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1. Check the website. Everybody has a website now - heck, even my PARROTS have a website, so it stands to reason that companies do too. These websites are updated frequently by experts and usually contain information that customers inquire about most. The purpose of the website is not only to provide services to the public, but to answer some of the most frequently asked questions and to provide guidance on issues that they receive the most calls and e-mails about. Checking the website might save you a call, or at least lead you in a direction where you can fine-tune your inquiries to get more specific information quickly and easily.
2. Plan your call carefully and be mindful of the schedule. If there's a major deadline within the next week, I can assure you that the call volume is high and you will be more likely to be placed on hold or wind out leaving a message that may not be returned for a while. Try to avoid deadline times by planning ahead or, if it can wait, calling a couple of days after the deadline passes. (You can usually find out if you're approaching a deadline time by following Suggestion #1). Another time to avoid are days immediately before or after a major holiday. Staffing is usually low before the holiday (when everybody wants to use those precious vacation days), and call volume is typically extremely high after a holiday (when everybody goes back to work). And Friday afternoons are usually bad too, because everybody wants a Friday off, so if there's leave to burn (in terms of "use it or lose it" days or comp time) that's usually when staff cashes in. The trick is that you want to call when there's maximum staffing, but not extremely high call volume - this increases your chances of getting a human being with correct answers quickly and easily.
3. Read the instructions all the way through. I understand that it's a knee jerk reaction to pick up the telephone once you hit a sentence you don't understand. Don't do it. Keep reading because the answer might be further down the page. I can't count the number of "oh yea, right there it is, I just quit reading" comments I've heard over the years.
4. NEVER pick up the telephone when you're panicked or heightened emotional state unless it's a medical emergency and you're calling 911. I kid you not - I've answered the telephone to full blown hyperventelation many times, and those are awkward calls. I have a psychology degree, but most people in administrative jobs studied areas like business management or accounting and they may not have been trained to "talk you off a cliff." Practice what I call the 10-10-10 rule: Take 10 slow breaths, count to 10 slowly, and wait 10 minutes. Then you'll be able to frame your question in a way that gets results and answers quickly and calmly.
5. Collect your questions and focus on the person you're talking to as they answer. As you puruse the website and read the instructions, make a list of your questions. Don't interrupt the person in the middle of a sentence with a follow up question before they finish answering the last question, or be one of those people that says "oh! One last question!" ten times. Because in those situations you usually wind out asking the same thing 3 times because you were so busy formulating new questions that you didn't hear the answer to the one you were asking.
6. Limit the hypothetical questions. If you say "what if I ..." or "suppose I were to ..." more than twice, then we suspect that you're looking for ways to duck the red tape (and we will look for ways to trap you into admitting it). Be straightforward and give us the facts, please.
7. Rephrasing the question 7 ways won't change the answer. And "call shopping" (where you realize it's a rotating line and keep calling to work your way through the staff to get the answer you want) is a trick we pick up on around the third call. Everybody in that department has been trained the same way and they'll give you the same answer. No matter how many times you call or how many ways you try to rephrase it.
8. Be respectful. What I mean is that if the person says "I don't know but I can send you to somebody that does know," immediately cease and desist from asking any more questions until you're routed to the right person. Because your "wait a minute, let me ask you this while I have you ..." questions will lead to more "I don't knows" and a delay in getting the information you need while you bark up the wrong tree. Nobody knows everything and despite the current push to "cross train," there are people that know some things better than others. They're trying to help you by sending you to the most knowledgeable person to answer your question. Let them do it.
9. Be patient. Not every question has an immediate answer and they may have to research what you're asking about. So don't wait until the last minute. Plan ahead.
10. Don't lie. I know this sounds silly, but people do call and outright lie about things, only to be embarassed when we use that annoying database at the computer we're sitting behind and catch them in it. That can lead to serious trouble in some situations, so please, no matter how embarassing or hurtful it is to your pride, just tell the truth. We will act with discresion and will do our best to help you - but don't say you mailed the check and it cleared last week when it's lying on the table in front of you. Because they'll look it up, see it didn't arrive, and the next question will be for you to send them a copy of the cancelled check to prove it. Awkward!
A lot of getting good customer service is to use discernment and good, old fashioned common sense in dealing with companies. Be courteous, professional, respectful and plan appropriately and you'll get the fastest and best customer service available. And really, these are good rules to apply to all of your relationships.
That's all for today.


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68000 ⇝
Motorola 68000
(MC68000) The first member of Motorola, Inc.'s family of 16- and 32-bit microprocessors. The successor to the Motorola 6809 and followed by the Motorola 68010.
The 68000 has 32-bit registers but only a 16-bit ALU and external data bus. It has 24-bit addressing and a linear address space, with none of the evil segment registers of Intel's contemporary processors that make programming them unpleasant. That means that a single directly accessed array or structure can be larger than 64KB in size. Addresses are computed as 32 bit, but the top 8 bits are cut to fit the address bus into a 64-pin package (address and data share a bus in the 40 pin packages of the 8086 and Zilog Z8000). The 68000 has sixteen 32-bit registers, split into data and address registers. One address register is reserved for the Stack Pointer. Any register, of either type, can be used for any function except direct addressing. Only address registers can be used as the source of an address, but data registers can provide the offset from an address. Like the Zilog Z8000, the 68000 features a supervisor and user mode, each with its own Stack Pointer. The Zilog Z8000 and 68000 are similar in capabilities, but the 68000 is 32 bits internally, making it faster and eliminating forced segmentations. Like many other CPUs of its generation, it can fetch the next instruction during execution (2 stage pipeline). The 68000 was used in many workstations, notably early Sun-2 machines, and personal computers, notably Apple Computer's first Macintoshes and the Amiga. It was also used in most of Sega's early arcade machines, and in the Genesis/Megadrive consoles. Variants of the 68000 include the 68HC000 (a low-power HCMOS implementation) and the 68008 (an eight-bit data bus version used in the Sinclair QL). ["The 68000: Principles and Programming", Leo Scanlon, 1981].Last updated: 2003-07-11
Nearby terms:
Motorola 14500B ♦ Motorola 6800 ♦ Motorola 68000 ♦ Motorola 6801 ♦ Motorola 68010
Try this search on Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Google, OneLook.

subset: commoncrawl


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New list of games coming from Activision announced at e3!!
Cutting-edge innovation and experiential digital entertainment will be on display from Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. at the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3 Expo) taking place at the Los Angeles Convention Center on June 5 – 7, 2012. Highly anticipated and fan-favorite titles Call of Duty®: Black Ops II, Skylanders Giants™ and TRANSFORMERS™: FALL OF CYBERTRONlead Activision's line-up of blockbuster titles being showcased in the South Hall, booth #647.
"The level of creativity driving video games has never been greater. Our industry has the greatest talent in the world and E3 gives us all a chance to showcase the innovative titles that will continue to make games the leading form of entertainment today," said Eric Hirschberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. "This year's line-up is one of our strongest, and we can't wait for our fans to see for themselves."
Activision's full E3 Slate Includes:
Call of Duty: Black Ops II – The most groundbreaking and ambitious Call of Duty to date, Call of Duty: Black Ops II pushes the boundaries of the record-setting franchise and will turn the future black for everyone worldwide on November 13th. Set in the year 2025, Call of Duty: Black Ops II propels players into a near-future, introducing them to a fiction that is taking root in today's headlines. Advanced weaponry, robotics and drone warfare define the battle space and challenges players to ask, "What happens when someone steals the keys" and turns our greatest strengths into our greatest weaknesses? Strike Force Levels bring a fresh take on single-player missions, introducing players to sandbox-style gameplay and branching storylines for the first time in franchise history. With equally ambitious Zombies and multiplayer modes yet to be unveiled, Call of Duty: Black Ops IIdelivers the complete package, offering fans the most expansive Call of Dutyexperience ever. (Developed by Treyarch for Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Windows PC.; not yet rated by the ESRB.)
Skylanders Giants – Skylanders Giants builds upon the breakthrough fundamentals of the Skylanders Spyro's Adventure™— merging the physical and virtual realms with an innovative line of cross-platform toys with "brains," which players everywhere can magically bring to life in the world of Skylands. Using the mystical Portal of Power®, players once again lead a team of heroic Skylanders in a new adventure to save their world. Portal Masters will journey through new areas of Skylands, encountering new enemies, solving fun puzzles, overcoming different hazards and obstacles, and finding a variety of collectable rewards and treasure.Skylanders Giants introduces sixteen new characters to build on the magic ofSkylanders Spyro's Adventures, including super-sized giants with powers to match, as well as the new LightCore™ Skylanders that light-up in the game and in the real-world as players transport them to Skylands using the Portal of Power. Additionally, the game features new Hero Challenges, more Battle Mode gameplay, and advanced integration across console, handheld, mobile and Skylanders UniverseSM. (Developed by Toys for Bob for Wii™, Nintendo 3DS™, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 system, Windows PC and mobile devices; not yet rated by the ESRB.)
TRANSFORMERS: FALL OF CYBERTRON – TRANSFORMERS: FALL OF CYBERTRON allows players to experience the darkest hours of the war between the AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS as they vie for control of their dying home world. Fans will fight through both sides of the TRANSFORMERS' most epic battles that culminate in their legendary exodus from CYBERTRON. With the stakes higher than ever, players will embark on an action-packed journey through massive, war-torn environments designed around each character's unique abilities and alternate forms, including GRIMLOCK's nearly indestructible T-Rex form and the legendary COMBATICONS combining into the colossal BRUTICUS. Taking the franchise's competitive multiplayer to all-new heights, TRANSFORMERS: FALL OF CYBERTRON lets fans go head-to-head in blistering AUTOBOT vs. DECEPTICON matches after creating their own unique characters with the most in-depth, advanced customization ever before seen in a TRANSFORMERS game.Additionally, High Moon Studios is announcing at E3 that they have listened to the passionate PC fans and have been working closely with fellow developer Mercenary Technology to create a PC sku that will launch day and date with the console versions on August 28. (Developed by High Moon Studios for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system and by Mercenary Technology for Windows PC; rated "T" for Teen on all platforms by the ESRB.)
The Amazing Spider-Man™ – Go beyond Sony Picture Entertainment's Columbia Pictures feature film and find out what happens next in The Amazing Spider-Manvideo game, which brings Spider-Man's free-roaming, web-slinging action back to New York City. Players take on the role of a young Peter Parker discovering his new Spider-Man powers and added Super Hero responsibilities, using the game's innovative Web Rush mechanic to swing freely around Manhattan, combat a variety of criminal activities and take on classic Marvel Super Villains, such as Rhino, Iguana, Felicia Hardy and more. Set against an original story crafted by Hollywood writer Seamus Kevin Fahey (Spartacus: Vengeance, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, Battlestar Galactica) that takes place entirely after the events of the upcoming feature film, The Amazing Spider-Man video game delivers an immersive and cinematic adventure allowing players to truly harness the power of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. (Developed by Beenox for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 system, Wii, and Nintendo 3DS, with a Windows PC version slated for release later in the year; developed by Other Ocean for Nintendo DS™; rated "T" for Teen on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 system and Wii and "E10+" on Nintendo DS by the ESRB.)
007™ Legends – Celebrating the Bond franchise's 50th anniversary, the latest installment in the video game series – 007 Legends – launches gamers back through time to relive a selection of James Bond's iconic and intense undercover missions from the popular films. A first-of-its-kind Bond video game, 007 Legends features an original, overarching storyline tying together five classic Bond movie-inspired missions plus a sixth mission based on this year's highly-anticipated movie – SKYFALL – which will be available post launch as free downloadable content, to offer the most diverse Bond gaming experience yet! Delivering the action that gamers expect from a Bond game, 007 Legends equips players with state-of-the-art spy gadgets, an arsenal of weapons, and sleek vehicles as they jet off to exotic locations and utilize Bond's unmatched combat abilities, quick wits, class and style to take down notorious villains and their brutal henchmen and perform impressive stunts. (Developed by Eurocom for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 system and Windows PC; not yet rated by the ESRB.)
Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse – Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse features an all-new original narrative which is an expansion on the popular episode, "Road to the Multiverse", turning the outrageous world of Family Guy into an action-packed video game filled with nods to the long-running comedy. Playing as either Stewie or Brian, each with unique abilities and weapons, players will battle their favorite Family Guy characters as they advance through 'Multiverse' themed levels in their pursuit to battle Stewie's evil twin, Bertram, who has returned and is hell-bent on destroying Quahog. Fans will also be able to team up in co-op multiplayer mode or compete against each other in competitive multiplayer levels – all with a Family Guy twist. (Developed by Heavy Iron for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system; not yet rated by the ESRB.)


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An Irish TV soccer pundit is feeling the heat on Twitter having referred to the hero US goalkeeper Tim Howard, who saved a record 16 shots on goal during the World Cup game against Belgium, as "average."
Kenny Cunningham, the RTE soccer pundit and former Ireland and international soccer player, was left with egg on his face after the US versus Belgium World Cup game. Cunningham showed a montage of Howard before the game and predicted that he would be a possible weakness that Belgium could exploit.
Here's a Vine of his prediction:
However Cunningham could not have been more wrong. Howard made 16 saves, the most any keeper has made during a World Cup match since 1966. Two goals in extra time saw Belgium emerge victorious.
After the match Cunningham went on to exacerbate matters by saying that while Howard kept the United States team in the match the keeper had only made saves that he should be making anyway.
A Twitter storm erupted.
Here are just some of the unimpressed tweets:
I really hope Brad Friedel is giving Kenny Cunning-HAM loads of stick after the nonsense he was spouting about Tim Howard bring a weak link
— Robbie Keane (@Robk1979) July 1, 2014
Kenny Cunningham talking pure slur about Tim Howard pre-match.... Haha what a moron! #rteworldcup
— Luuuuke! (@LukeDownes93) July 1, 2014
Brad Friedel makes Kenny cunningham look like an idiot #fact
— Robbie Kelly (@bobbiedivers) July 2, 2014
Kenny Cunningham only goes and praises Courtois for your man missing chance������ Howard makes 15 saves in the game.. I give up ��
— David meehan (@Meener1) July 1, 2014
Just a little reminder that Kenny Cunningham said earlier tonight that Tim Howard wasn't the best goalkeeper...
— Rachel O'Neill (@ronronzo) July 1, 2014
Howard, from New Jersey, who plays for Everton in the UK, as well as the US, became an overnight hero and appeared on "Good Morning America" the following morning.
Despite breaking a 50-year World Cup record the humble 35-year-old player said "That's what I signed up to do. Stick my face in front of balls and get in the way.
"That's my job so I was able to do a lot of that last night."
Here's the full interview with Tim Howard the US soccer hero:


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AFSCME Member Bill of Rights
- No person otherwise eligible for membership in this union shall be denied membership, on a basis of unqualified equality, because of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, disability, or political belief.
- Members shall suffer no impairment of freedom of speech concerning the operations of this union. Active discussion of union affairs shall beencouraged and protected within this organization.
- Members shall have the right to conduct the internal affairs of the union free from employer domination.
- Members shall have the right to fair and democratic elections, at all levels of the union. This includes due notice of nominations and elections, equal opportunity for competing candidates, and proper election procedures which shall be constitutionally specified.
- Members shall have an equal right to run for and hold office, subject only to constitutionally specified qualifications, uniformly applied.
- Members shall have the right to a full and clear accounting of all union funds at all levels. Such accounting shall include, but not be limited to, periodic reports to the membership by the appropriate fiscal officers and periodic audits by officers elected for that purpose or by independent auditors not otherwise connected with the union.
- Members shall have the right to full participation, through discussion and vote, in the decision-making processes of the union, and to pertinent information needed for the exercise of this right. This right shall specifically include decisions concerning the acceptance or rejection of collective bargaining contracts, memoranda of understanding, or any other agreements affecting their wages, hours, or other terms and conditions of employment. All members shall have an equal right to vote and each vote cast shall be of equal weight.
- Charges against a member or officer shall be specific and shall be only on grounds provided inthis Constitution. Accused members or officers shall have the right to a fair trial with strict adherence to due process. The accused shall be considered innocent until proven guilty.


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by J. Todd Moye
In this inspiring account of the Tuskegee Airmen--the country's first African American military pilots--historian J. Todd Moye captures the challenges and triumphs of these brave aviators in their own words, drawing on more than 800 interviews recorded for the National Park Service's Tuskegee Airmen Oral History Project. Denied the right to fully participate in the U.S. war effort alongside whites at the beginning of World War II, African Americans--spurred on by black newspapers and civil rights organizations such as the NAACP--compelled the prestigious Army Air Corps to open its training programs to black pilots, despite the objections of its top generals. Thousands of young men came from every part of the country to Tuskegee, Alabama, in the heart of the segregated South, to enter the program, which expanded in 1943 to train multi-engine bomber pilots in addition to fighter pilots. By the end of the war, Tuskegee Airfield had become a small city populated by black mechanics, parachute packers, doctors, and nurses. Together, they helped prove that racial segregation of the fighting forces was so inefficient as to be counterproductive to the nation's defense. Freedom Flyers brings to life the legacy of a determined, visionary cadre of African American airmen who proved their capabilities and patriotism beyond question, transformed the armed forces--formerly the nation's most racially polarized institution--and jump-started the modern struggle for racial equality.
This book is part of:


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This kit is rated 4Ground skill level 4
Includes: 1x 28S-DAR-110
Many Norse were 'Vikingr' (roving and marauding adventures) others were 'Kaupamadr' (buyers and sellers of merchandise), they were the masters of trading goods across their known world. More than a few of their 'Hafn' (harbour/port trading towns) have grown to be among the largest North West Europe Cities today, but the largest activity in Nordic society was domestic and rural (fishing and farming).
Most free Norse were 'Bondi' (free born oath givers), and many of them lived in a 'Hafn' along the coastline of North West Europe. A Bondi would not have had a Longhouse or a trader's shop as home, his family would have lived in a smaller dwelling. Though not as important and influential as a 'Karl' or as wealthy as a shrewd trading 'Kaupamadr', Bondi made up the mass of Norse who went a 'Vikingr' and it was not unknown for a low born Bondi to become a great warlord and have sagas told of his deeds long after his end of days.
A brief look at the Icelandic Sagas shows why rural Norse built robust and well defended homesteads – often the stockade around the village was more of a defendable palisade – as 'Vikingr' had no qualms raiding other Norse. Dans, Swedes, Icelanders, Hiberno-Norse and Manx were just as likely to become 'Anaud Thrall' (enthralled captives) and sold alongside Finns, Slavs, Angles, Bretons and Welsh in a 'Hafn' slave auction. These rural families lived with the fear of raiders from afar but also with the risk of local feuds becoming deadly. Feuding and vendetta was a large influence on Norse culture at this time, vengeance needed to be seen to be had, or your family lost face and your followers deserted you. It was not unknown for feuds to become bloody little wars between close locals, sometimes ending with the losers held up inside their own Longhouse as it was burned to the ground.
28mm Scale models supplied unassembled.
Miniatures not included.
Colour of thatch may vary.
In stock


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Please visit our Open House at 47 1195 FALCON DR in Coquitlam.
For More Info Call Louise at 604-358-1080
END unit w/generous DOUBLE GARAGE! This TWO-level townhouse is in the much sought-after Eagle Ridge area in Coquitlam! Lovingly maintained & updated this home boasts an open & bright concept w/ over 1,600sqft of living space, w/ 4 beds / 2.5 baths. Walkouts from the kitchen and diningroom to the HUGE wrap-around yard. Great for your children & pets! Garage is on main lvl for easy access. New furnace, HW tank & garage door opener. Gas fireplace insert in lvgrm. Close to Newport Village, Hospital, Burrard Inlet, library, rec centre, Coq Centre & all levels of schools! Professionally managed proactive strata complex; family oriented with central playground. Pets and Rentals are OK. THIS IS THE ONE! Call Louise at 604-358-1080 for more info


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For some years now, BNP Paribas Wealth Management has been offering its clients a range of options for Socially Responsible Investment (SRI). A WM expert team is tasked to create SRI products in conjunction with our various Wealth Management centres.
Observing a growing desire among our clients to support sectors which have considerable social and environmental value-added, BNP Paribas Wealth Management offers investments with long-term growth prospects.
Choosing to invest in sustainable business activities does not mean that our clients are sacrificing financial performance. There is general consensus today that the returns on SRI products can be just as competitive as those on other types of investment.
We provide our clients with a broad, diversified product portfolio, ranging from 'Best in Class' funds – i.e. selecting the most promising companies when Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria are taken into account – to Impact Funds, whose aim is to have a measurable social or environmental impact, and themed funds focusing on microfinance, social enterprise, water treatment, energy efficiency or other specific goals. For clients who wish to delegate the management of their assets, we also offer services such as SRI discretionary mandates.
BNP Paribas Wealth Management has now passed an initial milestone, having placed €1 billion in SRI funds on behalf of our clients. Our aim is to take this initiative much further, significantly increasing SRI weighting in client portfolios.
Meanwhile BNP Paribas Wealth Management continues to demonstrate its commitment to Socially Responsible Investment by making own-account investments in the SRI sector and the social economy. Wealth Management invests directly in a number of funds in our offer range, such as the 'ResponsAbility' fund, which supports microfinance in developing countries, and PhiTrust Partners, which invests in social enterprises in Europe and Africa.
About BNP Paribas Wealth Management (www.wealthmanagement.bnpparibas.com)
BNP Paribas Wealth Management is the world's 7th largest private bank, present in some 30 countries. Over 6,000 professionals, based in every major financial centre, provide a private investor clientele with solutions for optimising and managing their assets. The bank has €257 billion worth of assets under management (as at end June 2012).


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Sun's JDS Linux Desktop: Author Calls it a Throw-away
Tom Adelstein writes: "I co-authored a book called Exploring the JDS Linux Desktop. Before we began drafting the outline, we made several visits with the directors of that project. We practically lived with Sun people for nine months. We organized a community, put up a web site, haunted the Sun JDS forum providing free support for people who bought the product. "We put together a team of Linux veterans, researched the market, brought qualified enterprise prospects to the table, did a white paper for their sales group, recruited Linux engineers to work on the beta, etc. The director of engineering for JDS kept asking us to build backports for them. So, we built approximately 100 RPMS for their version of Linux and made them downloadable on our community web site. " To help defer Tom's and his team's expenses and pay developers, the director of engineering offered to contract with them for a number of initatives including building a JDS 3 LiveCD. But, they never saw a statement of work. Sun didn't even keep their promise to purchase and ship the book Tom and Sam Hiser wrote for Sun's employees and/or customers. The New SunFor a couple of years, the media had a feeding frenzy with Sun. We didn't see many kind words in the press about the once dominant server maker. Questions arose like: "What kind of a company offers a product and doesn't support it?" or "How do they claim to have the first alternative to Windows in fifteen years while their President routinely criticizes Linux, the GPL, open-source, Linux fanatics?" or How about the times he fired the developers working on the Linux project and moved the remainder to the OpenSolaris project?" Sun slated the release and upgrade of version 3 of the JDS Linux project for last February 2005. They couldn't release it then because it did not work very well. Many Linux veterans bought into Sun's articulated vision of the Linux desktop and devoted time to betas and re-betas. In fact, without those Linux veterans, we wonder how Sun would have known how to fix all their development failures. Tom's contacts at Sun told him that the company would offer two products, a JDS Linux distribution and a Solaris distribution. But when Sun finally released its OpenSolaris code, their development team started a "holy war" declaring they would destroy Linux. A few encounters on that project and Tom resigned. If you have an interest in fanatics, he'll show you some vulger, profanity laced emails he received from OpenSolaris developers. Freedom's Just Another Word for Nothing Left to LoseWhatever happened to Sun's 200 million seat deployment with the Chinese Standard Software Company? We thought Scott McNealy said "check" to IBM and Microsoft with a pawn. That's what he claimed about his big deal in China. If you want to find a way to characterize Sun as an organization, simply read their Press Releases. They contradict themselves often. First, their Chairman does a press event in a Penguin costume, then does another press event with his golfing pal, Steve Ballmer. The Linux desktop has gone way past the excellent product Sun released in December 2003. That desktop offered the Gnome 2.2 desktop and some very nice engineering. Most Linux desktops now offer Gnome 2.12 which has incorporated the nice engineering found in the original Sun project Madhatter. So, no one wants Sun's throwback desktop today. Sun needs to do something with JDS because people have actually purchased it. How do they keep from losing face? Answer: Throw it on the pile of other Linux software they didn't understand and call it open source - like Cobalt's Linux management Interface, Project Looking Glass and Netbeans. No HopeDon't get your hopes up about the JDS desktop for Linux. They need to prove that they can follow through on something first. So far, the jury remains out. We don't know who would want their desktop anyway: It's old, they changed the look and feel and who will support it? Remember their call to arms: Kill Linux! Additional Links: Authors slam Sun's open source strategy |
Subject | Topic Starter | Replies | Views | Last Post |
good engineers, terrible management... | wjl | 0 | 3,222 | Nov 1, 2005 5:53 AM |
Wrong Kristofferson.... | dinotrac | 4 | 3,688 | Nov 1, 2005 3:38 AM |
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Experience God's extravagant love and your exquisite purpose through a weekly trio of podcasts that focuses on teaching, inspiration, and encouragement. Our prayer is that as your intimacy with God grows, your love for one another will flourish, enabling you to live out a courageous purpose driven life, fueled by the Word, led by the Spirit, and propelled forward into your God-given destiny through fearless faith! Join us as we gather around a trio of podcasts. From His heart to yours, we are Women World Leaders!
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One time is a surprise; twice is a pattern; three times, if we should get there, suggests a zeitgeist and will demand an article. We're at two now:
Bay County Circuit Judge Joseph K. Sheeran ruled Friday that even though Michigan law does not explicitly define sex with a dead dog as a crime, charges against a Saginaw man [Ronald E. Kuch, 45] will stand....
[DA Katheryn] Fehrman asked Sheeran to overrule District Judge Craig D. Alston, who found probable cause that a crime had been committed and that Kuch was the perpetrator.
But Sheeran said Fehrman's interpretation of the sodomy law, which outlaws ''crimes against nature'' and bestiality as well, was off base. He said she ''attempts to use textualization to read the meaning out of the statute and argue that morality has no place in the law.''
Fehrman had said in previous written and oral arguments that a dead dog is not an animal and therefore cannot be violated against its will.
Sheeran said the purpose of the sodomy law is not to protect a specific victim, necessarily, but ''to prevent people from debasing and dehumanizing themselves.'' Such laws also protect society, Sheeran said, and ''prevents people from acting like animals themselves.''
Sheeran also upheld the indecent exposure charge. He said it was irrelevant whether the patch of woods where the alleged crime committed was public or private property.
''There was a substantial risk that someone might be offended.''
''If he didn't want to be observed, why did he commit it during the day near a daycare center?'' Sheeran said, saying that Kuch didn't commit the act ''accidentally or inadvertently.''
The definition of an animal for a DA seems to depend on whether or not it has a will that can be violated, which seems to bring the animal in line with the status of a human. In other words, bestiality is, so far as the DA is concerned, a sub-species of rape; either that, or the DA is erasing the line altogether between bestiality and rape. Her interpretation concerns the victim. For the judge, bestiality seems to be more in line with medieval conceptions of it: a loss of human status. His interpretation concerns the perpetrator. Oddly, the judge implies that acting like an animal includes having sex with dead animals. Maybe he has access to ethologies that I don't.
The article practically writes itself. I just need to get hold of the court papers for both cases and hope for a third. No doubt I'd draw in Paul Morrissey's extraordinary film Flesh for Frankenstein (you'll see why I've linked to the quotation page) as well as the (no doubt spurious) reports of necrophilia/anthropophagy of the Fore in New Guinea: the incident I'm remembering I have in my notes, but, believe me, it's far too disgusting to quote here. I wouldn't say no to more suggestions, particularly for bibliography (will I finally have to read a lot of Bataille?).
(image of Lefty Frizzell, who famously sang about a man "ashamed to show his face in Saginaw, Michigan." I am in no way suggesting that Frizzell had anything to do with necrobestiality. Sheesh.)


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Nicki Minaj Has Nuclear Twitter Meltdown After Failing to Top Billboard Charts
Nicki Minaj is primed to incite some royal warfare after her newest album, Queen, failed to top the Billboard 200 upon its release.
Minaj, whose fourth LP dropped on August 17, had to swallow a No. 2 debut as Travis Scott's Astroworld held onto its No. 1 spot, and sold 205,000 equivalent units, with 78,000 from traditional sales. Queen, on the other hand, sold 185,000 units,78,000 of which were from traditional sales.
Minaj, who didn't take too kindly to a runner-up debut, proceeded to go on a Twitter rampage and accuse Scott of inflating his sales, chide Kylie Jenner for helping her child's father keep a stronghold on charts and lash out against Spotify for allegedly hiding material that they were supposed to promote.
"Travis sold over 50K of these," Minaj wrote of Scott's "season pass" bundles. "With no requirement of redeeming the album! With no dates for a tour, etc. I spoke to him. He knows he doesn't have the #1 album this week. I love my fans for the #1 album in AMERICA! I'll explain on #QueenRadio 4 albums in, #1 in 86 countries."
"Spotify put drake's face on every playlist but told me they'd have to teach me a lesson for playing my music 10 mins early on #QueenRadio. Even tho they've been giving away my music for free for years & I am one of the top Spotify artists of all time," she later added.
And many followers saw Minaj's response as petulant, and noted that her logic simply didn't add up, particularly where the power of the Kardashians was concerned. Some even accused her of emulating a tirade typically dispensed by Donald Trump.
"Girl please, Travis has actual loyal fans who BUY his products. What happened when the whole fam promoted Tyga's album? He sold like 2k," one follower wrote, while another noted "#1 in 86 countries? Girl, stop with these Trump-like lies. Your album didn't go #1 on any official chart. And why are you questioning Billboard or HDD? Sites that people used for decades, yet you push the narrative they're faking their data for you not to go #1?"


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Resolute 100 Complete Lower Features
CMMG's RESOLUTE lineup is engineered with purpose for those who refuse to compromise on quality. Whether you're defending your family or looking to bring out your best at the range, the RESOLUTE keeps going when you need it most.
Resolute 100 Complete Lower Specifications
- Manufacturer: CMMG
- Manufacturer Part #: 90CA34E
- Model: Resolute 100
- Action: Semi-automatic
- Type: Complete Lower Receiver
- Caliber: 9mm
- Barrel Length: N/A
- Color: Black
- Grips: Polymer
- Stock: Polymer


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Free shipping to all US, over 1,000,000 orders delivered.
Product Code : bot_30114_parent
Material : Aluminum with plastic cup cover
Ambesonne offers you a practical, cooling product that will be one of your musts on all your outdoor events. Collection of aluminum water bottles, which are available in 6.5 height & 2.5 width, are certainly optimal. Whether on a long walk or out running errands on a hot day, Ambesonne's aluminum water bottles will be your new saviours. Purchase this Apple Green product for only $19.99 and let your days spent, searching for casual and charming outdoor gadgets, be over!
You can find admirable Aluminum water bottles for every style here at our store. Take advantage of the great prices of hundreds of products delivered directly from manufacturer to customer. Purchase now with an advantage of free shipping!
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Important:NOT recommended for use of hot beverages. Non-dishwasher-safe, non-microwave-safe.
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Product Name: Abstract Art Water Drops Aluminum Water Bottle
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Brookfield, CT Bedroom Remodeling Companies
Your bedroom is the most important room of your house. It's not just where you go to sleep, but the last thing you see every night and the first thing you see every morning. Your bedroom has an effect on your day to day life and you deserve to have the room of your dreams custom created for you by a team of dedicated, professional Brookfield, CT bedroom remodeling contractors.
You don't need to lose sleep wondering who is best suited for the job you need either. The Brookfield, CT bedroom remodeling experts service in and around Brookfield. Specializing in bedroom remodeling and additions, the team concerns itself with both the design and the construction of your project, making a seamless transition from concept to reality.
Adding an addition to your home has benefits. Your living space will increase, with a new look and feel, while the value of your home goes up too. Once the job is done, you only have to enjoy it and with the completed job that our craftsmen produce, that part won't be a problem.
Working with you every step of the way our goal is to meet and exceed all of your expectations. The bedroom additions will match your home, looking as though they'd been there all along. The Brookfield bedroom remodeling and addition experts have years of experience and knowledge with integrating your addition with the rest of your home; structurally, foundationally, interiorly and exteriorly.
To receive free Brookfield bedroom remodeling estimates click here.


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"Goldfinger" actress Tania Mallet has died at age 77, prompting messages of condolence from James Bond fans.
A cousin of British actress Dame Helen Mirren, Mallet played Tilly Masterson alongside Sean Connery's Bond in the 1964 classic. Her death was announced on the official 007 Twitter account.
"We are very sorry to hear that Tania Mallet who played Tilly Masterson in GOLDFINGER has passed away," the tweet said. "Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this sad time."
Born in Blackpool to father Henry and Russian mother Olga Mironoff, according to a biography on IMDb , Mallet was working as a model when she was cast as Masterson by producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli. She went on to become one of the most famous faces of the 1950s and 60s.
But instead of pursuing a career in acting after her blockbuster film, she returned to modeling.
In "Goldfinger," she played a character intent on killing Auric Goldfinger after he murdered her sister by painting her body in gold paint.
Tilly was killed off during the movie when villain Oddjob threw his steel-rimmed hat at her.
Fan site Bondstars.com posted a tribute on Twitter, writing: "Unfortunately we must share the very sad news that our dear friend Tania Mallet has sadly passed away.
"She was a very classy and beautiful lady inside and out."


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Cambridge English Empower Pre-intermediate
Cambridge English Empower Pre-intermediate
Workbook without Answers with Downloadable Audio
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1 Paperback, 1 Downloadable audio file
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Product description
Cambridge English Empower is a general adult course that combines course content from Cambridge University Press with validated assessment from the experts at Cambridge English Language Assessment.
The Pre-intermediate Workbook with downloadable audio (no answers) can be used alongside the Student's Book and offers additional consolidation activities.
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Touchstone Level 1
Full Contact BTouchstone, together with Viewpoint, is a six-level English program, based on research from the Cambridge English Corpus.
Authors: Michael McCarthy, Jeanne McCarten, Helen SandifordEnglish Type: American EnglishCEF Level: A1Publication date: January 2014
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Academic Calendar
Certificate in Geomatics
Graduation Requirements:
This certificate is restricted to Honours Geography program(s) and will be awarded at the time of graduation.
Program Requirements:
Geomatics is the science and technology of gathering, analyzing, interpreting, distributing and using geographic information. Geomatics encompasses a broad range of disciplines that can be brought together to create a detailed but understandable picture of the physical world and our place in it. These disciplines include: surveying & mapping, remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), and global positioning system (GPS)". (Canadian Institute of Geomatics, 1999).
The Certificate in Geomatics provides students with a strong background in geographic information systems, remote sensing, computer cartography and spatial quantitative analysis. The certificate will be offered to four-year Honours geography programs only. The certificate consists of 18 credits as outlined below.
All courses required for the certificate also count towards the respective Honours Geography program(s).
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Welcome to the RESINEX Rotational Moulding section of our website. Because of the specialised nature of the Rotational Moulding industry, we have created a dedicated website section focussed solely on Rotational Moulding.
In this section you will find details about RESINEX and it's activities in Rotational Moulding to date. You can find your local contact, view our facilities and discover more about the services we can offer you.
If you want to know what products we offer or download technical datasheets, you'll find information about our grade range on our products and literature page. Alternatively you can view sample images of our standard colours and special effects.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD Rotational Plastics Flyer
Please contact us to discuss your requirements further.


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An update on the PLE2011 conference
I am extremely busy today but time for a quick catch up on the Personal Learning Environments Conference 2011, being held from July 11- 13 in Southampton UK.
Last years conference in Barcelona attracted nearly 90 submissions, far in excess of what we expected. This year we had less, with 65 papers, symposia and workshops. I don't think the lesser number was due to reduced interest, but rather that in the present economic climate, many researchers are finding it hard to gain funding for conferences (I will write a further blog on how we can deal with this). I suspect also that beautiful though Southampton may be, it does not match Barcelona in terms of conference pulling power! We have just finished the review procedure with all the attendant difficulties of establishing shared criteria and quality standards for reviews and persuading overworked colleagues tos pare the time for an unpaid for activity.
Out of the 65 submissions we have rejected two for not meeting the submission guidelines. A further four are 'borderline' and we are further reviewing those proposals. Happily the rest are considered good enough fro acceptance.
The good news – in general the standard of submissions is much higher this year than last year. I suspect there are two main reasons for this – firstly an improved common understanding in our communities around the idea of Personal Learning Environments. Last year we had problems in that in many proposals it was hard to relate the focus of the paper to the idea of PLEs – this year that relationship is much clearer. The second reason is that we extended the length of abstracts this year and that seems to have improved the quality.
But I still get the feeling that a number of submissions do not do justice to the ideas and research on which they are based. I do not find it easy writing proposal abstracts and wonder if there is some mileage in firstly a little collective thinking in what we are looking for in a proposal and how we can convey that to potential contributors and secondly a more inclusive and supporting procedure to help those – especially 'emerging' researchers in writing quality proposals. Any ideas welcome.


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Investigator Kaine needs your help again, Bush Whackers! This time a troupe of restless ghosts are causing trouble in the castle area! In order to start this adventure you must have completed Kaine's caves mystery and reached the kitchen area of the Castle Interior zone. Once those requirements are met, you can start this new adventure by talking to the Town Crier in the Commons. Have fun!
Discuss this update on the forums by clicking here!
This weekend we're also running a special Black Friday sale! Until Monday, December 1st at 11:59:59PM PST, all purchases of 50 Bush Bucks of more will award 30% more Bush Bucks for free! We're also throwing in an exclusive Black Turkey pet with your first purchase of any Bush Bucks or Premium Pet Pack (starter packs included!)


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A large language model that can use text prompts to generate and discuss code.
644.7K Pulls Updated 7 hours ago
Updated 5 months ago
5 months ago
a6de2758bbb4 · 49GB
Code Llama is a model for generating and discussing code, built on top of Llama 2. It's designed to make workflows faster and efficient for developers and make it easier for people to learn how to code. It can generate both code and natural language about code. Code Llama supports many of the most popular programming languages used today, including Python, C++, Java, PHP, Typescript (Javascript), C#, Bash and more.
Parameter counts
Parameter Count | ||
7 billion | View | ollama run codellama:7b |
13 billion | View | ollama run codellama:13b |
34 billion | View | ollama run codellama:34b |
70 billion | View | ollama run codellama:70b |
ollama run codellama "Write me a function that outputs the fibonacci sequence"
curl -X POST http://localhost:11434/api/generate -d '{
"model": "codellama",
"prompt": "Write me a function that outputs the fibonacci sequence"
instruct |
Fine-tuned to generate helpful and safe answers in natural language |
python |
A specialized variation of Code Llama further fine-tuned on 100B tokens of Python code |
code |
Base model for code completion |
Example prompts
Ask questions
ollama run codellama:7b-instruct 'You are an expert programmer that writes simple, concise code and explanations. Write a python function to generate the nth fibonacci number.'
Fill-in-the-middle (FIM) or infill
ollama run codellama:7b-code '<PRE> def compute_gcd(x, y): <SUF>return result <MID>'
Fill-in-the-middle (FIM) is a special prompt format supported by the code completion model can complete code between two already written code blocks. Code Llama expects a specific format for infilling code:
<PRE> {prefix} <SUF>{suffix} <MID>
and <MID>
are special tokens that guide the model.
Code review
ollama run codellama '
Where is the bug in this code?
def fib(n):
if n <= 0:
return n
return fib(n-1) + fib(n-2)
Writing tests
ollama run codellama "write a unit test for this function: $(cat example.py)"
Code completion
ollama run codellama:7b-code '# A simple python function to remove whitespace from a string:'


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Bamboo White Muslin Comforter (Large)
Babybamba comforters are made from 4 layers of 100% Bamboo Muslin, which makes them super soft. It is finished off with satin trim making it the perfect sleeping companion.
Design: Comforter with White Satin Trim – Pack of 2
Size: 40cm x 40cm (approx.)
Care Instructions: Machine Washable at 40deg | Do not tumble dry


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Print version of this article
If NOT, try one of these:
Cholera Questions
Typhoid Fever Questions
Traveler's Diarrhea (TD) Questions
Diarrhea Disease: How to Prevent
Disclaimer: this health information is for educational purposes only. You, the reader, assume full responsibility for how you choose to use it.
Copyright 2000-2023. Schmitt Pediatric Guidelines LLC.


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Frequently Asked Masonry Questions
The ancient art of masonry can sometimes be a mystery to the general public. To help save you some time, here are the answers to our most frequently asked questions. If you don't see your question listed here, please feel free to call Iberia Construction LTD today.
Residential Masonry FAQs
Can any home builder build a masonry home?
Most production builders build with wood frames and are not able to build a single masonry home in a subdivision of wood frame homes. If you want to build a home with pure masonry, it's always better to get a professional, full-time mason than a generic kind of home builder.
Does masonry cost more than a conventional wood frame?
The initial costs of a wood frame are certainly lower than building with masonry, but you have to consider the big picture. Masonry is resistant to fire and insects, which means there are fewer concerns once the home is built.
Can masonry be insulated?
Yes, and there are several different methods available. It can be furred out inside the building and insulation is placed between the furring strips, under the drywall. It is also possible to place the insulation in the block cavity. There are also systems to place the insulation outside if that's what you prefer.
How often should brick or stone be repointed?
A good repointing job is meant to last between 50 and 100 years. Of course, shortcuts and poor craftsmanship will require repointing more frequently. Let us take a look at it and we'll be happy to let you know whether you need repointing.
How should I decide whether to rebuild or repair masonry?
Every situation is different, which is why you should give us a call to arrange for an inspection today.
Commercial Masonry FAQs
What can I expect during the project?
After we have gone over the details of your project, we will together create a detailed contract and production schedule. Once our crew begins to work on your project, regardless of its scale, we keep you updated every step along the way.
Can you match the bricks that were used before?
Of course! For both homes and businesses, matching the colors and textures is essential otherwise it can be a real eyesore. Obviously, this is bad for homes, it is particularly bad for businesses because it could hurt your profitably. Our group takes great pride in our ability to find the right colors and textures to match any building. Just give us a call and we'll be able to get it done.
How can I get an estimate?
No matter what you have in mind, just give us a call and tell us what you have in mind. We are proud to employ a group of highly skilled masons that have a ton of professional experience. We are comfortable working with any scale of project. It doesn't matter what you have planned, we are up to the challenge. So, just give us a call and we'll give you a free estimate.


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In This Issue Africa and Europe Egypt (map) The following is based on a report by Louise Meyer, honorary SCI advisor and partner in Solar Household Energy, Inc. Anne Marie Wenger-Marti, a member of Group ULOG in Switzerland, has spent each August since 1990 teaching solar cooking to university graduates living in communities southwest of Alexandria. (See the December 2000 and April 2001 issues of the Solar Cooker Review for details.) In Sept. 2001 I visited El Hammam, one of those communities, and was accompanied by Swiss Red Cross employee Dr. Denham Pole. We were welcomed by nine newly trained solar cooks and were able to interview them with the help of a translator. We discovered that Egyptian beans and wheat berries, two common foods, cook faster in the ULOG cooker than on gas. We were also told that the list of women waiting to be trained in solar cooking continues to expand and that many men have also requested the training. This group of new solar cooks had to wait three years to go through the training and purchase a solar cooker. After the interviews, we visited the homes of three solar cooks and inspected their ULOG solar box cookers. Along the way we were treated to a delicious solar-cooked meal prepared by all the cooks. The feast consisted of sweet potatoes, zucchini and tomatoes, chicken, rice, corn bread, white potatoes and onions, wheat berries in sweetened milk, and cake. On my first visit to the area back in July of 2000, I was amazed to learn that these women had each purchased their ULOG solar box cookers, even though they owned fully equipped homes! They explained that they prefer solar cooking to gas cooking because it frees up time and the food tastes better! We were told that they used their cookers daily and that nearly all Egyptian recipes are adaptable to solar cooking. Contact: Louise Meyer, 3327 18th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20010, USA. Tel: 202-328-6834, fax: 202-319-2074, e-mail: email@example.com, web: www.she-inc.org Kenya Bill, Connie, Zach and Taylor Young, along with Marc and Michelle Reynolds, recently completed a medical mission project at a rural hospital in eastern Kenya. As part of the project, they introduced SCI's CooKit to patients and their families. Contact: Bill Young, e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Niger/USA SCI member Ruth Dettinger sent word of a solar cooker designed by her husband, Glenn, for a Peace Corps volunteer headed to Niger. The cooker needed to be lightweight and compact enough to fit in a small suitcase. Mr. Dettinger's final design, made with wires and emergency blanket reflective material, weighed in at 8oz and folds up accordion style. The cooker is constructed of six wire panels, covered with reflective material and sewn together in a circular fashion, that each measure 17 inches high, 21 inches wide at the top and 9 inches wide at the bottom. The panels are sloped at 45 degrees. The cooker is designed to sit on a base made of a large, forked tree branch extending at least two feet from the middle of the cooker base, and two or more smaller branches that are tied upon it extending far enough outwards in both directions that the cooker can rest upon all the branches. This base can be covered with a woven mat and additional reflective material if desired. The cooking pot would then rest upon the branches or mat. The cooker may be tilted up to 15 degrees. Mr. Dettinger's cooker, sitting on a base of branches To achieve appropriate cooking temperatures, pots used in this cooker need to be covered with a transparent plastic bag that allows sunlight in and keeps heat from escaping. The Dettingers recommend making a wire frame, like those discussed in previous issues of the Solar Cooker Review, to hold the bag in proper shape so that it can be set over the cooking pot. This allows easy access to the pot, and makes it possible to use common, non-heat resistant plastic bags without them touching the pot and melting. The cooker, pot and wire-supported bag ready to cook Contact: Ruth Dettinger, 101 East Rib Mountain Drive, Wausau, Wisconsin 54401-5882, USA. Tel: 715-845-3738, e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Nigeria The Association for the Popularization of Solar Energy for Domestic and Industrial Use recently hosted a successful national conference on solar cooking, solar drying and household lighting. The organization is currently developing a solar energy village where simple solar technologies, including solar cookers and dryers, will be manufactured. Contact: Dr. Rose Achunine, c/o Dr. Mrs. R.N. Achunine, College of Education, Imo State University, P.M.B. 2000, Owerri, Nigeria. Tanzania The German NGO Green Ocean plans to conduct solar cooking workshops in schools in a coastal village on the island of Zanzibar, as well as facilitate the production of solar parabolic, box, and panel cookers. Funding is currently being sought to ensure that the project can continue. Contact: Antje Förstle and Rainer Vierkötter, P.O. Box 152, Zanzibar, Tanzania. Tel: +255 (0) 24 225 0 542, e-mail: email@example.com Asia and Pacific Australia Sunny Miller, an active member of the Solar Cooking Interest Group, has been invited to present solar cooking to a seminar at Murdoch University entitled "Women Leaders on Uptake of Renewable Energy Technologies." The seminar, hosted by the Australian CRC for Renewable Energy and the United Nations Environmental Programme, aims to familiarize delegates from local governments, schools, and NGOs, with technologies for development in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the developing world. Contact: Sunny Miller, Solar Cooking Interest Group, c/ 23 Morley Street, Maddington, W.A. 6109, Australia. Tel/fax: (08) 9459-3606, e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Iran Dr. Mahnaz Saremi, former SCI Project Director, presented a seminar at the University of Bou-Ali Sina in Hamadan on the role of local women in dissemination of solar cookers in eastern Africa. She also demonstrated solar cooking to members of an environmental NGO in Shiraz and donated a CooKit for further use and study of its feasibility for dissemination in the area. An article written by Dr. Saremi titled "Appropriate Technology, NGOs and Sustainable Development, Case Study: Solar Cooking in East Africa" will soon be published in the Journal of Agriculture and Industry in Iran. Contact: Dr. Mahnaz Saremi, 7624 Amber Way, Stockton, California 95207, USA. 3,000 more families solar cook by Terry Grumley In 2001, more than 3,000 additional families received CooKits, training and follow-up services through SCI's projects in Kenya, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. SCI also made substantial improvements in its ability to assist greater numbers of organizations and communities in future solar cooking endeavors. Kakuma refugee camp 2,300 families in Kakuma, Kenya, received CooKits and training in their use this past year. SCI initiated a smaller, more targeted group project within the camp to provide increased support in the form of home visits, extra training and additional equipment. As part of that project, SCI is training families to use solar cookers in conjunction with Water Pasteurization Indicators (WAPIs) to ensure that they have safe drinking water. The appointment of Virginia Ruguru as Project Officer provides for closer supervision of the Kakuma projects and better cooperation with partners as SCI prepares for eventual turnover of the project. Solar cookers are crucial tools used by many camp residents to cope with increased food and fuel wood rationing. Trainers often hear this message from refugees while conducting home visits. SCI's efforts to systematically document fuel wood and food savings resulting from solar cooker use provide the evidence that inspires partner organizations to offer additional support. Camp walkthroughs often show solar cooker usage rates exceeding 50 percent. Due to recent floods, more than 1,000 homes were destroyed, along with the CooKits within them. SCI is currently seeking special financial support for replacement of these CooKits. Five hundred CooKits — the first produced in Ethiopia — were distributed as replacements or supplemental cookers this past year. Solar cookers are so appreciated that many refugees willingly paid small sums of hard-earned money to obtain replacements. Prior to this year, SCI relied on an often undependable importation process to get cookers and plastic bags to the camp. Selam Technical School is now making CooKits locally, and SCI will work with them in the coming months to produce a quality product. Access to local supplies will be increasingly important as SCI prepares to phase out of the camp, where the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) plans to begin a period of voluntary repatriation of refugees to Somalia. SCI is coordinating schedules with UNHCR to ensure that families have the skills necessary to take solar cooking with them wherever they go. A comprehensive evaluation of the Aisha project was completed in November, 2001 in cooperation with UNHCR. Once processed, this data will provide valuable information that will guide SCI's future work in teaching solar cooking skills to people in need. More than 1,000 CooKits were distributed in Zimbabwe last year through SCI's partner, the Development Technology Centre of the University of Zimbabwe. Adding urban communities in Harare to the rural outlying areas already served has led to increased CooKit sales and greater benefits for the solar cooking teachers/sellers. As more people learn how solar cooking reduces fuel costs and frees cooks to spend more time doing other activities, sales of solar cookers will likely continue to increase. The addition of a new, charismatic staff member to the project, Florence Shangwa, and a stronger emphasis on working with experienced businesswomen and church networks has contributed largely to rejuvenating the project. These accomplishments are impressive, especially in light of the challenging conditions in Zimbabwe under which the project is implemented. Social, political and economic influences hinder project implementation activities through curfews, fuel rationing, political violence and restrictions on meetings. For SCI, the Zimbabwe experience is different in that a) it occurs in regular community settings rather than in a refugee camp, b) SCI is providing technical support to a partner that in turn implements the project and c) solar cooks pay full price for the CooKit and bags. Consequently, it is a rich learning opportunity that provides valuable information and insight as the organization plans for future projects in similar communities. Other opportunities SCI is bringing innovative water testing and solar water pasteurization methods to Tanzania in collaboration with AHEAD, a US-based nonprofit organization. Dr. Bob Metcalf, SCI founder and microbiologist, continues to lead this research and teaching program. Over the past year, SCI has provided technical support and guidance to individuals and organizations in countries including Nigeria, Madagascar and Turkey, and SCI has helped to create new links between those requesting assistance and skilled individuals and organizations that can provide helpful services. Additionally, the SCI board of directors, working with other refugee service organizations, has formed a task force to explore a possible solar cooker program for the neediest populations in Afghanistan. Building for the future The actions listed above take place in the context of accelerating loss of forests and diminishing water quality worldwide, resulting in illnesses and increased fuel wood collection burdens for women and their families in many developing countries. So SCI will continue with its vital day-to-day activities, while bolstering its capacity to yield greater benefits in the years ahead. SCI has recruited additional program staff, especially in eastern Africa, and is providing them with training and tools to increase their effectiveness. SCI is also gathering more and better information about the solar cooking learning/teaching process and continues to explore ways of making this information useful and readily accessible. Perhaps most exciting is the imminent expansion of SCI's eastern Africa regional office into a resource center for solar cooking and solar water pasteurization. The center will further the transfer of solar cooking knowledge to the regions and countries most in need. The center, which SCI hopes to eventually replicate in other parts of the world, will pool local expertise and resources with methods, approaches and cookers that are tuned to the unique characteristics of the region. It will improve SCI's project management and technical support capacity, and address its other program goal areas of education, research, advocacy and information exchange. High solar cooking usage rates, invaluable information gained through project evaluations, and the strength being built into the new eastern Africa resource center will combine to encourage more organizations to join in spreading life-sustaining solar cooking skills. Meanwhile, SCI will initiate a new project in a non-refugee community setting in Kenya during the next year, creating an important model for other organizations to emulate. SCI strives to be a catalyst for the spread of solar cooking — multiplying the beneficial impact of solar cooking and solar water pasteurization programs through collaboration with a wide range of humanitarian and environmental organizations. SCI is accomplishing a great deal now. With your help, it will be an even more powerful force for positive change in the months and years ahead. More information about these projects is available here. Solar cooker micro-enterprises in Harare by Pascale Dennery While visiting the Development Technology Centre (DTC) of the University of Zimbabwe, I had the great pleasure of meeting two dynamic businesswomen, Shelly Mwanza and Maina Manunure. Both women have successfully incorporated selling CooKits into their small business ventures. While Shelly began solar cooking at the urging of her employer, Professor Melford of the University of Zimbabwe, Maina learned about the technology through Florence Shangwa, one of the champions of solar cooking at DTC. Shelly, 32, is originally from Zambia. In 1997, she moved to Harare from the residence she shares with her husband and two teenaged children in eastern Zimbabwe, to do domestic work for Prof. Melford. Shelly had tried her hand at several income generating activities, including making and selling knit goods, and hairdressing. Soon after she got a CooKit, her hair dressing clients started asking where they could get a CooKit. Shelly was inspired to add CooKits to her business and sold nearly 100 of them from March 2001 through the end of the year. She is saving the profits she makes from selling cookers so that she can buy a photovoltaic panel to operate the television, radio and lights at her home in eastern Zimbabwe. Maina has spent most of her life in Harare. She is 29, married and has a 4-year-old child. Her main source of income comes from buying dried kapenta fish in bulk, repackaging it, and selling small quantities to her clients. On occasion, she will take on some dressmaking work or sell vegetables. Maina is active in her church and much of her client base for CooKits are church contacts. She received solar cooking training from Florence in June 2001 and started selling CooKits in mid-August of the same year. As of December 2001, Maina had sold 110 CooKits, of which 8 were sold in rural areas. Maina notes that, unlike repackaging fish, selling CooKits does not require much preparation. In 2002, Maina would like to sell 2000 solar cookers, with some of those sales coming from clients in peri-urban Harare as well as small rural communities. Shelly's advice to people interested in selling solar cookers is, "Gain experience in solar cooking first, so as to teach customers from experience. One month of cooking experience is adequate." Maina's advice is, "Don't depend on the CooKits alone; carry it with some other business. Target a group of people, not individuals, to cover food and other overhead costs associated with the demonstrations. Be patient." By solar cooking at home and having outgoing, friendly personalities, Shelly and Maina are able to clearly articulate the benefits of cooking with the sun, such as the energy savings and the ease of baking breads and cooking beans. They are able to help their clients understand how to set up, use and maintain their CooKits, and to understand the differences in cooking times, amounts of water required, meal planning and food preparation between solar and non-solar cooking methods. In view of the ever-increasing cost of electricity and kerosene in Harare, Shelly and Maina will certainly benefit from a growing clientele in the months and years ahead. $100,000 awarded to Ghana solar cooker project Dr. Mercy Bannerman's project entitled "Simple Solar Technology for Better Health and Wealth" was one of only 29 proposals selected to share $4 million in funding at the Development Marketplace 2001 competition held in Washington, D.C. this past January. A total of 2,400 proposals were submitted from all over the world. The project objective is to provide solar cooking instruction and low-cost solar cookers to inhabitants of northern Ghana to reduce incidence of waterborne diseases, protect the environment, and enable women to participate in the economy. A large percentage of the funding will be used to train families to use a simple solar cooker, based on SCI's CooKit, to pasteurize drinking water. This could greatly reduce the spread of Guinea worms, E. coli, and other pathogens. Dr. Bannerman plans to use SCI's Water Pasteurization Indicators (WAPIs) to ensure that water is heated to appropriately high temperatures. The project also has an income generation component, whereby women will hand produce solar cookers and make them available for sale in the local marketplace. The project, which is a partnership between Allies in Health and Development and Community Partnerships in Health and Development, will receive an additional $24,000 matching grant from Rotary International through the Rotary club of Fresno, California (USA), and the Rotary club of Accra-Airport in Ghana. Contact: Dr. Mercy Bannerman, tel: (233) 24 369725, e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Solar Cookers International is making a world of difference. Your contribution will be gratefully received and used to strengthen the spread of this solar solution. Please consider these giving options:
Contact Virginia Callaghan at (916) 455-4499 to discuss donations and stock transfers. Consult your financial planner for additional information. Thank you. Chilean village's experiment with solar ovens offers alternative to widespread deforestation Note: This article is reprinted by permission of its author, Casey Woods. It originally ran in the San Francisco Chronicle on July 26, 2001, with the dateline Villaseca, Chile. Shyam S. Nandwani, mentioned in the article, is a prior Solar Cookers International (SCI) board member. Pedro Serrano, also mentioned, has been an SCI honorary advisor. Lucila Rojas remembers the days when she and her neighbors risked their lives to cook a hot meal over a wood-burning stove. "We had to steal firewood, because there was no longer any left in the places where you could freely look," she said. "Sometimes we were chased (by landowners), even by gunshots. I was fed up. I didn't want any more war." So in 1989, Rojas, who lives in the arid and deforested Elqui Valley, agreed to become one of four women in this northern village of 300 residents to allow researchers from the University of Chile to place a solar oven in her home. "We were guinea pigs," she said. When the project coordinators returned after four months to take the ovens back, Rojas protested and organized local women to raise funds for a workshop to make solar ovens. With $700 they earned selling everything from empanadas (meat pastry) to used clothing, they built 33 solar ovens and have been using them ever since. Today, Villaseca's ovens are a novelty in a nation with just 10,000 solar energy panel systems. In fact, the village is the only place in Chile where virtually all residents cook with solar power. Blessed with an average of 310 days of sunshine a year, the area is ideally situated to harness the sun's potential and solve a dramatic problem. Firewood, the source of one-fifth of Chile's energy, takes an enormous toll on the nation's environment. Native forests, devastated by a constant assault, provide 60 percent of the wood. The Forestry Institute of Chile calculates that approximately 132,900 acres of forest are destroyed annually for firewood. A 1995 Central Bank report noted that Chile's remaining old growth forests could disappear within 30 years if the current deforestation rate continues. According to the Latin American Energy Organization, headquartered in Ecuador, 32 percent of the region's energy is derived from firewood, virtually the only source of energy for many rural poor. As a result, many environmentalists believe solar ovens are an obvious solution to help reduce deforestation. Yet, introduction of the ovens throughout the region has been limited. Money needed "It is all about funding," said Shyam S. Nandwani, who heads the solar energy laboratory at the National University of Costa Rica and gives seminars on solar ovens. "If campesinos (peasants) don't have the financial means to buy materials, they can't implement the technology." Pedro Serrano, an environmental activist from Santiago and one of the Villaseca project's original planners, estimates there are 300,000 potential users of solar ovens in northern Chile, and a total switch to solar ovens would save more than 2 million tons of brush and kindling annually, as well as about $60 million a year in lost labor time. "Before, one person in every family dedicated all day, every day, to search for firewood," said Serrano. "That's ridiculous." Not all Villaseca residents shared the initial enthusiasm for solar ovens. Some insisted that food cooked with solar energy caused cancer, claims that sparked a wave of concern. The skeptics, however, were discredited after university researchers found that food cooked in solar ovens lacked traces of carbon monoxide typically found in meals cooked with gas or on wood-burning stoves. The change to solar ovens also led to an improved diet. "Before we ate a lot of oils and fats, but since you can't fry in these ovens, our diet is much healthier," said Veronica Duran, Rojas' 24-year-old daughter. Duran says villagers placed the first ovens in the sunniest part of their patios, since they assumed that was the best spot. The reality, however, was more complicated. The oven had to be constantly turned to follow the sun, and the light had to be focused to maximize its power. Moreover, the original ovens were large, making them awkward to shift. Evolving design So necessity converted Rojas and her husband, Aurelio Campos, into designers. Over the years, the husband-wife team painstakingly altered the design of the ovens to make them easier to use. "We have improved the ovens a great deal, but the design is still in diapers," said Rojas. It took two years of experiments to give birth to an oven that could cook for 30 people, which led to the idea of opening a village restaurant last year. With a $10,000 grant from the United Nations Development Programme, 26 Villaseca families formed an organization called the Association of Solar Artisans of Villaseca, which now runs the aptly named Restaurant Solar. The restaurant's kitchen looks like a school science experiment — 10 orange boxes sit in a line atop a staggered row of tables. Wide flaps inlaid with metallic sheets open to the sky, reflecting light into the boxes' dark interiors. Although the restaurant opened only 11 months ago and diners must travel over a bumpy dirt road to its hillside location, it is already a landmark. On weekends, about 60 customers a day come to savor its specialties: fresh bread; cazuela, a meat stew; and leche asada, or flan, for dessert. It takes two hours to bake bread and about three hours to cook stew. Sometimes, groups of as many as 40 people are turned away since the restaurant seats only 24 diners at a time. Its organic garden can't keep up with the demand. The majority of patrons are foreign tourists on package tours. High praise "It's the best meal we've had (in Chile)," said Mark Matthews, a 25-year-old New Zealander. The solar business venture is so unusual that Chilean fire regulations have yet to adapt to alternative energy. To comply with fire safety rules, a local official charged with enforcing safety permits demanded that the restaurant construct a chimney-like chute to extract smoke. Solar ovens, which are built outside, don't produce smoke. In the meantime, villagers say their main goal is to spread the alternative-technology gospel. Several have already extolled the virtues of solar ovens on prime time television programs and have fielded calls from other small villages asking for advice on how to build the ovens. "The idea is to show the world the wonders of solar energy, not just to Chile and its people but to all those (international) organizations that could finance solar energy projects for people with scarce resources," said Rojas. In Costa Rica, Nandwani says, funding for solar ovens generally comes from international humanitarian organizations such as the United Nations. He says governments rarely pick up the tab. Environmentalist Serrano, however, doesn't find that surprising. "The major investors are only interested in alternative energies that have a controllable energy flow, because they profit by selling that electricity," he said. "An unplugged user is a menace to the market." Club ready to spread solar cooking in Gambia Since 1996 Rosalyn Rappaport has worked closely with the 20 women who comprise the Marakissa Solar Cooks Club, helping them to acquire solar cooking knowledge and equipment. On her most recent trip to Gambia she provided further assistance to the club and helped develop a system of solar cooking dissemination in nearby communities through demonstrations and curriculum. During a prior visit, Ms. Rappaport worked with a local carpenter, Momodu Sillah, to design and construct a wooden panel cooker similar to SCI's cardboard CooKit. This cooker, which weighs 2 kg and costs D450 (US $25), consists of several removable, hinged panels held together by an adjustable loop and string system that allows the entire cooker to be disassembled quickly and easily transported. This is important given that many Gambians are farmers and would have trouble transporting a large, heavy solar cooker with them when they work in the fields. With support from the Julius Silman Charitable Trust, members of the Solar Cooks Club will each receive their own panel cooker. They previously shared two box cookers — one that went with the group when they worked in the fields, and one that rotated from household to household on a weekly basis. Club members had noticed increased interest from their neighbors over the last couple of years, leading Ms. Rappaport to believe that this is the appropriate time to begin to spread solar cooking knowledge to those outside the club. As a first step, four club members will be selected to become solar cooking instructors, who will then earn a stipend to conduct demonstrations in surrounding villages. A solar cooker can be left with each village at the discretion of the instructor. Ms. Rappaport has discussed with school administrators the possibility of incorporating solar cooking into the curriculum of the St. Martha Skillcentre, a school that teaches housekeeping and business skills to girls and young women. After some minor roadblocks, it looks as though this may happen very soon. Ms. Rappaport hopes to work with other local NGOs in the future, including the Renewable Energy Agency and a local mosque. She also is working hard to gain television coverage for solar-cooked village feasts hosted by the Solar Cooks Club. Contact: Rosalyn Rappaport, 31 Lodge Lane, North Finchley, London N12 8JG, England. Tel: 0208 446 3690. Volunteers teach solar cooking throughout Latin America by Ruth Dow As volunteers with Alfalit International, Inc., we teach nutrition, gardening and solar cooking throughout Latin America. Alfalit is an interdenominational program in 22 countries, mostly in Latin America, working for 40 years to combat illiteracy and to improve the integral development of individuals, families and communities. Other programs focus on basic education, preschool and community development. Since our retirement 3 1/2 years ago, my husband Chuck and I have taught in homes, schools and preschools, prisons, churches, hospitals, health clinics, universities, community centers and dining centers, in the following countries: Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Guatemala, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. In the high Andes Mountains of Peru, Quechua women thought it impossible to cook in a cardboard solar cooker — until they tasted the potatoes and cabbage Chuck cooked in one! Although they begged us to leave our cooker, as always, we taught them to make their own at almost no cost. Survivors of the "Shining Path" guerrillas, they had returned home after, in their words, "losing 10 years of our lives." [photo J: Ruth (standing, with glasses) shows Quechua women near Ayacucho, Peru the power of a simple solar cooker] Indigenous people in Panama were amazed and excited to taste the green plantains we cooked in a simple solar cooker. Eager to avoid walking 2 hours to collect firewood — often with their small children — and to avoid constant wood smoke in their lungs and eyes, they made their own solar cookers from cardboard boxes, glue and aluminum foil. They quickly learned how to cook a delicious local recipe using plantain skins. Just months before the disastrous December 1999 floods in Venezuela, where 25,000-50,000 people drowned, we had taught solar cooking in several areas. In a part of Nicaragua still suffering from Hurricane Mitch, almost nobody came to our announced solar cooker program -- until some curious passersby noticed foods cooking in the solar cooker. As we demonstrated the cooker, more and more folks gathered, ready to learn more about both solar cooking and ways to feed their families better with very limited resources and still-limited foods. Some others had relied on solar cookers after the hurricane. Haiti has a special need for solar cookers. Most of Haiti is deforested, and therefore eroded, arid, and much hotter than before the trees were cut. Much of the country is now, literally, a desert. In several countries, even in cities, many quickly grasp the value of solar cookers to pasteurize water and to cook because people are very concerned about fuel shortages and rising prices of cooking gas. Often, no gas is available at any price. One Mexican family bathed their new baby in water heated in their solar cooker. We have taught approximately 2100 persons in 11 countries to make and use solar cookers and have demonstrated and explained their use to several thousand more. Our purpose is to teach those who will teach others. Usually we do not return to the same places. We recognize that systematic follow-up is essential to adoption of solar cooking. However, because Alfalit works mostly with volunteers, with major emphasis in literacy and basic education, there is little specific follow-up related to solar cooking. Result: more people are taught to make and use cookers and teach others, but with limited follow-up. Return visits by Alfalit staff and others indicate some continued use of solar cookers. We have observed much interest in solar cooking, but sustaining it is a challenge. Overall, we have found that increased use of gardens and solar cooking contribute significantly to improved nutrition and health. Contact: Ruth Dow, Alfalit International, Inc., 8125 NW 33rd Street, Miami, Florida 33122, USA. Tel: 305-597-9077, fax: 305-597-9078, e-mail: email@example.com, web: www.alfalit.org SCI founding member passes away SCI notes with sadness the untimely passing of one of its founders, Margaret Payne. Margaret served as Assistant Dean at the University College at the University of the Pacific and had been recently honored for her tireless work inspiring countless older and re-entry students to complete their degrees. SCI is grateful for her generous support through the years. We extend deepest sympathy to her family. Solar Energy International is offering a weekend course on building and using a solar cooker. Participants will build a slant-faced solar oven out of wood, which they can take home with them. Course dates are June 29-30, and the cost, including supplies, is US $300. Contact: Solar Energy International, PO Box 715, 76 South 2nd, Carbondale, Colorado 81623, USA. Tel: 970-963-8855, fax: 970-963-8866, e-mail: email@example.com, web: www.solarenergy.org Aprovecho Research Center offers ten-week internships in appropriate technology that focus on efficient heating and cooking technologies (including solar cookers and hay boxes), solar design, and alternative building. Upcoming internships are June 3-August 9, and September 2-November 8. Tuition is on a sliding scale of US $1800-2500. Contact: Internship Coordinator, Aprovecho Research Center, 80574 Hazelton Road, Cottage Grove, Oregon 97424, USA. Tel: 541-942-8198, web: www.efn.org/~apro Vegas Trailer Supply hosts solar living seminars in the Las Vegas, Nevada area, that cover a variety of solar topics including cooking. Most seminars are free. Dates are open. Contact: Vegas Trailer Supply, 3076 East Fremont, Las Vegas, Nevada 89104, USA. Tel: 702-457-4265, fax: 702-457-1662, e-mail: email@example.com, web: www.vegastrailer.com or www.greensun.org This wheat-, yeast-, and dairy-free recipe comes from the Summer 2001 edition of The Solar Collector, newsletter of the Solar Cooking Interest Group (Australia). Thanks to Tin of Fremantle, Australia, for the submission. 1 cup soy or rice flour Sift first five ingredients. Add seeds. Mix honey and milk together, and stir in the dry ingredients. Pour into a lightly-greased baking pan. Bake in a solar cooker at midday for 2 hours or until bread comes away from the sides of the pan and is nicely browned on top. TTT Inc. to promote Sun Ovens in Uganda According to a recent press release, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is contributing a $300,000 loan to a joint venture that will provide solar cookers to low- and middle-income households in Uganda. Sun Ovens International, Inc. of Elburn, Illinois, USA, through the USAID Global Technology Network's business facilitation program, has licensed their GLOBAL SUN OVEN® solar cooker to a joint venture between UltraTec of Kampala, Uganda and the Tucson Transatlantic Trade Inc. Holding Group (TTT). TTT is active in the energy, environment, factory automation, industrial construction and food processing sectors, with activities in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia Pacific. This transaction is supported by a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, in addition to the OPIC loan. Initially, 60 units have been shipped from the U.S. for test marketing. Local assembly and manufacture will follow as the market grows. After the initial test marketing, sales forecasts will be developed and a component part manufacturing facility will be opened in the TTT Inc. Holding Group Industrial Park near Kampala, Uganda. This local production capability should directly translate into an approximate cost savings of 40 percent, thus making the units more affordable. The National Strategy for the Advancement of Rural Women in Uganda (NSARWU), an NGO founded by the First Lady of Uganda Janet Museveni, will assist in making the ovens available to women in rural Uganda. NSARWA is developing a culturally appropriate training program that will distribute ovens to trained participants allowing them to make small monthly payments, over a three-year period, from the savings obtained by not purchasing other cooking fuels. Contact: Alex Dely, TTT Inc. Holding Group, tel: (520) 721-4336, e-mail: email@example.com; Paul Munsen, Sun Ovens International, Inc., 39W835 Midan Drive, Elburn, Illinois 60119, USA. Tel: (800) 408-7919, e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Tribute gifts have been given to SCI by
Double-Angled-Twelve-Sided (DATS) solar cooker (en español aquí) (Editor's note: SCI has not tested this cooker for safety, effectiveness, stability, or ease of use) by Teong H. Tan I was introduced to the world of solar cooking in 1982 when, as a student, I was working on a heat-transfer experiment at the Brace Research Institute in Montreal. Brace had shortly before that experimented with and tested a variety of solar cookers. Many years had passed by for me without any further solar cooking exposure until I discovered Solar Cookers International's web site three years ago. The site has since become the place where I catch up on solar cooking activities. Background The "CooKit" is one of my favorite solar cookers. After reading about difficulties many people face locating heat-resistant bags, and experiencing how ordinary plastic bags melt on contact with hot cooking pots, I started to explore the possibility of a simple, low cost, easy to construct cooker that requires no plastic bag. I have designed one that I call Double-Angled-Twelve-Sided (DATS) solar cooker. It seems to do the job on clear, sunny days. DATS cooker employs 24 small reflective panels to concentrate extra sunlight to compensate for the heat loss from not using a plastic bag. DATS cooker design is similar to a deep-focus parabolic cooker, but instead of using a true parabolic curve, multiple flat panels concentrate sunlight onto the cooking pot. Two reflective surface-angles, 45º and 60º, are used so that a bend can be introduced in between for structural rigidity to hold the cooker's shape. This structural rigidity allows for DATS cooker to be constructed out of cardboard material. A DATS cooker, tested in Shanghai, reached a maximum temperature of 140ºC (284ºF) inside an empty black cooking pot, on a clear sunny day with 21ºC (70ºF) ambient air temperature and a slight breeze. Eggs became hard-boiled in 30 minutes and two cups of rice cooked in 95 minutes. The cooker should be re-positioned every 45 minutes or less for better efficiency. A simple supporting structure, made out of bamboo or wooden sticks, is built-in as an integral part of DATS cooker to support the cooking pot at the desired cooking position. DATS cooker is held rigid by a string, which links all twelve 45º-panels together at the bottom end. The string is made taut by twisting in the loose string loop around a short stick. The tighter the string is, the better DATS cooker holds its shape. If needed, a small gage string, tied across two opposite panels, at 3:00 o'clock and 9:00 o'clock position, can be used to pull in any slack in the cooker shape due to gravity. By loosening the string and removing the cooking pot supporting structure, DATS cooker can be folded up for storage or transportation. Required materials are cardboard, aluminum foil, white glue, paper tape, small bamboo/wooden sticks, and string. Construction Cut 12 rectangular pieces of cardboard measuring 24cm x 61cm each. Trace and cut the following shape on each cardboard panel. Make a straight
fold at 24cm distance from the small end of the panel. Punch a hole in each of
the two "ears" at the narrow end of the panel, as shown, and fold the ears away
from you. Place the panels side by side, along the longest edge of each panel, and tape them together until all 12 panels are joined to form a ring. Glue aluminum foil on all inside surfaces of the cooker. tape together panels along longest side all 12 panels form a ring Pass a string through the punched ear holes at the lower end of the cooker, to join the lower panels together. Twist the loose string loop around a short stick, to pick up the slack in the string and form a rigid, deep parabolic sort of shape. For added efficiency, cover the round opening at the bottom of the cooker with a reflective disk. string joins panels together short stick picks up string slack outside of completed cooker shell inside of completed cooker shell To construct the pot support, puncture a small hole in the middle of the lower half of four of panels. Push two 35cm-long bamboo/wood sticks, in parallel, through the four holes, to form a pair of support rails for the cooking pot. Small pieces of cardboard are then glued on the outside, along the bottom of the two protruding sticks, for additional rail support. Tie the exposed stick ends on the outside with rubber bands to prevent the sticks from sliding. Attach two 29cm-long bamboo/wood sticks, perpendicular to the rails, and sandwich the bottom end of the sticks between the lower panel folded ears. Connect the two perpendicular junctions of the rails/sticks with a wire or string for added pot stability, allowing pot loads of up to 2.5kg. protruding sticks with small cardboard supports completed pot support structure The DATS cooker is now ready for use. Position the cooker to face the sun directly. A black pot, with food inside, can now be either placed flat or angled on the support rails to be cooked by the heat generated from the reflected sunlight. Contact: Teong H. Tan, e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Solar Cooker Review is published two or three times per year, with the purpose of presenting solar cooking information from around the world. Topics include solar cooker technology, dissemination strategies, educational materials, and cultural and social adaptations. From time to time we cover related topics such as women's issues, wood shortages, health, nutrition, air pollution, climatic changes, and the environment. Solar Cooker Review is sent to those who contribute money, or news about solar cooking projects. The suggested subscription price is US $10/year. Single copies are sent free to select libraries and groups overseas. We welcome reports and commentary related to solar cooking for possible inclusion. These may be edited for clarity or space. Please cite sources whenever possible. We will credit your contribution. Send contributions to Solar Cookers International, 1919 21st Street, Suite 101, Sacramento, California 95811-6827, USA. You may also send them by fax: (916) 455-4498, or e-mail: email@example.com Solar Cooker Review is compiled and edited by the staff of Solar Cookers International (SCI), with layout graciously provided by IMPACT Publications located in Medford, Oregon, USA. SCI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization assisting communities to use the power of the sun to cook food and pasteurize water for the benefit of people and environments. We do not sell, rent or trade names of our donors. Tax ID # 68-0153141. Solar Cookers International Tel: +1 916-455-4499 Email: email@example.com Board of Directors
SCI's mission is to spread solar cooking to benefit people and environments. |