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Google signaled the end of Web 1.0 Infrastructure and the beginning of Web 2.0 Information.
Is WolframAlpha signaling the end of Web 2.0 Information and the beginning of Web 3.0 Knowledge?
I have been thinking about the recent comments of Seth Godin about Social Networks on TED.com. Personally, I believe Seth is behind the curve and that Social Networking is becoming a bubble as platforms are becoming commoditized and Social Network companies are springing up everywhere without properly thought out business models. Eventually, venture capitalists will get wise, pull their money out and the bubble will burst. Web 2.0 is dead. Long live Web 3.o.
WolframAlpha.com is probably the Web 3.0 shot that is being heard around the world. A new generation of search engine for a new generation of knowledge-based internet technologies.
Social Networks will continue to exist. All of the small Social Networks will be gobbled up by the biggies. However, the center is shifting from the profiling of Web 2.0 focusing on the needs of the business to gather customer information back to the needs of the customer to gather product knowledge.
Relational databases focused on the values, information. Associational databases will focus on the connections, knowledge.
Look forward to a new economy and a new plethora of business models.
Web 3.0 is here. Knowledge is Power. Power is Leadership. Knowledge is Leadership.


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While iMore has consistently heard the widely anticipated iPad mini would start at around $200-$250 for 8GB, now some pricing information is being reported that pegs the starting price higher -- at $329 (though at what storage capacity is uncertain).This according to Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac, who has an excellent track record when it comes to retail pricing:
Apple's entry price for its upcoming smaller iPad is between the base model of the new, fifth-generation iPod touch ($299) and the currently shipping WiFi-only 16GB iPad 2 ($399). According to our sources, the base model of the smaller iPad will likely be priced at a minimum of $329 in the United States.
If Apple is going over $300 for the entry level model, and our original information was accurate -- which I believe it was -- then something changed.
One possibility is that Apple has abandoned the 8GB SKU and is starting instead with a 16GB SKU at a $100 higher price point. 8GB would have made for a very low, low end model but may not have ultimately provided a user experience Apple was happy with, especially given the size of TV shows, movies, and even the upcoming iBooks Apple is planning. Also, the $200-$250 8GB iPad mini we heard about was predicated on taking the fight to Amazon's Kindle and Google's Nexus 7, and neither of those devices have taken the world by storm. You can't even buy or realistically use them in many parts of the world. It could simply be that Apple doesn't feel the price pressure they assumed they would in the small tablet space, and so aren't being as aggressive as they may have been had Amazon and Google enjoyed greater success to date.
A less likely possibility is Retina display. Moving from an iPad 2 1024x768 resolution display at an iPhone 3GS 163 ppi to an iPad 3 2048x1536 resolution display and an iPhone 4 326 ppi would increase cost and hence, price point. We've heard both display types were in the pipeline, but Retina still sounded more like next year's model than this year's. Given the display resolution of the new Kindle Fire HD is 1280x800 at 215 ppi, however, moving it up could be seen as a competitive necessity.
Source: 9to5Mac
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TikTok is being banned in the U.S. from Sunday, September 20
The U.S. Department of Commerce will ban TikTok and WeChat from U.S app stores from Sunday.
Apple's RomaEst store in Italy to close permanently, October 17
Apple's RomaEst store will close October 17, paving the way for Apple's stunning new Apple store on the Via Del Corso.
Fortnite: Save the World no longer playable on Mac from September 23
Epic Games has said support for its tower defence game, Fortnite: Save the World, will end on Mac next week following Epic Games fallout and lawsuit against Apple.
New iPad (2020)? Pick up a case and protect it from the start!
Looking for the best iPad 2020 case? We've rounded up some of the best cases for Apple's 8th generation iPad here.

subset: commoncrawl


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"A sea of flame retardant foam has flooded the streets around an airport hangar in the US state of California.
Firefighters say the foam spread after a fire alarm malfunctioned in a hangar at San Jose airport, causing foam to spew out of the hangar's vents."
No pictures from inside the hangar, but you can imagine that it's full to the top...


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Shirt – Target (similar) | Belt – The Limited (similar) | Skirt – BCBG outlet (similar) | Shoes – Mia (similar) | Bracelet – JF&A Show (similar) | Necklace – NY&Co (similar)
Total outfit cost = $123
Today I have a lunch meeting to meet a new department head so I decided to forgo my usual Friday Casual jeans and instead wear this pleated jersey skirt (with pockets!) with my very first chambray top. Today is the day to showcase your favorite Target score for Whitney and Heidi's "We Love Target" link-up.
I bought this chambray shirt almost two years ago off the clearance rack at Target. I don't remember how much I paid for it but I do know it was probably my best Target purchase in awhile (other than my red trench coat that also came off the clearance rack). Unfortunately the Target closest to my apartment – the one I can walk to – doesn't have the best clothing section, clearance or otherwise, so I haven't gotten any good deals recently.
This skirt, though, I bought in 2009 at an outlet mall in Napa, California for a song. It's super comfy and has held up amazingly well for jersey material. It has a slightly casual feel to it but it's also easy to dress up, as evidenced by the time I wore it to work with heels.
However, to keep with the Target love theme, the shirt, skirt, and shoes listed in the links above are all from Target! Because, really, who couldn't use a black skirt, a chambray top, and a pair of red ballet flats?
Also linking up with AJ Wears Clothes


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We are here for you online 24/7!
Live customer service hours are Monday – Friday 9AM – 4PM Central Time
MSA Advance® Cap Standard Hard Hats are vented and can have a 4 pt Ratchet Suspension or a 6 pt Ratchet Suspension. Imprints are available in four locations and up to four colors can be printed on each location. The locations are the front of the hat, the back of the hat, the right side of the hat and the left side of the hat. The logos are printed directly onto the hard hat.
*If your order is less than 36 hard hats, a $50 short-run fee will be applied to your order. This fee covers the printing set up and the custom ink colors.
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V-Gard® Advance® Caps feature advanced styling with venting along the crown for improved air circulation. V-Gard® Advance® Caps consist of an ABS shell and either a 4- or 6-point Fas-Trac Ratchet Suspension (with soft, absorbent sweatband) that work together as a protective system.
V-Gard® Advance® Caps are not specifically designed to protect against lateral blows from the front, side or rear.
Principle(s) of Operation Approvals and Standards V-Gard® Advance® Caps meet or exceed the applicable requirements for a Type I helmet (top impact) as outlined in ANSI Z89.1-2014, Class C.
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Once we receive your order, we will put together a proof and email it to you. The proof will have all of your order information on it. You will need to approve the order before we will charge you and put the order into production.
*If your order less than 36 hard hats, a $50 short-run fee will be applied to your order. This fee covers the printing set up and the custom ink colors.
All hard hats require a vectorized logo for printing.
All hard hats require a vectorized logo for printing. Vector art consists of lines and curves that are mathematically defined objects. When viewing art in keyline mode you can see the points or vectors connecting your lines and curves. They can also be seen when using the pen tool or editing the points along a path. Vector art is ideal for type and drawn shapes because they can be enlarged to any size while maintaining crisp outlines and details without sacrificing quality. The distance between the vectors is calculated mathematically and is not dependent upon resolution.
If you do not have an acceptable file, we offer a vectorization service to recreate most logos for $35. You will receive a copy of the logo file once it is completed. Payment must be received prior to us recreating your logo in a vector format.
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You can add up to four logos in four different locations on your hard hat. Each logo can have up to four different colors. You can also have a name printed on the hard hat. All logos are printed as large as possible on the hat, unless otherwise specified.
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Marlon Blackwell
- October 16, 2012 7:00 AM
Marlon Blackwell, FAIA, practices architecture in Fayetteville, Arkansas and serves as Distinguished Professor and Department Head in the Fay Jones School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas. Recognized throughout his career with honors and awards, Blackwell received a 2012 AIA Institute Honor Award and the 2012 Architecture Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for a unique use of design strategies that draw upon vernaculars and contradictions of place to transgress conventional boundaries for architecture. Blackwell is here as the lead juror for the Fort Worth AIA annual Design Awards and to present Figures and Types for this Tuesday Evenings lecture.
This popular series of lectures and presentations by artists, scholars, and critics is free and open to the public. To assure seating, free admission tickets are available at the Modern's admission desk beginning at 5 pm on the day of the lecture. Seating begins at 6:30 pm and is limited to 250. A live broadcast of the lectures is shown in Café Modern for any additional guests. Lectures begin at 7 pm. The Museum galleries and the café remain open until 7 pm on Tuesday evenings during the series.
Podcasts of these lectures are available here, two weeks after presentation date.
New This Season!
Café Modern will be open for dinner on Tuesday nights during the lecture series. Enjoy a fine dining experience before or after the lecture; seating is available from 5 pm to 8:30 pm.
For reservations, call 817.840.2174 or visit www.themodern.org/cafe.


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Dress up your summer sensibility when you wear this Pink coloured top from house of TAB91. Made from cotton rich fabric this regular fit top will keep you comfortable in summers. This top can be paired with basic blue coloured jeans and sneakers.
Copyright © 2017. All Rights Reserved | Site Credit: Royalways


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A collection of scholarly works about individual liberty and free markets. A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.
1851 - 1926
Historical Period:
The 19th Century
An Austrian economist who contributed to the early development of the marginalist or subjectivist school of economic thought in the late 19th century. [The image comes from "The Warren J. Samuels Portrait Collection at Duke University."]


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(Budget Travel) -- As the masses descend on America's most colorful country roads this season, why not try an alternate route? Autumn's gold-and-yellow leaf show is just as breathtaking from the deck of a boat -- and fantastically free of those distracting red taillights.
Casco Bay, Maine
Operating out of South Freeport, Maine -- home to the L.L. Bean flagship store -- Atlantic Seal Cruises offers passengers the chance to see more than just the changing maple trees. On the nearly three-hour-long outings through Casco Bay, passengers often spot cruisers often spot photo-worthy wildlife like seals basking on the shore, and the crew occasionally hauls up lobster traps along the route to demonstrate how to measure and band the tasty crustaceans. atlanticsealcruises.com, September 15 - October 31, $35.
Timing Tip: Check up on how the leaves are changing at the state's official fall foliage site, which starts publishing reports September 15.
Atlantic Ocean, New England and Canada
Talk about making a splash. With 12 departures this fall, MSC Cruises' full-scale ocean voyages cover some of North America's most spectacular leaf-peeping territory. For its inaugural stateside season, the Europe-based company is sending the 2,550-passenger MSC Poesia between New York and Quebec, with ports of call at Prince Edward Island; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Newport, Rhode Island; Boston, Massachusetts; and Bar Harbor, Maine, to name a few.
Not quite ready to kiss warm weather good-bye? MSC's October 23 cruise, Autumn Leaves to Palm Trees, drops travelers at Fort Lauderdale for one last beach fling. Select departures in September and October, from $599 (price is for a six-night cruise and includes meals). msccruises-us.com.
Timing Tip: For updates on foliage around New England, visit Yankee Magazine's fall foliage chronicles.
Budget Travel: Most amazing hotel pools
Hudson River, New York
Times Square, the Empire State Building, world-class fall foliage. One of the Big Apple's best-kept secrets comes to life each year north of Manhattan. Circle Line Downtown's five-hour cruises depart from the city's South Street Seaport select Saturdays at 11 a.m., bound for the Hudson River Valley, where they sail past a handful of well-groomed state parks and historic small towns like Sleepy Hollow.
With an open sundeck and two enclosed lower decks, there's plenty to do on board: continental breakfast and lunch, a complimentary wine tasting, and college football games broadcast on satellite TV. But once the boat passes Bear Mountain Bridge, all eyes turn to the banks. Watching the pops of red, burnt orange, and yellow on either side of the 400-passenger catamaran, you'll feel like New York City is worlds away.
Book and arrive early -- there's no reserved seating. circlelinedowntown.com, Saturdays October 23 - November 6, $120 (includes meals).
Connecticut River, Connecticut
It's only been operating for about 40 years, but the Essex Steam Train and Riverboat package transports passengers straight back to the 19th century. After boarding a vintage railcar at the 1892 Essex Station in Essex, Connecticut, riders sip warm apple cider as the coal-powered train chugs up to Deep River Landing, about four miles north.
There, the three-level, 220-passenger Becky Thatcher riverboat waits to take sightseers on a 90-minute cruise from Deep River to East Haddam, providing a spectacular survey of birch, dogwood, sumac, and maple trees -- plus the state's trademark white oaks-- along the way.
Reserve tickets ahead for weekend trips, which often sell out; typically, colors are at their peak for two to three weeks following Columbus Day (this year that means October 8 to 24). essexsteamtrain.com, Thursdays through Mondays September 30 - October 25, $26.
Timing Tip: Before the "all-aboard!" peruse the state's foliage reports.
Budget Travel: World's weirdest hotels
Tennessee River, Alabama
What other afternoon cruise claims a hospitality director as part of its crew? On the Pickwick Belle, that's just one part of its old-school Southern charm. Other genteel touches on the old-fashioned, 149-passenger paddlewheeler: plenty of upper-deck benches for relaxing through a 90-minute ride, and lunches in the lower dining room for longer trips.
Bonus: The state's warmer climate means the trees (mainly poplar, dogwood, maple and hickory) don't hit peak color until late October, so you have more time to plan your departure.
Cruises depart from Florence Harbor Marina in Alabama or Pickwick Landing State Park in Tennessee. pickwickbelle.com, select Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday departures starting Oct. 9, $22.
Timing Tip: Check out the Alabama Tourism Department's official website for more details on foliage.
Illinois River, Illinois
Consider it a vote of confidence that most of the Spirit of Peoria's two- and three-night itineraries from Peoria, Illinois, to St. Louis are already sold out. Luckily, latecomers can still book the 487-passenger paddleboat's overnight trip, which combines a 70-mile journey through vibrant sycamores, maples, and oaks with a one-night stay at Starved Rock Lodge, in Utica, Illinois.
The package provides onboard entertainment like live banjo and ragtime piano music and covers all meals, drinks, lodging, and a guided hike through Starved Rock State Park in the afternoon. Owner and captain Alex Grieves, who goes on nearly every Spirit of Peoria excursion, says his favorite (read: the best) weekend is usually in mid to late October.
This year, he's looking forward to the October 18 to 19 cruise for optimal colors. spiritofpeoria.com, select Monday--Tuesday cruises through October 25, from $279 (includes ticket, overnight at Starved Rock Lodge, guided hikes, and all meals and drinks).
Budget Travel: 8 places every American should see
Lake Taneycomo, Branson, Missouri
After an unseasonably wet summer, Missouri is primed for a rare explosion of fall colors. And Lake Taneycomo, just northeast of Branson, is a perfect place to revel in it. Branson Landing Cruises' two boats, the elegant Lake Queen paddleboat and the tricked-out, 100-foot luxury yacht Landing Princess cover five different options, including lunch cruises, dinner cruises, and no-frills sightseeing itineraries that depart each morning and afternoon.
Because the Ozarks are home to a wider range of trees than many Northeast forests, and they all turn colors in different time frames, it pays to be aware of when your favorites will be in top form. (Sassafras and sumac trees typically go earlier, while oaks, hickories, and others continue to turn well into October.)
Whenever you go, there's another sight worth keeping an eye out for: the memorable morning show of eagles and herons drying the day's dew from their wings. bransonlandingcruises.com, select departures in September and October, $16 for sightseeing cruises, $26 for lunch cruises, $40 for dinner cruises.
Timing Tip: Check Missouri's fall color guide for more details on foliage.
Columbia and Snake Rivers, Oregon/Washington
What Oregon lacks in autumnal Technicolor splendor it makes up for in pure ruggedness. On one of 13 cruises sailing this fall from Cruise West, leaf peepers can take in the picturesque Multnomah Falls, the 4,000-foot-deep Columbia gorges, and the snowcapped Cascades while tracing nearly 1,000 miles of Lewis and Clark's famous route. (Also featured on the weeklong round-trip cruises sailing out of Portland: stops at wineries in Walla Walla, Washington)
The trips are made exclusively by the Spirit of Discovery and Spirit of '98, two small-scale coastal steamers that max out at about 100 passengers. If your travel dates are flexible, sign up for Cruise West's Stowaway option, you'll get 25 percent off to take any slot within a 30-day travel window. cruisewest.com, September and October departures for eight-day cruises, from $3,299 (includes everything except alcohol).
Timing Tip: For more on the area's colors, check up on foliage reports online or call Oregon's Fall Foliage Hotline (800/547-5445).
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Copyright © 2011 Newsweek Budget Travel, Inc., all rights reserved.


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This take on Minted was made by
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community of independent artists.
Curate and share your favorite designs.
We uncover design genius through ongoing design competitions. At Minted, all that matters is good design. Designers submit, and the Minted community votes to tell us what to sell.


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Christian Professor Bursts the Myth of 'Dying Christianity'
Contrary to critics in the mainstream suggesting Christianity's death might be near due to the rise of the "nones" or "religiously unaffiliated" in the United States, the faith is at its most important and promising moment in history, argues a young pastor and professor of religion.
The Pew Research Center polling last October showed that one-fifth of the people in the U.S. – and a third of adults under 30 – do not identify with any religion, which led many in the secular press to project Christianity as a dying religion. But the view that Christianity is "on a respirator" overlooks the evidence of the growing influence of the faith, says Johnnie Moore, a vice president, professor of religion, and campus pastor at the nearly 100,000-student Liberty University in Virginia, in an article for Fox News.
While some media critics of Christianity "have lost their minds touting" the so-called rise of the "nones" in the U.S., they fail to note that nearly 70 percent of them still admit to believing in God. In fact, one-in-five of America's "least religious" say they pray every day, Moore points out, suggesting that many devoted Christians, tired of cultural and denominational labels, have opted to be classified as "unaffiliated" rather than be stereotyped.
Never before have masses of evangelicals and Catholics been more engaged in the public square, he writes in the article published Sunday. He says Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority – a prominent political organization of Christian conservatives – has been multiplied a thousand times over, "cementing the role of evangelicals and Catholics in every major election since Ronald Reagan."
Even in last November's presidential election, evangelicals represented more than one-fourth of the electorate – the highest ever – with over three-fourth of them voting for a single candidate, though a Mormon.
Moore also cites the example of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who is among those who have "the ability to instantly mobilize millions of Christians in support of causes that matter to them." Even the Obama administration's hostility toward religious liberty didn't shove people of faith into obscurity, he adds. "The bullying ignited a powder keg of religious liberty that has produced unprecedented solidarity among Catholics and Evangelicals, almost like we've never seen before."
Christianity is growing fast around the world, Moore says. Thanks to the Internet, Christianity is witnessing an explosive growth around the world, he points out. Brazil's evangelical population has swelled by 30 percent in the last decade – even faster than its economic boon. China has become an incubator for Christianity, and the church in Africa is an indigenous force that influences every facet of the continent's society.
An Evangelical Leaders Survey, conducted among top evangelical leaders in the nation and released in 2009, showed that while there is overwhelming optimism on the growth of Christianity in the world, there is mostly pessimism when it comes to the future of the faith in America.
A Gallup survey showed last July that only 44 percent of Americans had a great deal or a lot of confidence in religion. This number was lower than the 48 percent scored in 2011, and lower than the previous all-time low of 45 percent reported in 2002.
However, some Christians are optimistic about the future of Christianity in America. In his book, The Next Christians: The Good News About the End of Christian America, young evangelical leader Gabe Lyons says that while the current system of Christianity in the nation is dying, a new generation of Christians that seeks to restore the world as God intended is rising.
For too long, Lyons contends, Christianity in America has only told part of the story – the fall (sin) and salvation – but failed to tell the grand narrative. While saving souls is indisputably important, Lyons contends, Jesus also calls on Christians to restore the broken things to how it ought to be. "The next generation [of Christians] understands restoration as connected to the Gospel. They are motivated by the fact that Jesus restored their own soul and is constantly in the process of restoring them," Lyons earlier explained while speaking to The Christian Post.
Moore also points to the tens of thousands who hold worship services each Sunday even today in numerous megachurches across the nation.
Moore concludes his article with a quote by Theodore Beza, the 17th century French Protestant Christian theologian, who said, "The church is an anvil which has worn out many hammers."


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How to Get Organized for Filing 1099s
How to Get Organized for Filing 1099s
The 2014 tax season is fast approaching, which means small-business owners who pay independent contractors must prepare to file 1099-MISCs. Like W-2s for full-time employees, 1099s for freelancers must be filed to the IRS — and mailed to the taxpayers who worked for you in 2013 — between Jan. 1 and 31. You are generally required to submit a 1099 form for anyone who earned more than $600 from your company during 2013.
Don't let the process complicate your already busy schedule. Here's how to get organized and stay compliant year-round.
1. Ask your contractor(s) to complete a W-9. As soon as you bring on a freelancer, ask her to complete and return a W-9 form. The IRS requires you to collect this form from all independent contractors, and you'll need to keep it on file for four years. Tip: Download Form W-9 [PDF] from the IRS website.
2. Get your contractor information straight. Keep key information handy. Beyond the individual's or company's name, address, and taxpayer identification number (all of which appears on the W-9), you'll also want to include phone number(s), email address(es), and contracts or agreements in your records. Tip: Your contractor's taxpayer ID is either his Social Security number or his employer identification number.
3. Maintain detailed records. If you don't have an accountant, set up an effective system for tracking payments to contractors yourself. You could use services like Intuit Online Payroll, 1099 Central, or QuickBooks, or even use a basic spreadsheet. Tip: If you're paying freelancers via a credit card or a third-party service such as PayPal, track those payments separately; recent IRS regulations mean you'll need to exclude them from the 1099. Instead, they will be reported by the payment processor on form 1099-K.
4. Pull it all together now. January can be a hectic time. Among other things, you're required to get copies of tax forms to all employees and contractors by the end of the month. To avoid last-minute scrambling, costly errors, and amending your IRS filings, double-check that you have the most up-to-date information on file for everyone now. Tip: Use an e-filing service to prepare your 1099s to avoid the hassle of handwriting and mailing them.
Read more: http://blog.intuit.com/money/how-to-get-organized-for-filing-1099s/#ixzz2kdibjLVk


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Clean Break: Chapter 4 in the story of Germany's switch to renewables
Bonn, Germany—On the afternoon of April 29, 1986, West Germany's Interior Minister Friedrich Zimmermann walked out of a meeting with the Commission on Radiological Protection and spoke to a TV reporter.
"There is no danger," Zimmermann assured millions of anxious viewers. "Chernobyl is 2,000 kilometers away."
Zimmermann's words carried authority—and not just because of his high office. He looked authoritative, dressed in a dark gray suit, white shirt, matching dark tie, and steel-framed aviator glasses on his plump face. He also spoke with the cold command of a lawyer, which he had been before entering politics.
The only element out of place in his reassuring performance that day was a large oil painting on the wall behind him. It depicted storm clouds gathering above churning seas and its omen of dread proved to be the most accurate part of the interview. Chernobyl, in Soviet Ukraine, was 300 miles closer than Zimmermann had said. Even as he spoke, a radioactive cloud released by the worst nuclear power disaster in history was over East Germany and drifting west.
Like all revolutions, the German Energiewende was set in motion by many factors and its course altered by a multitude of events and actors along the way. A few key moments stand out, however, and the Chernobyl catastrophe is one of them. To fully understand the Energiewende, and to anticipate its future twists and turns, it's essential to understand the role Chernobyl played in shaping the German public's view of nuclear power.
This is Chapter 4 of a six-part series on Germany's remarkable clean break with coal, oil and nuclear energy. Click to read Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 5 and Chapter 6. Or read it all now as a Kindle Single ebook on Amazon for 99 cents.
Take Marianne Störmer, for example, my seatmate on a trip crossing a swath of northern Germany. She was a young schoolteacher in Hamburg when the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl exploded and burned out of control for 10 days, and she vividly recalled that time of angst. "A lot of radiation came over here so you had to be very careful about what you ate," she said. "Milk was contaminated. I had always gathered mushrooms in the forest, but we were told not to do that anymore."
Now in her mid-fifties, Störmer describes herself as a "typical Bürgher"—German shorthand for a cliché of middle-class and middle-of-the-road sensibilities from an earlier era. She looked the part: conservatively dressed with medium-length brown hair, plain-rimmed glasses and a stout build. A physics teacher, she had admired the engineering and scientific brilliance that made it possible to harness energy from splitting atoms. She had believed in nuclear power—until Chernobyl.
Click here to view the slideshow of Germany's switch to renewables.
The worst part, she said, was the effect on her 11-, 12- and 13-year-old students. "They were so frightened. So were the parents. They asked me: Should the children play outside? Should they not?"
Störmer gazed out the window and looked at the passing fields. Then she turned back and shook her head in disgust. "Nuclear," she said deliberately, "is a very ugly sort of energy."
A group of German farmers reached that conclusion a decade before Störmer did. In 1975, the conservative residents of southern Germany's grape-growing region occupied the site of a planned nuclear power station, forcing its cancellation. A decade later, when they were ordered to destroy their crops because of radioactive fallout from Chernobyl, they believed their nuclear doubts had been confirmed.
As time passed and memories of Chernobyl faded, however, the German public's wider outcry against nuclear power receded. Through the mid-1990s, the nuclear industry and the ruling conservative government fought nuclear opponents to a standoff. No new plants were built, but no existing facilities were closed. In 2000, a new government passed the comprehensive legislation that became the foundation for the Energiewende, and it included the gradual phase out of nuclear power. But that part of the law was overturned a decade later by the center-right coalition led by the current chancellor, Angela Merkel, who also extended the life of aging nuclear plants by up to 14 years.
Merkel's decision triggered Germany's largest antinuclear protests since Chernobyl. But still, the public remained divided on the issue and the fate of nuclear power remained up in the air. Until Fukushima.
On March 11, 2011, an earthquake followed by a tsunami struck central Japan's west coast. The massive wave swamped the six nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, triggering three core meltdowns. Germany's long-simmering unease about nuclear power bubbled to the surface and exploded. Antinuclear demonstrators again took to the streets by the tens of thousands, chanting, "Shut them down!"
Less than a week into the Fukushima crisis, Merkel stunned the nation by withdrawing the licensing extensions and temporarily closing seven of Germany's oldest nuclear plants. The restart of an eighth plant, which was offline for refueling, was delayed.
But the real bombshell was still to come.
On May 30, Merkel held a press conference in the Chancellery. Flanked by members of her cabinet and wearing one of her trademark red power jackets, she announced that she was making the temporary closures permanent. What's more, she continued, the most industrialized nation in Europe, and the world's fourth-largest economy, would permanently close all nine of its remaining nuclear power plants by 2022.
Merkel, whose support for the Energiewende had always been tepid, had suddenly pinned Germany's future entirely on renewable energy. It was, wrote one journalist, "as if the pope were suddenly advocating the use of birth control pills."
Merkel had been a prominent researcher in quantum chemistry before entering politics and was well aware of the enormity of the task that lay ahead. But, she told the assembled reporters, this was a historic opportunity for Germany to step forward on the world stage: "We believe that we can show those countries who decide to abandon nuclear power—or not to start using it—how it is possible to achieve growth, creating jobs and economic prosperity while shifting the energy supply toward renewable energies."
The nuclear industry and its supporters pounced on Merkel's decision. They predicted blackouts on a scale Germany hadn't experienced since World War II and skyrocketing electricity prices that would wreck the nation's heavy manufacturing sector, the bedrock of the German economy. They warned that Germany would cease to be an energy exporter and be forced to import electricity from, of all places, French nuclear power plants. Utilities would have to burn more coal to make up for the lost nuclear power, they said, pumping huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The British weekly The Economist branded Merkel's action "a lunatic gamble."
More than a year and a half later, however, those dire predictions haven't materialized.
There have been no blackouts since Merkel's announcement. On the contrary, Germany's grid, which was already the most reliable in Europe, experienced a total of just 15 minutes and 31 seconds of brownouts in 2011, an improvement over 2010. (The comparable figure for the United States is measured in hours.) The wholesale price of electricity has gone down, not up. The electricity-intensive German manufacturing sector is still thriving. And Germany finished 2011 as a net exporter of energy, while also cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2 percent.
How did the critics get it so wrong? According to many German energy experts, the naysayers couldn't envision how the new energy economy would work. Rainer Baake, who brokered the original plan to phase out nuclear, said the critics didn't understand that while a single source of renewable energy can't match the constant power of a coal or nuclear plant, a mix of renewable sources can achieve a similar result. For example, solar power produces a predictable range of energy during the day, while winds blow primarily at night. Getting the mix right isn't easy. But so far, Baake argued, Germany's experience suggests that it is possible.
Even some Energiewende supporters, however, criticized Merkel's decision to immediately close several of the nuclear plants. They felt the closures should have been phased out gradually, as the 2000 legislation would have done.
Some analysts suggested that Germany's carbon emissions—which declined by 2 percent in 2011—could have dropped even further if Merkel hadn't acted so precipitously. Even with the Merkel shutdown, however, Germany's old coal plants are being decommissioned faster than new ones—which were ordered years before the Fukushima disaster—are coming online.
Still, more needs to be done to make a smooth transition to a renewable energy economy. The antiquated power system must become more flexible and nimble, able to respond quickly to demand, something the old system wasn't designed to do, Rainer Baake stressed. For all practical purposes, coal and nuclear power have only two settings: off and on. Supporters of the Energiewende argue that this limitation is another reason to stop using coal and nuclear. "The Big Four were right about one thing," Baake admitted. "You have to choose between the old system and the new one. And we have chosen renewables."
In the United States, experts in the fight against climate change are divided on whether or not Germany should have excluded nuclear on its path to a renewable energy future. Author and activist Bill McKibben, who has written about the issue for two decades, believe Germany took the right path. Leaving aside all of the other well-known problems of nuclear power (waste disposal, vulnerability to terrorist attacks, catastrophic meltdowns), McKibben argues that nuclear is simply too expensive to provide more than a small share of the world's energy needs.
"Nuclear plants are frightening," McKibben wrote in his 2010 book, Eaarth, "in part because new ones spill so much red ink."
McKibben's friend and colleague, James Hansen, believes just as emphatically that climate change can't be defeated without greatly expanding nuclear power. In his book, Storms of My Grandchildren, NASA's chief climatologist wrote, "for the foreseeable future, renewable energies will not be a sufficient source of electric power."
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the preeminent international scientific body on climate change, is more sanguine about renewable energy. In its authoritative Special Report on Renewable Energy Source and Climate Change Mitigation, IPCC scientists concluded in 2011 that, "close to 80 percent of the world's energy supply could be met by renewables," by 2050, while cutting greenhouse gas emissions by a third.
Dr. Susanne Kadner, a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, was a key author of the IPCC report. In April, I met Kadner at Café Einstein, a coffee house favored by Berlin's cultural and political elite. Located on Berlin's grand Unter den Linden Boulevard, halfway between the Brandenburg Gate and Humboldt University (where Albert Einstein and 28 other Nobel Prize recipients taught) the café is a place to see and be seen. The real joy of the place for her, Kadner said cheerily as we settled into our table in the large and bright back room, is that "you can read your newspaper and have coffee and stay for hours and hours."
In fact, we talked for a good hour and a half, with only hot drinks and a single croissant (mine), without waiters hovering and pointedly looking at their watches.
Although the IPCC's renewables report broke ground in several areas, Kadner seemed especially proud of one achievement—a comprehensive "lifecycle analysis" establishing how much CO2 each energy source produces from manufacturing to disposal. Using the largest data set ever compiled, researchers determined that, compared to fossil fuels, renewables sources such as wind and solar power released 10 to 100 times less CO2 per unit of energy.
In practical terms, Kadner said, "What we found was that if you want to mitigate climate change, first, renewable energies can play a role. And second, they have to play a role."
Kadner and her colleagues calculated that of the 300 gigawatts of new electrical generating capacity built throughout the world between 2008 and 2009, 140 gigawatts—nearly half the total—came from renewables. (An average size nuclear reactor produces one gigawatt of electricity)
Even the Energiewende's most ardent supporters admit that, for all its progress, it must still clear some rather tall hurdles. In the short run, Baake said, Germany needs to build more peaking plants—natural gas turbines that ramp up and down quickly to smooth out the intermittent power of renewables. The electrical grid also needs to be expanded (an expensive proposition) and connected to a wider European system (an expensive and politically challenging proposition). In the long term, viable ways must be found to store surplus wind and solar energy.
Baake is confident that, in time, each of these obstacles will be surmounted. After rattling off that daunting list of challenges, he said something that reminded me of my conversation with Hans-Josef Fell, the member of parliament who created the framework for the Energiewende. When I asked Fell about the storage problem, he responded immediately, "It is not a problem. It is a task."
Now it was Baake's turn to demonstrate the pragmatic optimism that powers the Energiewende.
"The tasks ahead are solvable," he said. "Now we have to tackle them."
Purchase the Kindle Single on Amazon
Funding for Clean Break was provided by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, through a Climate Media Fellowship, and by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.


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The second of the Irish Senior Citizens' Parliament's Dublin meetings with European Election candidates took place on the afternoon of 21 May 2009 in EPIC in the European Parliament office in Molesworth Street. The afternoon meeting was attended by four European Candidates: Deirdre de Búrca (Green Party), Proinsias de Rossa (Labour), Caroline Simons (Libertas), and Eibhlín Byrne, Lord Mayor of Dublin (Fianna Fáil).
Deirdre de Búrca spoke about intergenerational solidarity, the Lisbon Strategy, the needs of older people, neutrality & retaining a commissioner. She stressed the importance of the Charter of Fundamental Rights stating that it a very important guiding document & that Article 21 bans discrimination, including discrimination on the grounds of age.
Prionsias de Rossa MEP spoke about the social, economic and environmental crises all coming together and the need to deal with them all together. Asking what Europe can do to help, he said that the EU had put together a "Recovery Programme" worth €30 billion using the European Investment Bank. Matching funds have to be found on the Irish side – the Government has failed to ensure that this happens. He supports the Lisbon Treaty, stating that it provides for greater democracy, and legally binds the charter for human rights. "There is nothing un-democratic about voting again: we re-elect our public representatives."
Caroline Simons spoke about some of the issues affecting older people such as the reduction in pensions & savings in the form of shares, the loss of Medical Cards and the Hanley report closing local hospitals. She opposed the practice of moving the European Parliament from Brussels to Strasbourg regularly. She was happy with the result of the Lisbon Referendum & that there should not be a second vote – "No means No". She stressed the value of volunteerism & carers. She said that she thought "Prionsias was in Europe too long".
Eibhlín Byrne started by saying she did not think "Prionsias was in Europe too long". She had been chair of the Council for Ageing and Older People, which has produced some very good research. She spoke about issues affecting older people, saying that in her time on Dublin City Council, she has tried to ensure these issues are heard. She initiated a review of older people living in bed sits in Dublin and has tried to improve the heating of people's homes. She believes we do need to re-visit the Lisbon Treaty decision.
The meeting provided an opportunity to engage with the candidates on issues that affect the elderly. Topics covered included:
- Should the Lisbon Treaty referendum be re-run?
- The use of social exclusion as a weapon against older people. It is on the increase with information technology excluding us, for example many people will now be excluded from traveling due to online check-in systems.
- The responsibility of the European Parliament for this recession: why did they not monitor what was going on? What was the role of the Court of Auditors in all this?
- More communication is required between Europe and Ireland e.g. a newsletter left in our libraries to let us know what is happening. The challenge is to tell people about European directives etc. in an interesting manner.
- Was the comment about "Prionsias being in Europe too long" ageist?
- Lack of social housing in some city centre areas.
- The importance of Pensions older people – €300 a week now seems to be a long way away.
- Loneliness is a problem for pensioners: this can be alleviated with a decent income as they could go to the pub or to the cinema and socialize.
The meetings were chaired by Sylvia Meehan President of the ISCP. Also in attendance were Máiréad Hayes, CEO, and Lauren Quinn Taylor, Policy Officer of the ISCP, along with representatives of the Parliament's member organisations.
Another four Euro candidates had attended the ISCP morning meeting. Apologies were received from Eoin Ryan MEP. The meeting was preceded by a small silent protest at the gates of Dáil Éireann as part of its ongoing campaign to reverse the Christmas cutback to pensions
The day closed with a vote of thanks to all the candidates from the President of the ISCP Sylvia Meehan. She said that the ISCP is a non-party political organisation and hoped everyone would use their vote as they saw fit.


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Well, last week was an eye opener. I attended both MIPTV and X Media Lab Sounds Digital and thought I'd share some highlights.
MIPTV: Mobile Engagement 2.0
Without wishing to blow my own trumpet too loudly, I'd like to say that I really enjoyed moderating this panel as part of MIPTV's digital focus. Thanks to the lovely Ferhan Cook for inviting me to host it.
We had a great line up – Michael Schneider, CEO of Mobile Roadie; Rudy De Waele from DotOpen and (aka @Mtrends on Twitter); Clare Boonstra from Layar and Kurt Sillen from Ericsson.
There's a live blog report of the session on the MIPTV site (as well as a video of the debate – choose the second video down, under April 15 – not sure why there's no addressable link). The panelists talked about the importance of apps, location , media transfer and other issues but there was a healthy debate about which was the most important. Check it out.
Rudy's presentation was great for people who are interested in where the mobile industry is going (he and I are in agreement on alot of points!):
Clare's presentation on augmented reality was particularly good and here it is:
One of the coolest things I saw all week was Starling – a new mobile app that enables social TV viewing – it will essentially make it possible for audiences and broadcasters to create experiences like the one MTV created for The Hills where users could comment in real time and then MTV could overlay the best comments on the screen.
When I first saw The Hills (purely out of professional interest, I might add!), the main thing I didn't understand was why it hadn't been done on mobile in the first place – and this app does just that. I've often said that broadcasters aren't making enough of the natural proximity CEO Declan Caulfield was kind enough to give me a sneak preview of the alpha and the interface is very slick – combining loads of bursts of social media with various contexts in a really slick way (and I promised I wouldn't say any more than that!). Good write up on it from Mobile Entertainment here.
Mobile Roadie
CEO Michael Schneider was on the panel I hosted and showed off what looks like a great product for build-it-yourself apps. There's bound to be alot of pretenders in this space – I get emails from them regularly – but Michael also demonstrated that he's making apps for major names (including Madonna and Taylor Swift) in the music industry and that these apps are making money and increasing the 'laser focus' (as he called it) on their brands. Michael also used the panel as an opportunity to announce that Mobile Roadie would be opening a European operation. One interesting insight he told me is that they've seen fans buying songs in the music apps that they already own, because they are so drawn in and wanting a complete experience while they're inside the app. Interesting, and very different from the web 'model' for music and artists that we've seen so far.
And speaking of web vs. mobile discussions… Newscorp's Chief Digital Officer Jon Miller talked about how he no longer sees mobile as 'just an extension of the web.' He also talked alot about Newscorp's forthcoming paywall policy (and the related notion of 'freemium' content like what the Wall Street Journal is doing on the iPad), and hinted at a paid music subscription service from MySpace. He also expects to see different tiers of quality of content and experience to emerge based on whether or not users are willing to pay for better experiences and quality. Interesting.
I had to miss Gerd Leonhard's talk on Social Media because I was in a rehearsal for my panel but caught up with him in person and have reviewed the presentation and thought I'd point that out too. Worth a read:
X Media Lab Sounds Digital
I was lucky enough to get to talk about mobile (what else?) and mentor on Sounds Digital over the weekend and really enjoyed it. My presentation is below – basically an update of things I've posted here before. And prettier.
Lots of other interesting tidbits I gleaned…
– Tune Rights proposal that we can all be 'cons-owners' music that invest in tracks and artsist is really interesting (and works in Sweden – so let's hope it rolls out further soon);
– Susan Bonds from 42 Entertainment talked about how their work on an alternate-reality-game was directly related to Nine Inch Nails directly marketing music to their fans without going through a label;
– AudioFuel looks like alot of fun for other triathlon/running fantatics;
– I'll see alot of you in Egypt for MasterPeace (I hope!).


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Affording the future Navy depends on open architecture in combat systems
By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor
tractors using proprietary software
and hardware. Major efforts at systems engineering were required to
integrate them with other combat,
sensor or command-and-control
systems. The integration of additional systems often proved costly
and slow, absorbing resources that
could have been better spent in
other efforts.
Likewise, the plethora of electronic mission systems on modern
warships and aircraft are responsible for an increasing portion of their overall cost.
"In order to build our fleet to a minimum of 313
ships, we will need to reduce the cost of fielding and
updating combat systems on the new ships, as well as
modernizing our existing fleet to keep them battle-ready
in the new threat environments that they will face in the
future," Benedict said. "An open-architected system that
is flexible and can incorporate applications from other
acquisitions and new sources of innovation will allow
the Navy to provide new capabilities that the future
warfighting environment will demand."
Moving an institution the size of the Navy in a cultural shift like OA requires strong leadership "to stretch
across all of the various players," said Tim Oliver, a senior associate of Booz Allen Hamilton and a former Navy
submarine officer and acquisition official.
Navy leadership has stated its support for OA concepts.
In August 2005, John Young, then-assistant secretary of
the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition
(RD&A), issued a policy statement on the need to develop OA across the Navy and Marine Corps. More recently,
the secretary of the Navy, chief of naval operations and
commandant of the Marine Corps have listed OA as a
high-priority effort in the last two annual "Department of
the Navy Goals and Objectives" statements.
Vice Adm. David Architzel, the principal deputy
secretary of the Navy for RD&A, has amended the "six
Open architecture (OA) implementation depends on a balance of
technological development and a solid business case.
■ Program managers face cultural challenges in adjusting to OA.
■ It offers greater opportunities for small business innovation
and participation.
■ Momentum will build as successes accrue.
As the Navy implements open architecture
(OA) initiatives in its warfighting systems, it
faces technical and managerial challenges in
its drive to achieve a significant degree of interchangeable "plug-and-play" capabilities. The success of the
initiatives will depend on opening up technical competition and changing aspects of the culture of its acquisition community, service officials said.
The Navy recently updated its OA strategy document,
defining it as the "confluence of business and technical
practices yielding modular, interoperable systems that
adhere to open standards with published interfaces."
"This strategy encompasses three overarching goals
aimed at transforming business practices, systems
engineering and, ultimately, the Navy's acquisition and
program management culture," said Rear Adm. Terry J.
Benedict, the Navy's program executive officer for
Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS).
"These practices are intended to significantly increase
opportunities for innovation and competition, enable
reuse of components, facilitate rapid technology insertion and reduce maintenance," he said. "OA is about
saving money, but it is about much more than that. We
also seek to increase interoperability, reduce cycle time,
increase performance and reduce risk."
Most warfighting systems on today's ships and aircraft were designed and built by major defense con-


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This morning I had the pleasure to attend a breakfast hosted by FamilySearch at the FGS conference. The subject was product updates to the various arms of FamilySearch.
One of the sub-themes dealt with "2010 and beyond." According to this portion of the presentation, you can expect better integration between sections of FamilySearch such as the forums, indexing and blog. This includes easy log-in that fits all the parts.
Also, what we see at beta.FamilySearch.org will eventually be FamilySearch.org, as is the case with most things in beta.
Folks in attendance at the breakfast also got a brief website tour and sneak peek of things to come at FamilySearch. From a user standpoint, I liked what I saw. Searching for records will become easier with more drop-down menus. Also, refining searches will be WAY easier than I've seen in this and other companies' tools in the past and present. The librarian in me is very excited about such a development because I don't like irrelevant results popping up and clouding what I want to see.
We were then asked for our feedback on certain issues and possibilities in the future of FamilySearch. I kept by genealogy friends and blog readers in mind with my answers. I'm a genealogy database user first and foremost.
The FamilySearch breakfast was a nice start to the FGS2010 day. I thank them for their invitation, hospitality and peek into the future. It's a great time to be a genealogist.
Part 2 of my FGS adventures here.
(Disclosure: I attended this session as a guest of FamilySearch. The provided breakfast, a FamilySearch DVD and a cute little USB hub. I did not receive monetary compensation at the session or in relation to this blog post. Also, they had bacon. And it was good.)
Thursday, August 19, 2010
FGS Part 1: Breakfast with FamilySearch
3 comments:
Thanks for sharing Amy. I am looking forward to seeing some of what may come from FamilySearch in the future.ReplyDelete
Hey, Amy! It was nice meeting you today! I am cracking up at your bacon comment.ReplyDelete
Anything that makes it easier to refine search results is a Very Good Thing. So yay!ReplyDelete
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The launch two days ago (Wednesday) of the report of the United Nations Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children is a major milestone in Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's push to ensure the success of the Every Woman Every Child movement.
It is now two years since the movement was launched in New York during the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Summit. Its agenda – to save the lives of 16 million women and children by 2015 – is ambitious, but achievable.
About 250 organisations, including at least 73 governments, have made commitments to the Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health in support of Every Woman Every Child. Of the $40 billion in confirmed financial commitments, at least $10 billion have already been disbursed. Nigeria is one of 50 developing countries, which have made commitments to the effort. In addition, President Goodluck Jonathan serves as a founding co-chairman of the Commission on Life-Saving Commodities.
The commission, launched in March 2012, has a very important role to play in improving access to essential but overlooked health supplies. Increased access and correct use of quality supplies could save the lives of millions of women and children every year. When he accepted to serve on the commission, President Jonathan expressed his conviction that lives can be saved by increasing access to these affordable and effective supplies. He called for the participation of governments, the private sector, multilaterals, NGOs and the general public in making this access a reality.
Leadership is central to Every Woman Every Child. During his visit to Nigeria in May 2011, the Secretary-General noted how Mr. Jonathan's leadership had led the National Assembly to pass the National Health Care Bill ahead of the budget, which was still being debated. Indeed, the central ingredient in the implementation of the Global Strategy is the renewed determination of world leaders on the critical issues of women and children's health. This is why it is so essential to understand that Every Woman Every Child is not simply about rows or columns of numbers, nor can it afford to be. This movement is about people, and the determination to ensure that policies and committed leadership account for lives saved, not count lives that could have been saved.
Globally, there are strong signals of progress and hope. Eight countries –Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Laos, Nepal and Vietnam are on track to achieve both MDG 4&5 by 2015. Between 1990 and 2010, maternal deaths fell by 47 per cent, and children's deaths by about 41 per cent.
Furthermore, in several African countries, malaria infections have declined by 50 per cent or more. Also, a joint UN report this year, Trends in Maternal Mortality, showed that during that same period, as many as 24 countries in Africa achieved a reduction in maternal mortality of 41 per cent. In Eritrea, the reduction was 73 per cent, while Equatorial Guinea recorded 81 per cent. What these figures signal, and the challenge of Every Woman Every Child, is that success is achievable, and that the few ticks left on the clock between now and 2015 can yield remarkable progress in saving lives.
In this regard, a few things are quite clear about the mission of the Global Strategy. The first is the awareness that not only is there a lot at stake in saving lives, from a human rights point of view and as a matter of economics – we know what needs to be done. No child should die of preventable causes; no woman should die giving life: this is within our reach and it is in our hands. The second is the opportunity it provides for both the public and private sector to collaborate, to the benefit of communities and families across the globe.
For UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, at the heart of its work is the objective of increasing access to and use of quality maternal and newborn health services. This is why it collaborates with other UN agencies in supporting the Every Woman Every Child movement and supporting governments of priority countries to implement the Global Strategy. UNFPA is also working to broaden access to voluntary family planning so as to help reduce unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, maternal deaths and disabilities.
Furthermore, UNFPA is committed to helping countries to increase financial and political support to the implementation of the recommendations of the Commodities Commission, with strong support from leaders in the Global South, particularly Nigeria, which next month will host a high-level meeting to discuss the recommendations in the commission's report. Through the work of this commission and others committed to the Global Strategy, our task is clear; to explore every opportunity to reach every woman and every child who are still vulnerable.
Maternal and child health are serious issues that have to be taken seriously. It is not acceptable, in this day and age, that pregnancy, childbirth and childhood continue to be tantamount to a death threat for so many.
Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin


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Residents of the Blue Mountains, Illawarra, central coast and the Hunter can expect to be able to buy "premium" train tickets with better seats and food and drink when new carriages are delivered from 2018.
The carriages are also likely to have seats that face only in one direction, and will not have three-in-a row seating configuration.
NSW Premier Mike Baird and Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian said on Thursday the government would spend about $2.8 billion buying about 65 new intercity trains for travel around Sydney and between neighbouring regions.
Buying new trains is a relatively rare event for state governments. The last trains the NSW government bought were the Waratah trains, ordered in 2006.
Because of production delays they did not start to arrive until 2011, and several have yet to go into operation in Sydney.
Ms Berejiklian said she hoped to avoid past delays by ordering the new trains "off the shelf" – a first for NSW.
This means that the trains would be largely the same as those used elsewhere, probably overseas. In the past, trains such as the Waratah have been designed specifically to operate in NSW.
Ms Berejiklian said industry consultation would start this month, and she hoped to have the first of about 520 new carriages in service by 2018. The final train would be expected by 2024.
Although the government has not released any details about the trains, they are likely to be double-deckers.
They are unlikely to have three-in-a-row seating, which the government's research found to be unpopular with commuters.
And they are also unlikely to include seats that can be flipped to face the other way. This option is rarely taken up internationally and adds to the cost of a train.
Ms Berejiklian said the government hoped toilets would be available on all the new trains.
"Obviously, when you're travelling those longer distances, you should have onboard facilities like toilets," Ms Berejiklian said. "So I anticipate definitely there will be toilets, there will be more comfortable seating."
The Minister said she was open to ideas for "enhancing the costumer experience".
This could include the introduction of a class system in train travel in Sydney.
"If there are proposals where certain carriages can have that premium service where you can get refreshments, I'm definitely open to looking at that," she said.
"That's what happens elsewhere in the world. Why should anyone travelling in NSW get less than what anyone else in the world is experiencing?"
The introduction of these trains would result in all trains in Sydney finally having airconditioning.
The new trains will take the place of the "Oscar" carriages now used on intercity runs. These Oscars will then replace the remaining silver, non-airconditioned trains in Sydney.
In stating that it will order trains "off the shelf", the government is delivering a blow to workers and companies based largely in the Hunter that have built and assembled previous train sets for Sydney.
"This sends a terrible signal to the local industry," Australian Manufacturing Workers Union NSW secretary Tim Ayres said. "We've got the capabilities to deliver high-quality trains to the government's specifications."
Mr Ayres said that if the trains were not built in NSW it would cause the greatest jobs crisis for the Hunter since the closure of BHP.
The new fleet will be operated by NSW TrainLink, which the government created alongside Sydney Trains in place of RailCorp.


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Fishing Tournament/Banquet Results:
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Fishing Tournament/Banquet Results:
Congratulations to Alli Creek! Her fishing tournament banquet this past Fri. night grossed over $26,000 with an expected net of about $22k. Alli challenged her community to hit the $50k mark so the net amount raised for the Preeclampsia Foundation ("PFâ€ÂÂ) could go even higher. The PF was also awarded an MDRT Foundation grant at the banquet. With the MDRT grant ($7,000.00) and the proceeds from the fishing banquet, the PF is more than halfway to its $50k goal. This money has been earmarked for producing educational DVDs. Great job Alli!
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Washington, D.C.
Alternate Title: Hail to the TeethWashington, D.C. (Hail to the Teeth) (2010) - Glenn Martin, DDS Cartoon Episode Guide by Dave Koch
This page has been viewed 132 times this month, and 745 times total.
- Glenn Martin, DDS Cartoon Episode GuideEpisode GuideTelevisionSeriesCartoon
- Cuppa Coffee Studios, Rogers Media, Tornante Animation
- Distributed by: Nickelodeon Network
- Cartoon Characters: Glenn Martin, Jackie Martin, Courtney Martin, Conor Martin, Wendy Park, Canine, Vice-President Joe Biden.
- Voice Actors: Kevin Nealon, Catherine O'Hara, Judy Greer, Jackie Clarke, Peter Oldring, Chris Parnell, Nickie Bryar, Megan Grano, Freddy Lockhart; Full Voice Cast ...
- Directed By Kenneth Cunningham, Dave Barton Thomas.
- Produced By Alex Berger, Adam Pava, Richard Choi, Jackie Samuels, Noel Bright, Steven A. Cohen, Malcolm Dunlop, Michael Eisner, Eric Fogel; more Producers ...
- Animated By Ashley Baird, Robert Toshoff.
- Written By Steve Baldikoski, Bryan Behar, Alex Berger, Adam Pava, Aron Abrams, J. B. Cook, Sivert Glarum, Michael Jamin, Jennifer Judith Joyce; more Writers ...
- Music: Richard Evans, Matthew Gerrard, Bob Mair.
- Editor: Daniel Palmer.
- First Aired on January 16, 2010.
- Originally Aired on Nickelodeon.
- Running Time: 30 minutes.
- Season: 1
- Color
Cartoon Summary:
Courtney's essay wins the family a trip to Washington, D.C., where they meet Barack Obama. Due to a dental emergency, Glenn saves the president's tooth. Obama is so taken with Glenn's patented Martin charm he mentions his homespun Joe the Plumberlike approach to... (more)
Cartoon Production Information:
"Hail to the Teeth."
Stop-motion animation. "Glenn Martin, DDS" follows the adventures of traveling dentist Glenn Martin and his family. After learning that his favorite childhood park is about to be destroyed, Glenn takes his family - wife Jackie, hormone-addled... (more)
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Avocado and pineapple macarons.
Then there's the resting, then the baking at whatever exact temperature your particular oven prefers to cook macarons, and finally the moment of truth: Have They Stuck??
In this case, the answer was just a tiny bit, which is okay. Phew!
The next day, out came the piping bag again - this time for the filling. I made this by blitzing tinned pineapple in my blender until completely smooth. I then removed the pineapple and blitzed the flesh of a whole avocado, gradually adding just enough pureed pineapple to make it fluid enough for the blender to deal with. Next, I creamed 125g of butter and 100g icing sugar in my trusty mixer until extremely pale and fluffy (I was going for a really silky smooth texture, and I also didn't want it to be overly sweet). Then I began adding the avocado-pineapple mixture, continuing to beat, and tasting after each addition. In the end, most of the avocado went in - probably only a tablespoon or so was left out.
The result? A light, delicate, not overly sweet filling that was perfect for my lovely little green macarons. I may or may not have eaten some of it with a spoon as well.
I also made chocolate-banana macarons. I wasn't quite as happy with the texture of my chocolate shells - the cocoa made them just a little... I don't know... cakey? They were still good, and still definitely macarons, but a bit softer, or something. I don't know. Maybe I used too much cocoa... (is 2 Tablespoons cocoa in a batch using 50g egg white too much? Anyone know?)
The chocolate shells had two fillings: a little dark chocolate ganache piped in teardrops around the edges (so it would show), and a banana buttercream (125g butter, 150g icing sugar, 1 pureed banana plus a little more than enough cream to allow the blender to puree the banana).
Then, when all my lovely little macarons had matured in the fridge overnight (sniff - don't they grow up fast?), I proceeded to impale them on toothpicks stuck into a polystyrene cone. Which sounds like madness, and it kind of is, but it's also kind of cool...And no, Masterchef, is not the first place I've ever seen a macaron tower, but it was the first time I'd ever seen the actual process - and realised there were toothpicks involved, and that it just might not be too insanely difficult. And it wasn't - hurrah! I actually found that the macarons slid quite happily onto the toothpicks (granted I was careful about it). It helped that they were cold - I think it would have been a lot harder if they were freshly filled (as the poor Masterchef contestants had to do).
Anyway, here is my finished product (and my husband's birthday "cake"):
I'm aware that it is very definitely no Adriano Zumbo creation, but you know what? I am feeling pretty pleased with myself about this - not bad for a first effort, I think!


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|Article Index
|UNRIC Library Newsletter – November 2005
|New information material
|New titles
|All Pages
60 ways the UN makes a difference
English: http://www.un.org/un60/60ways/index.html; http://www.un.org/un60/sixty_ways_un_makes_difference.html
French: http://www.un.org/spanish/un60/60ways/
Spanish: http://www.un.org/spanish/un60/60ways/
German: http://unic.org/german/reform/60ways.htm
Africa, the UN World Summit and Beyond
Landmark Security Council Documents
English: http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/landmark_sc/index.html
French: http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/dhlf/landmark_sc/index.html
This selection provides links to full-text Security Council documents which had a major impact on the organization and work of the Council from its inception to the present time. Apart from some documents which were published in the early years, the documents are provided in the six official languages of the UN. In compiling this selection, the Dag Hammarskjöld Library was conscious of the fact that all the documents of the Security Council are important in that each document contributes to the history of this principal organ of the United Nations.
UN Chronicle Online Edition
The United Nations at 60: Past and Present
UN Milestones
English: http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/deplib/un_milestones.htm
French: http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/dhlf/deplibf/un_milestones.htm
Spanish: http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/spanish/deplibs/un_milestones.htm
World Summit on the Information Society - Second phase
Tunis, Tunisia, 16-18 November 2005
English: http://www.itu.int/wsis/
French: http://www.itu.int/wsis/index-fr.html
Spanish: http://www.itu.int/wsis/index-es.html
UN News Focus: Lebanon http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusRel.asp?infocusID=110&Body=Leban&Body1=
United Nations Peacekeeping Operations – Background Note (31 October 2005)
English: http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/bnote.htm
French: http://www.un.org/french/peace/peace/bnote.htm
United Nations Political and Peace-building Missions – Background Note (31 October 2005)
English: http://www.un.org/french/peace/peace/bnote.htm
French: http://www.un.org/french/peace/reports/peace_operations/docs/ppbmf.pdf
2005 World Public Sector Report: Unlocking the Human Potential for Public Sector Performance
Information Economy Report (UNCTAD)
This new report replaces the E-Commerce and Development Report
International Day of Disabled Persons [observed on 3 December 2005]
International Volunteer Day [observed on 5 December 2005]
Literacy for life (UNESCO report)
A 'literate' society is more than a society with high literacy rates. This EFA Global Monitoring Report aims to stimulate renewed national and international awareness of the crucial importance of literacy for achieving all the EFA goals.
Towards Knowledge Societies: UNESCO World Report
English, French, Spanish: http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=20507&URL_DO=DO
16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence (25 November – 10 December)
Student Conference on Human Rights 2005
Online Discussion on Treaty Body Reform
Earthquake Relief Data
A new web site called Relief and Information Systems for Earthquakes (RISE) -- Pakistan has been established to provide information about the 4,000 earthquake-affected villages in Pakistan's largely rural North West Frontier Province and in Jammu & Kashmir. Now coordinated by the World Bank, RISE-PAK was originally by a consortium of experts from US and Pakistani Universities, the World Bank and the private sector with support from the Government of Pakistan. It provides up-to-date damage and relief information about affected villages based on data on population statistics, satellites, geographical systems, as well as from agencies, relief workers, local officials, and anyone with access to immediate village-level data that will critically support the current coordination of relief.
Earthquake Response
A new web site has been created by UN staff in Pakistan outlining the UN's response to the 8 October earthquake in South Asia. The site includes situation reports, facts and figures, information about donations and an information exchange area to reunite missing persons with their families. More details on the relief efforts underway is available on ReliefWeb: http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/dbc.nsf/doc108?OpenForm&emid=EQ-2005-000174-PAK&rc=3
UN Office of the Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery
Focus 2005 Treaty Event: Responding to Global Challenges
English: http://untreaty.un.org/English/Media_Alert/final_report.pdf
French: http://untreaty.un.org/French/Media_Alert/compte_rendu.pdf.
The Brussels based United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe - UNRIC provides information on UN activities to the countries of the region. It also provides liaison with institutions of the European Union in the field of information. Its outreach activities extend to all segments of society and joint campaigns, projects and events are organized with partners including the EU, governments, the media, NGOs, schools and local authorities.
United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC Brussels)
Residence Palace, Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 155, Block C2,7th and 8th floor, Brussels 1040, Belgium
Tel.: +32 2 788 8484 / Fax: 32 2 788 8485


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Courteney Cox Preps for Directorial Debut!
Courteney Cox gets ready for a day of directing as she works on her new movie, Just Before I Go, previously titled, Hello I Must Be Going, on Tuesday (July 2) in Altadena, Calif.
The 49-year-old actress is making her directorial debut for the film!
Seann William Scott, Kate Walsh, Olivia Thirlby, Garrett Dillahunt, and Rob Riggle star in the film, while Courteney and her ex-husband David Arquette are attached to produce.
Kate is set to start on set on July 8 – according to her Twitter.
"July 8th, super excited RT @kika_n: @katewalsh When you'll begin to shoot the movie with @CourteneyCox ? Can't wait!!! Love you ladies" Kate replied to a tweet!


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A collection of scholarly works about individual liberty and free markets. A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.
The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, ed. Max Farrand (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1911). 3 vols. https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/1785,
A 3 volume collection of the records of the Federal Convention which was held in Philadelphia between May and September 1787. The sessions were secret but the proceedings were reconstructed from notes kept by the official secretary and some participants, most notably James Madison.
The text is in the public domain.
This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit.


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Welcome to Baw Baw Shire Council's Live webcast website of Council Meetings
Baw Baw Shire Council offers on-demand video and audio of Council meetings.
Live streaming allows you to view proceedings via the Internet without the need to attend Council meetings. This gives you greater access to Council decisions and debate and eliminates geographic barriers preventing the public from attending meetings.
From here you will be able to access webcasts of live Council meetings, view archived meetings and follow links to meeting schedules, agendas and minutes.
Council Meeting Date: 28 August 2019, 6pm, Download Meeting Filesize: 543mb
Webcasts of Council meetings cannot be reused or reproduced in any way and are subject to copyright under the Copyright Act 1968.
For any assistance viewing the video, please read our Frequently Asked Questions.
Order of Business
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Organization: LCI
Posted: 2020/07/31
LCI, a multi-site manufacturing, distribution, retail and E-Commerce company is seeking a Customer Care Coordinator to join our team.
DESCRIPTION: Provide assistance in all customer related matters. Backup and assist Customer Service Representatives. Responsible for all customer related matters. Maintain a positive and friendly demeanor when assisting customers. Able to navigate Axapta to create and release sales orders. Communicate with customers and vendors throughout the entire sales order process via phone or email. Knowledge to quote on contracts and follow up on quotes. Call customers for additional information as needed. Ensure that sales orders are routinely reconciled with material on hand or on order to maximize sales and reduce customer wait time. Coordinate pick up/delivery of orders. Maintain a list of all customers to include email and phone numbers. Use this list to obtain more of their business. Assist customer service representatives at the checkout counters as needed to reduce customer wait times. Follow up with customers by conducting a survey asking basic questions. Register and track customer complaints with expeditious follow up and resolution. Create a report that will track the progress of the sales orders and their impact on the budgeted sales for the BSC through use of AX and/or Excel spreadsheet. Work closely with management to ensure material needed to fill sales orders is on order and has good supply/shipping status. Create, modify and email various Excel spreadsheets as required by management, purchasing and replenishment. Ensure that customers are aware of our BUYBSC website and assist with customer set up for the site. Ensure that customers are aware and understand the DOD Emall program and know how to maneuver through the website in select stores. Ensure that all daily price changes are published and displayed as instructed. Be instrumental in utilizing current marketing tools to seek additional sales. Merchandizing and replenishing shelves as necessary. Interact with vendor reps during their normal sales calls. Ask questions about products to gain a better understanding of their uses. Other duties as assigned.
QUALIFICATIONS: High school graduate with one year relevant work experience. Basic retail knowledge. Accuracy with computerized checkout systems. Must have interpersonal skills dealing with and communicating with customers, vendors, company divisions, co-workers and management.
Apply online at: https://www.lcindustries.com
NO Phone Calls Please
LCI is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected Veteran status.
Name: Human Resources
Phone Number:
URL: www.lcindustries.com