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Metroid Prime 3 is Awesome
I've been playing Metroid Prime 3 as I get a chance. Awesome game. Anyone else playing it?
I've been playing Metroid Prime 3 as I get a chance. Awesome game. Anyone else playing it?
I just wanted to mention that I'll be on The Sports Docket tomorrow (August 20) night. The show starts at 8:00 PM ET and I should be joining in at 8:30 for a few minutes or so. If you have the chance, check it out.
A while back, I mentioned that a remix to 50 Cent's "I Get Money" featuring Jay-Z and Diddy was going to be released. Well, it has been and you can download it at Forbes.com.
The TV shows that I watch are finally returning to air. Last night, I watched the first one to return – Prison Break. This Sunday, we've got The Simpsons and Family Guy. Next Tuesday, House. And then the Tuesday after that, I think we're going to give a couple of new shows a try – Cavemen and Carpoolers. We'll see how those go. And, of course, the other show I watch – 24 – will return in January. Besides these shows, I watch hardly any TV at all.
I'll be on MaristRadio.net out of Poughkeepsie, NY tomorrow (Thursday) night. It's the AM radio station (though it's not available on AM at the moment – it would usually be 1630 AM) for Marist College. I'll be on the "Sports Nation" program, hosted by Ryan Schneider and Dustin Aglietti, which runs from 9:00 PM – 11:00 PM ET. I'm supposed to be coming on at around 9:40 PM. I should only be on for 10 minutes or so. You can webcast the show from the station's website (listen here). We'll be discussing the upcoming Red Sox series. If you can listen in, please do. Thanks to them for having me.
Darren wrote a post sharing his workspace and inviting others to post theirs, so I thought I'd do that. I posted a picture of my desktop more than a year ago and not a whole lot on it has changed, though there are some differences. Here is what it looks like now:
Under the desk is the sub woofer for my speakers as well as my computer. I've described those previously. The 5 speakers are on the desk, behind my monitors. The volume control sits on my desk, to the left, under my headset, which is a Plantronics Audio 90. I also have a DSP-400, but I find the Audio 90 to be more comfortable and it doesn't take over my computer like the DSP-400 does. The DSP-400 does perform better, though, as a microphone.
My LCDs are Dell 1907FPs. My wallpapers are the same as the last photo, except that, in the middle, Diddy replaces Homestar Runner. I have Winamp open on the left (still rebuilding that dang playlist) and Outlook Express open on the right.
At the base of the right monitor is my Keyspan remote. In front of that is a couple of CDs that I just bought that I have to rip ("Too Old For Me" promotional CD single by Jerome and "Love & Life" (with U.K. bonus tracks) by Mary J. Blige) with a calculator sitting on top of them. I prefer a calculator in my hand to one of my PC for whatever reason. Next to that is a glass (I drink lots of water) on top of a Coca-Cola coaster.
Next to that is my planner where I write various things that I need to get done and remember. Below that is a stack of paper on each side. This include things like a list of domains that I own, a ledger of all ad campaigns and expiration dates, a to do list and various plans I have written. Next to that is my wallet because I am always entering credit cards/credit card verification numbers into something, so I just keep it there, usually. I have the keyboard and mouse that came with my PC and the mouse sits on an iFroggy.com mousepad.
Beyond the desk to my left is my new (bought in July) CanoScan CS8600F scanner. It sits on the sub woofer to my sound system. To the right is my file cabinet, which is pretty new (finally bought myself a real file cabinet after reading the Lifehacker book) and on top of it is an organizer with bills and checks to deposit as well as my Ion USB turntable.
Beyond the photo, my workspace is conveniently located, with my entertainment center to my immediate left and my bathroom to my immediate right. :)
I thought that I would mention that I'll be on Sports Talk Live with Frankie the Sports Guy tomorrow, Saturday, September 8. The show is broadcast live online from 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM ET on BlogTalkRadio (listen here) and it will be rebroadcast from 6:00 PM ET to 7:00 PM ET on MVN Radio.
Other guests on the show will include Sensei John Kreese from noMaas.org and Mike Lindsley from Pinstripe Passion. The focus will be the Yankees, of course, but also our sites. So, if you get a chance, please listen in.
I was featured in the first interview on a new site called InterviewsWith.com. It's dedicated to interviewing entrepreneurs and business people. To view the interview, go here and enter iwith101 as your password. Thank you to Tom and InterviewsWith.com for their interest.
I posted a Winamp playlist update to show how far I'd come in rebuilding my Winamp playlist. It was an estimate (since there were some tracks that didn't already do that were counted in the done figure). Since then, I've done a bit of traveling, making the process slower, but I am now at a point where I can give an exact figures update. Here they are:
Done: 7,384 files, 924 folders, 25.7 GB.
Left: 9,101 files, 935 folders, 32.9 GB.
In other words, since June 11, I've added 651 tracks, 146 folders and 3.1 GB. But, looking at it strictly from a progress perspective, I have chipped away 4.6 GB in all, during that time. So, getting there…
This week marks the first week of playoffs in the 3 fantasy baseball leagues that I am in.
League One: Yankees Bloggers League
This is a league I put together consisting of New York Yankees bloggers. It includes bloggers from YanksBlog.com (my site), River Ave Blues, Pride of the Yankees, NoSenseWorrying.com, Pinstripe Potentials and Pending Pinstripes. It's a 10 team league with 6 playoff spots. I finished 5th. My team:


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UofTHacks 2013, An Overview
December 26, 2013
UofTHacks, and it was amazing! This was the largest Student Run Hackathon to take place in Canada, with over 350 participants in total! UofTHacks was a 36-hour hackathon that took place between Friday 27th September and Sunday 29th September. Here's a breakdown of what happened for all of you who missed it, and a reminder for those of you who were awesome enough to be a part of it.
Day 1
We began with registration, where each participant was given a swag bag, and had some time to meet with other hackers and some of the sponsoring companies that had setup booths. The Swag Bags had some stickers from Various Companies like Google, Git Hub, Microsoft and Stackoverflow, as well as pens, flyers and information about the event.The bags themselves were tote bags with the UofTHacks logo on them.
We then headed over to the OISE building for the Opening Ceremony which included a Key Note, and going over what would happen at the Hackathon. There was a great turnout from many different schools such as UofT (of course), Waterloo, McGill and students from other Universities like Harvard and Rutgers as well. We introduced some of the executive team, as well as went over the rules for the hackathon, and the general outline of the timeline.
The Key Note was done by Tobias Lutke, the CEO of Shopify, our platinum sponsor.
Here's a video of the Opening Ceremony and Key Note. Only after watching the video did I realize how many times I said "Umm" - so sorry guys!
We then headed back to The Bahen Center, where hackers dug into some food before starting off on their hacks. Whilst hackers hacked, some of the exec members walked around asking Trivia Questions, and having casual chats while handing out some of the swag companies had given us. We'd also set up raffles to reward people who had stayed up all night, and these prizes included Android Plushies and Yoyo's, Stickers, Splinter Cell Swag, Git Hub T-Shirts, Movie Tickets, posters, and much much more! We had music pumping in The Great Hall (BA3200), which is where we held the raffles, and as a result convinced people to take part in impromptu dance-offs to gain more raffle tickets. These went on all night, until we needed to start getting ready for the next day.
Day 2
Breakfast is an extremely important meal of the day! We made pancakes, bagels, got coffee and other delicious breakfast foods. Once Hackers were well fed, we got to some of the exciting activities of the day. The first being our Tech Expo and Job Fair. Here sponsoring companies set up booths with information about potential future employment, as well as some of the cool gadgets that the company currently works with. We even had a 3D printer setup!
Following the tech expo, we had Seminars hosted by some truly amazing people. The first was by Rosy Rumpal, a lawyer with a huge interest in startups. She walked us through some of the many legal issues that are important, and that one needs to know when considering creating a startup company. She was followed by Niche Thevarajah from Oanda who discussed their API system. Finally, we had Harry Brundage from Shopify talk about the inspiration that led to Shopify, as well as answered many questions about what it was like to work at Shopify. Below you can find a video of these seminars.
After the seminars, the amazing team from Cofoundster helped setup a unique experience for UofTHackers. They found individuals in their community with different backgrounds to come out and talk to students about their projects, and some of the best ways to grow their project and help turn it from a weekend hack into a profitable startup in the future. Students signed up and the team stayed on longer than expected to help out and keep giving students advice, and the hackers seemed to really appreciate it as well.
This long day of activities was followed by Dinner, and then another night of hacking, napping, dancing and prize raffling. We held two larger Raffles the second night, had even more people dancing, and gave away even more prizes. A huge thanks to all our sponsors who helped provide us with the swag we could use for the prizes! We also had a little surprise in store for the students that stayed up all night hacking! We got an ICE CREAM TRUCK with unlimited Ice Cream for students all night long!
Day 3
Finally, the end was nigh. We gave hackers instructions on how to submit their hacks as well as constant reminders on how much (little!!) time was left before their hacks were due. They also had to consider prepping for the Hack Expo, where they needed to demo their app in front of numerous judges, as well as other participants and sponsors.
A full list of submitted Hacks, as well as descriptions/demos etc. can be found on our Hackathon.io/uofthacks page. These were honestly absolutely amazing hacks that span from tweeting using the command line, to tracking and translating Sign Language. Below is a list of all 35 officially judged hacks.
- Forex Auto Trading
- iWant
- What's New
- Mothly
- Dynamit
- Challenge Accepted
- Study Party
- Swordfish Team
- Playlist Hero
- Watch Out
- Deal Flaggor
- Cryptr
- Automtatic ROSI
- Teleport
- Workathon
- Neat Chores
- Chest Bump
- At.Me
- You Snooze, You Loose
- Motsarella
- Tracksit
- Foodographer
- Cloud Capsule
- Webkin
- Twt2r_cmb
- Insite
- Money Manager
- Oskar P.
- Icup
- Banana Sundae
- Bookie
- Seeder
- ASL-Hand Tracker
We had two types of judges circulating the room, the first group being the overall judges that comprised of a representative from Shopify, and CoFoundster, as well as UofT's very own Karen Reid and Joshua Gans. We believed this mix of judges from both different companies, as well as different fields of teaching, would help create a balanced discussion when selecting the final winners. We asked these Judges to base their judging criteria on Design, Innovation, Flashiness, Fun Factor, Usability, Functionality and a large proportion of the scoring went to Marketability and Presentation. We really wanted to emphasize the importance of being able to market a product, and thought this was a very important aspect to keep as part of the Judging. The second type of Judges at the Hackathon were the Categorical Prize Judges. These were companies who decided to sponsor their own prize, either to appreciate an apps use of their API, or just to improve the average students life. We let the companies judges determine their own judging criteria for this app. Below are the list of categories.
- "Best Hack for Students" - One Class
- "Most Innovative Hack" - Intuos
- "Best Use of a Financial API" - Orbis
- "Best Use of Oanda's API" - Oanda
- "Best Heroes Hack" - Freshbooks
- "Best Design and Graphics" - Wacom
- "Most Creative Service App" - Microsoft
- "Best Game" - Ubisoft
Once we had the finalists determined, we began the Closing Ceremony. A bittersweet moment that signified the end of an amazing weekend. Each of the finalists, as well as the winners of each Category were asked to present their Hack in front of the entire audience. We then ended with a few closing remarks, and some thank-yous to all our sponsors, judges, volunteers and hackers.
I'm trying to see if there was a video recording of the Closing Ceremony, however I'm not sure that there was one :(
- First Place - Cryptr
- Second Place - Banana Sundae
- Third Place - ALS Translator
- "Best Hack for Students" - Neat Chores
- "Most Innovative Hack" - Webkin
- "Best Use of a Financial API" - At.Me
- "Best Use of Oanda's API" - Forex Auto Trading
- "Best Heroes Hack" - Freshbooks - Banana Sunda
- "Best Design and Graphics" - Wacom
- "Most Creative Service App" - Microsoft
- "Best Game" - Dodge
Photos and Videos
A huge thank you to Chow Productions for their amazing photography and filmography throughout this event.
I have uploaded all the photos onto our Facebook page.
There were also two videos of the Opening Ceremony and the Seminars as well.
If you have any photos or videos that you'd like us to share (we'd really appreciate it!) then please email them in to us at email@example.com.
My Final Spiel
I was looking over the budget request for our Computer Science Student Union (CSSU) last year, and noticed that we had money allocated towards a hackathon but never actually planned one. I was gutted. I'd been hearing about PenApps, MHacks and many other hackathons, as well as taking part in one or two myself, and decided that UofT needed to throw one. A big one. And it had to be epic. I tried piecing together ideas from hackathons I'd been too, as well as popular trends in the College Hackathons being hosted all over USA. I was fortunate enough to get an amazing team who was just as passionate as I was in trying to setup UofTHacks, and applaud them for how much work we put into it. It didn't "hit me" as actually happening until I put on my orange UofTHacks shirt, and started signing in the first few hackers. It was unreal. Students travelled hours to come out to UofTHacks. To come out to an event that I helped plan. An event that they don't know anything about (I mean, it could have been terrible (I'm really hoping no one thought it was terrible (Oh gosh. Was it terrible? (I'm sensing a nesting issue and shall stop now)))).
I had such a great time getting to know the sponsors and company reps who attended our event, as well as spending time getting to know the hackers and some of the amazing projects they worked on. I think nighttime was my favourite time coz I didn't need to do much supervising, and had more time to walk around and talk to people. I'd walk around with a bowl of goodies and "reward" people who answered random trivia questions or did something funny. I also WOO'ed. A lot. It's something I've done for ages, and accidentally made it "my thing" at the Hackathon. Whenever I'd enter a room, or make an announcement, I'd WOO. During the Closing Ceremony, as I was getting ready to start the final announcements and congratulate the finalists, the audience WOO'ed me. It was honestly my favourite and most rewarding moment of the Hackathon. WOOOO.
Some Much Needed Thank You's
From the help we got from the University when it came to renting space and equipment, to support from the Department of Computer Science in helping us push the idea of hosting a Hackathon. Also a shoutout to Dave Fontenont who gave me countless advice through the early stages of planning from his own experience (if you're part of the Hacking Community, you definitely know who he is). A huge thanks to all the volunteers who stayed and helped make the event manageable, and to the sponsors who provided us with swag and the money we needed to fund the event. I'm in shock at how much we were able to collect, and how willing companies were to come out and meet with students over a weekend! A definite thanks to my exec team, and those that stepped up and did work above and beyond what they needed to (and who tolerated me). And finally, the biggest thank you goes out to all the hackers that took part. Without you, the event couldn't have been a success. Your passion and will to code for 36 hours is one of the reasons that drove me to planning UofTHacks. What I didn't expect was how much more passionate and amazing you guys really are, and it's definitely got me pumped to start planning the next Hackathon!
UofTHacks Exec Team:
- Aashni Shah | aashni.me | @aashnisshah
- Ammar Javed | @ammarj965
- Jaisie Sin
- Siamak Freydoonijad
- Sophia Park | @primasophia
- Vatsal Namit | @vatsalgame
- Zach Munro-Cape | @munrocape

subset: commoncrawl


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About Last Night: Remember the AlamoRonald Martinez/Getty Images
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports on Monday.
- Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota accounted for 386 total yards as the no. 10 Ducks routed the Texas Longhorns, 30-7, in the final game of Mack Brown's Texas career. "Not exactly how I wanted to go out," said a downcast Brown, who, along with the Alamo Bowl loss, had accidentally worn a children's T-shirt that read "Austin's no. 1 Cheese Fan" on the front.
- Yesterday was Black Monday in the NFL, and the firing action came hot and heavy. Mike Shanahan? CANNED. Jim Schwartz? GONEZO. Leslie Frazier? BUH-BYE. Rob Chudzinski? AXED. Greg Schiano? COMPLETE ASSHOLE. (Also, fired.)
- After a blown call on a field goal attempt likely cost his team a spot in the playoffs, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said "there's a lot of work [to do]" in regard to the NFL's officials. NFL vice-president of officiating Dean Blandino retorted that there was also "a lot of work [to do]" in regard to coaches illegally obstructing players while on the sideline. Fired Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano was the last to chime in, shouting, "You're all Schiano men!" and then, for some reason, saluting.
- After suffering a concussion that sidelined him for almost a month, Broncos receiver Wes Welker has been medically cleared to play in Denver's first postseason game. "There are some minor issues with Wes running in wrong directions for unpredictable reasons, and he seems to be operating under the misconception that jock straps are to be worn as blindfolds," said Broncos team doctor Hugh Godfrey. "But Roger Goodell said he'd fine us if Wes didn't play. His bloodlust is strong right now."
- The Louisville Cardinals cut Chane Behanan for violating university policy, with head coach Rick Pitino saying he "just did not do the right thing over and over and over." There was no audio recording of Pitino's quote, so it's hard to tell whether he sang the words "over and over and over" like Morrissey in the Smiths' classic "I Know It's Over." But it's not impossible, so to hell with you and your judge-y fat face.
- Bo Wallace threw for 256 yards and a touchdown as the Ole Miss Rebels beat Georgia Tech, 25-17, in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl. This particular bowl game is unique in the sense that Wallace was actually able to "borrow" most of his yards from Franklin American at subprime rates, getting as many as 10 to 15 yards for simply kneeling down with the ball, and even picking up smaller five-yard chunks for just taking a snap in the shotgun and punting the ball backward. It's wonderful for Wallace now, since a player of his limited athletic means could never have gained that many yards on his own, but the big worry is that next season, when the rates of repayment change per the deal he signed, he's going to owe Franklin American more than 1,000 yards for this game alone, and will have to pay it back with 20- to-30 yard plays at a time. If he can't do it, which is likely since he was never that good, he'll have to "close" on football by quitting the game, at which point his credibility will be shot and he'll never have a chance to play again. That's not just bad for Wallace, though; Florida coach Will Muschamp actually owns some of Wallace's yards, in a combination package with the subprime yards of several other football players who borrowed at ridiculous rates last night, and if the yardage bubble bursts at the same time for those players next year, he could lose thousands of yards and have to repay them from his own team, which barely produces yards at all. Incidentally, he bought this collateralized yardage debt package from Nick Saban.
- Navy defeated Middle Tennessee, 24-6, in the Armed Forces Bowl, which led to a renewed round of questioning from scholars as to whether we really need a Middle Tennessee branch of the U.S. Military.
- Perry Ellis scored 21 points while Andrew Wiggins and Naadir Tharpe chipped in with 20 apiece as the no. 16 Kansas Jayhawks dealt Toledo its first loss of the season, 93-83. "Gentlemen, I do believe we have found our spokespeople," said Alistair Self of the English hosiery firm Ellis, Wiggins, Tharpe, and Self.
Filed Under: About Last Night, College Football, Denver Broncos, NFL, Oregon, Pittsburgh Steelers, Shane Ryan, Texas
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Recognize. Respond. Survive. Active Shooter Response Training (ABEN) 10/13/2022
IMPORTANT – all class communications will be sent to the email address with which you register!
REGISTRATION QUESTIONS? Contact Susie Perkins, Education Coordinator at (804)747-9300 or email: email@example.com
Need a place to stay while attending classes or events in Richmond? IIAV now has a corporate rate at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Richmond Short Pump! Book your corporate rate for IIAV now.
Recognize. Respond. Survive. Active Shooter Response Training (ABEN) 10/13/2022
Thursday, October 13, 2022 (2:00 PM - 4:00 PM) (EDT)
ProActive Response Group's Active Shooter Response Training course educates participants in current trends of active shooter incidents, how to recognize early warning signs of violence, appropriate actions to increase chances of survival in an active shooter event, and how to use basic medical equipment to save the lives of victims.
Having your employees trained mitigates the risk for serious injury or death. Most general liability insurance policies do not cover active shooter events. This can cause a major financial burden on a employee. Training all employees minimizes the chance of death or serious injury because they are empowered and trained on this topic and response options.
Basic Course Information
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ABEN - Agents & Brokers Education Network
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Thursday, October 13, 2022 (2:00 PM - 4:00 PM) (EDT)
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Many of the 1970s singer/songwriters are pejoratively painted with the easy listening brush. But some artists used the cover of the genre to subversively tackle darker topics, while getting their songs on the radio through beautiful melodies that didn't betray the anger and upset of the lyrics. Take Carole King's "Too Late Baby," which features the chilling line "Somethin' inside has died, and I can't hide." Tennis' Swimmer evokes King in the way the album cloaks sad, intense themes in rich pop that hearkens back to singer/songwriters like King, but with decidedly more contemporary touches.
Tennis is husband and wife duo Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley. The album comes out of a rough patch where Moore had health issues and Riley lost both of his parents. Swimmer is the work that grew out of that grief, a surprisingly romantic album that in many ways is more about love than loss.
The King comparison came out of "Need Your Love," which has musical similarities to the aforementioned "Too Late Baby." Lyrically, they both share a theme of unreciprocated love, although Tennis makes it harder to see if the song is coming from the perspective of the dumped, or the dumpee, which is sometimes the case in these kinds of situations: "Baby you've got more poison than sugar / I need your love and I need your touch like I need a bolt of lightning from the sky above." The music begins with a sharp piano riff and a tight, fidgety beat, like someone drumming their fingers nervously on a table. The King tribute occurs in the chorus where the song slows down, creating the effect of someone switching radio stations. It's a surprisingly accessible mix of new and old.
Tennis also have two surprisingly old-fashioned tracks that feel like they should be covers. "Echoes" is almost tropical, to the point that you could imagine it being performed on steel drums. But the lyrics are precise and personal, describing Riley's reaction to Moore's health scare: "You said, "Get a doctor / My wife's going under / She's off where the sun isn't Shining." "Tender as a Tomb" is a 60s bossa nova. Both tracks feature light production, barely more than Moore's vocals and a thin coat of instrumentation. The beauty of the songs is how they spotlight her timeless voice.
The band has referenced the small footprint of the album, which describes its restrained production. But there's also the experiential footprint, as the band captures specific, personal moments. It's an idea that flows from many 70s singer/songwriters. Easy listening describes the relatively low-key music, but doesn't truly reflect the painfully direct lyrical content. It's similar to the way that from above, swimmers look like they're easily gliding through the water, while below the surface they're manically kicking and fighting the undertow. Swimmer is easy to listen to and enjoy, but the ease ends there.
review by Steven Ovadia
Swimmer comes out on February 21st, via Mutually Detrimental
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Emma Dante's The Macaluso SistersBy Laura Valenza
The Macaluso Sisters follows five orphaned sisters who rent doves as they deal with the grief and ramifications of the youngest sisters death during a childhood adventure at the beach. The film follows the sisterssome of whom are played by multiple actressesover the course of their lives. The Macaluso Sisters was a 2020 Venice International Film Festival Official Selection, and was released in American theaters this August.
Angelo Madsen Minax's North By CurrentBy Anna Cahn
Focusing on Minaxs return to his Michigan hometown to tell the story of his infant nieces death, the film documents not only the grief of his nieces passing, but also his childhood and familys response to his transness and the possibility of a queer self-acutalized existence.


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Here is what I had to work with.
You may be wondering why the cabinets look like they have mud on them. I can explain. When we first moved in, they were the most awful shade of pinkish wood. It looked like skin, and it grossed me out. I didn't have time to paint them at that time, so glazed the cabinets right over that pink wood to "rustify" them. My mister decreed they looked dirty, but I didn't care. At least they weren't pink!
Here is my beautiful little kitchen now!
Amazing how paint can make a space feel so much more open! This little space can barely fit two people in it at time.
But, it certainly feels larger with the nice clean white.
I debated distressing, or glazing them. In the end though, I decided I wanted to keep it simple and crisp. I have a lot of other distressed and glazed furniture, and I didn't want everything to look too matchy matchy. I can always change it up later if I get bored with it.
I have plans for that little space on the top there, but I have to find what I need to do it first. Those baskets hold hot pads, and such like things that I don't have drawer space for. This crate keeps all our coffee making ingredients handy and not looking too messy. It also hides the fact that I switched paint colors in the middle of a wall! =)
Here are a couple tips from my experience. I used a one and a half inch Purdy brush, a small foam roller, and a slightly larger roller to paint with. That small foam roller was well worth buying. It saved my sanity quite a bit on the small flat areas to keep brush strokes from showing.
I primed them with this primer.
I found that cans were super helpful to prop up the drawers and doors while I painted them.
One last tip for you that I learned from my super smart big sister. Once you've rinsed out your brushes, pat them dry and throw them in the freezer in a Ziploc bag.
Once they've frozen, take them back out and let them defrost. Pat them dry again. This keeps them from getting crunchy. They will always stay soft no matter how much you use them! Just remember to thaw them out well before you're ready to work again. It's phenomenally annoying to get all ready to paint, only to realize you have frozen brushes! Not that I would know from experience or anything....
Aren't those tulips lovely? My sweet mister bought them for me. I just love them.
All in all, this was a project well worth doing!
Have a superb rest of your week!
Psalms 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
linking to:
The Inspired Room
Miss Mustard Seed
Simple Home Life
the vintage farmhouse


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One of our readers, Marc M., sent in this question about a losing a remote/transponder key:
"What do I do if my key is stolen (transponder/wireless key) and I'm away from civilization?"
Marc, I sure hope this is a hypothetical question that you've sent and that you don't actually have this problem, because I don't have a workaround for you. This is one of the worst things that can happen to an owner of a modern car because these modern transponder/remote keys are quite expensive and are not easy to replace. It's unlike in the past where all you had to go was get a blank key cut to replace a lost one. It's far more complex with these modern keys and a lot more expensive because of their multiple functions.
Modern remote/transponder keys can cost tens of thousands of pesos from the dealer. If you've broken your key, there are shops here that can repair them like Keynamics. However, a lost remote/transponder key will require replacement, cutting, and re-programming and if you have them all done at the dealer, you're in for some wallet lightening. Sometimes, if you have the means to import stuff from the US, you can get a key from eBay or an online car key specialty store like iKeyless.com, and they might have the particular key that you need. But it will still need to be cut and programmed. The good thing is that these keys from the aforementioned sources will cost much less than those from the dealer.
Incidentally, I myself currently have a similar problem, having lost the secondary remote key for a car. I don't want to go to the dealer, so I'm looking around on eBay and other sources for a brand-new one. But I still haven't found what I'm looking for (Bono of U2 must have had this problem before, ha!).
However, both solutions will require time. In the meantime, the second part of your problem has yet to be addressed: That you're away from civilization.
Marc, you can entrust your car to somebody out there and hope for the best. But if I were you, I would do everything I can to get that car to a safe place. And the safest place is home. Call for a flatbed wrecker and have your car trucked back to your house. It may cost a lot, but at least you will be assured of its safety. You won't be able to address the lost key immediately, but you don't want your car sitting out in the boonies for too long, either. Otherwise, it will probably be stripped or vandalized by the time you get your new key and go back there, then you might have even more problems on your hands
I wish I could be of more help, but there really aren't any other solutions to this problem that I know of. Hope this helps. Thanks for writing in!


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The Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival at the Tobacco Factory in
I got to the show a little late, so I missed the first groups of Panacea and The Strange Fruit Project, but by all accounts they did their thing. The first act I caught was The Procussions from the Rawkus Records stable, once the be-all and end all for the backpacking set and label behind the super-group Black Star's [Mos Def and Talib Kweli] rise to fame.
I actually first heard of The Procussions on a trip through
A hype set by special unbilled guest Craig G was ruined because his partner's mic wasn't on and by the looks of it, took him from hype to angry. Shouts to Talib Kweli for popping out of nowhere during Craig's set, though [maybe next year 40 minutes of Black Star???], as well as Sean Price and Buckshot from Boot Camp for coming through. The crowd seemed to have bouts of what I'll call sluggishness through the show, and although Craig's set reeked of old-school flavor, something about it seemed a little off. I think he sounded too angry, but I'd never seen him before outside of some battle shit on DVD, that could just be his style.
Of the top billed stars, three out of the four delivered. I should probably count Sleepy Brown in there and make it five stars, but his performance, while exciting, was really laid back and relegated to mostly him doing snippets of songs he laced with his dungeon family [Outkast, Organized Noise, "I Like the Way You Move," "Can't Wait" etc.]. He did a few songs for the ladies, but I think the crowd was hungrier for the kind of energy that resonates with an emcee rhyming rather than a slick dood like Sleepy singing.
Rhymefest was on last year's bill and he definitely did not disappoint. I'd been hearing about him for awhile and was never really sold on his voice and delivery till I heard him rhyme. Fest definitely did some Chi-city shit, dipping, sliding and stepping through his set, not too mention lacing the illest freestyle of the day, some shit about [and I'm paraphrasing] "jumping into the crowd next to a white girl with a black girls' ass and holding [my] own poster" – as he was doing each thing he mentioned. Fucking insanely good live performer.
I was disappointed the other young dude, Lupe Fiasco, billed as an emcee to watch didn't come off as crazy. On tape, son is crazy... his rhyme schemes and layered punchlines "brown nosing like alf" have you constantly listening close, but live something about it didn't translate [tho "Kick Push" is gonna be a fucking classic]. In all fairness, though, his and Sleepy Browns' style seemed not to mesh with the vibe the crowd was looking for whereas Fest's did. While Fest was on some just rhyme shit, Lupe had a more gangster edge to him; the acapella he dropped was dope, but it had elements of the money/cash/hos/drugs theme that people came to escape from that I think lost him points.
For me, the highlight of the festival was two-fold. I got to see the headliner Big Daddy Kane, a mic LEGEND without question, AND I got to czec CL Smooth who I've always heard was incredible live. Some people might kill me for this, but I think CL stole the show. Kane had some great moments and his last song "Ain't No Half Steppin" ranks among the craziest I've ever seen a crowd, and his tribute to hip hop greats who've passed ["A Moment of Noise"] was a dope way to celebrate those who've left this world and hip hop behind.
But CL just crushed the show with this ridiculous look on his face, kind of a smirk, kind of in disgust that he had to remind us he was dope, and kind of a smile cuz he knew that WE all knew he was dope to begin with. But holy shit, his rendition of "They Reminisce Over You – T.R.O.Y." was jus CRAZY. The flow… it's still beautiful. Granted after 14 years, it oughtta be, but still. The dude was relentless.
I think I was in the minority though, because everyone was basically hyped out of their minds about Kane's performance. He talked with the crowd about how you have to respect the past in order to move forward and he was no doubt the guy performing last night was the kind that, in his heyday, elevated him to his now revered status. The guy just oozed charisma.
Aside from the shitty weather and a few sound problems, the show was seriously off the fucking cliff. There's something about the energy at hip hop show that nothing else can duplicate, at least for me. Everything is clear, the vibe is crazy. Daps to Brooklyn Bodega for organizing it, czec them out: www.brooklynbodega.com. Brooklyn Brewery was also on hand for liquid fuel.
Bottom-line, anyone who wasn't there, missed the fuck out. When you can hear the bass 5 blocks away, you know you're in the right spot. For a purist, it was further proof that when the time is right, hip hop as a music will find it's way back from what it is now to what it was then by embracing all it can and more importantly, SHOULD, become. Till then, we'll reminisce over H.E.R.


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Safety Matters Most
As an indoor shooting range owner, you are deeply aware of safety issues. You no doubt have a concise and efficient safety plan when it comes to running your range. A safe range plan is important for your employees and your customers alike. It is an inherent responsibility when operating your business that firearm safety is first and foremost for all involved.
But, there is also a responsibility that goes beyond firearm safety that may not get the attention it deserves. There are laws that make you responsible for protecting your employees and patrons from a lead contaminated workplaces. Ventilation is one of the key components of air quality inside indoor shooting ranges. During daily exposure with firearms, owners, employees and customers can inhale dust and fumes that contain harmful lead particulates. According to the Center for Disease Control, firearm exposure holds the largest risk of lead poisoning outside of work.
Ventilation – The Hidden Safety Issue
Proper indoor shooting range ventilation is paramount to ensuring the health safety of your employees and customers. But, as you know, the ventilation systems currently in use today are grossly inadequate if not properly administered. HVAC systems that are utilized in other industries fall short when they are utilized in a shooting range setting. An indoor range has ventilation needs of its own due to contaminants and pollutants that are byproducts of firearm use. Current systems requiring expensive and labor-intensive filter changes; making it extremely disruptive to your business. Consequently, many owners do not replace these filters on a regular basis. This can produce harmful recirculation of particulate-filled air. And, it creates a safety hazard for those who are breathing it and encountering contaminated surfaces consistently.
Safer Ventilation
At Rushing Air Treated Air Systems, we set out to design a system that would enable indoor range owners to keep consistent with federal regulation. It would also allow your employees and customers the availability of the cleanest and environmentally safe air quality atmosphere possible. Our Conditioned Air Displacement System is a proprietary cutting-edge indoor shooting range ventilation system that introduces safety back into indoor range air quality. Our design alleviates the existing filtration system by employing low cost filtration at the exhaust stage of the cycle. We can do this because our system circulates fresh air constantly. No other system currently available today has the capability of using clean, fresh air from the outside, while easily regulating temperature and humidity on the inside. Considered the most advanced indoor shooting range ventilation on the market today. Our system makes it nearly impossible for your employees and patrons to be exposed to dangerous air and surfaces.
Our Conditioned Air Displacement System indoor shooting range ventilation technology does not rely on the same antiquated filtration system that has been used for decades. Old filters are not only expensive, but studies have revealed that many do not even meet current standards, and are not adequate. The downtime involved when changing these unruly filters equates to business interruption. Not so with our proprietary system. When circulating nothing but clean, fresh air, the people inside your building are breathing just that — clean, fresh air. Our low-cost filters are utilized at exhaust and can easily be changed in seconds without interrupting your business. No longer are you running the risk of recirculating contaminants; but you are also saving money.
Energy Cost Savings
Consider not only your downtime costs being eliminated but also your energy costs. With restricted airflow, no longer part of the equation, a huge benefit to our innovative technology in indoor shooting range ventilation is energy savings. With our design, airflow is not compromised and uses far less energy. An old recirculation system can cost up to $3.25 per hour per four-foot lane to operate. Based on a 68° interior temperature, our system at Rushing Air costs a mere $0.75 per hour per four-foot lane to operate, while providing heated or cooled fresh air. Bottom line — our Conditioned Air Displacement System can save $67,000 per year. All while providing your employees and customers the safest, cleanest air possible within your facility.
Clean Air is Healthy Air
Our indoor shooting range ventilation technology is the cleanest, most advanced system on the market today. The use of fresh air eliminates concerns of particulate and pollutant contamination, all the while efficiently cooling, heating and dehumidifying the interior air to your criteria and comfort. Energy efficiency is a cost savings byproduct of our advanced design. No other indoor shooting range ventilation system can offer the safety, efficiency and cost savings that Rushing Air Treated Air Systems can. As a business owner, we know that you care about the health and welfare of your employees and customers. Old recirculation systems have proven inadequate in this regard. Call Rushing Air Treated Air Systems to find out more about our innovative design in indoor shooting range ventilation.


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Liberty Livewire gives nod to
Order for three all-digital consoles
at Todd West Lantana post complex
Palo Alto, CA - Liberty Livewire Corporation recently ordered three large-format System 5 High Performance Digital Post Production Consoles for installation at its Todd West Lantana facility in West Los Angeles. An identical pair of 24/96-capable System 5s set up for two-operators feature 80 on-surface faders, capable of handling a total of 350 full-featured analog and digital channels. The third, slightly smaller, System 5 features 24 on-surface faders, and is capable of accommodating a total of 130 analog/digital sources
The larger System 5 all-digital consoles will be commissioned on Stage #1 and Stage #2 at Todd West Lantana. Initially, the smaller all-digital system is being used as a "Sidecar" Auxiliary Console and has seen service on Stage "S" at the Todd Radford facility in Studio City; it will find a permanent home on a Sound Stage later this year. The announcement was made by Bill Johnston, VP Engineering, Liberty Livewire Audio
Designed to handle a wide cross section of applications, System 5 is targeted towards post-production, music recording and on-air broadcast customers that require greater than 100 channel paths of full 24-bit digital signal processing at up to 96 kHz sampling rates. A total of 54 System 5 Digital Consoles - "The Three-in-One Solution" - have now been ordered.
Liberty Livewire Corporation is the new name for the amalgam of international sound editorial and post-production facilities, including the former Todd-AO, Four Media, Soundelux, Pacific Ocean Post, Digital Sound & Picture, Sound One and related operations owned by the company. The various audio post-production and film re-recording stages were recently formed into Liberty Livewire Audio.
"We looked at a number of all-digital designs," Bill Johnston offers, "and liked what the System 5 offers" in a powerful yet compact configuration. "For Lantana, we needed large-format solutions as well as a portable design that packs a lot of functionality into a small frame; the System 5 serves our purposes perfectly." Recently, the smaller System 5 was used on Lantana Stage #2 to provide additional sound-effect inputs for a companion analog console during pre-dubbing and remixing of director Billy Bob Thornton's new movie, All The Pretty Horses, starring Matt Damon, Ruben Blades and Sam Shepard.
"Even though our Portable System
5 features only 24 on-surface faders," Johnston continues, "we can still
access a large number of sources - which is exactly what we need from a
Sidecar Sound-Effects Console. In addition to the two dubbing consoles,
we needed the portable system so we can move it to other rooms at Lantana,
Todd Hollywood, Todd Burbank or Todd Radford, should the need arise. In
fact, when the first System 5 arrived in a number of boxes, it only took
a few hours to assemble and be fully operational - older analog consoles,
on the other hand, are large, cumbersome and difficult to move from stage
to stage."
And sonic quality is a major factor. "Today's productions - with maybe as many as 300 tracks being routed to final soundtrack busses - can generate a lot of additive noise," Johnston says, "simply because of the large number of sources and long signal paths through a conventional 18-foot analog console. But with an all-digital console like System 5, running 24-bit at a sampling rate of 48 kHz, we can minimize the amount to unwanted noise being generated from replay sources."
Johnston also needs an enhanced degree of versatility. "System 5 is extremely flexible, because it handles not only film and video post, but also music recording and live broadcast. As these markets are heading in the same direction, we need to be able to accommodate a number of new-format sessions. For example, a growing number of engineers use stems as submixes, which can be recorded to separate tracks and merged within the console to provide a master surround-sound mix. We like what Euphonix has done with its Film Monitor Panel, which provides a very sensible layout for stem mixing."
"All in all, the System 5 offers a lot of mixing power in a small package, and is easy to operate," Johnston summarizes. "We are evaluating System 5 to determine how it might match the requirements of our other post facilities."
Recently, Lora Hirschberg used the System 5 to pre-dubs sound effects tracks for "All The Pretty Horses" on Lantana Stage #2. "The control surface is very simple to use," she offers. "The console is laid out very clearly, and you can see everything you need to see quickly and efficiently. PatchNet is great; it lets me set up my input sources-to-channel routing quickly and easily, and means that I can re-assign [sources] in a short period of time." Hirschberg has used the System 5 at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, where she also worked as a freelance film re-recording engineer
are honored that Liberty Livewire has selected a Euphonix System 5 for the
Todd West Lantana facility, "offers company president, Piers Plaskitt. "Given
the large number of facilities that the company operates around the world,
we look forward to working with their staff to develop viable all-digital,
network-capable solutions for video and film post production."
Liberty Livewire Corporation
(NASDAQ: LWIRA) provides a wide range of traditional audio and video post-production,
transmission, library services, and audio/video distribution services via
satellite and fiber to worldwide clients in the feature film, television
and advertising industries. Also provides interactive television services
under the brand name 'HyperTv with Livewire."


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The summer is rapidly approaching and before your know it your kids will be out of school. While you may be excited to spend more time with them, you might also be at a loss for ways to keep them entertained. Although staying in and enjoying the comfort of the air conditioner can be relaxing, not getting out and enjoying the weather would be a waste. After all, who knows how long until they don't want to hang out with you?
Your kid will be at the top of the class come September if you make summertime activities as educational as they are fun and engaging.
1. Start a garden. Encouraging a green thumb in your offspring has multiple benefits for both you. They get to learn a little about photosynthesis, geology and agriculture, as well as enjoy plenty of exercise and vitamin D. Plus, everyone gets to chow down on juicy tomatoes and fresh cucumbers after the harvest.
2. Visit a historic state park. If there is a historic state park in your town or city, they typically make for affordable and fun day trips. Many offer information on the growth of the area and are typically well-maintained and perfect for picnics, throwing a ball around or catching some sun. Be sure to check in on any guided tours that might be available before you head over.
3. Begin a star-watching project. Pick out a few stars that are sure to be visible from your home for the duration of the summer months, and learn about them together. Fun ways to plot stars' progress across the night skies include star charts or time-lapse photography projects. When September rolls around, your kids will have their materials as keepsakes and be able to school their peers in earth science class.


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Search This Blog
- artlovermomJune 10, 2013 at 3:49 PM
This exhibit certainly requires a good amount of time to see and experience and this review provides a good guide through the huge amount of "stuff" included in the show. I love the review...especially as it is through the eyes of someone who has never seen a Kubrick film. You have done an excellent job here!ReplyDelete
- 801:d:2July 2, 2013 at 11:27 PM
Never seen a Kubrick film?! Inexcusable.ReplyDelete
I'm particularly curious about the abandoned projects. In addition, was there any reference in the exhibit to A.I.? The film will be subject to controversy for all eternity, but my understanding is that it really was, in many ways, a tribute to the friendship between Kubrick and Spielberg, and I'm curious to see the professional take on what happened in that case.
I get a weird feeling about Kubrick films; that I *should* like them more than I do. I don't mean that in a phillistinish way; I appreciate them technically. There's just an inhuman core at cneter for a lot of them that I can't really get past.ReplyDelete


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[et_pb_section fb_built="1″ _builder_version="3.22″][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.25″ background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"][et_pb_column type="4_4″ _builder_version="3.25″ custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.27.4″ background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"]We're launching a new Q&A series where we plan to interview different publishing professionals to find out more about their jobs. First up we have John Moore, a Junior Marketing Officer at Walker Books.
Can you tell us about your current role and what it entails?
I am Junior Marketing Officer at Walker Books. My job is primarily looking after the print side of our marketing campaigns, though I do have responsibilities on the digital side too. My main responsibilities can range from designing paid for ads in Children's and Parenting magazines, to briefing trailers and animations, or creating beautiful and unique POS. (For people who might not know POS stands for Point of Sale, and this means things like, posters, stickers, bookmarks and giveaway promotions.) My favourite items I've worked on this year include a wooden bookmark for a Cassie Clare pre-order campaign, and most recently, a tampon-shaped bookmark with actual string attached!
Would you be able to offer an overview of your publishing career so far? What position did you start in?
To take things back to the beginning, well first the dinosaurs roamed the earth… just kidding. Whilst I was studying at University (Law of all things) I worked at Waterstones Piccadilly, on the ground floor; as you can imagine, a real baptism by fire in the world of books. I helped out at as many events as I could, bettering my event management, author care, and consumer care skills wherever possible. I then moved to their High Street Kensington branch where I became a Lead Bookseller (essentially assistant manager) with a particular focus on the kids' floor. After temporarily running T2 Tottenham Court Road (a publishing person who loves tea… groundbreaking, I know!) I was hired at Walker as Publicity and Marketing Assistant by the amazing Rosi Crawley (@BookEatingGirl) and Jill Kidson, having tried only two weeks' work experience the year before. I worked in this role for 18 months, learning all kinds of skills and having THE MOST fun you could have in the best team. Then a role came up in our Marketing team, which I couldn't refuse. I left PR with a very heavy heart, but so glad I still get to sit just a few feet away from them. They are incomparable.
What does an average day look like for you (if there is such a thing in your role)?
Well first, we of course start the day with a cuppa and a debriefing of our evenings, what tv shows we watched, who went out on RuPaul's Drag Race etc. I typically start my day by checking on our Facebook and Instagram ads, just to make sure things are running smoothly. Then, depending on the day of the week, I may have a catch up with my boss, Jill, or a full team catch up where we either discuss current campaigns or plan future ones – our brainstorms are always HILARIOUS! I tend to work very quickly in the morning, fuelled by the caffeine, and then leave my afternoons for the more creative tasks like designing social assets or doodling the next bookmark I want to make. I am currently OBSESSED with die-cut bookmarks (ones that are not just rectangle) with bits that stick out the top of the book, think I've made four in the past six months! As it's publishing, it is usually someone's birthday any given week, so there are lots of breaks for cakes and snacks too!
As someone who has worked in both PR and Marketing, could you give us an overview of the differences between them?
One real simple difference, at least in my view, is money. Typically, Consumer Marketing is where things are paid for, we spend the big bucks on things like: social advertising, print advertising, outdoor advertising like on tubes and trains, trailers, print items, pin badges, or partnerships with other brands. Whereas in PR, they typically have to work their butts off with a much smaller portion of a budget, reserved for school events, mailings, and launch parties. A lot of their time is spent pitching their books to journalists, reviewers and the like which might not cost money, but is supremely hard work. It shocks me every day how little space is given in print for children's books. It is a real fight to get your titles included, and PR teams all across publishing work so hard to do so.
Another difference, I have noticed, is time in the office. When you're in PR, you spend a good amount of time out at school events accompanying your authors/illustrators, or at launch parties, or at literary festivals e.g. Edinburgh Book Festival, which I love! Whereas I spend more of my time in the office now at my desk, but where possible, try to go to launch parties and panel events both for our books and those of other publishers as it's important to remain sociable and in the loop.
What is your favourite thing about your job?
Easiest answer ever, the people. Walker is truly one huge happy family. I can honestly say that there has never been a day that I've not wanted to go into work. As someone with quite bad anxiety, I avoid certain situations in fear of making things worse, but work has always been a safe space for me, and a place I am guaranteed to be cheered up. Each and every member of my team makes me laugh daily, and make it the best job in the world. Also, there is not one person in the building that I would fear walking up to and asking for help; everyone is so kind and accepting and I think that's what makes Walker so special.
What is the hardest thing about your job?
Keeping your TBR (to be read) pile down. I am a huge reader outside work, and when you work in publishing you constantly have manuscripts sent to your inbox for books as far as 18 months, and sometimes it's hard to make sure you're on track work wise but also still reading for pleasure. Too many books to read… there are worse things in life!
What has surprised you the most about your role?
Specifically, in my marketing role, how creative it is. I spend a lot of my time doodling in my notebook, designing all kinds of assets both for digital and print. I always saw PR as the role full of creativity, but they are equally full of it, in my opinion. One reason I never went into law as a career, even after finishing my degree, was the fear of losing my creativity. I never have to worry about that at Walker.
If someone was looking for a role in marketing, what would you suggest they do outside of work experience to improve their CV?
Read. It's the obvious answer, but it's the best one. Try to read across different genres and age groups, and focus on the books of publishers you'd like to work for too. I knew Walker's front and backlist really well before my interview, and although it doesn't always come up, they can tell if you know the company well, and the best way is through their books.
Pay attention to advertising. This does not mean go out and buy Advertising For Dummies, I'm more suggesting that you keep aware of all the manners and places in which you are being advertised to. This will help you think of target markets for books you are working on, and how to target those markets effectively.
Learn the basics of social media. I'm sure most young people know Facebook, Instagram and Twitter intimately just by using them on a daily basis, but it doesn't hurt to know the differences in how the apps are used, when they are used, and by whom? Also take note of social assets or media campaigns that appeal to you and think why they did, and how you could learn from it.
How would you pitch your job in a sentence?
Making sure that the people who should know about a specific book, get to know about it, and are shown it is the book for them, through creative teamwork, and a passion for reading.
Originally from Falkirk, Scotland, John moved to London in 2014 to attend university. John went from studying Law and Languages at Kings College London, to Lead Bookseller in Waterstones Piccadilly and later High Street Kensington. Then, after a brief stint managing a T2Tea shop, he landed his dream role as PR and Marketing Assistant at Walker Books. John lives in South London with his partner David, and is an avid gamer, reader, linguist, and overall nerd! His favourite novel is The Secret History by Donna Tartt.


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Multiple Batteries
Requires less design time
Can be more efficient
Various parts of the robot will stop working at different times
Multiple batteries to recharge
How do you know if you need multiple batteries? Check the nominal voltage of each of the products you selected:
Electronics (microcontroller, motor controller power etc) usually operate at 9V-12V. Some operate at low as 3.3V and 5V.
Actuators (DC gear motors, stepper motors, servos etc) usually operate at 6V to 12V. A few operate as low as 3V
Sensors usually operate 5V
Based on the ranges above, it's easy to see how, wen selecting optimal components for your project, that the voltage range may differ for each type of component. Fortunately most microcontrollers has a built-in voltage regulator which provides 5V to the I/O pins, so you don't need a dedicated 5V battery. Should you choose a normal microcontroller, it's likely that the voltage range is 9V to 12V. Operating a normal hobby servo motor (rated at 4.8V to 6V) from a 9V to 12V battery would quickly burn it. What to do? The easiest option would be to use a smaller 12V battery for the microcontroller, and a larger 6V battery for the servos.
One Battery
One battery to charge
Lighter weight
(May) require voltage regulator
A bit more complex to understand and wire
Continuing the example above, where we chose a 12V microcontroller and 4.8V to 6V hobby servos, we have the option of using one (larger) 6V battery pack and a step-up voltage regulator. A voltage regulator does exactly as the name implies; it regulates the voltage. In our case we would need one which can accept 6V input and step it up to 12V.
Choosing a lower motor voltage does not automatically mean the list of motors available to you will be low power. However, a high voltage motor (36V, 48V, 60V) tends to be reserved for large DC motors. The second approach is to first select the ideal motor and design your robot's electronics system around the indicated nominal voltage. Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages and it is up to you to choose which you prefer.
Voltage dividers allow you to power electromechanical devices at different voltages. Voltage dividers are purely electrical devices with no programming involved. If you do not want to use voltage dividers, most electronics operate at 5 to 9V, so choosing either 6 or 9V as your robot's supply voltage is the best choice (never assume an electronic device operates at 6 or 9V: you always need to read the supply voltage specifications for each electronic component). The other option is to use two different power supplies: one for the motors and another (smaller one) for the electronics.
Should you wish to operate your robot at 9V, you can often still choose a 12V motor, though you must keep in mind the rpm will be less that that listed (estimated as a fraction of the nominal value) and the motor efficiency will be slightly reduced.
Tips / Tricks
Standard battery voltages are:
1.2V: one rechargeable NiMh AA or AAA battery (unless you want a really small robot, one cell does not do much)
1.5V: one Alkaline AA or AAA battery(disadvantage of not being rechargeable and can't do much on its own)
2.4v: two rechargeable AA or AAA batteries; still can't do much on their own, even for small robots
3V: two alkaline AA or AAA batteries; most microcontrollers cannot operate at this voltage, let alone most actuators.
3.6V: three rechargeable NiMh AA or AAA batteries; this is usually the minimum voltage to run certain microcontrollers
3.7V: one LiPo battery; this is close enough to 3.6V and is the minimum to run certain microcontrollers
4.5V: three alkaline AA or AAA batteries. why even consider non-rechargeable in robotics?
4.8V: four AA or AAA together provide the minimum voltage to operate a standard hobby servo motor. These can be either as individual cells or as a single rechargeable battery pack.
6V: four AA or AAA alkaline batteries, five rechargeable NiMh cells or one 6V rechargeable lead acid pack; this is the maximum (and ideal) voltage most hobby servos can handle. Use these if your servos need a bit more power.
7.2V: six AA or AAA rechargeable NiMh batteries is perfect for 7.2V DC gear motors. These are usually in a battery pack rather than as individual cells and you will need a more specific NiMh battery pack charger.
7.4V: two LiPo cells can often power a microcontroller and works great for 7.2V DC gear motors. Unfortunately it's too high for most hobby servo motors.
7.5V: five alkaline AA or AAA: almost never used because it's simply too many single-use batteries.
8.4V: 7x NiMh AA batteries (hard to find chargers for 7xAAA NiMh batteries). This is also not used much because it means charging 7 batteries at the same time.
9V: 6x Alkaline batteries, one 9V (NiMh or Alkaline) battery or one 9V lead acid batteru: please avoid using 6x alkaline for the sake of the environment. A 9V single cell rectangular battery is often used to power the microcontroller in dual battery configurations. 9V lead acid batteries are a bit harder to find and although they are quite heavy, are fairly inexpensive and high capacity.
9.6V: 7x NiMh cells, usually in a battery pack configuration. This is good for motors which operate at 9V, and also for microcontrollers (most can operate above 9V).
11.1V: three LiPo batteries produces almost 12V and is much lighter than 10x 1.2V cells or a 12V lead acid battery pack. You need a specific LiPo charger capable of charging 3 cell LiPo packs.
12V: 10x 1.2V cells (always configured as one NiMh battery pack) or one 12V rechargeable lead acid battery pack. 12V is ideal for a variety of DC gear motors and most microcontrollers.
Anything above 12V is usually reserved for very large robots. If you have a 14.4V LiPo or 18V NiMh pack from a cordless drill, keep in mind that finding motors which operate at these voltages is not easy.
Robots using servo motors (legged robots or robotic arms) tend to operate at 4.8V (4x AA NiMh cells) or 6V (5x NiMh AA cells). You can use a fairly inexpensive voltage regulator to power the microcontroller, increasing the voltage from 6V to 9V.
Small to medium mobile robots often use a 6V, 9V or 12V NiMh battery pack, the choice of which depends on the nominal voltage of the drive motors. If the robot includes one or more servo motors (for a pan/tilt for example), the microcontroller can usually provide enough current from a 5V digital pin. If your microcontroller operates at 9V and you want to use 6V motors, you might consider a two battery solution.
Medium sized mobile robots tend to use one 12V battery; lead acid or single NiMh battery pack (or an 11.1V LiPo battery if weight is an issue). Large robots use 12V or 24V from one or more lead acid battery packs.
NiMh: This is by far the most common type of battery used in mobile robots. NiMh batteries are rechargeable and their value (price / capacity / weight) is hard to beat. There is almost no memory effect, meaning every charge should bring the battery up to full capacity.
NiCd: These batteries are slowly disappearing because of their memory effect: if you don't discharge the battery properly and then recharge it to full capacity, you lose part of the capacity each time.
Alkaline: These are the least expensive batteries in the short term, and provide a higher voltage than NiMh, but are not great for the environment, and you constantly need to buy replacements.
Lead Acid: Still the cheapest option for high capacity, lead acid is usually reserved for medium sized robots because of their incredibly high weight.
LiPo: These are fast becoming the most popular type of battery because of their light weight, high discharge rates and relatively good capacity, except the voltages increase in increments of 3.7V, so you need to plan to use LiPo before selecting your electronics and actuators.
Nominal Voltage
A motor's nominal voltage is the voltage at which the motor provides the best power output to efficiency ratio (rather than highest efficiency or highest power output). Operating a motor at the nominal voltage also helps to guarantee a long useful life.
A battery's capacity determines roughly how long a battery will last at a specific voltage given a specific discharge rate. For example, if you choose a 12V, 2Ah (2000mAh) battery pack (regardless of chemistry), the battery should be able to run a 12V motor consuming 2A continuously for 1 hour. Alternatively, it can run a 12V motor consuming 1A for 2 hours, or a 12V motor consuming 0.5A for 4 hours. The rule of thumb is to divide the capacity (assuming you are running an actuator at the same voltage) by the actuator's current under normal load to get the time the motor will last.
Example 1
2x Drive Motors: 6V nominal, 1A each under normal load
1x 6V NiMh Battery Pack, 2200mAh (equivalent to 2.2Ah)
Note that the battery was chosen based on the motor's nominal voltage.Should you instead operate 6V motors from a 7.2V battery, the calculations become more difficult (use the total watt-hours divided by the total watts per hour to get an idea).
Therefore the 6V battery pack will last:
2.2Ah battery / (2 motors x 1A per motor) = 1.1 hours
Example 2
18 servos used for a hexapod robot which operate at 6V nominal and consume 250mA under normal load*
1x 6V NiMh battery pack at 5Ah.
First, we will assume that all motors are under load at all times (i.e. worst case scenario) and therefore all 18 will be consuming a total of 4.5A
5Ah battery / 4.5A = 1.1 hours
Note again that the battery was chosen based on the motor's nominal voltage.
Discharge Rate
The continuous discharge rate of a battery is very important because if you choose a battery that cannot discharge at the required current, the robot will either not work properly or not work at all.
Example 1
You selected four 12V motors for your 4WD outdoor mobile robot. Each motor consumes 1A under normal load, and more in the case of a slope. You decide to choose a 12V, 2Ah NiMh battery pack, not caring about the continuous discharge rate. You discover that your robot stops when it encounters even the slightest obstacle or incline. Why? In this case operating all four motors consumes ~4A while an NiMh pack can only discharge at about 1.2 times the capcity (1.2 x 2Ah = 2.4A). The current draw from the motors is therefore higher than the battery can provide.
Example 2
You selected two 7.2V DC gear motors which consume 1.5A each under normal load, and up to 2A each under stressful situations. This means that the battery needs to be able to provide at least 3A normally and up to 4A safely. If you choose an NiMh pack it would need to be 4A / 1.2C = 3.3Ah. The alternative would be to choose a LiPo pack because they can often discharge at 5C or higher, meaning you would be able to get away with a 4A / 5C = 0.8Ah pack. Granted the capacity is low, and you may opt for a higher capacity pack.
Burst Discharge Rate
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This is what I have done in Melvin, I run a 2S LiPo battery which is 8.4v when full and drops to 6.4v, then the alarm goes off to say charge me. My motors and my high torque servos run on 6V through a 6V 5A Regulator. The high torque servos for the arms will also run from a 6V 5A regulator. There will be 3 or 4 of these regulators in the robot.
This allows a single battery, a single charging solution and no messing around.
You also said that a 1S LiPo is 3.7v, which isn't wrong, but the voltage of a LiPo battery will drop as it discharges. A fully charged LiPo cell is 4.2v. Advising using one of them to power a 3.6v microcontroller may not be too clever if the microcontroller cannot comfortably accept 4.2v.
Once you add in regulators there are no reasons not to use a LiPo battery. Sizes are great, weights are great, capacity is great and price is great. The only disadvantage, and something you didn't mention above, is the danger of incorrect use but if you aren't a moron you wont burn your house down with one.
Can you please help me with that, I would like to add this function to my project , but don't really know how to properly implemented.
Voltage regulator is one of the best route to go, especially if multiples board need to be power. I am currently using 3 of them in one project ( ebay 3 for $10). Wrote it at 3am, just wanted to share some of my knowledge with the community and I agree with you 100%.
And for auto cut off of a LiPo to protect against under voltage have a look at this topic (note: I have not yet tested it out but the theory should work).
AMPROBE is a biggest line .
PJ that info is great for others that need info on selecting a battery for robots,as some robots might need GEL cell or NI-CAD OR LI-POLY it long list and each as its good and bad
I just designed a very high current battery charger that fully automatic FOR CURRENT AND CHARGE RATE
THAT uses a very special current feedback circuit,
Once i see about getting a patent and more more boards will be looking to sell it.
NEXT design is for LI-POLY
LI-POLY is one of the ones used the most ,because it very light,but 2 drawbacks one is cost and other is doesn't last long
and other is CC AND CV (constant current and constant voltage) for LI-POLY types
Mostly they have 1% tolerance,my designs is using a special feedback design,that i sold to my company
Good thing about the battery changing design is using a little different design,so i dont get in to trouble with the company with the patent design i sold them,one i sold is ultra high precision AC/DC V/A SOURCE (NOT a power supply)
This design calibrate high precision meters and test equipment.


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A three-page Wilson Times insert published about 1914 highlighting the town's "progressive colored citizens" featured City Bakery, then located at 540 East Nash Street, "under Odd Fellows Hall," with R.B. Bullock as proprietor.
The bakery had a predecessor though, as shown in the 1912 city directory:
Hill's Wilson, N.C., City Directory (1912).
Sanborn fire insurance map, Wilson, N.C., 1913.
This detail from the 1913 Sanborn map shows the location of the oven in the back of the small brick "bake house." In 1914, City Bakery boasted that its premises were "sanitary in ever particular." Such a claim must have been difficult to make when it sat within feet of multiple rail lines.
- Richard Bulluck — Bulluck is listed in the 1912 directory living at 412 South Lodge Street.
- Alex Henderson — perhaps, Sandy Henderson.
- William Kittrell


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The instructions came out of the blue right into my brain. Very detailed instructions.
A deck. With cards that ask YOU the questions.
Because we humans have a habit of looking OUTside ourselves. Especially for the big things, like love and power and answers to our most challenging questions. And that gets us into all kinds of trouble.
So the purpose of this deck is to turn that around and practice looking INside ourselves for answers and in the process train the mind to ask better questions.
I even saw what it looked like. Hexagonal. The backs purple with a symbol of interwoven question marks. The fronts, beautiful images from nature seen through a teleidoscope (not kaleidoscope). Six-sided mandalas to break up habitual thought patterns and see the world from a different perspective as insightful questions from the cards are being explored.
For example:
Here's a card with a beautiful design and a question worth asking.
Your conscious mind would never guess that the shiny gold you see in the center is actually the eye of a tree frog sitting on a rose, but the infinite intelligence inside you recognizes patterns and shapes at levels you have no conscious idea about. Instantly you're seeing a familiar world from a new perspective.
An opening to new possibilities!
So there it was. A clear vision with a distinct purpose, fully formed details and the name
That was in 1995 and I didn't have a clue. No idea where to start, how to get a camera inside a teleidoscope, we'd barely heard of a thing called "the Internet," I didn't have a computer, and the thought of selling anything made me want to curl up into a ball and hide.
But I did what I could, which was start collecting questions, build a rough prototype to play with and keep practicing the art of inquiry and learning the power of a great question in my own life.
Fast forward a bunch of years, a couple of successful businesses later, a discovered passion for marketing and all things entrepreneurial along with some massive inner transformation (that's another story), and whammo, I fell in love.
The big knock-you-off-your-chair kind of love and this man of my dreams just happened to be…a fabulous graphic designer!
So shortly after we'd pledged our undying love, I dusted off the proto-deck and did some show and tell, to which he said "let's do it." And a creative partnership was born.
New technology has made it easy and love has made it fun. Just goes to show you, it's never too late for a dream to be fulfilled. In fact, it may have just been ripening all along.
So here they are. Inquiry Cards. The deck that asks YOU the questions…because the answers are INside you.
Happy questioning,
The Team
Sylvia Nibley
Jim Hayes
Jim has been graphically designing for over 30 years–longer than the lifespan of a horse, even an unusually large one. He also conceives and writes ads, illustrates in various styles, writes songs devoid of any rap characteristics, and confuses young and old alike with odd cartoons and other humor.
He met Sylvia briefly in 2006, but it wasn't until 2011, when she offered an INtriguing afternoon of marketing advice, that he became smitten, despite—or because of—her supernatural powers. Jim is grateful to Sylvia for her INsight, INfatuation, INtelligence, and special way with INdian food.
Jim and Sylvia thrive in Salt Lake City, Utah with two eccentric dogs and 3 koi of questionable integrity while they celebrate three largely grown, beautiful children who have flown the nest.
Kaz Speirs
Kaz uses reclaimed wood from old floors to handcraft the stands that come with starter decks. He's an amazing drummer, drum maker and teacher of West African drumming and we're thrilled to include the work of his gifted hands in every box of Inquiry Cards.


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Lisa Life
Lisa Life's Guided Meditation
September 24, 2023
New Lisa Life is the Founder & Co-organiser of EQUILIBRIUM FEST, In it's 2nd year.
A well-being fest, day long event held in Sitges at the IAB - Institute of the Arts, Barcelona.
Lisa LIfe is also the Founder of Zenergize. ABNLP Coach, Hypnotherapist & Timeline Therapist®, Moving Arts Facilitator, Writer and Event Organiser.
Equilibrium Fest SL was registered a company this year with a view to creating more events with a focus on Balance. Lisa will be holding her first 'Be in Balance' 3 day retreat on an organic farm on the edge of Sitges from the 3 - 9th October.
It's all about Balance!


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Hyrdo + Boltzmann hybrid approach for viscous QCD matter at RHIC and LHC energies
Huichao Song
The successes of ideal hydrodynamics in descriibing Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions (RHIC) data at lower $p_T$ region led to the well known announcement that "RHIC Scientists Serve up Perfect Fluid" (the Quark Gluon Plasma, QGP). In order to answer "How perfect is the QGP fluid?", one needs to extract the QGP viscosity from experimental data. I will report recent progress on a viscous hydrodynamics + hadron cascade hybrid approach and show the extracted QGP viscosity $\eta/s$ from RHIC data with a reliable uncertainty estimate, Then I will discuss the temparature dependent $\eta/s(T)$ at RHIC and LHC energies.


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The idea for stitching together Chicago's health-tech community was hatched on a plane to San Diego. David Schonthal had moved here so he and his wife could be closer to family. Working in health care venture capital, he was frustrated to find the Midwest scene so disjointed that he had to continually return to California for business. The four-hour commute allowed plenty of time for pondering such questions as "Why can't we do cool stuff in Chicago?"
Soon Matter was born. The health-tech incubator Schonthal founded with Andrew Cittadine will open in early 2015 in the Merchandise Mart, its initial round of 10 businesses—from health IT startups to medical device makers—girded by $8 million raised from private and public sources.
Thinking entrepreneurially is not new for Schonthal, who has multiple jobs all involving new ventures. Outside of Matter, he's a professor of innovation and entrepreneurship at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management; part of the business design arm of Ideo, a global innovation consulting firm; an angel investor; and a member of ChicagoNext, a private-public effort by Mayor Rahm Emanuel tasked with driving innovation and business.
Carter Cast, of Chicago-based Pritzker Group and a fellow Kellogg instructor, says his colleague is just getting started. "He's got a ton of talent and a ton of bandwidth. He's very effective."
One of a set of triplets, Schonthal says that experience has shaped him. "Being a triplet makes you both competitive and collaborative, and I feel like a lot of the energy behind what I do is often equally divided between competitive and collaborative," he says. "But all in a positive way."
Bonus Points
Up next: Teaching his 3-year-old daughter to ice skate.
Motto: "Chance favors the prepared mind."
Thing that makes me happy I'm a Chicagoan: "Cost of living!"
—Kate Silver
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The complete class


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Our Sweden license plates is made using the same materials and processes as actual European license plates. This plate uses a random letter and number sequence with a blue 13 taxation seal - making this a perfect accessory for your Volvo or Saab. This plate also includes a FREE mounting frame and FREE taxation seal
Product isn't rated yet.


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NLBAcademy.com wrote about Thomas Wood III saying he has above average change in direction skills and quick handles. We look forward to seeing him on the court on the NEO Youth Elite National Showcase on June 25 and 26, 2016.
Where are you from? "Canton, Ohio"
How is your AAU season going? "My AAU season is going great!"
What team are you with? "I am part of the OBC 2021 family"
What are your stats so far this season? "8 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals per game"
Have you had any big tournament wins? Or will you be in a big tournament soon? "We had a chance to play in the King James Classic and the NYBL"
What is your current GPA? "3.0"
What are you doing to improve your game? "Working on my weak spots"
Who were you most excited to see at the camp? "ESPN"
What were you hoping to accomplish by coming to NEO? "Making a name for myself"
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All Rights Reserved
Cleveland, Ohio
Phone: 216-307-9945
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"Focused on Liberation" by The Rev. Kaji Douša
Somehow we talk ourselves out of liberation.
We find excuses for why people should not be free.
Rightful and just incarceration are certainly appropriate. There must be consequences for doing wrong things.
I just don't understand why we accept that those consequences are unduly and disproportionately visited on the poor, on brown and Black people?
The crowds will drive people to their edge to put them in chains.
At some point: we have to join Jesus in saying:
Complete text of Pastor Kaji's sermon: http://soundthebells.blogspot.com/2019/02/focused-on-liberation.html


text: Shading, Colouring and Grading of Thangkas and Mandalas 14Dec2018 Buddhism, Culture, Design, Symbols, Thangka, Tibetan paintings kamalthakur Another main step is to apply washes for shading and gradual transitions of tone. Shading is called Dang in Tibetan which is one of the special feature of Thangka painting. Shading is an important feature of thanka painting, taking up a large portion of the time, and is done very carefully and precisely. Shading in this context does not mean the treatment of light and shadow within the whole composition, for the distribution of light and dark is .Read More


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Industrial building for rent in phase 3 noida are available for rent in these sectors like sector-57,58,59,63,64,65 & 67 noida. These sectors are loaded with all amenities thus industrial practises along with office spaces are functional here. metro stations are also in 1 km radious from all the sectors. Broad roads, good public transport, high connectivity via DND Flyway & NH-24 , easy availability of skilled & non-skilled human resources are attracting various organisations.
Land marks
Cannaught Place- Approx. 15 Min drive
Ashram – Approx. 20 Min drive
Akshardham- Approx. 15 Min drive
Indrapuram,Ghaziabad- Approx. 4 Min drive


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The Ashtawakra Gita
The story of Ashtawakra is not so well known and even less known is the Gita which bears his name as he wrote or rather nerrated it. In the Upnishads there is mention of the Rishi Uddalaka whose son was Swetketu. Dilogue between Swetketu and his father is mentioned in the Chandogya Upanishad. Uddalaka was a very evolved and scholarly rishi and his son Swetketu too became a great scholar and his most favorite shishya(desciple) was another scholar by the name Kahod. Swetketu got his daughter Sujata married to this favorite dasciple.
once when she was carrying she was listening to Rishi Kahod's Veda recital the child still in the womb of his mother laughed loudly and said to his father 'what is the use of this recitle when you have no real knowledge of what you are saying' or words to that effect. Angered by the audacity of his not yet born child he cursed it that it will be born with deformities in eight places in his body!
Accordingly the son was born deformed and was named Ashta wakra or one who is bent in eight places.
There is not much information about this boy except later when Rishi Kahod was attending a great Yadnya and seminar of great scholars, being hosted by none other than the great King Janaka who has been praised as being the greates Rajyogi of his time. Even Krishna advised Arjun to be like King Janaka.
King Janaka was a real sthitpradnya and a true seeker of Brahm Dnyan or knowledge.
Ashtawakra who was still in his teens was asked by his mother to go and give some books to his father in Janaka's court. This young boy accordingly went to King's Court and when he entered the entire congregation including the King, seeing this deformed boy started laughing at his ugliness. The boy unperturebed gave the books to his father and then when all had seized laughing started laughing himself! King by now alerted by the boys body language asked, 'My dear I do not understand the reason for your laugh, pray tell us!'
Ashtawakra looking Janaka straight in his eyes said.' O great King I thought you have invited here great scholars and intellectuals to your court but I find here a congregation of dealers in skin & leather only!' The King by now alerted asked the boy in a respectful voice,'Sir, will you tell us why you say so'? Ashtawakra answered , 'O great Janaka , all these scholars have seen only my skin and outer form and laughed at it, without seeing the inner beauty of my Atman! Are they not dealers only of skin?I pity them!' Saying so he walked out.
Janaka could not sleep that night and the next day went looking for Ashtawakra. He with great respect brought him to his palace offred puja to him sat down at his feet and said 'O great Scholar I am convinced of your wisdom, pray accept me as your desciple and give me discourse'!
Impressed by the King's humility and devotion Ashtawakra then went on to nerrate to him the crux of all the Brahm Dnyan which became famous as the Ashtawakra Gita. This Gita though less known than the Bhagavad Gita of Krishna in the opinionof many a scholars is more profound, full of real wisdom and bereft of all populist dimensions the real Gita better even then Krishna's Gita.We shall see its contents in the next part.


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- Extremely short and powerful front claws that are built for digging tunnels
- Burrows that are close to ground level create distinct ridges
- Due to underground lifestyle, the eyes and ears are very small and usually covered with fur
The most common mole in Alabama is the Eastern Mole. These small mammals dig elaborate tunnel systems in order to feed on earthworms, grubs. and small insects. They very rarely eat plant matter but their tunnels can easily damage lawns and gardens. The majority of a mole's tunnel system is too deep to leave visible ridges so homeowners often underestimate the number of moles that are active.
Since the mole spends the majority of its life underground it has adapted a unique body that can dig tunnels at a rate of over 3 feet per hour. They eyes and ears serve little purpose underground, they function poorly and are usually covered with fur. The front claws are very wide and short, and they are extremely powerful for the animal's size. Moles almost never enter homes and the most effective method of dealing with moles is to set traps outside of their feeding tunnels. Talk to a pest control professional to learn more.


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Friends Of The Earth Say It's Time to Phase Out Diesel As Government In Court Over Air Pollution
Friends of the Earth say that Ministers must phase out diesel to reduce deaths from air pollution as Government is due back in court today to face allegations that they have failed to implement adequate plans to tackle UK's illegal dirty air.
In April 2015 the government was ordered by the UK Supreme Court to take immediate action to clean up the UK's air, following a court case brought by legal campaign group ClientEarth. But the government's plans to deal with the UK's Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) pollution problem, which should have meant our air was brought within EU legal limits in the "shortest time possible", are considered so feeble, that they are now being taken back to court.
Aaron Kiely, Friends of the Earth air pollution campaigner, said:
"Air pollution is a public health crisis, leading to 40,000 early deaths each year in the UK.
Too many children are growing up breathing illegally dirty air, which can lead to impaired lung development for life.
"We know road traffic is the biggest problem for air pollution in the UK and diesel is the worst of all. Which is why the government must be bold and put in place a plan to phase out diesel from our roads, if it is serious about cleaning up the air we breathe."
Aaron Kiely added:
"The government shouldn't have to be taken all the way to court, again, just to make sure we can all breathe clean air.
"Post-Brexit it is vital that the UK enshrines in law EU legal limits for air pollution, and moves towards complying with World Health Organisation recommended levels in order to save lives."
Friends of the Earth supports calls for a new Clean Air Act, and is calling for Clean Air Zones in all our cities and major towns, not just the five beyond London that the government's plans support, more action to cut traffic levels and offer people alternatives to driving, along with the complete phase out of diesel vehicles.
Sign up here to call on the UK to ditch diesel: https://act.foe.co.uk/ditchdiesel


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More and more homeowners opt for refinancing at the time of low interest rates. The hassle and expenses associated with refinancing are justified if:
- You bought your home at the time of high interest rates. Now they have dropped and you want to take advantage of it.
- You want to change from an ARM to a fixed-rate mortgage or vice versa.
- You want to convert to an ARM with a lower rate or more favorable payment caps.
- You want to shorten the term of your loan so that you can repay it quicker.
- You have built equity in your house or possibly it has risen in value since the time of the purchase and you want to cash out equity to pay for your child's education, pay off other debts or make home improvements. In this case you choose cash-out refinancing.
- You want to consolidate all your debts into one low interest mortgage.
The general rule of thumb is that refinancing is a reasonable option if you refinance into a loan with a rate at least 2% lower than the rate on your current mortgage and you plan to stay in the house no less than three years. Still, you need to do relatively simple math if you want to straighten things out for your individual situation. Say, if you want to recoup your closing costs of $2,000 that allow you to refinance into the loan that saves you $100 a month in mortgage payments, you will need to stay at least 2,000/100=20 months in your home just to break even.
So it is important you examine carefully all your refinancing costs and see if you can cut this figure:
- Start by approaching your current lender. More often than not, he/she will agree to waive certain fees and offer you his/her own refinancing package.
- If you have good credit, you should be able to avoid application fees imposed by the lenders to cover the initial costs of processing your loan.
- Title search. You need to cover the cost of examining the public record to confirm ownership of the real estate. Title insurance insures the policyholder in a specific amount for any loss caused by discrepancies in the title to the property. Most often the company carrying your current insurance can re-issue it at a rate that saves up to 70% on this type of expense, though the title industry does not promote this information to the general public. For example, if the latest title search was performed 5 years ago, you most probably do not need another full search, although title insurers sometimes severely restrict the eligibility period for a reissue discount or demand presentation of the prior title policy to the title agent.
- Loan origination fees charged for the lender's work in processing your loan.
- Discount points that usually represent upfront payments of 1% of the loan amount. The more points you pay upfront, the lower your APR is going to be. Lenders sometimes offer no-pointers, mortgages where you do not pay any points, but beware of the pre-payment penalties some of them carry. Anyway, you should always do math calculations to help you figure out if saving money today on points will offset a higher APR tomorrow. A lot depends on whether you plan to invest the amount of money you saved on points and on lower interest payments. As a rule, refinancing is available with 1 or fewer points, while a new-home loan will cost 2 or more.
- Appraisal fee for an estimate of the value of the house.
- Prepayment penalty for your existing loan can be a significant cost and come up to six months interest on 80% of your balance. This expense is the first thing to think of when you contemplate refinancing. Luckily, some states prohibit this practice.
- The hidden costs include loss of tax savings due to the drop in tax-deductible interest payments.
When you shop around for the rates, keep in mind that there are "refi" or "consolidation" lenders who advertise that they offer better refinancing terms than regular lenders.
You should check that all the closing costs are disclosed to you in a clear and transparent manner. Sometimes lenders try to entice borrowers with a "no-cost" refinancing option that only means lender fees will be included in your new loan or the interest rate will be higher to reimburse the lender for his costs incurred in the closing process.
Since refinancing also means a lot of time and effort, you should thoroughly work through the numbers before you make a big financial decision like that. To get exact cost estimates, you can turn to Web-based free calculators or have your loan officer run the numbers for you.