue object that that has no practical limit on how far it can stretch. (I'm sure that there is a limit, but it is probably much greater than the width or height in pixels of any display monitor being manufactured today.)
Upper limit on stretch
With the method named myElasticSpacer() in Listing 3, you can specify the maximum distance that the spacer will stretch in both directions.
Uses incoming parameters to set the limit
This is accomplished by using a pair of incoming parameters to establish the width and height values in the maximumSize property of the spacer object.
The BoxLayout manager won't cause a component to increase in size beyond this limit, so this provides an upper limit on the distance that the elastic spacer can be stretched.
Set minimum and preferred size to zero
Note that this method also sets the minimumSize and preferredSize properties to zero. Therefore, the normal behavior of the returned object is to occupy no space on the screen.
Clarification of an earlier lesson
I made the following statement in the earlier lesson entitled Swing from A to Z, Glue, Struts, and BoxLayout:
"… the order in which the glue and strut components occur relative to each other is not important. In fact, they appear to occupy the same physical space regardless of the order in which you add them to the layout. (This appearance is an illusion. They don't really occupy the same physical space. I will explain this in more detail in a subsequent lesson.) "
The time has come to explain
The time has come to provide that explanation. The normal size of an elastic spacer (glue) is zero. Therefore, when it occupies the space on either side of a strut, there is no visible evidence that it even exists. It is not until it is stretched that its existence becomes apparent. At that point in time, the total space occupied by the strut and the glue is the sum of their respective sizes.
Another clarification
That also explains why doubling the maximum size of the elastic spacer to the left of b3 in Figure 3 didn't completely double the size of the space to the immediate right of b2.
There were two spacers to the right of b2, but there was only a single combination spacer to the left of b3. (A little later, we will see that the combination spacer doesn't add the minimum and maximum space.)
The Combination Spacer
The method named combinationSpacer() in Listing 4 returns an invisible spacer of my own design that provides the functionality of a strut and some glue in a single object.
Based on a transparent JLabel
A JLabel with no text is an invisible component as long as you don't make it opaque.
The method shown in Listing 4 returns a reference to a transparent JLabel object.
Size properties control its behavior
The preferred, minimum, and maximum property values for the object are set so as to cause it to act as a fixed size spacer on the minimumSize end, and to act as an elastic spacer up to the maximumSize end.
The preferredSize property is set equal to the minimumSize property so that it will display at the minimum size unless it is stretched by the layout manager.
Code is straightforward
The code in this method is straightforward, and shouldn't require an explanation. (Note that because of the behavior of BoxLayout, the values for xmax and ymax should always be as large as the values of xmin and ymin.)
Used for first three images
An object returned by this method was inserted immediately to the left of b3 in the first three images shown above.
As mentioned earlier, even though the maximum stretch for this object was twice the maximum stretch of the elastic spacer immediately to the right of b2, the space produced wasn't twice as large. This is because the space to the right of b2 also included a fixed-width spacer.
Use for all spacers
The screen shot shown in Figure 4 was produced using this combination method for all of the spacers (rather than combining spacers of this type with pairs of fixed and elastic spacers).
I believe that if you compare Figure 4 with Figure 3, you will see that each space in Figure 4 is more nearly double the space to its left (as it should be) than is the case in Figure 3.
This resulted from eliminating the sum of the fixed and elastic space values in the first three spaces from Figure 3. (Just for my records, this screen shot was produced with a program named Swing21.)
An important consideration
It is important for you to understand that the rendered size of a component in a GUI doesn't depend entirely on the size properties of the component. Rather, the rendered size also depends on how the layout manager treats the size properties.
Different layout managers behave differently
Different layout managers deal differently with the size properties. The BoxLayout manager honors the size properties whereas other layout manager may, or may not honor them.
Glue and struts work with BoxLayout
For that reason, glue and struts (or alternatively the objects returned by my three methods) behave according to their design with BoxLayout. They may not behave according to their design with other layout managers.
Different from the factory methods
These methods differ somewhat from the factory methods. In particular, one of the methods makes it possible to produce an elastic spacer component (glue) with an upper limit on how far the component will stretch.
Another one of the methods returns a reference to an object that provides the functionality of glue and struts in a single object. Again, this object allows you to specify an upper limit on how far the object can stretch.
Screen shots
I also showed you some screen shots of a GUI produced using these three methods.
What's Next?
The program will also demonstrate that BoxLayout is not confined to being used with a Box container. In fact, just for fun, I will use a JButton as a container with a BoxLayout manager.
Complete Program Listing
/*File Swing20.java |
Copyright 2000, Richard G. Baldwin. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission from Richard Baldwin is prohibited.
About the author
Richard Baldwin is a college professor and private consultant whose primary focus is a combination of Java and XML. In addition to the many platform-independent benefits of Java applications, he believes that a combination of Java and XML will become the primary driving force in the delivery of structured information on the Web.
Richard has participated in numerous consulting projects involving Java, XML, or a combination of the two. He frequently provides onsite Java and/or XML training at the high-tech companies located in and around Austin, Texas. He is the author of Baldwin's Java Programming Tutorials, which has gained a worldwide following among experienced and aspiring Java programmers. He has also published articles on Java Programming in Java Pro magazine.
Richard holds an MSEE degree from Southern Methodist University and has many years of experience in the application of computer technology to real-world problems.


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Our company was founded with a firm belief in the industry's potential as the answer to energy consumption issues. We are committed to contributing to a greener future with our innovative solutions and environmental practices.
In this issue we introduce to you our new global brand designed for more efficient business management. We will also demonstrate our pioneering solutions and technologies as well as our green initiative to reduce carbon emissions throughout our company worldwide.
Through these activities and those of our customers and industry counterparts, we can build a greener climate and a dedicated focus on efficient energy management.
Antti Aumo
Vice President Marketing Europe


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When it comes to cilantro, either people love it or hate it. For some people, cilantro tastes like soap. For other people, cilantro is a must-have garnish. There are even some people who put fistfuls of this aromatic herb into soups.
Also known as Chinese parsley, cilantro contains a high amount of antioxidant content. The leaves have been found to have an antibacterial effect against Salmonella. And some studies have suggested that increasing consumption of plant foods like cilantro reduces diabetes, reduces heart disease, and reduces the risk of obesity, while promoting healthy hair and skin, boosting energy, and lowering overall weight.
Cilantro is a good source of minerals, including calcium (important for the formation of bones and for the release of hormones), iron (important for red blood cell production), magnesium (important for blood glucose control, for blood pressure, and for muscle and nerve function), and potassium (important for cells, for heart rate, and for blood pressure).
Cilantro is a great ingredient to add to vegetable dips, to use as a topping for soups and Southwestern-style burgers, and to add to lettuce wraps. It's time to put cilantro lime shrimp, grilled corn with lime cilantro wasabi butter, and coriander chicken cutlets with cilantro lemon sauce on the menu!


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Why is this medication prescribed?
Torsemide is used alone or in combination with other medications to treat high blood pressure. Torsemide is used to treat edema (fluid retention; excess fluid held in body tissues) caused by various medical problems, including heart, kidney, or liver disease. Torsemide is in a class of medications called diuretics ('water pills'). It works by causing the kidneys to get rid of unneeded water and salt from the body into the urine.
High blood pressure is a common condition, and when not treated it can cause damage to the brain, heart, blood vessels, kidneys and other parts of the body. Damage to these organs may cause heart disease, a heart attack, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure, loss of vision, and other problems. In addition to taking medication, making lifestyle changes will also help to control your blood pressure. These changes include eating a diet that is low in fat and salt, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising at least 30 minutes most days, not smoking, and using alcohol in moderation.
How should this medicine be used?
Torsemide comes as a tablet to take by mouth. It usually is taken once a day. To help you remember to take torsemide, take it around the same time every day. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any part you do not understand. Take torsemide exactly as directed. Do not take more or less of it or take it more often than prescribed by your doctor.
Torsemide controls high blood pressure and edema but does not cure these conditions. Continue to take torsemide even if you feel well. Do not stop taking torsemide without talking to your doctor.
Other uses for this medicine
This medicine is sometimes prescribed for other uses; ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.
What special precautions should I follow?
Before taking torsemide,
- tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are allergic to torsemide, sulfonamide medications, any other medications, or any of the ingredients in torsemide tablets. Ask your pharmacist or check the patient information for a list of the ingredients.
- tell your doctor and pharmacist what prescription and nonprescription medications, vitamins, nutritional supplements, and herbal products you are taking or plan to take. Be sure to mention any of the following: aminoglycoside antibiotics such as amikacin, gentamicin (Garamycin), or tobramycin (Bethkis, Tobi), aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others) and naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn, others); corticosteroids such as betamethasone (Celestone), budesonide (Entocort), cortisone (Cortone), dexamethasone (Decadron, Dexpak, Dexasone, others), fludrocortisone (Floriner), hydrocortisone (Cortef, Hydrocortone), methylprednisolone (Medrol, Meprolone, others), prednisolone (Prelone, others), prednisone (Rayos), and triamcinolone (Aristocort, Azmacort); corticotropin (ACTH, H.P., Acthar Gel); digoxin (Lanoxin), ethacrynic acid (Edecrin), indomethacin (Indocin), lithium (Lithobid), medications for high blood pressure or pain, and probenecid (Probalan, Probenemid). Your doctor may need to change the doses of your medications or monitor you carefully for side effects.
- if you are taking cholestyramine (Questran), take it 4 hours before or 1 hour after toresemide.
- tell your doctor if you have or have ever had kidney disease. Your doctor may tell you not to take toresemide.
- tell your doctor if you have or have ever had diabetes, gout, heart, or liver disease.
- tell your doctor if you are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or are breastfeeding. Do not breastfeed while taking this medicine. If you become pregnant while taking torsemide, call your doctor.
- you should know that torsemide may cause dizziness, lightheadedness, and fainting when you get up too quickly from a lying position. This is more common when you first start taking torsemide. To avoid this problem, get out of bed slowly, resting your feet on the floor for a few minutes before standing up. Alcohol can add to these side effects.
What special dietary instructions should I follow?
If your doctor prescribes a low-salt or low-sodium diet, or to eat or drink increased amounts of potassium-rich foods (e.g., bananas, prunes, raisins, and orange juice) in your diet, follow these instructions carefully.
What should I do if I forget a dose?
Take the missed dose as soon as you remember it. However, if it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and continue your regular dosing schedule. Do not take a double dose to make up for a missed one.
What side effects can this medication cause?
Tell your doctor if any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away:
- frequent urination
- cough
- constipation
- diarrhea
- hearing loss
- ringing in ears
- sore throat
- headache
- upset stomach
Some side effects can be serious. If you have any of these symptoms, call your doctor immediately or get emergency medical treatment:
- dry mouth; thirst; nausea; vomiting; weakness, tiredness; drowsiness; restlessness; confusion; muscle weakness, pain, or cramps; fast heartbeat and other signs of dehydration and electrolyte imbalance
- rapid, excessive weight loss
- vomiting blood
- chest pain
- difficulty breathing or swallowing
- blisters or peeling skin
- hives
- rash
- itching
- ongoing pain that begins in the stomach area, but may spread to the back
If you experience a serious side effect, you or your doctor may send a report to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program online (http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch) or by phone (1-800-332-1088).
What should I know about storage and disposal of this medication?
Keep this medicine in the container it came in, tightly closed, and out of reach of children. Store it at room temperature and away from excess heat and moisture (not in the bathroom).
Unneeded medications should be disposed of in special ways to ensure that pets, children, and other people cannot consume them. However, you should not flush this medication down the toilet. Instead, the best way to dispose of your medication is through a medicine take-back program. Talk to your pharmacist or contact your local garbage/recycling department to learn about take-back programs in your community. See the FDA's Safe Disposal of Medicines website (http://goo.gl/c4Rm4p) for more information if you do not have access to a take-back program.
It is important to keep all medication out of sight and reach of children as many containers (such as weekly pill minders and those for eye drops, creams, patches, and inhalers) are not child-resistant and young children can open them easily. To protect young children from poisoning, always lock safety caps and immediately place the medication in a safe location – one that is up and away and out of their sight and reach. http://www.upandaway.org
In case of emergency/overdose
In case of overdose, call the poison control helpline at 1-800-222-1222. Information is also available online at https://www.poisonhelp.org/help. If the victim has collapsed, had a seizure, has trouble breathing, or can't be awakened, immediately call emergency services at 911.
What other information should I know?
Keep all appointments with your doctor and the laboratory. Your blood pressure should be checked regularly, and blood tests should be done occasionally.
Before having any laboratory test, tell your doctor and the laboratory personnel that you are taking torsemide.
Do not let anyone else take your medicine. Ask your pharmacist any questions you have about refilling your prescription.
It is important for you to keep a written list of all of the prescription and nonprescription (over-the-counter) medicines you are taking, as well as any products such as vitamins, minerals, or other dietary supplements. You should bring this list with you each time you visit a doctor or if you are admitted to a hospital. It is also important information to carry with you in case of emergencies.
Brand names
- Demadex®


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Magnetic Field of a Helmholtz Coil
Application ID: 15
A Helmholtz coil is a parallel pair of identical circular coils spaced one radius apart and wound so that the current flows through both coils in the same direction. This winding results in a uniform magnetic field between the coils with the primary component parallel to the axes of the two coils.
Applications of Helmholtz coils range from canceling the earth's magnetic field to generating magnetic fields for experiments and applications requiring such. Helmholtz field generation can be static, time-varying DC or AC, depending on the applications.
This model example illustrates applications of this type that would nominally be built using the following products:
however, additional products may be required to completely define and model it. Furthermore, this example may also be defined and modeled using components from the following product combinations:
The combination of COMSOL® products required to model your application depends on several factors and may include boundary conditions, material properties, physics interfaces, and part libraries. Particular functionality may be common to several products. To determine the right combination of products for your modeling needs, review the Specification Chart and make use of a free evaluation license. The COMSOL Sales and Support teams are available for answering any questions you may have regarding this.


text:
One of the best Kayak designers in the world has done it again. Jackson Kayak, the company named after it's founder Eric Jackson, recently unleashed a new kayaking phenomenon onto the market. Last year it was Jackson Kayak's "Coosa" model, getting rave reviews but this year a new hybrid kayak design, which is more fishing friendly, is sweeping the market. This December, Jackson Kayak released the new and improved "Cuda" kayak onto the market. Last year the kayak enthusiast, unleashed his patented Coosa model, as an aggressive river kayak for true sportsman. Today Jackson has developed a more open water friendly kayak for sportsman who fish and troll, centered around providing seating support and a rear hatch which can insert a fishing cooler!
Kayaking enthusiasts have long been divided on open water kayaks and aggressive river kayaking. For Jackson Kayak, the opportunity to corner the fishing market was to ripe to let go. The Coosa model which became famous last year, was well known for it's paddle stager and holders as well as it's remove-able skid plates, which made it ideal for river kayaking. The Cuda also is awesome because it has a large bow and stern hatches and a new and improved beverage holder. Still two centering features that make the Cuda top notch, is the high/low seat and the STAND UP PADDLING ABILITY FOR FISHERMEN!
The Cuda is similar in design to last years Coosa, a kayak for true professionals. Still what we really like about it is the center hatch, dry storage, 26 inches of space and even fishing rod tips! Clearly this thing was designed for kayak fishing enthusiasts, people that felt Jackson Kayak had let them down a little last year by tailoring the Coosa, to strictly aggressive kayaking.
Personally, I believe the best way to use a kayak is fishing undiscovered waters. Kayaks give me the freedom I desire, the passion of braving terrain and the thrill of natures majesty. Releasing this pro-style kayak for my fishing needs, has been long overdue in the Kayak community. Pro angler Drew Gregory is really excited about Jackson Kayak's new release. When Drew, a professional kayak fishermen, saw the new Cuda Kayak he had this to say,
"It's rare to find a boat that has this speed, stability, comfort and options to fit so many styles of fishing…. There are built-in options available on the Cuda for all, whether anglers fish inshore, offshore, lakes or flat water rivers, with fly rods or stout big game tackle."
That is just one professional fisher who has seen what the Cuda can do. A kayak is an item which a fishing enthusiast will spend a lot of time with, you share a bond with your kayak, so picking the right one this holiday season is important. Enjoying fishing, or catching monster fish as I like to call it, is a past time for those young and old alike. It is an experience a story, a that one time over the dinner table which makes kayak fishing so special and such a remarkable sport. True enthusiasts will recognize superior capability in the designs of strong kayaks, as well as fast kayaks, isolation and spacing. I encourage the sport of kayak fishing to all my friends, tell your peers about the fun of kayak fishing exploration, so get out their what are you waiting for enjoy kayaking and hit the water churning!


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In an article in "Bild der Wissenschaft" (online, but in German, here) about the field of so-called future studies, writer Ralf Butscher looked at some predictions made by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI) in 1998. The result is sobering: In most cases, their expert panel didn't even correctly predict the trends of already developed technologies over a time of merely a decade. They did for example predict the human genome would be sequenced by 2008. In reality, it was sequenced already in 2001. They did also predict that by 2007 a GPS-based toll-system for roads would be widely used (in Germany). For all I know no such system is on the horizon. To be fair, they said a few things that were about right, for example that beginning in 2004, flat screens would replace those with cathode-ray tubes. But by and large it seems little more than guesswork.
Don't get me wrong - it's not that I am dismissing future studies per se. It's just that when it comes to predicting innovations, history shows such predictions are mostly entertaining speculations. And then there are the occasional random hits.
I was reminded of this when I read an article by Peter Rowlett on "The unplanned impact of mathematics" in the recent issue of Nature. He introduces the reader to 7 fields of mathematics that, sometimes with centuries delay, found their use in daily life. It is too bad the article is access restricted, so let me briefly tell you what the 7 examples are. 1) The quaternions who are today used in algorithms for 3-d rotations in robotics and computer vision. 2) Riemannian geometry, today widely used in physics and plenty of applications that deal with curved surfaces. 3) The mathematics of sphere packing, used for data packing and submission. 4) Parrondo's paradox, used for example to model disease spreading. 5) Bernoulli's law of large numbers (or probability theory more broadly) and its use for insurance companies to reduce risk. 6) Topology, long thought to have no applications in the real world and its late blooming in DNA knotting and the detection of holes in mobile phone network coverage. (Note to reader: I don't know how this works. Note to self: Interesting, look this up.) 7) Fourier transform. There would be little electrodynamics and quantum mechanics without it. Applications are everywhere.
Rowlett has a call on his website, asking for more examples.
The same issue of Nature also has a commentary by Daniel Sarewitz on the NSF Criterion 2 and its update, according to which all proposals should provide a description of how they will advance national goals, for example economic competitiveness and national security. Sarewitz makes it brilliantly clear how absurd such a requirement is for many branches of research:
"To convincingly access how a particular research project might contribute to national goals could be more difficult than the proposed project itself."
And, worse, the requirement might actually hinder progress:
"Motivating researchers to reflect on their role in society and their claim to public support is a worthy goal. But to do so in the brutal competition for grant money will yield not serious analysis, but hype, cynicism and hypocrisy."I fully agree with him. As I have argued in various earlier posts, the smartest thing to do is reducing pressure on researchers (time pressure, financial pressure, peer pressure, public pressure) and let them take what they believe is the way forward. And yes, many of them will not get anywhere. But there is nobody who can do a better job in directing their efforts than they themselves. The question is just what's the best internal evaluation system. It is puzzling to me, and also insulting, that many people seem to believe scientists are not interested in the well-being of the society they are part of, or are somehow odd people whose values have to be corrected by specific requirements. Truth is, they want to be useful as much as everybody else. If research efforts are misdirected, it is not a consequence of researchers' wrongheaded ideals, but of these clashing with strategies of survival in academia.


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Saint Alphonsus Liguori was born in Marianella near Naples on September 27, 1696. He was the firstborn of a rather large family belonging to the Neapolitan nobility. His received a broad education in the humanities, classical and modern languages, painting and music. He composed a Duetto on the Passion, as well as the most popular Christmas carol in Italy, Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle, and numerous other hymns. He finished his university studies earning a Doctorate in both civil and canon law and began his practice in the legal profession.
In 1723, after a long process of discernment, he abandoned his legal career and, despite his father's strong opposition, began his seminary studies. He was ordained a priest on December 21, 1726, at the age of 30. He lived his first years as a priest with the homeless and marginalized young people of Naples. He founded the "Evening Chapels". Run by the young people themselves, these chapels were centres of prayer, community, the Word of God, social activities and education. At the time of his death, there were 72 of these chapels with over 10,000 active participants.
In 1729, Alphonsus left his family home and took up residence in the Chinese College in Naples. It was there that he began his missionary experience in the interior of the Kingdom of Naples where he found people who were much poorer and more abandoned than any of the street children in Naples.
On November 9, 1732, Alphonsus founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, popularly known as the Redemptorists, in order to follow the example of Jesus Christ announcing the Good News to the poor and the most abandoned. From that time on, he gave himself entirely to this new mission.
Alphonsus was a lover of beauty: musician, painter, poet and author. He put all his artistic and literary creativity at the service of the mission and he asked the same of those who joined his Congregation. He wrote 111 works on spirituality and theology. The 21,500 editions and the translations into 72 languages that his works have undergone attest to the fact that he is one of the most widely read authors. Among his best-known works are: The Great Means of Prayer, The Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ, The Glories of Mary and The Visits to the Most Holy Sacrament. Prayer, love, his relationship with Christ and his first-hand experience of the pastoral needs of the faithful have made Alphonsus one of the great masters of the interior life.
Alphonsus' greatest contribution to the Church was in the area of Moral Theological reflection with his Moral Theology. This work was born of Alphonsus' pastoral experience, his ability to respond to the practical questions posed by the faithful and from his contact with their everyday problems. He opposed the sterile legalism which was suffocating theology and he rejected the strict rigorism of the time… the product of the powerful elite. According to Alphonsus, those were paths that were closed to the Gospel because "such rigour has never been taught nor practised by the Church". He knew how to put theological reflection at the service of the greatness and dignity of the person, of moral conscience, and of evangelical mercy.
Alphonsus was consecrated bishop of St. Agatha of the Goths in 1762. He was 66 years old. He tried to refuse the appointment because he felt too old and too sick to properly care for the diocese. In 1775, he was allowed to retire from his office and went to live in the Redemptorist community in Pagani where he died on August 1, 1787. He was canonized in 1839, proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1871 and Patron of Confessors and Moralists in 1950.
An Arthritic's Prayer to Saint Alphonsus
Saint Alphonsus, you are the special patron of all who suffer from arthritis and tire pains of many years. When our fingers twist with pain, keep us focused on the hands of Christ pierced with nails. When our knees throb with endless aches, allow us to see the knees of Jesus smashing to the street under the heavy cross.
When our backs stiffen with soreness, let us remember the back of Christ thrown across the rough wood of the cross. When our hips, elbows, knuckles, and other joints hurt so much that tears well up in our eyes, help us to recall the tears, the sweat, and the blood that flowed from our crucified Jesus, who suffered so much more for each of us.
Saint Alphonsus, you were afflicted with the curvature of the spine and confined to a wheelchair in your final years. Teach us to unite all our pains with the sufferings of Jesus. By your intercession, may our pain be eased but even more, may we be one with Jesus in his death and resurrection for the redemption of the world. Amen.


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Something beautiful.
Jim Capobianco's end credits to Andrew Stanton's WALL·E are essential; they are the actual ending of the film, a perfect and fantastically optimistic conclusion to a grand, if imperfect idea. Humanity's past and future evolution viewed through unspooling schools of art. Frame after frame sinks in as you smile self-consciously. It isn't supposed to be this good but there it is. This is art in its own right. Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman's song, "Down to Earth" indulges you with some incredibly thoughtful lyrics and, from the Stone Age to the Impressionists to the wonderful 8-bit pixel sprites, you are in the midst of something special.
A note on type: WALL-E is promoted with an interpunct as WALL·E which Wikipedia tells us "is a small dot used for interword separation in ancient Latin script, being perhaps the first consistent visual representation of word boundaries in written language." More inherent, embedded greatness from Pixar…as well as finding Finding Nemo's Crush the Turtle (see contact sheet center frame).
In a great and successful attempt to preserve our likeness through the lens and canvas of art history, Jim Capobianco, Alex Woo and many others have rendered something epic; art without sublimation and an imprint of hope.
Art of the Title had the great fortune to speak with end title sequence director JIM CAPOBIANCO and animator ALEXANDER WOO from Pixar.
What was your approach to directing the end credit sequence? What were the first questions you had and how were the answers arrived at?
JC: Unlike our credits in the past, the main goal of the credits was to finish the story. To communicate that the humans were going to be okay. They would survive. It became a balancing act of telling the survival story, using art history to do it and to make sure things weren't too distracting from the names themselves.
How did you go about developing story with Scott, under the aegis of Jim?
AW: It was a lot of brainstorming and research. We started by figuring out the different points of the re-civilization process of Earth 2.0 that we wanted to highlight. The early stuff was pretty straight-forward: the invention of fire, irrigation, agriculture, etc. Things got more complex the further along we got on the civilization track (division of labor, trade, development of architecture). We didn't want earth 2.0 to follow the same destructive path that forced the humans to leave the planet in the first place. We ultimately decided that we would stop our depiction of the re-civilization process somewhere before the industrial revolution. I think the last thing we depict is the discovery of electricity. Once we figured out which milestones we wanted to hit, it just became a matter of finding the connective tissue between those points.
What were your references? Why were these eras chosen?
JC: Andrew told us to make it as if you opened one of those enormous art history books we all had as art students. The difficulty was in what art to show, how to integrate it into the narrative and then to keep the animation economical. We knew from Kevin O'Brien's beat boards that we would start with cave paintings but in Kevo's initial pitch of the idea the art was all over the place. So we had to figure out timeline wise how to proceed. We soon realized that about the time of the Renaissance, art becomes associated with particular artists and more specific to that artist.
Before that it is easier to generalize the art. Some Egyptologist might be able to tell you who created certain Hieroglyphs but the audience is just going to lump together Egyptian Hieroglyphs. They are graphic, the greek pottery and mosaics also very graphic and lent themselves to a stylized simple form of animation but once you get into the renaissance everyone is saying that is Da Vinci or Michelangelo and things get complicated. You begin to ask yourself, "Are we saying that the Axiom Humans had another Da Vinci?" And it gets worse the more modern you get. So we started to refer to each section as a period and had to find an iconic style to represent that time in art which inevitably became associated with a famous artist of that time.
AW: Well, we were doing research along two different tracks. The first was researching the history of human civilization. For this, we used mostly the internet (Wikipedia!), and our own (limited) knowledge of history. The second track was the history of artistic expression. A lot of that reference came from art history books. I brought in an art history book that I had from college. Jim brought in a whole bunch of books from his own personal collection. It was a bit like doing a school project!
When we were choosing the eras, we tried to match the developments of Earth 2.0 with the developments of artistic expression in our history (Earth 1.0). So, for example, the development of fire in Earth 2.0 was depicted with cave painting, the earliest form of artistic expression from Earth 1.0. One problem we ran into was that there wasn't always a direct correlation between a development in civilization and a distinct form of artistic expression. For example, the invention of irrigation occurred around the 6th millennium BC, but we used Greek Pottery from 5th Century BC to depict it. The way we got around this was to assume that the developments in artistic expression in Earth 2.0 would only very loosely follow the path that it took in Earth 1.0.
Why is 2D animation such a highly regarded way to end, and sometimes bookend, a 3D feature? As this is a recurring theme, do you get the sense of a potential resurgence in 2D features?
JC: The graphic nature of the text of the titles themselves lends to a more 2D approach I guess. The text is in 2D space so it is easy to imagine other 2D elements occupying that space and interacting with the text. 2D is also visually distinct from the CG feature so it may keep a few more people in their seats after the show is over to see something new. It is also I would imagine cheaper to execute. As far as will we see a resurgence of 2D features because there are a lot of 2D titles out there I don't think they are one and the same. A 2D feature is definitely a viable way to make a film. It is a tool that has it strengths and does things CG just shouldn't do or can't do. And vice versa.
It's just that someone is going to have to come along with a story told in 2D that just works so well in 2D. Perhaps a more graphic form of 2D. There is this film out in Ireland right now, The Secret of Kells and it looks tremendous, very graphic looking, stylized animation. Taking it's design cue from illuminated manuscripts. I think this is they way things will go in 2D. 2D will come about again because it is the best way to tell that director's vision of the story. Not necessarily that story! That is bullshit! I am tired of hearing the "Why would you animate that story?" It is about the design of how it is told. Look you could take a story like The Three Pigs and tell it in any form of animation or film for that matter these days and each form would give you a different feel for the same story.
Think about it you have photographs of boats, watercolors of boats, oils of boats, pastels of boats, computer images of boats they all say boat. Are some stories better suited to a certain medium? You bet. Toy Story works great in CG, obviously, probably not in hand drawn animation but it could have been done in live action with computers and pretty cool in stop motion! But it is done in CG and great in CG.
AW: I have no idea why it's a highly regarded way to end a 3D feature. I actually don't know if that's an accurate description of 2D animation titles. I don't think directors are choosing to do 2D animated titles because they're 'highly regarded' or because it's the popular thing to do. My guess is that it's coming more from a place of a love for the art form and the aesthetic that 2D brings.
How does traditional animation influence your work?
JC: Huge. It is in my blood. I love it. Since I storyboard it influences how I depict a shot or board the character. I realized though that the animation I grew up on, that I went to school to learn and wanted to do is dead. It died long before CG usurped 2D. It passed away with the demise of the theatrical short. The animation at Warner Bros and the Disney stuff of the late 30's , 40's and Fifties, I am talking about. This was pure animation and the way those old guys thought about story was pure animation. It is hard to describe but they weren't trying to get close to live-action or even the illusion of life they new the medium they were in and these guys knew how to milk it. I find the last two projects I had the good fortune to make have been my attempt to capture a little of that pure 2D animation.
AW: I LOVE traditional animation. It's what got me into the world of animation and film in the first place. When I think of traditional animation, of GOOD traditional animation, I think of it as the foundation of what I'm doing now in 3D. It's where I got all of my principles: design, composition, performance, timing, etc. For me, traditional animation formed the foundation from which I've built my understanding and love for film.
Do you begin working on the titles before story is finished?
JC: Nope, not in my experience. The titles are such an after thought it is almost like someone wakes up one morning in a cold sweat realizing that they hadn't put any titles on their film and then it is hurry up get some credits on this thing! It is the nature of the beast, no one wants to think about the titles, they are too involved in getting a film done to attach to the credits. This hurts us a bit in artist resources and the time crunch but you learn to be flexible and resourceful. I actually kind of like it. I like being scrappy and being forced to figure out how to make the best of what I've got on hand.
How did you decide on the order of the painterly flourishes? How did you emulate the textures of the artwork?
JC: We landed early on with Van Gogh, Kevin had put WALL·E and EVE in this lush feeling Van Gogh and it felt to both Andrew and I that that was were we should end with the cards. It was a good depiction of the Earth's vegetation fully back. We then worked backwards. Van Gogh is post-impressionist so naturally we had to have impressionist and Seurat seemed right, his idyllic sunday in the park. The period between flemish drawings and the impressionists was a bit difficult to figure out. We couldn't really do anything super representational like Rembrandt. since every section was going to have some animation in it. It seemed we could get away with more if we could stay abstract. Like the earlier art forms lent themselves to.
So the painting sections became real nail biters. This goes back to art periods being represented by particular artists. Once you say okay this is going to be Turner like into Seurat like into Van Gogh like you now have to pull off these particular painting styles. We have very talented artist at Pixar, the best, but I didn't know if the painter I would get would be able to pull this off. Maybe they could do one of the styles. But we persevered and we got John Lee who basically could be an art forger. I am so grateful for what he brought to the piece, he actually suggested Turner for the pre-impressionist painting. I was able to sleep again. As far as technique it was mostly done in photoshop. John is just a whiz with his tools. Really unbelievable.
What's the ratio, if any, of traditional vs. digital in this piece?
AW: When you're referring to traditional vs. digital, do you mean hand drawn vs. After Effects? I think the question assumes a dichotomy that doesn't necessarily exist. All of the animation and the backgrounds in the titles were put together digitally, painted digitally, and timed digitally. There was a lot of hand drawn work in there (the actual frames of animation, and even some backgrounds Scott painted on real media and then scanned in to the computer and further manipulated it), but all of it went through some form of digital manipulation. I don't know if I can give you a proper ratio.
Why the 8-bit style characters in the long credit roll?
JC: Originally we were talking about carrying the art history into the crawl with 20th century art – cubism, Pollock, etc. but then Alex and Scott Morse had the idea to design the crawl as 8-bit. At first I wasn't sure the style would work after Van Gogh but I guess since the "they survive" narrative was done with the cards we had license to play with a new thing. I also didn't know until it was pretty much irreversible if this would work with Peter Gabriel's song. But it is amazing how our minds associate images with what information we are given, auditory, visual, and just makes a connection. We had such a success with the 8-bit Mountie in "Your Friend the Rat" (it always gets a laugh) it was fun to be in that world again and it struck me as funny that here you just watched a feature of probably the most advanced computer graphics around and we end it with the most primitive. All the characters were designed by Scott and then animated by Catherine Kelly in After Effects.
AW: Because it was so cool! We pitched three ideas for the credit roll, and one of them was the 8-bit version. We pitched them all to Andrew, and he picked the 8-bit one. There was a reference to Pong in the film, so we figured this would be the next step in the development of that gaming technology for them.
What does Pixar look for in an up and coming animator? Can you offer an example of a career trajectory within Pixar?
JC: Pixar looks for people who can tell a story with what they do. For an animator it could be a unique way someone may act a scene with a character. In story boarding, it could be an interesting sensible perhaps unique approach to the material. We are really interested in the individual artist and what s/he can bring to the films. We always want to see personal artwork in an artist's portfolio. This way we can get a gage of what makes them tick, what their interests are.
Tell us a secret; something you use that works most, if not all of the time.
JC: Be brave enough to take educated risks and apologize after. I believe this is how you get really great, interesting unique stories and storytelling. Here is another for the price of one. Always move. Don't sit around waiting for approval or something to happen. I have found there is always something to do on your project. Even if it is the smallest thing it keeps the momentum going and momentum is everything. By always moving it gets you that much closer to getting the project done and you stay ahead of the people who feel it is there job to judge and can put a stop to what you are trying to say before you've had a chance to say it. Like a shark keep moving or die.
AW: Hm… follow your instincts, but be very open to critical feedback. Truth is hard to hear sometimes, but it needs to be heard, because it's truth!
What do you have on the horizon? What did you learn on WALL·E that you will take into future projects?
JC: At Pixar I've been bopping around helping out here and there. Outside of work I have been concentrating on some of my own projects. I have a short hand animated film titled "Leonardo" I am finishing after ten years of weekends and stolen time. That will be out in festivals hopefully this year and next. The look we achieved in the Renaissance section of the credits is reminiscent of how I am finishing the look of "Leonardo". So it actually gave me the chance to see how to pull it together that way. I've learned so much working on these projects, Your Friend the Rat and WALL·E's credits, it is hard to pin point one thing I would take forward. I really like the people I've worked with and some of the same crew came on to the credits from the short. Alex, Scott Morse, Bob Scott, Willy Hwang, Kirstophe Vergne, Chris O'Dowd, and I would work with them all again and again if given the chance.


text:
By Port Moresby
THE people responsible for burning a young woman alive in a Papua New Guinea town after she was accused of sorcery will be caught and punished, police say.
Kepari Leniata, 20, was stripped, tortured, bound, doused in petrol and set on fire on a rubbish heap in the Western Highlands town of Mount Hagen on Wednesday. Police said she was accused of sorcery by relatives of a boy, 6, who died in Mount Hagen's hospital the day before.
''People believe it's something that exists, but it's a crime,'' PNG police spokesman Dominic Kakas said. ''People will have to be arrested.''
Both of PNG's national newspapers carried the story on their front pages with a picture of a burning mass on a rubbish heap surrounded by onlookers, including children.
The UN's special rapporteur on violence against women, Rashida Manjoo, in March last year made a savage assessment of the treatment of women in PNG, saying sorcery allegations were usually used as a way of depriving women of land and property, while misfortune or death were used as a reason for the accusation.


text: Home: Pirates of the High Seas! Renaissance and Medieval Pirates of the High Seas! Please choose a subcategory: Please choose a category to begin exploring our special pirate collection: Men's Clothing Captain's coats, pants, and shirts-- even complete garb sets. Everything you need to be outfitted for your faire's Pirate Weekend! (Well, except the parrot). Women's Clothing You'll be the most fearsome beauty to grace your faire's Pirate Weekend! Hats & Accessories Hats for sailors in several styles, including the popular leather tricorn, as well as assorted accessories. Jewelry Armada Medals for the victorious Sea Dogs, pins, and other jewelry with a nautical flare. Swords, Daggers, & Weapons Cutlasses, daggers, and even non-firing pirate pistols.


text:
The Unknown
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.
—Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing
Glass Box
You know, it's the old glass box at the—
At the gas station,
Where you're using those little things
Trying to pick up the prize,
And you can't find it.
And it's all these arms are going down in there,
And so you keep dropping it
And picking it up again and moving it,
Some of you are probably too young to remember those—
Those glass boxes,
But they used to have them
At all the gas stations
When I was a kid.
—Dec. 6, 2001, Department of Defense news briefing
A Confession
Once in a while,
I'm standing here, doing something.
And I think,
"What in the world am I doing here?"
It's a big surprise.
—May 16, 2001, interview with the New York Times
You're going to be told lots of things.
You get told things every day that don't happen.
It doesn't seem to bother people, they don't—
It's printed in the press.
The world thinks all these things happen.
They never happened.
Everyone's so eager to get the story
Before in fact the story's there
That the world is constantly being fed
Things that haven't happened.
All I can tell you is,
It hasn't happened.
It's going to happen.
—Feb. 28, 2003, Department of Defense briefing
The Digital Revolution
Oh my goodness gracious,
What you can buy off the Internet
In terms of overhead photography!
A trained ape can know an awful lot
Of what is going on in this world,
Just by punching on his mouse
For a relatively modest cost!
—June 9, 2001, following European trip
The Situation
Things will not be necessarily continuous.
The fact that they are something other than perfectly continuous
Ought not to be characterized as a pause.
There will be some things that people will see.
There will be some things that people won't see.
And life goes on.
—Oct. 12, 2001, Department of Defense news briefing
I think what you'll find,
I think what you'll find is,
Whatever it is we do substantively,
There will be near-perfect clarity
As to what it is.
And it will be known,
And it will be known to the Congress,
And it will be known to you,
Probably before we decide it,
But it will be known.
Now that's some truly powerful stuff. Maybe the whole administration should consider the elements of Poetics to communicate.. Who knows, it might even get favorable features on The Writer's Almanac. (hat-tip to Tits McGee for bringing this poetry to my attention.)


text:
Managing Agile Projects Using TFS 2017 Training in Denver
We offer private customized training for groups of 3 or more attendees.
Course Description |
This 3-day course provides project managers, Scrum masters and team
leads the essential skills required to effectively manage a software
development project using Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server
2017. --- This course focuses on Agile methodologies and includes
discussions and content focused on both Scrum and Kanban practices.
Attendees will plan a new software development project and go through
the steps to initiate the project using Visual Studio 2017. This
includes recording requirements, creating a product backlog, and
estimating effort for backlog items. We will cover planning and running
a sprint, as well as using the task board and burndown chart to track
progress. The course also demonstrates how TFS facilitates the use
of storyboards to prototype experiences, request stakeholder feedback,
foster team collaboration, and generate reports. The final two modules
of the course provide an overview of how testers and developers can work
effectively using appropriate tools in the Visual Studio family. This
course includes hands-on labs to reinforce practical skills and ensure
you're ready to use the tools on your return to your workplace. All
Scrum content adheres to the latest version of the official Scrum Guide
and provides helpful preparation for anyone considering gaining Scrum certification.
Course Length: 3 Days
Course Tuition: $2060 (US) |
Prerequisites |
Attendees should have some familiarity with the basic use of TFS. |
Course Outline |
Module 1: Introducing the Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 Family
What's new in Visual Studio 2017
Overview of the Visual Studio 2017 family
Overview of product features
Project workflow across the Visual Studio 2017 suite of products
Module 2: Initiating a New Project
Organizing projects in TFS
Understanding process templates
Creating a new team project
Setting team project properties
Switching between team projects
Module 3: Work Item Primer
Overview of work items
Traceability between work items
Searching and creating custom queries
Work item charting and pinning charts
Work item tagging
Configuring project notifications
Module 4: Creating our Product Backlog
Examining requirement types
Creating backlog items
Creating requirement hierarchies using features
The importance of acceptance criteria
Module 5: Agile Estimation
Introduction to estimation
Using story points
Planning Poker and other popular estimation techniques
Adding your estimates to TFS work items
Module 6: Working from the Product Backlog
Introducing the Kanban board
Entering and editing details on the Kanban board
Customizing columns, including using split columns and limiting WIP
Recording our Definition of Done (DoD)
Understanding the Cumulative Flow Diagram
Module 7: Working in Sprints
Specifying your sprint schedule and your team capacity
Selecting items for the sprint backlog using forecasting
Decomposing requirements into tasks
Using burndown charts to track progress
Monitoring work using the task board
Working with unparented work items
Module 8: Retrospectives
The importance of retrospectives
Conducting an efficient sprint retrospective
What you should avoid in your retrospective
Module 9: Working with TFS Teams
Configuring teams in our team project
Managing work from a master backlog
Allocating work to our teams
Configuring iterations for TFS teams
Module 10: Enhancing Requirements Using Storyboards
Overview of storyboarding capabilities
Creating a storyboard to illustrate a requirement
Linking a storyboard to a work item
Module 11: Getting Stakeholder Feedback
Introducing the Microsoft Feedback Client
Using the Microsoft Feedback Client to provide rich feedback to the team
Adding continuous feedback into your workflow
Module 12: Fostering Team Collaboration
An overview of the various clients
The use of email in sharing information
Choosing the appropriate client tool
Module 13: Creating and Customizing Reports
Overview of reporting architecture
Reviewing the out of the box reports
Adding new reports
Creating ad hoc reports using Excel
Module 14: Overview of Agile Testing
The role of the tester in a sprint planning meeting
A lap around web-based test management
Creating a test plan
Creating manual test cases from requirements
Module 15: Overview of Agile Development
Using My Work to select tasks from the sprint backlog
Understanding the value of linking changesets to work items
The importance of unit testing
Creating a continuous integration build
Course Directory [training on all levels]
- .NET Classes
- Agile/Scrum Classes
- Ajax Classes
- Android and iPhone Programming Classes
- Blaze Advisor Classes
- C Programming Classes
- C# Programming Classes
- C++ Programming Classes
- Cisco Classes
- Cloud Classes
- CompTIA Classes
- Crystal Reports Classes
- Design Patterns Classes
- DevOps Classes
- Foundations of Web Design & Web Authoring Classes
- Git, Jira, Wicket, Gradle, Tableau Classes
- IBM Classes
- Java Programming Classes
- JBoss Administration Classes
- JUnit, TDD, CPTC, Web Penetration Classes
- Linux Unix Classes
- Machine Learning Classes
- Microsoft Classes
- Microsoft Development Classes
- Microsoft SQL Server Classes
- Microsoft Team Foundation Server Classes
- Microsoft Windows Server Classes
- Oracle, MySQL, Cassandra, Hadoop Database Classes
- Perl Programming Classes
- Python Programming Classes
- Ruby Programming Classes
- Security Classes
- SharePoint Classes
- SOA Classes
- Tcl, Awk, Bash, Shell Classes
- UML Classes
- VMWare Classes
- Web Development Classes
- Web Services Classes
- Weblogic Administration Classes
- XML Classes
- Introduction to Python 3.x
22 July, 2024 - 25 July, 2024 - VMware vSphere 8.0 with ESXi and vCenter
19 August, 2024 - 23 August, 2024 - Go Language Essentials
29 July, 2024 - 1 August, 2024 - Linux Fundaments GL120
12 August, 2024 - 16 August, 2024 - DOCKER WITH KUBERNETES ADMINISTRATION
30 September, 2024 - 4 October, 2024 - See our complete public course listing
Agile/Scrum Uses & Stats
Year Created 2001 |
Faster Deployment of Solutions
Gives Every Team Member a Purpose
Keeps the End Goal in Mind at Every Level
Promotes Flexibility in Order to Adapt
Faster Detection of Issues and Defects |
Can Act As a Band-Aid to Bigger Problems
Can Create a Micro-Managed Environment
Not Everyone Is On Board
Push for Higher Performance
Not Well-Suited for Every Project |
Agile/Scrum Job Market |
Average Salary
Job Count
Top Job Locations
Agile and SCRUM methodologies are practiced mostly in larger organizations that have cross-platform teams that need to be on the same page. Adoption rates vary in different industries. Industry Agile Adoption Rate Software (ISV) 23 percent Financial services 14 percent Professional services 12 percent Insurance 6 percent Healthcare 6 percent Government 5 percent Telecoms 4 percent Transportation 4 percent Manufacturing 4 percent |
Complimentary Skills to have along with Agile/Scrum
Agile Methodologies and Frameworks include: ASD - DevOps - DAD - DSDM - FDD - IID - Kanban - Lean - SD - LeSS - MDD - MSF - PSP - RAD - RUP - SAFe - Scrum SEMAT TSP UP XP The Standards and Bodies of Knowledge Include: BABOK - CMMI - IEEE standards - ISO 9001 - ISO/IEC standards - PMBOK - SWEBOK - ITIL |


text:
Pillow size:
22cm x 25cm
☺Please note every effort has been made to ensure photo shows colours as accurately as possible, shades may vary slightly depending on your computer screen settings.
**** Please note that this item is a photography prop only and it's not for everyday wear. It contains small parts so the child must be supervised at all times when this item is in use.


text:
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text:
If anyone asks, I knew better than to flash my boobs for Mardi Gras beads.
I still don't know why I did it. Maybe it was the dare from my two best friends. Maybe it was the guys on the balcony saying they'd throw Fireball shots with the beads. Or maybe it was the quiet guy in the corner of that same balcony with piercing gray eyes, wavy dark hair, and a smile so tempting I wanted to climb up there and lick it off his face. Maybe it was because I never thought I'd see them again. Not that it matters. Not today. Because the hotel I manage was finally bought—and the guy who walks in and introduces himself as my new boss is Mr. Tall, Dark, and Silent. There are many upsides to being single. Your new boss knowing what your boobs look like? Not one of them.Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon CA | Nook | iBooks | Kobo
"I just—I don't get it." I threw myself onto the sofa and almost sent the box of donuts flying onto the floor. Thankfully, Peyton was quicker than the box. She grabbed it and sat back, hugging it to herself. "First, watch the donuts. I got the last two pink sprinkles, and I'm partial to them." She stroked the top of the box. "Second, what don't you get? How he doesn't care about your boobs? I don't care about them either." "You're not supposed to care about my boobs. You're a woman, for a start." "I care about your boobs," Chloe interrupted, tucking her blond hair behind her ear. "I think you have great boobs. Bra or no bra." "Usually no bra," Peyton added. "I'm not afraid to throw something at you," I warned her. "This is awkward." "Ugh! Get over yourself, Melanie!" Peyton snapped her fingers. "You are a grown woman. He is a grown man. He saw your tits. So what? Steven Lawrence saw your tits five times in junior year." I snatched a donut from the box. Don't tell my hips. "We were dating! It's entirely different!" Chloe delicately picked up a white-iced donut before saying, "She's right. It is different, Peyt. They were dating, and Jacob is her boss. You can't expect her to just get over that. It is partly your fault." "It's just as much your fault," Peyton reminded her, then looked at me and nodded toward Chloe. "Drunky smurf over here shook her Tic-Tacs like she was in front of a bachelor party leaving a curry house." I choked on my laughter. "That's not the point. You got us drunk. It's almost entirely your fault." "Look, sunshine," she said, tearing a bite of donut off the ring so her words were muffled. "I didn't grab your shirt and whip it up like a two-dollar hooker on overtime. You did that, so grow a pair and take responsibility for your actions." "You sound like you don't want to take responsibility for yours." "Hey. You're big girls. You can refuse cocktails." Chloe and I shared a glance. "Refuse cocktails?" she said. "I don't understand." "You have us mixed up with your other friends," I continued. "But, wait. You don't have other friends." "I have plenty of friends," Peyt said. "Friends without penises. Or benefits." She paused. "We're not talking about me. We're talking about your hot boss who knows what your tits look like." "You're not helping." "I'm not trying to help. I'm trying to slap your size-eight ass into reality, you idiot." "Slap mine into reality and I'm putting yours on a catapult. Right into the middle of the gulf." I tore my donut in two and gave her boobs a pointed look. "I always wondered if silicone would float."
By day, New York Times and USA Today bestselling New Adult author Emma Hart dons a cape and calls herself Super Mum to two beautiful little monsters. By night, she drops the cape, pours a glass of whatever she fancies—usually wine—and writes books. Emma is working on Top Secret projects she will share with her followers and fans at every available opportunity. Naturally, all Top Secret projects involve a dashingly hot guy who likes to forget to wear a shirt, a sprinkling (or several) of hold-onto-your-panties hot scenes, and a whole lotta love. She likes to be busy—unless busy involves doing the dishes, but that seems to be when all the ideas come to life.