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McDonald faces opponents to nomination
Updated 8:44 pm, Monday, January 14, 2013
By Ken Dixon
HARTFORD — Andrew J. McDonald, of Stamford, breezed through his confirmation hearing Monday, clearing the way for House and Senate votes that will send him to the Connecticut Supreme Court.
After 95 minutes of questions from the Judiciary Committee — and criticism from two people who opposed policy positions he took as a state senator and as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's chief legal counsel — McDonald was easily approved in a roll call vote, 40-2.
Only two committee members voted against him: Rep. Al Adinolfi, R-Cheshire, and Sen. Michael McLachlan, R-Danbury.
McDonald, a former eight-year co-chairman of the committee, said in hindsight he would have had better communications with the state's top Catholics in 2009 during the drafting of a controversial bill — abandoned before it was raised for a public hearing — that would've changed the way Catholic Church finances were organized and reviewed.
"I was under the false assumption that the hierarchy of the Catholic Church was aware of the contents of the bill," McDonald said. "Frankly, in retrospect, I think I should have reached out to the archbishop and the other bishops of Connecticut and engaged them in a discussion ahead of time before the legislation was raised."
McDonald said the legislation, first proposed by a Greenwich Republican in 2008, was in reaction to embezzlements in excess of $1 million each by two Catholic leaders in Darien and Greenwich.
Only two people spoke directly against McDonald's nomination during the public-hearing portion of the committee meeting.
Stephen Mendelsohn of New Britain, who is autistic, said that McDonald, in defending an executive order from Malloy last June, showed "a clear lack of respect" for disabled people.
"I urge you to set aside this nomination and encourage Gov. Malloy to appoint someone who is better qualified in terms of judicial temperament and experience and who has a greater respect for the civil rights and civil liberties of all of Connecticut's citizens," Mendelsohn said.
As Malloy's top legal adviser, McDonald defended the governor's executive order setting up a council to review the compensation and unionization of personal-care attendants.
"I don't believe he should be confirmed," said Danine M. Chevarella, of Waterbury, in prepared testimony. "He blatantly led an unconstitutional attack against the Catholic Church in 2009."
McDonald said Monday that state law on the operation of many other churches in Connecticut has been in effect since the mid-1820s.
"I think there are serious questions about whether those statutes that are already on the books present constitutional problems, but I have never undertaken that analysis," he said under questioning by McLachlan.
McDonald, 46, would be the first openly gay member of Connecticut's high court and only the third to join it without having served at either the Superior Court or Appellate Court level.
Chevarella criticized McDonald for supporting the successful legislation that reinforced the rights of transgender state residents while working as Malloy's top attorney in 2011.
"Mr. McDonald should not be confirmed and should not be allowed on any bench where he can continue to attack the values of family, marriage, religious liberty and the right of women of all ages not to have men in public restrooms with them," Chevarella said.
Edward Gavin, a Bridgeport attorney who is past president of the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, said McDonald is a great choice for the high bench.
"He's fair, he's concise, he's just and I think he's going to make an absolutely terrific justice," Gavin said.
Rep. Tom O'Dea, R-New Canaan, asked McDonald whether he has an anti-Catholic bias.
"I have heard the concern before and I respect those who hold that concern," McDonald said. "I don't believe I have any bias against the Catholic Church. It's the church I was born into, the church that baptized me, the church I am still a member of. My religious faith, in my opinion, holds no sway over what I ever do as a member of the judiciary.
"I do want to say though that I think the comment or the concern is misplaced because I have actually had the opportunity over my time in the Legislature to work very, very collaboratively and productively with the Connecticut Catholic Conference," McDonald said. "I know we've had some disagreements, but we have had an awful lot of commonality as well."
McDonald was the highest-profile of 17 judicial nominees reviewed by the Judiciary Committee, all of whom won confirmation.
Also approved for new, eight-year terms were Superior Court Judges Gary J. White, of Norwalk; Kari A. Dooley, of Newtown; and Dale W. Radcliffe, of Bridgeport.
firstname.lastname@example.com; 860-549-4670; twitter.com/KenDixonCT; facebook.com/kendixonct.hearst; blog.ctnews.com/dixon


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Thomas McCoy (Edmund MacDonald) works for a successful cattle buyer. But, due to mounting gambling debts, McCoy begins to overcharge his rancher clientele and take the profits for himself. Before long, these men get wise and plan to take their cattle to a different buyer. But that elicits speedy and bloody vengeance from McCoy and his cronies. At a loss, the desperate ranchers call upon trusty cowboy Gene Autry (Gene Autry) to step in and save the day.
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The Nao of Brown author, Glyn Dillon creeps into Panther's Lair to tell us all about a story he heard where an alligator got loose on a plane and killed 20 people. Did the 20 people die from alligator bites, or from the plane crashing? Listen and find out!
Comments welcome!
This week's illustration of Inky the Domesticated Panther supplied by cartoonist and competitive eater, Jeff Manley. Thanks, Jeff!!
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Blog post
Sacrificing Pelicans To Petroleum Gods: Deep Water Horizon Spill Forces Energy Policy Rethink
Many ancient religions required animal sacrifice to satisfy their gods' desires. We now sacrifice pelicans, marine mammals and sea turtles to satisfy our desire for cheap oil.
Many ancient religions required animal sacrifice to satisfy their gods' desires. We now sacrifice pelicans, marine mammals and sea turtles to satisfy our desire for cheap oil.
Everybody seems to agree that the Deep Water Horizon spill is a major catastrophe, but there are different interpretations of its policy implications. One narrative argues that oil spill risks are internalized to the petroleum industry through cleanup and compensation charges, and this is a unique accident from which industry will learn spill prevention techniques, so no policy changes are needed. The alternative narrative is that intensive petroleum production inevitably causes large external economic and environmental costs, so energy policy should be reformed to encourage conservation.
There is littel evidence that these costs are fully internalized (all costs are totally borne by consumers), or that the petroleum industry can prevent such spills in the future. The Deep Water Horizon is just the latest in a series of major oil spills:
- 1967 Torrey Canyon tanker spilled more than 600,000 barrels of crude oil off the Scilly Isles, UK.
- 1969 Union Oil Platform A spilled more than 80,000 barrels of oil off the Santa Barbara coast.
- 1972 Sea Star tanker spilled an estimated 900,000 barrels of oil off the coast of Oman.
- 1978 Amoco Cadiz tanker spilled about 1.5 million barrels of oil into the English Channel.
- 1979 Atlantic Empress tanker spilled more than 2 million barrels of oil near Trinidad and Tobago.
- 1979-1980 Ixtoc 1 Platform, spilled more than 3 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
- 1983 Castillo de Bellver tanker spilled nearly 2 million barrels of oil off South Africa.
- 1983 Nowruz, collision between a tanker and drilling platform, spilled about 2 million barrels of oil in the Persian Gulf.
- 1988 Odyssey tanker spilled about 1 million barrels of oil off the coast of Nova Scotia.
- 1980 Exxon Valdez tanker spilled about 250,000 barrels of oil along the Alaska coast.
- 1991 Haven Tanker spilled about 1 million barrels of oil off near Genoa, Italy.
- 1991 ABT Summer tanker spilled 1-2 million barrels of oil off the coast of Angola.
- 1994 Kolva pipeline spilled about 2 million barrels of oil into the Kolva River, Russia.
- 2010 Deep Water Horizon is spilling an estimated 20,000 to 60,000 barrels per day, or a million barrels every 20-50 days.
Ecosystems are resilient so after many years or decades spill damages decline, although they may not entirely disappear. Some ecosystem changes are irreversible, including species displacement or extinction, and destruction of critical habitat such as nurseries or feeding grounds. Some economic resources, such as fisheries, may never recover.What do these damages cost? According to a new paper, A Taxonomy of Oil Spill Costs-What are the Likely Costs of the Deepwater Horizon Spill? by Professor Mark A.Cohen, previous U.S. oil spill cleanup and damage costs averaged approximately $16 per gallon ($672 per barrel), ranging from less than $7 per gallon ($300 per barrel) for the Ixtoc I spill in 1979 up to more than $630 per gallon ($25,000 per barrel) for the Exxon Valdez spill. At that rate, the Deep Water Horizon spill cleanup and compensation costs is likely to total between $50 billion and $500 billion, depending on the amount of oil ultimately released, cleanup costs, and how the legal system awards compensation.
Assuming that the Deep Water Horizon spill's cleanup and compensation costs total $100 billion, and that such major spills occur about once a decade in North America, this suggests that major oil spill damage costs average about $10 billion annually, or about 2% of total North American petroleum gross sale value.
However, cleanup and compensation payments do not necessarily reflect total environmental damage costs. Many costs are uncompensated because:
- Some damages (such as loss of income or property value) are difficult to legally prove, for example, to businesses that lack adequate proof of income loss, and to people who lose favorite fishing sites and swimming beaches.
- Many legal systems cap awards, and it is a general economic principle that damage compensation awards should not be overly generous to discourage people from encouraging accidents for the sake of compensation. As a result, compensation seldom offsets total losses.
- Compensation is generally only paid for direct human losses, there are often no payments for ecological damages such as injuries and deaths to plants and animals (what ecological economists call natural capital).
- Environmental damages in international waters are particularly difficult to compensate since property rights are often ambiguous.
According to Professor Cohen, the lower-bound estimate of the public's willingness to pay to avoid the Valdez spill wildlife damages was $2.8 billion, about 75% of the total cleanup and compensation costs, and three times the $1 billion paid in natural resource damages fees. This suggests that total environmental costs, and society's willingness to pay to avoid such damages, are two or three times higher than expenditures on damage cleanup and compensation.
Major oil spills are just one source of environmental damages caused by petroleum production, processing and distribution. Others include damages from exploration (sonar surveys are particularly harmful to marine mammals), landscape damages and pollution emissions from drilling activities and refineries, and smaller spills during transport. Most of these damages are legally permitted or difficult to measure and therefore compensate. For these reasons, for each dollar petroleum companies pay in cleanup and compensation costs there are probably two to five dollars in uncompensated environmental damages.
Petroleum production environmental risks are likely to increase in the future, based on projections by the U.S. Energy Information Administration's Energy Outlook report, which predicts (in Chapter 4) that the U.S. will significantly increase offshore production (primarily in the Gulf of Mexico), plus production of biofuels, oil shales and coal liquification, all environmentally risky sources. This suggests that petroleum production environmental costs probably total tens of billions of dollars annually in North America. Yet, these are not the largest petroleum consumption external costs. According to various studies by academic researchers and U.S. federal agencies, dependency on petroleum imposes hundreds of billions of dollars in external costs. For example:
- A 2007 federal report estimates U.S. petroleum import external economic costs, excluding military expenditures, total $54 billion annually.
- An Environmental Law Institute study estimates federal subsidies for fossil fuel and renewable energy production totaled approximately $72 billion for fossil fuels between 2002 and 2008.
- Greene and Ahmad estimated that oil dependence cost the U.S. economy $150-$250 billion in 2005, and a total of $5 to $13 trillion (constant 2000 dollars) between 1970 and 2005.
- A National Defense Council Foundation study estimates that the external costs of US oil imports increased from $305 billion in 2003 to $825 billion in 2006.
For these reasons, policies that encourage high levels of petroleum consumption are not only environmentally harmful, they are economically irrational. This is not entirely unnoticed. U.S. presidents have talked the energy independence talk for decades, but national policy and consumption patterns have not changed, in fact, the result is often an increase in subsidies for domestic production, such as off-shore oil, so the U.S. continues to consume more petroleum per capita than most other wealthy countries, and as a result continues to bear large economic, military and environmental costs.
Advocates of the status quo argue that Americans must increase oil production to meet growing consumer demand, but this misrepresents the issue, since demand for oil depends on policies such as fuel, road, parking and insurance pricing, and planning decisions that affect transport options and land use development patterns. Current U.S. policies underprice petroleum and favor automobile transportation and sprawl, while most other wealthy countries have policies that favor energy conservation, multi-modal transport and smarter growth, and so consume far less fuel per capita.
For example, if fuel is cheap, transportation systems automobile-dependent, and communities sprawled, an average resident will drive 20 mpg vehicles 16,000 annual miles, consuming 800 gallons of fuel annually. However, if fuel is more costly, transport systems are multi-modal, and communities more accessible, average residents will drive 35 mpg vehicles 8,000 annual miles, consuming 230 gallons of fuel annually. For the U.S., this would nearly eliminate the need to import petroleum and reduce the need to expand deep ocean oil production. In other words, cheap fuel is not really cheap, it shifts and increases total petroleum costs.
Below is a list of smart transportation energy conservation strategies that can significantly reduce the amount of energy consumers demand.
Smart Transportation Energy Conservation Strategies
- Planning Reforms - More comprehensive and neutral planning and investment practices.
- Transportation Demand Management Programs - Local and regional programs that support and encourage use of alternative modes.
- Road Pricing - Charges users directly for road use, with rates that reflect costs imposed.
- Parking Pricing - Charges users directly for parking facility use, often with variable rates.
- Parking Cash-Out - Offers commuters financial incentives for using alternative modes.
- Pay-As-You-Drive Pricing - Converts fixed vehicle charges into mileage-based fees.
- Fuel Taxes- Tax Shifting - Increases fuel taxes and other vehicle taxes.
- Transit and Rideshare Improvements - Improves transit and rideshare services.
- Walking and Cycling Improvements - Improves walking and cycling conditions.
- Carsharing - Vehicle rental services that substitute for private automobile ownership.
- Smart Growth Policies - More accessible, multi-modal land use development patterns.
- Freight Transport Management - Encourage businesses to use more efficient transportation options.
These are no-regrets reforms, since they provide significant co-benefits (congestion reductions, road and parking facility cost savings, consumer savings and affordability, accident reductions, improved mobility for non-drivers, more efficient land use development, and improved public fitness and health) and so are justified regardless of the value placed on energy conservation and emission reductions.
Crises may come and go, but smart solutions remain. Pelicans or petroleum? The best policies are clear, and so can be our priceless waterways.
For More Information
Mikhail Chester and Arpad Horvath (2008), Environmental Life-cycle Assessment of Passenger Transportation, UC Berkeley Center for Future Urban Transport, (www.its.berkeley.edu/volvocenter/), Paper vwp-2008-2; at www.sustainable-transportation.com.
David Coady, et al. (2010), Petroleum Product Subsidies: Costly, Inequitable, and Rising, International Monetary Fund (www.imf.org); at www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/spn/2010/spn1005.pdf.
Mark A.Cohen (2010), A Taxonomy of Oil Spill Costs-What are the Likely Costs of the Deepwater Horizon Spill?, Resources for the Future (www.rff.org); at www.rff.org/rff/documents/RFF-BCK-Cohen-DHCosts_update.pdf.
Robert Costanza, et al. (2010), The Perfect Spill: Solutions for Averting the Next Deepwater Horizon, The Solutions Journal (www.thesolutionsjournal.com); at www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/629.
Mark Delucchi (2005), The Social-Cost Calculator (SCC): Documentation of Methods and Data, and Case Study of Sacramento, UCD-ITS-RR-05-37, Institute of Transportation Studies (www.its.ucdavis.edu); at www.its.ucdavis.edu/publications/2005/UCD-ITS-RR-05-18.pdf.
Earth Track (www.earthtrack.net) documents energy subsidies and market distortions.
ELI (2009), Estimating U.S. Government Subsidies to Energy Sources: 2002-2008, Environmental Law Institute (www.eli.org); at www.elistore.org/Data/products/d19_07.pdf.
Jennifer Ellis (2010), The Effects Of Fossil-Fuel Subsidy Reform: A Review Of Modelling And Empirical Studies, Global Subsidies Initiative (www.globalsubsidies.org); at www.globalsubsidies.org/files/assets/effects_ffs_0.pdf.
Paul N. Leiby (2007) Estimating the Energy Security Benefits of Reduced U.S. Oil Imports, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (www.ornl.gov); at http://pzl1.ed.ornl.gov/Leiby2007%20Estimating%20the%20Energy%20Security%20Benefits%20of%20Reduced%20U.S.%20Oil%20Imports%20ornl-tm-2007-028%20rev2007Jul25.pdf.
Todd Litman (2008), Smart Transportation Emission Reduction Strategies, VTPI (www.vtpi.org); at www.vtpi.org/ster.pdf.
Todd Litman (2010), "Resource Consumption Externalities," Transportation Cost and Benefit Analysis, Victoria Transport Policy Institute (www.vtpi.org); at www.vtpi.org/tca/tca0512.pdf.
Gerhard Metschies (2005), International Fuel Prices 2005, with Comparative Tables for 172 Countries, German Agency for Technical Cooperation (www.internationalfuelprices.com).
NRC (2009), Hidden Costs of Energy: Unpriced Consequences of Energy Production and Use, National Research Council (www.nap.edu/catalog/12794.html).
John Stewart (2010), Addressing Our "Addiction To Oil": Have We Heard This Before? The Daily Show, 16 June 2010 (www.planetizen.com/node/44716).
VTPI (2008), "Energy and Emission Reductions," Online TDM Encyclopedia, VTPI (www.vtpi.org); at www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm59.htm.


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Houston street maintenance crews reach a milestone
Updated 11:03 am, Thursday, September 27, 2012
I have spent my entire professional career - 40 years this year - working downtown. I've been in a somewhat unique position to watch the landscape evolve in the Central Business District during this time.
In 1972, the core of downtown was well established with One Shell Plaza, the Esperson building, Houston City Hall and Tranquillity Park - just to name a few landmarks. However, the footprint began to change significantly - stretching in all directions to take in areas that were downright frightening to be in after hours.
It was commonplace to park in a surface lot blocks away from my office building and pass trash, graffiti and other waste on the way to the office. Although unpleasant, it's what we expected when walking through downtown and it was not something to be proud of.
So what changed? While city government certainly plays a crucial role in developing downtown, the reality is that with each new mayor and City Council, the city's priorities change. With so many areas to address, no one administration can accomplish everything. That is why a downtown organization with strong ties to the business community and city leadership is crucial to provide the central business district the continuity it needs to address safety and cleanliness.
The Houston Downtown Management District (Downtown District) has the ability to have that "horizon," understanding what the stakeholders truly need and how the different components work together to help a city achieve improvements year after year. The Downtown District can take on long-term projects and ensure their continued success. The Downtown Street Teams were formed to, literally, clean-up the city from the ground up.
I like to think of downtown as our front door. You never know when the opportunity will arise to make the first impression on a guest. The Downtown Street Teams may perform what we see as simple tasks, such as picking up litter and trash and removing graffiti, but they are extremely impactful.
By taking care of those "little things" we provide an environment that people can take pride in. Without that, no matter what else you do to improve a downtown area - new buildings, artwork, infrastructure, etc. - people will still turn away.
I have seen business associates who have returned to downtown Houston remark at the difference they've noticed from even 10 years ago - simply put, the difference is like night and day. No other street maintenance team had the impact the Downtown District's Downtown Street Teams have had and, 20 years later, they are a mainstay in our community. You would be hard pressed to find a regular downtown patron who has not seen the workers, dressed in yellow and teal, hard at work to keep our front door tidy. It is fair to say that, thanks to the Downtown Street Teams, we now expect a clean and comfortable downtown.
As the Downtown Street Teams celebrate their 20th anniversary this year, my message to the workers who are out on the streets seven days a week, 365 days year, in 100-degree heat, the rain and the cold, is that I am deeply, deeply grateful for the work that they do. If you want to move forward in any aspect of your life, do the things other people don't want to do, do them well and others will take notice.
The downtown community has taken notice and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that each street team member takes the job seriously. They understand that they are looking after our front door. Their pride in our city is evident to me, my colleagues and the entire community as we work, live and play in downtown Houston every day.
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ADDIS ABABA. — The African Union Commission in collaboration with the World Health Organisation and other key immunisation development partners, will today hold the first ever ministerial conference on immunisation in Africa, at its headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
According to a statement issued by the AU Commision's directorate of information and communication, the conference's general objective will be, "to secure the commitment of governments and their partners to reach and sustain the required immunisation quality and coverage as stipulated in the GAVP and the Regional Strategic Plan for Immunisation 2014-2020 so as to eradicate, eliminate and control vaccine preventable diseases in the overall context of health system strengthening in Africa."
The conference's specific objectives include:
i. Agreeing on key inter-sectoral actions necessary to improve the quality and achieve higher levels coverage of immunisation interventions in line with the GVAP and RSPI accountability frameworks;
ii. Achieving consensus on ways and means of empowering communities to demand immunisation as their fundamental human right;
iii. Agreeing on actions required from governments and partners to adequately fund immunisation services from national resources;
iv. Sharing and celebrating the achievements of immunisation activities in Africa;
v. Discussing the polio legacy planning;
vi. Advocating for high-level support on vaccine supply and availability in Africa including vaccine production in the context of the Africa Manufacturing Plan initiative.
The conference will be attended by Ethiopian Prime Minister Mr Hailemariam Desalegn, former Tanzanian president Mr Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, AU Commissioner for Social Affairs Dr Mustapha S. Kaloko, WHO Regional Director for Africa Dr Matshidiso Moeti, and Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Ala Alwan. — AU Commission/Herald Reporter.


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I stumbled across this article today on which explains how caffeine works in our brains and why it does what it does.
Original source: http://www.gizmodo.com
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Original source: http://www.gizmodo.com
Sometimes it is sufficient to schedule a minimum of employees during the night and then staff up during the day time.
Maintenance departments can be an application of this concept. Coverage needs to be provided around the clock – but many projects and improvements are usually done during the day time.
An easy way to achieve this could be the following:
One could divide the existing employees into 6 teams instead of the standard 4 teams normally required to staff around the clock. For an example 2-3-2 12-hr schedule the 6-week/6-crew cycle could then look like this:
In the example above the 6-week cycle results in 2 crews on Days for every 1 crew on Nights 7 days a week. For each individual it would mean 4 weeks on Days for every 2 weeks on Nights – which may make this concept more attractive than balanced staffing as well.
How do staffing, vacation, training and relief work on 4-crew vs 5-Crew systems?
The image above shows 2 schedules: a 4-crew system in the top schedule and a 5-crew system in the schedule below.
If we assume that the group scheduled here consists of 60 employees, the 4-crew system works out to:
A 5-Crew system with the same 60 employees works like this:
The difference between the two systems is the way that relief coverage is provided.
In the 5-crew system the 12 employees on the D8 shift provide coverage for any absences. If no absences occur the 12 employees can be trained or assigned to special project work. Often employees are encouraged to take their personal holidays during this 5th week.
Since the 5th week is often scheduled as day week, it can be challenging to reschedule employees on short notice to cover unscheduled absences on the N12 shift or the weekends.
In the 4-crew system there are 3 additional employees on shift at any day and up to 3 absences per shift can be absorbed without calling in other workers on their days off on all 7 days of the week. Scheduling training can be more challenging in the 4-crew system. Employees may have more flexibility to take personal holidays since there is no dedicated "extra" week.
In the end you need the same number of employees to cover all positions, absences, and training hours in a 4-crew and a 5-crew system. In a 4-crew system each crew should consist of more people than there are positions in order to absorb absences and training. In a 5-crew system each crew can be staffed to the number of positions and each week one of the 5 crews is responsible for relief coverage.
Circadian's work with the trucking company Dupre Logistics was recently featured in a documentary shown on Australian TV. The program "Dead Tired" is also available on DVD.
Enjoy the excerpt of the program about Circadian's work.
Probably the most asked question in our industry schedule projects is: What is the best schedule out there?
Understandably many managers would like to pick a proven schedule that is sanctioned to be "the best" and simply implement that. Case closed. Next.
In reality the case is not that simple. Our answer to the best-schedule question is: "There is no such thing as a best schedule. The best schedule for your operation is a schedule that works best for your operational requirements and the social preferences of this specific group of employees at your site at this time."
In other words, a schedule that works fine at the place down the street may not work well in your environment. And even within the same corporation there can be different social preferences from site to site. No two demographics are the same, and different people are at different stages in their life and want different things out of a schedule.
The following is an example of a schedule project that demonstrates this point:
In general we found that the way a schedule is implemented has a big impact on how well it will perform.
Every year CIRCADIAN invites managers of shiftwork operations to tell us about their operations in an online survey. The information is used to identify trends and a snapshot of the current state of the shiftwork world.
One of the questions we ask is: "What shift length is worked by the majority of your shiftworkers?"
Below are the answers of about 400 facilities from the last survey:
As the chart above shows 8s and 12s are about equally common followed by combinations of 8s and 12s. We see 10-hr shifts used mostly in operations that do not run 24 hours a day, e.g. food manufacturing and processing which requires a daily shutdown of production and cleaning of the equipment.
A big source of concern for managers and employees when entertaining the idea of 12-hr schedules is the question of how absentee shifts will be covered in both systems.
Coverage on 8-hr schedules normally means that a person from the previos shift has to stay 4 hours beyond their 8-hr shift and a person from the following shift has to come in 4 hours early. Together the two people cover the 8 hours left uncovered by the absence. Both people were already schedule to be at work that day anyway.
The image below shows an example of a typical 8-hr schedule with 4 crews and 4 people per crew. If employee #5 reports sick on Wednesday and Thursday (red), one employee of the day crew has to stay 4 hours later and one employee from the night crew has to come to work 4 hours early (orange).
On a 12-hr schedule it is not feasible to work half of another shift to cover for an absent co-worker. Instead someone from a crew that was scheduled to be off work that day has to fill the shift.
As shown in the example above only one person has to work the absent shift on Wednesday and Thursday. In the example 3 employees from the day crew keep their day off and the 4 people from the night crew were also unaffected by this change.
So how do companies manage this system?
As with any problem, there are various solutions. What we often see with clients is a voluntary sign-up system where employees can make themselves available to work overtime on their scheduled days off.
Some companies develop call-out schedules which then designate which individual is responsible for vacant shifts on any day. Obviously not all off days are scheduled as cover days – only enough to provide coverage for expected levels of absenteeism.
Both systems work and we have seen clients that utilized both systems in different areas of the same plant. Which system can work in your environment depends a lot on your workforce and the managers in charge of the areas.
One question that is often raised and the cause of confusion is the question about overtime on 8s vs 12s.
Will the amount of overtime change when changing from 8s to 12s?
The answer is: It depends on what is driving your overtime on the current schedule.
If your absenteeism is driven by a mismatch between the social needs of the employees and the schedule pattern, a schedule pattern that involved the employees in the selection can result in a reduction in absenteeism and therefore overtime.
On an 8-hr schedule that is designed to cover the 168 hours of the week, one would typically need 4 people per position – or 4 crews for the entire operation. Each person/crew works an average of 42 hours a week (168 hours / 4 people). This average is achieved by working 40 hours a week 3/4 of the time and 48 hours per week 1/4 of the time.
The schedule in the graph above shows a typical 8-hr schedule. On any given weekday 3 out of 4 people/crews are scheduled to work. Each person/crew has 7 days off per 28-day cycle.
During the entire year, each crew is scheduled to work 273 days/shifts for a total of 2184 hours. Each crew is schedule to be off work for 91 days per year.
On a 12-hr schedule that is designed to cover the same 168 hours of the week, one also typically needs 4 people/crews. Each person/crew is still scheduled to work an average of 42 hours per week (168 hours / 4 people). On a 12-hr schedule this is achieved by working 36 hours a week 1/2 of the time, and 48 hours per week the other 1/2 of the time.
The schedule in the graph above shows an example for a 12-hr schedule. On any given weekday 2 out of 4 people/crews are scheduled to work. Each person/crew has 14 days off per 28-day cycle.
During the entire year, each crew is scheduled to work 182 days/shifts for a total of 2184 hours. Each crew is scheduled to be off work for 182 days per year.
For both schedules, Sunday 7 AM (start of day shift) was used as start of the pay week.


text:
April 28, 2011
Physics tricks could create one-way soundproofing
Physics tricks could create one-way soundproofing. Materials that genuinely discriminate between the direction of light or sound might be possible, according to a new study. That could make for true one-way mirrors or for directional soundproofing—imagine, for instance, a wall through which sound can enter but not escape.
How I Wrote
How I Wrote is a series of videos from The Guardian where musicians perform a song after talking about it a little bit. Among the artists who've taken part are Rufus Wainwright, Kristin Hersh, Corinne Bailey Rae, Laura Marling, Keren Ann, Patrick Wolf, Elbow, Gruff Rhys, Warpaint, Cee Lo Green, Antony and the Johnsons, P. J. Harvey and Emmy the Great, who sings a song about the Royal Wedding, appropriately enough for today (though I suppose the Cee Lo Green song is appropriate too).
I guess you could always dust off that Britannica set ...
"Let's pretend it's an alternate world, or maybe sometime in the future, and there is no free search. You have to pay for your Google, or Bing, or whatever. How much would you be willing to pay?"
Beware the cobweb-draped hand of the motherland.
Australian comedy troupe The Chaser (best known for breaking into the APEC summit in 2007) have been banned from reporting on the Royal Wedding by the Royal Family. The Chaser respond. [more inside]
"Neo-classi-cosmoidal-cosmetic, in a nutshell."
Split Enz were to New Zealand what the Beatles were to the UK, and like the fabs their legacy is impressive: an endlessly entertaining back-catalogue and some inspiring solo and band offshoots. One of these, Crowded House, captured more of the world's attention, but few in New Zealand would question the priority of the Enz. Which must be why, in 2007, Radio New Zealand made an eight-hour documentary series split over ten podcasts about their fascinating journey from art-folk-classical-prog to New Wave pop mastery: Enzology is essential listening for any Split Enz fan, featuring "excerpts from all the hits and numerous album tracks, plus previously unreleased demos, live recordings and studio out-takes gathered from the band members' personal archives and elsewhere". [more inside]
NFL Draft and Lockout
The Carolina Panthers have drafted Cam Newton with the top pick in tonight's NFL Draft (watch the 1st round live here). The draft is taking place against the uncertainty of an intense battle between the owners and players (previously on mefi). On Monday, District Judge Susan Nelson issued her opinion ending the lockout of the players, who will be reporting back to work by next week, although at least one team was not allowed to enter facilities today. Although the league asked for a stay of the ruling, Judge Nelson denied the request yesterday, lifting fans' hopes that the 2011 season will be played.
The Cyclopean Terror of Sex Ed
Tidy Your CSS
ProCSSor is a powerful (and wholly free) CSS prettifier that lets you format CSS in the exact way you want. Turn your CSS into something that is visually more compelling and readable with a minimum of effort.
My Drunk Kitchen
What goes better than alcohol and cooking? My Drunk Kitchen brings you important recipes for when you're boozed, like grilled cheese, mac & cheese, omelettes, and everyone's favorite: cookies! [more inside]
Truth, Justice, and the International Way
In the landmark 900th issue of Action Comics, Superman has renounced his American citizenship. [more inside]
The Tortoise And The Hare And The Hare And The Tortoise
Apple's revenues and net earnings for the first calendar quarter of 2011 both beat the reported sales and profits of its rival Microsoft for the first time in recent history. It's been an epic rivalry between these two computer tech giants. Apple had an early lead, was overtaken by Microsoft in a rather spectacular fashion. And then, slowly, like a guerilla campaign from distant provinces, Apple came back. At least by one measure - earnings - a measure that seemed destined to always be in Microsoft's favor, Apple has now taken the lead. [more inside]
Apartheid Economy
Towards an Apartheid Economy? A 1996 Harvard Business Review article on rising inequality, by Richard Freeman. [more inside]
Jorge Borges
Jorge Luis Borges delivers the Norton lectures at Harvard, 1968: The Riddle of Poetry :: The Metaphor :: A Poet's Creed
Brooklyn Fields.
Im in ur base, killing ur doodz
West Censoring East: The Use of Western Technologies by Middle East Censors, 2010-2011.
Meanwhile a British firm has been found to have offered spying software to the Egyptian regime – Gamma International's Finfisher program would have enabled government spies to monitor activists and censor websites.
Meanwhile a British firm has been found to have offered spying software to the Egyptian regime – Gamma International's Finfisher program would have enabled government spies to monitor activists and censor websites.
sometimes things go up, sometimes things go down
Go figure: How to succeed in business by doing nothing Article about variability in business and why it is sometimes better to do nothing. "You're a dynamic business leader. Let's say you make widgets - though you might equally make big-budget Hollywood movies. Your widgets, or your movies, vary. Some widgets are perfect, some a tad too long. Some movies make mega-bucks at the box office, some bomb. So what do you do? Well, you're dynamic, so you react, of course. Something must be done. " [SLBBC]
Cybersecurity is an Exaggerated Risk
Jerry Brito and Tate Watkins of George Mason University published a new paper "Loving the Cyber Bomb? The Dangers of Threat Inflation in Cybersecurity Policy" examining the parallels with the US military's other recent exaggerations. "Cybersecurity is an important policy issue, but the alarmist rhetoric coming out of Washington that focuses on worst-case scenarios is unhelpful and dangerous. Aspects of current cyber policy discourse parallel the run-up to the Iraq War and pose the same dangers. Pre-war threat inflation and conflation of threats led us into war on shaky evidence. By focusing on doomsday scenarios and conflating cyber threats, government officials threaten to legislate, regulate, or spend in the name of cybersecurity based largely on fear, misplaced rhetoric, conflated threats, and credulous reporting. The public should have access to classified evidence of cyber threats, and further examination of the risks posed by those threats, before sound policies can be proposed, let alone enacted. ... No one wants a "cyber Katrina" or a "digital Pearl Harbor." But honestly assessing cyber threats and appropriate responses does not mean that we have to learn to stop worrying and love the cyber bomb."
The Steely Dan Infographic Project
In which the folks at the Barryfest blog attempt to create a chart, diagram, graph or other visual aid inspired by each and every Steely Dan song
'These children don't recognize the flags of their home countries, but they can all sing "Jesus Loves Me."'
The Lockerbie Deal
How Britain's largest corporations helped engineer the release of Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber.
Anyone Feel Like a Slow Jam?
The Comic Stylings of Brian Williams. How's an anchor to cope when network newscasts keep losing ground? Having a second career helps.
A hundred years of British cinema
Reflections: a hundred years of British cinema (six-minute film). Via the Projected Picture Trust.
Spontaneous Speech Cannot be Faked
Achievement Metrics claims that a player's speech can predict how he'll perform in the NFL.
A thumb on the nozzle of the internet firehose
Storify is a new social media platform that makes it easy to assemble and winnow Flickr photos, tweets, Facebook posts, Google search results and URLS into a coherent story. It went into public beta on April 25th. [more inside]
Brothers On Vacation in Hawaii Meet....for the First Time
Rick Hill was vacationing in Hawaii. So was Joe Parker. The two lived within one town of each other in Massachusetts, but discovered on that Hawaiian beach, when Joe offered to take a picture of Rick with his fiancee, that they have the same father.
Green Flash on a Red Moon
The green flash isn't quite the light show that some might imagine, but is still impressive. But sunsets aren't alone in producing the green flash - the flash can also appear above the moon. Up on Cerro Paranal in northern Chile, ESO Photo Ambassador Gerhard Hüdepohl has captured a very clear example of the a green flash above the moon. [more inside]
Writing advice from George Saunders
Writing advice from George Saunders. [via]
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout and our energy future
"I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way." ~ Mark Twain
Eponym, Nym Words, A Dictionary of Medical Eponyms, American Proprietary Eponyms, & Other Proprietary Eponyms.
When are Krugman and Mankiw just going to make out already, jeez
Keynes v. Hayek Rap Battle: Round 2 (SLYT, about 10 mins) EconStories revives the econ beef to end all beefs. Previously. [more inside]
Unnatural selection
Schrodinger's Smartphone
A new paper by William J. Bruno of the Theoretical Biology & Biophysics group at Los Alamos National Laboratory argues that past arguments about the impossibility of biological tissue damage from cellphone signals have failed to consider a quantum effect whereby multiple photons in a small volume can have constructive interference, and that such an effect likely does occur in practice. Synopsis here. (previously) [more inside]
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text:
February 3, 2002
A Rare Stranding Event
Real Audio
Log Transcript
This is Genevieve Johnson speaking to you from the Odyssey. After finishing vital maintenance on the hull of the vessel, we are now back at sea looking for whales while facing strong winds and high seas.
The other day as we were lowering the Odyssey back into the water after two weeks of work in dry dock, we received a phone call from our partners at the World Wildlife Fund in Sydney. They told us that apparently there had been a whale stranding on Leighton Beach less than five kilometres to the north of us in Fremantle. It was not known if the animal was alive or dead or even what species it was.
With the Odyssey safely back in the water the crew hastily departed in a taxi and headed towards the area of the stranded whale. We arrived at the beach, the location of the whale immediately revealed by a circle of curious onlookers. The whale was dead and had been identified by Doug Coughran, marine wildlife officer for the Department of Conservation and Land Management, {CALM} as one of the least-known large animals in the world, a Gray's beaked whale. Mr. Coughran explained how whales change color when they die and this one had changed from light grey to black soon after he arrived before 8am, indicating it had died early on the morning it was found. It was fortunate that there was only one animal. Often toothed whales strand together as they have strong social bonds and are reluctant to leave a companion in distress. Only the day before, two beaked whales of the same species were assisted off a beach in Albany, 330 nautical miles south of Fremantle.
The beaked whales form their own family, the Ziphiidae. A protruding upper and lower jaw, lack of a central notch in the tail fin and a long spindly body, characterizes them. This peculiarly specialized group of whales have radiated into14 known species, all are thought to inhabit deep ocean trenches and are either genuinely rare or extremely elusive. Indeed most of what we know about beaked whales is from stranded animals. The studies of living beaked whales are still in their infancy. During the Voyage of the Odyssey, we have had twenty-three sightings of beaked whales. Scientists onboard were only able to identify the species in twelve of these sightings as we were rarely given more than a fleeting glance.
As a general rule, beaked whales are slow and sluggish, sightings are brief as they spend little time at the surface and produce low inconspicuous blows. The distribution of most species is poorly documented and is mostly constructed from a limited number of strandings or skeletal material. Almost nothing is known of their social structure and behavior. In the early 1990's, two new species of beaked whale were discovered and there have also been several reports of an unidentified beaked whale in Indo-pacific waters that does not conform to the description of any currently recognized species. It was originally thought that perhaps this mystery whale may have been indopacetus pacificus, the least known of all ziphiids, recorded from only two skeletons and has never been seen alive, however a paper published by Pitman et al. in 1999 theorized that it may in fact be an unknown species of tropical bottlenose whale.
Not much is known about Gray's beaked whale as it lives in deep ocean habitats such as the Rottnest Trench, west of Fremantle, where, like their sperm whale cousins, they travel to depths of over one kilometre in search of squid.
A particularly small head and a long slender beak that it generally raises out of the water first when surfacing distinguish Gray's beaked whale, its body coloring ranges from a bluish to brownish gray. The limited number of sightings seems to suggest that this species may be more social and live in larger groups, there is even one record of a mass stranding of 28 animals. It is not known why this particular 3.9-meter female stranded (12.8 feet), as there were no visible signs of injury or trauma.
Even though this was an unfortunate event, it was an amazing opportunity to observe one of these rarely seen animals at close quarters, adding another piece to the jigsaw which may help reveal the mysterious biology and behavior of these whales. Tragedies like this can also be an opportunity to learn more about these whales assisting in the prevention of future strandings.
Log by Genevieve Johnson
<< Back


text:
Wayland volleyball time peaking at just the right time
Published 5:46 am, Thursday, November 8, 2012
The Sooner Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament couldn't have come at a better time for the Wayland Baptist University Pioneers.
Playing their best volleyball of the year in addition to being the healthiest they've been all season, the Pioneers head to Shawnee, Okla., with one eye toward continuing their season-long progression and another on qualifying for the NAIA National Tournament.
"The team has really done well the last couple of weeks," Wayland coach Jim Giacomazzi said. "They've gelled a lot."
Maybe one reason for that is because the Pioneers are healthier now than they've been at any point since the start of the season.
"People who were hurting aren't hurting as much," Giacomazzi said. "Arms are feeling better, legs are feeling better, knees are feeling better…"
That's a good sign since in order to win the SAC title the Pioneers will have to play three times in less than two days.
"This is something we've trained for," explained Giacomazzi, pointing out that his players have been running morning sprints since mid-September "to have enough energy and stamina to withstand playing three matches in 36 hours."
The first of those matches comes at 10:30 a.m. Friday when the Pioneers (17-14), seeded third in the six-team tournament, take on No. 6 seed St. Gregory's (12-14). The winner advances to take on No. 2 seed Lubbock Christian (23-8) in a semifinal at 4 p.m. Friday. The championship match will be played at 7 p.m. Saturday.
All Wayland games will be audio streamed. The link is available on the volleyball homepage at www.wbuathletics.com.
Wayland already has beaten St. Gregory's twice, both times in three sets. The Pioneers first won at home Oct. 6, 25-16, 25-20, 25-20, before prevailing over the Lady Cavaliers in Shawnee last Friday, 25-17, 25-22, 25-18. That most recent win capped Wayland's season-high five-match win streak, which came to an end the next day in a five-set loss to 10th-ranked Oklahoma Baptist.
Giacomazzi said his team has "done well against St. Greg's" and wants to continue that Friday.
He said the Pioneers' first priority, of course, is to win, but they also want to win as efficiently as possible throughout the weekend because of the quick turnaround between matches.
"We want to take care of St. Greg's, and our goal is to do it as quickly as possible so we can have as much energy later in the day as possible," the coach said. "We want to be as efficient with our movements as possible.
"We need to have quality serves as well as quality passes so we can have good swings on the ball, and put up a quality block so we can end the rallies as quickly as possible."
If Wayland beats St. Greg's on Friday morning, the Pioneers would play second-seeded LCU (23-8) at 4 p.m. Friday in the semis. LCU, which has a first-round bye, defeated Wayland twice during the regular season, both times in four.
If WBU gets past St. Greg's, the Pioneers look forward to a rematch against the rival Lady Chaparrals, who are in their final season in the SAC as LCU makes the move to NCAA Division II starting next year.
"They've shown some weakness in their armor," Giacomazzi said of the Lady Chaps. "They had the misfortune of losing a quality player (Brittany Johnson), but they still have a strong, scrappy team. They play very good defense and have a couple of hitters who can put the ball down and over our blocks.
"What we have to do is take care of the ball when it's on our side of the net and put up a quality set. We have hitters who can hit from the right side, the middle or the left, but we have to be able to have good passing to give us a better option of who to set. If we do that we can play with anybody."
As was shown last weekend when both Wayland and Lubbock Christian took tourney host Oklahoma Baptist to five sets, Giacomazzi said the tournament title is up for grabs.
"It could be anybody," he said.
The winner earns an automatic bid to the 36-team national tournament, and while Giacomazzi said OBU could earn an at-large bid due to its high ranking, his Pioneers have to win the tourney title in order to advance.
Sooner Athletic Conference Volleyball Schedule
Nov. 9-10 at Oklahoma Baptist University, Shawnee, Okla.
10:30 - No. 3 Wayland Baptist (17-14) vs. No. 6 St. Gregory's (12-14)
1 p.m. - No. 4 Oklahoma City (15-21) vs. No. 5 John Brown (21-15)
4 p.m. - No. 2 Lubbock Christian (23-8) vs. WBU/SGU winner
7 p.m. - No. 1 Oklahoma Baptist (29-4) vs. OCU/JBU winner
Championship, 7 p.m.


text: Sorry, I don't know how this got back up, I didn't repost it, at least on purpose... But it might be OK cause of Big E's riddle!!!!! I've been working on this one for a while and just finished it. Haven't tied one with with this many materials in it for some time but I'm pretty happy with it. I'm not going to mention the things I see that need improvement..... but there are a few, hope you like it. Mark


text: I agree 'om' is to short. At most search engines you have to type at least 3 chars. So the call name of the openmoko distribution has to have a length higher than 2. I like to keep the strict separation between the company, the software and the phones. The distinction between the phones and the company/software is already handled. Neo Freerunner/Neo 1973 vs Openmoko. But the separation between the company and the software is to small. Om looks like the abbreviation of openmoko. 'Om linux' is a nice suggestion, but I don't like putting linux into a distribution name. Linux has nowadays a wide definition. Everything is called linux and all distribution are based on linux or are linux. But if you ask what linux really is, they answer: it's a collection of distributions that are based on the same software made by Linus. That's correct, but if you say linux, you mostly mean an operating system for your desktop/laptop. The openmoko distribution doesn't target that. The openmoko distribution is for a phone. I agree that om 2007.2 and om 2008.8 are something very different. And therefor I wouldn't put om 2007.2 in the Openmoko Distribution family. It's just another distribution. So I still think this would be best: Company: - Openmoko (And for legal docs: Openmoko inc) Distro's: - Om 2007.2 - Omd (Openmoko distribution) - Qt extended - Debian - ... Derivatives of Omd: - SHR (mix of Omd and om 2007.2) - FDOM Releases of Omd: - Omd 2008.8 - Omd 2008.9 - Omd 2008.10 (future) -- View this message in context: http://n2.nabble.com/om2008.8-%3C-%3E-om2008.9-issues-tp1134090p1299479.html Sent from the Openmoko Documentation mailing list archive at Nabble.com.


text:
Incentives for Hiring the Unemployed
With the current state of the economy, any federal or state incentives encouraging expanded employment would be welcomed news to employers.
August 25, 2011
Federal Incentives
The federal Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act of 2010 provided significant tax savings for qualified employers who hired previously unemployed workers. The tax benefit in 2010 involved a payroll tax exemption from the employer's 6.2 percent portion of Social Security taxes on wages paid to qualified employees from March 19, 2010 through December 31, 2010. If these employees remained on the payroll for 52 consecutive weeks, the employer also is entitled to claim a tax credit for the lesser of $1,000 or the 6.2 percent portion of wages earned during that period. As the required retention period extended into 2011, the credit is available for the 2011 tax year. Although there was discussion of extending this incentive, the proposed bill was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee, where no action was taken.
State Incentives
With some states experiencing double-digit unemployment rates, legislation to stimulate job creation had increased during this last legislative session. Tax credits and incentives for hiring their unemployed residents were considered, but ultimately many were vetoed or died upon adjournment. Many of the surviving benefits were directed only at small businesses, although some affect all businesses.
The following states enacted legislation for incentives available to businesses of all sizes for hiring unemployed residents in full time positions, generally 37.5 hours:
Florida. The Jobs for the Unemployed Tax Credit Program provides eligible businesses with a $1,000 tax credit for each qualified employee previously unemployed for at least 30 days, who maintains full time employment for a period at least 12 months. This program is effective July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2012. A tax credit that is not fully used in the first year for which it becomes available may be carried forward to the subsequent tax year.
Maryland. The Job Creation and Recovery Tax Credit closely followed the HIRE Act in timing and in substance. Qualified employers hiring qualified residents may claim a refundable tax credit of $5,000 per employee up to a maximum of $250,000 per employer. The full time position must be newly created or vacant for at least six months at the time of hiring. The program was capped at $20 million for employees hired between March 25, 2010 and December 31, 2010.
Alabama. The Reemployment Act of 2010 was enacted to provide an additional income tax deduction for a portion of wages paid to qualified newly hired unemployed persons who formerly received unemployment benefits or whose benefits had expired. Although the program is effective for both 2010 and 2011, the deduction may only be claimed once per employee, after an employee has been continuously employed full time for at least 12 months. The deduction available ranges from 35 percent to 50 percent of qualified gross wages, depending on the base hourly wage.
Other State Hiring Incentives
In addition, there are several nontax incentives available to encourage the hiring of the unemployed. New Jersey's Return to Work Program offers grants for on the job training to partially reimburse employers for the cost of training new workers. Any worker who has exhausted all unemployment benefits is eligible for the grant program. The California Employment Training Panel offers financial assistance to businesses to support customized worker training that provides specific benefits to workers and employers.
In addition to credits and incentives for hiring the unemployed, many states are offering other incentives enacted to increase jobs:
New York. To replace the Empire Zones Program which expired in June, 2010, New York enacted the Excelsior Jobs Program. To encourage expansion and relocation within the state, strategic industries such as manufacturing, financial services, software development and scientific research and development, to name a few, are targeted. Retail, entertainment and personal services are expressly disqualified from the program. The program includes an investment tax credit, a jobs tax credit, a research and development credit and a real property tax credit.
Indiana. The New Employer Tax Credit provides a temporary nonrefundable tax credit for a new business locating within the state or an existing business that expands operations, employing at least 10 new, qualified, full time employees during 24 consecutive calendar months or less. The credit allowed is 10 percent of qualified wages paid during that period. Applications for the credit must be submitted before January 1, 2013.
District of Columbia. The Job Growth Tax Credit allows a credit for projects that bring at least 10 new jobs to the District with an average yearly wage of at least 120 percent of the average District resident wage. The new positions must be retained for at least one year in order to qualify.
Small businesses can also take advantage of additional state tax benefits offered in Illinois, Connecticut, North Carolina, Virginia and California.
Rate this article 5 (excellent) to 1 (poor). Send your responses here.
Mary F. Bernard, CPA, is director — income/franchise tax, at the Dallas, Texas-headquartered tax services firm of Ryan. Bernard formerly worked as principal, director of State & Local Tax Services, at Providence, RI-based Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co., Ltd.


text:
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Published by
Developed by
[add review | score detail | rate game]
Related Web Sites
- Harry Potter Casts a Spell (An Apple Games article, archived on the author's website, about the Macintosh version of The Chamber of Secrets. In addition to a descriptive overview of the game, the article provides a brief guide to the new characters and creatures in this second game, a collection of links to Harry Potter fansites, recommendations for other games the player might enjoy, and general information about the game itself (February, 2003).)
- NZMac Review (A (largely) unscored, positive review of the Macintosh version of the game by NZMac, a New Zealand Apple site (Jul. 01, 2003).)
- Wikipedia: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Information about Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets at Wikipedia)
Searches and Links
Amazon ; an online store selling new and used computer and video games.
Google ; search engine that ranks by popularity
eBay ; Many older games listed on MobyGames are out of print. Auction sites like eBay are the best place to find them.


text:
Do you know how when you call a company, and you hear the disclaimer that "your call may be monitored or recorded"? It turns out that at some companies, the monitoring is done by…a computer. New software is analyzing your words as well as your voice.
Here's how it works. You call in your bank, brokerage firm or favorite retail customer service line and hear a "your call might be recorded" notice that's typical of a traditional call monitoring service (and required by law). As you chat with a customer service representative, your decibels, pitch and content of your speech is monitored by the NICE system.
That data is aggregated and relayed to the manager of the call center, who monitors the trends on a dashboard. Supervisors can keep tabs not only on call volume, but call content, like keywords. Is a certain piece of junk mail eliciting shouts from customers? Or is there a fierce offer from a competitor that callers keep bringing up? Is a certain phrase causing mass confusion and higher pitches?
Do customers seem more frustrated when they've been put on hold for thirty minutes or more?
As a customer, I'm profoundly disturbed. As a former inbound call center rep, I'm intrigued.
My favorite sentence of the article:
Financial service companies have flocked to the service in recent months as the volume (and vulgarity) of calls has increased.
I bet.


text: Drafted my first team of the year. It is my keeper league. I like but a couple of picks were rushed because my plan was ruined a couple picks before. QB Eli, big ben RB Cj, Trent, Doug martin, Lacy, Andre Brown WR Julio, Colston, Nicks, Tavon, Antonio Brown, Kenny Britt TE Finley D/ST Cardinals K Zuerlein Took Finley and Britt as high risk high reward type players.(12th and 13th rounds) I was two picks away fron Matt Ryan and Victor Cruz so I went with Colston and Nicks


text:
Area 51
Bermuda Triangle
First life forms on Earth
Humans & Intelligence
Great Pyramid / Ancient Structures
None of the above, but aliens exist
Aliens do not exist
Last edited by Darsithis; 2013-02-04 at 01:05 AM.
No I don't believe aliens are involved in any of those things. I don't really think there is intelligent alien life out there, but since you just asked about aliens, intelligent or otherwise, I voted yes.
Intelligent life might be very rare. Here on this planet, multicellular organisms evolved into animals and plants.....and the concept of intelligent plants doesn't even make SENSE, seeing as how they been around for something like a billion years and never even developed a brain. Plants are as alien as it gets in our experience, and we treat them mostly as inanimate objects.
When it comes to intelligent life, you're asking not just for life to evolve, but for that life to develop in a way that is conducive to creating a brain of some kind, and also that the brain develops in such a way that it achieves "intelligence", as however you want to define that. I don't like the odds of that.
But if we're just talking about a lifeform, possibly developing like a plant or something even more bizarre that does not have a brain, I think that's likely.
aliens do exist, and they are not here, and they probably never came, ever.
Do no harm, but take no shit.
Much safer to just hang out there and bomb the place, wait for most of the humans to die out, and then take it all.
Put both "None of the above, but aliens exist" and "Aliens do not exist" as I do not think they have involvement in any of those things and I do not know or have a belief as to whether they exist or not.
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.
Revelation 6:8
i'm willing to believe that life on other planets could have evolved. so in that sense, i suppose i'm open to the idea that 'aliens exist.' are they advanced enough to make it all the way out to earth for a visit? doubt it.
And technology builds on itself. It accelerates. That's why we went from bronze knives to easier-to-produce iron knives over a few thousand years, and from no "computer" other than an abacus to the systems we're typing on here and the portable versions as small as cell phones in about 50 years. We're probably at the tail end of a big breakthrough, but even those breakthroughs occur more and more quickly; compare the developments in ancient Greece to the last hundred years.
So realistically, it's more like caveman to space travel in about 20,000 years. If we allow for even just twice that, another 20,000 years, we can't effectively predict where technology will have taken us. Even 1,000 years is the far-distant future. A Roman general could have grasped and made use of 17th Century technology. Marveled at it, certainly, but adapted. Drop him in today's world, though, and he'd be totally lost.
The idea that a spacefaring sentient race will just happen to be at the same technological level as we when we encounter it is ridiculously unlikely. We're either likely to encounter what are effectively gods, as you say, or encounter nothing, until we're effectively gods ourselves.
The number of people that answered anything except 'None of the above, but aliens exist' and 'Aliens don't exist' is depressing, and the reason why the History Channel produces such shit programs nowdays.
Do no harm, but take no shit.
It's like Mass Effect. They are waiting until we are smart enough to invite us to their inter-galactic empires.
But in all seriousness, Aliens probably exist. Have they visited us? Maybe. There's surely a lot of unexplainable things on Earth. I wouldn't say that its obviously aliens, though.
none of the above.
personally i have no doubts that aliens exist.
intergalactic travel and "star trek" like races of aliens, realistically, that i dont believe in.
edit: if i were an alien of a super race considering a visit to earth, after watching for a short while, i wouldnt let my presence be known either. humans are assholes.
Last edited by Bad Ashe; 2013-02-04 at 02:23 AM.
It's like the Bermuda Triangle. People love to point out all of the ships that have gone missing there under "unexplained or mysterious circumstances" () but have nothing to say when evidence showing just as many disappearances all over the world and that the Bermuda Triangle is nothing special.
Last edited by Darsithis; 2013-02-04 at 02:29 AM.
For instance, the Olmec heads; these are enormous carved stone heads in central America, dated back to the Olmec civilization. Almost exclusively, they have distinctly negroid features; wide noses, thick lips, etc.
Pic included has a dude sitting on it, for scale purposes. The conspiracy theory here would be "OMG, must be aliens, they must have transported people all over the place!" This is malarkey. It's much more likely that there was an African culture that successfully crossed the Atlantic, at least one-way. They may not have had any long-standing presence, but enough of an impact to have these heads created in their honor. Or perhaps they're just stylized in a way that happens, by complete chance, to resemble negroid features. Either of those is infinitely more plausible than "aliens did it".
You could even replace the 1% with 1,000,000 years. If an intelligent species got just a million year head-start on us, imagine what they could have discovered about the universe in that time. Hell, it doesn't even have to be a million years. Maybe just a thousand.
Just because we're too unintelligent or too uninformed to know how to effectively travel the stars, it doesn't mean other species are in the same boat.
We once traveled far and all over. We knew of every people. The Ice came and put a stop to it for awhile, once we and the animals adapted to it. We could travel even farther. Then the Ice melted, and we have the world today.
I voted both "aliens do not exist" and "area 51", because I'm convinced that they have area 51 as a backup hiding spot in case of ever finding evidence of aliens, so that no one would believe anything if the information was somehow leaked.
In the meantime they probably just use it for other secretive projects.
I don't know about those, but they definitely dropped off my ex-wife.
I think aliens exist, I don't think that anything in the survey have anything to do with aliens. I can imagine a scenario where aliens "visit" but don't have the ability to destroy us. They send a generational ship to our system because they found a habitable planet there (Earth). They have no indication that we're here because either they were too far away when they found our planet for any of our transmissions to have reached them or, our transmissions are far too weak to be detected until you get well into our solar system. (Keep in mind, they use a huge transmitter/reciever array to communicate with the voyager probes and they're just barely now leaving the solar system.
They get here, and they get a rude surprise, we're in the way, but there's a problem. They're geared for colonization, not an invasion, the ship was built for a one way trip so they have no way to get back, even if they did, they certainly wouldn't be welcome in their own syste because they've been gone for hundreds if not thousands of years. They don't have the kind of weapons they'd need to eradicate us, or if they did, they'd leave the planet itself uninhabitable, which would leave them high and dry. They're also facing an entrenched species that has been on the planet for the entire span of it's existence. They'd have to be friendly or we'd either leave them to rot in orbit, or shoot them down and steal their technology.


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Timbers Beat Chivas USA 3-0, Extend Unbeaten Run to Nine Matches
May 12, 2013 - Major League Soccer (MLS) - Portland Timbers News Release
PORTLAND, Ore. - Midfielder Diego Valeri recorded one goal and two assists and forward Rodney Wallace registered a goal and an assist to help guide the Portland Timbers to a 3-0 win over Chivas USA before a sold-out JELD-WEN Field on Sunday afternoon, extending Portland's MLS-club record unbeaten streak to nine games.
The capacity crowd of 20,647 marked the 40th consecutive sellout at JELD-WEN Field since the Timbers joined MLS in 2011.
The Timbers claimed the lead just past the half-hour mark on Wallace's third goal of the season. Valeri then doubled the lead, 2-0, in the 70th minute and midfielder Will Johnson provided Portland's third goal in second-half stoppage time as the club matched its largest margin of victory as an MLS side in the 3-0 win.
Goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts and the Timbers defense held Chivas USA to eight total shots, recording its fourth straight shutout at home and extending its home shutout streak to 390 consecutive minutes.
Portland (4-1-6, 18pts) moves ahead of Real Salt Lake and into second place in the Western Conference.
Valeri factored in all three goals and attempted a team-high four shots, Johnson set a new career-high with his fourth goal of the season and Wallace matched a career-high with his third goal on the campaign to help the Timbers extend their unbeaten run to an MLS-best nine games.
Goalkeeper Patrick McLain made four saves in his first MLS start and defender Steve Purdy had a team-best three shots as Chivas USA (3-5-2, 11pts) suffered its fourth loss in its last five games.
After a couple of close chances in the opening 30 minutes, the Timbers were able to break the deadlock in the 34th minute. Following a Chivas USA corner kick, goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts initiated a quickly played counter attack that went through Valeri and forward Ryan Johnson to send Wallace in on goal down the left channel. Inside the box, Wallace placed a shot over an on-rushing McLain and into an open goal.
Portland found its second goal of the match in the 70th minute. Maintaining possession in the final third, the Timbers were able to work the ball to forward Darlington Nagbe on the right side, who then played it into Wallace near the top of the box. Wallace slipped a pass into the box for Valeri, beating the offside trap, and Valeri beat McLain one-on-one for his third goal of the season.
Johnson capped the scoring two minutes into second-half stoppage time. Following a short corner from Valeri to midfielder Kalif Alhassan on the left side, Johnson took the ball around the top left corner of the penalty area and hit a curling shot into the bottom right corner of the goal. Johnson's goal was the Timbers' MLS-leading 14th second-half goal scored in 2013.
Two minutes before the opening goal by Wallace, Valeri had a shot from just beyond the top of the box hit off the crossbar; it was one of 12 first-half shot attempts for the Timbers.
The Timbers begin a three-match road stretch on Saturday, May 18, against Northwest-rival Vancouver Whitecaps FC at BC Place; kickoff is 4 p.m. (Pacific). The Cascadia Cup matchup will be televised live on ROOT SPORTS, with local radio broadcasts available on 750 The Game and in Spanish on La Pantera 940AM.
* The capacity crowd marked the 40th consecutive sellout at JELD-WEN Field since the Timbers joined MLS in 2011. * With the win, the Timbers extend their MLS-club unbeaten streak to nine matches, which is tied with FC Dallas for the longest in MLS this season. * The Timbers move into second place in the Western Conference with the victory, which is the highest the club has placed in the conference through 11 matches of a season. * The Timbers' record of 4-1-6 (18pts) is the club's best start to an MLS season through 11 matches. * Portland defeated Chivas USA for the second time (2-4-0) in the all-time MLS series between the two clubs; both wins have come at JELD-WEN Field. * The Timbers matched their largest margin of victory as an MLS side - three goals - in the win over Chivas USA, a mark first set twice during the 2011 season (3-0 win vs. LA Galaxy on Aug. 3, 2011; 3-0 win vs. New England on Sept. 16, 2011). * The Timbers scored three goals in a match for the third time this season, and with 18 overall on the campaign the club is tied with FC Dallas for the most goals scored in the Western Conference. * Goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts and the Timbers defense recorded its fourth consecutive shutout at home and extended its current home shutout streak to 390 minutes - the longest home shutout streak in the club's MLS history. * The Timbers are 4-2-3 all-time in day matches at JELD-WEN Field as an MLS side, including an unbeaten 3-0-3 record since the start of the 2012 campaign. * With second-half goals from Diego Valeri and Will Johnson, the Timbers lead MLS with 14 goals scored in the second half. * Valeri recorded one goal and two assists against Chivas USA, matching the Timbers MLS record for points in a single game (4). He is tied for the league lead in assists with four. * Valeri logged two assists in a match for the second time this season, also achieving the feat in the 3-2 road win over Sporting KC on April 27. His pair of assists against Chivas USA marked the fifth time in Timbers MLS history in which a player has recorded multiple assists in a single game. * With three shots on goal, Valeri matched Portland's MLS mark for shots on goal in a single match; it's the third time this season in which he has recorded the feat (March 3 vs. New York; April 21 at San Jose) * Portland set a new MLS-club record with 12 corner kicks against Chivas USA. * Valeri took 11 corner kicks, setting a new record for individual corner kicks attempted in a single match by a Timbers MLS player. Jack Jewsbury held the previous mark at nine (achieved twice during the 2011 campaign). * Rodney Wallace and Darlington Nagbe become the third and fourth players, respectively, to record points in back-to-back matches this season. Wallace assisted on Nagbe's goal in the 1-1 draw at FC Dallas on May 8. * Wallace scored his third goal of the season in the first half, matching a career-high in goals first set during his rookie season in 2009 with D.C. United. * Midfielder Will Johnson scored his fourth goal of the season, which set a new career-high for goals in a season. He is tied with forward Ryan Johnson for the club lead in goal-scoring. * Chivas USA's two shots in the first half were the fewest shots by an opponent in a half this season. * With 19 shots against Chivas USA, the Timbers have recorded 10 or more shots in 37 consecutive home matches at JELD-WEN Field. * Chivas USA goalkeeper Patrick McLain made his first MLS start Sunday at JELD-WEN Field. McLain was a member of the Timbers U-23s inaugural team in 2009.
• Discuss this story on the Major League Soccer message board...
Major League Soccer Stories from May 12, 2013
- Timbers Beat Chivas USA 3-0, Extend Unbeaten Run to Nine Matches - Portland Timbers
- Gyasi Zardes Hopes First Goal Is the Start of Big Things for LA Galaxy - Los Angeles Galaxy
- MLS Reserve League: Seattle Sounders FC 0 vs. Orlando City SC 2 - Seattle Sounders FC
- Chivas USA Fall 3-0 at Portland - Club Deportivo Chivas USA
- Alexander Soto, 14, of Elizabeth, NJ wins Sueño MLS 2013 - MLS
- Revs play to a draw - New England Revolution
- Revolution undone by "momentary loss of concentration" in draw with Red Bulls - New England Revolution
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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Amphibian (2006) for two laptops, electric guitar and e-mic
This performance is a collaborative composition for two performers using synchronized laptops, an electric guitar and a novel gestural interface for contemporary vocal performance and electronic processing – the eMic (Extended Mic-stand Interface Controller). The eMic, an ongoing project by Donna Hewitt, allows the performer to manipulate their voice in real-time by capturing physical gestures via an array of sensing devices including pressure sensors, distance sensors, tilt sensors, ribbon sensors and a joystick microphone mount. The data captured from the vocalist's physical gestures is sent to a computer, running audio-processing software, and used to transform the live audio signal from the microphone. Timing and eMic gestural data are shared between the two performers and the electric guitar output is used as input to a processing chain. From a performance perspective, the intention is for the duo to have the outward appearance of a conventional guitarist and singer (i.e. 'a band'), but that extensive digital sensing and real-time processing technologies transport the physical gestures of the performers into a new musical context, subverting and extending the gestural and sonic language of popular music. In doing so the piece explores the nexus between the compositional and performative practices of electro-acoustic music, popular music and electronic dance music.
Interview with ABC Classic FM as part of Liquid Architecture 2006
The purpose of this residency was to work intensively on the further development of a musical interface – the eMic – a sensor based microphone stand 'instrument' that allows the performer to manipulate vocal sounds in real time via the sending of control signals to sound processing patches in software. In particular, we were keen to explore the STEIM developed software JunXion to investigate different approaches to the mapping of gestural data to musical parameters in a duo context. Our ultimate goal is to improve the responsiveness of the instrument in real performance contexts and to investigate the ways in vocal performance data can be used in a duo context.
Donna has been performing with the eMic since 2003 and designed the instrument as a way of connecting her skills as a vocal performer with her electronic music practice. The other motivation for the design was to develop a flexible and engaging vocal interface as an alternative to what she saw as quite limiting laptop based performance with a vocal mic input. Donna and Julian have been working as a duo since 20o5. Since that time, they have a produced a range of collaborative compositions. When used in the context of the duo the data outputs from the eMic are also sent to the second performer who is able to use this data to shape musical elements in performance. The challenge therefore is to develop meaningful musical mappings where the second performer has access to the gestural data sets from the first.
During our week long residency, we worked to the following plan
- Design, development and testing of sensors
- Familiarisation with STEIM JunXion software environment
- Exploration of data mapping strategies using JunXion
- Exploration of performer-to-performer mapping strategies
The main aim was to stabilise the instrument and develop some software patches in JunXion,PD and Ableton Live (Donna's computer), and in Max/MSP and Ableton Live (Julian's computer) that would serve as the basis for a new collaborative composition. Good progress was made against these aims during the week in residence. This new work will extend the use of sensors to Julian's electric guitar (via an Arduino board and sensors) so that full performance gesture capture and exchange can occur.
As part of the artist residency, we presented at a STEIM hotpot lab #12 on Hyperinstruments (Dec 9, 2010). This was a good opportunity to introduce the instrument and the duo work to the audience, answer questions about our ongoing research, and invite critical discussion.
During the week, the snow storms started that would bring Europe to a standstill in coming weeks. Snow is fascinating for us Australians – our climate is far too warm for snow (save for a very small alpine region in the south east). Armed with a new phone, Julian started some 'quick and dirty' mobile phone shot videos to capture the mood of each day, adding an improvised soundtrack. One video was completed each day, based on a couple of minutes continuous video captured at a single location. Here is a taste.
2011 will be a year of consolidating on the work from STEIM and the completion of new duo material. A range of performances are planned in Australia, the USA and Scandinavia.
We would like to acknowledge the support of the Australia Council for the Arts and Queensland University of Technology whose funding made the residency possible, and STEIM for the artist residency and the generous support of the staff.


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Tiny Writing Prompts for Busy People With Big, Creative Hearts
These video writing prompts are for you, a little gift from the heart of Firefly. We post a new one every few weeks. Join our mailing list to stay updated! We keep the archive small because we want you to do these now.
From our hearts to yours,


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European Union disburses over BBD$4.7 million for Barbados' International Business Sector
The European Union has released BBD $4,741,740 ( 1,9M euros) as direct Budget Support to Barbados in support of the International Business Sector The funds take the form of a nonreimbursable grant, the final disbursement under this programme, which has already received BBD $11,857,826 (4.75M euros).
Charge d'Affaires of the European Union Delegation to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, mClaude Bochu said: "This clearly demonstrates the continued commitment by the European Union to msupporting Barbados, especially in these difficult times of a sustained global financial and economic crisis. The funds will specifically contribute to strengthening the institutional framework of regulation mand supervision of international businesses and to creating an enabling environment to improve efficiency and competitiveness of the sector".
This final payment, in particular, was made on the basis of Barbados' satisfactorily meeting some key targets related to the implementation of the Strategic Plan for the International Business Sector, namely licensing of new entities, development of an operations manual for licensing procedures and reduction in the number of days for processing an International Business License application.
In parallel, Barbados and the EU have formulated a follow-on Budget Support programme in the area of Human Resource Development for an amount of BBD$122 million (49 million euros), which will support capacity building, knowledge management, development of a National Qualifications Framework, research and development, and support to the development of the green economy during the period 2011-2016.
This is further proof that the EU continues to deliver on its promises to improve Barbados' development in raising the living standards of citizens.


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About Us
The goal of North by Northwest Wine Imports is to bring the most innovative and exciting wines at a competitive price point and place them in select restaurants and boutique retailers in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
We strive to build the brands we represent to their fullest potential by supporting our customers in an effort to excite and satisfy the everyday wine drinker.
We have had the time of our lives researching and selecting these wines. We hope you like them as much as we do.


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9 Letter Name Train
Personalize your 9 letter Magnetized Alphabet Train. The NameTrain letters are stained and sealed with a non-toxic finish. For ages 3 and Up. We assort the letter colors. Please ensure to spell the name correctly
Optional pieces:
Ships within 2-3 business days*Our track is crafted out of maple and is compatible with other wooden track systems.
We try our best to ship this item within 24 hours of the order, but sometimes, it may take up to 2 business days for it to ship.
We use USPS First Class or Priority mail. Priority mail takes approximately 2-3 business days after the ship date to arrive. First class mail will arrive between 3-5 business days after the item is shipped
Please allow extra time during holiday season.
The letter trains are compatible with all these systems
2. What is your return policy?
If for any reason, you are not satisfied with your order send us an email within 30 days of your order and we will send you a shipping label to return the item to us FREE* of charge. Your money will then be refunded to your credit card or Paypal account (depending on the method of payment) within 48 hours of us receiving the merchandise.
3. Can I choose the colors?
Each letter comes in 6 different colors: Red, blue, green, purple, yellow and orange. We assort the colors based on availability ensuring that no two adjacent letters are the same color. We try to do our utmost to cater to your request but availability of certain colors are dependent on our inventory at the time. If not sure, please send us an email either before or after your order and we will try our best to respond to your emails within 2-4 business hours.
Please enter your color request, if any, in the gift message area
4. Do you ship internationally?
Yes we do. We use United States Postal Service for 99% of our shipping. Priority post to international destinations will take anywhere between 1-2 weeks and First Class mail to international destinations between 2-4 weeks. Please allow extra time during holiday season.
* Applies only to domestic US orders only.


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North Buffalo Dental specializes in General Dentistry, Costmetic Dentistry, Restorative Dentistry, and Comfort Dentistry
North Buffalo Dental
1600 Hertel Ave.
Buffalo, NY 14216
(716) 803-1600
We are very concerned about what our patients have to say. Feedback helps us improve the way we do business.
Read what current and past patients are saying about their experiences with North Buffalo Dental.