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Beginners Guide to Skiing and Snowboarding
First time skiing? First time snowboarding? We have you covered.
What to Know about Skiing and Snowboarding
Every year we have thousands of visits from families and individuals who have never tried skiing or snowboarding before. We understand the questions that arise and the need to have all as much information to help you plan your trip. Our Top 10 Tips are crafted from the most common questions we receive, complete with links to all the information you need.
Want to reach out and connect? We are here to help, use the contact information at the bottom of the page.
1 |
What The Weather Is Like
The weather changes frequently in the mountains and affects road conditions. Check the resort weather report and the local road or highway status. Give yourself plenty of time! |
2 |
Where To Go When You Arrive
We are excited to have you here, and we want to make sure you know exactly where to go. Review the Getting Here information based on how you are arriving. Research the resort layout and maps ahead of time and check pre-arrival information if you have lessons booked. |
3 |
The Best Time to Ski And Snowboard
Holidays and weekends are our most popular days throughout the season. The best deals can often be found mid-week, during non-holiday periods. Before you visit be sure to check our Hours of Operation page so you are up to date on what's happening. |
4 |
How To Ski Or Snowboard
Take expert advice from a professional instructor with the patience and knowledge to give clear instructions on the correct technique. We offer group lessons that can be bundled to include equipment and a lift ticket as a package, or private lessons for a tailored experience just for you. |
5 |
What Equipment You Need For Skiing Or Snowboarding
We recommend renting all your ski or snowboard equipment instead of borrowing older gear. It is safer to learn on modern, maintained equipment and it will help you progress faster. Reserve skis or a snowboard online in advance for the best deals and to guarantee availability. |
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What To Pack For a Ski Trip
Staying warm and dry will help keep you comfortable, safe, and having fun! Dress in layers so you can add or remove as needed and ensure your jacket, pants and gloves are waterproof. Read below to learn more about what to wear and where to store gear. |
7 |
Fuel Up
Exercising at altitude takes a lot of energy! Drink plenty of water and be careful not to become dehydrated. Bring plenty of pocket snacks or check out our resort food and beverage options. |
8 |
Make Sure You Have a Lift Ticket
All skiers and snowboarders are required to have a ticket or pass to access the snow and lifts even if you are just starting out. Read below to learn more about how tickets and passes work and be sure to buy online in advance. |
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Where To Start
Ski areas are broken up into trails, categorized by difficulty. Read the mountain information below to understand how to interpret maps and your safety obligations as a skier or snowboarder. Remember the best and safest way to learn is to sign up for a ski or snowboard lesson. |
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Skiing With Kids
Skiing and snowboarding with kids can be intimidating, but we are here to help! The best way for kids to learn is with a lesson. Want to learn together? Consider a private lesson for the family. Read our parent's guide below for our top tips for skiing with kids. |
Mountain Safety
The role of Ski Patrol is to monitor slope safety and assist with first aid if accidents happen on the slopes. The role of all skiers and riders is to abide by the following NSAA Responsibility Code at all times:
- Always stay in control. You must be able to stop or avoid people or objects
- People ahead or downhill of you have the right-of-way. You must avoid them
- Stop only where you are visible from above and do not restrict traffic
- Look uphill and avoid others before starting downhill or entering a trail
- You must prevent runaway equipment
- Read and obey all signs, warnings, and hazard markings
- Keep off closed trails and out of closed areas
- You must know how and be able to load, ride and unload lifts safely. If you need assistance, ask the lift attendant
- Do not use lifts or terrain when impaired by alcohol or drugs
- If you are involved in a collision or incident, share your contact information with each other and a ski area employee
Trail Maps
A Trail Map outlines the services and lifts at the resort, as well as the location and difficulty of the trails, also known as runs. Don't worry if it's a bit daunting at first, most resorts around the world use similar systems:
Green Circle
Green Runs are the easiest trails on a mountain. They are generally wide, smooth and flat, and designed for beginners moving at slower speeds. |
Blue Square
Blue Runs are intermediate trails and require a solid mastery of the basics in order to navigate safely. |
Black Diamond
Black Runs should only be attempted by accomplished, expert skiers or snowboarders. They are often ungroomed, narrow and steep. A double black diamond indicates the most difficult runs at a resort. |
Terrain Park
Terrain Parks are defined areas with built and maintained features such as jumps, boxes and rails designed for skiers and snowboarders to perform tricks. Terrain Parks are marked with this orange symbol and are classed as small, medium or large. Parks can only be entered and exited at designated points. Click here for more information on Terrain Park Safety. |
Groomed Runs
After a day of use or weather, ski trails can become bumpy and rutted. The process of smoothing and flattening out the snow surface using a machine known as a SnowCat is called 'grooming'. This happens before the resort opens and makes runs easier to ski or ride. Each resort issues a grooming report daily to indicate what runs are groomed. All green runs are groomed each day. |
Lifts are denoted with red lines on the trail map. This is the way we transport up the mountain! The symbol for each lift shows how many passengers can ride together per chair. Surface, tow or drag lifts are common in beginner areas. "Magic Carpets" are like moving sidewalks (like at the airport) that carry you up a gentle slope. You can view the status and type of lifts at the resort on the website. |
What to Wear
Staying warm and dry should be on the top of your priority list when planning a ski or snowboard trip! The weather and the temperature can also change quickly in the mountains. Dress in layers so you can easily add and remove as needed.
This is the layer that will lay closest to your skin and provide insulation. Wool or synthetic fabric is recommended. Cotton is not ideal. A thin pants layer on the bottom and form-fitting long-sleeves on top.
The second layer is your mid-layer. An insulator jacket (puffy) or fleece is a standard mid-layer because it is appreciated for its warmth and comfort.
This is the layer that will help keep you dry and protect against wind. You will want a waterproof jacket and insulated snow pants
Thin, warm, and long, well-fitting socks are key! This is insulation for your foot and calf under your boot. Wool or synthetic fabric is recommended to help wick sweat and moisture away.
Pro Tip: Wear only ONE pair of socks! Extra socks will over-crowd the boot, restrict blood circulation, and won't help keep you warm.
Waterproof gloves or mittens are a must on the hill. Go with something insulated or find a thin glove liner to wear as a base.
On a warmer and sunnier day, sunglasses will work fine. On colder, snowier days or at night we recommend goggles to protect your eyes.
Even when it is overcast, it is important to protect any exposed skin from the sun. Remember to reapply every 2 hours!
Ski and Snowboard Equipment , opens in a new window
Ski equipment includes ski boots, a pair of skis and a pair of ski poles. Snowboard equipment consists of snowboard boots and a snowboard. Winter sports helmets are also strongly recommended, and required for any children taking lessons.
We recommend renting all your ski or snowboard equipment instead of borrowing an old pair. It is safer to learn on modern equipment fit specifically for you and it will help you progress faster.
Pro Tip: On especially cold days, a thin helmet liner or skull cap under your helmet will help keep you even warmer. Nothing bulky or with poms though or the helmet won't fit properly.
Gear and Equipment Storage
In rental areas, lockers or cubbies are available to store your shoes and personal belongings.
When you are not skiing or riding, ski racks adjacent to the bottom of the slopes are a great place to rest your gear while you head inside for a break or a bite to eat. Some resorts also offer gear or bag check services for added piece of mind. Not sure of the location? Check with Guest Services or ask a friendly employee!
Pro Tip: Gear can look similar. Label your personal equipment and belongings to ensure there are no mix-ups!
How To Ski and Snowboard
Skiing and snowboarding offer not only winter recreation, but a lifetime of fun as a sport you can enjoy with friends and family of all generations.
You can begin skiing or snowboarding at any age and in general it takes only a few days of guided practice to grasp the basics. The sports however do not come without risk, and while learning from friends or family can be fun the safest and fastest way to learn is through professional instruction.
Some common questions regarding lessons include:
Skiers tend to become independent quicker, and snowboarding pairs well with prior board sports experience – but pick the one that appeals to you!
Group lessons are more affordable, with the option to bundle with rental equipment and lift tickets. Private lessons offer more customization with instruction specific to your goals
People of different ages process information differently and progress at different rates. Group lessons are split by age to optimize this. Child lessons may include other activities, snacks and lunch to keep children engaged and energized. Private lessons allow different generations to learn together.
Some resorts have more than one physical lesson location. Make sure your lesson matches the location
How to Ski
Thinking about learning to ski this winter? Take a moment to check out the basics so you feel more prepared!
Videos provided courtesy of PSIA-AASI, November 2022
How to Snowboard
Thinking about learning to snowboard this winter? Take a moment to check out the basics so you feel more prepared!
Videos provided courtesy of PSIA-AASI, November 2022
How to Use a Lift Ticket or Pass
The one thing all skiers and snowboarders need is a ticket or pass to gain access to the slopes. This includes all ability levels. Even if you do not actually ride a chairlift and spend your time in learning or beginner areas access is still required.
Lift Tickets , opens in a new window
Tickets provide access for specific days at a specific resort. Multi, consecutive day tickets can be purchased, and the best rates are always when buying online, in advance. Some resorts also offer specific tickets for afternoons, night skiing or beginners at discounted rates. Group lessons for children and adults offer the option to add a discounted ticket as an add-on when booking.
Pro Tip: Lift ticket cards can be reloaded prior to each visit. When purchasing online indicate that you have a card from before and enter the number. The new ticket will automatically be loaded onto your card meaning you don't need to go to the ticket window!
Season Passes , opens in a new window
Passes are the most flexible and cost-effective option, providing access to one or more resorts from one to an unlimited number of days of your choosing. There are options to suit all preferences, such as choosing to include or exclude access during holiday periods. Passes are sold in advance of the season, and committing early allows you to lock in the best rates and passholder benefits.
How Tickets and Passes Work
Our tickets and passes are loaded onto a card the size of a credit card that uses RFID technology. Employees at the base of lifts and many learning areas carry scanners to scan your card to validate your access. The technology we use means the card can be placed in your pocket and scanned through your clothing. No need to remove your gloves!
- Make sure the correct ticket is on the right person
- Cell phones, wallets and other items can interfere with the scanning signal. Place the card in a pocket by itself when possible
- Remove old cards and discard to avoid an incorrect scan
Pro Tip: Place the ticket/pass card on the left side of your body. Many modern ski jackets have a small pocket on the left sleeve just for this purpose!
Skiing with Kids
Skiing or snowboarding is a multi generational sport. There are few other recreational activities where friends and family of all ages can participate and be challenged all together, and enjoy a shared experience sliding down the side of a mountain! Bringing kids into the sport is therefore incredibly rewarding, both in the short term; as an exhilarating winter activity, and in the long term.
However the words "If only I knew that before.." have been uttered by many snow parents, many times. Bringing kids into the mountain environment is a challenge all by itself, so from parents, to parents, here are our top tips to a successful day on the slopes.
You can help them to be physically and mentally ready before you get to the resort. Talk about skiing/snowboarding to help get them excited, and discuss how they feel about trying something new. With younger kids, practice dressing up in snow gear and make time for snow or outdoor play. The more familiarity they can gain with the experience before they arrive, the more comfortable they will feel when they are here!
You know best whether your kids learn better with you, or without you! Our advice is to always leave the hard work to our professional instructors who can leverage our kids facilities and teaching spaces to craft a kids specific experience. Many parents enroll their kids in lessons while they get some adult time, or take lessons themselves, and then connect afterwards for some snow time together. Want to learn as a family? A private lesson is the way to go as the instructor will tailor the experience around your goals!
Buying equipment is a commitment and kids grow quickly. Renting at the resort ensures that your kids get equipment that is correctly maintained, fits right and can be adjusted or replaced if something doesn't work. If you sign up for a group lesson, rental equipment can be included at a discount. Ask about the possibility of picking up your gear the day before if you are nearby and many schools allow you to keep the equipment after the lesson for the remainder of the day if your child is not ready to stop!
Whether you buy or borrow, make sure all clothes and gear fits well, is in good condition and is waterproof. Avoid cotton or wool gloves or gaiters as these become wet and cold, and hand/foot warmers can really help on colder days. Thick or multiple socks do not always help! A single pair of long, athletic or ski socks that go up to just below the knee to avoid bare skin, wrinkles or constriction is a must. Discomfort in the feet, hands and face due is a number one cause for sad campers.
Skiing or snowboarding, at altitude in the cold weather requires a lot of calories and hydration. Ensure they eat a hearty breakfast and take regular snack and water breaks throughout the day. Don't forget to plan a snack or food for the return journey also.
Easier said than done, but allow more time than you think you need for driving, parking, walking, navigating etc. Rushing to get to a lesson time isn't fun for anyone, and generally, the earlier you arrive the fewer lines you need to contend with when getting ready. When you get here, keep an eye out for friendly staff who are more than happy to assist you in getting where you need to go. Travelling with another adult? Look or ask for Drop Off areas close to the base lodges where one adult can jump out with the kids while the other parks.
Going to the bathroom in ski gear is an adventure in itself. Be strategic about planning your bathroom breaks and make sure than when one goes, everyone at least tries!
Kids learn at different rates, and younger kids especially can take time to become independent stopping and turning. The important thing is to focus on their enjoyment of the sport, over their progression. They will improve quickly with practice, and be passing you on the slopes before you know it! But don't expect too much too soon.
When skiing or snowboarding with kids, be sure to first arrange an easy to find meeting place if you get separated, such and the bottom of a particular run or chairlift.
For example, if the clothing layer next to their skin stays wet and they're chilled, if they're injured, have a problem with equipment or even if they're simply worn out. Educate them that it's alright to stop before the end of the day and breaks are fun.
Lastly, be sure to take away memories and information! Don't miss a photo or video opportunity to help capture the moment. If your child took a lesson, take the time to ask your instructor at pick-up time about what they should practice and anything you can do at home to build muscle memory or to help prep them for next time!
Teaching Your Kids , opens in a new window
Seeing your child discover and come to enjoy the magical sensation of sliding and gliding on snow can be one of life's most unforgettable experiences, and while learning how to ski is fun, there can certainly be bumps along the way.
For those that want to take a most hands on approach and share in the learning experience our friends at PSIA (Professional Ski Instructors of America) have you covered. This video series covers tips on practicing with your kids both at home and on the slopes, what to expect as a parent as well as how to know when they might be ready to explore lessons for their next step!
Videos and content provided courtesy of PSIA-AASI, November 2022.


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Steve Jobs' 13 Most Inspiring Quotes A roundup of some of the Apple co-founder's thought-provoking words, collected from various interviews and speeches.
By Dylan Love
This story originally appeared on Business Insider
With a life as storied as he had, it's no wonder that Steve Jobs is remembered not only for running an incredibly successful company, but for being tremendously outspoken.
He seemingly had an opinion on everything, and his thoughts often echoed his obsessive commitment to quality at Apple, whether on his approach to mistakes ("Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations"), or his attention to detail ("Design is not what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works").
But he had plenty to say on deeper matters as well. Here's a roundup of some of his more thought-provoking words, collected from various interviews and speeches.

subset: commoncrawl


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"Blue Vintage Round Winter Scenes" TCR 202 Decoupage Rice Paper by Calambour Italy
Size A3 - 12.5" x 18"
Please note: Calambour Italy's paper size dimensions vary slightly from other decoupage paper lines we carry. Dimensions are provided for your reference.
Calambour is a premier decoupage company based in Milan, Italy. This mother and daughter duo create beautiful designs and print on very high-quality rice paper. We are proud to offer their papers in our lineup.
Thank you for choosing My Victorian Heart


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Geometry Math Skill Development Worksheets – Answer Key
Item #: | 033695 |
Grades: | 4-8 |
Product Description:
Publisher Description:
This answer key is a copy of the student book with answers.
Math is foundational in so many areas of study and life, and Christian Light Mathematics helps lay that solid foundation. Packed with practice and review, Christian Light employs an incremental spiral approach in a workbook format. Each lesson incorporates a new concept and is followed by review of previously learned concepts. Written from a Christian worldview, every lesson reinforces Biblical values. The math courses in this series from grades 1-9 are the Sunrise edition of the series. The Sunrise Edition divides Light Units into daily lessons; two quizzes provide opportunity for application of skills learned; and formatting is clear and more appealing. Each level is one year of math at grade level and those implementing the program will need one set of 10 Light Units per student and a Teacher Guide(s) or answer key. At grades 1 and 2 the teacher guides are required and teacher guides are strongly recommended for grades 3 and 4. Each Light Unit contains student exercises and a test. The first Light Unit in grades 2-8 is a review of the previous grade. The Teacher Guides for grades 1-8 include teacher tips and student pages with answers and solutions. If you don't think you need the Teacher Guide, but want the answers at a quick glance, answer keys are available.
To help ensure students learn their math facts, daily speed drills, oral exercises, and flash-cards are tools used for students in grades 1-4. Basic algebraic and geometric concepts are introduced early, along with money, problem solving, mental math, and number patterns to help students become proficient in these skills. A few supplemental materials are needed for the lower grades Grade 1 uses addition and subtraction flash cards (#72144); My Counting Book (#72357); Counting Chart (#72173); and optional My Calendar Book (#21786); and student clock (#15339 or #60101); Grade 2 uses addition and subtraction flash cards (#72144); Counting Chart (#72173); and optional multiplication/division flash cards (#72356); My Calendar Book (#21786); student clock (#15339 or #60101); and math reference chart (#68518); Grade 3 uses optional flash cards as in 1st and 2nd grades, and the math reference chart. Grades 4, 5, and soon to be 6 (later in 2018) offer the option of using the Light Unit approach or text book approach same content but a choice of consumable or non-consumable.
If you choose the Light Units path, parents need only to purchase the Light Units and Teacher Guides or answer keys. If choosing the textbook path, then you will need the textbook (non-consumable), student pack (consumable), Teacher Guide and/or Full Solutions Answer Key. Textbooks are colorful with illustrations and pictures, and provide opportunity for students to do their work on a separate sheet of paper. The Student Pack includes quizzes, tests, and daily speed/mastery drills (math facts review) and measurement equivalents. Full Solutions Answer Key shows each problem of the textbook, quizzes, and tests with step-by-step solutions. Teacher Guides for the textbook are also in full color and include student pages with answers and a cd of printables posters, charts, and practice sheets.
The addition/subtraction flash cards accompanying this curriculum for grades 1-4 are numbered and tabbed to correspond to the teacher guides at those grade levels. Cards measure 3.5″ x 7.5″, addition/subtraction go from 0 to 18. Multiplication/division flash cards measure 3.5″ x 5″ and cover math facts from 0-12. The multiplication fact is on the front of the card with the opposite division fact on the reverse. These aren't numbered and tabbed like the addition/subtraction cards. Math Reference Charts are available for grades 2-6, 5-8, and 7/8. These are 8.5″ x 11″ laminated sheets for easy reference at a glance for those items that students need to remember but need a little help measurement tables, formulas, etc.
Grade 8 is considered pre-algebra and prepares students for any algebra 1 course. It introduces students to concepts needed at the higher levels of math such as Pythagorean theorem, irrational square roots, and basic trigonometry.
The sequence for high school is Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra II, and Functions and Trigonometry. To use Algebra I you will need the 10 Light Units (students write on their own paper), solution key (solutions to the Light Units exercises), tests & quizzes, and the test & quiz answer key. These are all sold separately for the Algebra I level. Geometry, Algebra II, and Functions and Trigonometry, each use 10 Light Units and 5 answer keys. Finishing through Functions and Trigonometry will prepare students for college level math.
Consumer Math is an optional math course offered in this series. Equivalent to one high school credit, this course applies math to everyday situations. There are 10 Light Units and 5 answer keys needed to complete the course and they cover basic and everyday math fractions, decimals, percent, family finances, construction & building trades, service occupations, transportation, business services, and occupational diagrams. ~ Donna


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Miles Away – Bring Me Back (feat. Claire Ridgely) (Sped Up)
Good music will always come through for you anytime, any day, anywhere, and any kind of mood you find yourself; May I present this song to you titled "Bring Me Back (Sped Up)" written and recorded by sensational musician "Miles Away feat. Claire Ridgely".
This song is filled with so much inspiration that is going to brighten your day and make it a fun filled day for you, it is also filled with rhythms that will elevate your mood.
You can as well share with your friends and loved ones.
Stream And Download Below.


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An angry rabbit has been terrorizing a neighborhood in Perry, Iowa. The rabbit has bitten at least two people, including Roman Rustan.
Rustan told KCCI that the rabbit attacked her before hopping away to harass her neighbor, trapping them in their car.
"It came around to her car and wouldn't let her out of her car," Rustan said.
Police told the news station that they previously received a report that a 13-year-old who lived near Rustan was also bitten by the same rabbit.
"The Perry Police Department said it's a been a rabbit that has been around terrorizing people," Rustan said.
After Rustan contacted authorities, they sent a team to capture the rabbit. They managed to trap the angry critter and released it near the city's wastewater treatment plant. Luckily, the rabbit seems to have moved on and is leaving people alone.
Officials said the rabbit was not tested for rabies.


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An ongoing attack in Brazil tricks users into visiting malicious websites that attempt to silently change the Domain Name System settings of their home routers.
If the attack is successful, the routers are reconfigured to use rogue DNS servers that redirect victims to phishing pages when they open banking sites, said Fabio Assolini, a security researcher at Kaspersky Lab, in a blog post Tuesday.
The attack starts with spam emails that tell recipients they're being cheated and asks them to click on a link. The link leads to an adult content website that in the background forces browsers to load specifically crafted URLs.
Those URLs point to local network IP addresses commonly assigned to home routers and contain default router credentials like admin:admin, root:root and admin:gvt12345. They are crafted to change DNS servers via a script called dsncfg.cgi that's part of the Web-based administration interface of DSL modems and routers provided by some Brazilian ISPs (Internet service providers) to customers.
The gvt12345 password suggests that routers used by customers of a Brazilian ISP called GVT are among those targeted in the attack.
"We found Brazilian bad guys actively using 5 domains and 9 DNS servers, all of them hosting phishing pages for the biggest Brazilian banks," Assolini said.
Web-based attacks that force browsers to execute unauthorized actions on behalf of the user on third-party sites are known as cross-site request forgery (CSRF). The technique works against many routers even if their owner has blocked access to the router Web interface from the Internet and in some cases, even if they changed the router's default password.
In October 2013, a security researcher named Jakob Lell reported a CSRF attack that was targeting some TP-Link router models. The URL used in that attack contained the admin:admin credentials and had been crafted to change their DNS settings.
"Even if a username/password combination is given in the URL, the browser will ignore the credentials from the URL and still try the saved credentials or no authentication first," Lell said in a blog post at the time. "Only if this results in an HTTP 401 (Unauthorized) status code, the browser resends the request with the credentials from the URL."
This means that a CSRF attack also works when the default router password has been changed but the user saved the new password inside the browser or hasn't logged out from the router interface.
Researchers from security firm Independent Security Evaluators analyzed 10 popular SOHO wireless router models in 2013 and found that most of them were vulnerable to Web-based attacks like cross-site scripting, CSRF, directory traversal and command injection.
"The majority of routers we evaluated contained several Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerabilities," the researchers said in their report at the time. "We were able to leverage these vulnerabilities to add administrative user accounts, change passwords, or enable various management services. "
Security researchers have warned about the risks of CSRF flaws on routers for a long time, but attackers have started to exploit such flaws in large-scale attacks only in the past couple of years.
In March, Internet security research organization Team Cymru reported that over 300,000 home routers had been compromised and had their DNS settings changed in a global attack campaign. One of the techniques used was likely CSRF, the researchers said at the time.
In 2011 and 2012 attackers exploited a vulnerability to change the DNS settings of more than 4.5 million DSL modems in Brazil, Assolini said. However, this Web-based CSRF technique is new to Brazilian attackers "and we believe it will spread quickly amongst them as the number of victims increases," he said.


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Najib has completely discredited MACC
Sad and tragic. The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak single-handedly demolishing the credibility, integrity and professionalism of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
And this happening just 48 hours after the MACC's latest artificial but carefully-crafted publicity blitzkrieg to present itself as a fiercely independent, intrepid and professional anti-graft body comparable to Hong Kong's world-famous Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) – with government-paper New Straits Times front page report "MACC gains in graft war" on Thursday and a special editorial on MACC on Friday – all collapsing like a house of cards.
MACC claims that it had seized "a whopping RM66 million worth of properties, including bungalows and luxury cars" and arrested more than 900 individuals in its "war against graft over the past two years" paled into insignificance when Najib dismissed allegations that Sarawak Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud has amassed billions in wealth.
Najib told a press conference this morning after the launching of the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) - new name for Pudu Sentral: "There are all kinds of allegations, don't bothered about it (jangan kita layan)".
This is a most disappointing and even irresponsible response by the Prime Minister to a ground-breaking but explosive report by the Swiss-based NGO Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) which estimated the assets of Taib Mahmud's family at US$21 billion (RM64 billion), with the wealth of Taib himself put at a whopping US$15 billion (RM46 billion) making him Malaysia's richest man outstripping tycoon Robert Kuok who has US$12.5 billion.
The BMF report entitled 'The Taib Timber Mafia: Facts and Figures on Politically Exposed Persons from Sarawak, Malaysia' was released last Wednesday in Brussels to coincide with a visit by the Malaysian Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok to the European Commission and is available on the Internet.
It is the first report that describes in detail the business activities and personal wealth of 20 members of the Taib family in Malaysia, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, United States and other countries.
The report aimed to build international pressure against the Sarawak's first family and provide investigating bodies, journalists, Sarawakians and interested parties with hard evidence on the Taib financial empire.
BMF estimated the combined net worth of 20 Taib family members at close to US$21 billion, spread over 400 companies around the globe - all built through their near complete political and economic control of Sarawak, which has been reduced from one of the richest to one of the poorest states in Malaysia over three decades.
The BMF report on the amassing of assets worth RM64 billion by the Taib family and RM46 billion by Taib himself in his 31 years as Sarawak Chief Minister, through "monopolies over the granting of logging and plantation concessions, the export of timber, the maintenance of public roads as well as the production and sale of cement, and a number of other construction materials", would have been one of the "highlights" of the budget parliamentary meeting beginning on Monday.
Was Najib making a pre-emptive strike this morning to send out an unmistakable message not only to MACC but to Barisan Nasional Ministers and backbenchers in Parliament not to entertain probes and questions about the BMF report on Taib family's RM64 billion and Taib's own RM21 billion fortunes?
I have no doubt that without Najib's pre-emptive strike today, MACC would have taken the completely neutral but meaningless stand that it was prepared to investigate into the BMF report about Taib and his family's gargantuan wealth and assets accumulated from 31 years of Taib's Chief Ministership of Sarawak.
But with the stern signal from Najib today, would MACC dare to initiate investigations into Taib based on the BMF report and would there be any BN MP who would dare to endorse support for a full MACC investigation into the BMF report?
Individuals profiled in the extensive 45-page BMF report include Taib's brother Onn Mahmud, who is second richest family member with an estimated net worth of US$2 billion, while Taib's eldest son, Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, a major player in the Sarawak construction, property and energy business, is ranked third at US$1.5 billion.
Next in line are Taib's Canada-based socialite daughter Jamilah Taib Murray (US$1 billion), Taib's brother and timber entrepreneur Tufail Mahmud (US$600 million), sister Raziah Mahmud (US$500 million), daughter Hanifah (US$400 million) and son Sulaiman (US$300 million).
Giving credibility to the BMF report are news reports today about the matrimonial dispute between Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib and his former wife Shahnaz Abdul Majid who is seeking RM400 million in mutaah (gift) and division of joint assets, and of its continued trial at the Kuala Lumpur Syariah High Court on Monday as there has been no settlement offer from Mahmud's lawyers to resolve the long-standing dispute.
The Prime Minister is only rubbishing his Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and in particular its seven NKRAs particularly on Fighting Corruption if he is disallowing the MACC from acting on the BMF report to probe Taib Mahmud.
Najib should be reminded about the cost of corruption to the nation – which the GTP Roadmap had estimated as potentially amounting to as much as RM10 billion a year or 1-2% of GDP – and the grandiloquent statements in the GTP Roadmap about fighting the scourge of "grand corruption" by politicians and senior civil servants.
Where is the credibility of the GTP Roadmap and NKRA to fight corruption, and in particular to eradicate "grand corruption", when the BMF report on Taib family's RM64 billion and Taib's own RM21 billion fortunes amassed during Taib's 31 years as Sarawak Chief Minister could not be used by the MACC as basis for its anti-corruption mission?
The BMF report compares Taib's family with the clans of former Indonesian president Suharto and former Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos - the two families had embezzled between US$15 billion and US$35 billion, and between US$20 billion and US$900 billion respectively.
The BMF report believes its research is "showing merely the tip of the iceberg as many (Taib) family assets are likely to be hidden overseas or in offshore districts where information is virtually impossible to obtain".
Najib should retract his implicit "hands off" directive to the MACC and declare unequivocally that the MACC is duty-bound to make use of the BMF report to conduct a full, thorough and wide-ranging investigation into allegations of "grand corruption" by Taib and his family in Taib's 31-year Chief Ministership of Sarawak.


text:
The Master of Education (M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin Magister Educationis or Educationis Magister) is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum and instruction, counseling, school psychology, and administration. It is often conferred for educators advancing in their field. Similar degrees (providing qualifications for similar careers) include the Master of Arts in Education (M.A.Ed. or M.A.E.) and the Master of Science in Education (M.S.Ed. or M.S.E.). The Master of Arts in Teaching, however, is substantially different.
Address:Room 706, Ho King Commercial Centre, 2-16 Fa Yuen Street, Mong Kok
Tel: (852) -23626600
whatsapp: 63121881
WeChat ID : aohkce


text:
Today's New York Times looks at the death penalty in Texas and relies, in part, on an article in the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies by Ted Eisenberg, John Blume, and Martin Wells.
Indeed, according to a 2004 study by three professors of law and statistics at Cornell published in The Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, Texas prosecutors and juries were no more apt to seek and impose death sentences than those in the rest of the country.
"Texas' reputation as a death-prone state should rest on its many murders and on its willingness to execute death-sentenced inmates," the authors of the study, Theodore Eisenberg, John H. Blume and Martin T. Wells, wrote. "It should not rest on the false belief that Texas has a high rate of sentencing convicted murderers to death."
The NYT article is here.


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How Google Translate Works, and Why It Doesn't Measure Up Posted by Transparent Language on Sep 2, 2015 in Archived Posts
With over 200 million daily translations, there's no denying that Google Translate is a wildly popular translation service. Indeed, machine translation has come very far since its infancy in the early 2000s. Instead of translating words at face value, machine translators have developed complex algorithms to deliver more accurate translations, and some even take into account colloquial language and idioms. Still, the very nature of machine translators prevents them from ever doing a human's job. Let's take a look at how machine translators (such as Google Translate) work, what their limitations are, and why they can't replace the quintessential human touch.
How machine translation works
Google Translate, as well as other machine translators, operate on statistics rather than rules. That is, they look for patterns in hundreds of millions of documents that have already been translated by human translators. Google Translate makes special use of UN documents, which are translated in all six official UN languages, and thus provide ample linguistic data. This way, they can weigh a plethora of options for phrases presented by various different (human) translations, and select an educated guess based on the one that occurs most frequently. For example, they detect that, in Spanish, the phrase "darse cuenta" is usually translated as "realize" in English. Therefore, based on statistics, Google Translate will correctly translate the phrase as "realize", rather than a word-for-word translation, which would appear more like "give account".
Finding linguistic data large enough to create legitimate statistical analyses is no easy feat. Given that more documents are available in English than in any other language, the data almost always uses English as an intermediary step when translating between two languages that aren't English. For example, when translating from Russian to Spanish, Google Translate will first translate the text from Russian to English, and then from English into Spanish. As a result, when translating in languages other than English, machine translations actually involve two iterations.
In fact, some language pairs involve even more iterations. If you want to translate some text from, say, Catalan to Japanese, Google will translate it first into Spanish, as most existing Catalan translations are in Spanish. Then, this translated Spanish-language version of the original Catalan text will be translated into English. And finally, the English version of the Spanish version of the Catalan text will finally make it to Japanese — and if you're lucky, it will still bear some resemblance to the original meaning.
Why it doesn't make the cut
Google Translate does a good job with very basic translations — especially those whose target language is English — and now even offers alternative interpretations for certain words and phrases. However, the very methodology upon which Google Translate is based prevents it from ever competing with human translators. Here's why:
Statistics don't have feelings. Google Translate is based on statistics — it chooses the "best" translation based on how certain words and phrases have been translated in other documents. As a result, machine translators choose the most probable translation, but not the most interesting or poetic one. As a result, even if translations are accurate (which they often aren't), they adopt a robotic, lifeless tone. It takes a human translator, with feelings and creativity, to reproduce the tone, color, and vibrancy of the original text.
Machine translations struggle with complex grammar. Language is based on rules, and as a result, a statistics-based translator like Google will struggle with complex grammatical concepts, such as the difference between the imperfect and preterite past tenses in Romance languages. This is especially true given that Google almost always uses English — a language that does not grammatically distinguish between preterite and imperfect tenses — as an intermediary step when translating into Romance languages. Therefore, Google Translate often incorrectly translates the imperfect past as the preterite past (and vice versa), making ongoing or habitual acts seem like one-time, completed events.
Google can't write for an audience. Every translator knows that you need to tailor your work to whom you're writing for. For example, if this article were written for a casual blog, my use of the word "whom" in the previous sentence may come off as overly formal. However, given that this article appears on a language interest blog, grammarians and language experts may applaud my correct distinction between "who" and "whom" (though they may scoff at my decision to end a sentence in a preposition). Machines cannot make such judgment calls — Google cannot take into account who the intended audience is for the article it translates. Only a human translator can make that kind of decision.
Google Translate vs. a human being
To illustrate the difference between Google Translate and a living, breathing human translator, I will employ both to translate the following text in English, which appears on a website selling Argentine wine. Try to guess which one was written by a human, and which was produced by a machine (spoiler alert: it won't be hard).
Original text:
Después de una excelente cosecha como la que le precedió, la cosecha 2009 muestra sus virtudes en este vino base Cabernet Sauvignon, mas el ensamble de tres variedades de gran personalidad que encontraron en San Rafael el terruño ideal para la expresión de sus mejores cualidades. Vino aun de color rojo violáceo intenso a pesar de los años en botella, ya en la copa se nos muestra intenso y seductor con aromas especiados que se entremezclan con nítidos y frescos aromas a frutas de ciruelas, cerezas negras y moras, mientras que se van desprendiendo lentamente los aromas tostados que recuerdan a granos de café molidos.
Translation 1:
After an excellent harvest like the one that preceded it, the 2009 vintage shows its virtues in this Cabernet Sauvignon base wine, plus the assembly of three varieties of great personality that found in San Rafael the ideal terroir for the expression of its best qualities. It was still intense violet red despite years in the bottle, already in the glass it is intense and seductive with spicy aromas that intermingle with clear and fresh aromas of plums, black cherries and blackberries, while leaving slowly releasing toasted aromas reminiscent of ground coffee beans.
Translation 2:
After a great harvest like the one that preceded it, the 2009 harvest shows its virtues in this cuvée Cabernet Sauvignon. It's an expressive mixture, articulated by three varieties of great personality that are found in San Rafael, the perfect region to bring out its best qualities. The wine still preserves a strong purplish-red color, in spite of the amount of years gone by since it was bottled. Once poured into the glass, it remains intense and seductive. Its spiced scents mix together with clear and fresh fruit aromas of plum, black cherry and blackberry, while its toasted scents release slowly, reminiscent of the delicious smell of ground coffee beans.
You probably guessed right: the first translation was done by Google; the second, by a professionally trained bilingual translator. As you can see, the machine translation is comprehensible, but inelegant and sometimes confusing. On the other hand, the human translation flows smoothly, is organized coherently, and matches the elegant tone of the original article.
Machine translation isn't without its perks. It can be a life-saver in a pinch, when you need to get a rough idea of what a certain phrase means, or when you need to decipher a street sign while traveling to a foreign country. However, when it comes to translating important documents, the limitations of machine translation prevent it from being a viable option. As the above examples demonstrate, a translation that is based on statistical patterns will never match the quality of one created by a professional, who understands the rules and nuances of language. Indeed, machine translation has come a long way, but it's still far from replacing the human touch.
The following post is from Paul, an English teacher who lives in Argentina. Paul writes on behalf of Language Trainers, a language teaching service which offers foreign language movie reviews as well as other free language-learning resources on their website. Check out their Facebook page or send an email to paul(at)languagetrainers.com for more information.
Build vocabulary, practice pronunciation, and more with Transparent Language Online. Available anytime, anywhere, on any device.
Matthew Rothenberg:
"Never"? That's a bold assertion based on only a few decades of machine translation. I've certainly noticed in recent years that Google Translate has become far more comprehensible and handles many more idioms in the languages I can read.
I do think there are choices a human translator makes that a machine would be hard-pressed to match. And certainly the current state of the science is limited in the ways you describe. However, machine translation is helping people get the gist of writing far more complex than street signs. (I often use it to get a general understanding of what's being discussed in Arabic newspapers, for example. It's not pretty, but it's much better than nothing.)
So … All good points, but IMO short-sighted about what "never" really means.
Not exactly on-topic, but "Every translator knows that you need to tailor your work to whom you're writing for"
even as a native English speaker, I had to read that twice!
–> "…tailor your work to the person for whom you are writing" maybe
""tailor your work to your audience" would be even clearer, but misses out your deliberate use of "whom".Just playing devil's avocado,
Chris. -
paul avermaete:
"…tailor your work to the person for whom you are writing",,,
"c'est le Ton qui fait la Chançon",,,(French proverb)
Very interesting explanation, I think the best we-users-can do, is ALWAYS first translate into English, and then in the choosen language; is this an agreement ?
thanks, paul Antwerp Belgium
@paul avermaete Le Ton doesn't like that either, lol.
.tailor your work for the person to whom you are writing..
..tailor your work to whomever you are writing for..
just having fun
It was interesting to read about 2 intermediaries in the translation from Catalan to Japanese. When I explored this Google's feature in 2011, I found that Ukrainian and Russian were "on equal terms", Russian was not an intermediary language to translate to and from Ukrainian. It seemed a bit political))
Translations from Russian to Ukrainian and vice versa were 95% correct (which gives hope that translation between very close grammatically languages can be already automated for the most part, e.g. Turkic, Eastern/Southern/Western Slavonic languages).http://www.translationdirectory.com/articles/article2408.php
I think google translate is better than not trying at all. Have you ever spoken to someone who spoke very little English but you could understand what they needed even if you wanted to giggle st how they asked? Americans usually don't even try to express themselves in another language, if they are encouraged to try through the tool of Google-it is priceless!
What is missing here is the fact that not all human translators are excellent linguists translating into their native languages. Human translations can be awkward and inaccurate as well. Google Translate makes it possible to read news or other websites in foreign languages. Sure, the output is not perfect, but it's usually much better than what you could get by trying to look up each word one by one in a dictionary. Much faster, too.
Example: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fotorten.ru%2Fdocheri-otortena.html entire text translated word by word, often wrong words that are assumed typos or omonyms, no syntax at all.And it doesn't accept any corrections, from AI's point of view this is 100% sure translation
This thing about Google Translate using intermediary languages… how do you know that? What's your source?
@Michael Here is a discussion of the subject. The topmost answer provides translation examples showing that even for French->German translation of very short texts (a simple sentence), Google Translate is going through English.
Good info…some thoughts…
As a theologian we have had to deal with biblical translations and versions since forever…for example the popular Jerusalem Bible in English is considered a version since it is a translation from the original French translation which was translated from the original languages. In other words the English JB is a translation of a translation…and in these cases serious biblical students know something is usually lost when that happens. However key meanings usually are not.
AI gets better the more it is used. I use Google Translate when I get stuck writing to my French family and friends in French. I will try a phrase or a sentence in various ways before hitting the send key. I use the one that seems to be the clearest. But the author is right…the human touch along with kindly corrections is the best teacher. -
JM Jalaron:
The battle between man and machine concerning language translation is a constant phenomenon. It seems endless, given that, machine translators like Google Translate, has now acquired productive approaches in text translation through the years. But personally, I never really trust any translation machine from the world wide web. Simply because I still feel secured with human translators because I know I can count on them when it comes to portraying the perfect thoughts and emotions in the translated language. So it's a NO NO to machine translators. They often suck. And when they do, it's hopeless than world peace!
Recently I received a e-mail from the Kiev Archives in Ukraine responding to my request for information/documents regarding a genealogy project for family members in Ukraine.I received a response in Ukrainian,I translated it on google translate.The english version said they had the records.When I requested those records they informed me that I misunderstood them and that google translate was incorrect.I also had a Russian/Ukrainian/English/German translator over there in Ukraine inform me also that google translate was wrong too.We are talking about the word "not" in a sentence saying records have been found versus records have not been found.This is not good.Too big of a difference maker in a translation not to get it correctly.Please fix your google translation problem.Do you have another suggestion?Would appreciate your response.Thank you.
Mike Yesnes
Current google translation : "After an excellent harvest like the one that preceded it, the 2009 vintage shows its virtues in this Cabernet Sauvignon base wine, but the ensemble of three varieties of great personality that found in San Rafael the ideal soil for the expression of its best qualities. It even came from deep red violet despite the years in the bottle, and in the glass we are shown intense and seductive with spicy aromas that are intermingled with crisp and fresh aromas of fruits of plums, black cherries and blackberries, while they leave slowly releasing the roasted aromas reminiscent of ground coffee beans."
Easier to upgrade Machine translations 🙂
Brent K:
In the last 3 weeks, I've found myself in a situation where I'm living with a Chinese person who speaks essentially zero English while I speak zero Chinese. For the first day or so, it was just awkward nods of pretending to understanding one another.
So the next day I installed the Google Translator App for Android. It has a conversation mode, where we can take turns at speaking and it will translate what we say and even read it out in our languages. From then on, we were having lengthy discussions and we able to co-ordinate our actions for the next three weeks. I think over that time in total, we've used the app as a live translator for 10 hours. Granted, some of the translations from Chinese to English weren't smooth, but they were good enough to carry conversations about what needed to be done around the house, what to make for dinner, and even complex topics about differences in our cultures.
I'm not say that at this stage Google Translator is as good as a live human translator (it's definitely improved since 2015). But it's amazing to me that I've been able to live and communicate in this situation, and all through my cheap phone with an free app. We've also learned a little of each other's language on the way.
Because of this experience of the last 3 weeks, I am extremely impressed with Google Translator App, esp. the live translation.
Alex Potemkin:
Just a couple of days ago, I started tol looked away from Google Translator. I used it frequently, because English is not my native language, and I translating some complicating things for faster ubderstanding sometimes, and even more frequently I using it to check my English writing, with the simple idea "if the Machine can understand me, so a Human will too".
But something went wrong. Last months(?) Google Translator $$$ (at lest at my Androud phone, when I use it via "tap and translate") tends to ignore huges parts of translated texts. $$$ Sometimes it's one or couple words, but frequently it's whole sentences or big block of text across a couple of sentences. It change the whole sense of translation dramatically.
Which part of machine algorithm is responsible for that? 🙂
P.S. For this particular text, Google Teanslator did the same trick. I marked the part which has been ignored with $$$ at the beginning and the end of the lost block.
P.P.S. Sorry my English 🙂


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Moonlight has some fairly unique text rendering requirements that I've not seen done anywhere else in Linux, Gtk+ application or no. Most applications stick to rendering text horizontally or vertically, they rarely, if ever, perform unusual matrix transformations on text (e.g. rotations).
When I first implemented text rendering for Moonlight, I used the obvious choice: Pango, using the Cairo backend (since we're using cairo in Moonlight for 2D graphics rendering anyway).
Unfortunately, we ran into some problems...
The first major problem is that as we applied rotation transforms and called pango_cairo_show_layout(), we'd get rendering glitches in that each glyph seemed to have its own independent baseline and so each frame, glyphs appeared to jitter.
The second major problem was that calling pango_cairo_show_layout() each frame had some major performance problems.
Thirdly, there appears to be no way to tell pango to load a font face from a specific file path.
As far as the rendering performance issue, we considered caching the layout path but my discussion with Owen suggested that it would gain us nothing. That, plus the perceived difficulty of doing this (since we may have to change brushes mid-stroke), shied me away from bothering to try.
These problems led me to consider implementing our own text layout/rendering engine to see if we could solve the above problems since the pango maintainers didn't seem to know what the problems could be offhand and thus had no suggestions for us.
At first, my text layout/rendering engine only handled rendering of glyphs via bitmaps, but even so, the result was that this new layout/rendering engine was quite a bit faster than pango.
Seeing this, Chris Toshok, Larry Ewing and I started digging into pango text rendering performance problems a bit more, not quite willing to give up on pango.
Toshok noticed that pango was loading the same font over and over again each frame, so started digging into that aspect a bit and came up with a patch to pango to fix a bug where it used the entire transform matrix as part of the hash instead of just the scaling component (which is all that was needed for uniqueness).
For one of the very simple text rendering test cases we had (the text "Moonlight in 21 Days" spinning and resizing via cairo matrix transforms), Toshok's patch nearly doubled the speed of pango rendering from something like 20 to 40fps (40fps was our cap, so it may have even rendered faster).
Meanwhile, I began looking into that cairo path caching idea and discovered it wasn't nearly as complicated to implement as I had originally feared. The results were just as amazing, again doubling the performance or better, altho this was before I had applied Toshok's patch (so don't get the idea that my patch + Toshok's patch = 4x speed improvement).
Not only did my patch make a huge performance improvement, it also got rid of the glyph jittering.
Unfortunately, this still left us with problem #3 as well as a few other problems regarding layout dissimilarities between pango and Microsoft's text layout in Silverlight, so for now, it seems I needed to go back to my own text layout/rendering engine.
Once I had finished adding support for rendering glyph paths, I implemented a similar cairo_path_t caching hack for my own text rendering engine and made it possible to choose which text layout/rendering engine to use at runtime via an environment variable.
Out of curiosity, I decided to compare performance of my own text layout/rendering engine vs pango on a test case I had of several "Hello" strings each having different combinations of matrix transforms applied to them in an ongoing animation. One of the "Hello" strings was simply undergoing FontSize changes which cause each of the text layout engines to have to recalculate the layout (wrapping, etc).
The performance difference was shocking... the pango implementation (which doesn't even render the underline for one of the text strings due to a bug in my cairo_path_t caching hack? If anyone has any suggestions on how to fix this in mango.cpp, don't hesitate to poke me) only gets about 23fps while my home-rolled implementation gets 45fps.
It might be possible to improve the performance of my home-rolled implementation if I were to fix my code to use a true FT_Face LRU cache... right now it simply keeps a hash of loaded FT_Faces with a ref_count, when that ref_count hits 0, it gets removed from the hash table. This means that each frame it has to load a new FT_Face from FontConfig because the FontSize attribute changes and since it was had the only ref on that particular FT_Face, it goes away and has to be reloaded again next time it changes back to that size. Oh, and the 45 fps was with debug spew turned on showing me whenever a new font got loaded - so turning off that printf() would probably bump me up to 50fps (which is the new fps cap on my machine).
As a further test, I removed the "Hello" TextBlock that had the FontSize attribute changes each frame. The result was that both pango and my own text layout/rendering engines jumped to ~50fps.
This suggests pango's layout calculation is where the performance bottleneck is.
I guess I'll have to dig into this problem some more later... Or, even better, maybe one of the pango developers can take a peek at Moonlight's font.cpp and see if they can maybe glean some ideas from there that they can apply to pango :)


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Name | Plastic Surgery Simulator 1.2.15 Apk Full |
Updated | 27 Nov 2019 |
Category | Apps > Photography |
Requires Android | 2.3 and up |
Size | 3.6 MB |
Free Download last version Plastic Surgery Simulator Apk Full for Android with direct link
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Used by over a million users worldwide and by real plastic surgeons, this photo distortion app can transform any body part to simulate various plastic surgeries:
• Nose Job ( rhinoplasty )
• Breast, buttock augmentation / reduction
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• anything you can reshape, grow or shrink !
For fun, to improve someone's appearance or for serious plastic surgery decision process, this app will help you.
Using the app is very easy, even on small screens:
• Import a head-shot or full body picture from your camera or device image library. Preferably the subject should be photographed on a unified color background and well lit, so the contours are clearly visible.
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Download Plastic Surgery Simulator now. Then see how those changes you've been wanting to make might really look. Beauty is a right.
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"Fuhgeddaboudit" is my middle name.
Dear Word Detective: Here's something I've always wondered, but forgot to ask: Why do we describe a tall, well-built person as "strapping"? What do straps have to do with being big and healthy? — Judith, NYC.
You and me both. I'm frequently asked about words and phrases I've wondered about myself in the past, but either never quite worked up the energy to research or, more often, simply forgot about a few minutes later. I used to carry a little notebook with me in which I intended to jot down such fleeting inspirations, but apparently I lack the self-discipline to actually jot things. Besides, I figure that sooner or later a reader will raise the question. And now you have.
"Strapping" in the sense of "large, robust, vigorously sturdy and muscular" first appeared in English in the mid-17th century, and, interestingly, was initially applied to young women considered both "vigorous" and "lusty" ("And, now and then, one of the bolder strapping girles would catch him in her arms, and kisse him," 1657). Today, of course, persons of either sex can be "strapping," although the term is still largely reserved for the young. "Strapping young woman," yes. "Strapping old geezer," not so much.
There's definitely a connection between "strapping" and "strap" in the usual sense of "a narrow, flat strip used for securing something," the ultimate root of which was the Latin "stroppus," meaning "band." "Strapping" is drawn from the verb "to strap," which has a variety of meanings ranging from the banal ("to fasten with straps") to the unpleasant ("to beat with a leather strap"). The exact connection between "strapping" and "to strap" is a bit unclear, but "strapping" seems to combine the sense of strength in the noun "strap" with the verb "to strap" in the now antiquated sense of "to work tirelessly and energetically" (similar in meaning to the phrase "buckle down," which originally meant to strap on one's armor).
Speaking of "straps," the current "economic downturn" (more of a "plunge," I would say) has caused many of us to find ourselves "strapped," i.e., short of money. The Oxford English Dictionary traces this slang term, which dates to 1857, to the verb "to strap" in the sense of "bound with straps." But I beg to differ, and I suspect the real source is an entirely separate English dialectical verb "to strap," a mutation of "to strip," describing a particular technique for draining the last drops of milk from the udder of a cow. An 1881 glossary of English dialect terms notes that this verb "to strap" is "often metaphorically used for draining anything dry." Considering that the public is, at the moment, playing the role of a cash cow being milked dry, this explanation of "strapped" rings true to me.


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Pending Home Sales Surge Continues
Pending home sales have risen for three consecutive months, reflecting the broad impact of the home buyer tax credit and favorable housing affordability conditions, according to the National Association of Realtors. The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator, rose 6.0% to 110.9 based on contracts signed in April, from an upwardly revised 104.6 in March, and is 22.4% higher than April 2009 when it was 90.6. That follows gains of 7.1% in March and 8.3% in February. Pending home sales are at the highest level since last October when the index reached 112.4 and first-time buyers were rushing to beat the initial deadline for the tax credit. The data reflects contracts and not closings, which usually occur with a lag time of one or two months.
Link to the rest of the article: http://tiny.cc/zzhyp


text:
It is true – we have been on quite a few cruises, and we realize what an amazing blessing this is. We could never afford to do this on our own and are spoiled by grandparents. Recently real life friends asked me for advice about cruising with tots, and I figured they probably weren't the only ones with questions! Because of our cruising experience, I thought I would share some things I have learned along the way for those of you who might be thinking of taking a cruise in the future, with young kids. It really is a great experience and way more affordable for us homeschoolers who can easily go during the off season. All of our cruises have been purposely planned {by my mom} during the absolute cheapest times of the year {usually Feb-Mar}.
We have cruised multiple times {with young kids and without}, but with the young kids we have been on Royal Caribbean {once ~ Freedom of the Seas} and Holland America {more than once ~ Nieuw Amsterdam, Westerdam, Eurodam}. The youngest we have taken a child cruising with us was age 1 {Ladybug}.
Our favorite…
Holland America for sure! Here's why…
Holland America ships are smaller ships with less to do. This may seem like a bad thing with kids, but we personally think it is a great thing. The Royal Caribbean ship was so big {we weren't even on their biggest one!} and had so much to do {rock climbing, putt putt, ice skating, etc.} we felt like we were always trying to fit in something else. It was honestly exhausting!
HEATED POOL…need I say more? Oh yeah and it has a glass "ceiling" that closes if it rains or is chilly! The pool wasn't huge and is "deep" even at the shallow end, but this didn't bother us-the heat made up for it! Royal's pool was freezing and it was chilly the week we went so we were in the pool very little. Sure they had an awesome kiddie pool and spray park but my kids were shaking and blue because they were so cold!
The service…amazing! Although Royal Caribbean had awesome service too, Holland America steps it up a notch. Honestly it is just in the genuine kindness you feel from just about everyone on board.
The food…awesome! Again, Royal had great food too, but Holland America steps it up, especially with their breakfast/lunch buffet options.
HAL Kids Program…wonderful! It begins for age 3 and goes up. Each night, we had a late dinner seating {8pm} but HAL opened at 7pm, so the boys could just eat at the buffet {Lido deck} and head up to their club. Other ships have amazing kids' programs too. Be sure you know ages, most are potty trained 3 years old and up only.
But, you might not be like us!
Many people would disagree with us for choosing an "older people" ship as our favorite with young kids, but we like to relax, not be so busy. If you enjoy constant activity, have lot of energy, love crowds and tons of kids, I definitely recommend choosing Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Carnival, Disney or one of the more kid activity based ships.
Packing Tips…
clothespins {to hang up wet suits everywhere!}
power strip {there are usually only 1-2 outlets and taking things in and out is a pain}
DVDs {check beforehand, all of our rooms had DVD players in room, if not-bring a small one}
noise machine, the hallways get loud
night light
wet bag {or plastic store bags, to tote wet items}
lanyard/hole punch {to use for your key cards, wear them as necklaces}
more sunscreen than you would ever think you'd need, oh and sunscreen chapstick!
hats for everyone, swim shirts too-the sun at sea is brutal
wind breakers/sweatshirts
blow up ducky pool {many rooms have showers only, and if you have a kid who only takes baths, you don't want the fight in a tiny cruise ship bathroom}
umbrella stroller {yup, even for kids a bit too old for one} We brought one on a whim when Ladybug was almost 4 and used it at every port and are so glad we brought it at the last minute.
baby carrier {Ergo recommended} for non-walking babies. We used this a LOT when Ladybug was 1.
small toys {Littlest Pet Shops, play doh, cars, squinkies, crayons, coloring books, etc.} They are easy to pack and bring to dinner to occupy kids when the wait is long.
small purse for little girls, or bag for boys {to carry those tiny toys you brought}. We brought a tiny bag with tiny toys to dinner on the nights when she came with us and it helped tremendously for multiple course meals! iPads/iPhones aren't a bad distraction either!
A few other things to think about when planning…
Potty Trained?
Many cruise ships have a potty-trained only rule about their pools. This means no swim diapers of any sort. Be prepared if you aren't going on a ship with kiddie pools {no Holland America ships had kiddie pools}. I have heard people bring small blow up pools to let babies sit in on deck.
Sleep Arrangements
All cruises we have been on provided a pack and play free of charge and we used that, be sure to ask, I am not sure all cruise lines provide one. When Ladybug was almost 4 she slept in the loft bed for the first time, with a nice pillow border we created. She LOVED it!
Bring your own blow up rings/floaty devices, even for your older kids. They are fun and every child wants one, we regretted the year we only brought one for Ladybug and not the boys. Last year was much more peaceful, we brought 4 {in case one popped}. Also-goggles, swim socks/shoes for young tots {decks can be slippery}, swim shirts, hats {our favorite}, sunscreen, sunglasses, etc.
You Don't Have to Get Off the Boat!
Some of our favorite times are when we stay on the ship when others get off at a port! We have a few ports we don't care for {with kids} and we love to enjoy the empty pool. Once our kids are older this may change, but while we have a young one, some ports just aren't worth the trouble of lugging them all around, especially if you've already seen it once.
Balcony or Not?
We have only sailed with a balcony one time, the others have mostly been the cheapest inside staterooms, and once we had a window. We got the balcony this past time and although it was nice, I don't think I would pay extra for it, since we didn't use it nearly as much as I thought we might. Some would disagree, but I vote for saving money!
Room Service Breakfast
It took a few cruises for us to figure out what a gem this service was to us. You see, I am not a morning person and neither is Ladybug. Having to get dressed and look decent just to go get breakfast was a bummer to us. Cruises offer free 24 hour room service, just fill out the card and hang it on the door with the time you want it delivered. This also made sure we didn't oversleep and miss the day!
Tot Food and Drinks
If you have a younger tot still using a sippy cup, be sure to bring a stash of disposable sippy cups and a small bottle of dish soap. I just rinsed them out all week long in our sink and we always had a cup of water, juice or milk in the little room fridge for her. Also, we would snag tot snacks for her to keep in the room too {yogurt, cereal, crackers, bananas}, all from the buffet or from room service.
Have you cruised with young kids? Any advice to add to my list?


text:
Southern Sudanese Christians Fear Forced Repatriation
- Compass Direct News
- Updated Apr 24, 2012
JUBA, South Sudan, April 6 (CDN) – Christians from South Sudan who have until Easter Sunday (April 8) to try to become citizens of Sudan or be deported fear authorities will use the occasion to rid the country of Christianity, church leaders said.
More than 500,000 citizens of southern ethnic origin who have been living in Sudan for decades – some of them born there – will be considered foreigners after Sunday. Human rights organizations have called on Khartoum to grant them more time to either leave or apply for citizenship.
Christian leaders expressed concern that local media such as the daily Al Intibaha newspaper have been stoking hatred against predominantly Christian southern Sudanese, describing them as "cancer cells in the body of Sudan, the land of the Arab and Islam," and calling on the government to deport them.
"The local media are becoming very hostile toward us who are still in the north," one Christian told Compass by phone on condition of anonymity.
Gov. Ahmad Abbass of Sennar state in central Sudan vowed to deport southern Sudanese from his state "without regret," according to Alsahafa, an Arabic daily. Banners have appeared in Khartoum streets calling on the government and Muslims in general to harass and expel southern Sudanese, some of whom are also Muslims.
"Why are they still here? The government should expel them from the country," one banner asserts.
South Sudan seceded from Sudan in a referendum last July 9. The government of Sudan has begun issuing national numbers to designate citizens of Sudan, denying the designation to Sudanese of southern origin. Without a national number, southern Sudanese have no citizenship rights to work or education.
Churches in Sudan have already suffered losses in numbers as many members prepare for forced repatriation, Christian leaders said.
"We are monitoring the situation and praying to God to protect us," said a church leader who spoke on condition of anonymity.
As Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has pledged to base the new Sudan more deeply on sharia (Islamic law), ethnic southerners are faced with a difficult choice, Elizabeth Kendal writes in the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin.
"The message essentially is this: Submit to sharia or get out," she writes. "Churches may well be targeted immediately and aggressively, starting 9 April. All across the Sudan, churches have been emptying as ethnic southerners – including those born and raised in the north – flee south. This could eventually become a pretext for closing them."
At the same time, police have been mistreating some of the more than 113,000 southern Sudanese who are living in open spaces in Khartoum after having fled conflict in South Sudan. Officers have removed their make-shift housing, including temporary latrines, according to Jovana Luka, deputy chairperson of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission in South Sudan, who recently returned from Khartoum.
Southern Sudanese may not be welcome in South Sudan, either, as increased competition for scarce resources leads to greater tribal conflict, and their fate depends on the mercy of both the Sudan and South Sudan governments, the Rev. Karlo Aika of Khartoum's St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church told 98.6 FM radio station on Sunday (April 1).
He said he was concerned about security for southern Sudanese whether they stay or return to South Sudan.
"We fear too because we do not know why these things are happening," he said.
c. 2012 Compass Direct News. Used with permission.
Publication date: April 7, 2012


text:
Home Beste Praktiken Policy makers
// Bus and coach terminals and stops
Example: At the end of 2008, Stockholm's largest bus terminal, Cityterminalen, was re-inaugurated following considerable reconstruction aimed at optimising capacity and offering travellers and passenger transport companies enhanced service. Cityterminalen is built on two levels with 19 gates. Around 100 000 buses and coaches from 500 different destinations in Sweden and the rest of Europe arrive and depart annually. Most are for scheduled long distance travel, but a considerable number are also tourist coaches.
For more information:
Stockholm City Trophy Application 2009
Study of passenger transport by coach, Final Report, European Commission, pp.64-74http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road/studies/doc/2009_06_passenger_transport_by_coach.pdf
Study of passenger transport by coach, Appendix C: Study of coach terminals, European Commissionhttp://ec.europa.eu/transport/road/studies/doc/2009_06_passenger_transport_by_coach_annexe_c.pdf
// Central and convenient location of bus and coach terminals
The location of bus and coach terminals is of utmost importance and highly contributes to the role of a terminal as a passenger logistics hub. Being situated next to administrative, trade, cultural and educational centres, as well as close to or integrated with railway stations, sea ports, airports and easy access to urban collective/public means of transport is a tremendous advantage. Furthermore, it should be ensured that enough space for further enlargements is available. Easy and quick access to major highways and streets, serving all directions of coach routes, is essential. The location for the construction of a coach terminal should be chosen according to short and long-term forecasting demand developments.
Example: Riga International Coach Terminal is centrally located and nowadays offers sufficient capacity. The Riga International Coach Terminal provides services to regional, long-distance and international routes. On average, it offers services to 510 local and 60 international routes per day. Every year, 5–6 million passengers pass through the terminal. Nevertheless, a new coach terminal for Riga is under construction as the increasing demand for bus and coach services and insufficient space to enlarge the coach terminal would not allow the existing terminal to operate efficiently in the future.
Riga International Coach Terminal
Coach terminal as important element of transport infrastructure, Vaira Gromule, Irina Yatskiv, p. 203
Study of passenger transport by coach, Final Report, European Commission http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road/studies/doc/2009_06_passenger_transport_by_coach.pdf
// Fast and easy accessibility to terminals
Passengers of coach and bus services using coach terminals for their travel want to reach their bus/coach as easy and quickly as possible. That is why coach terminals should be well planned to offer customers smooth and rapid usage of the services offered.
Easy access possibilities for buses and coaches have to be ensured through access roads, locations of boarding and disembarking platforms and possibilities of parking between routes and space for coach manoeuvring. Furthermore, pedestrians, cyclists, taxis, car users and passengers of collective/public transport need to have easy access to terminals. This can be ensured by the creation of access roads, pavements, crossings, parking spaces and the rationale organisation of boarding and disembarking procedures and areas.
In addition to coaches and other users, passengers who depart or arrive at the coach terminal must have barrier-free access to the terminal: A sufficient number of entrances and exits, passenger flow management to/from and along the platforms and access to coaches in order to board and disembark are essential. Moreover, enough space for luggage loading has to be available and assistance services for people with reduced mobility must be offered.
// Information about the coach terminal itself and services offered on-site
Information about the coach terminal itself and services offered on-site have to be made available for current and potential users. Services that nobody knows exist or that nobody knows how to use are worthless. That is why, information platforms of various types are necessary in order to increase the awareness of the existence of transport and other services amongst potential and already existing coach terminal users.
Through the publication of coach terminal plans, websites, information counters and stands, people would be informed about the possibilities for reserving travel tickets, general information on availability of services, coach routes, destinations, potential alternative solutions, schedules, duration of travel, travel costs and possible reductions. Furthermore, information on various options of payment and cost compensation in case of travel cancellation should be provided. This should be followed by information about other services, such as luggage storage, the use of waiting lounges and rest rooms, physical assistance for people with reduced mobility. Information on passenger rights and obligations should also be made available for coach terminal users.
Example: LCD passenger information displays at Stockholm Cityterminalen inform passengers about delays, departure and arrival platforms and facilities and services available in the terminal. All departing and arriving buses report to the Cityterminalen traffic control. Traffic control makes sure that the departing buses and gate numbers are correct, and that the correct information is displayed in the terminal. By keeping close contact with bus carriers and drivers, traffic control can ensure seamless and safe bus traffic at the terminal.
// Comfort and facility for passengers
Passengers of coaches and buses using coach terminals expect a certain level of quality from the on-site facilities. Comfortable equipment and a pleasing environment increase customer satisfaction.
The quality of air should be good and the temperature should be pleasant in the coach terminal. Therefore, air-condition and/or heating systems have to be installed. Furthermore, regular maintenance to ensure a clean environment has to be arranged. Lighting and noise isolation also play an important role. In addition to this, waiting rooms should be equipped with comfortable seating and catering possibilities. Hygiene facilities, for example toilets and showers are an absolute must. Moreover, communication possibilities, catering and shops should be part of an efficient coach terminal. Other facilities and services which increase the terminal's attractiveness are: Hotspots and Web terminals, cash machines, left luggage lockers, lost & found and post offices. Additionally, facilities for bus drivers, such as showers, toilets, lounges and resting rooms, should be on hand and available for drivers from all operators.
Cityterminalen webpage: http://www.cityterminalen.com/sv/Start-eng/
// Right of access to terminals
Coach operators trying to access terminals should be granted more support and equal rights in terms of regulations. Coach operators should be able to apply for slots at regular intervals in order to give new operators an opportunity to enter the markets and to benefit from major traffic flows during peak times.
Extended facilities, including for customers and drivers as well as for ticketing, should be offered for buses and coaches at existing railway stations and airports, thus transforming them into genuine multimodal interfaces.
// Independent management of coach terminals
At coach terminals where a vertical integration between coach and terminal operators is to be found, systems and regulations guaranteeing all operators equal rights to operate from the terminal would bring operators and their passengers additional benefits.
Example: The Brasov coach terminal in Romania is managed and organised by a public & private partnership. The Brasov municipality financed the construction of a coach terminal with a total investment of €2.5 million. This new terminal is connected to local transport services, houses a police station, a guarded parking area for 140 cars, a waiting room for passengers, ticket offices, an information office, a duty doctor and 30 commercial spaces on two floors (total surface of 2,200 square meters). Reportedly, new entrants are enthusiastic about the Brasov terminal, as the terminal management ensures independence and equal access rights for all.
// Independent ticketing centres
Independent ticketing centres selling tickets for all operators for all routes offer remarkable advantages to customers. It is essential that ticketing centres charge the exact same amount of commission for bookings for all operators. As a result, no operator is preferred over another.
Example: Cityterminalen in Sweden has come to an agreement with all major operators to create an independently operated customer service and ticket centre, which provides tickets for all routes
from all operators to customers.
Study of Passenger Transport by Coach, Steer davies gleave, pp.64-72
Study of passenger transport by coach, Final Report, European Commissionhttp://ec.europa.eu/transport/road/studies/doc/2009_06_passenger_transport_by_coach.pdf
// Permanent bus and coach lanes
Permanent bus and coach lanes are dedicated to buses and coaches during the whole day. These lanes might be combined with special traffic signals which give buses and coaches complete priority and, as a result, make the bus/coach as efficient as a tram using a dedicated infrastructure. Other vehicles, such as taxis, might be allowed to use these dedicated lanes as well.
Example: Lille has introduced a high quality service bus route which has made collective/public transport popular amongst commuters and has reduced traffic in the city centre.
The combination of bus/coach lanes, priority at junctions for buses/coaches and park and ride facilities have made this possible.
Example: The city of Stockholm allows visiting tourist coaches to use dedicated public transport lines, whilst at the same time offering some 40 dedicated coach parking spaces close to touristic sites.
In Coventry (UK), Primelines is an impressive partnership project delivering high quality bus infrastructure and services to increase bus patronage across the city. It includes 5.3 km of bus lanes, plus 4.9 km of red routes, 13 new bus gates and bus bypasses to allow buses to overtake stationary traffic, 70 new bus shelters with seating and real-time information, 19 new bus stop flags with real-time information displays, and 80 new traffic signals equipped for bus priority, supported by clever marketing including personalised journey and travel planning.
In each of the Primelines corridors, research is undertaken as to how the bus reliability and journey times could be improved. Consideration is given as to whether any of the following measures could be introduced onto the corridor:
Early results are impressive, showing that 47% of householders have changed their travel behaviour, 39% of householders have reduced the amount they have driven, with 24% using the bus more frequently.
Sustainable Urban Transport, Final report from the European project Trendsetter, pp. 16-17http://www.civitas-initiative.org/docs1/CIVITAS_TRENDSETTER_Final_Policy_Report.pdf
Lille Métropole, France – Mini-Case study, presentation by Kate Theobald, Northumbria Universityhttp://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/conferences/urban_rural/doc/preslille.pdf
Stockholm Visitors Boardhttp://www.stockholmtown.com/templates/page____17793.aspx?epslanguage=EN
http://www.ukbusawards.org.uk/content/index.php? option=com_content&view=article&id=316&Itemid=88
// Flexible bus/coach lanes
Flexible bus/coach lanes exist in various forms. They may be reserved for buses/coaches only during peak traffic hours or the direction of motion could change according to the main traffic flow. Such bus/coach lanes can be dedicated only to buses/coaches, or also to taxis and vehicles with more than two occupants.
Example: In 1992, Madrid introduced a 16 km flexible bus lane "BUS VAO" on a highway connecting the suburbs to the city itself. The bus lane consists of two sections. While the first section in the suburbs is for both buses and vehicles with more than two occupants, the second part, which is 3.8 km long, is only reserved for buses and coaches. The bus lane is reversible and functions according to the bigger traffic flow demand. (Morning: Suburbs-Madrid; After 14:00: Madrid-suburbs). More than 15 years of operation has proven "BUS VAO" to be an efficient service. With 21 routes, about 252 buses make use of the lane during peak hours. The share of people taking buses from the suburbs into the city centre increased from 17% in 1991 to 28% in 2007.
Lignes Express Inter-villes et nationales, site propre autoroutier pour autobus, l'expérience espagnolehttp://www.fntv.fr/IMG/pdf/LIGNES-EXPRESS_l_experience_espagnole.pdf
The intermittent bus lane system, demonstration in Lisbonhttp://www.bhls.eu/IMG/pdf/intermitant_bus_lane_portugal-3.pdf
BRT in Europe: Bus of High Level of Service, Cities for Mobility World Congress, Stuttgarthttp://www.cities-for-mobility.net/documents/wc08/cfm_world_congress_workshop_a_madrid.pdf
BHLS, Buses with High Level of Servicehttp://www.bhls.eu/
Buses with a high level of service, an opportunity for mobility in the cityhttp://www.bhls.eu/IMG/pdf/PlaquetteBHNS_English.pdf
// Bus and coach only street
// Priority to buses and coaches at junctions
Through dynamic bus/coach priority systems, which give buses and coaches priority at intersections, travelling by bus and coach is getting faster. Such computer-driven systems reduce delays at traffic lights and raise the average speed.
Example: Within Trendsetter (European Environmental Project), Prague and Stockholm have introduced such systems. Experience has shown that traffic signal control needs to be an integrated part of traffic management. The city of Manchester registered an increase of 28% in bus passengers of one bus service after frequencies were doubled and bus priority measures, including at junctions, were introduced.
Sustainable Urban Transport, Final report from the European project Trendsetter, pp. 16-17
The way ahead, bus priority, Department for Transport UK
Moving forward, New opportunities, new passengers, CPT, pp.16-17
// Construction of park & ride facilities
Park & ride facilities, situated next to major bus and coach routes in the suburbs, attract more people from the countryside to leave their cars outside the city and alternatively use collective/public means of transport to reach their final destination in the city. Park & ride services offered at lower prices than inner-city parking are more likely to succeed.
Example: In 2001, Cambridgeshire, in co-operation with Stagecoach, introduced a new strategy based on park & ride facilities, a new fleet, bus priority measures, a new fare structure and marketing campaigns. As a result of these measures, Cambridgeshire was able to increase its passenger volume by 77% from 2001 to 2006.
CIVITAS 1 Cross site evaluation, METEOR deliverable 6, p.129http://www.civitas.eu/docs1/CIVITAS_METEOR_Final_Cross_Site_Evaluation_Report.pdf
Moving Forward, new opportunities, new passengers, cpt, pp.10-11http://www.cpt-uk.org/_uploads/attachment/255.pdf
Park & Ride, Cambridgeshire County Councilhttp://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/transport/around/parkandride/
// Creation of parking facilities for visiting tourist coaches
Parking, stopping and waiting spaces for tourist coaches must be available in order to give coach tourism groups easy access to hotels, touristic sites, shops and other tourist facilities located in the cities.
Example: Stockholm, the winner of the IRU City Trophy 2009, boasts parking areas at all city entrances, whilst at the same time offering some 40 dedicated coach parking spaces close to touristic sites. At Leith near Edinburgh, the royal yacht Britannia has proved a hugely popular visitor attraction. Group visits are welcomed and offer scheduled tours of the ship as well as access to the visitor centre and the adjacent Ocean Terminal shopping centre. To facilitate this, a dedicated coach pick-up and drop-off point and a nearby free coach parking area have been established.
The Coach Parking and Guidance System of the City of Dresdenhttp://www.iru.org/index/en_events_2005_city_trophy_dresden_tasks
Bremen, Application for the 2009 IRU City Trophy Awardhttp://www.iru.org/index/cms-filesystem-action?file=event_2009_citytrophy/Bremen.pdf
Stockholm, Application for the IRU City Trophyhttp://www.iru.org/index/cms-filesystem-action?file=event_2009_citytrophy/IRU-CT2009-Stockholm-Application.pdf
Stockholm Visitors Board http://www.stockholmtown.com/templates/page____17793.aspx?epslanguage=EN
Royal Yacht Britannia
// Development of guidance systems for visiting tourist coaches
Guidance systems, such as in Dresden, Bremen or in Leipzig, make it easier for visiting coach drivers to find their way around the city, by using different colours for hotels, tourist attractions and public facilities. In addition, leaflets and Internet sites, which indicate access routes and coach parking areas, facilitate the coach driver's orientation.
Leipzig, IRU City Trophy Award 2005http://www.iru.org/index/cms-filesystem-action?file=en_events_2005/2005_IRUCityTrophyAward-Bewerbung-englisch.pdf, p.23
Dresden, IRU City Trophy Award 2005http://www.iru.org/index/en_events_2005_city_trophy_dresden
Bremen, IRU City Trophy Award 2009http://www.iru.org/index/cms-filesystem-action?file=event_2009_citytrophy/Bremen.pdf
// Facilities for coach drivers
The creation of bus and coach drivers' facilities, such as drivers' lounges, kitchens and washing facilities, are an important step towards improving service and increasing coach tourism. Amenities of this type allow coach drivers to take a rest and prepare their own meals, i.e. while tourists explore the city.
Example: Southport (UK) has already introduced such facilities successfully, which, in combination with similar measures to welcome groups of tourists, has resulted in a record growth of coach tourism visits, including during the low tourist season, i.e. from no single coach having visited the city in January and February 1995, to more than 300 coaches in 2008.
Southport, Application for IRU City Trophyhttp://www.iru.org/index/cms-filesystem-action?file=event_2009_citytrophy/Southport.pdf
IRU – Stockholm voted most friendly coach city, http://www.iru.org/index/en_media_press_pr/code.998/lang.en
// 24 hours coach service centres
24-hour coach maintenance services must be available, including cleaning and washing facilities, rubbish and toilet waste disposals, repair work and refuelling facilities, to ensure good quality service and attract more customers.
Example: Together with Bremer Strassenbahn AG (BSAG), the city of Bremen offers a 24-hour maintenance service for coaches. This includes facilities for washing the exterior, interior cleaning, disposal of rubbish and toilet waste, engine wash, re-fuelling and other repair works.
// Tourists go ape for Krabi bus stops in Thailand
Tourists to Phuket's neighboring Krabi Province have been treated to a new two million baht network of bus stops that feature a striking monkey design. The project was launched at the request of the province's Chamber of Commerce. The Krabi Transport Office therefore worked with the Chamber of Commerce to launch the bus-stop project. Local business people had complained that tourists were finding it difficult to catch local buses because there were no stops showing them where to wait, he said. Of particular concern was the route between Ao Nang and Krabi Town, which is popular with foreign travellers. Many tourists had problems catching buses on the route, since they did not know when the buses would arrive – or even where they stopped.
The bus stops have been designed so that they look attractive and unique, as well as display all the information tourists need in both Thai and English.
One of the two designs used on six stops in the commercial area of Ao Nang Beach features sculptures of monkeys sitting down and strolling around. The designs were chosen so they would fit in with the lively atmosphere of the popular tourist resort, without ruining the view of the beach. The new structures have generated a lot of interest from tourists, since the area has not had any bus stops until now, said Mr Worawut.