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This month, books about the emergence of cryptocurrencies, a 'perfect storm' of disruptive forces and the allure of Mars
Allen Lane
Digital Gold: The Untold Story of Bitcoin
By Nathaniel Popper, £20, ISBN 9780241180617
Cryptocurrencies are one of those tech-related subjects that have been all over the mainstream news, but which most of us would be hard pressed to actually explain beyond the idea that they're a way of paying for things electronically without leaving a trail.
The question of how they actually work, and why they could be so important, has been largely obscured by human-interest stories about early investors in Bitcoin who only realised they'd thrown away a fortune well after the computer they'd used for transactions had gone for recycling. Not to mention the inevitable distraction of an untraceable way of doing business rapidly gaining traction in markets for things like drugs and pornography.
The idea that Bitcoins are somehow 'stored' on a piece of hardware is misleading, of course, and if Nathanial Popper's account of how the currency has moved from an ideological project to storefronts around the world achieves one thing it is to clearly illustrate how this 21st century form of commerce operates.
Evidence that Bitcoin has become more than a transitory phenomenon came with this month's news that New York has become the first US state to lay down official rules for the trade of virtual currencies, when its Department of Financial Services released 'BitLicense' regulations for traders who accept, sell or buy virtual currency.
Drawn up in response to the use of virtual currencies for illegal activity on underground marketplaces like the now-defunct Silk Road, and cyberattacks on exchanges, the regulations attempt to resolve issues of consumer protection, cybersecurity and prevention of money laundering. The move is an admission that attempts to ban cryptocurrencies outright - effectively trying to ban computer code - are unlikely to succeed. The way ahead is to find a way of protecting consumers and tackling fraud without hampering the innovation that's brought us to this point.
The delicate balancing act is typical of the way in which Bitcoin, which first broke cover at an opportune time in the wake of the financial crash and loss of trust in traditional institutions, has evolved. Its development, as told in 'Digital Gold', is a case study of how, if you want an optimal solution to a problem, a good way to start is to toss it out to a crowd of penurious and ultra-competitive geeks with time on their hands, an appetite for solving a problem, and a grudge against the establishment.
The impetus was as much utopian as it was the desire to develop technology. US supporters tended to view Bitcoin in a libertarian way, celebrating the free market and capitalistic entrepreneurial spirit, whilst their UK counterparts saw it as an anarchist tool for taking down the government. Whatever their moral philosophy, the key figures claimed to be altruists; that many of them became extremely rich was an unexpected consequence, as was that fact that others went to prison.
The New York regulations are the result of an investigation that began two years ago, at about the same time the New York Times ran its first piece on Bitcoin by Popper. At that point the paper was unsure whether this was even something it should be covering in its financial news; the hook was the involvement of the Winklevoss twins of Facebook fame, but for weeks it was one of the paper's best read stories.
Popper has produced a comprehensive account of the early days of what looks destined to become a new way of approaching the very nature of money.
Dominic Lenton
Public Affairs
No Ordinary Disruption: The Four Global Forces Breaking All The Trends
By Richard Dobbs, James Manyika and Jonathan Woetzel, £18.99, ISBN 9781610395793
In today's technology business, few qualities are as sought after yet hard to attain as agility. The ability to keep up with global trends can make or break a company almost overnight, but those trends are changing faster and faster, making it ever harder to anticipate where they will go.
If one statistic illustrates this with stark clarity it's the time that various technologies have taken from inception to being adopted by 50 million users. For radio it was 38 years, television 13 years; in this digital age social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter achieve the same penetration in a year or less.
A graphic illustrating this phenomenon is just one of many scattered through 'No Ordinary Disruption', an analysis of what's happening and how organisations can respond by three directors of think-tank the McKinsey Global Institute.
Dobbs, Manykia and Woetzel speculate that the transition going on across the world right now will have an impact 3000 times greater than that of the Industrial Revolution, and that it's down to a perfect storm of four separate disruptive forces. Each one, they say, would be among the greatest changes the global economy has witnessed; together they amount to a force that's not just setting trends but making many of them obsolete.
None of them should in itself come as any surprise to businesses. You might not have heard of cities like Tianjin in China or Porto Algre in Brazil but well-informed executives will be well aware that these are the destinations to which the centre of economic gravity is rapidly shifting. It's predicted that between in the next ten years, 440 urban centres in emerging economies will account for nearly half of the world's additional GDP growth, spurring the largest mass migration from countryside to city in history.
At the same time, the lines that for so long have connected major hubs in Europe and North America are extending, creating a complex web in which Asia is becoming the world's largest trading region and 'south-south' flows between emerging markets have doubled their share of global trade. Add to that the way in which the furious pace of technology breakthroughs and adoption by consumers is shortening company lifecycles, and ageing demographics that could cause the workforce to actually decline, and the stage is set for major changes.
The value 'No Ordinary Disruption' brings to the table is more than two decades' worth of data from McKinsey research, pulled apart in an attempt to create a guide to where the next two decades will take us. As the authors warn, established nations tempted to rest on their laurels need to be aware that forward-looking governments and companies all over the world are adapting to these factors and taking advantage of them rather than viewing them as a threat.
Is all this relevant to anyone other than politicians, policy-?makers and CEOs? It's tempting to dismiss as management-speak statements that we need to "reset our intuition to an era of discontinuity"or that "rear-?view thinking is no longer an option".
For anyone not expecting to retire from work in the next couple of years though, this is a warning that we can't expect to be able to base our understanding of the world on past experience, or even on what we know today. It may not be a case of 'everything you know is wrong', but if you're not careful it soon will be.
Dominic Lenton
University of Chicago Press
Seeing Like a Rover: How Robots, Teams and Images Craft Knowledge of Mars
By Janet Vertesi, £24.50, ISBN 9780226155968
The big movie event coming up just before Christmas this year may be set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but anyone interested in a more factual adventure in space that takes place in the not too distant future will be looking forward to seeing how Matt Damon gets on as an astronaut stranded on Mars in the Ridley Scott film based on Andy Weir's novel 'The Martian'.
Described as 'Apollo 13 meets Cast Away', the story adopts a theme that goes back much further even than speculative science-fiction tales of space exploration to stories of expeditions conquering uncharted parts of the world.
In real life we've been sending explorers to Mars for decades now, preparing the way for humans to follow one day.
When Spirit and Opportunity landed over ten years ago their task was an apparently mundane one of soil and rock analysis, but what they also did was to provide us with a host of images giving us an idea of what it would be like to stand on the surface of Mars. Even though it usually looks like the sort of desert expanse found in many places on Earth, the fact that it's so far away has guaranteed front pages.
In 'Seeing Like a Rover', Janet Vertesi explains the complex process that goes into generating the photos we see on newspaper front pages. Even before every image that the Rovers take has been processed, manipulated, and interpreted, there's hours of negotiation about what they should even be photographing in the first place.
As if that wasn't fascinating enough, at the start of last year Nasa reported that the mission focus will move on to searching for evidence of ancient life. If we hadn't anthropomorphised our robot emissaries enough, they're now courageous explorers looking to answer one of the big questions.
Vertesi uses a series of events to portray this 'uncanny intimacy' that develops between engineers and craft. When a vehicle gets unexpectedly stuck in a sand trap millions of miles away, everyone's engaged, working almost as hard to free it as they would if it was a human astronaut in trouble.
Ultimately, she explains, this relationship means that every picture taken by the Mars Rovers isn't merely a picture of the planet's surface but "a portrait of the whole Rover team, as well".
The teams running Mars rovers on Earth are poised to temporarily break contact as the two planets enter a period in which they're separated by the Sun. For around a fortnight the craft will stand motionless. When contact is restored at the end of June it will be less dramatic than if humans were up there, but for those involved it might be almost as nerve-racking.
Dominic Lenton


text:
Dear Alice,
I am a college athlete. I have the potential to go to the Olympics. I throw javelin, a track and field event. I have been very prone to injury in the past, so I have a lot of fear about getting hurt in the future. During my past four years of high school, I have not had to train very hard for javelin, but now that I am in college, it is all I train for. My shoulder is really in a lot of pain; it crunches when I lift anything above my head. It is very stiff, and it gets weird feeling it. I want to know how to make sure that I am not over-training. I do not want to be a wuss, but I do not have a lot of faith in the person training me. How do you know when you have had enough? This is very important to me. I want to meet the expectations of my coach, but I do not want to end my career. What is a good pain and a bad pain?
— Thrown for a loop
Dear Thrown for a loop,
Congratulations on the skill you have developed. Throwing the javelin can be hard work, and it sounds like you're already experiencing some training-related pain. First of all, getting a professional opinion on your shoulder is a good idea. As a college student, you may need to start with your student health service. If possible, it would be advantageous to see a sports medicine expert, or an orthopedist who specializes in shoulders.
The pain you've described maybe a result of increasing the intensity, frequency, and/or the duration of your training too quickly. Throwing the javelin takes a lot of strength, engaging the shoulder, back, and arm muscles. If your muscles don't have time to rest, there is no time for muscle repair. If you increased your training quickly, the ligaments and tendons may not have become strong enough to support your new workload.
As for your question on good and bad pain, well, pain really isn't a good thing. There are three kinds of pain associated with physical activity. One is immediate — pain that may be caused by an exertion, and quickly passes. The second is delayed, known as delayed-onset muscle soreness. This is a natural adaptive process. It usually begins 24 to 48 hours after exercise, and decreases after 72 hours. The most recent research points to microscopic tears in muscle and connective tissue causing the pain. This type of soreness usually resolves when a person adapts to the exercise. The third type of pain is continuous, which occurs when insufficient time is allowed between exercise sessions for rest, also known as over-training. The potential for injury is greatest here.
Once you've had your shoulder examined, and you are medically cleared to continue training, it's probably time for a conversation with your coach. You could request a detailed training schedule, which would map out your training days, rest days, goals, and dates by which to reach them. You may want to include a strength and conditioning component to help you increase your strength specific to your sport. Perhaps there is a strength and conditioning coach at your school who can help you with this.
In the mean time, be sure to follow a healthy eating plan. This also means you are taking in sufficient calories to meet your energy demands, drinking fluids to stay hydrated, and eating plenty of carbohydrates to fuel your activity, along with getting sufficient protein for repair of muscle tissue.
Given your accomplishments and hard work thus far, you could hardly be accused of not trying hard enough. If athletes and their trainers don't respect and take care of themselves, their bodies may end up breaking down — letting down themselves, their coaches, and others for good, or at least for a few games — Olympics and otherwise.
Best of luck,Alice!

subset: commoncrawl


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Eberhardt/Everhart Family History of nearly 800 years
The Eberhardt, Eberhard, Everhard, and Everhart families are indeed all related.One must look back at least 800 years in German speaking lands to find the origin of this family line.
Surnames first began to be used about the year 1100.Prior to the use of surnames, people were simply known by their given name (first name) and where they were from including perhaps a title held.It was rather common in German speaking lands for last names (surnames) to have come from existing given names (first names).Some examples of given names later being used as surnames include: Rudolph, Carl, Friedrich, Heinrich, Ludwig, etc.The family name Eberhard(t) arose in such a manner.
The Eberhard(t) family name appears to have developed in the Wuerttemberg area about the year 1265 (perhaps earlier).Looking at maps showing concentrations of various surnames in Germany, it appears like this was the only location where the Eberhard(t) surname developed.
The Eberhard(t) name was used as the family name for the Counts and Dukes of Wuerttemberg.This was a hereditary line dating back to Eberhard I, Count of Wuerttemberg who lived from 1265 to 1325 and ruled from 1279-1325.
In a hereditary line, only the eldest male son would inherit to top job.They would be known by their given name (first name) and their title (i.e. Eberhard, Graf/Count of Wuerttemberg).Families back then would have multiple children.It is from these younger sibling males (cadet lines) that all the Eberhardts, Eberhards, and Everharts (and other spellings descend).As they migrated from the very center of power in Wuerttemberg (Stuttgart and earlier Tuebingen), they would resort to using the Eberhard as the family name as they were often without title.These individuals would go on to have occupations in the military, ministerial capacity - governing to the population, jurors, members of the clergy, educators, tradesmen, and farmers.
If there were no male children from a previous eldest male, then the title would transfer to a nephew and remain with his lineage.
There were many, many generations with many younger male siblings.It only takes a relatively simple math equation to figure potentially how many descendants are possible from a single pair of individuals.In this case the formula would be 2 to the 27th power or 2x2x2x2 twenty-seven times.There are approximately 27 generations (of 30 years each) in the last 810 years.This equals approximately 134.2 million total descendants.This is assuming that each person only produced two offspring!So this is a very conservative estimate.Realizing that only the most recent two generations are currently living, this would still be 100.6 million potential living descendants - assuming all had survived the many wars, disease, periods of famine, etc.
Just a couple of examples to ponder...It is estimated that 40% of the population of the German speaking lands was lost during the two years of the plague 1348-1350.It is estimated that 40-50% of the population of Germany was lost during the Thirty-Years War from 1618-1648 - reducing the population from approximately 23 million to 13 million. We will not even mention the wars under Frederick the Great, Napoleon's conquests, the rise and conquests of the Prussian Empire, or the wars of the 20th Century.
It is safe to assume that there are at least 70,000 living today (worldwide) with the Eberhardt surname or one of its variant spellings.A larger number, due to marriages, etc. would no longer carry the Eberhardt surname.
Click on the following link to view a map of where Eberhardts reside today in Germany.If the link is not active, simply cut and paste into your browser.
To search for other spellings simply type in new surname.If one types in Everhart spelling, one realizes that this spelling is virtually non-existant in Germany which indicates that it is an anglicized spelling of Eberhardt.
Ray Haupt - Aug. 2009
Mother is an Eberhardt descendant
More Replies:
Re: Eberhardt/Everhart Family History of nearly 800 years
James Mouse 12/07/09


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Aviation Investigation Report A05P0269
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) investigated this occurrence for the purpose of advancing transportation safety. It is not the function of the Board to assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability.
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In-Flight Break-up
Helifor Industries Limited
Boeing Vertol BV-107 II (Helicopter C-GHFT
South Bentinck Arm, British Columbia
03 November 2005
The Boeing Vertol helicopter, model BV-107 II (registration C-GHFT, serial number 402), was engaged in helicopter logging operations in the South Bentinck Arm, 20 nautical miles from Bella Coola, British Columbia. At 1330 Pacific standard time, the helicopter was returning to the log pick-up site when one of the two pilots radioed that the helicopter was vibrating. Moments later, the crew made a second radio transmission indicating that the helicopter was behaving in an unusual manner and that they would be returning to the maintenance base. Approximately 10 seconds later, the helicopter suffered an in-flight break-up and fell to the ground in several sections. Both crew members sustained fatal injuries.
Ce rapport est également disponible en français.
Other Factual Information
The occurrence helicopter was leased to Helifor Industries Limited by Columbia Helicopters Incorporated of Portland, Oregon.
The weather in Bella Coola, about 15 nautical miles (nm) north of the occurrence site, at the time of the accident was as follows: visibility 15 statute miles, overcast cloud at 3500 feet above sea level (asl), and calm winds.
The helicopter wreckage was found distributed over a three-hectare area. These main sections - the cockpit and forward fuselage, the aft fuselage and engine compartment, and the aft pylon and transmission - were all within 150 yards of each other. There was a small post crash fire in the engine compartment that self-extinguished. Numerous smaller pieces were located throughout two identifiable debris fields along the helicopter flight path. These smaller pieces were comprised of sections of the main rotor blades, synchronizing drive shaft segments, drive shaft tunnel, and fuselage.
Following documentation of the accident site, the wreckage was transported to a hangar at the Vancouver International Airport for detailed examination. The engines were transported to Columbia Helicopters Incorporated. in Portland, Oregon, for further examination. Both engines were examined by TSB investigators to the extent possible, and no anomalies were found. There was nothing found to suggest that power loss occurred before the in-flight break-up.
Drive continuity of the forward transmission was confirmed, and no anomalies were found. The red and green1 forward rotor blades remained attached to the rotor hub assembly. The yellow blade had separated at the blade hinge due to ground impact. There was no indication of blade to blade contact or of forward blade contact with the fuselage. Damage to the forward rotor blades was consistent with ground impact.
Examination of the aft transmission revealed a fracture at the combining gearbox casing. Continuity of the aft transmission drive was confirmed, and the case fracture was consistent with ground impact forces. The three aft rotor blades exhibited signs of contact with the helicopter fuselage: fuselage paint transfer, scuffing, control cable marks, and spar fractures. There were significant impact marks on the leading edge of the three rotor blades. All aft rotor blade fragments were recovered with the exception of the outboard four feet of the red blade. The majority of the damage to the aft rotor blades was consistent with fuselage contact, with the remaining damage due to ground impact. Partial reconstruction of the fuselage revealed six blade strikes extending from the synchronizing drive shaft tunnel on the roof of the fuselage to the floor of the helicopter (see Figure 1 and Photo 1).
Figure 1. Blade strike area
Photo 1. Fuselage blade strikes
All flight controls were visually examined, and continuity was verified to the extent possible. With one exception, all fractures of the flight control system were consistent with overload due to impact forces. A fracture of the jack screw nut on the longitudinal cyclic trim actuator exhibited signs of fatigue (see Photo 2). The jack screw nut was examined macroscopically and the fracture surface revealed features typical of a progressive failure.
The fracture surface intersected the last thread in the jack screw nut that accommodates the end fitting adaptor. The rod end, which screws into the end fitting adaptor, was found damaged to the extent that the rod end bearing would not move freely. Further examination of the aft pylon and swash-plate area revealed scoring on the underside of the aft rotor head rain shield. This damage was consistent with the rod end coming into contact with the swash plate and rain shield before ground impact.
Speed Trim Actuator Maintenance History
Photo 2. Failed speed trim actuator
The longitudinal cyclic trim actuator is commonly referred to as the speed trim actuator. The speed trim actuator from the occurrence aircraft (part number 541168-1-1, serial number 115-377) was originally manufactured by AiResearch, which eventually became part of Honeywell International Incorporated. It was recently overhauled by Columbia Helicopters Incorporated and installed on C-GHFT on 05 March 2005. The actuator has an overhaul life of 2000 hours and had accumulated 1409 hours since last overhaul. It had accumulated 20 982 hours since new. During the last overhaul, it was determined that the actuator overran the retract switch. It is not known if this was the cause of the removal or if the overrunning condition was found during the pre-overhaul inspection. Parts replaced during the last overhaul included both the retract and extend limit switches, jack screw nut, and rod end adaptor. The TSB requested the source control documents for the replaced parts, but Columbia Helicopters Incorporated was unable to provide them. Once the speed trim actuator is installed and adjusted in accordance with the Boeing 107 maintenance manual, no further testing or monitoring is required.
Speed Trim Actuator Operation
The speed trim actuator is an electric actuator installed between the aft upper controls and the swash plate to provide limited control of the aft rotor head in the pitch axis. The two primary purposes of the speed trim actuator are to minimize stress on the vertical drive shaft and to maintain a level pitch attitude of the helicopter at higher airspeeds. Pilots control the speed trim actuator from the cockpit by operating a switch on the collective controls. A speed trim indicator, located on the instrument panel, indicates the position of the actuator as a function of airspeed. When flying below 70 knots, the actuator would be fully retracted, and at 100 knots or higher, the actuator would be fully extended. Separation of the speed trim actuator from the swash plate would result in the loss of longitudinal cyclic control of the aft rotor head.
The speed trim actuator incorporates two limit switches, one for retract and the other for extend (see Figure 2). The purpose of these switches is to stop the electric motor at the retract or extend limit of the actuator. The two limit switches are activated by profile splines, which are integral to the jack screw nut. The switches incorporate an arm that rides on the profile splines. When sufficiently compressed, the arm activates a plunger on the switch and interrupts the electricity to the motor.
Figure 2. Dimensional analysis
When airborne, the pilot selects the cyclic trim as a function of airspeed by selecting either CYC FWD (extend) or AFT TRIM (retract) on the collective control. The actuator jack screw nut moves in the selected direction until such time as the limit switch arm rides up the profile spline. In normal operation, the switch would activate before reaching the top of the profile spline and the motor would stop, ending the retract or extend operation.
Speed Trim Actuator Examination
Before disassembly (see Photo 3), the occurrence speed trim actuator was energized to establish the fully retracted and extended positions. These tests confirmed that the extension was in the normal range. In the retract direction, the actuator overran the normal stop, retracting beyond the normal limit. Both switches were then manually tested for electrical on/off function and found to be capable of on/off operation. Further testing revealed that the retract switch arm rode up the maximum height of the profile spline without depressing the switch plunger sufficiently to activate the internal electrical contacts of the switch. For testing purposes, the retract and extend switches were interchanged, and the actuator worked normally. Testing of the occurrence actuator with the limit switches interchanged revealed that the actuator stroke length was correctly adjusted at the time of overhaul, indicating correct adjustment of the switches in the horizontal axis. There is no adjustment available for the switches in the vertical axis - the distance between the switch and the splines.
Photo 3. Interior of occurrence actuator
It was also noted that the retract switch arm had a groove worn where it contacts the profile spline. This wear was measured to be 0.003 inches. Switches from other actuators that had reached overhaul life exhibited wear on the arm, and on one switch, the arm was worn completely though yet continued to operate normally.
The electric motor drives a series of gears, causing the torsion bar to rotate. The torsion bar is inside the jack screw nut. Rotation of the torsion bar causes the jack screw nut to extend or retract. If the retract switch were to fail during retraction, the rod end adapter would eventually contact the face of the torsion bar and act as a mechanical stop. The electric motor would continue to apply force to the torsion bar even after travel had been halted by the mechanical stop. There are no indications to the pilots or maintenance personnel when the actuator limit switches have failed and the jack screw nut is contacting the mechanical stop.
Examination of the torsion bar inside the jack screw nut revealed damage to the keyway in the shaft of the torsion bar. Damage to the keyway is consistent with the motor continuing to drive in the retract direction after it had reached the mechanical stop.
Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) of the end fitting adapter revealed that it was cadmium plated, but the majority of the cadmium plating was worn away, most likely by contact with the torsion bar. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) examination of the torsion bar face revealed small isolated patches of bright-coloured material, which were analyzed by EDX and found to be cadmium.
Jack Screw Nut Examination
SEM analysis of the jack screw nut revealed that numerous fatigue cracks had initiated at the inner diameter of the nut in the root of the last of five threads (inside actuator body). The cracks had propagated around the entire circumference of the fracture surface, suggesting a symmetrical tension load, an indication that the actuator was not misaligned during installation. The fatigue cracks had propagated toward the outer surface until the final 10 per cent of the material failed in an overload mode.
The internal jack screw thread was a 3/4-20 UNEF-3B,2 as specified on the production drawings. The internal thread-root radius of the jack screw nut was roughly 0.001 inches. The thread radius in two exemplar jack screw nuts varied from 0.001 and 0.004 inches.
Fatigue is a process that results in cracking and/or failure of a component subjected to fluctuating or repeated loading. Failure due to fatigue can occur at loads or stresses much below those necessary to cause overload failure of non-fatigued components. Since fatigue failures generally occur at locations of high stress concentration, threaded components are especially vulnerable because of the notch-like conditions at the thread roots. The smaller the thread-root radius, the greater the stress concentration factor.
A review of specifications found that the UNEF thread standard does not specify a minimum allowable thread-root radius. For comparison purposes, the UNJF3 thread standard specifies a minimum allowable thread-root radius of 0.0075 inches, the BSW4 thread standard specifies a minimum allowable thread-root radius of 0.0069 inches, and the DIN5 40430 thread standard specifies a root radius of 0.008 inches. Experimental fatigue testing has found that a BSW thread has a stress concentration factor of 3.85. Other testing has found that stress concentration factors can be as low as 3 for UNJF threads and as high as 6 for threads with sharp or flat roots. It is considered that the occurrence thread, with its 0.001-inch thread-root radius, likely had a stress concentration factor of 7.8 or higher.
Hardness testing of the fractured jack screw nut found an average value of 30.26 Rockwell C, which corresponds to an ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of roughly 138 000 psi. Metallurgy of the jack screw nut was consistent with the manufacturer's specifications. The occurrence actuator was installed in a tensile testing machine, with the retract switch disabled to allow the actuator to contact the mechanical stop. A force of 1324 pounds was required to stall the electric motor. Therefore, if the retract limit switch does not activate and the actuator reaches the mechanical stop, a force of 1324 pounds will be applied to the jack screw nut - a force four times greater than generated during normal flight loads.
Actual stress on the jack screw nut was calculated to be approximately 60 000 psi. Generally, for steels with a UTS less than 200 000 psi, the endurance limit will be between 0.35 and 0.60 of the UTS.6 The calculated 60 000 psi value represents 0.43 of the actual material's UTS of 138 000 psi. Therefore, the force due solely to reaching the mechanical stop either exceeds or is very close to the endurance limit. It is considered that, when service loads are superimposed on this, the loads would exceed the endurance limit. If cyclic stresses are kept below the endurance limit, a component can have an infinite fatigue life. As soon as the endurance limit is exceeded, fatigue failure is likely.
Limit Switch Examination
The AiResearch illustrated parts catalogue (IPC) for speed trim actuator part number 541168-1-1 specifies the limit switches as part number 529303-1 for the retract switch and USML117 for the extend switch. Part number 529303-1 is an assembly of two USML117 switches piggy-backed together and was installed in helicopters where the main rotor blades folded. Blade fold was a requirement of some military helicopters used in aircraft carrier operations. The occurrence helicopter did not have blade fold and therefore the dual switch assembly was not required. No other differences were noted for the actuator in the IPC that would affect limit switch location or operation.
An exemplar speed trim actuator was obtained for comparison purposes. Data tags on the exemplar actuator indicate that it had been repaired and tested in 1993 and 1999 by Allied Signal, now part of Honeywell International Inc. The extent of the repair is not known. Examination of the exemplar actuator revealed the use of 2LML82E limit switches in both retract and extend positions. Although Honeywell International Inc. approved the use of the 2LML82E switch for use by the Canadian military only, documentation provided to the TSB revealed that the USML117 switch was superseded and changed to a 2LML82E in November 1977. This documentation confirmed the interchangeability of the two switches. This interchangeability was not documented in the speed trim actuator IPC.
Various examples of 2LML82E and USML117 switches were obtained by the TSB and examined. The results of testing are shown in Table 1. Tests confirmed that the occurrence limit switches did not meet manufacturer's specifications for arm travel (see Figure 3). Using the switch mounting holes as a reference, the arm of the 2LML82E switch should cause the switch to operate at 0.437 ±0.010 inches. The retract switch and the extend switch from the occurrence actuator operated at 0.413 and 0.416 inches respectively - 0.014 and 0.011 inches beyond tolerance. This translates into a greater arm travel for switch activation.
Table 1. Switch Test Data
|Switch Part Number
|Force (oz)
|Operate Position (in)
|USML117 - New
|USML117 - New
|2LML82E - New
|2LML82E - New
|2LML82E - Occurrence retract
|2LML82E - Occurrence extend
|2LML82E - Manufacturer's specs
|max 6.0
|0.427 to 0.447
Figure 3. 2LML82E switch operating characteristics
A new 2LML82E switch and the retract switch from the occurrence actuator were X-rayed to determine if any internal anomalies existed, but no differences were identified. Data sheets for operating characteristics could not be located for the USML117 switches, and it is unknown if the USML117 switches that were tested conformed to manufacturing specifications. However, with the exception of operating force, which was less on the USML117, both the 2LML82E and the USML117 switches had similar physical dimensions and operating characteristics. Of note, both the USML117 and the 2LML82E switches also had an AiResearch part number, 528047, stamped on the body of the switch.
The only identifiable difference between the 2LML82E and the USML117 switches was operating force. Since the arm of the switch generally bends more as the force goes up, a switch with a lower operating force would likely produce less deflection of the arm, and therefore earlier operation of the plunger. It is possible that the force characteristics to operate the 2LML82E are higher than originally intended with a USML117, but without manufacturing data of the USML117, this cannot be proven. It should be noted that, during testing, a new 2LML82E switch had the same operating force as the out-of-tolerance extend switch, yet still was within specification for arm operating position.
The limit 2LML82E switches from the occurrence actuator did not meet the manufacturer's specification for switch arm travel. Given that there was no indication that the switch characteristics changed while in service, both switches were likely out of specification before installation and were operating with little margin for error. Since the switches cannot move in the vertical axis, it is likely that the 0.003-inch wear groove in the retract arm contributed to the failure of the retract switch to activate.
The deformed keyway on the shaft of the torsion bar and the cadmium material transfer residue on the face of the torsion bar are physical evidence that the retract limit switch did not activate and, therefore, was not stopping the retract motion. Continued motor operation caused the end fitting adapter to be driven into the face of the torsion bar, causing damage to the gear train by imposing a tensile load on the jack screw nut of over 1300 pounds. The stress concentration factor caused by the small thread-root radius, in combination with the high tensile load, resulted in a stress that was greater than the jack screw nut material endurance limit. Fatigue failure of the jack screw nut was inevitable once the endurance limit had been exceeded.
Virtually all mechanical components contain some form of geometrical, manufacturing, or microstructural discontinuities. These discontinuities are referred to as stress concentrators, often resulting in maximum local stresses at the discontinuity. Where this discontinuity is a notch, the magnification of the stress depends on the notch root radius - the sharper the notch, the greater reduction in fatigue life. In threaded components such as the jack screw nut, the thread-root radius and thread profile effectively create a notch. In threaded components, failure often occurs at the last thread, where the stress concentration is highest. The 0.001-inch thread-root radius in the jack screw nut reduced the fatigue strength of the material. A larger thread-root radius would likely have a significant beneficial effect on fatigue life.
Examination of the fracture surface of the jack screw nut indicated that bending or misalignment of the nut was not a factor, thus eliminating installation errors. Once the speed trim actuator was installed, maintenance personnel are only required to perform simple tests to ensure the actuator is working correctly. There are no provisions to check the stroke of the actuator or to check if the actuator is contacting the mechanical stops during its service life. Since the fatigue originated from the internal threads, visual examination of the nut during routine maintenance would not have revealed the fracture or impending failure.
The TSB was unable to determine the source or the manufacturer of the jack screw nut, replaced during the last overhaul, because Columbia Helicopters Incorporated could not provide source documents for the replaced part. Although in this case the jack screw nut conformed to specifications and was not found to be defective, proper documentation would aid in identifying the manufacturer and location of defective or unapproved components.
Partial reconstruction of the centre and forward fuselage sections clearly indicated that the aft rotor blades entered the cabin, severing the helicopter, synchronizing shafts, and control cables. A mechanical failure of the speed trim actuator rendered longitudinal pitch of the aft rotor system unstable and the helicopter became uncontrollable. Once the rod end separated from the speed trim actuator, the aft rotor head became unstable, allowing the aft rotor disk to tilt forward until the rotor blades contacted the fuselage. It is also possible in this type of failure that the aft rotor disk could tilt aft. Either scenario has catastrophic consequences for the helicopter.
The following TSB Engineering Laboratory reports were completed:
LP 129/2005 - Jack Screw Nut Examination
LP 004/2006 - Limit Switch Examination
These reports are available from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada upon request.
Findings as to Causes and Contributing Factors
- The limit switches from the occurrence actuator did not meet the manufacturer's specification for switch arm travel. Since the switches cannot move in the vertical axis, it is likely that the greater arm travel distance prevented activation of the retract limit switch.
- Failure of the retract limit switch to activate caused the end fitting adapter to be driven into the face of the torsion bar, imposing a tensile load on the jack screw nut of over 1300 pounds.
- This high tensile load created a stress concentration within the 0.001-inch thread-root radius that was higher than the jack screw nut material endurance limit, which in turn caused the jack screw nut to fail.
- The aft rotor blades became unstable following failure of the speed trim actuator jack screw nut. The aft rotor blades tilted forward into helicopter fuselage, causing an in-flight break-up.
Findings as to Risk
- There are no indications to the pilots that the speed trim actuator has contacted the mechanical stop. Pilots could continue to unknowingly operate a speed trim actuator against the mechanical stop, eventually resulting in failure of the jack screw nut and a catastrophic airframe failure.
- An internal thread-root radius of the jack screw nut was not specified in the production drawings. A larger thread-root radius would likely have a significant beneficial effect on fatigue life.
- Once the speed trim actuator is installed and adjusted, no further periodic maintenance is required. Failure of either the retract or the extend limit switches would likely go undetected until the next overhaul interval.
- Since the fatigue originated from the internal threads, fatigue cracking of the jack screw nut would not be apparent during visual inspections of the speed trim actuator. Internal fatigue cracks would continue to grow until failure occurred.
- The arm of the switch is subject to wear, increasing the likelihood of a switch malfunction.
- Columbia Helicopters Incorporated could not provide source control documents for the parts replaced during the last overhaul of the speed trim actuator. Proper documentation aids in identifying the manufacturer and location of defective or unapproved components.
Other Finding
- The illustrated parts catalogue (IPC) for the speed trim actuator did not reflect the interchangeability of the USML117 and the 2LML82E switches.
Safety Action Taken
On 23 November 2005, Columbia Helicopters Incorporated issued an inter-office memorandum to all Boeing 107 helicopter crews, detailing recurrent procedures to check the operation and serviceability of the speed trim actuator switches. As a result of this memorandum, one other speed trim actuator was identified as having a non-functional extend limit switch.
On 23 November 2005, Boeing Aerospace Support-Philadelphia issued service bulletin 107-67-1001, requesting that all operators of Model 107 helicopters (BV and KV) and 107 derivatives inspect and functionally test the longitudinal cyclic trim actuator limit switches. Boeing recommended that this test be accomplished before the next flight, and before each subsequent flight until further notice.
This report concludes the Transportation Safety Board's investigation into this occurrence. Consequently, the Board authorized the release of this report on 07 July 2006.
Rotor blades are color-coded to track maintenance activity.↑
UNEF is the acronym for Unified National Extra Fine, a descriptor for a screw thread series.↑
UNJF is the acronym for Unified External Fine.↑
BSW is the acronym for British Standard Whitworth.↑
DIN is the acronym for Deutsches Institut für Normung (German Institute for Standardization).↑
J.A. Bannantine, J.J. Connor, and J.L. Handrock, Fundamentals of Metal Fatigue Analysis, Prentice-Hall, 1990, Fig 1.5.↑
- Date modified:


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More episodes
October 05, 2015Download
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Julie Ann Horvath is the Head of Design at Clef, where she marries her passion for design and coding, and the creator of Passion Projects, a talk series designed to highlight women in the tech industry.
She got into tech by doing temporary data entry at the then little-known startup, Yammer. But she saw the opportunities available to those who could code, so she taught herself, taking on more responsibilities to finally become a designer and developer. Julie Ann Horvath opens up about her humble beginnings, what she learned from her controversial exit at Github last year, and the role she plays as an advocate for a more inclusive tech industry.


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Outerlink In the News
First responders no longer kept silent in the wake of natural disasters, October 19, 2017
Outerlink IRIS system received EASA and Transport Canada STC approval for S92, October 16, 2017
Great American Safety Drive to use Outerlink GPS Tracking, June 4, 2015
REACH Air Medical Services to inaugurate situational awareness technology IRIS, April 7, 2015
Med-Trans selects IRIS, March 3rd, 2015
North Flight Data Systems receives Canadian Validation for AS350 and EC130 installation March 2nd, 2015
Metro Reveals IRIS, by Oliver Johnson Feb 24th, 2015
Outerlink Uniquity- Outerlink's NextGen Software announced on Law Enforcement Technology's June 2013 Issue, July 1st, 2013
The Next Evolution of M2M- Your Personal Social Network-A Byline by Rod Danielson, CTO of Outerlink, June 18, 2013
Police Chief Magazine Features The CQ Hub in their new product section of their April Issue (Circ. 23,038), April 1, 2013
Mission Critical Communications Features the CQ Hub April 1, 2013
Outerlink CQHub Press Release Featured In Verticle Magazine March 1, 2013
Outerlink Releases First Satellite IP Push-to-Talk Solution for Helicopter Communications (Feature in 9-1-1 Magazine) March 4. 2013
Outerlink GoldenHour Integration Press Release Feature in 9-1-1 Magazine, February 22nd, 2013
Increasing Efficiencies through EMS Responder Tracking, February 1, 2013
Outerlink Article in RotorHub Magazine, December 1, 2012
Please Check Back For More to Come...


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Meadow Brook Hall [MI]
Meadow Brook Hall is the fourth largest historic house museum in the United States. Built between 1926 and 1929 as the residence of Matilda Dodge Wilson (widow of auto pioneer John Dodge) and her second husband, lumber broker Alfred G. Wilson, the 110room, 88,000squarefoot mansion is complete with vast collections of original art and furnishings. The exterior and most of the interior rooms at Meadow Brook Hall were designed in the Tudor-revival style. However, a few rooms were decorated in other period-revival styles: the dining room and Matilda's study are 18thcentury Neoclassical, Matilda's room and the French bedroom are 18thcentury French Rococo, and Frances' bedroom is American Colonial. The hall's collections include original paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings, furniture, ceramics, carpets, glass, silver, costumes and other textiles, and family archival materials. Highlights of the collection include Tiffany art glass, costumes by Paul Poiret, Stickley furniture, paintings by Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sèvres and Meissen porcelain, and Rookwood pottery.
The hall offers guided mansion and garden tours, period rooms, educational programs, and a variety of special events, including lectures.


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Hand Tied Red
Say, "I love you" with this timeless classic. Made with love.
Flowers included in this beautiful creation may differ subject to seasonal and flower market availability. Our team will inform you if there are any major changes but we will do our best to ensure that it looks like what you see on our website.
Thank you for supporting local SA Florists in our beautiful country. #SupportLocal
Hand Tied Red
Add something Extra...
R 705.00R 760.00 Incl. standard delivery fee
Our standard Same-Day Delivery is any time between 9AM and 5PM. We unfortunately cannot give you an exact time of delivery for this service but every effort will be made to deliver your order as soon as possible.
Next available delivery date: today.
- Whilst every effort will be made to accommodate delivery time requests, we cannot guarantee that they will be met using our standard delivery service.
- Same-Day Delivery if you order before 1 PM.
- Our standard delivery fee is R 55.00, the lowest in South Africa and will be confirmed and added to your order when you checkout.
- This product can be delivered nationally.
- Whilst every attempt is made to reproduce the product as shown in the image, from time to time particular flowers and other items may not be available in the recicipient's area.
- In such cases, we will always find the closest possible substitute.
- Greenery, fillers and delivery charges may vary depending on the area.
- The size shown in the image displayed is medium (25 roses) - as shown.
- A vase is not supplied. Please add a vase if it is preferred.
- If you'd prefer options other than those in the picture, please let us know in the Special Instructions field when you checkout. We will make every effort to accommodate your request where we can.
- We understand that every time you order flowers, it's to brighten someone's day or to tell them that you're thinking of them. We know just how important it is that both you and the recipient have the experience that you're expecting when you shop with SA Florist.
- We have taken great care in selecting the best and most reliable florists and partners in South Africa.
- People that we know and trust to deliver an outstanding experience every time.
- If you feel that we, or our partners, have not lived up to this promise, please let us know and we'll bend over backwards to make things right.
Daniel T
WOW! - 19 August 2018 "My wife was so happy and she told me that the manner in which the order was delivered was so so perfect."
Kaylan J
WOW! - 01 August 2018 "I was not personally there however my order was placed and the presentation was amazing so all in all i am really pleased with it"
Nkosinathi N
WOW! - 27 June 2018 "It was great and the product was delivered on time. It is also cheaper compared to other companies. "
Tulsi P
Excellent - 13 June 2018 "I live overseas and wanted to surprise my family. They were so happy to receive the gifts without an occasion. "
Wesley W
WOW! - 06 June 2018 "the product ordered was delivered as expected and well packaged. Very happry with the service i received. "
William James B
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Sam O
Great - 27 May 2018 "Loved the flowers and delivered on time "
Diaan V
Horrendous - 14 May 2018 "Bunch of red roses.I sent the flowers to a person working at the Servest building (should be close to your premise). Apparently the roses already wilted the next morning and they were put in water immediately after receiving them. He even sent me pictures of what they looked like. I can't attach any photos here. Not happy, actually embarrassed by sending it in the first place. Best,Diaan"
Judy M
WOW! - 14 May 2018 "Your online shopping experience is a pleasure and you will always deliver on time."
Leon L
Excellent - 22 April 2018
Frederik K
Okay - 19 April 2018 "The Order was delivered as requested, unfortunately, the order was not exactly what was ordered as the florist did not have this is stock. I would like to have been notified as there was a reason the Flowers needed to be 12 red roses and not 10 pink ones."
Mark G
WOW! - 16 March 2018
Charles R
WOW! - 12 March 2018 "Extremely satisfied."
Thuani M
WOW! - 12 March 2018 "Quality and delivery time excellent. "
Leon L
Excellent - 23 February 2018 "Everything on time and beautiful bunch of roses, than you. "
David H
Okay - 21 February 2018 "The bouquet was beautiful, picture perfect. The card was nicely written and exactly as requested. The chocolates were packed in a very cute gift bag. Excellent product.I do understand Valentine's Day is a crazy day for florists. However, my order was not delivered, without any notice or explanation. When I reported the issue, I received a quick apology from SA Florist, but the communication in general could have been better. Poor service."
Geoffrey S
WOW! - 17 February 2018
Clifford B
Excellent - 16 February 2018
Paul B
WOW! - 11 February 2018 "You have shown very consistent performance, beautiful flowers and delivered on time, what more can I ask for, I will always come back."
Michael H
Excellent - 14 December 2017 "Very happy with the service, especially my request to have the product delivered at a certain time.Well done!"
Neo T
WOW! - 09 December 2017 "It got on time and thanks again for the special delivery "
Richard S
WOW! - 04 October 2017
Jean-Jacques J
Excellent - 28 September 2017 "Quick delivery with no hassle.Had to change address and only support assisted me within minutes. "
Fagrie J
Horrendous - 18 August 2017 "Only received confirmation that my flowers were delivered the day after the delivery, after sending many emails. So this really dampened my experience. "
Nomabhongo T
Excellent - 14 August 2017 "everything was good"
Sandile S
Great - 07 August 2017
Leon L
WOW! - 06 August 2017 "Always on time and roses fabulous, you guys have never let me down, keep up the great work. "
Carl N
Excellent - 20 July 2017 "Delivered the same day. Pictures send looks like flowers a little wilted but she was thrilled and what is most important. Thank you!!"
Christian B
Excellent - 19 July 2017
Gurshwill S
WOW! - 09 July 2017 "I want to thank SA Florist and I will be using it again in the nearby future. Everything was perfect thank you very much"


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Travel Quotes
Travel quotes are inspirational, fun, and make for great daydreaming!
Travel bloggers weigh in with their favorite travel quotes:
One of my favorite twists on a classic travel quote from Conversant Traveller:
Charlotte Beeby of Follow My Wanderlust chose this travel quote as her favorite:
Kristin McNeil: "Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today." James Dean
Laura Lynch of Savored Journeys:
Natasha Nikole of Boozy Backpacker Favorite Travel Quote: "Please understand, I have been waiting to leave ever since I figured out their were roads willing to take me anywhere I wanted to go-" Unknown
Leeann Laleh Murphy author of Istanbul and the Turkish Coast:
Amanda Burger of Burger Abroad: "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" Mary Oliver
Elizabeth Lambert Rudd's Favorite Travel Quote of Compass and Fork:
Roxanne Hebert of La Vie en Rox: "We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, we stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there" Pascal Mercier.
Christianna Allen of Expecto Adventures:
Stefanie Micheals of I'm Adventure Girl: "being adventurous is a state of mind, it's an expression of one's curiosity"
Amy Dresser of Two Drifters:
Erin Tracy' pick for Travel Quote of Traveling Thru History:
Radhika Basuthakur of Fulltime Nomad: "There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered." Nelson Mandela
Sally Elbassir of Passport and Plates:
Jamie Wilson: "I'm not here for a long time. I'm here for a good time." George Strait
Rachel Ramblr's Choice for Favorite Travel Quote of Ramblr:
Annemarie Strehl of Travel on the Brain: "If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree." Jim Rohn
Sam Gross' Choice for Top Travel Quote, of There She Goes Again:
Jessica Hill of Miss Adventure Travel: "Travel: the only things that you buy that makes you richer." Unknown
Kelly Payne's Favorite Travel Quote, of Pieces of Me 1983 Blogspot:
Victoria Dovaston of The Girl on the Move: " And then I realized, adventures are the best way to learn." Unknown
Simon Lye by The Aussie Flashpacker chooses this Travel Quote:
Cheryl Ambruch's Favorite Travel Quote 'Once a year go someplace you've never been before" Dalai Lama
Estefi Hernandez of Find New Adventures:
Lies Veldeman of Nonstop Destination loves this travel quote: "I don't believe in taking foolish chances, but nothing can be accomplished without taking any chance at all." Charles Lindbergh
Gemma Cleaver of Gemma Jane Adventures:
Asia Adams' top travel quote: Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy a plane ticket, & that's pretty darn close.
Nikki Godwin chose her favorite travel quote: "A journey is best measure in friends, not miles" Tim Cahill
Amanda Williams of Amanda's Wanderlust loves this travel quote: "When you are traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don't have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road." William Least Heat Moon
Yasha Langford of Dare2Go gives this travel quote top marks: "We're not lost! We're not lost because there is nowhere we have to be." Yasha Langford and hubby[contact-form-7 404 "Not Found"]
Sarah Alexandra George of Sarah Alexandra George and I share a vote for this quote. Of all the travel quotes, this one is my all time favorite.
Do you have a list of favorite travel quotes that inspire you?
Love quotes? So do WE!! Enjoy these other fun lists of travel quotes:
CLICK HERE – Travel Quotes from Mark Twain
CLICK HERE – Travel Quotes for Saying Farewell to your Traveling Friends
Happy Family Travels,
Natalie, The Educational Tourist


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Booking sites for LARPs can be an interesting chore. To some degree, it depends on whether the site you're looking at has had LARP groups at it before.
John Lee's Wood Scout Camp, for example, has had LARPs in attendance so often that they have special rules in place for LARP groups on their website. Other scout camps might have a "LARP Group" section in their booking form for when you're saying what type of group you are. All in all, it's a lot more common for the types of sites used by small-medium LARPs (typically scout camps and similar sites) to have some understanding of what you're doing even if they're not familiar with your group in particular. This is quite useful as it saves time in explaining what you're doing.
Well, usually saves time. We had an event at Featherstone Castle in March, and we did have a discussion about what we were doing even though they'd hosted LARPs before. One of the problems with less-used sites is that the people booking may be less up-front about what they're doing to prevent awkward questions. As someone who's done it before, I know all about how you can explain LARP as "interactive freeform theatre which involves the participants as actors playing parts they conceive themselves". That's not a great thing to do long-term, as it can lead to holdovers and stigmas that never go away. Our local "parlour LARP" in Edinburgh is booked in as the "drama group" at the venue we use and I frequently get questions about when we're putting on our next production and what sort of play we're doing – this is obviously counter-productive.
When we started No Rest for the Wicked, one of the things we were doing was starting a LARP in Scotland, which left us with an awkward situation – LARP events don't happen much up here. There wasn't a list of recommended sites to use for what we were doing, and we had to scout out the territory ourselves. We did get a list of sites used by another LARP in the past, but most of that list was places they'd used several years before and not been to since. What this meant was that we had to explain what we were doing, and sometimes that took a while. The response has been varied, with only a few hiccups. While the people running the sites may not understand the hobby, they do understand when you tell them you want to book the site for an entire weekend and you're willing to pay for it.
Being open about what you're doing is important – it builds up a better relationship with the site, and the staff may have ideas that make for a better event. Talking to the staff at Douglaswood Scout Centre about what we were planning to do meant that we found out about the WW2 pillboxes at the corners of the site (one being lived in by bats, so not usable), and the underground tunnel system. They've still not managed to clean out the tunnels yet, but knowing that they're there has sparked ideas for things we can do with the site once they're available.
One of the biggest problems we had was when we were initially booking Douglaswood for a No Rest for the Wicked event. The person in charge of the site (who wasn't familiar with the other events that had been done there in the past) was very excited to have us come along and was really interested in what we were doing to the point we were almost trying to get him to come along and play. The problem was that the Dundee Scout Council have rules about firing arrows and rifles at human targets, and they were arguing that allowing us to use Nerf guns to fire at each other was breaking that rule. The point at which we heard about it was when Chris (the Douglaswood site warden) was telling us about it and how he'd told them that firing foam darts is very different to potentially deadly ammunition, and that the site could really use the money we were bringing in. This is just one of the reasons I will recommend Douglaswood as a site to people running in Scotland – the people behind it are really helpful to groups like ours.
There are some tips I'd recommend anyone looking at booking a site for a LARP keep in mind:
- Book as far in advance as you can (six months is a good minimum if possible) – the site will appreciate it, and you'll save stress from last-minute booking
- Make sure you get to the site for a visit and walk-around with the staff before you confirm bookings – even if you've been to the site as a player, this is always a good idea
- Get a quote for the weekend and figure out how many players you need to cover your costs
- Make sure you know about any required deposits
- Get a quote for the weekend and figure out how many players you need to cover your costs
- Find out the rules on cancellation – some sites will require you to pay the full site fee even if you cancel the booking
- Check transport links and closeness to mainline stations
- Check when you can be on site from, and when you need to leave
- Check where you can leave rubbish
- Check on the available cooking equipment
- If possible, arrange to arrive the night before and leave the morning after – it gives you more time to set-up before players arrive, and to clean up after them
- Contact other groups to see if they've used the site before – it may save you some unexpected and unforeseen issues
- Make sure you get filled in on any fire safety procedures
- Talk to the site about what you do, and any activities that may be objectionable1)using realistic imitation firearms is something that may be objected to
- Find out the details of the local police force if you need to contact them about potential callouts that could occur2)such as if you're using realistic imitation firearms – always notify the police in this instance so that they don't bring the armed response unit if they get a call about someone running around with assault weaponry
- Be friendly and responsible – leave a legacy of good feeling for future LARP groups using the site
Latest posts by Yoda (see all)
- You never hear about the good things - September 24, 2015
- Booking sites - April 13, 2015
- GNU Terry Pratchett - March 18, 2015
Footnotes [ + ]
|using realistic imitation firearms is something that may be objected to
|such as if you're using realistic imitation firearms – always notify the police in this instance so that they don't bring the armed response unit if they get a call about someone running around with assault weaponry


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|Use this URL to cite or link to this record in EThOS:
|Environmental policy in Egypt : the role of institutional structure.
|Sherif, Sherifa Fouad.
|Awarding Body:
|University of Sussex
|Current Institution:
|University of Sussex
|Date of Award:
|Availability of Full Text:
currently faces serious environmental challenges. Some would go so far as to say that Egypt faces an environmental crisis. While the causes of these environmental problems are complex, one intervening factor is prevalent, namely the institutional choices that Egyptian policy makers have made through the course of industrialization since the 1960s. These choices tended to downplay or ignore (at that time uncertain and unrealized) environmental consequences in favor of attaining the most rapid economic growth possible. Today one can see the results of this policy on the streets of Cairo or in the waterways of the Nile. Due to unwise investment decisions, the environmental costs of development have been considerable. Egypt today still remains a very poor nation, and is now also burdened by some of the world's most severe environmental disasters. Flawed institutional practices have contributed to these problems. The Egyptian government now needs to focus on effective institutional solutions to correct these institutional problems. Institutional structures have played a central role in determining economic development priorities in Egypt, including their resulting environmental consequences. Likewise, institutional structures will be integral in trying to find policy solutions to these problems. The make-up and capacities of these institutions could have a significant impact on the effectiveness of policy. A recent study undertaken to analyze the effectiveness of National Environmental Action Plans in African countries concluded that: Experience with the NEAPs to date indicates that, to a large degree, the success of the NEAP process is determined by the effectiveness of the institutional arrangements for its development and implementation. 1 Government institutions in Egypt have slowly begun to look at ways to correct the mistakes of the past. Since the 1980s, environmental protection laws have been developed and are being implemented. An Environmental Affairs Agency (EAA) has been created to focus specifically on environmental policy issues. The Egyptian government has developed and adopted its own National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) to provide a policy framework for environmental reform. Major political institutions, parties, and high-level officials are beginning to show public support for incorporating environmental considerations into development policy. But will this response be enough? This dissertation will focus on that very question. The focus of this dissertation is fourfold: 1) to analyze the role institutions played in Egypt's industrial development and resulting environmental degradation; 2) to diagnose the institutional structures responsible III Egypt today for dealing with environmental issues; 3) to determine the capabilities of this institutional structure in developing policy responses to Egypt's past and present environmental problems, especially in the area of industrial pollution; and 4) to draw some conclusions on what can be done to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of this institutional response.
|Not available
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|Qualification Name:
|Thesis (Ph.D.)
|Qualification Level:
|EThOS ID:
|Not available
|Political science


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This Day in Buffalo Sports History: Always on the job
January 14, 1972 -- It seemed like something of a minor trade at the time, but it worked out very well for the Buffalo Sabres. In addition, it's one of the best anecdotes about the early history of the Sabres.
Punch Imlach was in his second season of running the Sabres in 1971-72. He had served as general manager and coach since the franchise was formed, but his heart problems acted up in the second season and it was off to the hospital to get some treatment and rest.
However, the phone in the hospital still worked. So Imlach send a second-round draft choice in the 1972 draft to the New York Rangers for Jim Lorentz. This was a deal that paid off for years to come.
Lorentz had won a Stanley Cup in Boston in 1970 as a fourth-line in 1970, but he never got to be a regular until arriving in Buffalo. Then, he became a regular, scoring more than 20 goals four times as a Sabre.
Lorentz was finished as a player in 1978, but he wasn't done contributing. He worked on the Sabres' broadcasts for many of the next 30 years. Jim even wrote some articles for the team's program.
--- Budd Bailey


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Division 7 Ebook Page 248 Low Slope Commercial Roofing Overview
Section Overview Low Slope Single-Ply Insulated Roof Systems OWENS CORNING INSULATING SYSTEMS, LLC ONE OWENS CORNING PARKWAY TOLEDO, OHIO 43659 1-800-GET-PINK www.owenscorning.com Printed in U.S.A. September 2011. THE PINK PANTHER & 1964- 2011 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved. The color PINK is a registered trademark of Owens Corning. 2011 Owens Corning. Disclaimer of Liability Technical information contained herein is furnished without charge or obligation and is given and accepted at recipient's sole risk. Because conditions of use may vary and are beyond our control, Owens Corning makes no representation about, and is not responsible or liable for the accuracy or reliability of data associated with particular uses of any product described herein. Nothing contained in this bulletin shall be considered a recommendation. The GREENGUARD INDOOR AIR QUALITY CERTIFIED mark is registered certification mark used under license through the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute. LEED is a registered trademark of the U.S. Green Building Council.Previous Page


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The Big Bifurcation Battle – CIO Winners and Losers in 2015 and How to Land on the Winning Side
by Toby Redshaw
At the end of 2015 some CEOs are going to be happy about their results. Others not so much. Underlying both the good and the bad will be a clear bifurcation between those that get and execute modern IT and those that don't. The outcomes will be stark and the penalties brutal. This bifurcation will just be beginning and the gap between the have's and have not's will continue to grow. Here's what the bifurcation is, how it came about and how you can end up on the right side. (more…)


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The Age of Grand Dilution
Banks unveil their latest desperate strategy for self-preservation.
Watching CNBC can be a little like watching the movie Groundhog Day. Every trading day seems to bring a replay of a show we've seen before: A large financial institution, maimed by self-inflicted wounds and in need of capital, raises billions in cash from investors on onerous terms. The trend started last fall when New York-based investment banks such as Citigroup and Merrill Lynch sold hunks of themselves to sovereign-wealth funds and Persian Gulf investors at a steep discount. Now it's moved from Wall Street to Main Street. Last Monday, Cleveland-based National City Corp., America's 10th-largest bank, announced it was raising $7 billion. In a complicated deal, investors—including the private-equity firm Corsair Capital and existing shareholders—essentially agreed to acquire 1.4 billion shares at $5 apiece.
Such transactions have typically been hailed by market cheerleaders as votes of confidence. After all, they prove that sophisticated investors are willing to plunge billions of dollars into a foundering sector.
But these life preservers exact a heavy cost: dilution. Most Americans experience dilution at bars, when unscrupulous bartenders cut top-shelf alcohol with excessive amounts of tonic or juice in mixed drinks. In recent months we've been feeling it in our wallets, as inflation (up 4 percent in the year that ended in March) has eroded wages. Now it's Wall Street's turn.
Dilution can be defined as the sudden realization that an asset's market value isn't quite as great as had been advertised. Before the dilutive financing transaction, National City had about 635 million shares of common stock outstanding, which the market valued at $8.33 a share as of Friday, April 18. With the flood of new shares to be issued—and with the new buyers willing to pay only $5 per share—the ownership stakes of prior shareholders have been watered down significantly. "We've estimated the dilution of current shareholders at approximately 70 percent," CEO Peter Raskind told me. If you owned shares worth 10 percent of the company last month, they'll be worth only 3 percent of the company next month.
Raskind took the helm of National City last July, just when its world was about to be rocked. In ordinary times, companies seeking to raise funds sell bonds or sell common shares at something close to the market price. But as Raskind noted, "These are not ordinary times. And furthermore, we are not in an ordinary position." Like other banks, National City racked up consecutive quarterly losses thanks to rising amounts of bad debt, and was bracing for further losses. Given that it had to raise capital quickly—to stay in compliance with regulatory requirements and to reassure customers and the markets that it had sufficient cash—selling stock at a huge discount was "the least unattractive" alternative.
The dilution at National City isn't the worst. In March, Thornburg Mortgage raised $1.35 billion through a transaction that effectively diluted shareholders by 94.5 percent. And it's not the biggest. On April 22, while the market was still digesting National City's deal, the Royal Bank of Scotland (which, these days, is neither royal, nor particularly Scottish, nor, judging by recent results, much of a bank) announced a highly dilutive $24 billion offering.
Accepting dilution while raising cash is an admission of failure and a mark of embarrassment—like pawning the family silver to pay off gambling debts. "It is not something that we are proud of," said National City's Raskind. But for shareholders, there is something of a silver lining. Investors, employees, and politicians alike were outraged when former CEOs such as Chuck Prince of Citigroup and Stanley O'Neal of Merrill Lynch, who presided over financial train wrecks that required dilutive capital-raising efforts, walked away with mammoth retirement packages. Raskind, who owns 287,617 shares of National City, has suffered the same proportional financial harm as an investor with 50 shares.
Raskind also owns options on more than 1 million shares of National City. Investors value stocks by placing a multiple on a company's earnings per share. Since National City is effectively tripling its number of shares, any future earnings will be distributed across a much broader base. In order to report earnings of $1 per share, predilution, the company would have had to earn $635 million. Now it'll have to make $2 billion. According to National City's proxy filing, Raskind's options, some of which expire in 2010 and 2011, will generally have value only if the company's stock hits $30. If the stock doesn't quintuple in the next three years, many of Raskind's options won't be worth the pixels they're stored on. In this case, at least, there's no diluting the toll shareholder dilution will take on the CEO's personal finances. "The stock options that I may have been granted in the past are way, way out of the money, and probably will be for a long time," Raskind said. "And that's the way it should be."
A version of this article also appears in this week's issue of Newsweek.


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Jackson National Life Insurance Company is rated A+, or Superior, in financial strength by A.M. Best; AA, or very strong, by Fitch and Standard & Poor's; and A1, or good, by Moody's Investors Service, state Jackson and AnnuityFYI. The financial strength ratings are effective as of March 31, 2015.Continue Reading
An A+ or AA rating means that a company demonstrates a substantial capability to satisfy its ongoing responsibilities with only a modest risk to its policyholders, notes AnnuityFYI. The A.M. Best rating places Jackson National Life Insurance Company in the second highest of 16 rating categories. The Fitch rating places the company in the third highest of 19 rating categories. Standard and Poor's rating places Jackson in the third highest of 21 rating categories. The Moody's Investors Service rating places the insurance company in the fifth highest of 21 rating categories, notes Jackson.Learn more about Insurance


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Michael Cera Does Not Indulge Ridiculous Interviewers
"I don't feel like anything but myself."
If you hate-read Deborah Solomon's "Questions for" column in the New York Times Magazine every week, today's interview with Michael Cera will stand out as a classic. The 21-year-old has the charming ability to exude politeness while giving stupid questions their appropriate answers. He's Solomon's perfect foil:
Solomon: In your new film, you're more of a Holden Caulfield character, a kid of uncommon sensitivity in a disjointed, junk-filled landscape.
Cera: That's very nice.
Solomon: Do you see yourself as fundamentally Canadian?
Cera: I don't know. I'm not stereotypically Canadian. I don't really follow hockey. I don't feel like anything other than myself, basically.
Then Solomon criticizes Cera for skiing because it's dangerous and suggests that he owes his entire critically acclaimed career to a hairline fracture on his nose, because that's what she does. You can almost see Cera's eyes rolling while reading it.


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The ux repository contains the core of Econsultancy front end - reusable JS/CSS components and static assets. It's goal is to create a vocabulary for building modern, responsive and accesible UI's that can be easily reused, extended and maintained across Econsultancy's web properties.
The bulk of ux are SCSS components created our own flavour of the BEM (Block-Element-Modifier) pattern. For javascript, we use AngularJS and take advantage of it's module and DI system to handle plugin dependecies. For managing vendor packages we use bower. Check out the Guides section in the navigation to find out how to create and extend the repo.
The repo includes a build system, but is meant to be consumed uncompiled, instead relying on the Rails asset pipeline to concatenate and minifiy the right files into desired bundles. The build system uses grunt and is designed to create a component development enviroment with browser live reload, auto-precompilation and static page generation all set up - to get started see the repo readme.


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Erica Marois
| Published: October 14, 2016 | Comments
Are customer expectations on the rise? If so, what role (if any) does technology play in shaping their needs and perceptions? According to Brad Cleveland, today's customers have ten key expectations.We spent some time exploring them during #ICMIchat. Find out what our participants are doing to meet their customer's needs. For more advice, check out the full recap.
Join us next Tuesday for a special edition #CCDemo chat. Justin Robbins will lead the one hour discussion and share tips for making the most of your time at Contact Center Demo & Conference. Just follow and use #ICMIchat on Twitter or Twubs to join us!
Erica Strother Marois is the Content Manager at ICMI. With a background in marketing, public relations, and social media, she brings nearly ten years of community management experience to ICMI. Erica manages ICMI's robust network of community contributors – 500 strong! She also hosts ICMI's weekly tweet chats that feature dynamic, interactive discussions with thought leaders and innovators in our community. Erica produces our webinars and many other content initiatives like Contact Center Insider, our weekly newsletter. She also partners with vendors in the community to nuance their viewpoint on important topics. Lastly, Erica employs her creative viewpoint on community engagement at ICMI events – working with attendees to enhance their event experience and bring the 'fun' to attending an industry event. Erica is a connector of people – in any medium – and the contact center community is lucky to have her on their side!
Connect with Erica: Twitter: @EricaMarois | LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/16kW2cj | Google+: http://bit.ly/1zkp9YS | Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
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Series: Encounters in the Wild
By: Jim Crumley(Author)
64 pages, no illustrations
Renowned nature writer Jim Crumley gets up close and personal with some of Britain's most iconic and loved animals – here, the barn owl. With his inimitable passion and vision, Jim describes some of his most memorable encounters with British wildlife – and reveals the startling ways they continually adapt to the relentless encroachment of humans on their habitats. The Encounters in the Wild series not only offers insights into their extraordinary lives, but also considers the conservation efforts to protect them and how the future looks for these much loved animals.
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Jim Crumley is a nature writer, journalist and poet with 25 books to his name, mostly on the landscape and wildlife of Scotland. As a highly knowledgable and inspiring wildlife expert, he is in high demand as a contributor for TV and radio, as well as publications such as the The Scotsman and BBC Wildlife. Jim's most recent book, The Eagle's Way, was published by Saraband in March 2014.
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Swim shirt, Bay Blue
24.47 € 34.95 €
Quick-dry and breathable, with UV cut 50+!
Available in sizes 104-164 Size guide
- Breathable
- Elastic material
- Quick-dry material
- Moisture-wicking material
Quick-dry and breathable, with UV cut 50+!
Please select a size first
Unfortunately this colour in not available online in this size. Please check for other colours, or check at a another Reima retailer.
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Available in sizes 104-164 Size guide
Fresh summer long sleeve T-shirt to keep the sun at bay! Toddlers' SunProof T-shirt comes with UV cut 50+ providing effective protection against the harmful sun rays, all the way to the wrists. New stylish print at front, white seems and sleeves. The elastic material dries quickly and can be used both for swimming and playing at the beach. Combine with fresh colour shorts – totally good-looking!
Main material:
80% polyamide, 20% elastane
Care instructions
Wash with similar colours, inside out. Do not use fabric softener. Dry in the shade, dry away from the sun.


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School district looking to end negative perception about extracurricular activitiesPosted: Updated:
PHOENIX -- Scottsdale Unified School Board member Eric Meyer is working to make sure all students in the district have an equal opportunity to enjoy extracurricular activities.
There had been complaints that kids whose parents donated to booster clubs were getting preferential treatment, so the district decided to construct new guidelines.
"It isn't that there has been a conflict of interest at our schools, but just the appearance that there is a conflict leads to potential problems," said Meyer.
Despite the new guidelines, some parents still have concerns.
Many parents are worried about the close relationship with the booster clubs, particularly because it appears as if booster parents were allowed to sit in on the hiring of Arcadia High School's new baseball coach.
A recent flyer for Arcadia's spirit line also has some parents concerned about whether their child will have an equal opportunity to participate.
The spirit line's coach, Paula Carr, also owns Paula Carr's Dance Academy where she held a summer camp. Some parents feel students who couldn't pay the $200 to participate in the camp were at a disadvantage.
The flyer states that kids who don't attend camp won't learn the first dance routine, and the routine won't be taught again. It goes on to state that kids who don't properly learn the routine won't be able to perform.
Meyer said they're trying to improve the negative perception by running camps through the community schools program.
"We are just in the first steps of trying to make things better for all kids in the district," Meyer stated.
Meyer adds that they are also working to improve academic standards for students who participate in extracurricular activities.


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Standard Ethics, in its mission to promote best practices in corporate social responsibility, organizes and participates as a scientific partner to conferences and events.
11th April 2018. Workshop: MF-SRI Day. "Fondi Pensione e Iorp II: la nuova gestione del rischio nei portafogli sostenibili". Milan, Italy
23rd January 2018. Workshop: MF-SRI Day. "Trasparenza ed efficienza nei prossimi prodotti di finanza sostenibile: la nuova frontiera dell'investment grade. Milan, Italy
02nd October 2017. Convention: "Premio Ambrogio Lorenzetti per il buon governo d'impresa. V Editione". Milano, Italy
25th November 2016. Convention: "Fifth convention on CSR". Unindustria Auditorium. Bologna, Italy
08th July 2015. Workshop: "Financial instruments for Internationalisation". Chamber of Commerce of Brescia. Brescia, Italy
14/15/16th April 2015. Workshop: "Are they possibile a different, more balanced and cohesive development model and social qualitiy". CAE Ferrero.
Wroclaw, Poland
28th November 2014. The ESOP Centre. London
Mapping economy democracy in the semester. Helping employee participation to boost economic growth
29th May 2014. Workshop: "Il rating di legalità". Fondazione Rubes Triva
Venue: Sala Einaudi Fondazione Rubes Triva, Rome.
30th April 2014. European Sustainability Day 2014. Florence
The European Sustainability Day is an annual event aimed at enhancing the European Culture of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibilty.
Standard Ethics, the scientific partner of ESD, coordinates panels and edits publications.
Download the programme of the Day: "Small Forum on Banks and Markets" (only in Italian).
26th November 2013. Workshop: "Working Group CSR: The increasing trend of investing responsibly". EACD Forum
Venue: UBS Conference Center, Zurich
19th December 2012. European Sustainability Day 2012 - Workshop. Florence
Download the programme of the Day: "Europa 2020 e modelli operativi di sviluppo sostenibile e integrato delle aree metropolitane italiane"
Visit the website of the European Sustainability Day
22nd May 2012. Business Fair at HKUST. Hong Kong.
HKUST Business School and Net Impact, with the patronage of Standard Ethics, organized a business fair event held at the University that aimed to attract young professionals and students from schools across Hong Kong (HKUST, HKU, CUHK etc.) and present current events related to corporate social responsibility and good business.
11th May 2012. European Sustainability Day 2012. Florence
The European Sustainability Day is an annual event aimed at enhancing the European Culture of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibilty. Standard Ethics, the scientific partner of ESD, coordinates panels and edits publications. Download the programme of the Day: "Sustainable Europe and young generations".
10th May 2012. 5 Ideas For A Younger Europe. Florence
Standard Ethics, supported by the City of Florence and with the participation of Ms Anna Maria Darmanin, promoted a day dedicated to "5 Ideas For A Younger Europe".
The first vice-president of the European Parliament, Mr Gianni Pittella, and the vice-president of the European Economic and Social Committee, Ms Anna Maria Darmanin, who is responsible for the EESC's communication policy, will be visiting some European universities to meet young political science and communication students.
This initiative is part of the going local policy pursued by the European institutions, who are increasingly seeking to narrow the gap between the general public and "official" Europe.
06th May 2012. European Sustainability Day 2011. Florence
Standard Ethics, under the patronage of the Committee of the Regions of the European Union, promoted and organized the first edition of the European Sustainability Day and took place in May 6, in Florence, at the Polo Universitario di Novoli, as part of the Festival of Europe. The main goal of the event, to occur annually, is to disseminate an European culture on environmental, social and economic sustainability.
"Europa di nome Futura", the name given to the event, was made of two sessions.
In the first session it was discussed "Europe 2020" strategy to deliver smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, and to find the path to create a new model of society in Italy and Europe. A panel of MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) debated on the proposal of the Italian government introduced in Brussels to activate Strategy 2020 at national level. In general, the topics argued was the greenhouse effect, employment, renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate change, followed by a debate about their consequences and effectiveness on economy and civil society.
In the second session, less formal, private and public companies presented and discussed on sustainability and their contribution to it involving the audience and media.
23rd November 2011. Lecture: "What is Corporate Social Responsibility?". BBA in Global Business.
Venue: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
17th /19th November 2011. Communication. "The Week of Employee Financial Participation in the EU". Session 7 "EFP in Europe Tomorrow: The Building Block Approach and Mutual Recognition". European Project Promoting Employee Financial Participation in the EU27.
Venue: European Economic and Social Committee, Jacques Delors Building, Brussels.
6th May 2011. Presentation: "Quando un progetto è credibile, quando è solo della reputazione". European Day of Sustainability at Festival d'Europa. European University Institute, and European Commission.
Venue: University of Florence. Florence.
10th October 2011. Presentation: "Rating etico nel mondo for profit". Meeting: "Il lavoro possibile. Buone pratiche di responsabilità sociale". Sportello lavoro, Azienda ospedaliera "Carlo Poma", Lunezia, Api Industria, Comune di Suzzara.
Venue: Palazzo delle Arti e Mestieri. Suzzara (MN).


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"Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me."
- Matthew 25:40
Our mission is to provide Christ-centered support to disadvantaged youth in Haiti. Our vision is a world where nobody is neglected.
Our ministry places a special emphasis on assisting "restavek" children. The restavek program in Haiti is an institutionalized system of domestic servitude and modern slavery. Restevek children are given away by their parents to wealthy families who promise to provide shelter and food in exchange for difficult household labor. Sadly, these children are some of the most neglected youth in the world today. Our desire is to end the restavek program in Haiti's cities by providing educational support to these children in the name of Christ.
What separates us from the many other aid organizations in Haiti is our action plan and commitment to sustainable economic development. We work with community leaders where our projects are located to determine the needs of the areas we serve. Materials used for our construction projects and other initiatives are purchased locally. We are also committed to providing jobs through our projects and educational opportunities.
Our poverty-alleviation model is unique. Instead of simply putting a band-aid on serious economic realities in Haiti, we make a long-term impact. We understand that no one wants to be a beggar for life. We equip the youth we serve with the education and resources they need to make their own positive impact on the world and become leaders within their communities.
We believe that increasing access to education is essential to lifting youth out of poverty. For this reason, we have established a primary school for restavek children in Gressier, Haiti. Over 600 students have graduated from this school. Our college scholarship program addresses the lack of skilled labor in Haiti by providing qualified youth the opportunity to study at Haiti's best universities and professional schools. The job opportunities that result from these post-secondary programs will break the cycle of poverty and support future families.
We need YOUR help to make the dreams of Haiti's most vulnerable youth a reality. Click HERE to discover how to get involved in our important ministry.


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Genre: Stealth/Action
Publisher: Eidos Interactive
Developer: Io Interactive
Release Date: Fall 2005
Eidos' showroom at E3 was small, quiet, and altogether more intimate than many of the experiences we had on the show floor. But this also meant it was absolutely packed with fans and journalists who were dying to get a closer look at the Eidos lineup. We did good to squeeze in a close look at Hitman: Blood Money, with the developers on hand to answer a lot of questions.
Hitman: Blood Money is the latest in the line of Hitman games that began in 2000 on the PC. Blood Money is set to be a multiplatform release, although the version we looked at was a partial PC build. The title is reminiscent of Metal Gear Solid in many respects, with an emphasis on edgy political espionage and stealth gameplay. Unlike Metal Gear, Blood Money focuses on giving the player the freedom to decide how to achieve their objectives. This, in turn, will affect the difficulty level of the game and also alter the details of the game's overall story.
In the demo, we saw a level of the game where Hitman is trying to assassinate a South African politician in an Egyptian-themed hotel. While the graphics were not especially impressive on their own, as this game was only a partial build, there was a striking attention to detail in the placement of NPCs and the AI behaviors. The hotel was believably full of random tourists, who had a convincingly wide array of different body types. The tourists would wander about the hotel the way real tourists do, and Hitman could opt to interact with them in any way he wished. The player could opt to "Rambo" through the game, as the developer put it, or could play it safe by using stealth and deception to set up his kills.
Taking the "Rambo" path would make Hitman's actions more visible to the police and media, and make setting up kills in subsequent levels more difficult. The AI would grow more vigilant, and more police officers would be on hand to try and get in Hitman's way. Playing the stealthy way would require a more careful approach, as Hitman would need to make sure he had scouted out good places to hide bodies. A really stealthy player could make his hits look like accidents, which would make setting up subsequent kills in later levels a bit easier. The trade-off is that doing things the stealthy way in Blood Money is more time-consuming, as it requires a very meticulous sense of strategy from the player. There will be lots of elements in the game present to try and tempt players into making foolish decisions – particularly, a selection of about 60 realistic and high-tech weapons, five of them upgradeable.
Hitman: Blood Money is set to go on sale this fall, and we look forward to seeing how it shapes up as the year progresses.
More articles about Hitman: Blood Money


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All the boys from One Direction are taking a couple...
In the Stairs of Hogwarts
- by andiek
- Rating:
- Published: 1 Nov 2012
- Updated: 13 Jan 2013
- Status: In Progress
The members of One Direction living their lives in the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. With the Tri-Wizard tournament coming up, and a creepy new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, how much trouble will these sixth years get in to?
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An apartment rental application has sections for the prospective tenants' identity information, address history, employment, other sources of income and bank information. There are also sections of questions about background, pets and preferences regarding apartments. The end of the application has statements where the applicants must sign authorizing the release of information and swearing that what they have written on the application is true and complete. Applicants may need to sign authorizations allowing background, reference and credit checks.Continue Reading
The identification section asks for the names, contact information, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and driver's license numbers of each person applying for the apartment. It may ask for the names and ages of others in the household, such as children. Current and previous addresses, along with the names and contact information of the landlords or rental agencies, usually come next on the form. Employment information includes the employer's company name, address and telephone number, along with the applicant's job title, length of employment and current amount and frequency of pay. The form also has an area for other sources of income, such as child support or investment income, and fields for the applicants' bank names, account numbers and type, along with those for other financial assets.
Background questions ask whether the applicants have ever been convicted of a crime, filed for bankruptcy or been evicted from an apartment. If the landlord or apartment management allows pets, the application may have a section asking the type of animal and size of each pet. There may be questions about tenant preferences such as number of bedrooms, building floor and optional amenities, such as a garage or additional storage space.Learn more about Real Estate


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From the Owners
You probably have seen our trucks in your neighborhood or at a business in the community or you have been referred to us by one of our many satisfied customers.
We would like to thank you for the opportunity to talk with you about your paving, patching, crack filling, striping or seal coating needs.
Even though it may appear that all paving companies are alike, you should consider how much quality and service you will be getting.
With Spires Paving Company, "we believe value is found in the quality of the materials and the workmanship." We price every job to do it right the first time.
Please feel free to call us at 740-653-6837, even if it's just a question.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Bruce and Barb (Spires) Hein
Now accepting applications!
Please click here to view the applicant cover letter, and click to download the front and back of the application.