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There is a kickstarter for an interesting robot board, called the Rex. It is a combination of a small computer board (like a Raspberry PI) based on the A8 Cortex, and the IO and electronics connections for a robot board. The team building it is also building an operating system with support for some common components. It seems worth checking out.
I would like them to get enough subscribers so I get my board. So please show them some support.December 29 - At Techshop
I got a Techshop class as a Christmas present from my wife. It is very cool to live near a Techshop so that I can learn more about tools and fabrication. I always hoped they would open one in Los Angeles.
While I was learning basic metal working, two people near me were fabricating an elaborate aluminum part. I asked them what it was for. They said they were making an eight legged robot to tend gardens. The techshop is very cool.November 24 - No Robogames
Apparently there is not going to be another Robogames. I saw David Caulkins at BarBot in San Francisco and asked him about this. He told me that this year's competition was the last.
Robogames is the most ambitious amateur robotics event by far. I am sure it was very difficult to produce and apparently unrewarding to its creator. David said it wasn't the difficulty of the event, it was all the trouble he had to go through the other 51 weeks of the year to put on the event. I am not sure exactly what he meant. He said he had posted about it but I haven't been able to find the post.February 15 - Robot Hiatus
My robot building has been on hiatus in preparation for a move to the San Francisco Bay Area. I am packing up all the tools and all the robots, but I am still don't know where we will live. Robot updates will probably be a bit sparse until I am set up again.December 9 - Raspberry Pi Robot
Scurrier is the robot I used in last year's walking robot race. I have improved the legs and now it is a big sturdy walking platform. But I have never really had it do anything but walk in a straight line.
It's obvious that I should make it into a smarter robot, but with a couple of pounds of payoff what processor should I put on it? I would like to have something that can run a real OS, as opposed to a microprocessor. I looked at Beagleboards and other small card PCs. I decided on a Raspberry Pi.
A Raspberry Pi is about as powerful as most computers its size. AdaFruit has started supporting it with prototyping shields, so I expect it will become a board that is pretty easy to connect electronics to. It's very cheap, which meant that it is popular and replacable. There is a version of ROS for Raspberry PI, and people are making a variety of cases and shields for it.
Cheap is important for robots, because while the time you put into programming a robot is a lot more valuable than the board, you have to multiply the cost by the number of times you will have to replace it. With new robots, used outdoors or in combat, the chances are you will have to replace it more than once. My most extreme cases are the robots I have used for combat. Both the Peanut Tin of Terror and Decapitron have destroyed two controller boards, usually from an impact that causes them to short out.
I am waiting for my prototyping shield from Adafruit, it is back orderd.October 11 - Editing Circuit Boards in a Browser
As I learn about robots I have been learning better and better fabrication techniques. Some of my earliest robots aren't even on this site. But even the ones that are you can see that I started out by using tin cans and shoe boxes. I have learned a lot about working with plastic and metal, and how to fabricate many parts.
I think the next step is to make my own circuit boards. With all the shields that exist for Arduino and Parallax Propeller, I still can never find the perfect robot controller card. I keep having to hand solder circuits, as I do on Decapitron. I really think I should learn how to make my own shield cards. People say it isn't that hard. And here is the evidence it is getting easier: a circuit editor that works in a browser!
Circuits.io is a circuit editor that works in a browser. You can edit circuits and make pcb boards. They don't have a vendor yet, but it looks like they will have an option where you can order the circuit board you design in your browser. I wouldn't believe it was possible, except that I have seen how Big Blue Saw has been able to put part editing and part ordering into a browser. We live in amazing times.
Crazy cascade of one-shots from circuits.io on Vimeo.
September 29 - Combots
Unfortunately it doesn't look like there will be any other autonomous combat robots at Combots other than Otto and Decapitron. I know John Frizell is improving Otto. I have done some work on Decapitron. Still, it would be nice if there was some new robots fighting. I want to make a new combat robot, but I was planning that for next year since I am busy with work again.September 16 - A Cord on Decapitron
I spent a lot of time this weekend experimenting with new software for Decapitron. Decapitron is going to be in Combots 2012 in the autonomous combat division. I'm not changing the hardware much. It is very sturdy. I let my eight year old son take it to school in his backpack for show and tell. It went unpacked in his backpack to and from school, got passed around by kids (probably dropped) and still worked afterward. That's about as tough as I can make a robot.
The software has more room for improvement. I had problems with my color sensors at Robogames so I added some code to autocalibrate the line sensors. I am also trying to get the robot to use its ping sensors at longer range to detect targets. It is hard to get that to be reliable. You can detect the sonar gradiant of the edge of a robot. But telling the differnce between the edge of a robot and the edge of a wall requires more accurate positioning then Decapitron has. Still, I'm experimenting with different techniques.
In order to speed up programming I left a USB cable inside the robot attached to the controller board. That way I can just plug the robot in and reprogram it. I run it (holding the cord) and reprogram it again without having to open the shell, which takes a long time. It let's me iterate on the software much more quickly.
One thing that is bad about Decapitron is that it has too much battery life. Ideally it should use up all its power in the 3 minutes of a match. Instead it can go twenty minutes or more, which means I didn't design the power system optimally at all. But it does mean I can run it a long time in test.September 10 - Why I Make Quads
When you look at videos and robot events people seem much more interested in bipeds-- particularly humanoid bipeds-- than quadrupeds or hexapods. I avoid making bipeds because I just don't think they can get around very well. Darkback is an excellent builder of legged robots. This video he made of a race between his biped and his quadruped illustrtates the relative merit of having four or more legs.
September 9 - Parallax
UPDATE - The sale has ended (9/10). I will try to put up notices of these sales sooner.
Parallax is having a 25th Anniversary Sale. This includes many items 25% off and $25 BASIC Stamp 2 modules. That is the best price I have ever seen for the BASIC Stamp, the easiest robot controller to use.August 29 - DragonCon
Simon Arthur, of the Big Blue Saw, will be talking at Dragon Con. I didn't know it until now, but apparently he was the director of the Robotics track for that convention. Apparently they are changing the format to be more about the Makers movement in general. Simon will be on a panel about digital fabrication.
DragonCon is "largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the universe." They also have a robot combat competition. It's very far away from me in California, but if you live in that part of the world I would recomend going, particularly if you are interested in fabrication.August 22 - Combots Prep
I will be entering Decapitron into Combots this October in the Autonomous combat competition. I want to improve the software of Decapitron, but to do that I need a better mock up of the autonomous combat arena. In the past I have tried to use robot sumo rings, but they are not righ in terms of shape or size.
Here is the combat arena I started working on. I need to add low lexan wall around most of the edges. It isn't exactly the same dimensions as the actual arena that is used. It's a few inches smaller, and the push out holes are smaller. Still, it should help me refine the robot's AI.
August 12 - Open Sourcing Scurrier CAD Files
I am putting up the CAD files for Scurrier as open source here. I don't really expect people to make this robot, but if you want to see more about how I did it you can look at the files.August 5 - Robocup 2012
Most Robocup games just make me glad I don't make bipeds. They seem so slow and weak. But every year the bipeds get better and the AI gets better. I think this is one of the best matches I have seen yet.July 28 - Combots 2012
Decapitron is registered for 3 lb autonomous combat at Combots 2012. I have been improving the robot (which came in 2nd at Robogames) so I hope it will do well again.July 26 - Scurrier Page
I have been working on Scurrier to improve the legs so that they will be more sturdy and hopefully it will be able to go faster. I also plan to add sensors and a better controller. So I created a page for updates to Scurrier.July 14 - Better than duct tape?
Although Scurrier is a pretty sturdy robot, in order to make sure it held together safely at top speed I added the miracle component of duct tape. This worked fine for the walker challenge, but it is not my preferred approach to leg engineering. So this month I have gotten some redesigned upper leg pieces that add some extra bracing, and a bearing to help take the strain off the horizontal servos.
Here is the before and after:
July 3 - Patriotic Robot Parade
Today our robots were able to show their love of country by marching in an Independence Day parade. Check out the video of our Patriotic Robot Parade.June 30 - Servo Magazine
I got an email from Servo City because apparently Decapitron appears in the July issue of Servo magazine. They were happy about it because Decapitron has a Servo City decal on the top of the robot that is in the picture.
I am glad I was able to help them out. Decapitron has drive motors, motor mounts, and servos that I got at Servo City. In particular I built the robot arount their vertical servo mounts. They are sturdy and easy to use.
Now I have to find a place where I can buy that magazine. Between the Kindle, the iPad and the podcasts I don't really buy a lot of magazines anymore. For robot news I recommend the Robots Podcast. And Servo magazine of course.June 16 - Digital Servos
Many people (most actually) come to this site for the pages describing servos. But I haven't updated those pages in a long time. In particular, the decription of recommended servos didn't include any of the digital servos I often now use. So I updated the page to include the servos I use in Quokka, Scurrier, and Decapitron, which are all digital.
Going back to this page makes me realize that there is a lot more I want to update. For example, Robotis has replaced the RX-28 with a servo with a different communication protocol called the MX-28. There are also a lot of unusual servo types I have tried now that I would safely recommend. I do plan to update these pages more in the future.June 10 - Steel Sale
Big Blue Saw is having a sale on waterjet cut cold rolled steel. The sale is June 19-22 on A366/1008 Cold Rolled Steel at 0.06" thickness. You get the volume discount even on small orders. I am going to take advantage of this to make longer and lighter teeth for Decapitron while the steel is on sale.
They also are offering some new steel types for waterjet cutting: Cold Finished Steel 1018, Hot Rolled Steel A36, Hot Rolled Steel 1045, Hot Rolled Steel A569/ASTM A1011, and the A366 which is on sale.
I haven't- made a lot of parts out of steel, I mostly use aluminum. But I am always interested in learning about new materials.June 1 - Showing Decapitron
My older son (8) took Decapitron to school to show his classmates yesterday. I was glad he was excited to show it. I am really proud of it. In some ways it is the best built and best designed robot I have ever made.
I have been stepping away from robots to catch up with everything I neglected to get ready for Robogames. Spencer asking to take the robot to school came out of the blue. It gave me a chance to reflect a bit.
None of Decapitron's fights this year were as good as the match between the Peanut Tin of Terror and Toro+ in 2011. That was a good fight. And it was pretty exciting because it was the last fight and it had quite an audience. Part of this is because Decapitron is a less exciting robot to watch. It moves slower and it depends more on defense.May 11 - Final Match (Autonomous)
I'm taking forever to put up pictures and movies from Robogames this year. I still have a lot I want to post. But in the meantime I found this video that Uai!rrior put up of the final match between Decapitron and Carrapato+. This was not Decapitron's best match. On the last hit the case that holds the AAA batteries for the receiver came open and the batteries popped out. A piece of tape would have held it in, and otherwise the robot was fine. Next year!
You can see the Uai!rrior team are very proud to be Brazilian. You can also see my son and nephew checking out the action across the arena.
I never got to fight Toro this year because of the brackets. Toro was very good and I was really hoping for a chance at revenge for last year's loss. So now I have two teams and two robots that I hope to beat next time: Toro+ and Carrapato+.April 29 - Walker Challenge 2012
This year I entered Scurrier in the 2012 Walker Challenge. My goal was to do the course in 15 seconds. I actually was able to do the course in 14 seconds. Any other year 15 seconds would have won, but this year two terrific robots from Indonesia showed up with great times.
Scurrier won Third Place. It is my most capable walking robot yet and I am very proud of it. It can carry a lot of weight and walk around on almost any terrain, so I expect to use it for many projects going forward.April 24 - Sale at Big Blue Saw
Big Blue Saw is having a sale on 5052 water cut aluminum. They are cutting prices from the 23-26th. I can't think of a worse time for me then the week after Robogames to order parts, but if you do need some aluminum cut now is the time. Decapitron and Scurrier are full of custom parts from Big Blue Saw and I can strongly recommend them for custom parts.April 23 - They Spin!
The medals for robogames this year have little motors in them and gears that spin. They are really cool.April 22 - Robogames Update
Participation in Robogames this year is huge. The crowds seem bigger than ever and there are over 130 robots in the ant and beetle weight classes.
After our first two days of matches Little Miss Destruction (LMD) is 2-0 and Decapitron (pictured below) is 2-1. LMD is doing great due to the excellent driving of my nephew Krishna. Decapitron had an embarassing failure to recognize the red line in the arena in a fight vs. Otto. I adjusted the sensitivity of the sensors and hopefully will not have that problem again.
Tomorrow LMD will fight again and hopefully Decapitron will get to fight again. I would really like to avenge my loss to Rio Bots last year. Decapitron was strong enough to handle the full force of Otto's blade, no problem. Hopefully I will be able to handle Mini Toro+.
Tomorrow we will also have the walking race. Scurrier, my entry in this event, has been very reliable at slow speeds. Walking fast puts lots of pressure on the machine and hopefully it can hold together for the event. I know Ziggy will be there, but I do not know who else I compete with. There are at least two other bots entered I haven't seen.April 3 - Countdown to Robogames 2012
Right now I am so busy working on robots for Robogames 2012 that I am way behind on updating what I am up to. There is so much I am working on that I am really excited to show. But I am going to start my Robogames 2012 page so I can start updating with the details.March 20- Botborduino
Cruising around the Lynxmotion site I noticed they are working on a robot board that uses the Arduino (aka AVR). There are already some robot boards for the Arduino, and quite a few robot shields that go on to Arduino boards. But Lynxmotion makes good robot kits and they have a sense of the features that are important to a roboticist.
The board has a small size, screw terminals to connect power supplies, and three pin headers that can be connected to regulated or unregulated power supply. It has a speaker and LEDs on board and a connection for a PS3 controller. I would say this board would be a good candidate for the autonomous combat robot I am working on now, Decapitron. It would be if it were available, which it isn't.
For Decapitron I am using a propeller chip as usual. A prop is much more powerful than an Arduino in terms of processing, and I am also much more familiar with it. I will be lucky to finish this robot in time for the Robogames so it is good to go with what you know.March 6 - Prox1 Sensor
I have found a new sensor that is one of my favorites. It is called prox1 from Ray's Logic.
Why do I love it so? First, it is digital with a short but very reliable range. Most IR sensors are not digital so that you can get distance readings that sound great.. except: IR sensors can be interfered with by light sources and the farther away you point the signal the more chances you have for that interference, and the range reading can depend on the color you are reflecting off of. So they aren't that reliable except in very controlled circumstances. The prox1 has a one inch (2.5cm) range so it is pretty easy to set it up so that nothing will interfere with it. I have been testing it as a detector for when a foot makes contact with the ground. Not much can interefer with a light sensor that you point downwards a few inches from the ground. And the color of the reflective surface doesn't matter that much. It may detect a white object 2.5 cm below the foot a black object 1.5 cm below the foot. Either way, it detects the object.
Second it is very small and easy to mount. Third, it runs on 3.3v or 5v and seems to work fine at either voltage. Fourth, it's extremely cheap. $5.99 includes shipping and a cable. What a value!February 26 - Little Miss Destruction 2.0
My nephew came to visit this weekend and we worked on improving his robot, Little Miss Destruction, for Robogames 2.0. I think he did a great job last year, but he wanted to get a stronger weapon on his bot. He also designed some defenses for his wheels, which got destroyed in his last battle. My sister took a lot of pictures so I will update the page for his robot showing some of what we did.
February 18 - Open Source Quad Frame
I have been working on a four legged robot frame that supports the parallax servo controller and the gadget gangster propeller platform USB. The frame is small, cheap, and easy to assemble. I made everything open source, so if anyone wants to take the design and copy it, please do so with my blessing.
One thing I have learned about robots is that if you can iterate on a design it gets much better. This probably seems like a really simple thing, but actually its my fifth version of the design. The first one worked, but this one is much better. The next iteration I think I will try to add sensors on the feet and mounting holes for an Axon MCU.
You can see it in action below. It works pretty well.
January 27 - I Have Wrecked A Lot of Servos
Over the years I have damaged or destroyed a lot of servos. So much so that I decided to add a few notes about how to preserve your servos in my servo guide. Everytime I have wrecked a servo I try to think of what can do to avoid the problem next time.January 20 - LMD 2.0?
My sister emailed to say that her son was interested in working on a robot to battle in Robogames 2012. Little Miss Destruction, his robot for 2011, may not look that impressive but for a robot mostly designed and built by a kid I think it is pretty good. I know my nephew has some ideas to improve LMD. I am just excited that he is interested enough to keep working on it. I will update the page to show the changes we make.January 16 - Metropolis II
This weekend I went the Los Angeles Contemporary Art Museum to see Metropolis II. It was, as they say, fun for the whole family. If you have never seen this thing you should check it out here. Of course it is much more impressive in person.January 8 - Working on Quokka
I spent this weekend doing some tests on John Frizel's robot Otto and Wanderer. Wanderer is OK from its last battle, but something is wrong with Otto. I also tried to imprvoe the 3:1 gait of Quokka. I still don't have a nice steady 3:1 gait for the robot, but for fun I shot a little video of it clomping around with it's 2:2 gait.
I put a video of Wanderer being tested at an event in Petaluma up here. Wanderer ia a 1 lb autonomous combat robot.January 3 - Arduino at Radio Shack
After Christmas I went to Radio Shack to get batteries for the kids toys. Of course I took a peak at the electronics section. I saw that they now carry Propeller and Arduino boards. As someone who grew up tinkering with electronics from Radio Shack I found this really exciting. Pretty much every component you need for the electronics of the type of robots I make is available at a strip mall near me.
I asked the sales clerk about this and she said they had Arduinos, but they never sell. That is sad. On the Radio Shack board I saw two complaints. First, Radio Shack charges $35 a board as opposed to the $30 it costs at some online stores. Those stores probably charge about $10 shipping, and you have to wait a week.
The other complaint was that the sales clerk couldn't help the customer when they were having problems with the compiler. Apparently this person thought that someone who sold batteries was going to provide that kind of technical support. I happen to be lucky enough to live by All Electronics, and even at a specialty store like that you are not going to get that kind of technical support from sales people.
Someone complained on the forum that the sales clerk didn't even understand what DIY meant! Isn't it ironic that there is someone out there that thinks they are "do it yourself" yet they expect the clerk to show them how? I think that community is so used to buying off the Internet that they don't understand the convenience of having important components close at hand and easily available.Decemeber 28 - Brush Robot
For Christmas, my father in law got my son a brush robot kit. With all the robots around I'm surprised it interested him. He doesn't take a lot of interest in the robots I build. But I think he really liked something he made himself. Also, it was a pretty cool kit.December 23 - Air Manta
There are some robot builders that are an inspiration to me.
Festo is a great example of this. I have gathered
together a page of their biologically inspired robots.
You can see more here.
December 18 - RQ-170
I am fascinated with the technical aspects of the story about RQ-170 drone that landed in Iran. I don't think people know what actually happened to the drone, and you should assume that both sides have an incentive to tell stories that are not accurate.
Assuming that the drone was fooled, I have seen two different descriptions of how it might have been done. In both scenarios the satellite controls for the drone were jammed. Then, according to the first hypothesis, the Iranians imitated the line of sight landing controls for the drone and just landed. The other scenario is that they jammed encrypted GPS and then spoofed un-encripted GPS to get the drone to land where they wanted under the drones own control.
I am really interested in this because of what I learned from building an autonomous robot that fights. Although that robot has lost fights by not being able to take a punch, the hardest part really is getting robot sensing to work in a hostile environment.
Robot sensing is difficult in general. It becomes much harder when the sensors are likely to get damaged or interfered with. For example, a color sensor will return crazy values if the robot is flipped over and you are sampling ambient light. A broken connection will cause an ultrasonic sensor can either cause a sampling thread to hang or return an in plausible distance measurement. One thing I have learned to do is to program Peanut to sample every sensor, but not to have the program fail if the sensor is broken. The next step is to get the robot to make a decision based on what information is available when there is a chance that any sensor is not valid.
It seems like you need to do two things. First you need to evaluate how plausible a sensor reading is, and discount it if it looks bad. Second, you need to have a decision loop that can work with whatever sensor information is available. That's obviously very similar to what has to be done on drones in hostile environments.
December 6 - Servo Bundle Sale at Servo City
There is a really good sale right now at Servo City. You have to buy servos in bundles of four or more but you can get up 28% off on HiTec servos. These include some of my favorite servos like the HS-5685MH at a good discount. You can mix and match different hitec servo types. This offer only lasts until December 8th, so you only have two days to take advantage of it.
December 4 - Useful Tools
Almost the first thing I ever put on this site was a list of the tools that I thought were useful for making robots. Learning what was useful has been a trial and error process, and some of the tools I used to use a lot I use less now. One particular piece of equipment has become indispensible: a smart charger with an equalizer.
This weekend I thought I would trty to get three walking robots going at the same time. The three robots used between them a NiCD, a NiMH, a LiPO and LiFE battery. My old robot Fluffy uses a NiCD for the microcontroller and an NiMH for the servos. Quokka uses a single 7.4v 4000 maH LiPO. And my small open source quad works quite nicely with a 6.6v 1800 maH LiFE battery. The 7.4v of a LiPO would wear out small cheap servos quite quickly, 6.6v is more friendly. Anyway, all these different types of batteries take a different type of charging. And in the case of a Lithium battery, it takes a balncer as well. I can charge all of them with one smart controllable charger, the Triton.November 19 - Robots Across the Pacific
Liquid Robotics is launching a set of wave glider robots that will try to cross the pacific. These robots are amazing.November 9 - Otto Back From Combots
The Peanut Tin of Terror's nemesis Otto has returned from Combots 2011. Otto defeated Wallie in autonomous combat 2-1, but took some damage in the process, I have learned so much about working with metal in the last year. I think I would like to see if I can help come up with a replacement robot for this robot.
October 30 - Help from Big Blue Saw
I have been using Big Blue Saw to make pieces for a quad kit. I am trying to make the cheapest, simplest walking robot I can.
One nice thing about something that is simple and cheap is that you can try it a few times and experiment. So I'm trying different configurations to see what is best, including different types and thicknesses of aluminum. I'm trying to find a balance between rigidity, bendable-ness, and ease with which it can be cut. I have had some questions about different metals.
I thought maybe I could find some help from some forum or something but I didn't have any luck. It's hard to find places where people will answer questions who are really expert. Somebody answers your question, but often it's just a person who knows a little trying to be helpful.
So I thought I would just ask the people who cut the metal at Big Blue Saw. Simon at Big Blue Saw has been able to give me some suggestions about what metal to use and how to handle it. It's very nice to be able to ask someone knows what he is talking about.October 18 - Sonar vs Lasers
I never put much time into working with infrared sensors. I tried some early versions of sonar sensors (which were quite expensive) and then got a Ping sonar sensor and I never really looked back. In my opinion sonar sensors are superior to IR ones, the only benefit IR has is that it is cheaper.
I have been using sonar for a long time now but I can see that for hobby robots it is going to be eclipsed by visual systems. The Kinect is amazing for robots because it gives you a depth field in front of you in real time. While the Kinect is kind of heavy and complicated for the kind of robots I make, the Parallax Laser Range Finder may be a reasonable alternative.
Both the Kinect and LRF work on a similar principal. They both project out an image and use a camera to predict distance based on the location of the image. In the case of the Kinect it projects out a grid in the infrared spectrum. The LRF uses a laser pointer that creates a red blob. By triangulating where these images show up on a camera you can make a very good estimate of distance quickly.
There are other techniques that may become increasingly useful, such as dot-cloud calculations. Using Sonar works pretty well, but it can only have a very limited resolution because sound disperses. Also, sound has a limited range. Visual techniques can give you a more precise and distant topology then you can get from sonar. It can let you see the shape of things.
These new visual techniques are leveraging cheap digital cameras and the low power processors that are powerful enough to do visual processing. Essentially the technology of smart phones is making new things possible (and cheap) for robots.October 6 - Combots 2011
Combots is happening this month on October 28th. I know that Otto and Wallie will be competing but unfortunately I will not be able to attend because of my work.
John Frizell asked me to send up the Peanut Tin of Terror but I don't think I am going to send it up. If my robot was as well designed as John's I think it would be possible to just mail it and have someone flip the switch. The problem is that the PTT is kind of a mess. There really is just a nest of wires inside that can with a bunch of electronics that rattle around loosely. There are two batteries that need to be charged, one that is Lithium Ion, one that is Nickel Metal Hydride. The steps to get it started our complicated, a lot more complicated then they ought to be.September 29 - Terror Drones
Apparently people have woken up to the fact that a lot of the basic technology of military drones can be recreated by hobbyists. If you look at some of the projects at DIY drones you will realize this is not an exaggeration. Small flying drones like the type the army use for observation can be bought or built. Larger aircraft are harder, but even hobby kit planes get very big. And if you google pulse jet you will realize that there are a surprising number of people who know how to build the engine for a cruise missile. You don't need a lot of imagination to see where that could go.
The FBI has caught a would-beterrorist who was trying to do something like that, putting explosives in a large RC airplane. Now, inevitably, people are going to start to worry about large radio controlled and unmanned aircraft. And that worries me.
When I started to make robots, one of the things I thought about doing was using servos to add guidance to a model rocket. It turns out this is quite illegal in the United States unless you get some special permits. Apparently long ago someone thought to regulate guided rockets out of hobby existence. They could easily do something similar with guided planes.
As robotic devices become more capable they inevitably will become more dangerous. It's not going to take long for someone to realize that a self driving car can be made into a self driving car bomb. I'm not interested in cars or planes, but I do like to build walking robots. I would build a robot that was much bigger if I knew how, probably big enough that someone would consider it dangerous. I don't want people to try and ban me from doing it, or make so difficult to get permission that no hobbyist would bother.
If you look at what people are doing today with unmanned boats, unmanned submersibles, drones and robots you can see that they are developing incredible technology. Like the early personal computer, this technology is driven by students and hobbyists, not large corporations. Trying to regulate it to make it "safe" could kill the movement, or at least keep it out of the hands of college students with limited funds.
There will always be some frontier of technology that has the potential for danger. One of the reasons why the United States has usually stayed in the forefront of new technology is that we have a government that trusts its people. We never banned copy machines, or modems. We let people have guns. I think we need to be a country that lets people build drones. We need to be a country that lets people make dangerous things, or will probably stop being country that makes things at all.
George Collins on Google+


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subset: commoncrawl


text:
I found St. Viateur bagels here in Oakville!
- YYZSolly Aug 5, 2006 05:12 PM
Yep...my favourite little gourmet shop - Jubilee Fruit Market - right at the corner of Lakeshore and Allan (right in the heart of downtown Oakville).
I don't go there much anymore, now that we have Whole Foods and Organic Garage. After a bit of post-workout garage sale-ing this morning, I stopped at Jubilee for some scallions and a jar of Silver Palate pasta sauce.
Well, there they were. A bag of six St. Viateur bagels, reasonably fresh, for $5.00. Sure, that's twice what they cost back in my old hometown but, hey, its worth it.
In the same vein, Oakville also has an excellent Montreal-Style bagel shop now. It's called Taylor's and it's in the plaza on Third Line, right at the corner of Third Line and Dundas. They have the right type of oven, the correct seeds, and a reasonable amount of expertise.
But how well do the bagels travle.
Lates face it is hard to beat a fresh, hot out of the oven, Montreal bagels straight from the source!
if you want mtl bagels, fresh. then the bagel house is where you should go. its on avenue road just above lawerence. made there, with an wood oven and the bagels are soked in honey water, just like 'back home'
yes its not in oakville, but a good thing, i will drive for
St. Viateur sesame bagels are $4.49 for 6 at some Metro stores.
I am not truly impressed, although these are good bagels.
There is a good crust, slightly sweet and nutty, but the interior is soft. Not chewy.
Made from all purpose flour, or eastern flours (Ont.) rather than the prairies, which would yield a stronger dough.
This was a major disappointmnet for me, but I know I can get what I want with the New York bagel, made with midwestern wheat.
re: duckdown
I am pretty sure that place closed down a few years back. I am not 100% sure but you might want to do a phone book search for Taylors. I recall going by a few years ago and the fixtures being removed, unless they moved to another location in Oakville that I don't know about.
re: evansl
Also, I believe that St. Viateur has two baking locations, one which uses the traditional wood-burning oven, and the other which doesn't; the second bakery is for their commercial market.
I have now seen St Viateur bagels at several local Metros, in plastic bags and very stale. Temptation to buy? Nil. If they get them frozen, as I assume they must, they should sell them frozen. A badly handled version of a legendary name isn't the legendary food.
A comparable example: I've never tasted Poilane bread (baked at a monster plant in France) at its source, but the stuff sold at Holt Renfrew, while not bad, is hardly worth its high cost or exalted reputation.
Montreal gossip suggests that St Viateur often thaws and sells frozen bagels at their own store, and not necessarily wood oven baked ones. While I'm in no position to evaluate these statements, I'll stick with Bagel House, at least when they are fresh.
re: embee
I have bought them and no, they do not compare to fresh Montreal bagels. I can't remember which of St Viateur or Fairmont I finally picked as a favourite when I lived there- but if they were somehow sneaking frozen bagels into the mix, they would have to had been very clever, because isn't the entire baking process visible to the customer at the 24-hour stores?
The Metro I went to had bagels with Best Before dates 6 days apart which also annoyed me. But even buying the 'fresher' ones, they were far from fresh.
re: julesrules
The reputedly have a second commercial bakery location. Toronto's Gryfe's also has a commercial distribution bakery totally separate from their "baked in view" Bathurst St. store. I believe Bagel World also bakes offsite for wholesale distribution, including to stores.
There's nothing inherently wrong with doing this, assuming the end product is identical. But is it?
In any event, stale is stale, however the product is made. No "real" bagel, of whatever style, is edible within a day, much less six days.
Shelf life was considered an important advantage when I was a kid, and much "real" bread disappeared over the years. Now real bread is back, and bagels seem to be following the same trajectory a couple of decades later.


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Modeling and predicting IEDsPosted: August 8, 2014 Filed under: Research | Tags: Afghanistan, counter-IED, IED Leave a comment
This first appeared on Predictive Heuristics, my employer's blog.
Improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, were extensively used during the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, causing half of all US and coalition casualties despite increasingly sophisticated countermeasures. Although both of these wars have come to a close, it is unlikely that the threat of IEDs will disappear. If anything, their success implies that US and European forces are more likely to face them in similar future conflicts. As a result there is value in understanding the process by which they are employed, and being able to predict where and when they will be used. This is a goal we have been working on for some time now as part of a project funded by the Office of Naval Research, using SIGACT event data on IEDs and other forms of violence in Afghanistan.
The Thailand coup and some recent forecasting workPosted: May 23, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment
I blogged earlier at Predictive Heuristics about the Thailand coup and some forecasting work I've recently been part of:
This morning (East Coast time), the Thai military staged a coup against the caretaker government that had been in power for the past several weeks, after months of protests and political turmoil directed at the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, who herself had been ordered to resign on 7 May by the judiciary. This follows a military coup in 2006, and more than a dozen successful or attempted coups before then.
We predicted this event last month, in a report commissioned by the CIA-funded Political Instability Task Force (which we can't quite share yet). In the report, we forecast irregular regime changes, which include coups but also successful protest campaigns and armed rebellions, for 168 countries around the world for the 6-month period from April to September 2014. Thailand was number 4 on our list, shown below alongside our top 20 forecasts. It was number 10 on Jay Ulfelder's 2014 coup forecasts. So much for our inability to forecast (very rare) political events, and the irrelevance of what we do.
Associating points with polygons in RPosted: March 29, 2014 Filed under: Code, R | Tags: R, sp 3 Comments
Some time ago I posted on how to find geographic coordinates given a list of village or city names in R. Somebody emailed me about how to do the reverse: the person had a list of villages in France along with the population in 2010, and wanted to find which administrative unit each village was located in. The problem boils down to associating points, the village coordinates, with polygons, the administrative division which they are a part of.
The village data look like this:
library(foreign) library(gdata) library(sp) munic <- read.xls("France-Population.xlsx") head(munic)
Name long lat pop_2010 1 Aast -0.0887339 43.28919 182.5416 2 Abainville 5.4947440 48.53057 327.2407 3 Abancourt 1.7649060 49.69672 687.2479 4 Abancourt 3.2127010 50.23528 448.1252 5 Abaucourt 6.2579230 48.89637 285.9438 6 Abaucourt-Hautecourt 5.5405000 49.19700 93.0353
Quick lookup for country codesPosted: January 29, 2014 Filed under: Research | Tags: ccode, gwcode 2 Comments
After more than half a decade at this, it has finally dawned upon me that instead of downloading the Correlates of War state system membership table, or the Gleditsch and Ward refinement of it, every time I wonder what country "338" is, it might be easier to upload them to Google:
COW codes and state system membership
G&W codes and state system membership
And, for the sake of self-promoting completeness, code to produce panel data reflecting COW or G&W state system membership, and old Stata code to change country names to COW codes.
Defense doublethinkPosted: December 24, 2013 Filed under: Commentary Leave a comment
If you had to take a look at the chart below, what would you say about the overall trend in US defense spending? There's a bump fairly early on for World War 2, but otherwise it seems to generally increase over time. I'm actually surprised to see that we spend more, in terms of constant US dollars, today than we did at the height of the Korean War, and in fact at any point in US history save World War 2.
Code for blank state panel dataPosted: December 11, 2013 Filed under: Code, R | Tags: country codes, R 1 Comment
The short version:
Here is some R code to create arbitrary country-year or country-month data sets reflecting the Gleditsch and Ward or COW state system membership lists, using the cshapes R package.
The longer version:
Time to learn PythonPosted: November 21, 2013 Filed under: Commentary | Tags: Python, R, scientific computing 2 Comments
Apparently Python is taking over the world (from a post by Tal Yarkoni):
In 2013, my toolbox looks like this:
- Python for text processing and miscellaneous scripting;
- Ruby on Rails/JavaScript for web development, except for an occasional date with Django or Flask (Python frameworks);
- Python (NumPy/SciPy) for numerical computing;
- Python (Neurosynth, NiPy etc.) for neuroimaging data analysis;
- Python (NumPy/SciPy/pandas/statsmodels) for statistical analysis;
- Python (MatPlotLib) for plotting and visualization, except for web-based visualizations (JavaScript/d3.js);
- Python (scikit-learn) for machine learning;
- Excursions into other languages have dropped markedly.
I can't speak on the relative merits of Python over R, other than a general impression that R has stronger stats but some quirks as a language (pdf), while Python is generally more powerful, but less capable beyond basic statistical tools. I did spend some time trying to learn Python during my last year in graduate school, but it was while I was really still becoming comfortable with R and so I didn't put much effort into it. Seems like it's time to head back in that direction again.


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Written by:
God give me the courage to change the things I can.
For I jumped out of the pot right into the frying pan.
I thought things would be better, that was an oversight.
Instead of boiling, I'm now sizzling, my blisters blight.
I long to leap once again but I'm desperately afraid.
The wok beckons me with good intentions mislaid.
The spoon rest looks comforting, and I need a rest.
Why does change make me wary, excited and distressed.
The oven is warm and inviting, will my essence be renewed.
Or will this latest transformation cause me to come unglued.
I'm reminded by the clock not to waste precious time.
I should soar like never before while I'm still in my prime.
Please give me courage, things have to change!
Broaden my horizons beyond this kitchen range.
Cecilia Macfarlane
Contest: SERENITY RESPONSE
"courage to change the things I can''


text:
My wishbone balljoint went today and my wheel "fell off" and f****ed my wing Iv just gone to remove the balljoint piece to put in the new 1 and iv go the part off the wishbone that is held on with 2 bolts but when i went to remove the piece in the hub (the pin type piece) i cannot get it out! Iv taken bolt and and tried to prise the pin out frm the bottom but just cannot get it out!
Im thinking that i may have to hammer it out from above? which will invovle removing driveshaft etc! Can anyone tell me what im doing wrong?


text: Talk about a 'tight' chick! – See a penny, pick it up, then a bunch of strangers in bunny costumes, banging drums, singing and dancing like a marching band of merry freaks come out of nowhere and scare the crap out of you. Thank God she didn't take any psychedelics that morning, otherwise this could've turned nasty. Seriously. WTF!?!


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You are looking at an entry to do with Remembering people who have died, but you might be interested in these topics from the Life and death topic area:
When birds roost, they go somewhere to rest or sleep.
Read our blog about how the English language behaves.
Find words and meanings that have just started to be used in English, and let us know what you think of them.


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Dr. Hill, a Board certified psychiatrist, has served in his current position as the first Medical Director of the Evelyn Frye Center since March of l997. As Medical Director, Dr. Hill provides leadership for the development and utilization of quality measures and innovative clinical practices for the Center's expanding psychiatric services.
He is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, He also serves as a Senior Psychiatric Consultant at the Frank Luton Center of Centerstone in Nashville, since 1991.
Dr. Hill graduated Vanderbilt University in 1983 with a BS degree. He then earned the "Quadravidium Letter" from Oxford University, Oxford, England before earning his M.D. from the University of Tennessee, Memphis.
He completed his Internship in General Medicine and Neurology at St. Thomas Hospital and his Residency in Psychiatry and Neurology at Vanderbilt university Medical Center. Dr. Hill sees patients from ages 2 through the entire life span. His primarily treats children. His specific clinical specialties include the psychopharmological management of Autism, ADHD, and Mood/Psychotic Disorders. His psychotherapy orientation is psychodynamic/psychoanalytical.
As a member of the National Association of Psychiatric Educators. he is frequently asked to speak at various universities in the U.S. and Europe regarding a
wide array of psychiatric topics. He has served as a speaker-consultant for various pharmaceutical organizations, including Phizer, Glaxo-Smith-Kline, & McNeil. He
was a national speaker for Shire Pharmaceuticals and is currently a speaker-consultant with Bristol-Myers-Squibb Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Hill volunteers to assist various medical organizations offering both medical and psychiatric care to the less fortunate in developing countries, which include Mali, Zambia, Tanzania, Sudan, Indonesia, Afghanistan, India, Ecuador, and Peru.
Dr. Hill has traveled to over 100 countries, and was the first native-born Tennessean to reach the North Pole by a land route. He has traveled to Antarctica, solo-climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in east Africa, traversed Niger and Chad in Saharan Africa on camel-back, and has met with the Dali-Lama in Nepal.
Dr. Hill is an amateur astronomer. He attends many international astronomical conferences at Cambridge University, England. He had the good fortunate to spend time with the famous Prof. Stephen Hawking while there.
Dr. Hill has a deep interest in history and genealogy, and is a member of several lineal organizations, including Sons of the American Revolution, Descendants of Signers of the Declaration of Independence, Americans of Royal Descent, and Magna Charta Barons. Hill's father was named a Knight of the French Legion of Honor in 2007 by French President Nicholas Sarkozy, for his valor in the Second World War. His mother was honored by President Bill Clinton in 1998 for her work on The Manhattan Project during the Second World War.
Dr. Hill is founder and national president of The American Sons of Normandy, a lineal society of direct descendants of those who participated in the Liberation of France on June 6, 1944 (D-Day), and has spoken many times in France regarding WWII events.
Dr. Hill maintains residences in Nashville and New York City, and manages his family's cotton farm in Lincoln Co., Tennessee. He has 2 border-collies named Heidi and Honey.
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Manhattan Beach Sleepover
Dinner Plan: swanky Southeast Asian food and a hotel
From the driving, to the parking, to the not knowing where to drive or park, dinner in LA is harder than it should be. That's why we created Dinner Plan — your three-step itinerary to a damn good time.
This week, we're heading to Manhattan Beach for the magic hour. Here's your plan.


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Mental diagnostic manual drops Asperger's syndrome as a separate mental disorder
"Asperger's syndrome" is dropped as a separate diagnosis in the first major rewrite in almost two decades of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.
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The science writing I'm most excited about — with no science
My friend Maki Naro is running a Kickstarter and I'm incredibly excited about it. In particular, I'm excited about what it means for science writing.
Which is weird, because it's very definitely not a science comic. The Kickstarter page makes no mention of science (except in one reward tier — I'll come back to that), and Maki himself told me, "it's not about science."
It gets even weirder. Maki is one of the authors of sci-ence, a webcomic entirely about, well, science. It's wonderful, he draws beautiful illustrations and storylets, and below them has a nice explanation of the science involved. Along with xkcd and Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, I think it's one of the best science comics on the web. In contrast, the new comic, Sufficiently Remarkable, is a continuing narrative about four people, none scientists. It's a radical departure.
So, why am I so excited?
For that, let's go back to an art gallery in Chelsea a few years ago. An art curator friend was taking me around to some of the interesting new exhibits opening. So we went to see a show by Dario Robleto about music and nostalgia. He played with the idea of musicians and decay. There were, for example, objects created by crushing up and moulding his old mix tapes. Then I turned the corner, and saw a huge print of the Hubble Deep Field — a look into a tiny patch of sky, which turns out to be filled with countless galaxies*. It's one of the most iconic images in all of science.
Only it wasn't the HDF. It was the image above, "Candles Un-burn, Suns Un-shine, Death Un-dies," which was created by Robleto. He took stage lights from album covers of musicians who had died young and arranged them to look like the Hubble Deep Field. The remarkable thing about this is that it wasn't a "science art" exhibit. There had been nothing in the press about science or astronomy (I went back to the press release and checked). This had simply been the image he had reached for to make the art he wanted to make.
Immediate after the Robleto exhibit we went next door and essentially the same exact thing happened with another artist** and Earthrise.
This is fantastic — at least for someone like me who is obsessed with the idea that science should be a normal part of culture, and not some weird thing that strange robotic people in white lab coats do. I'm continually frustrated that science is walled off, that it's a thing only "science people" do or think about or talk about, that it's a neutral, emotionless, disconnected thing. Quite the opposite, it's deeply a part of everyone's life (Hello iPhone! Hello penicillin! Hello view of the world as consisting of things that obey regular, discoverable laws, a view that informs how we approach key questions whether we realize it or not!)
But when science is generally presented, people are very careful to package it right. It's clearly marked, "science" on the box, so no one is surprised or confused. And if it's labelled "science" we're assured it will have proper facts and informations and at the end we will have been educamated without having to worry about being moved or emoting excessively.*** I'd love to see us moving away from that labeling, toward having science simply be a wide-ranging part of the culture, generally present and unremarked upon. Maybe it's naiveté, but I think that if we can make that happen, find a way to let science be something that people care about on a personal, informal, level, then everything else we talk about — belief in evidence, understanding of the uncertainty that comes with every measurement, a general baseline of scientific "literacy" — will follow.
And that's what's so amazing about those two art exhibits. They did exactly that. In the art world at least, it's starting to happen. And that's what I'd like to see in movies and TV and music and newspapers and novels and, clearly, comics.
And that's the point. There will be science in the comic, because of who Maki is — he's spent years writing about it. His previous job (which he just quit to work on comics full time) was for the World Science Festival. And if that's not enough, one of the reward tiers is, "Maki will name a scientific theory, postulate, or concept in the comic after you." (Other things that can be named after you: brands of liquor and brands of cigars.) The science will be there — no pressure to learn, no signals of an in-group and out-group, just there. Right where it should be.
*Actually, you can count. It's around 3000.
**Whose name I sadly forget.
***OK, I'm being hyperbolic here. This is how I feel on bad days. There is wonderful, wonderful emotive, moving stuff out there. And there are many, many fantastic things full of facts and education. I just get sad that the second is how everything is expected to be, and the first are the exceptions.


text:
I adopted a child 8 years ago from Russia who is now 9 years old. Unfortunately, it is not working.
He can be the best boy but he can also be the worst. I am divorced and we don't have a connection. It doesn't work with he an I and I don't expect that it ever will.
I don't have other children and I don't have a religous background - which I think he needs both of. He needs a family with lots of other kids and 2 patient tolerant parents who are both patient and a mother who is nurturing and will do what every mother is expected to do.
He has ADHD and can be very difficult at times for someone that just doesn't have the patience or calm demeanor. For someone who is cut out to be a mom, they would have an easier time of it.
I am working with an agency to try to place him into another home. If anyone here knows of anyone that is able to help or interested in this situation, please respond with any advice or information you have.
Views: 265
GREAT comment!!! Everybody telling the OP that she is the child's mother, telling her to raise her child. What support she is getting to parent her child.
I would love to see the day when a scared girl/woman facing an unexpected pregnancy can get this kind of encouragement & support. Most girls choosing adoption would never consider it if they had such great support, if she was given all the options for help in raising her child. Instead, most are looked at only as a source for another baby for the adoption industry. They are deemed too young, too poor, and just by the fact that she is considering adoption is looked at as unfit to raise her own child.
Missy Romeis said:Would we all be so quick to judge if she was a birthmom placing for adoption?
you've had this child for 8 years...and now you want to give him away..? What if you birthed him yourself and he had the same problem would you also seek to give him away? you have raised him since he was one...You are his mother. Step up to the plate..
© 2014 Created by Adoption Voices.


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Our Clients
London SW1P 3HL
United Kingdom
Office Phone: 0203 267 0074
Fax: 0203 222 8788
Website: jbp.co.uk
Chris LawranceManaging Director - Bristol
Contact Me
Liam HerbertManaging Director - London
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Creating opportunities & managing risks through strategic communications
We are JBP Public Relations and Parliamentary Affairs, an award-winning full-service communications consultancy with offices in Bristol, London, Warwick and Cardiff, as well as worldwide through our partnership with Worldcom.
We aim to deliver game-changing and strategically aligned communications programmes, which create opportunities and manage risks for our clients.We achieve this through our expertise in press relations, social media, stakeholder communications and public policy; coupled with our knowledge of the media, online, business and political communities.
Media: from profile raising and credibility building programmes to support our clients' commercial goals; to managing online and offline reputations.
Stakeholder engagement: from consulting with local communities to secure planning permission for major infrastructure developments; to creating vehicles for engagement with business prospects and intermediaries, which offer routes to markets
Public policy: from providing business-critical political insights; to engaging with parliamentarians about policy or legislation that can impact on our clients' businesses or cause-related campaigns.
Industry Expertise
- Consumer Products
- Higher education
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Other Specialties
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This combination product contains 2 medications: perindopril and indapamide. It is used to treat adults with mild to moderate high blood pressure.
Perindopril belongs to the class of medications called angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. It works by relaxing blood vessels and helping the heart to pump blood that carries oxygen to the different parts of the body more efficiently. Indapamide belongs to the class of medications called diuretics or "water pills," which help control blood pressure by getting rid of excess salt and water.
This combination medication is prescribed when your doctor feels it is appropriate for you to be taking both medications.
Your doctor may have suggested this medication for conditions other than the ones listed in these drug information articles. As well, some forms of this medication may not be used for all of the conditions discussed here. If you have not discussed this with your doctor or are not sure why you are taking this medication, speak to your doctor. Do not stop taking this medication without consulting your doctor.
Do not give this medication to anyone else, even if they have the same symptoms as you do. It can be harmful for people to take this medication if their doctor has not prescribed it.
This combination medication is used to make dosing more convenient for people who need to take both of these medications (perindopril and indapamide). The dose of the combination medication depends on the doses of the individual medications the person needs.
The usual recommended dose of this medication is one tablet taken once a day, preferably in the morning.
Many things can affect the dose of medication that a person needs, such as body weight, other medical conditions, and other medications. If your doctor has recommended a dose different from the ones listed here, do not change the way that you are taking the medication without consulting your doctor.
It is important to take this medication exactly as prescribed by your doctor. If you miss a dose, take it as soon as possible and continue with your regular schedule. If it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and continue with your regular dosing schedule. Do not take a double dose to make up for a missed one. If you are not sure what to do after missing a dose, contact your doctor or pharmacist for advice.
Store this medication at room temperature and keep it out of the reach of children.
Do not dispose of medications in wastewater (e.g. down the sink or in the toilet) or in household garbage. Ask your pharmacist how to dispose of medications that are no longer needed or have expired.
Coversyl Plus
Each white, rod-shaped tablet contains perindopril 4 mg and indapamide 1.25 mg. Nonmedicinal ingredients: microcrystalline cellulose, lactose monohydrate, hydrophobic colloidal silica, and magnesium stearate.
Coversyl Plus LD
Each white, rod-shaped, scored tablet contains perindopril erbumine 2 mg and indapamide 0.625 mg. Nonmedicinal ingredients: hydrophobic colloidal silica, lactose monohydrate, magnesium stearate, and microcrystalline cellulose.
Coversyl Plus HD
Each white, round tablet contains perindopril 8 mg and indapamide 2.5 mg. Nonmedicinal ingredients: microcrystalline cellulose, lactose monohydrate, hydrophobic colloidal silica, and magnesium stearate.
Do not use perindopril - indapamide if you:
This medication should not be given to anyone who is in a coma due to reduced liver function.
Many medications can cause side effects. A side effect is an unwanted response to a medication when it is taken in normal doses. Side effects can be mild or severe, temporary or permanent.
The side effects listed below are not experienced by everyone who takes this medication. If you are concerned about side effects, discuss the risks and benefits of this medication with your doctor.
The following side effects have been reported by at least 1% of people taking this medication. Many of these side effects can be managed, and some may go away on their own over time.
Contact your doctor if you experience these side effects and they are severe or bothersome. Your pharmacist may be able to advise you on managing side effects.
Although most of the side effects listed below don't happen very often, they could lead to serious problems if you do not seek medical attention.
Check with your doctor as soon as possible if any of the following side effects occur:
Stop taking the medication and seek immediate medical attention if any of the following occur:
Some people may experience side effects other than those listed. Check with your doctor if you notice any symptom that worries you while you are taking this medication.
Health Canada has issued new restrictions concerning the use of perindopril. To read the full Health Canada Advisory, visit Health Canada's web site at www.hc-sc.gc.ca.
Before you begin using a medication, be sure to inform your doctor of any medical conditions or allergies you may have, any medications you are taking, whether you are pregnant or breast-feeding, and any other significant facts about your health. These factors may affect how you should use this medication.
Allergic reaction: This medication may cause a serious allergic reaction called angioedema, which may be fatal if not treated promptly. If you have difficulty breathing, notice hives or swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat, stop taking this medication and get emergency medical help at once.
Other ACE inhibitors should not be taken in the future. People who have had angioedema caused by other substances may be at increased risk of angioedema while receiving this medication.
Blood disorders: In rare cases, a low white blood cell count has been reported by people taking this medication. Your doctor may occasionally monitor your level of white blood cells by performing blood tests. Low white blood cell levels may increase your risk for infection. If you notice any signs of infection (e.g., fever, sore throat), contact your doctor as soon as possible.
Cough: People taking perindopril may develop a dry, persistent cough that usually disappears only after stopping this medication.
Decreased blood pressure: Occasionally, blood pressure drops too low after taking this medication, especially when getting up from a sitting or lying position. This may lead to fainting. It is more common after the first or second dose, when the dose is increased, or when a person is dehydrated. To reduce the risk of dizziness, get up slowly from a lying down or sitting position. If low blood pressure causes you to faint or feel lightheaded, contact your doctor.
Diabetes: Indapamide may make it more difficult for people with diabetes to control their blood sugar. Your doctor will monitor you while you are taking this medication and may need to adjust your doses of antidiabetes medications.
Fluid and electrolyte balance: Your levels of electrolytes, such as potassium, sodium, magnesium, and chloride, may change due to this medication. Your doctor may periodically ask for tests to check that these are in balance. If you experience symptoms of fluid and electrolyte imbalance such as muscle pains or cramps; dry mouth; numb hands, feet, or lips; or racing heartbeat, contact your doctor as soon as possible. Salt substitutes containing potassium should be avoided.
Kidney function: This medication may change the kidney function in certain people. Your doctor will monitor you closely while you are taking this medication. Let your doctor know if you notice any decrease in urine production, or increased swelling of the lower limbs, suggesting accumulation of fluid due to decreased urination.
Liver function: This medication may worsen liver function. If you have liver disease or poor liver function you should be closely monitored by your doctor while taking this medication. If you notice any signs of liver problems (e.g., abdominal pain, itching of skin, yellow eyes or skin, loss of appetite, vomiting), contact your doctor immediately.
Surgery: Tell your doctor and anesthesiologist that you are taking this medication before you undergo any surgical procedures requiring general anesthesia.
Pregnancy: ACE inhibitors such as perindopril have the potential to cause serious problems during pregnancy. This medication should not be used by pregnant women. If you become pregnant while taking this medication, stop taking it immediately and contact your doctor.
Breast-feeding: Perindopril passes into breast milk. It is not known if indapamide passes into breast milk. Do not breast-feed if you are taking this medication.
Children: The safety and effectiveness of using this medication have not been established for children. It is not recommended for children.
There may be an interaction between perindopril - indapamide and any of the following:
If you are taking any of these medications, speak with your doctor or pharmacist. Depending on your specific circumstances, your doctor may want you to:
An interaction between two medications does not always mean that you must stop taking one of them. Speak to your doctor about how any drug interactions are being managed or should be managed.
Medications other than those listed above may interact with this medication. Tell your doctor or prescriber about all prescription, over-the-counter (non-prescription), and herbal medications that you are taking. Also tell them about any supplements you take. Since caffeine, alcohol, the nicotine from cigarettes, or street drugs can affect the action of many medications, you should let your prescriber know if you use them.
All material © 1996-2014 MediResource Inc. Terms and conditions of use. The contents herein are for informational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.


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Visiting my grandparent's used to be fun. Now when i walk in the door i see oxygen tubes, medicine and an overwhelming feeling of constant anxiety. As my Papa`s struggle begins to increase and lung cancer is what it starts to narrow down to, i just slowly rip apart because watching someone wither away right infront of you is so hard. The nights are sleepless, and the days are full of hope because to be honest, i don`t know what i`m going to do with myself when this all comes to an end.
Just a sip beer or whiskey<3
By (A. Aleksandravičius) on Flickr.
Since this is my personal photo - I'm promoting my new Facebook page.
Go check it out! (:


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At DJM Controls Inc. we believe that a well designed and implemented control system can be critical to the overall efficiency of plant equipment and processes. A key factor to this is having the ability to have flexibility in the designs and related software, based on knowledge and experience, and the required business sense to truly understand the needs of our clients.
We have collectively over 50 years of experience implementing control system design and software solutions across a breadth of industries and technologies. Added to this is a strong understanding of business organizational and strategic issues which enables us to develop solutions that are business driven as well as technology driven.
Our experience with an extensive variety of industrial controls platforms, across diverse industries is an asset that our clients will benefit from. In addition to this, professionalism, integrity and pursuit of perfection is a promise that confirms to our clients that DJM Controls Inc. is the right choice for their automation needs.
Send mail to
email@example.com with
questions or comments about this web site.


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Benjamin F. Dillingham and Bridget Wilson LGBT Veterans Wall of Honor
The Benjamin F. Dillingham and Bridget Wilson LGBT Veterans Wall of Honor recognizes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender veterans with ties to San Diego who have taken the oath to serve our country and have done so honorably, and with distinction, acting as role models in advancing equality. The Veterans Wall commemorates these veterans' lives in hopes that their courage, bravery and sacrifices will continue to inspire future generations.
2013 Honorees
|Jacque Atkinson, USMC
|Ben Gomez, USN
|Joseph Christopher Rocha, USN
|John Banvard, USAA
|Kathleen A. Hansen, USN
|Will Rodriguez-Kennedy, USMC
|Kristen Beck, USN
|April F. Heinze, USN
|Evelyn Lynn Thomas, USMC
|Stewart Bornhoft, USA
|Morgan M. Hurley, USN
|Autumn Violet Sandeen, USN
|Carlita "Lee" Durand, USAF
|Gerard Nadeau, USAA
|Shaun A. Flak, USMC
|Stephen Peters, USMC
2012 Honorees
|Stan Berry, USN
|Donald P. Kambic, USA
|August Provost, USN
|Jeri Dilno, USAF
|Lisa Kove, USN
|Luke Terpstra, USA
|Benjamin M. Fowler III, USA
|Robert Lynn, USN
|Jim Woodward, USN
|George Haverstick, USN
|Harvey Milk, USN
Candidate Criteria
Veteran: Candidate must meet the broad definition of a Veteran
• Took the Oath of Enlistment or Oath of Office
• Embodies the Core Values of their respective service branch
• Copy of DD214 is required for each candidate to confirm service
• Eligible regardless of rank earned, branch of service, or component (Active, Reserve or National Guard)
• Candidate may be living or deceased
• Honorable Discharge is required, the only exception being separation based on veteran's sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status
• Serves a role model by demonstrating repeated acts of charity, bridge building or community involvement in a manner that advances equality
• Must have served in or lived in San Diego County long enough to meet the contribution criteria, but need not have been in San Diego when this contribution criteria was met
• Must be nominated by someone other than themselves, with five San Diego co-sponsors. Nominator need not be from San Diego. Co-sponsors must be from San Diego and need not know the candidate personally, but must support the candidate's nomination.
• Any candidate registered as a sex offender or charged with sexual molestation (without acquittal) is not eligible for consideration.
• Anyone wishing to appeal the decision of the LGBT Veteran's Wall of Honor Advisory Council may do so in writing to The San Diego LGBT Center's Director of Operations and Quality Management.
To submit a nomination:
Please fill out the online form here and email the completed form to email@example.com.
Or print and mail the completed form to:
Public Affairs Coordinator
San Diego LGBT Community Center
PO Box 3357
San Diego, CA 92103
Advisory Council
Joseph Christopher Rocha - Advisory Council Chair
Former Petty Officer Rocha served two tours as a Navy canine explosive detection handler in the Gulf. Honorably discharged from NAPS, Rocha gave sworn testimony against DADT in the LCR Federal Court challenge that later ruled the policy unconstitutional and unenforceable. Rocha served as President of Catholic USD's LGBT PRIDE Club in 2010. He currently works as a paralegal, serves as a volunteer service dog trainer at Camp Pendleton and is a candidate for officer selection in the USMC.
April F. Heinze
Captain Heinze served on active duty in the Navy from 1982 to 2005 as a Civil Engineer Corps officer expanding the integration of women in the non-traditional fields of construction and engineering. In 2003, she became the third woman ever promoted to Captain in her specialty. Today she continues to serve in local government as the Director, Department of General Services, for the County of San Diego. She is co-chair of the SLDN Board of Directors.
Stewart Bornhoft
Colonel Stewart Bornhoft, US Army Retired, is a West Point graduate and highly decorated combat veteran with two tours in Vietnam and 26 years of active duty service. He taught at the US Military Academy, commanded two districts in the US Army Corps of Engineers, and served as Director of Public Works at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He has two children, six grandchildren, and lives in Bonita, California, with his husband Stephen, a former Navy pilot.
Kathleen A. Hansen
Command Master Chief (SW/AW) Kathleen A. Hansen (Ret.) served August 1979 – October 2010. Command Master Chief tours include: USS PEARL HARBOR (LSD 52), USS RONALD REAGAN (CVN 76), Naval Inspector General in Washington DC and Navy Medicine West and Naval Medical Center San Diego. Of note, Master Chief Hansen designed and cast a bell for the Chief Petty Officer rank Centennial Anniversary and was also directly involved in the Groundbreaking and Dedication of the Women's Memorial, both located in Washington, D.C.
Morgan M. Hurley
Morgan M. Hurley is a retired Chief Petty Officer with 22 years of service in the US Navy and Navy Reserve. After leaving active service she became a contractor at COMNAVAIRPAC and was the first female to serve on aircraft carriers. After her work during Desert Storm she was handpicked to help launch SALTS, a ship-to-shore logistics data-transfer system. She later installed this system aboard Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy ships. Always a writer at heart, she is currently following in her father's footsteps as a newspaper editor.
Evelyn Lynn Thomas
Evelyn Lynn Thomas is a veteran of The Army National Guard and The USMC. She has an Associates Degree, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, a Social Science Teaching Credential, and Master of Arts in Education. She is an activist minister with The Sanctuary Project Veterans, an elected member of The San Diego County Central Committee and a member of the executive board for The United Veterans Council of San Diego. She handcuffed herself to The White House fence to advocate for the repeal of DADT.
Ben Gomez
Originally from the Pojoaque Valley outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, Ben Gomez graduated from Pojoaque High School in 1987 and enlisted in the United States Navy. His last assignment was in San Diego. He has been involved with several San Diego LGBT community organizations and events, but his strongest passion was to help repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." He now works as a paralegal at Stokes Roberts & Wagner in downtown San Diego.
Shaun A. Flak
Former Staff Sergeant Shaun A. Flak is a United States Marine Corp Combat Veteran who served one tour in Operation Iraqi Freedom. During his time as a Marine he was meritoriously promoted twice and upheld duties as the Wire section NCOIC and the Armory NCOIC for Kilo Battery 3rd Battalion 12th Marines while obtaining a Navy and Marine Corp Achievement Medal for such duties. He lives in San Diego, CA and currently studies at Ashford University.
Will Rodriguez-Kennedy
Will Rodriguez-Kennedy is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He served a combat deployment to Iraq in 2007. Upon his return he was honorably discharged under the discriminative "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy. Since his discharge he became an advocate for repeal. Will currently serves on the San Diego County Veteran's Advisory Council, the Board of Directors of San Diego LGBT Pride and is president of the San Diego Blue Dog Democratic Club.


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Ilz rest camp is located in a picturesque place in the Carpathians, very high in the mountains!
Here you can relax in winter and summer! In winter, when the mountains are covered with white snow, you will have a great opportunity to conquer the ski slopes, you are welcome to use our own ski lift, which is 600 meters-height. In spring, summer or fall, we invite you to relax with friends or colleagues, playing paintball, or completing a memorable descent from the mountain inside a Zorb.
After active rest, you can have a delicious dinner in our restaurant, here we are happy to offer you unsurpassed Carpathian and Ukrainian cuisine. A pleasant atmosphere, Carpathian hospitality and reasonable prices will not leave you indifferent.


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Fortunately, unlike black holes, a lot of light escaped from the world's news holes over the last few days (though the best piece of writing on the subject may still be last year's Elizabeth Kolbert's exposé in The New Yorker). There have been many excellent features, analyses, photos, interviews, and interactive graphics. But fun time is over. One disappointing aspect of the straight news coverage of the LHC's first beam test was that, depending on whom you read, it cost anywhere between $4 billion to $10 billion. Anyway you slice it, that's a lot of money, and proof of two things: that CERN will have to earn its publicity from now on, and that journalists have responsibility to explain how its fancy new collider does or doesn't pay off.
More in The Observatory


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- Shopping Bag ( 0 items )
Like Crazy
Posted August 26, 2012
Truly Awful
I was very excited to see this film as virtually all reviews were glowing and it had been such a film festival hit; there was even some Oscar chatter...well, I should have known. How many times have I been burned by such accolades to later see the film and go, "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?" {"Black Swan" a perfect example}Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
I love a lot of indie and arthouse films--but for the life of me, I can't understand what anyone sees in this. {SPOILERS HERE!} A young couple, "desperately" in love, are to be separated as she's English and must go home. As this love is so strong, it can't survive 2 months (in the land of Skype, texting, etc) she ignores the visa and stays past her cut off--and is shocked when she is denied re-entry to the US when she tried to re-enter months later.
Thus the set up of the "madly in love" long distance couple whose passion is so great they suffer horribly--yet it doesn't stop them from getting seriously involved with other people, ignoring one another, hurting each other--all the while trying to get the visa situation worked out. Oh--then they get married to solve the problem while still carrying on serious affairs and being ambivalent. It goes on and on--and all I wanted to do is scream these people to grow the ^&(&()*)* up and move on.
The performances are good; the actors do well with imbecilic material (a pillow fight dominates the wedding night?! Lots of monosyllabic dialogue and sulking). It's fun to see a pre-Katniss Jennifer Lawerence play a grown up role (even if it's thankless--she's the constantly spurned 'other woman/doormat')
Then there's the ending--OMG--this film just ENDS. Stops--with no resolution at ALL. I was stunned--so annoyed I listened to the writer's commentary who congratulates himself on such a wonderful, amibiguous ending because the scene they shot that explained the ending--well, it was better to leave us all throwing a shoe thru the screen for art's sake.
If you want several reviews--go over to Amazon--there's a whole lot of people who feel like me. This seems to be a "love it or hate it" film--I'm with the latter.


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5 Most Expensive Movies Ever MadeWe bring to you the list of five most expensive movies ever made (inflation adjusted)
By Anindita Gupta, IndiaTimes | April 17, 2012, 11:33 am IST
1 Pirates of Caribbean (At World's End)
'Pirates of Caribbean, At World's End' was the third film from Pirates of Caribbean series. It is believed to be the most expensive movie ever made in cinema history, having a production budget of about $ 316.6 Million. It was a box office hit and was the most successful film of 2007, grossing approximately $960 million worldwide. Pirates of Carribean starred Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly. Statistics source:- Wikipedia.