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LEDs have been on the market long enough for electrical contractors (ECs) to know the major selling points: energy efficiency and longer life expectancy, thus reducing both energy consumption and maintenance costs.
But there are more selling points. In many outdoor applications, light emitting diodes perform better than traditional technologies because of their durability and ability to withstand cold.
Since LEDs contain no filaments or significant glass bulbs, there is little chance of breakage like traditional lamps, said Chris Primous, LED, commercial and Energy Star product manager, Progress Lighting, Greenville, S.C.
"Tiny LED devices are very rugged and can be dropped, tossed or shaken without damage—very different from fragile traditional sources, which can be broken or damaged in shipment or operation. LEDs' rugged characteristics also diminish the chance of damage from vibration in parking garages and bridges."
Additionally, LEDs can be conformally coated, which is a process of applying a thin material over the LED to protect the device from moisture or dust. Such coatings can make the LED light modules used in lighting fixtures particularly useful for damp environments, such as in marine areas.
Extremely cold environments sometimes create significant problems for outdoor fixtures, especially those using fluorescent lamps.
"The starting temperature requirements of standard fluorescent ballasts may prohibit fluorescent usage in extreme cold environments," Primous said. "In contrast, LEDs actually perform better and more efficiently in cold climates. LEDs essentially are electronic chips, and much like computers and similar products, they like the cold and need to be kept cool to operate properly."
Profit-conscious ECs may want to study outdoor areas that could benefit from LEDs' ruggedness and cold tolerance. Consider, for instance, the millions of traffic and rail signals nationwide that require constant reliability 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Investigate the diverse array of signal types out there. How many traffic and rail signals in your area could use LEDs to replace older fluorescent and incandescent technologies?
Large-scale government jobs can be profitable. Kentucky, for example, recently finished a statewide LED traffic signal retrofit encompassing nearly 3,000 intersections and 500 school flashers, plus beacons and advance-warning LEDs on state-maintained routes.
Two state organizations initiated the Kentucky retrofit, according to GE Lumination LLC, Valley View, Ohio, manufacturer of the estimated 77,000 RX11 high-visibility LED traffic signals installed during the five-month project. The goal was to reduce operational and energy-consumption costs by up to $3.2 million per year.
Several factors motivated Kentucky officials to pursue a statewide LED initiative. The average life span of incandescent bulbs used in Kentucky traffic signals was 10 to 11 months versus 8 to 10 years for the LEDs. Before the upgrade, Kentucky spent about $1.5 million in salaries and equipment usage annually to replace burned-out traffic signal bulbs.
It means LEDs contribute to cost savings and safety. With LED-illuminated traffic signals, maintenance workers are less frequently exposed to dangerous high-traffic job sites.
"We see this as a best-practices maintenance and energy-savings story," said Kraig Kasler, vice president of marketing at GE Lumination LLC. "We hope government transportation officials throughout North America will notice."
The following sections specify the applications for LED lighting as the technology is adopted.
Illuminated street signs: Municipalities know it is time-consuming and costly to replace burned-out fluorescent lamps in internally illuminated outdoor signs. LED-illuminated street-sign systems can curb costly maintenance while providing all-weather versatility. Unlike fluorescent lighting that can dim, flicker or simply not work in extremely cold climates, LEDs are designed for extreme temperatures. For example, GE Lumination's LED system operates in a temperature range of –40°F to 122°F. In addition, GE claims its product cuts energy costs up to 50 percent. Life expectancy is 50,000 hours.
Traffic control: More municipalities worldwide are bagging incandescent traffic signals for LED signals that deliver up to 90 percent greater efficiency and profound maintenance savings. GE Lumination signals are designed to handle sun phantom in addition to light uniformity and color washout, which incandescent signals struggle to perform against.
Rail applications: Rail signals, level crossings and waysides present abundant opportunities for ECs to replace traditional incandescent lamps with long-lasting LEDs. Maintenance of commuter rail, rapid transit and freight railroad signals located in rail yards, in tunnels, on high bridges or close to energized high-voltage power lines presents serious employee hazards when troubleshooting or changing lamps. Installing new wayside signals with solid-state LED systems, which can last up to 10 years, minimizes fall and power clearance concerns.
Compared with incandescent lamps, LED wayside solutions improve visibility and sighting distance under various weather conditions, eliminate the need for optical realignment and provide up to 90 percent energy-cost savings.
Pedestrian control: There is no room for error when managing pedestrian traffic or synchronizing the movement of people and automobiles. Whether a customer needs a standard LED outline, new "incandescent look" GT1, or a more advanced unit with a digital countdown display, a vast collection of weatherproof LED pedestrian control signals that meet a variety of specifications available.
Signage and architecture: Whether indoors or outdoors, LEDs in architecture and signage can reduce operating and maintenance costs for sign companies, maintenance contractors and end-users. Potential LED applications include channel letter, low-profile channel letter, border lighting, reverse-halo, large box signage, point-of-purchase signage, cove lighting, canopy and accent lighting. Cost-conscious retailers can use LED solutions.
Municipal applications: The city of Raleigh, N.C., and Cree Inc., Durham, N.C., a U.S.-based manufacturer of LED solid-state lighting components, have undertaken a joint citywide initiative to test, deploy and promote LED technology in a variety of general lighting applications.
As part of the commitment to creating an "LED City" during an 18-month period, Raleigh plans to extend LED lighting, through its living-laboratory initiative, to garage and parking-lot lights, street lights, architectural and accent lighting, portable lighting, and pedestrian and walkway lighting. Both Cree and Raleigh public officials hope the initiative will serve as a model for other cities considering implementing energy-efficient infrastructures.
The first project focused on an LED installation in a parking garage. LED-based lighting fixtures were installed in the Raleigh Municipal Building parking deck in December 2006. Progress Energy, Raleigh's primary electric utility provider, said the LEDs use 40 percent less energy than the standard lighting system and improved the light quality in the garage. (Editor's Note: For more information on the project, visit www.ECmag.com and enter "Raleigh" in the search box.)
Getting the gig
Landing huge state municipal LED contracts such as the Kentucky and Raleigh projects may seem like a long reach, but it's not impossible. To start off, you can build your knowledge of LED applications by reading articles, browsing manufacturer Web sites, and attending trade shows and manufacturer-hosted seminars.
In addition, electrical contractors can seek out educational centers for LEDs. For example, Cooper Lighting's The SOURCE Educational Center, Peachtree City, Ga., incorporates LED technology into several of its lighting classes. ECs can also learn about Progress Lighting's offerings through Hubbell Lighting's Lighting Solutions Center in Greenville, or about Lumination LLC through GE's Lighting & Electrical Institute in Cleveland.
After gaining the necessary knowledge, ECs need to establish themselves as capable LED lighting providers, said Greg Merritt, Cree corporate marketing director. "To do this, build relationships with LED lighting manufacturers and become familiar with product capabilities and technical requirements. This enables you to become part of the team bidding on new LED projects. Because municipal projects have long lead times, the lighting often is specified and contracts written well in advance of construction. Get in early. Also, given the rapidly changing LED technology, allow for new product upgrades."
Bidding tips
To get the contract, first you must bid, but how do you go about bidding on an LED contract? In addition, how do you change a spec that you believe, through prior experience, will not work?
Andrew Holt, Nu-Art Lighting's division engineering manager, Salt Lake City, advises clearly defining a timetable for the proper submittal sample and laying it out with the people who won the contract so it is clear, concise and does not hold up any part of the project.
"The EC needs open communication with the specifier," Holt said. "If an EC determines a package for a particular fixture doesn't lend itself to the project, try to convince the specifier there is a better solution. Take a logical approach. Explain it will not work as specified, and suggest a better solution. Ask the specifier, 'How can we approach changing the spec?'"
Get with your various suppliers and distributors to define a timetable that will allow everyone to succeed. Missing deadlines and milestones can be very expensive for ECs. For successful project bids, Holt advises the following:
1. Get the spec.
2. Determine if you can do it (if you have a fixture that will work, can get the correct rating, have the proper certifications, determine costs).
3. Bid it.
4. Win the job.
5. Assemble a submittal package and sample with all certifications the specifier wants.
"Some smaller contractors see the numbers on large contracts and rush into it without doing the '7 P Rule': Prior proper planning prevents piss-poor performance," Holt said. "Contractors who rush into bids don't outline their needs adequately or establish workable timetables and milestones for each distributor and manufacturer involved. This can result in liquidated damages for not hitting milestones and late projects."
As LEDs projects increase in number, the electrical contractor is in a great place to win the bid. EC


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OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Hundreds of protesters took to the streets Friday, some breaking windows and knocking down fences, after a white former transit officer was given the minimum possible prison sentence of two years for fatally shooting an unarmed black man on a California train platform.
The case against defendant Johannes Mehserle has provoked racial unrest at every turn, and police in Oakland, the scene of the killing, were on alert for more problems following a sentence many thought was too light.
Police in riot gear arrested more than 100 people Friday night after a rally billed as a tribute to the victim, Oscar Grant, turned into a march through the downtown area, where demonstrators broke car and bus windows. Some carried a banner reading "Justice for Oscar Grant." Police helicopters hovered above, shining spotlights on the crowd.
Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts said the protest was declared an illegal assembly after one officer had his gun taken from him in a fight and another officer was hit by a car and suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Police spokesman Jeff Thomason said there were scattered arrests elsewhere.
Mehserle's sentence, handed down in Los Angeles, also angered the victim's family and friends, who demanded a much harsher punishment.
Wanda Johnson, Grant's mother, shouted, "Oh my!" when Superior Court Judge Robert Perry issued the two-year sentence. She burst out of the courtroom saying, "He got nothing! He got nothing!"
Grant's uncle, Bobby Cephus Johnson, said outside court: "I do believe it's a racist criminal justice system."
Still, he said the family was reacting calmly but added he could not comment for others.
"I have no power over what people feel their matter of expression should be," he said.
Some of the dozens of people who gathered outside Oakland City Hall for a tribute to victim Oscar Grant broke into tears when they learned of the judge's decision. Outside the Los Angeles courthouse, a small crowd that had earlier shouted "No justice, no peace" reacted relatively calmly to the sentence.
Mehserle, 28, had faced a possible 14-year maximum term after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter. At the time of the shooting, Mehserle was a Bay Area Rapid Transit officer responding to a report of a fight.
In making his decision during the highly charged, 3 1/2-hour hearing, Perry threw out a gun enhancement that could have added as much as 10 years in prison and said there was overwhelming evidence that it was an accidental shooting.
Perry said race would not factor into his decision and although Mehserle had shown "tons of remorse" for killing Grant, he would have to account that a "young man needlessly died."
"I did the best I could with this case," Perry told the courtroom. "My decisions today will not be well-received by many people. I'm sorry for that."
Police said they were prepared in case there was a replay of the rioting in Oakland that followed the shooting on New Year's Day 2009.
Mayor Ron Dellums said he understood the pain and disappointment sparked by the sentence.
"It is still my hope that people will express their anger, will express their disappointment, their outrage, their pain in a manner that is nonviolent, in a manner that is not destructive to our community," he said at a news conference.
Johnson family attorney John Burris acknowledged a small step was taken by the justice system in sentencing Mehserle to two years, but he said that was insufficient. Both Burris and Bobby Johnson noted that NFL star Michael Vick got a harsher sentence for running a dog-fighting ring.
"What you take from that is that Oscar Grant's life was not worth very much," Burris said.
He also targeted Perry's comments before sentencing that he was saddened by the polarization of the community over the shooting.
"This case does nothing at all to heal, if that was ever any intent," Burris said.
Reaction to the case has drawn comparisons to the infamous 1991 Rodney King beating by Los Angeles police officers, which inflamed a racial divide and led to the disastrous 1992 riot when the officers were acquitted of brutality charges.
Mehserle was convicted in July in the videotaped killing of Grant, 22, in Oakland. The case was moved to Los Angeles for trial.
Perry had wide discretion when sentencing Mehserle. Prosecutors sought prison time while defense lawyers argued for probation. The judge gave Mehserle the minimum possible prison sentence.
Defense attorney Michael Rains immediately filed an appeal with the court after the sentencing. After time already served and good behavior credits, Mehserle will likely serve an additional six to seven months based on California's sentencing guidelines, the lawyer said.
Mehserle testified during the trial that he thought Grant had a weapon and decided to shock him with his stun gun but instead pulled his .40-caliber handgun. Grant was unarmed and face down when he was shot.
Sentencing came after four relatives of Grant and his fiancee pleaded with Perry to send Mehserle to prison for 14 years.
Wanda Johnson cried and struggled to give a victim impact statement. She said she regrets telling her son to take a BART train to San Francisco before the shooting.
"I live every day of my life in pain," she said. "My son is not here because of a careless action."
The family continues to maintain that it was murder when Mehserle shot Grant.
Mehserle, shackled and wearing a jail jumpsuit, also stood before the judge before sentencing and apologized for the shooting, which he contended was accidental and not racially motivated.
"I want to say how deeply sorry I am," Mehserle said. "Nothing I ever say or do will heal the wound. I will always be sorry for taking Mr. Grant from them."
He cried during portions of his 10-minute statement and said he and his family have received numerous death threats and he's been "green-lighted" - a term in which other jail inmates have the go-ahead to kill someone.
Earlier, the judge said he had received more than 1,000 letters urging a harsh sentence.
Prosecutors had sought a second-degree murder conviction, saying Mehserle became angry at Grant for resisting arrest.
However, jurors were given the choice of lesser charges, including voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. In reaching a decision on involuntary manslaughter, jurors found that Mehserle didn't mean to kill Grant, but his behavior was still so negligent that it was criminal.
Involuntary manslaughter has a sentencing range of two to four years, while the gun allegation carries a term of three, four or 10 years.
The judge rebuked prosecutors for arguing that Mehserle intentionally shot Grant, saying there wasn't any evidence to back up that allegation. Perry also said he believed the videos showed Grant resisted arrest and many people, including Mehserle's fellow officers and Grant's friends, contributed to the tragedy.
"All of these people share some responsibility," Perry said.
Early in the day, before the sentencing, there was a scuffle outside the Los Angeles courthouse that led to at least one arrest and an undercover officer being briefly handcuffed.
Police Lt. John Romero said the undercover police officer was coming out of the building when a member of the crowd recognized him and the two had a verbal exchange. When it escalated to pushing and shoving among the crowd, sheriff's deputies who guard the building moved in.
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subset: commoncrawl


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M. PELET could not of course object to the proposal made by Mdlle. Reuter; permission to accept such additional employment, should it offer, having formed an article of the terms on which he had engaged me. It was, therefore, arranged in the course of next day that I should be at liberty to give lessons in Mdlle. Reuter's establishment four afternoons in every week.
When evening came I prepared to step over in order to seek a conference with Mademoiselle herself on the subject; I had not had time to pay the visit before, having been all day closely occupied in class. I remember very well that before quitting my chamber, I held a brief debate with myself as to whether I should change my ordinary attire for something smarter. At last I concluded it would be a waste of labour. "Doubtless," thought I, "she is some stiff old maid; for though the daughter of Madame Reuter, she may well number upwards of forty winters; besides, if it were otherwise, if she be both young and pretty, I am not handsome, and no dressing can make me so, therefore I'll go as I am." And off I started, cursorily glancing sideways as I passed the toilet-table, surmounted by a looking-glass: a thin irregular face I saw, with sunk, dark eyes under a large, square forehead, complexion destitute of bloom or attraction; something young, but not youthful, no object to win a lady's love, no butt for the shafts of Cupid.
I was soon at the entrance of the pensionnat, in a moment I had pulled the bell; in another moment the door was opened, and within appeared a passage paved alternately with black and white marble; the walls were painted in imitation of marble also; and at the far end opened a glass door, through which I saw shrubs and a grass-plat, looking pleasant in the sunshine of the mild spring evening—for it was now the middle of April.
This, then, was my first glimpse of the garden; but I had not time to look long, the portress, after having answered in the affirmative my question as to whether her mistress was at home, opened the folding-doors of a room to the left, and having ushered me in, closed them behind me. I found myself in a salon with a very well-painted, highly varnished floor; chairs and sofas covered with white draperies, a green porcelain stove, walls hung with pictures in gilt frames, a gilt pendule and other ornaments on the mantelpiece, a large lustre pendent from the centre of the ceiling, mirrors, consoles, muslin curtains, and a handsome centre table completed the inventory of furniture. All looked extremely clean and glittering, but the general effect would have been somewhat chilling had not a second large pair of folding-doors, standing wide open, and disclosing another and smaller salon, more snugly furnished, offered some relief to the eye. This room was carpeted, and therein was a piano, a couch, a chiffonniere—above all, it contained a lofty window with a crimson curtain, which, being undrawn, afforded another glimpse of the garden, through the large, clear panes, round which some leaves of ivy, some tendrils of vine were trained.
"Monsieur Creemsvort, n'est ce pas?" said a voice behind me; and, starting involuntarily, I turned. I had been so taken up with the contemplation of the pretty little salon that I had not noticed the entrance of a person into the larger room. It was, however, Mdlle. Reuter who now addressed me, and stood close beside me; and when I had bowed with instantaneously recovered sang-froid—for I am not easily embarrassed—I commenced the conversation by remarking on the pleasant aspect of her little cabinet, and the advantage she had over M. Pelet in possessing a garden.
"Yes," she said, "she often thought so;" and added, "it is my garden, monsieur, which makes me retain this house, otherwise I should probably have removed to larger and more commodious premises long since; but you see I could not take my garden with me, and I should scarcely find one so large and pleasant anywhere else in town."
I approved her judgment.
"But you have not seen it yet," said she, rising; "come to the window and take a better view." I followed her; she opened the sash, and leaning out I saw in full the enclosed demesne which had hitherto been to me an unknown region. It was a long, not very broad strip of cultured ground, with an alley bordered by enormous old fruit trees down the middle; there was a sort of lawn, a parterre of rose-trees, some flower-borders, and, on the far side, a thickly planted copse of lilacs, laburnums, and acacias. It looked pleasant, to me—very pleasant, so long a time had elapsed since I had seen a garden of any sort. But it was not only on Mdlle. Reuter's garden that my eyes dwelt; when I had taken a view of her well-trimmed beds and budding shrubberies, I allowed my glance to come back to herself, nor did I hastily withdraw it.
I had thought to see a tall, meagre, yellow, conventual image in black, with a close white cap, bandaged under the chin like a nun's head-gear; whereas, there stood by me a little and roundly formed woman, who might indeed be older than I, but was still young; she could not, I thought, be more than six or seven and twenty; she was as fair as a fair Englishwoman; she had no cap; her hair was nut-brown, and she wore it in curls; pretty her features were not, nor very soft, nor very regular, but neither were they in any degree plain, and I already saw cause to deem them expressive. What was their predominant cast? Was it sagacity?—sense? Yes, I thought so; but I could scarcely as yet be sure. I discovered, however, that there was a certain serenity of eye, and freshness of complexion, most pleasing to behold. The colour on her cheek was like the bloom on a good apple, which is as sound at the core as it is red on the rind.
Mdlle. Reuter and I entered upon business. She said she was not absolutely certain of the wisdom of the step she was about to take, because I was so young, and parents might possibly object to a professor like me for their daughters: "But it is often well to act on one's own judgment," said she, "and to lead parents, rather than be led by them. The fitness of a professor is not a matter of age; and, from what I have heard, and from what I observe myself, I would much rather trust you than M. Ledru, the music-master, who is a married man of near fifty."
I remarked that I hoped she would find me worthy of her good opinion; that if I knew myself, I was incapable of betraying any confidence reposed in me. "Du reste," said she, "the surveillance will be strictly attended to." And then she proceeded to discuss the subject of terms. She was very cautious, quite on her guard; she did not absolutely bargain, but she warily sounded me to find out what my expectations might be; and when she could not get me to name a sum, she reasoned and reasoned with a fluent yet quiet circumlocution of speech, and at last nailed me down to five hundred francs per annum—not too much, but I agreed. Before the negotiation was completed, it began to grow a little dusk. I did not hasten it, for I liked well enough to sit and hear her talk; I was amused with the sort of business talent she displayed. Edward could not have shown himself more practical, though he might have evinced more coarseness and urgency; and then she had so many reasons, so many explanations; and, after all, she succeeded in proving herself quite disinterested and even liberal. At last she concluded, she could say no more, because, as I acquiesced in all things, there was no further ground for the exercise of her parts of speech. I was obliged to rise. I would rather have sat a little longer; what had I to return to but my small empty room? And my eyes had a pleasure in looking at Mdlle. Reuter, especially now, when the twilight softened her features a little, and, in the doubtful dusk, I could fancy her forehead as open as it was really elevated, her mouth touched with turns of sweetness as well as defined in lines of sense. When I rose to go, I held out my hand, on purpose, though I knew it was contrary to the etiquette of foreign habits; she smiled, and said—
"Ah! c'est comme tous les Anglais," but gave me her hand very kindly.
"It is the privilege of my country, Mademoiselle," said I; "and, remember, I shall always claim it."
She laughed a little, quite good-naturedly, and with the sort of tranquillity obvious in all she did—a tranquillity which soothed and suited me singularly, at least I thought so that evening. Brussels seemed a very pleasant place to me when I got out again into the street, and it appeared as if some cheerful, eventful, upward-tending career were even then opening to me, on that selfsame mild, still April night. So impressionable a being is man, or at least such a man as I was in those days.


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Gov. Chris Christie's goal to make New Jersey's $12 billion-a-year Medicaid program more efficient, unveiled in his Tuesday budget address, was welcomed by Dr. Jeff Brenner, who heads the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers.Christie's speech was "very exciting," Brenner said.
The Coalition has gained national recognition for its efforts to improve population health and reduce excessive hospital care. New Jersey is among the states opting to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
"As the state expands Medicaid they will have to simultaneously think about redesigning and rethinking the delivery models and making sure that we are delivering care efficiently, effectively, and delivering better care at lower cost. So I think the timing is perfect," Brenner said.
Christie in his speech cited the Medicaid Accountable Care Organization three-year pilot program that was created by state law is due to launch later this year. Camden, Trenton and other cities with large Medicaid populations are expected to form Medicaid ACOs, in which all the hospitals and many of the health care providers in a region join forces and seek to both improve health care and reduce costs. The ACO would then share in the savings that Medicaid realizes through more efficient care. The cost of Medicaid is shared equally by the state and federal government.
One of the earliest Medicaid ACO advocates was the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, which argued that by making the state's health care delivery system more efficient, New Jersey would be a more attractive location for business.
In his budget address, Christie said Medicaid covers 1.4 million people and that last year, 5 percent of Medicaid recipients accounted for half the program's spending. Christie noted that the state has received federal approval for changes to Medicaid that will emphasize home and community based care.
The Medicaid ACO will "look at how care management and coordination can help lower costs for this population while improving care," he said.
Christie said 16,000 Medicaid recipients visited emergency rooms six or more times last year.
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield spokesman Tom Vincz said "We support the Governor's focus on health care innovation. Horizon has taken a leadership role in New Jersey by working with physicians and hospitals to develop value-based programs that are delivering better quality outcomes for more than 500,000 Horizon members while containing health care costs. We are also bringing innovation to our Medicaid business. We are in the process of collaborating with organizations statewide that are aligned with the Governor's vision and can further the goal of improving health care quality and efficiency in New Jersey. "
Brenner said the Camden Coalition, and a sister group in Trenton, the Trenton Health Team, have been working for years to improve primary care to low income city dwellers and help them avoid hospital admissions that often result when chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease are not under control. The coalition intends to launch a Medicaid ACO once the regulations are final and applications are accepted, he said. But, he said in advance of the ACO launch, the Coalition in December reached an ACO-type agreement with UnitedHealthcare, which is one of the four managed care companies that deliver the Medicaid program to New Jersey residents. Brenner said UnitedHealthcare is providing funding up front to the coalition to pay for care coordination efforts needed to improve Medicaid efficiency. After a year, UnitedHealthcare will share the savings with the coalition.
"United is putting its hands up and saying, we're ready, we're going to move forward and we're opting into the model" of the Medicaid ACO, Brenner said.
Brenner said the coalition has been piloting a community-based approach to improving health care that targets the sickest patients who spend the most time in hospitals.
"Our goal is to catch every hospitalized patient: we think that's the quickest way to save money," he said.
Brenner said a pilot program that has been underway for several years is aiming to make sure patients being discharged are situated in a well-run primary care office and understand their medications and follow up plans.
He said the Camden Coalition staff "go right to the bedside. We meet the patient in the hospital and we ask them, 'are you tired of being sick and tired? Are you tired of being in the hospital over and over?'"
He said the staff visits the patients in their homes and accompanies them to their primary care doctors and specialists.
"We stick to them for 90 days. We find that to be a really crucial teachable moment. We can kind of nudge and steer people toward a different set of choices, so that they get reattached to their primary care office and break out of the cycle of going to the hospital over and over," he said.
He said there are many success stories citing the work of the Trenton Health Team that worked with a patient that had gone to the hospital several hundred times in one year. And after the intervention of the Trenton Health Team, in the following year the patient went to the hospital 18 times.
"We have a lot of stories like that in Camden as well: people were going to the hospital over and over and over, we get involved on the case, and they stop going. That is routinely what we are seeing," Brenner said.
He said the coalition is now launching a one-year study to determine if its work is having an impact on health care in the city.
By focusing on the sickest people in Camden, Brenner said the coalition has worked with about 10 percent of the city's patients.
"Our goal in the next year to two is to touch 100 percent of the patients in some way shape or form," he said.
In Camden, about 1 percent of the patients account for about 30 percent of the costs to Medicaid, Medicare and commercial health insurance, said Brenner. The problem with the health care system is that it hasn't paid enough attention to the sickest people.
"We don't deliver organized care or personalized care to very sick patients. Instead of meeting them where they are, they end up going to the hospital over and over," he said.
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Nintendo eShop Gift Card
Whether you are planning for holiday gift-giving, looking for that perfect birthday gift, or simply cannot get enough of Link, Mario, and all your favorite Nintendo characters, Nintendo eShop Gift Card is quite simply a "gift of fun". Choose it for others and get one for yourself too.
Available in $10, $20, $35, and $50 values, you have the freedom to choose the value of adventure you're up to next. Okay, so, other than bringing fun, entertainment, and adventure closer to you whenever and wherever you might be, here are more reasons why you shouldn't miss out on all the possibilities this game card brings:
- It gives you or any gamer you know the chance to experienc over 1000 games from Nintendo at any given time.
- It helps players of all ages and geographies connect instantly even if remotely.
- Get the best deal for your buck with random discounts up to 10% off card value.
- Credit is easy to top up anywhere online and in stores, including via 7-Eleven, amazon, Target, Walmart, Walgreens, and PayPal.
- It lets you earn Nintendo points that you can exchange later for rewards.
- Nintendo eShop Gift Card credits never expire.
So, whatever you think you'll be playing next on your Nintendo or Nintendo Switch consoles, it can't be nothing less than awesome, especially when you have a gift card. Use it to access more games online, or purchase other items from the eshop. And if it's for gift-giving, trust that it will be received warmly.


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Old Car City
Old Car City is located in White, GA, about 75 miles north of Atlanta. As you see from the descriptions on the signs, it claims to be the world's largest collection of pre-1969 restorable American cars and pickup trucks, with over 4,000 vehicles dumped into the middle of the forest. The vehicles are rusting and display an incredible array of colors and detail, while trees and other plants grow in and around them. To do the place justice, plan to spend a minimum of 2-3 days there. Note that the owner is an artist and has a huge collection of styrofoam cups on which he has painted and decorated mostly with ink.Read More


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These chanderi sarees are produced from three kinds of fabric i.e. pure silk, chanderi cotton and silk cotton. Traditional coin, Flora art, Peacocks and geometrics are woven into different chanderi patterns. The sarees are among the finest sarees in India and are known for their gold and silver brocade or zari, fine silk and opulent embroidery. The weaving culture or tradition has been available from the 13th century.
- Comes with an attached blouse material
- Has a combination of block prints
- Instruction for care: Dry clean first time to set colors. Later hand wash in mild detergent (Ezee)/Machine wash with shampoo at delicate setting
- Dimensions: (L x B) 550 cms x 110 cms for saree and 90 cms for Blouse
- Material: Chanderi Silk
The Chanderi Silk Saree pattern with Zari Border for all-time use (41142A) is far and away, one of our most popular items. People can't seem to get enough of it.
Inventory Last Updated: Oct 04, 2023
Inventory Last Updated: Oct 04, 2023


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Winos and Foodies and I didn't leave a comment. I wish I had. I was busy. I was tired. I didn't know her very well. But I knew of Barbara, especially through in her fantastic Taste of Yellow events that raised awareness of cancer. I liked her. I just never expected it was the last post that she would write. It was full of life and colour and cheer. I never expected cancer would take her so soon from her family and friends and from the blogging community.
Cook Sister was hosting Meeta's Monthly Mingle dedicated to the memory of Barbara. Other than giving me cause for reflection in my Taste of Yellow contributions, Barbara's post that had the most impact on me was her cookie wands. It inspired me to hold a cookie wand making activity at my niece's birthday last year.
Lorraine and Uru had made a pudding for one, I doubled it. We had a bowlful each. They were huge. E accused me of super-sizing him. Yet again it overflowed and was difficult to eat. It was also toothachingly sweet.
Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: A visit to Orange (the town not the fruit)
Two years ago: PPN Whimsical Mushroom and Rhubarb Soup
Three years ago: Mexican Rice Soup
Four years ago: Paella with thanks
Five years ago: Friday Night Tacos
Microwave self saucing butterscotch pudding
Adapted from Choc Chip Uru via Not Quite Nigella
Serves 2
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter or margarine (I used nuttalex), softened
- 1/2 ripe banana, mashed
- 1/4 cup self raising flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoons milk (I used soy), or as required
- cream or ice cream to serve (optional)
- 1/2 tablespoon butter or margarine (I used nuttalex)
- 4 tablespoons boiling water
- 1 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon golden syrup
Use the bowl you made the batter in to mix the sauce (unless you happen to have an empty nuttalex tub on hand). Place butter in bowl and pour the boiling water over it. This should mostly melt the butter. Stir in brown sugar and golden syrup. Pour sauce over the batter.
Cook in the microwave until spongy and springs back when a finger is depressed upon the middle. I cooked each of mine for 1 minute and 10 seconds (but my microwave isn't very powerful). Let sit a minute or two before eating. Serve with cream or ice cream if desired. Be careful eating the first spoonful that you don't burn your tongue.
On the stereo:
Unknown Deutschland: the Krautrock Archive, vol 2: Various Artists


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American Physical Society Sites|APS|Journals|Physics Magazine
- American Physical Society Sites
- Publications
- Meetings & Events
- Programs
- Membership
- Policy & Advocacy
- Careers In Physics
- Newsroom
- About APS
- Become a Member
"For seminal contributions to our understanding of the photophysics of low dimensional material systems, revealing the rich optical properties of plasmons, excitons, and electrons in confined geometries."Background:
Prof. Naomi Halas obtained her undergraduate degree in chemistry (1980) from La Salle University in Philadelphia and her PhD (1987) in Physics from Bryn Mawr College. She was a graduate research fellow at IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center at Yorktown Heights and a postdoctoral fellow at AT&T Bell Laboratories at Holmdel, NJ. She joined the Rice University faculty in 1990. She is currently the Stanley C. Moore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University, and holds appointments in the Departments of Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy, and Bioengineering. She is best known for the invention of tunable plasmonic nanoparticles, for studies of light-matter interactions at the nanoscale based on precisely designed resonant nanostructures, and for applications of tunable plasmonic nanoparticles in biomedicine and solar steam generation. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a fellow of the APS, MRS, OSA, IEEE, SPIE, and AAAS. She is an associate editor of Nano Letters.
Joseph Orenstein, Chair; D. Basov; D. Drew; G. Blumberg; D. Tanner; M. Aronson


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Pagan Community Notes is a series focused on news originating from within the Pagan community. Reinforcing the idea that what happens to and within our organizations, groups, and events is news, and news-worthy. My hope is that more individuals, especially those working within Pagan organizations, get into the habit of sharing their news with the world. So lets get started!
Pagan Spirit Gathering Breaks Registration Records: Pagan Spirit Gathering (PSG), one of America's oldest and largest Pagan festivals, begins in less than a week. On Saturday, Selena Fox, senior minister and high priestess of Circle Sanctuary, the organization that sponsors PSG, announced that they will set a new record for attendance at the event.
"Breaking News! Pagan Spirit Gathering 2012 is going to be the most attended PSG yet! Just learned that we now have over 1000 people (all ages) registered. […] This is the first time we have had more than 1000 people at a PSG!"
This is a remarkable achievement for the event, which has been held since 1980, and in several different locations over the years. A testament to the sense of community built during the 10-day-long festival. This year's featured presenters include Margot Adler, author of "Drawing Down the Moon," Crystal Blanton, author of "Bridging the Gap," and chaplain/activist Patrick McCollum. There will also be musical performances by Damh the Bard and Arthur Hinds, among others. Representatives from the Pagan Newswire Collective will be there, and I have no doubt we'll be hearing much, much more about the event in the weeks to come.
Temple of Witchcraft at Boston Pride: June is LGBT Pride month in the United States, and Pride parades and marches are happening across the country. This past Saturday was the 2012 Boston Pride Parade, and in addition to local politicians and local celebrities, several religious groups also took part. One Pagan religious group marching in the parade was the Temple of Witchcraft, an organization that was co-founded by author Christopher Penczak.
"Many thanks to all those who came out to march behind the Temple of Witchcraft banner in the Boston Pride March — our largest group of Pagans ever! — and thanks to those who supported us (and continue to do so) from afar!" – Steve, Gemini minister
The Temple, founded by gay men, marched to proclaim that "All Acts of Love and Pleasure Are Our Rituals." You can find more pictures and commentary on their participation at the Temple of Witchcraft Facebook page. Later this month the Temple will be holding their own TempleFest gathering in in South Hampton, NH.
Witches & Pagans Magazine Adds Bloggers: In recent months Witches & Pagans Magazine, a publication that emerged from the merger of PanGaia and NewWitch, has been stepping up their web presence. The Pagan periodical has been reprinting older articles to their website, hiring new columnists (like Raven Grimassi), and now adding a fleet of Pagan bloggers to their site.
"I'm pumped up by our new bloggers at WitchesandPagans.com. My DH Alan had to drag me kicking and screaming (sometimes literally — the screaming, I mean) into doing this for our magazines, but now I'm as jazzed as he is. There's been a lot of ego-stripping going on around here, but I believe it's all to the good." – Anne Newkirk Niven, Executive Editor, Witches & Pagans Magazine
Active bloggers at Witches and Pagans Magazine include Cat Treadwell, Diotima Mantineia, Kenaz Filan, Selina Rifkin, Tess Dawson, and WitchDoctor Joe. In addition, if you look at their contributors page, it seems like they have more bloggers coming soon. I'm happy to see W&P take this step into providing exclusive, regularly updated, content for their site. A healthy Pagan media is one where several outlets thrive, interact, and yes, compete. As such, I wish Anne and the W&P team every success, and look forward to following their output.
In Other Community News:
- Here at the Patheos Pagan portal, two new bloggers have just been added! Aidan Kelly, author of "Hippie Commie Beatnik Witches," and Jason Mankey, (in)famous for his Dionysus/Morrison ritual (among other things). A hearty welcome to both writers, I'm sure they'll enrich an already impressive lineup of Pagan columnists and bloggers here at Patheos. So be sure to check out Aidan Kelly: Including Paganism and Raise the Horns today!
- Two new Pagan albums are about to be released into the world, "Avalon is Risen" by Leslie Fish, and "Crow Magic" by the acoustic vocal group Crow Women (a follow-up to 2006's "Crow Goddess"). Both are expected to be shipped later this month. For those going to PSG, the Synergy Beads booth will have exclusive copies to sell.
- Speaking of Raven Grimassi, he's decided to start posting instructional videos on Youtube. The first is a talk on the book "Cauldron of Memory: Retrieving Ancestral Wisdom & Knowledge."
- At PNC-Washington DC, David Salisbury reports on the Open Hearth Foundation's DC Witches' Faire.
- This past weekend was Troothmoot, the annual festival/gathering of The Troth, a group "dedicated to exploring, practicing and promoting the pre-Christian religion of the Germanic peoples." One of the largest Heathen/Asatru organizations in the United States. During the weekend Troth business was conducted, including the election/reelection of Steven Abell (a Patheos columnist), Dave Carron and Dennis Ford to the Rede, the organization's leadership body. Congratulations to them!
- Since I brought up Pagans in the Middle East yesterday, I thought I'd point out a lovely video montage of a secret Pagan ritual held in Beirut, Lebanon, in honor of Eshmun, Phoenician god of healing. Thanks to Adon for bringing it to my attention.
That's all I have for now, have a great day!


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Over the summer I had an early morning conference call with another consultant and one of his clients. As we were wrapping up, I asked the other two people where they were calling from. One sheepishly said that she was vacationing on the Jersey Shore with her family and had sneaked out early to make the call. The second person admitted that he was on vacation in Martha's Vineyard and had done the same thing. I then confessed that I was calling from western Massachusetts where my family had rented a lake cottage. After a moment of silence, one of us said, "Boy! Are we stupid!" We all laughed as we ended the call — and then presumably went back to our vacations (and our emails).
What's interesting about this story is not that we were doing work on our vacations, but rather that none of us questioned the timing of the work call in the first place. We all presumably knew that the call would occur during our holidays, yet no one suggested an alternative date.
The reality for many of us these days is that our professional lives bleed into our personal lives. The boundaries are increasingly permeable and movable. We check our emails in the evenings and weekends. We delay or miss family events because we can't leave the office. And when we do, we take our communications devices with us so that we can stay connected to work.
In previous posts I've encouraged professionals to manage the work-life balance more proactively by thinking through their priorities and consciously addressing how work intrudes on their personal lives. But in light of how many of us blend work time with personal time, perhaps this advice is overly simplistic — unrealistic even. Maybe we need to accept the fact that the sharp demarcation between work and home is a thing of the past, and that the new normal is a life that integrates home and work more seamlessly.
Focusing on work-life "integration" instead of work-life "balance" has at least a couple of implications: First (and the one that I like the most) is that we can stop feeling guilty about scheduling calls during our vacations or checking our emails at night; and by the same token not feel guilty about talking with our spouses, friends, and family members during work time.
The second implication is that we no longer split up our time so rigidly between "work hours" and "non-work hours." Instead, let's be flexible about when and how we accomplish both our work goals and our personal goals. Obviously some of this has to be negotiated with others, both at work (who is on call for customers?) and home (who gets to use the car?). But the point is to make this a natural part of how we organize our lives instead of a special perk or exceptional situation.
Most organizations of course are not set up to accommodate employees who want to blend their personal and work lives, and in fact actively discourage it through work rules, inflexible hours, and other practices. A number of pilot projects, however, have shown that when teams of interdependent workers (e.g., customer services representatives) are empowered to create their own plans for how and when to get their work done, productivity improves considerably.
So maybe it's time to rethink not only the way we organize work — but also the way we organize our lives. Instead of pushing back or feeling resentful when work issues interrupt us, let's accept that interruptions are a part of life; whether they are caused by children, friends, family dramas, broken pipes — or phone calls during our vacations.
What are your thoughts about the increasing integration of home and work?


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Negative earnings growth for the third quarter? The jury is still out.
It's the Big Debate on the Street today: Are earnings at a trough or not? Exhibit 1 for bears: Earnings for the S&P 500 index are expected to be negative for the third quarter, and earnings growth expectations of 10 percent for the fourth quarter are coming down fast. Some expect earnings for 2013 to be lower than 2012.
Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's true that earnings — right now — are slightly negative for the S&P 500, compared to the third quarter of 2011.
But so far, earnings for the 35 companies that have reported show a familiar trend: As a group, the earnings growth is running at 8.3 percent, according to Nick Raich at Key Bank.
Yes, it's early. But when the quarter is over, it's likely growth will be around 4 percent to 5 percent. That is not great — the slowest quarterly growth year-over-year in two years — but it is still growth.
What about fourth-quarter guidance? "While a majority of companies are lowering their (fourth quarter) 2012 outlooks after reporting, both the percent of companies reducing guidance and the magnitude of their reductions is easing compared to last quarter (and the quarter before that), " Raich says.
1) Got euro debt? Seems like it's a popular investment again.
Over the weekend, there was talk that European Union countries were discussing the feasibility of buying Greek debt to help out with their current debt-to-gross-domestic-product ratio. The Greeks, of course, can't get their debt down, so the idea being floated would be for the Greek government to buy debt using money lent from the European bailout fund (European Stability Mechanism). Since the debt is already trading at a steep discount, the argument goes, buying the debt would be a wise move.
At least, that's the theory. Greek 10-year debt is down again today, to 17.9 percent, but it has been declining since June, when the yield was over 30 percent.
In fact, we have been in the midst of a rally in peripheral European debt for several months. Shorting peripheral European debt has been disastrous.
Consider: the Spanish 10-year yield, at 5.6 percent, is near its lowest level since April of this year. The Italian 10-year debt is below 5 percent, near the lowest since March.
2) Better-than-expected September retail sales should help boost third-quarter GDP , according to Barclays. They upped their estimate to 2 percent from 1.8 percent.
3) Capital One Financial drops 2.2 percent pre-market after reporting delinquencies and charge-offs rose on a sequential basis in September. According to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Capital One's 30-day delinquency rate for U.S. credit cards edged up to 3.52 percent from 3.37 percent in August. Charge-offs, or loans the bank doesn't expect to collect, rose to 3.93 percent in September from 2.58 percent in August at the U.S. card business.
—By CNBC's Bob Pisani; Follow Him on Twitter @BobPisani
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|Musgrave Park Pool 1968
I was doing my Wednesday morning laps at the local pool yesterday and intercepted a conversation taking place between two young women swimming in the lanes on either side of me.
One was the daughter of Alan who has the lease on Musgrave Park Pool. Alan has been managing the pool for quite a few years. He swims every day and puts me to shame, both as a swimmer and in general fitness terms. Turns out Alan is 70. I would have guessed maybe early 60s. But I digress.
"Was your father a top swimmer?" asked lane 1.
"Yeah, he was a state champion in his day" replied lane 3. "He should have gone to the '64 Olympics. He was dudded by the Australian selectors. He won the national breast-stroke championship but the selectors took the guy who came second and left dad behind." Do children embellish the memories of their fathers I wondered? Or maybe just make things up?
Alan swims well, but at 70 he's no lomger a contender. And come to think of it I don't think I've ever seen Alan doing breast-stroke.
As I left the pool I asked Alan about the story. "Yeah, it's true. I missed out on the Olympics. I came second in the national championships and the selectors took the first and third placegetters." "What was that about?" I asked him. "Dunno really. They thought he would be more likely to perform and be a medal chance than me apparently." I detected a hint of unresolved anger still lingering these 50 years later.
"You must have been a contemporary of Murray Rose?" I added. "Yeah. He was a strange bloke. Kept to himself and didn't really make himself part of the team. He was from a wealthy family, went to a private school." I had recently seen a documentary on Rose. He was a vegetarian, pretty unusual in 1963. Clearly an educated man. "He was very strict. He wouldn't even step inside a butcher's shop when we went shopping for supplies. It wasn't just about health. It was a philosophy."
Rose missed out on selection for the 1964 Olympics because he refused to return from the USA where he was in the middle of filming a B Grade surf movie - Ride the Wild Surf. He fancied himself as an actor. "He did some awful movies." observed Alan.
"The bloke who beat me went on to win the 200m event at the Olympics in world record time." Alan was making a subtle point about the quality of the competition. He had finished second behind the next World Record holder.
His name was Ian O'Brien.
|1968 - Is that Alan as a 27year old?
Only Murray became a household name - understandably so, as he won three gold medals at the Melbourne Olympics and again won Gold in 1960 in Rome. At one time he held the world records in the 400m, 800m, and 1500-metre freestyle.
Still, for me, Musgrave Park Pool, probably the most neglected pool in the city, has gained some gravitas.


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Hot Stew in the Ice Age? Evidence Shows Neanderthals Boiled Food
An ancient diet expert suggests our early cousins knew how to boil their meals.
Neanderthal cooking likely wouldn't have won any prizes on Top Chef, but a paleontologist suggests that our ancient cousins knew how to cook a mean stew, without even a stone pot to their name.
"I think it's pretty likely the Neanderthals boiled," said University of Michigan archaeologist John Speth at a recent meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Austin, Texas. "They were around for a long time, and they were very clever with fire."
Neanderthals were a species of early humans who lived in Europe and the Near East until about 30,000 years ago. Conventional wisdom holds that boiling to soften food or render fat from bones may have been one of the advantages that allowed Homo sapiens to thrive, while Neanderthals died out. (Related: "Surprise! 20 Percent of Neanderthal Genome Lives on in Modern Humans, Scientists Find.")
But based on evidence from ancient bones, spears, and porridge, Speth believes our Stone Age cousins likely boiled their food. He suggests that Neanderthals boiled using only a skin bag or a birch bark tray by relying on a trick of chemistry: Water will boil at a temperature below the ignition point of almost any container, even flammable bark or hides.
"You can boil in just about anything as long as you take it off the flame pretty quickly," Speth says. His presentation included video of water boiling in a paper cup (the water keeps the paper from reaching its ignition temperature) and mention of scenes in Jean Auel's 1980 novel, Clan of the Cave Bear (later a movie), in which Neanderthals boiled stews in hide pouches.
"This wasn't an invention of some brainy modern people," Speth says. (Related: "Neanderthals Lived in Small, Isolated Populations, Gene Analysis Shows.")
Quest for Fire
While conceding that Neanderthals were handy with wood and fire, archaeologists such as Mary Stiner of the University of Arizona in Tucson want to let Speth's idea simmer for a while before they swallow it.
"Whether they went as far as boiling stuff in birch bark containers or in hides is harder to evaluate," Stiner says. "I am not convinced."
The use of fire by humans goes back more than 300,000 years in Europe, where evidence is seen in Neanderthal hearths. (Related: "Oldest Known Hearth Found in Israel Cave.")
But most research has supported the idea that Stone Age boiling, which relied on heating stones in fire pits and dropping them into water, arrived on the scene too late for Neanderthals.
Evidence of cracked "boiling stones" in caves used by early modern humans, for example, goes back only about 26,000 years, too recent for Neanderthals. And pottery for more conventional boiling appears to be only about 20,000 years old.
Birch Bubbling
But who needs boiling stones or pots? Speth suggests that Neanderthals boiled foods in birch bark twisted into trays, a technology that prehistoric people used to boil maple syrup from tree sap.
Archaeologists have demonstrated that Neanderthals relied on birch tar as an adhesive for hafting spear points as long as 200,000 years ago. Making birch tar requires clever cooking in an oxygen-free container, says paleontologist Michael Bisson of Canada's McGill University.
"I've burned myself trying to do it," Bisson says, adding that Neanderthals were plenty clever when it came to manipulating birch. They likely ignited rolled-up birch bark "cigars" and plunged them into holes to cook the tar in an oxygen-free environment.
If the tar is exposed to oxygen in the air as it cooks, "it explodes," Bisson adds.
Supporting the boiling idea, Speth said that animal bones found in Neanderthal settings are 98 percent free of scavenger's gnawing marks, which he says suggests the fat had been cooked off.
And some grains found in the teeth of a Neanderthal buried in Iraq's Shanidar Cave site appear to have been cooked, according to a 2011 Proceedings of the National Academies of Science report.
"It is speculative, but I think it is pretty likely that they knew how to boil," Speth says.
In a separate talk at the meeting, University of Michigan paleontologist Andrew White noted recent evidence that Neanderthal mothers weaned their children at an earlier age than human mothers typically do. He said the early transition from milk to food supports the theory that Neanderthals boiled their youngsters' food to make it more digestible.
The idea that Neanderthals could probably boil their food first came to Speth as he watched an episode of the TV show Survivorman. Stuck in East Africa with only dirty water to drink, host Les Stroud sterilized the muddy liquid by boiling it in a plastic bag.
"Who says you can't learn anything from TV?" says Speth. "I figured if we could boil water in a plastic bag, then Neanderthals could do it in a birch tray."
Correction: The discplines of two experts mentioned in the story, Dr. Speth and Dr. Stiner, have been corrected.
Follow Dan Vergano on Twitter.


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d*s design shots!
i've always loved apartment therapy's flickr photo section and thought it would be great to incorporate a similar idea into d*s- but with a little twist. i'm someone who clips magazine pages, takes camera photos and is always copying little pictures and filing them away for inspiration- so i thought this might be a great way for us to all share inspiration photos with each other. did you see a fabulous floral display in a shop window on the way to work? snap a photo and send it to d*s and i'll put it up with a description and your name (or no name if you prefer). whether you're inspired by a sunset, beautiful dinner plating or a great rug you saw at the office, send your d*s design shot right here and you'll see it to the left in our communal flick gallery! what a fun way to share inspiration across the globe with everyone! have fun and send away!


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Evidence of Early Bronze Age Massacre Found in Turkey
Skeletal remains of 19 individuals found at Titris Hoyuk site. Photo: Titris Hoyuk Archive
Mass killings, systematic violence or warfare seem to have existed across all stages of the human civilization. A mass burial excavated at Titris Hoyuk, an archaeological site of Early Bronze Age (3000-2000 BC) in southern Turkey, shows evidence of massacre that happened about 4,000 years ago.
Skeletal remains of at least 19 individuals, including three women, two children and an infant, were found placed on a plastered basin buried under a house floor in Southeast Anatolia in 1998.
Turkish archaeologist Omur Dilek Erdal, who examined the human remains in terms of cranial traumas (head injuries), has revealed that his study provides links to possible massacres among ancient population.
The study findings, published in the current issue of International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, suggest that about 16 of the adult skeletons showed signs of more violent cranial traumas, which were probably caused by spears or axes.
The frequency of cranial trauma was 81.3% among 16 available adult crania. The fact that the perimortem traumas were observed on both sex groups and the presence of two children and an infant on the basin suggest the possibility of these individuals being subjected to an attack or a massacre, Erdal noted in his research.
Erdal of Hacettepe University, Department of Anthropology, Ankara, also suggested that the distressed social and economic situations following the fall of Akkadian Empire may have forced incidents of violence and massacre in Titris Hoyuk. The Akkadian Empire reigned in Mesopotamia, the region that constituted the present-day southeastern Turkey.
Earlier, it was widely believed that the Anatolians did not experience violence, but the latest research on the skeletal remains of Titris Hoyuk site depicts that violence rather spread in Anatolia during the Bronze Age (3000-1200 BC), starting in the Early Bronze Age .
Current interpretations of the fractures identified on this sample, which includes individuals from all age and sex groups, ranging from infants to old adults, suggests that they were victims of violence, Erdal said.
Large scale development of fortifications at Titris Hoyuk towards the end of the Early Bronze Age is yet another factor that intrigues archaeologists to believe that massacres may have occurred at this ancient site with outside invaders having killed the people.
A map showing location of Titris Höyük and other Anatolian settlements. Photo: Titris Hoyuk Archive
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Hi, Dyan! Welcome to HOMEGROWN! My name is Jennifer, and I'm the flock tender here of the digital, not sheep or goat (unfortunately!), variety—which means I tweak and update the site and feed and water the content. Bittersweet Heritage Farm looks beautiful! I'm in Maine regularly visiting family; I'll plan to stop by sometime soon. In the meantime, I'm guessing you have all kinds of skills and knowledge we'll want to tap to share with the HOMEGROWN community. But even before we start peppering you with questions, you should share photos of your new private garden in the Hey, I Grew That! photo gallery. And we'd love it if you wanted to share stories and photos of your animals and dairy products and life on the farm in The Stew, our member blog.
I hope you've already started finding your way around HOMEGROWN. You can always find the latest additions to the site at the very top of the homepage, and if you've got questions, don't hesitate to leave a comment on my profile page or email me at email@example.com. I'm so glad you found us and hope you feel right at home.
Dyan: I was already excited to come check out Bittersweet, but after reading your blog post ... well, you may have to kick me off your property to get rid of me. Your post is so lovely, I just made it today's Daily Bite, at the very top of the homepage. Thanks so much for sharing it with the HOMEGROWN flock. I can't wait to hear more.
When I come visit, you most certainly CAN put me to work. Looking forward to it already.
Posted on September 30, 2014 at 8:48am
Posted on January 29, 2014 at 11:47am
Summer wind down time. 46 degrees on the old thermo this am. Amazing! One day it's summer, the next, it definitely feels like fall. Picking blackberries, harvesting grapes, making pickles from the bumper crop of Heirloom Lemon Cukes, grabbing up the daily load of sugar sweet Sungold tiny tomatoes, daily cheese batching for the aging fridge , hay making and loading into the barn for winter...it's harvest time!
Something happens when the seasons change. There's an energy in the air, a…Continue
Posted on September 2, 2012 at 8:18pm
I am a cheesemaker. I didn't plan on being a cheese maker...it just happened. I fell in love with goats, then I fell in love with goats milk, then I started playing around with heating milk to make it into cheese and now I'm a cheese maker.
I come from a long line of farmers. My father's side of the family were all farmer's, ranchers. It was a western thing. Oklahoma, Texas. But then, the family moved east for some health reasons and settled in the New England area. They turned to…Continue
Posted on July 27, 2012 at 9:37pm — 2 Comments
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Solving the Unauthorized Migrant Problem: Proposed Legislation in the U.S.
Both the size of the United States' unauthorized population and the inability of the immigration system to adequately handle influxes have returned comprehensive immigration reform to the national debate. Several legislative proposals are pending before the 109th Congress.
These bills recognize the size of the unauthorized population, but each proposal advocates a different method for reducing it, including in some cases by trying to anticipate and accommodate further flows through guest worker programs.
The two leading proposals are the "Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act" (S. 1033/ H.R. 2330), a bipartisan, bicameral bill introduced by Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Ted Kennedy (D-MA), and concurrently by Representatives Jim Kolbe (R-AZ), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), and Luis Gutierrez (D-IL); and the "Comprehensive Enforcement and Immigration Reform Act" (S. 1438), sponsored by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ). The "Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act" also enjoys the sponsorship of Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS), Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Ken Salazar (D-CO) as well as 15 additional House co-sponsors.
Both of these proposals have, to varying degrees, embraced the "three-legged stool" approach established by the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986: enforcement, employer sanctions, and legalization.
Two other comprehensive immigration reform bills have been introduced in the House: the "REAL GUEST Act" (H.R. 3333) by Representative Tom Tancredo (R-CO) with two co-sponsors and the "Save America Comprehensive Immigration Act" (H.R. 2092) by Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) with 21 co-sponsors. Jackson-Lee supports the Kennedy-McCain bill and views her legislation as a complementary bill that addresses specific issues.
Below is a comparison of each piece of legislation on four areas: enforcement, employer sanctions, legalization, and guest worker programs.
For an expanded comparison, please download the side-by-side chart (PDF).
The authors of each bill have addressed the public desire for stronger immigration enforcement in various ways.
The Cornyn-Kyl bill puts forward a robust and detailed plan for increased border and interior enforcement. The bill would
- authorize appropriations for the acquisition of technology and hiring of Border Patrol agents, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) investigators, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspectors, and both DHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys.
- expand the use of expedited removal to all sectors of the U.S.-Mexico border and would increase the detention capacity for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
- clarify the "inherent right" of states and municipalities to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration law, and would prohibit policies that prevent law enforcement officers from sharing information on immigration status with DHS.
The Tancredo bill also emphasizes enforcement. It would
- increase the number of CBP officers, ICE attorneys, fraud investigators, and detention and removal officers.
- allow for the military to be deployed to support the border patrol.
- clarify that state and local law enforcement officers may assist in the enforcement of federal immigration law.
- make entry without inspection and unauthorized presence in the United States felony offenses.
The Kennedy-McCain bill gives DHS more latitude in designing the measures it sees as necessary for effective border control. The bill would
- call on the department to design and implement a strategy for control of the southern border.
- mandate increases in personnel and technology, and would authorize the necessary appropriations, but not in any specific amount.
- require DHS to develop and coordinate a plan of action with state, local, and tribal authorities to combat human smuggling, though it does not vest local or state authorities with an expansion of powers to enforce immigration law.
- call for DHS to work in concert with other North American governments to secure their external borders.
- require the U.S. to provide technical assistance to Mexico for the screening of third-country nationals and to help Mexico secure its southern border.
The Jackson-Lee bill does not focus strongly on enforcement, but it would increase by 5,000 the number of CBP inspectors over the next five years, and would allow state and local government to determine whether or not to participate in immigration law enforcement.
Employer Sanctions
In response to President Bush's (unspecified) request for stronger employer sanctions against those who continue to employ unauthorized immigrants, each bill's authors have crafted new ways to penalize such employers.
In regards to employer sanctions, both McCain-Kennedy and Cornyn-Kyl would create a series of similar mechanisms for enforcing employer violations of labor laws. These bills would
- require that employers participate in an electronic system for work authorization verification.
- require a reduction in the number of documents currently acceptable to prove authorization and the issuance of secure, tamper-resistant cards with biometric identifiers for use as visas.
- double the upper and lower bounds defining the range of fines employers could be charged for different types of IRCA violations.
The Tancredo bill would also require a work authorization system and would provide more severe penalties for employers who violate labor laws. Specifically, the bill would replace penalty ranges with flat fees set at more than double the current maximum amounts.
In contrast, the Jackson-Lee bill focuses primarily on the adverse impacts on minority native-born employees, encouraging employers to make attempts to advertise and contract American minority employees. It also establishes immigration status-related intimidation as an unfair labor practice.
Opportunities for Unauthorized Immigrants
The greatest variation among the legislative proposals is their approach to the current unauthorized population. While the Jackson-Lee and Kennedy-McCain bills would offer ways for the currently unauthorized to achieve legal status, the Cornyn-Kyl bill only would provide the opportunity to accept Deferred Mandatory Departure status (with no chance for permanent adjustment of status), and the Tancredo bill would offer no program at all for unauthorized immigrants.
The Cornyn-Kyl bill would
- allow qualified unauthorized migrants to remain legally in the United States for up to five years by accepting Deferred Mandatory Departure status. (The mandatory departure scheme creates incentives for migrants to leave in fewer than five years by levying a progressively increasing fine for each year a migrant remains in the United States, beginning two years after the bill's enactment.)
- not permit migrants to adjust to legal permanent resident status at the end of their Deferred Departure period, but they may leave the United States and apply for immigrant or non-immigrant admission without penalty.
- cause migrants to lose a year of guest-worker eligibility for each year spent in Deferred Departure status.
The Kennedy-McCain proposal seeks to implement "earned legalization," in which unauthorized migrants would
- apply for an H-5B visa, which would be valid for three years and renewable once.
- demonstrate that they had been working without authorization in the United States on May 12, 2005; paid taxes; and had satisfactorily completed a criminal and security background check. They would also need to be studying English, as well as U.S. civics and history, at the time of application.
- be assessed a $1,000 penalty and would have to pay application fees.
- adjust to legal permanent resident status after holding an H-5B visa for six years and paying a second $1,000 fine.
Similarly, the Jackson-Lee bill would
- grant earned legalization to immigrants who have resided in the U.S. for five years, who demonstrate knowledge of English, who have no criminal convictions, and who complete 40 hours of community service.
- update the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) registry date from 1972 to 1986, allowing unauthorized migrants who have resided in the United States since that date to adjust to legal permanent resident status.
Guest Worker Programs
While the Jackson-Lee bill does not consider formal guest worker programs, the other bills each contain a provision to deal with the flow of foreign temporary workers to the United States.
Types of visa
The Cornyn-Kyl bill would
- create a class of guest worker visa (W) that would be effective for a period of two years. The visa could be renewed twice—for a total of six years—but renewal would only come after a one year interlude spent outside the country. (W visa holders who work in the U.S. for less than six months as seasonal agricultural workers would not have to satisfy this requirement and neither would those who commute to the U.S. and maintain a residence in their country of origin.)
- not create an automatic path to permanent residency through the W-visa, but W-visa holders would be able to adjust to legal permanent resident status through extant legal channels, such as the existing family reunification, diversity lottery, and employment immigration programs.
The Kennedy-McCain bill would
- create the H-5A visa, which would be valid for a period of three years and renewable once, with no waiting period between renewals.
- allow an adjustment of status at the end of four years — through self-petitioning or at any point through the sponsorship of the employer.
In contrast, the Tancredo bill would eliminate all current H visa categories and replace them with a single H category that would give H-visa holders 365 days over a two-year period, subject to renewal. H-visa holders would not be eligible to adjust to LPR status under any circumstances.
Portability of visas
The Cornyn-Kyl and Kennedy-McCain bills would vest their new guest worker visa categories with portability. The Tancredo bill does not address the issue.
- The Cornyn-Kyl plan would allow 30 days to find new employment after dismissal or resignation.
- The Kennedy-McCain bill says workers would need to find new employment within 60 days of dismissal or resignation.
Employer's role and visa allocation
Under the Kennedy-McCain H-5A program
- employers would have to attest that they have attempted to hire an American worker — and have been unable to do so — through the America's Job Bank, an electronic database run by the Department of Labor.
- workers with H-5A visas would have to be hired as employees, rather than as independent contractors.
- initial allocation of 400,000 H-5A visas would have to be adjustable on the basis of annual demand.
Under the Cornyn-Kyl proposal
- employers would need to prove they have attempted to hire an American worker.
- a task force on guest workers could make recommendations about visa allocations to the Department of Labor.
The Tancredo bill also would require employers to demonstrate that they have attempted to hire an American worker. Additionally, it would require employers not to have laid off citizen workers in the previous six months.
Requirements for participation
The Cornyn-Kyl bill would
- require that in order for a country's citizens to participate in the guest worker program, their government would need to enter into an agreement with the United States to help facilitate return migration.
- create a worker investment fund to further create incentives for guest workers to return to their country of origin.
- mandate health insurance for all participants that would be provided either by themselves, their employer, or their country of origin.
- require visa applicants to pay a $500 fee.
The McCain-Kennedy bill would
- require cooperative international programs that would create and foster economic opportunity in the source countries.
- require visa applicants to pay a $500 fee.
The Tancredo bill would
- require applicants to waive government assistance.
- deny citizenship to children of H-visa holders unless the child's other parent was a U.S. resident or legal permanent resident.
- Require visa applicants to pay an unspecified fee.
The Kennedy-McCain bill would allow the families of H-5A workers to accompany them to the United States, whereas the Cornyn-Kyl bill would only allow for a 30-day visit during any one year. The Tancredo bill would make no provisions for families of guest workers.


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Industry Insights
Lights, Cameras, Robots, Action: Advances in Robotic Vision
| By: Bennett Brumson, Contributing Editor
Next month's International Robots & Vision Show and Conference is the perfect venue to explore the advances and changes in robotics, vision, and motion control…the keys to global success. With some 170 exhibitors demonstrating real-world products, plus continuously running new technology and product presentations, and an Emerging Robotics Pavilion, this is more than a trade show. The Robots & Vision Show is hands-on technology transfer for the latest products. The top-notch conference sessions and tutorials, with sharply reduced fees, provide those coming to the Show an opportunity to stay for the training. A full day of training at the Conference is less than the cost of a single session held in year's past.
Industrial robots combined with a vision system are capable of performing an astounding array of tasks. Recent advances in vision's capability and the promise of further progress in vision's development paint a rosy future for robotics.
'Recent changes in robotic vision systems come from the ease of use because vision has been embedded into the robot,' says Karl Sachs, President of Robot and Vision Manufacturing, LLC, Rochester Hills, Michigan. Embedding vision systems into the robot and the dramatic drop in prices have made vision more affordable, which has opened the doors for more users and applications.'
Better, Stronger, Faster
Advances in robotic vision are important factors in helping manufactures become or remain globally competitive. Edward Roney, Vision Product Development Manager at FANUC Robotics America, Inc., Rochester Hills, Michigan (IRVS Booth 1411), explains advances in vision.
'FANUC sees three significant advancements that are encouraging greater adoption of vision-guided robots: improved awareness, lower costs and high reliability. Many of the tools and capabilities available today in an application-specific robot guidance package have been in play for many years,' Roney says. 'The awareness of machine vision as a reliable tool with robotics has greatly accelerated. Capabilities that have been known and used in some niche applications and industries are now being applied to a much broader base of companies.'
Roney's outlook on the advances in robotic vision is shared by Bryan Boatner, Product Marketing Manager at Cognex Corp. (IRVS Booth 615), Natick, Massachusetts. Boatner says, 'Advances in vision systems have made them easier and more accurate to deploy in software and communication. Non-linear calibration of vision sensors enables applications to overcome any inconsistencies that result from lens or perspective distortion.'
Boatner goes on to add, 'Enhancements in vision has led to more accurate part-finding algorithms on vision sensors that accurately and repeatably find objects, even if variations in lighting exist or if the presence of machine oil, paint, cleaning solvents or other substances obscure a part or change its appearance.'
Boatner sees a bright future for robotic vision systems. 'In the next five years, I think you are going to see a similar increase in the adoption rate of three-dimensional (3D) vision-guided robots as there has been in the past five years with two-dimensional (2D) vision applications. More 3D tools will become available as standard tool sets from both robot and vision manufacturers.'
Robotic vision's increase in use comes after several years of technological improvements. These improvements are welcomed by Adil Shafi, President of SHAFI, Inc. (IRVS Booth 1805), Brighton, Michigan.
'I have seen a lot of dramatic innovation and a lot of successes in robotic vision in the past few years. Since 2000, there has been a dramatic shift in three-dimensional vision applications and a growing level of market acceptance of vision as viable technology,' Shafi says. He explains that innovations in 3D vision have led to widespread deployment of auto-racking systems. Auto-racking is robotic pick or place of stamped metal parts to and from storage racks.
'Better tools are making auto-racking more accurate, so most major automotive manufacturers use this technology,' Shafi says. 'Improvements in vision have also led to improvements in three-dimensional dispensing of sealants and 3D inspection techniques,' Shafi adds.
Like Bryan Boatner of Cognex, Shafi foresees more robotic vision in the future. 'In the next few years, I see dramatic improvements and more widespread use of bin picking, more vision servoing, and improvements in the ability of vision systems to follow an object in three-dimensional space in a more predicable manner.'
Visual servoing is the use of one or more cameras and a computer vision system to control the position of the robot's end-effector relative to a moving work-piece. Shafi adds that vision will be used for assembly applications and see more use in food and furniture applications.
Kevin Taylor, Vice President of ISRA Vision Systems, Lansing, Michigan (IRVS Booth 621), also sees improvements in vision's hardware and software. 'Over the past few years, vision systems have been getting better because of faster computers, and software is getting easier to use. Sensor technology is getting more robust. New products and sensors make tasks that were previously impossible, now possible,' Taylor says. 'Vision is able to recognize things that could not be recognized in the past, and vision is able to do form matching as well as being able to find edges and curves on parts,' says Taylor.
Taylor sees continuous improvements in all of these areas. 'As vision systems get easier to integrate, the software will be simpler, more user-friendly, and get faster. In the future, there will be real-time seam-tracking, with the vision system looking at the seam and adjusting the robot as it moves,' Taylor predicts. Real-time seam-tracking requires very high speed communication between the vision system and the robot.
'We've had customers using real-time seam-tracking for welding for several years. The cameras are expensive due to filtering and shielding from the harsh arc welding environment,' states Chris Anderson, Thermal Technology Leader at Motoman Inc., West Carrollton, Ohio. 'Laser cameras can be used for seam-finding operations at half the cost. Searching is done prior to the arc turning on so it does not require filtering. The search time is just over a second, which is half the time for traditional robot search methods,' he continues.
'The most recent advance in welding vision involves using the laser camera to perform post-weld inspection. The same camera that is used to measure seam geometry can be used to scan a weld bead and provide measurements on bead height, convexity, leg size, and undercut,' Anderson continues. 'Some automotive manufacturers have implemented arc monitors to record weld parameters and verify process control; however, it is possible to make a poor weld with good parameters. Automated weld inspection is the next step towards Six-Sigma quality goals with parts that have safety critical welds,' he explains.
More Power, Less Cost
FANUC Robotics America, Inc.'s Ed Roney says the drop in cost of vision systems has made them more accessible to many more manufacturers. 'The cost of vision has reduced significantly, where vision is a quarter of the cost it was ten years ago.' Roney adds that higher levels of integration of vision into the robot controller have significantly added vision's appeal to robot users.
The decrease in the cost of vision systems is also important to Thomas Rohlwing, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Dane Systems, LLC (IRVS Integrator Pavilion Booth 2014), Stevensville, Michigan. 'Implementing vision used to be cost prohibitive to a lot of companies. Now vision is more of an economic solution which has opened the door to our customers/end-users, who have variation in their product,' Rohlwing says. 'End-users need to have a cost-effective ability to run multiple part configurations on their equipment.'
Wish Lists
What do end-users want in a vision system? Karl Sachs of Robot and Vision Manufacturing says his customers want a system that is easy to use. 'End-users want ease of operation and they do not want to spend a lot of time teaching the system to do its tasks.'
Sachs went on to say that embedding the vision into the robot, where the actual image and operator menu appear on the operator pendant, makes for easier and faster integration.
'If vision systems are embedded in the robot, simple pick and place applications can be integrated by a robot-savvy user. Or, integrators can install the vision system twice as fast,' Sachs says. 'The fear factor of a complex vision system is taken away from the end-user.' Sachs notes that by embedding vision systems into robots, 'Multiple robots can be tied together so if the first robot misses picking up a part, the next one down the line will pick it up.'
A small package is also what end-users are looking to see in vision systems. Pierre Huot, President of Meta Vision Systems, Inc., Montreal, Quebec, Canada says, 'End-users would like compactness of the actual sensor itself. Since most cameras are attached to the end-of-arm-tool, users want the camera as small as possible so it can get into tight spaces.' Huot went on to say that not all robots can support high-speed, real-time, three-dimensional position information and end-users want robots to have real-time position data.
According to Garry Sperrick, Sales Manager at Progressive Machine and Design, LLC, Victor, New York, wireless networking is what his customers want in a vision system.
'End-users would like to have networking and wireless communication between the robot and the vision system, rather than Ethernet or canned communication. In addition, if the vision system lacks a monitor, operators might not know what the vision system is doing,' Sperrick says. 'If the system has a remote display, understanding an error message would be easier.' Sperrick says a small display like those on cell phones would ease operation of vision systems.
Wireless systems are also on the wish list of end-users of systems made by Motoman. Greg Garmann, Software and Controls Technology Leader at Motoman, says, 'The trend will continue with increasing processing speeds of vision systems as well as better and faster interfacing of cameras. I see wireless cameras simplifying the connections by relieving the need to be hard-wired to a communication port on the robot,' Garmann adds. 'Wireless cameras will help in reducing wire stress and failures in communication between the robot and the vision system.'
Jeffery Noruk, President of Servo-Robot Corp. (IRVS Booth 1743), Mequon, Wisconsin, states that end-users need more ease of use. 'Vision users want more of what is currently in systems now, such as a simpler plug-and-play interface. End-users want to reduce programming time and have more robust systems.'
Noruk explains that his customers do not want vision systems to be on the edge of success and failure based on the ambient environment. 'Servo-Robot switched to hybrid sensors, where more than one sensor is being used to check and double-check itself. The vision system does not make a decision based on just one sensor, rather it looks at results from multiple sensors, to better handle varying lighting conditions.'
See You at the Show
Robot manufactures, integrators and users have a chance to exchange ideas and to network at the International Robot and Vision Show in Rosemont (Chicago), Illinois, June 12-14, 2007. In addition to many informative workshops and tutorials, several exhibitors will present some unique demonstrations at the Hands-On Highway. The Hands-On Highway will offer show attendees the opportunity to explore robotics and machine vision with self-guided demos. Through a series of participatory exhibits, visitors are educated on the benefits of robotics in interesting and entertaining ways. The ins and outs of vision and motion control will be highlighted to help manufacturers use robots to compete in the age of globalization.
Editor's Notes:
Booth numbers referenced within this article are provided for exhibitors participating at the International Robots & Vision Show (IRVS), June 12-14, 2007, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont (Chicago), IL.
This article has been reviewed by members of the RIA Editorial Advisory Group.
For more information, you may contact any of the experts listed in this article or visit Robotics OnlineTech Papers.
Bryan Boatner, Product Marketing Manager, Cognex Corporation, 508-650-3140, [email protected]
Tom Rohlwing, Vice President of Sales, Dane Systems, LLC, 269-465-3263, [email protected]
Edward Roney, Vision Product Development Manager, FANUC Robotics America, Inc., 248-377-7570, [email protected]
Kevin Taylor, Vice President, ISRA Vision Systems, 517-887-8878, [email protected]
Pierre Huot, President, Meta Vision Systems Inc , 514-333-0140, [email protected]
Chris Anderson, Thermal Technology Leader, Motoman Inc., 937-847-3216, [email protected]
Greg Garmann, Software and Controls Technology Leader, Motoman Inc., 937-847-6200, [email protected]
Garry Sperrick, Sales Manager, Progressive Machine & Design, LLC, 585-924-5250, [email protected]
Karl Sachs, President Robot & Vision Manufacturing, LLC 586-826-9595, [email protected]
Jeffery Noruk, President, Servo-Robot Corporation, 262-238-4625, [email protected]
Adil Shafi, President, SHAFI, Inc., 248-446-8200, [email protected]


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NEWLYWEDS–Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan dances with his bride Yvette Prieto during their wedding reception at the Bear's Club in Jupiter, Fla. (AP Photo/JUMP.DC, Joe Buissink)
by Steve Reed
(AP)–Michael Jordan got married over the weekend in front of a few hundred of his family and closest friends.
The Charlotte Bobcats owner exchanged vows with 35-year-old former model Yvette Prieto on Saturday in Palm Beach, Fla., Jordan's manager Estee Portnoy told The Associated Press Sunday
The wedding took place at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea with nearly 300 guests in attendance, including Tiger Woods, Patrick Ewing, Spike Lee and Ahmad Rashad.
The ceremony was followed by a reception at the Bear's Club in Jupiter, Fla., a luxurious private golf club designed by Jack Nicklaus. Jordan, 50, owns a home near the course.
There were fireworks at night as part of the celebration.
In lieu of wedding gifts, donations were made to the James R. Jordan Foundation. The wedding flowers were donated to the Jupiter Medical Center.
The six-time NBA champion and Prieto met five years ago and were engaged last December.
Prieto wore a French silk voile corseted sheer sheath gown by J'Aton Couture, in an ecru palette with accents of flesh tones, with handmade silk lace created especially for her, and enhanced with Swarovski crystals. The gown featured French seamed crinoline borders, which cascaded into a dramatic cathedral train finished in the lace, with accents of a peacock-feathered design.
The couple and their guests were entertained by DJ MC Lyte, singers K'Jon, Robin Thicke and Grammy-Award winner Usher and The Source, an 18-piece band.
Everyone enjoyed an all-white, seven-layer white rum wedding cake that was covered in white fondant and sugar crystals, and adorned with crystal brooches and the couples' monogram on the top layer.
Guests sat at tables that were a continuous candle-lit landscape with a myriad of crystal candelabras and mercury glass vessels, each filled with one variety of white flower, including roses, peonies and tulips, and one accent of purple.
Editor's Note: To keep up with the latest news, opinion, lifestyles, sports and entertainment go to the Apple Store or Google Play and download the New Pittsburgh Courier App for iPhone, iPad or android devices. It's free! Check it out and let us know what you think!


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The "Better Book Titles" blog is one of the internet's great treasures — and if you haven't checked it out lately, you've missed some total gems. The blog is just what it sounds like — people post their versions of books with more appropriate titles.
Vizio's Latest TVs Go All Quantum
Above are Twilight as reimagined by Liz Lay, Dune as rethought by Rentz Leinbach, and A Game of Thrones as revamped by Lauren Dee. Check out a few more of our favorites below, and definitely check out the site!
1984 by George Orwell, by Alex Watson.
Lev Grossman's The Magicians, revamped by Adam Conover.
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, retitled by Mixael Laufer
The Mirage by Matt Ruff, design by Walter Petryk
My personal favorite: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, redesigned by Adwoa Agyepong.


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I don't have a GPS, Let me draw my route instead!
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Click to get selected track as XML (Mainly for debugging).