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Imagine you're me. You're 20 years old and you love DNA, but have very little on your resume to show for it, save a former lab tech job and a prayer that your future employer can detect your enthusiasm. You're dragging a conspicuously neon suitcase down the street of a Parisian suburb following the signs to École Normale Supérieure de Cachan, a private University with a reputation for its scientific prestige. Not surprisingly, your three days of 1990s-era in-car-insta-French CDs have done nothing to prepare you for the conversation with the security guard explaining what you're doing there. For the next two weeks, you'll be having these conversations with everyone you meet by courtesy of the immediate observation that you are out of your element. Your comfort zone is 6667 km away, and you are really excited not to be in it.
For my Winter Shadow Internship, I was working under the supervision of Bianca Sclavi, a biophysicist in charge of the Bacteria Lab at ENS Cachan. Suffice it to say that my Winter Shadow experience was a learning opportunity, but also an experience of exposure on many counts.
LBPA is an interdisciplinary lab, so projects not only pass through the hands of biologists, but chemists, mathematicians, and physicists as well. In addition, Bianca often seeks the assistance of collaborators around the world from Minneapolis to Cambridge to other side of Paris. Coming from Reed, where the Bio Department and the Physics Department ironically feel miles away from one other, this was one of the first surprises about LBPA: how scientific inquiry in its raw form refused to stay in one place. With this in mind, as well as Bianca's tendency to work on multiple things at once, it was often easiest to follow the development of individual experiments.
Continue reading LBPA Bacteria Lab at ENS Cachan: Kerry Jones, Winter Shadow 2016
My Winter Shadow experience did not concern the cold, bright, often terrifying light of real-time social exposure in the offices and labs I'd always imagined as waystations placed along the glistening Career Track, places for making urgent connections. Instead, it was private, personal, almost confidential—indeed, my time spent with Edith Zdunich, a Portland-based freelance book editor, was very much about what happens in the shadows.
The editing Shadow had captured my interest partly because my understanding of the field was so vague. Sure, as an avid reader and writer with a confidence in her own grammatical accuracy, detail-oriented perfectionism, and literary taste, I had a hunch that being paid to polish manuscripts for publication would suit me. But my comprehension of the processes that brought a work from brainchild to print edition was virtually nil, and Internet searches supplied surprisingly little clarity. I knew what an editor's job was, but I had no idea what editors actually did.
When I met with Edith, one of the first things I learned was this: neither do their clients.
For two weeks this winter, I shadowed Dr. Dan Michaels in the La Jolla Village Family Medical Group. As a student interested in pursuing medical school after Reed, I was thrilled for this opportunity. This experience exceeded my expectations and has left me more excited than ever for my future.
Every day of my shadow, I followed the day-to-day work of Dr. Michaels. This work included seeing patients, refilling prescriptions, following up with patients about test results, and dealing with pesky pharmaceutical representatives. As I had expected, the work life of a primary care physician was busy. In addition to annual exams, the patients we saw included people with sore throats, stomach pains, aching muscles, addiction concerns, and surgery follow ups. The variety was exciting and Dr. Michael's grace leaping from case to case was impressive.
In each appointment, Dr. Michael's would open the door and recite, "I have a student that would like to stand by. Is that alright with you?" With the exception of two patients, I was graciously welcomed as the patient appeared flattered to be considered an interesting case and eagerly allowed me to learn from their body. In these rooms, I was honored to be a part of these patients' lives in even the smallest way, whether that meant offering a sympathetic glance as they shared their frustrations with weight loss, holding the hand of a brave patient going through a tough point in their health, or simply thanking the individual for trusting me with these details in their life.
Savanah Walseth, junior Sociology major and recipient of the Winter Fellowship for International Travel, reflects on her time in India, exploring alternative models of mental health care.
My trip to India was a series of dichotomies. Anxiety about traveling to a country alone; pure joy in discovering things that only I would have found. Seeing some of the most fabulous beaches and most expensive buildings in the world; visiting the largest slum in Asia. Exhaustion from constant conversations about money and worry about theft; witnessing immense kindness from complete strangers. I was there to study mental health in the country and while I did this, I also learned a lot about my own.
I think the only way to sum up my trip is to take it one city at a time and share the lessons learn and a few tidbits about the people I met and things I saw.
Continue reading Alternative Mental Health Care, India: Savanah Walseth, Winter Fellowship for International Travel 2015
Isabel Meigs, senior Russian major and recipient of the Winter Fellowship for International Travel, reflects on her time in Ukraine, studying Ukrainian language and culture.
On the Sunday in between my two weeks of language instruction, I went on an excursion called "Karpatskii Tramvai + SPA". The tour left at eight in the morning from the Hotel L'viv in a Mercedes mini-bus and drove three or so hours south of L'viv into the Ivano-Frankivsk oblast and the Carpathian Mountains. Our tour guide's name was Yurii. Besides myself, there was a young couple whose common language (but neither of their native languages) was English, a mother/five-year-old son pair, a mother/teenage daughter pair, and a whole group of middle-aged friends from Dnipropetrovsk. And a French bulldog wearing a camo jacket.
Continue reading Ukrainian Language in Lviv: Isabel Meigs, Winter Fellowship for International Travel 2015
On the night of January 10th, I stepped off a plane and arrived in New York. I had traveled across the country, and it was my first time traveling alone to somewhere that wasn't Reed. It was dark and I was tired, but I was also nervous and excited for the start of my Big Apple Adventure.
Some months earlier, when I first found out that I had gotten this Shadow opportunity, I made a post on the Reed Switchboard, requesting a place to crash for a few days. Thankfully, Jon Steiner '93 responded and generously offered me a place to stay.
Day 1:
Me, 2nd from the left, with my host Chris McCraw, on my right, and the Support Ops team
Mustering up the will to get out of bed at 7 am on a rainy Monday in Portland is a lot easier if you have something to look forward to. I realize that 7 am isn't early for some, but after two weeks of loafing around with my family, it was a bit of a rude awakening (pardon the pun). Each morning that week, the 99 bus shuffled me to the 6th and Yamhill, and from there I'd walk a few Portland-sized blocks to 2nd and Taylor.
At the corner of 2nd and Taylor is– you guessed it– Jama's headquarters. The building owner has a penchant for old motorcycles, so the first-floor lobby sports four beautiful bikes (three Ducatis and a Norton, if memory serves). The second-floor lobby is no less eclectic, though that's Jama's doing. Anyone who visits the Jama office signs in with a living wall at their back and an inspirational mission statement on the wall to their right. A few of my favorite bits: "This is where we do our best work. It's where we ask the tough questions and challenge the status quo… As an employee, partner, customer, or guest within our space, you are a member of Jama Nation… Let's get to work."
Jama Software focuses on one product, known as Jama. "Jama," as it was put me by my externship host, "is a little bit of a Swiss army knife." It's often used by companies who have a lot of specifications, procedural oversight, or regulations to meet during the product development process. My externship host was Chris McCraw, team Lead for Support Ops. The Support Ops team, which served as a home base of sorts for me, manages any technical issues that might pop up on the customer side. They also maintain online a community where users can ask questions, read documentation, and learn how to make Jama work for them.
Continue reading Jama Software: Isabella Jorissen, Winter Shadow 2016
On a drizzly morning, the streets were dotted with umbrellas and suit-clad business people desperately holding newspapers above their heads. I realized I wasn't in Portland anymore. Contra Portland's laid back, "quirky" vibes, our nation's capital buzzes with a different energy. The city teems with activity, as the foremost legal and political minds in the country face off daily.
I arrived in DC in early January to spend a week shadowing Paul Levy, a lawyer at Public Citizen. Within the small and highly collaborative litigation group at Public Citizen—a nonprofit whose stated goal is to champion citizen interests before Congress and the Courts—Paul specializes in first amendment, and more specifically internet speech, law, often representing anonymous clients.
I didn't know what exactly I would be doing prior to my arrival at Citizen. Paul let me know that his caseload is unpredictable and I should come, not prepared for any particular thing, but for anything. Further, I would be working with another intern, Kendra, a 3L at Harvard Law School.
Continue reading Public Citizen Litigation: Elaine Andersen, Winter Shadow 2016
This January I was able to spend three days shadowing Amber Hollister, the General Counsel at the Oregon State Bar. I went into the experience with a strong interest in the connection between law and ethics, but actually knowing very little about how the rules that govern lawyers play out in real life.
On the first day of the shadow, I was able to learn about the role of the disciplinary counsel at the Bar and about the process that occurs when somebody files an ethics complaint against the lawyer. During the next two days, I was able to see how these ethics rules get put into practice. I met with law students, lawyers, and even judges, which was an invaluable opportunity.
One of the most meaningful parts of my winter shadow experience was being able to meet Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Adrienne Nelson and sit in on one of her court proceedings. Afterwards, she generously met with us and discussed her own experiences as a judge and a lawyer. I also had the honor of meeting United States District Court Judge Michael Simon and Oregon Court of Appeals Judge Christopher Garrett, who both went out of their way to answer our questions and share their experiences with us.
Continue reading Oregon State Bar: Aliana Knoepfler, Winter Shadow 2016
Ian Connelly, senior Chinese major and recipient of the Winter Fellowship for International Travel, reflects on his time in Beijing, China, practicing Tai Chi.
My teacher's name is Zhong Zhenshan. He comes from Handan in Hebei province, about 5 hours south of Beijing. He began studying taijiquan with his master Yao Jizu when he was thirteen years old and now he is one of the foremost lineage holders of Wu family style. He's participated in many competitions, symposiums, and exhibitions both domestically and internationally and he has students all over the world.
Continue reading My Teacher: Tai Chi in China, Ian Connelly, Winter Fellowship for International Travel 2015
In January of 2016 I traveled to Curitiba, Brazil, for a winter shadow at Lumicenter Lighting, an LED lighting company. Immediately after leaving Boston on my plane to Brazil, I felt a mixture and excitement and anxiety: I did not speak Portuguese, had never been to South America, and was going to be doing some challenging engineering. However, as I met my host family I learned that my nerves were for naught. The family I stayed with was warm and inviting. They gave me some of the best home cooking I've had (somehow making healthy food taste really good), and showed me around like I was one of their close friends. They took me to beautiful parks, cities by the coast, drove by the tropical rain forest, went to excellent restaurants, and went go-carting. The most memorable meal for me there was at a churrascaria restaurant. It is a type of all-you-can-eat barbeque with every preparation of beef and pork you could want. I generally graze on food, eating many meals but always small in portions, but here I rarely said no when offered a cut of meat.
Once at the actual company, I was greeted by staff members with whom, once we learned how to get over the language barrier, we immediately started having fun and teasing each other, all while working on a better heating solution for a LED driver. The heat had to be reduced because the higher temperature an electrical component is, the shorter its lifetime. Even if the component is within its safe operating temperature range, being near the top of that range causes the product to break significantly earlier. Many methods were already tested so I had the challenge of coming up with new methods to hopefully be applied either in conjunction with the previous methods or by themselves. The staff made sure to give me feedback on my ideas and helped me every step of the prototyping way. They also knew that nobody could work on an empty stomach, so they introduced me to a snack called Paçoquita which I ended up loving. It was basically crushed nuts and sugar pressed into little cylinders and it was fantastic.
I'm going to miss everything from my trip: the people, the food, the weather, the work... I'll be sure to visit again soon.
Continue reading Lumnicenter Lighting, Brazil: Nate MacFadden, Winter Shadow 2016
Irene Globus-Harris, sophomore physics major and recipient of the Winter Fellowship for International Travel, reflects on her time in Dwingeloo, the Netherlands, at ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy.
The Dutch national color is orange. Bright orange, the type that hurts your eyes after staring at it too long. As I flew in at the break of dawn, the entire sky—awash in an intense, orange sunrise—seemed to reflect that fact. I spent the first few days visiting my host family and friends in North Holland, then headed to Dwingeloo to begin my work at ASTRON. Dwingeloo is small—more of a village than a town, and is adjacent to one of the Netherlands' largest national parks, the Dwingelderveld. ASTRON itself sits within that national park which made the bike ride in exceptionally beautiful.
The first day at Nasa Ames Research Center, Arwen showed us her office, where she keeps samples of Mars and Moon dirt analogs (formulated on Earth to resemble as closely as possible the real thing). Apparently these samples are used to test rover instruments to try to determine as best as possible how they would interact with the foreign environment. Arwen also kept pictures of all the previous groups she has worked with on various projects. Among them were a collaboration with the Japanese space agency to build a giant, human-sized centrifuge to simulate the gravity on the moon and on mars, and the construction of the solar panels of the ISS. Arwen showed us a piece of these panels. They were made of an incredibly thin material with intricate circuitry. Apparently when folded the basketball court long panel becomes only 3 inches thick, which I thought was amazing.
After this inspiring first impression of Arwen's job, we attended a meeting on a space station bio-lab Arwen's team is working on. Though there was a lot of technical talk that I didn't understand, I felt the vibe of teamwork and enthusiasm.
Many of Arwen's colleagues work on side projects with a different group of people out of their own interests. One of Arwen's side projects is a new Mars lander whose main goal is to directly search for life using a big drill, unlike previous rovers, which were apparently more concerned with geology. We got to see the life-sized wooden model of this lander built by Dave, a spacecraft expert. Dave was also nice enough to give us a tour of an ancient Titan 1 rocket. He even gave hand-outs about rocket engine principles and the many different types of rocket engines!
Continue reading Wyle Labs, NASA Ames, Ali Cox, Winter Shadows 2016
I spent two weeks of this past winter break engrossed in a shadow like no other. No, my winter shadow with Gloopen did not involve much shadowing at all in fact. Instead, founders of Gloopen, Arun Sagar and Ranjan Chaudhuri, challenged us externs to develop our own startup. More accurately, they asked us to start a startup. Though there remains much to be done before we can release our project onto a Reed server, it is awesome that we can even speak about doing so—in the sense that we are amazed at what we accomplished in two weeks and terrified what will come of our idea.
Terrified too of the legal quarrels looming over every startup's head, about which we had several conversations that I found particularly enlightening. Luckily such quarrels may not be that relevant to our current project but just to have a general idea of things like the patent process, with all of its unspoken requirements (such as hiring someone to write the patent), makes me a little more confident in being able to play the game of startups.
On the technical side, Arun told us about emerging technologies as well as software histories. Because I began programming after many technologies had been created it is always revealing to hear how and why those technologies were created. For example, the conglomeration of HTML, CSS, and JS was not made all at once but rather was built upon over time as demands for dynamic webpages were solved with JavaScript (JS) and demands for style were addressed by Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
Continue reading Gloopen, Alec Kosik, Winter Shadow 2016
Julie and Haley at Julie's office.
Two days ago I arrived at Julie Kirgis's home overlooking the Puget Sound. Julie is the Dean of Arts and Humanities up at North Seattle College, but she also has a strong background in sociology research. Since I hope to go into education administration or research (I don't know which yet), hanging out with Julie for a few days seemed like an awesome opportunity.
That first evening, Julie and I made a quiche together in a pie pan whose generous depth resulted in a soupy final product. Tom, Julie's husband (and a Reedie), recommended that we flip the quiche upside-down in a saucepan and drain off some fluid. Since that made the crust soggy, I suggested we put it back in the oven. After three hours the quiche looked like we'd run it through a centrifuge, so much had it separated into its component parts. This was the most significant hiccup of the entire shadow, but it was the same improvisation and collaboration that marked the rest of the experience. This willingness to make the best out of the resources at hand also makes Julie such a great dean.
Coming away from it all, I want to emulate the way Julie goes above and beyond to inspire a sense of community among her faculty and a sense of trust between them and herself. Of all the administrators "on the dark side" (according to the faculty), Julie's faculty really seem to believe that she has their best interests at heart—because she does, and she lets them know it. I got to see Julie lead large meetings, meet with all of the North Seattle deans in the "cone of silence," and support her faculty one-on-one. On one occasion, a faculty member wanted to come in just to vent that she was planning to overload her own class by three students. She wanted to do it because she knows that these students really need the class, but for her this meant extra grading and no extra pay. Julie was the listening ear who acknowledged that no, that's not fair. But at the same time, as an administrator, Julie balances the budget and makes sure that her division isn't running classes they can't afford (classes without enough butts in seats). That means she's also responsible for cutting classes and trying to get classes as full as possible. She's often responsible for making unpleasant decisions that mean fewer jobs for teachers and cancelled classes for students. The fact that her faculty still trusts her and comes to her with their frustrations is remarkable.
Continue reading North Seattle College, Haley Tilt, Winter Shadow 2016
I had the privilege of shadowing Jessica Glenn, founder of MindBuck Media Book Publicity. Jessica is dynamic, knowledgeable, and thoughtful. In her job, she devotes her boundless energy to promoting the work of creative minds.
I was so lucky that my time with Jessica coincided with the beginning stages of her dialogue with Blue Star Coloring, the leading publisher of grown-up coloring books. On an icy Tuesday afternoon, I accompanied Jessica on a meeting with Blue Star, where I observed the collaborative effort of a publicity campaign. After the meeting, Jessica had me write a sample press release for an adult coloring book titled, "It's Owl Good: An Adult Coloring Book." As a Reedie English major, I found this assignment to be quite a hoot.
The entire experience revealed many elements of a publishing niche, and the literary world at large.
Continue reading MindBuck Media Book Publicity, Grace Fetterman, Winter Shadow 2016
This winter I had the good fortune to shadow multiple attorneys working in the New Mexico Legal Aid Albuquerque branch. Legal Aid provides statewide civil legal service to vulnerable low-income clients and gives them varying degrees of legal advice and representation depending on the individual needs of each case.
Tiffany Sedillos (on the right in the photo) and Katie Withem (left in the photo), with the Foreclosure Defense Project, didn't just have me pushing papers and waiting until lunch break. Instead, I was given the opportunity to sit in on meetings with clients where I got to hear about the unique situations that brought people there and the surprisingly complicated chronology that comes before, during, and after a complaint for foreclosure. Afterwards, I talked to Tiffany or Katie about the specifics of each case and asked questions about how they might play out from a legal standpoint.
Continue reading Albuquerque Legal Aid, Dylan Holmes, Winter Shadow 2016
This past winter (2014), I shadowed Daniela Deyoung, a speech and language pathologist at the Portland Public School Early Childhood Team, for two weeks in January. Dani is mainly in charge of the transition from preschool to kindergarten for children with development delays, so she not only does speech development evaluations, but also communicates with preschool and kindergarten teachers and therapists to help with a smooth transition for children with special needs at school. Dani works with both English and Spanish speaking children. I followed Dani around the city to different meetings with parents and school staff and to observation sessions of children who need evaluations. Thanks to Dani, I also got to observe her colleagues during their evaluation sessions of children who were brought to the Early Childhood Team by parents with concerns of language or general development delay. It was very exciting and fun to learn about the child language development and observe the diverse tasks she and her colleagues perform on a day to day basis. Everyone was very friendly and helpful and was very patient with my questions.
I applied to the externship because I am very interested in languages and would like to learn more about the language development process of children. It was also a great opportunity to explore a completely new field. Dani was very engaged and helpful in the process and I learned a lot about autism and typical and non-typical child development at different age groups. Since Dani works with many children who fall in the autism spectrum, she started sending me articles about autism spectrum before the externship started and familiarized me with the symptoms. She was a great teacher and pointed out the children's behaviors that might be indicators of autism to me during the observation sessions. She also gave me the opportunity to apply the autistic symptoms I learned by taking observation notes and gave me detailed feedback on them. I learned a great deal about child development from her within two weeks.
One important thing I learned is the importance of child play. Child play is an indicator of children's social skills, their motor development and their intelligence development in general. Child play should be functional, meaning that children should play the toys the way they are designed to be played, have a story about what they are playing, or use the toys in innovative but still sensible ways. It is a lot of the times an imitation of adults' activities—like cooking, driving cars, building a house, etc—and sometimes require cooperation with other children. When a child is not playing functionally, but uses a toy to make repetitive movements such as dragging a train in a circle nonstop or staring at car's wheels spinning, it might be an indicator of autism, but of course the language pathologist has to see other symptoms of autism to qualify the child for special education. It was fascinating for me to learn about the functions and complexity of child play and helped me understand the typical behaviors of children.
Continue reading Winter Externship 2015, Speech and Language Pathology with Daniela Deyoung,Qingyang Xie
Orla O'Sullivan '16, Russian major, is diving deep into the extensive collections at the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, conducting research on visual culture and responses to controversial exhibitions for her President's Summer Fellowship.
The three months since returning from Russia have been a blur of starting my thesis, and running between classes, and intermittently, reflecting upon my trip. I feel inexplicably grateful for receiving the opportunity to intern at the Hermitage, study classical and contemporary Russian art, and learn how to articulate critical analyses using idiomatic Russian. I, moreover, feel so grateful for this opportunity to continually stretch my ability to move through and be comfortable in new situations, geographically, interpersonally, and linguistically. Thank you.
As my two prior posts express, I was, and continue to be, particularly interested to study Russian visual culture, civil society, and their influences. My project, which was founded upon three tiers of museum internship, art historical research, and language study aimed to examine these three aspects within a Russian cultural context, because the field is difficult to study and access in the U.S.
Continue reading Presidents Summer Fellowship 2015, Impressions from Saint Petersburg Part 3, Orla O'Sullivan
President's Summer Fellow Qiaoyu Yang '16, mathematics major, is testing a probabilistic particle model for studying fluid dynamics with Prof. Aleksandar Donev at the Courant Institute in New York City.
This summer, I worked with Prof. Aleksandar Donev in Courant Institute to perform particle simulation for chemically reactive fluid. In the following I will try to explain the essentials of the project.
Our research problem is to model reactive fluid. Traditionally, fluids' dynamics are modeled mostly by differential equations. However, in our case, because of the chemical reactions involved, some assumptions about the fluid is very different from reality and this makes the results described by differential equation to be inaccurate. Therefore, we need to use some other methods.
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The SARTRE project is attempting to launch new technology for vehicles in order to allow them to drive themselves in long road trains on highways, a practice known as platooning. The technology has the potential to improve traffic flow and journey times, offer greater comfort to drivers, reduce accidents, and improve fuel consumption and hence lower CO2 emissions.
The video below shows the first time a test of the technology has been conducted in the real world. Prior to this it was only in simulations. As we can clearly see in the video, the steering wheel of the car moves by itself, allowing the driver to sit back and enjoy a coffee while reading a newspaper. He neither uses his hands nor feet during the test. For more details check out our previous story by clicking here.

subset: commoncrawl


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If you're looking for a cheap balance transfer option, and you happen to live in either Pennsylvania or Ohio, check out the Dollar Bank Low Rate Credit Card.
The card, which features 0% APR on both purchases and balance transfers for the first six months, comes with a very attractive 1% balance transfer fee.
That's just a third of the typical 3% industry fee, which is certainly a plus for those looking to save some dough.
The 1% fee has a minimum charge of $5, and is only good for transfers conducted during the first six months of account opening. After that, the fee jumps up to the standard 3% balance transfer fee.
The Dollar Bank Low Rate Credit Card also lives up to its name by offering a low, long-term variable rate of 9.49%, which is tied to the prime rate.
For the record, the prime rate was just increased yesterday by 0.25%, and is likely going to increase a few more times in the next couple years, so beware.
But the current 9.49% rate is a lot lower than most other credit cards, which tend to charge APR in the teens, 20% range, or even higher.
Other Options for No Fee or Close to No Fee Balance Transfers
If you don't live in the aforementioned states, there are similar options available. In fact, I have an entire page dedicated to no fee balance transfers, with over 300 now available nationwide.
Many of them are state-specific offers, so simply scroll to your home state to see what's available. Many small credit unions and regional banks have some great deals that the big credit card issuers simply won't match.
Additionally, I always recommend you look out for balance transfer checks in the mail. Some issuers get pretty aggressive with these, offering 0% APR for 12 months or so with just a 1% fee to transfer the balance.
For a $2,500 balance transfer, we're talking just $25 to get your high-interest credit card debt to a safe haven where no finance charges will be assessed during the 0% APR promotional period.
While it might not be free, it'll probably save you a lot of money over the alternative, which is keeping the money with a card issuer that charges sky-high interest.


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FREE shipping in Contiguous U.S. for orders of $49 or more.
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|U.S. Department of
Mine Safety and Health Administration
201 12th Street South, Suite 401
Arlington, VA 22202-5450
Administrator for
Coal Mine Safety and Health
Administrator for
Metal and Nonmetal Mine Safety and Health
Acting Director of Technical Support
SUBJECT: Reissue of P08-03 - Use of Stabilizers (Outriggers) on
Chassis-Mounted Drills and Cranes
Who needs this information?
Mine operators, independent contractors, mobile equipment operators, miners' representatives, Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) enforcement personnel, and other interested parties should have this information.
What is the Purpose of this Program Information Bulletin?
This Program Information Bulletin (PIB) informs all mobile equipment operators that stabilizers are considered to be safety devices that should be used and maintained in accordance with the original equipment manufacturer's specifications.
Types of Equipment Involved:
This PIB applies to chassis-mounted drills and cranes provided with stabilizers.
Stabilizers are used to level and stabilize chassis-mounted drills and cranes after the equipment is moved to a location where it will be used. For example, the operator of a truck crane will deploy the stabilizers prior to picking up and swinging a load, as will a drill operator prior to elevating the mast.
Stabilizers are part of an integrated safety system that includes: 1) the stabilizer and its hardware (its ground-engaging base, hydraulically- or mechanically-operated vertical and horizontal jacking or positioning equipment, all fasteners and attachment devices); 2) load-spreading cribbing, timbers, mats or pads under the stabilizer bases; and 3) the ground itself.
The stabilizer should be structurally sound throughout and maintained in accordance with the equipment manufacturer's instructions. Structural members, attachment devices, welds, fasteners and jacks should be in place and inspected for cracks, wear, rust, corrosion or other damage that could affect their integrity or ability to carry or transfer a load. Hydraulic systems should be inspected for cylinder or hose wear, cracks, leaks or other damage or defects that could result in loss of hydraulic pressure while under load.
Because stabilizers transfer the weight of the equipment, its live loads and dynamic forces to the ground, ground conditions play a significant role in the stability of the machine and the ultimate safety of the operator and persons working nearby. Ground conditions that should be considered include the soil's load-bearing capacity, surface slope and evenness, the presence of nearby or previously backfilled excavations, and subsurface cavities. Soil support conditions should be similar under each stabilizer pad. Management and equipment operators should evaluate ground conditions before and during operation to ensure unsafe ground conditions do not develop.
Due to varying ground conditions and soil strengths, stabilizer bases are not necessarily large enough in their ground contact area to safely transmit all forces to the ground. Load-spreading devices such as cribbing, timbers, mats or pads may be required to spread the load over a sufficiently-sized area to support the machine during operation and prevent failure of the ground below. Supports placed under outrigger pads should be structurally sound, firmly and evenly supported and of adequate size. If these supports remain under outrigger pads for an extended period of time, they should be inspected often to ensure they have not shifted or deteriorated, and that the condition of the ground beneath remains sound.
Mine operators should obtain from the manufacturer the equipment's side-to-side and front-to-back load/lift limits and maximum operating slope conditions. Mine operators should also train equipment operators and supervisors to know, understand and adhere to those limits and ensure that they are not exceeded. Hard copies of operating manuals and safe operating instructions should be provided during task training and for permanent reference in the cab of the equipment. Pre-setup risk assessments should always be performed and appropriate control measures taken. Special precautions should be taken to assure safety when highly unusual conditions exist, such as when soils are particularly weak, ground conditions are deteriorating or loads or operating parameters approach the limits of the machine's safe operating range.
Before operating stabilizer-equipped machines, equipment operators should assure all stabilizers are in serviceable condition and rest firmly on ground capable of supporting the machine during all phases of its operation. Stabilizers should be fully extended to prevent machine tip-over, unless otherwise permitted by the equipment manufacturer. When space constraints prohibit full extension of stabilizers, machines should either be repositioned to allow for full extension of stabilizers or loads should be reduced to maintain stability and prevent exceeding lifting limits specified by the manufacturer. While elevating and operating the machine, operators should be alert to ground subsidence and the machine going out of level, as differential settlement could indicate impending failure of the stabilizers or the ground. Shifting loads, changing forces or the failure of a jack or the ground beneath it could result in the machine overturning.
What is the background for this PIB?
A fatal accident occurred when a drilling rig overturned while it was being operated on a sloped surface. Two other fatal accidents occurred when mobile cranes overturned while lifting material. Accident investigations indicate that improper utilization of the stabilizers, inadequate training, and failure to perform a pre-task risk assessment were, or may have been, contributing factors in these accidents.
What is MSHA's authority for this PIB?
The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, as amended, 30 U.S.C. § 801 et seq.;
30 C.F.R. §§ 56/57.14100 Safety defects; examination, correction and records;
30 C.F.R. §§ 56/57.14205 Machinery, equipment and tools; 30 C.F.R. 77.404(a) Machinery and equipment; operation and maintenance; 30 C.F.R. § 77.1606 Loading and haulage equipment; inspection and maintenance; 30 C.F.R. § 46.7 New task training; 30 C.F.R. §§ 48.7 and 48.27 Training of miners assigned to a task in which they have had no previous experience.
Where is this PIB on the Internet?
This PIB may be viewed on the World Wide Web by accessing MSHA's home page at www.msha.gov, choosing "Compliance Info" and "Program Information Bulletins."
Who are the MSHA contact persons for this PIB?
Mine Safety and Health Enforcement, Division of Safety
Robert Roark (202) 693-9556
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Technical Support, Approval and Certification Center
Ron Medina (304) 547-2059
E-mail: email@example.com
Who will receive this PIB?
MSHA Program Policy Manual Holders
Coal Mine Operators
Metal and Nonmetal Mine Operators
Miners' Representatives
Independent Contractors
Special Interest Groups


text:
Review Date:23 Aug 2012
Popular references to Calcutta (now Kolkata) – once the gleaming capital of British India – in Anglo-American contexts often conjure images of poverty, crowded city streets, unbearable traffic, smog, and residents that require a savior.
Review Date:2 Oct 2020
Jessica Hanser, in her book Mr. Smith Goes to China, tells a tale of 18th-century globalisation involving three international actors–Britain, China and India–through the lives of three British (more precisely, Scottish) merchants. All of them bore the name of George Smith, an extremely common name at the time. And all of them were 'private traders'" (i.e.


text:
Editor's Note: Dezeen is a leading design, interiors and architectural magazine. CNN Style has collaborated with Dezeen on a number of stories exploring the latest trends in architecture and design. Click here for more.
From remote viewing platforms to high-profile museums, architects are increasingly using cantilevers to add height or unusual proportions to their buildings, and to push the boundaries of what can be built on difficult terrains.
Gravity-defying cantilevers
A cantilever is a protruding volume or beam that is attached to a structure at only one end. They have been widely used in bridge construction for hundreds of years, but contemporary buildings incorporate them in various ways. Cantilevers can extend buildings on uneven slopes, shelter car garages or angle a room towards a viewpoint.
In some cases, entire rooms are suspended several meters in the air at dizzying heights. Chilean architect Mathias Klotz's Casa 11 Mujeres beach house features a cantilevered floor that protrudes above a 45 degree cliff slope to offer better views of the sea.
Astearchitecture went further with Top of Tyrol, a steel viewing platform that cantilevers nine meters above a glacier at Mountain Isidor, Austria.
For +node house, Japanese studio UID Architects took full advantage of forest surroundings. A second box-like volume is stacked above the first and pivoted 90 degrees, creating a long cantilever that hovers ten meters above the ground. It features cut-out sections that allow trees to grow up inside it.
Recently cantilevers have been used to support the trend for buildings made from irregularly stacked boxes, with prominent examples including Herzog & de Meuron's Vitra House, Ole Schreeran's The Interlace and Mosha House by Iran-based New Wave Architecture.
In 2010, Zaha Hadid won the Stirling Prize for the Maxxi museum in Rome, a chunky concrete structure that conceals a pedestrian path below its cantilevered volumes.
Meanwhile, Ström Architects has been shortlisted for an award at this year's World Architecture Festival for The Quest – a larch-clad retirement home that cantilevers over a parking spot to protect a vintage Aston Martin.
Rotterdam practice MVRDV chose to suspend a swing from the one end of Balancing Barn, a mirror-clad residence that extends 15 meters (50 feet) over a grassy slope in the English countryside.
Some of the most striking examples range in scale from a tiny Arctic exploration cabin that teeters over the shoreline to Coop Himmelb(l)au's Busan cinema, which currently holds the world record for having the longest cantilevered roof at 85 meters (280 feet).
For more innovative architecture visit our friends at Dezeen here.


text:
mom 30seconds.com/mom
Does Your Toddler or Preschooler Stutter? Here's Why You Probably Shouldn't Worry! by Carrie Wells
7 years ago
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Stuttering may be a typical part of early childhood language development. As children acquire new language, which happens at a rapid rate between 18 and 36 months, they are challenged to plan out all of the motor movements to communicate. If your child stutters:
- be patient
- maintain eye contact
- wait until he finishes speaking (without completing sentences for him)
Most children will outgrow toddler and preschool stuttering without any interventions, but if you have concerns, speak with your pediatrician.


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What do pyjamas, candles and boob talk have in common? Yes!! A pyjamas partaayyy!!!
Only that I didn't get to have the boob talk at the actual event. You'll see in a while.
When I got invited for the event I didn't expect to be that special and fun! Oh I never expect anything out of any event anyway coz every one is always different.
On the eve of the event my blog manager Gabby texted me to come dressed in pyjamas and I was like 'HUH? Pyjamas?! Why so weird?' but in my heart my reaction was more like 'YAYYY!!! HAPPY!!!'. LOL.
How I LUURRVVEEE themed parties! School uniform, Geeky, Shanghai, Wondergirls (HAHA!), Cowboy, etc. I love dressing up specially for an event; going through all the costumes, makeup, hair makes me ~high~. That's why I LOVE Halloween!
OMG! That's in less than two months!!!
A themed party makes the experience more wholesome, the energy more united and everyone more in tuned with one another. It's like having a shared, sacred memory.
I love themed outings, but one thing I no longer do is wear couple clothing.
It's so… um… un-adult-like. Maybe coz we're both 28 and way over the let's-get-cute-together-and-let-everyone-know-we're-an-item stage. Kinda passe, you know what I mean? We've been together since secondary school. Yea, we did the couple clothing thing back then. That's why I felt a little, teeny, tiny awkward when we went out in BRIGHT orange top and off-white shorts/berms just recently. Hoho.
Unintentional mitchy-matchy couple tops *shy*
The Kiehl's blogger event was so well planned and executed - location (super ulu by the way), ambience, pyjama theme, temperature (I was worried I'd be freezing in minus zero temperatures like at some restaurants), food, massage, tea, pillow drawing, and FRIENDS!
This was what I wore.
LOOK AT MY LEGS!!! I really don't know why they are so much darker than the rest of my body. They're at least three shades darker in real life. They look at least ten times darker here due to the angle and harsh flash needed in dim lighting; I don't look that fair. I'm NC20-25, by the way.
I apply sunblock to my face and neck and when the occasion calls for a heavier dosage I'll definitely do the arms AND legs - I don't neglect them! Yet, they look like I've been carrying out menial labor under the sun everyday. So dark and dirty!!! Just too hilarious!
That dress is honestly what I wear to sleep sometimes. Because this Uniqlo Women Bra Sleeveless Tunic (its official name - I Googled!) has bra attached, I also wear it out. I like that it's awesome for how tall I am, no need to alter. 🙂 This is the best kind of apparel to bring on short trips, stayovers, anywhere really!
The material is so comfy and the whole thing moves together with my body, unlike low quality bras that reach up to your neck when you stretch. HAHAHA! That kind of feeling, I'm sure you know. Even some good quality bras don't feel 100% comfortable. Something's always THERE.
The only drawback is that the boobs will overflow. BAHAHAHA!
These are my boobs.
HAHAHAHA! At least I didn't draw on the nipples. Okie TMI.
So, the outer layer indicates the tunic. The cloth covers everything nicely, right?
Here's what under the outer layer - the attached support bra.
Did you see it? Did you see it?
The red colored section indicates the boob area NOT covered by the support bra. The flesh is covered by the sides of the bra, you know, the elastic part. Therefore the boobs overflow. LOL.
The dresses all come with a fixed bra size, so anyone from cup A to -- oh I don't know -- J can fit. I think it'll look weird on anything above D though. The boobs will probably have half overflowing into the band area.
All in all, the Uniqlo bra tunics are really comfortable to wear, very soft to the touch. If you don't mind having some spillage of boob flesh, I'd recommend you get them! You can't actually feel them overflowing when moving around, but when you touch them, you know there's leakage. LOL!
If you're taller than I am, it'd probably look very sexy on you. Whee wheeeeet!!
Enough boob talk. Let's get back to Kiehl's.
Group shot and then it was time for the presentation for Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Eye and Midnight Recovery Concentrate.
Such relaxing ambience! It's the I-wanna-soak-it-all-up kind, not the I-want-to-fall-asleep-right-now kind. LOVES!
Beatrice and her friend came all dressed up coz they had to go somewhere else later. I look totally underdressed beside them.
My makeup was super minimalistic as well, I didn't do the eye Contour Area at all. Just MakeupGeek Eyeshadow in Shimma Shimma and mascara. Rare deal!
After the talk, we all had the chance to get oiled up with the multi-purpose Midnight Recovery Concentrate. I wish I had a table in front so I didn't have to carry my own arm weight. Totally lazy man!!! HAHA!
Tea time after massage. Like a tai tai.
There was the massage station,
the tea station,
and the draw-on-your-pillow station.
This Kiehl's boy was the artist of the day!
The reason why he drew me in that pose was coz I really sat like that! I sat straight up, had my hands in the middle, and kept my legs closed. And I looked straight at the Kiehl's guy, not really knowing whether to smile. HAHAHA!
That's what I went through when I was younger and had my portrait drawn! The artist told me not to move an inch, and sit like a statue, otherwise my face would end up ugly.
The Kiehl's guy told me 'You don't have to stare at me hahaha' and everyone around me laughed. It was really quite funny even when I think back now. Oh, did I mention this event happened in June?? 😛
Got the essence of me done right, dude! The hair, dress, collarbone....
..... and the posture. LOL!
Aaahh, miss my skin! Even though I still had pimples and pigmentation here and there, I could pass with light makeup. My terrible acne is getting better though!
The thing with these polaroid shots is that they provide instant gratification - you get to hold the result in your hands minutes after it was taken and they have a natural filter that makes the skin look smoother. But then I don't know what to do with them after I've taken a picture of it with my camera. The irony.
Checking out.
Do you love themed parties? Which types have you attended and liked the most? Throw me some ideas for Halloween!
What do you do with polaroids?


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"Business communication is the sharing of information between people within an enterprise that is performed for the commercial benefit of the organization. In addition, business communication can also refer to how a company shares information to promote its product or services to potential consumers."
Source: Business Dictionary
Amy Rees Anderson
Founder REES Capital
"Success in business is greatly impacted for better or worse by the way in which we communicate."
Methods of communication vary between individuals, but the standard model of communication is correctly depicted as a loop. However, there are many obstacles that can prevent successful communication of even simple messages.
Dr. John Lund
Author and communication expert
"Don`t communicate to be understood; rather,
communicate so as not to be misunderstood."
As depicted in the module below:
It's not just what you say, but how you say it.
The goal of business communication should be to gain actionable feedback: e.g. project approvals, accepting a meeting invitation, accepting or declining a proposal, etc.
With healthy business communication:
Aveta Business Institute-Six Sigma Online
"You will also see an improvement in service quality. If the company interacts well with the clients and attends to their needs promptly, the customers are bound to continue doing business with the company. As you communicate with the clients, you will be able to figure out exactly what they want from you. This way, you can make the necessary improvements to products or services that the customers require."
Often, a sender does not attain the desired result of his/her message or does not receive any feedback at all, as if the sender has thrown the message into the abyss. When this happens, it helps to remember that messages are interpreted in 1 of 4 ways.
Perhaps it is because the available and convenient method of communication for the sender is not always the desired method of the receiver. Additionally, the communication method is not always appropriate for the content of the message.
Would a text be appropriate for a marriage proposal?
When we are the receiver of a message, we interpret the message based on the following percentages.
Additionally, research has shown that men in general and women in business settings need to know three things before they are prepared to enter into a conversation:
It is imperative that businesses consistently chose the correct method of communication with their employees and customers. The method of delivery should be chosen based upon its ability to convey the message's intent and produce the desired response.
Often, businesses are limited in their ability to connect with clients using the method the client expects. For example, reliance on email could non-verbally communicate that the business does not prioritize real-time input from the customer.
Similarly, consistently routing a customer to voicemail could cause that customer to interpret that the business does not value speaking with them, or that they are less important than other clients.
In both scenarios, the customer's interpretation of the message is most likely not the intent of the business. Rather, the customer's interpretation of the message could be a limitation of the business' systems or technology.
Greg Satell
Digital Tonto
"In order to innovate, it's not enough to just come up with big ideas, you also need to work hard to communicate them clearly."
Steve Vonder Haar
Wainhouse Research
"Video has become ubiquitous. With cameras in the conference room, on the desktop and embedded in smartphones, the venues for creating video are now more commonplace than ever before. More organizations are deploying the technology platforms needed to transform any camera anywhere into a tool that helps executives to create high-impact business messages."
Source: Business Dictionary
Collaboration is the method through which individual people work together to achieve a goal.
Four Stages of Collaboration
Four Stages of Collaboration Graphic
"It's time to put our heads together."
---every business meeting ever
"Although teams that are large, virtual, diverse, and composed of highly educated specialists are increasingly crucial with challenging projects, those same four characteristics make it hard for teams to get anything done."
Effective collaboration is not achieved with a single conversation, with a memo, or with the implementation of a single software product. Collaboration is a cultural
Unfortunately, collaboration does not come naturally to most teams. Furthermore, it is increasingly difficult to collaborate effectively as teams grow.
In fact, a study by the Harvard Business Review found that when the size of a team increases beyond 20 members, the tendency to collaborate naturally decreases
However, the same study discovered that under the right conditions, large teams could achieve high levels of collaboration. These successful organizations created
If you are unsure about where to begin, KiZAN can help.
"Unified Communications is a set of products that provides a consistent, unified user interface and user experience across multiple devices and media types, allowing your organization to experience the height of productivity and collaboration."
Some business communication tools, such as phones and chat software, enable "same time/different place" communication. Other communication tools, like email or Twitter, enable "different time/different place" communication that takes place at times that are convenient for the sender and receiver.
Unified communications (UC) integrate the two, allowing users to have easy access to all tools regardless of the device.
Ideally, a UC environment integrates back-end systems with front-end access points. For example, a Web conferencing system could be built on the IP telephony platform. In turn, the email client could interface with both systems to provide click-to-talk/chat/video functions.
Unified communications provide features such as team chat or automated call routing that benefit many areas of the business, including project management, CRM, or service desk automation.
Steve Olenski,
Forbes Contributor
"Put simply the need to be able to communicate face-to-face across any and all mediums on any device at any time is paramount for brands wishing to survive and thrive in today's world."
With UC, businesses can connect people and information and produce wide-ranging and effective collaboration among teams and customers.
Unified Communications simplify the management of multiple streams of communication by providing employees with a unified inbox for all communications. Greater ease of use creates a streamlined customer experience.
For example, instead of endless on hold messages or hang-ups, voice and data messages can be redirected in real-time to the device that is closest to the recipient.
UC software can automatically convert emails to voice messages and vice-versa. A single management console consolidates all communications, including:
UC converts communications into data chunks which can be securely encrypted and integrated into critical business functions and applications and can be the starting point for strategic Business Process Automation.
Mary Branscombe
Office 365 has established itself as the definitive business cloud service bringing together familiar productivity services, plus an ongoing range of new features."
Employees today want to be productive wherever they go. They want to work faster and smarter across their favorite devices while staying current and connected. They want to have business tools that work as hard as they do.
Enter Microsoft Office 365, a sophisticated solution that fits the way your employees work today – and tomorrow. Beginning with Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, Office 365 provides all the familiar applications employees know.
Office 365 gives them a dynamic set of secure, cloud-connected capabilities, including secure file sharing, file storage, and online collaboration tools that enhance communication, collaboration, and productivity. And it keeps itself up-to-date, so everyone has the tools they need to do what
Office 365 plans for business include services such as Skype for Business web conferencing and Exchange Online hosted email for business and additional online storage with OneDrive for Business.
Many Office 365 plans also include the desktop version of the latest Office applications, which users can install across multiple computers and devices, including PCs, Macs, Android tablets, Android phones, iPad, and iPhone. The fully installed applications include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, and Access. (Publisher and Access are available on PC only.)
When you have an active Office 365 subscription that includes the desktop version of Office, you always have the most up-to-date version of the applications.
KiZAN's team has the know-how to help you deploy Office 365 and experience the full potential of this powerful tool.
Exchange lets you tailor your solution based on your unique needs and ensures that your communications are always available, while you remain in control.
The proliferation of communications channels and devices in the workplace is driving increased volume of communication. That's not always a good thing. Without the proper tools to help employees manage these communications effectively, productivity can suffer.
Microsoft Exchange helps increase productivity by assisting in the management of communications across multiple devices and facilitating better team collaboration.
Meet with up to 250 people—even if they're not using Skype for Business. All they need is a phone or internet connection.
At the heart of great teams is great communication. In a world where teams are often co-located – spread across multiple campuses or geographies – getting everyone connected can be a challenge.
Your employees want to connect seamlessly with their teams, and they expect to use a variety of methods and devices to do so.
Traditionally, connecting teams with great communication experiences across multiple channels meant introducing additional complexity in your infrastructure.
Now, with Skype for Business, it doesn't have to. You can simplify your infrastructure with one platform for calling, conferencing, video and sharing. A favorite among online meeting tools, teams can connect regardless of location using mobile apps across Windows, iOS, and Android, and work as though they're all in one room – even when they're not.
From collaborative team sessions to large broadcasts or dialing into conference using the phone, Skype for Business was designed for every meeting need, offering much more than traditional online meeting tools.
KiZAN has provided communication solutions for more than 25 years and has the knowledge and experience to successfully deploy Skype for Business in your organization and help you harness the power of this tool.
Download our Skype for Business ebook - 7 Technologies that Enhance Skype for Business
Download our Skype for
Read our Blog Post - Skype for Business Meeting Turns Ugly!
Request a Skype for Business Discovery Session
Schedule a K-12 Skype for Business Demo
Shawn Grimes
Emmis Communications
"We chose KiZAN because of their experience with Skype for Business implementations. Their knowledge and experience have gone a long way to making the Skype for Business rollout a success."
Microsoft's Skype for
KiZAN provides unique value by understanding the technology and processes that drive adoption.
(Download infographic by clicking this link!)
KiZAN's systematic methodology will identify and address the specific needs of your organization and will maximize the benefits of Skype For Business.


text:
Hunter and L3 3Di: a case study in improbable solutions
Hunter found the competitive advantage to displace a long-standing incumbent.
The Challenge
During the height of the Afghan conflict, L3 requested Hunter's assistance on a proposal for a US Government project connecting 43 remote stations spread throughout the country. The network was operational on a particular satellite with an incumbent service provider who in many ways enjoyed a high barrier-to-entry situation: all 43 sites were positioned within mountainous terrain and pointed to a particular satellite to the west-south-west direction; limited time was available to complete a network re-design; and due to the sensitive nature of the site locations and limited time, it was impossible to visit the locations for site surveys.
After evaluating the network, Hunter determined that providing a bid with the same satellite would give no competitive advantage to L3. An alternate satellite was required and of the available options, one or two satellites positioned in the eastern arc of the Indian Ocean region could provide greater value in terms of cost per Mbps. The challenge was that such a move would require a nearly 70 degree swing of all remote antennas to see Hunter's preferred satellite option. Without the benefit of a site survey for each remote site, neither the end-client nor L3 would risk proposing such a solution, as it would be uncertain as to whether the terrain would physically block access to the satellite for some of the sites. Adding a further complication: for security reasons the end-client could only provide the latitude/longitude of the locations within an accuracy of two miles.
The positive news was that these same challenges would likely prevent other service providers from offering such a risky proposal of moving these sites to an alternate satellite.
The Solution
Hunter engaged in a process that took the antenna location for each site within the two mile radius (a possible location of 12.5 square miles), and used topographical software to analyze the probability of being physically blocked to our proposed satellite. This process required approximately four days of setup and an additional two days of data analysis using specialized software on high-end processing computers. The result was an analysis that provided a topographical map of each 12.5 square mile location for each of the 43 sites, giving a total probability of physical blockage. The results were surprisingly positive given the mountainous terrain. Of the 43 locations, only seven had any possibility of blockage and of those only three had a greater than 5% chance of blockage. To validate these results, Hunter repeated the process using a second set of topographical data from an alternate source – which mirrored the initial results.
Armed with the analysis showing a 3D representation of each 12.5 square mile area, overlaid on a Google Earth imaging file, L3 was convinced of the merits and submitted a proposal that included the recommended satellite of choice at a cost reduction of greater than 40% compared to the incumbent satellite. This cost reduction amounted to several tens of millions of dollars to the client and ultimately for the US taxpayer, and provided L3 with a material advantage for their bid. Perhaps most importantly, the proposal allowed the end-client an interactive tool within the Google Earth app, to view the proof behind the analysis – a key factor in providing the necessary confidence for such a network change.


text:
7th Pay Commission Report For Armed Forces May Be Overruled: Parrikar
Goa: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in an exclusive interview with the India Today on Tuesday said the 7th Pay Commission report was not final, and he would take up concerns raised by the armed forces at the right level and the pay panel report for armed forces may be overruled.
On the concerns raised by the armed forces over the raw deal given to them in the 7th Pay Commission, Parrikar said it was not the final word.
"The seventh Pay Commission is in the form of recommendations. I do not think they (recommendations) will remain. I do not consider them as finalities. I have flagged them and will flag them properly at the right level," said Parrikar.
Parrikar, who inaugurated arms show DefExpo in Goa on Monday, where a strong pitch is being made to further expand the growing defence sector, said negative environment surrounding the military acquisitions has changed.
The three services raised a number of issues, but when the pay commission sought the defence ministry's comments and recommendation, the ministry negated most of the demands of the services, the services' officers had said earlier.
Source : TST


text:
ezpz's unique all-in-one placemat + plate "mini mat" has been a personal favorite of mine when it comes to mealtime gear. In addition to its whimsical design, it suctions to the table or high chair, making the upside down food dump that much less likely (phew!)
The mat is made from 100% food-grade silicone that is BPA, BPS, PVC, latex and phthalate free. Designed for infants / toddlers 4+ months.
Product details:
- Dimensions: 10.75 x 7.75 x 1
- Portion sizes (i.e., the eyes and smile) are catered to infants at 2oz, 2oz and 4oz
- Mat fits most highchair trays, including 'space saver' models
- Promotes self-feeding and develops fine motor skills
- Compact and lightweight, so it is perfect for dinners out and travel
- Packaged in a reusable bag that is ezpz to pop in your diaper bag
- Dishwasher, microwave and oven safe (up to 350 degrees)
- Easy to store
- Built to last (silicone is bendable and flexible and doesn't fade, corrode or deteriorate)
Important Notes
The Mini Mat does not fit on the following highchair trays: the Stokke Tripp Trapp, the Boon Flair, the Nuna Zaaz, the Keekaroo, the Ingenuity ChairMate (Easton), the Safety 1st Beaumont and the Abiie Beyond Wooden Highchair. The high-gloss finish of the Oxo Sprout and Graco DuoDiner Highchairs hinder the Mini Mat's suction function.
Please contact us at email@example.com with requests or questions. Happy shopping!


text:
Popular Terms
Our Company
New Relic One
Your data.
Anywhere you go.
New Relic for iOS or Android
New Relic Insights App for iOS
Learn more
New Integrations for Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google
Cloud Platform Assist in Ensuring Application and Infrastructure Health
Relic, Inc. (NYSE:NEWR), provider of real-time insights for
software-driven businesses, announced today new integrations for New
Relic Infrastructure for services offered by Amazon Web Services
(AWS), Microsoft Azure, and for the first time Google Cloud Platform
(GCP). These new integrations are designed for customers to more easily
observe and alert on the infrastructure resources critical to their
application performance, and optimize their organization's spend
regardless of the cloud provider they choose.
Now with over 40 integrations to cloud services and infrastructure
components, New Relic Infrastructure helps operations teams understand
the relationships between application behaviors, customer experiences,
and infrastructure health in private data centers and public cloud
services. In addition to the new integrations, New Relic Infrastructure
now offers the ability for customers to filter and poll data by service
type and region from the cloud service providers, enabling teams to
instrument their entire infrastructure environment, focus their
attention on critical services when necessary, and optimize their cloud
New integrations available today to customers paying at the Pro level
AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Amazon SES, and Auto Scaling are all generally
available today.
Azure: Azure App Service, Azure Cosmos DB, Azure
Functions, Azure Service Bus, Azure SQL Database, Azure Virtual
Machines, and Azure Virtual Network are generally available. Azure Load
Balancer and Azure Storage are in public beta.
GCP: Google Cloud Functions, Google Cloud Storage, and Google
Compute Engine are all in public beta.
A full list of New Relic Infrastructure integrations is available here.
Comments on the News
"Our customers' infrastructure is changing so rapidly, it's now even
more critical for IT operations to have consistent visibility from one
source about the health of these services within the context of the
applications they support. New Relic Infrastructure provides these teams
with instrumentation to understand the relationships between cloud
services, application behaviors, and customer experiences which enable
them to effectively plan and measure throughout their cloud adoption
journey," said Greg Unrein, vice president of product management,
performance analytics, New Relic.
"I want to be able to run code for any application using the cloud
platform that makes the most sense for the use case while keeping costs
optimized—be it Microsoft Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud Platform. New
Relic's growing support for leading cloud services providers gives me
that single pane of glass from which to monitor my applications no
matter where they are running," said Mark Kelly, director of cloud
and infrastructure services architecture, Scripps Networks.
"As development teams leverage ever more advanced cloud capabilities,
their infrastructure usage has become increasingly complex. The ability
to manage, oversee and draw insights from resources utilized across
multiple cloud providers helps development teams to increase their
velocity; accelerating the ongoing transformation in the wider
organization they serve," said Fintan Ryan, industry analyst, RedMonk.
Additional Resources
Scripps Networks relies on New Relic to provide a
single view of application and infrastructure performance across
their own data centers and cloud service providers.
migrated 200,000 websites to GCP in two weeks with visibility
delivered by New Relic.
For details on additional new product releases from New Relic, visit the website.
About New Relic
New Relic provides the real-time insights that software-driven
businesses need to innovate faster. New Relic's cloud platform makes
every aspect of modern software and infrastructure observable, so
companies can find and fix problems faster, build high-performing DevOps
teams, and speed up transformation projects. Learn why more than 50
percent of the Fortune 100 trust New Relic at newrelic.com.
Social Media Links: Facebook
| Twitter
| YouTube
| LinkedIn
New Relic is a registered trademark of New Relic, Inc. All product and
company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180214005422/en/
Source: New Relic Corporate Communications
Media ContactNew Relic, Inc.Steve Naventi,
ContactNew Relic, Inc.Jonathan Parker, firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
The Warriors aren't worried about any other team.
Golden State has jumped out to an 8-1 start and is the clear favorite to win its third straight title and fourth in the last five seasons. But, there are multiple other talented teams hoping to end the Warriors hopes of a three-peat.
Warriors players said they didn't fear anyone, when asked by The Athletic about who they thought could unseat them as NBA champions. Some, however, said the Celtics, led by Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, might be their biggest threat.
"(Boston's) got a lot of guys who fit right into that style of (small ball) play, with the experience of playing with Kyrie, who isn't backing down from anyone," Forward Draymond Green told The Athletic.
"Kyrie has been there and done that, and he's going to embody that (spirit). Kyrie is going to love that moment, to love being that guy that has been there and showing everyone else the way."
Warriors star Kevin Durant agreed with Green.
"(The Celtics) have got a deep team," Durant said. "They've got a collection of talented scorers where it's going to be hard to switch guys on … They've got a great coach (in Brad Stevens), a great atmosphere, a great home court advantage, and they've got a lot of length. Those are usually the teams that give us trouble."
Golden State guard Shaun Livingston said the Celtics roster depth could allow them to come close to matching up with his team.
"With their young guys, they've got some forces," Livingston told The Athletic. "You've got to throw that (Celtics) team in there. It's the star power, and it's the young depth.
Read This
Five crazy stats from Klay Thompson's record-setting performance against Bulls
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"They're the younger version of us. …They pose a threat. Yeah, they pose a threat."
The Celtics entered their game against the Bucks on Thursday with a 5-2 record.
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Vlog: Do I want to be a translator? Exploring career paths at a Spotlight On
From Carla Froggatt
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Masters student, Joey, goes to a Spotlight On event, hosted by the Careers and Employability Service to find out more about becoming an interpreter and translator after she graduates. Hear from more professionals at our Spotlight On events: nottingham.ac.uk/careers/spotlighton.
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Throughout history many wars and disputes have been started over men who could not agree- however a recent study has brought cheers and high fives to members of the male gender across the globe.
According to a Norwegian study, "Equality in the Home," couples who share housework have a 50 per cent higher divorce rate than couples where the woman does most of the household chores. Because the role of housekeeper is stereotypically played by the wife, this study only looked into marriages where the man worked outside the home and even if the woman did as well, it concluded that if the man pitched in, their marriage was more likely to end.
So does this mean husbands should choose the dog house in order to avoid divorce court?
Shakespeare might say at this point, "Is something rotten in the state of Norway?" Let us not forget the social engineering experts have been telling us for years that equality, i.e. equal rights, was the foundation stone of modern societal evolution. It seems things are not working out that way…at least not according to this Norwegian study.
How could the single act of helping with the household chores have such a disastrous effect on a marriage? Some theories might be woman who share chores feel more empowered and are emboldened to accomplish anything including raising children on their own. Another more Southern theory is that women don't want to be married to a "girly man."
They want someone who gives the attitude of strength and power therefore asking him to fold sheets or unload the dishwasher would be insulting. Another thought is that if a man agrees to these mundane chores just to placate his wife, the power and the roles in the household have shifted.
Maybe it is a microcosm of some larger specter, looming in our midst. Why would the very thing that was supposed to be so beneficial, suddenly become such a destructive force; producing the opposite results from it's original intent.
Much ado about nothing? Maybe not…let's take a look at another poll, however this time it mixes gender and politics. In this new poll released from Quinnipiac University, Women voters give President Obama a 4-point lead, thanks largely to a 56%- 38% lead among women.
The Obama campaign has targeted women as a key part of his election with the main issues being abortion rights, pay equity, and health coverage for contraception. Breaking it down, two out of three major issues for women are tied to reproductive rights. This was emphasized by an E-card posted by the Obama team on October 2 with the caption, "Vote like your lady parts depend on it!"
In a few weeks, the fate and future of the country and the world may be decided by 56% of women. These women's main concern, in the midst of this chaotic time in history, is maintaining and expanding their individual rights, to have abortions and contraception at the expense of the taxpayers.
So what do women want? Well, I can honestly tell you what 56% of them want, and that is the right to be selfish and stupid at the same time.
So what do these two polls have in common? Women for the first time in history are being considered as a major force in the cultural and political arena. Culturally, this has led to higher divorce rates, politically this has led to Obama and his administration taking our country to the brink of economic and societal collapse. I just hope all of these women sent the bill from their divorce attorneys to Gloria Steinem.


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The "dog days" of summer are here. Last week's heat wave has warmed lake and river temperatures considerably. Even in the saltwater around the islands of Portsmouth and New Castle, I measured surface temperatures in the upper 60s on the 4th of July! Stick to the dawn and dusk times of the day for best results. Trout stocking is all but wrapped up for the season. Some of the northern areas are getting a few more fish. Check the stocking report to see where we've stocked trout. Don't forget to send me your reports by dropping me a line at email@example.com.
In the North Country, Fisheries Biologist Andy Schafermeyer says the recent heat wave has had an impact on fishing in the North Country and it has been both positive and negative. Obviously the water temperatures have risen and trout ponds have slowed down. Fish are either deep, lazy, or both. Even the Androscoggin River is 70 degrees and hard to fish — especially in the middle of the day. Evenings have been productive on both ponds and rivers, and insects are hatching at a good rate.
In contrast, bass fishing has been great and Andy has landed many smallmouth on Moore Reservoir and Lake Umbagog. Also in the evening, fish seem to be attracted to plastic baits including tube jigs and Senkos. These types of baits are especially good after a rain event. Lately, fish have been responding less to noisy baits like crank baits or spinner baits.
Steve over at North Country Angler in North Conway mentioned the warm water temperatures have kept fishing to early morning and late evening. There have been good catches of trout in the Saco and Ellis rivers. The light Cahill and yellow sally hatches are in full swing on both rivers. Bass fishing is heating up on Conway Lake and Silver Lake. Hula Poppers, Jitterbugs, and Sneaky Pete Poppers are accounting for most of the largemouth and smallmouth bass.
In the Central Region, I received a nice report from an angler doing well catching both wild and stocked trout in the White Mountain area. He's been having luck fly fishing using a hopper pattern or any other terrestrial fly. The fish aren't too picky right now, especially the wild fish, which are very aggressive. Despite their general small size (4-6″) there are larger brook trout that fell for a yellow hopper fly (see photo right by S. Flagg). If anglers are willing to hike into some of these back country streams, they may be rewarded with a similar fish.
The thermocline in the big lakes should be setting up pretty well with all the warm weather we've been experiencing. Trolling spoons and small streamer flies on 6 to 7 colors of lead core line or going with downriggers set to about 35 to 45 feet should produce some results for landlocked salmon and lake trout, and even some rainbows have been hitting at these depths. Mooselook Wobblers in copper/orange, Top Guns, and DB Smelts are good lures to use. Try vertical jigging for lakers if you have a calm day.
In the Upper Valley Region, the summer heat has changed the fishing, but not for the bad. The warm water ponds are exploding right now, and anglers are reporting loads of successful days fishing. Top water plugs are working really well. At Clark Pond in Cannan, one angler said his plug barely hit the water before he had a large sized bass on the line.
The trout ponds and streams still have fish moving. Folks report catching fish by trolling in ponds and lakes using sinking line and streamers. There are still some Hexagenia mayflies hatching after dark on the remote trout ponds. The Connecticut River in Cornish and Lebanon have had great fishing. The boat ramp at Ashley Ferry in Claremont has all the silt removed, and this week lots of anglers had launched and were fishing just off of the shore.
In Southeastern NH/Merrimack Valley, bass fishing has been excellent with the best action coming at dusk, mostly using topwater plugs. Fishing in the dark can actually produce some of the biggest fish of the season. If you've never fished at night, you should give it a try. If you are using a boat, make sure you have the proper navigational lights in working order. To keep your eyes adjusted to the darkness, avoid using bright headlamps or flashlights when handling fish or tying on lures. Use "glow sticks" or a headlamp that has a red or green lens. A few trout anglers are picking up some rainbows or browns trolling deep. Try Massabesic Lake, Beaver Lake (Derry), or Bow Lake (Northwood/Strafford) for deepwater trout.
On the Seacoast, Biologist Becky Heuss tells me she has been getting good reports of big stripers being taken in Hampton Harbor. Some keeper fish have also been showing up in the Piscataqua with some of the best action coming after sundown. A few squid have been showing up, also. Try fishing the bridges near a street light in and around the Portsmouth/New Castle area. The mackerel fishing has been a little spotty, but the menhaden are showing up big time bringing the gamefish with them, and a few whales! Haddock fishing on the party boats has been pretty good as of late, as well.
Don't miss Becky's article in the July/August issue of NH Wildlife Journal magazine, where she writes about the Atlantic mackerel, which offers exciting action for coastal anglers. Subscribe or buy single issues at nhfishandgame.myshopify.com.
- Trout stocking reports: posted in season at www.fishnh.com/fishing/trout-stocking.html.
- Fishing licenses: www.nhfishandgame.com. Kids under 16 fish free!
- Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nhfishandgame
- Read the latest fascinating articles about fishing in New Hampshire from some of the best writers in the field – subscribe to NH Wildlife Journal
Federal Aid in Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration: A User-Pay, User-Benefit Program
Researching and managing fisheries and teaching people about aquatic ecosystems are funded by your license dollars and by the Federal Aid in Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program. Your purchases of fishing equipment and motorboat fuels make a difference to New Hampshire's fisheries. Learn more.


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The problem is I cannot get MP10 off my system the operating system is XP proffessional.
I have gone to add/remove in control panel then to the windows bit,it removes it from the menu but not the system. So when I try to install MP9 it says I already have a better player installed.
If any one can offer help to an old chap strugling with technology he does not understand it would make a teenage girl very happy


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London has to be one of my all time favourite cities. I love, love, love the street markets, the galleries and museums, the historical sites, the West End Theatres, travelling on the underground, the red double decker buses, red post boxes and red telephone boxes, traditional pub lunches and Union Jack bunting. I have lived in Australia for half my life now but good old Blighty flows through my veins and I think of that in itself as a huge treasure.
When there last year on holiday with Miss M, I decided to bring back something to remind me of these things that I love so much and evoke such nostalgic memories of times past that I have holidayed there.
If you have a treasure you want to share, head on over to Melody's The House on the Side of the Hill and join in the fun.


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GRAHAM, N.C. - Reverend Gregory Drumwright is being served with new felony criminal charges by the Alamance County Sheriff's Office tonight related to the Oct. 31 "I Am Change" march. Two other members of Justice for the Next Generation are also being served with new charges. The peaceful march led voters to the polls on the last day of early voting and same-day voter registration in North Carolina.
"We stand with Rev. Drumwright and other voters who gathered to speak out against racial injustice and participate in our democracy. It is troubling that a march to the polls was met with violence from law enforcement and has garnered ongoing hostility from law enforcement. These additional charges send a message that the Alamance County sheriff does not respect the First Amendment rights of the people he claims to serve. We will continue to fight to protect the rights of community members to gather and make themselves heard," said Kristi Graunke, legal director for the ACLU of North Carolina.
"Rev. Drumwright and members of Justice 4 the Next Generation were merely expressing and celebrating their constitutional rights on Oct. 31 and should not face criminal charges as a result. These new charges are retaliation for our clients' continued advocacy in Graham and the lawsuit filed against Sheriff Johnson on November 2nd, intended to pressure Rev. Drumwright and members of Justice 4 the Next Generation for challenging law enforcement officers' use of pepper spray and other excessive force on protestors of white supremacy and police brutality against Black Americans," said Elizabeth Haddix, managing attorney at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
The ACLU of North Carolina and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed a lawsuit against Graham Police Chief Kristy Cole and Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson on Nov. 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. The lawsuit aimed to protect protesters' rights to free speech and assembly under the First and Fourth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, as well as rights protected under Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act. Police violence over the weekend is cited as a violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, which was initially enacted to protect the suffrage rights of formerly enslaved people, including by protecting them and their supporters from violence, intimidation, and harassment.


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I just saw some videos about new sightings of mermaids. I was searching, finding out more last night. This morning, I asked myself this. 'Why does human beings always want to know the unknown? Why can't we just leave the animals or mammals alone?'
Sure, we are all curious. In fact, I am curious myself but human beings are deceitful creations. We are weak in the flesh and we lie. Even when truth is in front of us, we question and deny.
This morning, I asked myself what is important in my life? Finding out if mermaids exist or focusing more on God? This is really a no-brainer. Then, I close all the searches I have on mermaids. There's only so much we will know. Our knowledge is limited but God's knowledge is limitless. Why not concentrate on asking God what He wants us to do? Sure, we can spend some time on mermaids or stuff like that, stuff we like to do but to be obsessed in it spells trouble.
Me? I'm a work-in-progress. I'm also training myself to be engaged in stuff but not overly obsessed with it.
Followers of Christ, let us unite and encourage one another! =)
Dreamy C


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Changing Skyline | Nightmare on Broad Street
Symphony House, so successful in concept and as condos, is horrifying aesthetically.
Except to those who resolutely averted their eyes during construction, it won't come as news that Symphony House is the ugliest new condo building in Philadelphia. The 32-story mixed-use tower flounces onto venerable South Broad Street like a sequined and over-rouged strumpet. Sheathed in a sickly shade of pink concrete, the building resembles, as one blogger wittily observed, a giant Pepto-Bismol bottle. If only it were possible to look away!
When architecture is this bad, it's all too easy to pile on, or move on. But the lessons Philadelphia takes away from Symphony House will determine what shape this aspiring "Next Great City" assumes in the 21st century.
The Dranoff Properties project, designed by Philadelphia's Bower Lewis Thrower Architects (BLT), was chosen in a city-run competition and was meant to serve as a flagship for a newly revived, and increasingly residential, Avenue of the Arts. As a business proposition, the Symphony House condos are such a runaway success that owner Carl Dranoff is developing three more housing concepts for Broad Street.
If Symphony House is the flagship, dare we imagine what the rest of the flotilla will look like?
Judging by the flock of city boosters who bleated praises to Symphony House at a recent ribbon-cutting, there will be a mad rush to champion the project's virtues. Partisans will point out Symphony House's positives: It replaced a gas station and a surface parking lot. It provides a lavish new home for a growing theater company. It behaves in a proper urban way in that it includes two ground-floor spaces for restaurants.
While that's all true enough, Symphony House's defenders operate on the belief that any new construction in Philadelphia is good construction.
But after a vigorous real estate boom, Philadelphia can't be satisfied anymore just to build new. The city needs to build well, with taste, integrity, creativity, and, whenever possible, real aesthetic ambition. Looks matter, especially as the city comes to depend on tourism for its livelihood.
Yet when the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. solicited proposals in 2002 for the 36,000-square-foot lot between Pine and Lombard Streets, it focused on site planning, not aesthetics. PIDC, which sold the land for $6 million, never instituted a professional design-review process or vetted Dranoff's material choices. It's the same story with too many publicly initiated projects around the city, from waterfront casinos to the South Street Bridge. If city agencies are calling the shots, the city should ensure that the public gets a worthy design.
Symphony House's architecture actually grew worse after April 2003, when the initial competition rendering by BLT's Michael Ytterberg was accepted. In that version, the tower was a benign buff color with a green mansard cap. Squared-off bays projected on the north and south facades, but the crucial Broad Street wall maintained a dignified calm.
Then Dranoff and his architects started piling on the doodads. Dranoff's design philosophy seemed to be "too much is never enough."
The team pasted huge silver-colored bay windows on the Broad Street facade. They punched terrace openings between the side bays. The facade went from buff to a blushing red that was intended - depending on who is talking - to evoke either brick or sandstone. In keeping with the general reddening, the cap morphed to burgundy.
Ytterberg says he took his inspiration from Philadelphia's early-20th-century skyscrapers, like Ritter & Shay's Drake Hotel and Trumbauer's Chateau Crillon on the west side of Rittenhouse Square, now a Korman Suites. Dranoff, who was pitching Symphony House to an affluent baby-boomer demographic, said he wanted a "timeless building."
Timeless is a word that should set off alarms when uttered by developers and architects. Only the hype is timeless.
If you love historical architecture, then you will probably hate Symphony House. Philadelphia's old buildings were assembled by expert designers and craftsmen, who used natural materials and were fluent in a well-established design language.
Symphony House speaks gibberish. It is a Frankenstein mix of historical elements, from Palladian arches to art deco porthole windows, that have been rendered meaningless by modern times, materials and construction methods. The mansard crown was stolen outright from the Chateau Crillon and reproduced in fiberglass instead of copper, with four pointless hatpins poking up at the corners.
Our brains immediately intuit such deceptions. When we describe a brick rowhouse, we may say that it is red. But we understand that it is actually red and gray because about 30 percent of the surface is mortar. We appreciate the color and texture variations, even if we never articulate the reason.
You can, theoretically, create a good replica of a historic building, but it will cost far more today than the $125 million Dranoff spent on Symphony House. So when we look at the tower, set on a six-story garage, we instinctively know something is wrong with its covering of lightweight, carbon-fiber-reinforced precast concrete panels. They lack heft. The color is too uniform, too unnatural. BLT used the latest materials and methods, but betrayed their purpose.
It's not just cladding that gives Symphony House away as a clumsy, contemporary fake. It's the hodgepodge of aluminum applique. You're not supposed to notice a building's window frames, but here the silver-colored casings become an overpowering decorative element. You can't miss those silver bays because they're plastered on the tower like spangles.
Meanwhile, the architects used champagne-colored frames for the six-story base. Because the darker color is more recessive, it works better against the pink concrete. But your eye rebels at the abrupt change to silver. The garishness doesn't end with the dueling window frames. On the lower level, Dranoff clipped bronze-colored sconces between the champagne-trimmed windows. And the terraces are secured with black metal railings that look like park fencing.
Not surprisingly, the materials that lavishly decorate the interior are significantly better. That's what people are buying. But the lobby and common spaces have been decorated with the padded-shoulder pomposity of the Reagan era, a look BLT has repeated in Philadelphia's courthouse and Dranoff's Left Bank and Victor apartment buildings. Don't they know it's 2007?
Unlike Chicago and New York, Philadelphia is not known for its dazzling, iconic architecture. The city's strength has always been its sober, finely crafted designs. Philadelphia buildings take you in slowly. They are rarely vulgar, even if they seldom set the world on fire.
In some respects, Symphony House is typical of the flimsy false-front architecture going up in cities around the country. Architecture, like the fashion industry, has figured out how to mass-produce a stylish product for an affordable price. Just don't expect it to stand up to close inspection.
Because Philadelphia hasn't built many new residential high-rises until recently, it has been spared the move to schlock. Unfortunately, Symphony House looks like a harbinger of what is to come.
Changing Skyline |
Inga Saffron blogs about Philadelphia architecture at http://go.philly.com/skyline


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Keren has been studying yoga for over 20 years and teaching for the past 16 years. Her trainings have included a Hatha Yoga teacher training in Brisbane Australia, Essence of Living flow with Michelle Merrifield, Jivamukti in NYC, Lotus Flow(TM) level 1 and 2 in San Francisco and Kundalini with Guru Dass in Byron Bay. She continues to study with a variety of senior teachers at any opportunity and undertakes training every single year. Keren is a Senior Yoga Teacher (SYT) with Yoga Alliance UK and therefore delivers our vinyasa teacher training program each year with the aid of some wonderful teachers from across the globe.
Keren's classes are varied in style depending on which one you come to but her aim is to create community, show that yoga can be fun and with the ultimate aim of leaving you feeling good in body and mind. Her personal passion is Bhakti yoga, so in class you can expect a mix of storytelling, chanting (don't panic!) and philosophy all combined with her signature dynamic vinyasa style. Come play!
For more information email email@example.com.
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