text:
My son isn't interested in television.
Don't get me wrong; he watches television. Archer, who's 9, likes game shows and sports, and he'll watch a Christmas special or two when it's that time of year. He used to be a devotee of Bill Nye The Science Guy until he watched all the episodes twice and decided to quit on it, and he watches Pokémon every morning at breakfast with his 6-year-old sister Cady Gray, though he's usually only half paying attention. When we go on long car trips, he has DVDs he prefers to watch—mainly Schoolhouse Rock and They Might Be Giants—but he's not into movies, because as he puts it, "A movie is a video that is too long and too loud." So Cady Gray is my movie date when I want to go see Tangled or How To Train Your Dragon, and if we'd let her (which we don't), she'd happily lie down in one of our big, cushy recliners and watch cartoons all day. Meanwhile, from an early age Archer has found the world of kid-friendly entertainment a perilous one, full of sudden noises and flashing lights and breathless motion, all of which can make an already confusing world even harder to process for someone who's autistic.
When he was younger though, Archer did enjoy the quiet, task-oriented shows on Nick Jr., and he used to watch his Blue's Clues DVDs over and over. His favorite episode was "Occupations," in which the show's host, Steve Burns, pretends to be an investigative reporter and tries to figure out what job his dog Blue would like to pretend to do. When Archer was 4, he'd often walk up to us with a toy microphone and ask questions about our jobs, before signing off with the line Steve says in the episode: "That's the news, now everyone knows."
In mimicking what he saw on Blue's Clues, my son was merely following the show's intent. Blue's Clues debuted in 1996 on Nickelodeon after years of research and development, supervised by producers Traci Page Johnson, Todd Kessler, and Angela C. Sontomero. In the Heather Hendershot-edited essay collection Nickelodeon Nation, University Of Massachusetts psychology professor Daniel R. Anderson writes about his involvement as a consultant on Blue's Clues, and describes how the show drew on decades of studies about the success of Sesame Street and other educational programming. For a long time, the conventional wisdom in academia toward educational television held that TV-watching itself was such a passive activity—and the medium so inherently distracting—that there was no way children could derive any benefit from it. But Anderson participated in experiments that showed children would interact with a show if prompted, or if they spotted something on the screen that the host didn't. The studies also showed that the actual information imparted by these shows mattered more than critics had presumed. Anderson found that "if the shots were in a nonsensical order, if the dialogue was backward, or if the dialogue was in a foreign language," then the children in the study would stop watching, or they'd complain that the TV was broken. Clearly they weren't just being stimulated by flicker and sound. They cared about the content.
The big question Blue's Clues' producers wanted Anderson to help answer was whether it was possible to hold very young children's attention spans long enough to teach them something that would actually stick. One method Anderson proposed: reducing the edits. His research showed that children have difficulty understanding montage until they get older. A sudden change of location or even camera-angle can break a child's concentration. That's why Blue's Clues looks the way it does, with very few cuts, and with a host who stands in front of a background that changes mainly when he walks or when he "skidoos" to a new place. Little kids (like my easily baffled son) were able to understand where they were at all times, which made it easier for them to follow the story.
In "Occupations," that story involves all the characters in Steve and Blue's house playing "work." Much like the screwball '80s kids show Pee-wee's Playhouse (and countless other kids' shows, for that matter), Blue's Clues is anthropomorphism-tastic, with nearly every animal, appliance, and piece of furniture on screen possessing faces and personalities. As Steve wanders through the house, he finds all his friends in costumes: Side Table is pretending to be a security guard; Slippery Soap is a fisherman; Shovel and Pail are veterinarians; and the Salt and Pepper family have roped various condiments and seasonings into acting as passengers on their imaginary commercial jet.
Throughout, Steve plays "Blue's Clues," a game that has him looking for Blue's paw prints on three items, and then trying to figure out what those three clues mean when put together. Blue's Clues produced 142 episodes between '96 and 2006, and a big part of what made the show such a hit was the playful way Steve—and later his replacement Joe—would interact with the clues. In "Occupations," for example, after Blue smacks her paw against the screen to indicate that she'd like to play, Steve has to squeegee the print off the glass—a moment that always made my son cackle with laughter.
(Actually, anytime a character on television moves beyond breaking the fourth wall to violating the visual rules of the medium, it cracks Archer up, because like a lot of autistic folk, he's so preoccupied with structure that he finds the "wrong" to be hilarious. This is a problem only at school, where he'll sometimes laugh at other kids who make mistakes, because he assumes they're joking.) In the same vein, Steve frequently misunderstands what the offscreen kids are shouting at him, and does so with a charming sincerity, because he wants to sell his young audience on his confusion. If they think they can help, they're more likely to stay engaged.
One of the other great appeals of Blue's Clues is its sense of continuity. Regular viewers can count on the structure of each episode being more or less identical, built around the playing of the game. In "Occupations," Steve "skidoos" after Blue into a picture on the wall, which is the show's standard cue that it's time for a puzzle. Here, Steve finds Door building a house, and asks the viewers to help remember the names of the people whose respective jobs it is to design the house, build the frame, and put in the pipes.
Also in "Occupations," Steve pauses the Blue's Clues game to read a letter from a friend—a "letter" that's really a video—while continuing the theme of the day by playing reporter and interviewing the mailbox. The "skidoo" puzzles and the letters were Blue's Clues staples, meant to keep children alert throughout the 20-plus minutes it took to play the game.
At the end, once Steve has all the clues—a popsicle stick, a stethoscope, and a Band-Aid—he sits down in his "thinking chair" and puts it all together, deducing that Blue would like to pretend to be a doctor. If nothing else, Blue's Clues teaches kids the fundamentals of reasoning (along with the skill of drawing basic shapes and lines to represent everyday objects).
What else could a child get out of Blue's Clues? Well, some media literacy, for one. By watching Blue, younger viewers could learn to follow a story for 25 minutes. They also—and this is a questionable value for some, I'll grant—learn to expect television to provide friendly fantasy worlds they could visit every day. Blue's Clues is bright, non-threatening, and encouraging, with a sense of humor about itself. In fact, when Blue's Clues first started airing, my wife was stuck at home all day working on her dissertation, and she used to watch the show because she thought it was cute and funny, and a good head-clearer after spending hours writing about dead theologians.
The show also authenticates the grown-up world in unexpected ways. The way Steve would sign "thank you" and "smart," for example, mimicked what we did for Archer before he could talk, and a lot of the show's other subtle gestures and cues—in terms of language used and topics discussed—extend the real world of the child into the make-believe world of the TV. Certain aspects of real life become more normative when seen on television: the way a home looks, the meals we eat, the rituals of the day, and so on. Plus, these shows expand and explain that world to a child. Because Archer didn't talk until he was almost 2-and-a-half, we worked on sign language via the Signing Time series of videos, which were helpful not just in teaching him ways to express himself, but in giving him words and classifications for his immediate environment. (These are animals; this is a dog, etc.) Then later, thanks to "Occupations" and other Blue's Clues episodes, he learned about different jobs, and understood better what adults do that's different from what kids do.
That delineation between kids and adults was a major part of the evolving Nickelodeon mission. I still remember the channel's early years, in the late '70s and early '80s. We didn't have cable in the main house I lived in when I was a kid, but my dad did, and in the summer when my brother and I would go visit him, we'd occasionally flip past Pinwheel, an anthology of foreign cartoons and live-action sketches that ate up most of Nick's daytime programming block then. In Nickelodeon's infancy, the main goal for any cable channel was inclusion in the packages being offered by all of the small, pre-conglomeration cable companies scattered across the country. Nick's pitch was simple: Cable companies needed to convince the average American family that it was worth paying for television, and one way to do that was to provide the wholesome children's entertainment that parents largely couldn't find on broadcast TV any more, thanks to Reagan-era deregulation. As Hendershot notes in her intro to Nickelodeon Nation, in 1969 the FCC ruled that ABC's kids' show Hot Wheels was inappropriate because it was essentially a half-hour commercial, but by the mid '80s, it was hard to find any syndicated or Saturday morning cartoon that wasn't designed to sell toys.
While proto-Nickelodeon succeeded in legitimizing cable TV as a concept, the channel's actual programming didn't draw many viewers. That began to change in the mid-'80s, when Geraldine Laybourne took over as Nick's executive vice-president and general manager. On Laybourne's watch, Nickelodeon introduced the sloppy, kid-friendly game show Double Dare, and the live-action comedies Clarissa Explains It All and The Adventures Of Pete And Pete. Then when she became president in 1989, Laybourne was instrumental in the creation of Nicktoons, and in the decision to develop shows with strong, creator-driven voices, like the initial Nicktoons trio of Doug, Rugrats, and Ren & Stimpy, all of which sported a wilder look and sensibility than most cartoons on TV at the time (outside of The Simpsons, which was one of Nicktoons' main inspirations). It was during Laybourne's tenure that Nick began branding its programming blocks, labeling the preschool-focused shows as "Nick Jr." and the old sitcom reruns "Nick At Nite," so that older kids and teenagers could feel free to watch Nickelodeon without suffering the stigma associated with enjoying a channel aimed at toddlers and old people.
Few cable channels have been as brand-conscious—and successfully so—as Nickelodeon. As former Nickelodeon executive Linda Simensky says in her Nickelodeon Nation essay "The Early Days Of Nicktoons":
By the late 1980s, Nickelodeon had clearly honed its "big idea," a philosophy which could be summed up as "Us versus Them." The basic idea was that kids lived in a grown-up world, and that it was tough to be a kid when you had to follow all the grown-up rules. Either you were part of "them,'" the authority, and expected kids to be quiet, behave, and follow the rules, or you could be part of "us," referring to kids, or in this case, Nickelodeon. The "us" believed kids should be free to play around, have fun, and stand up for themselves. Nickelodeon positioned itself as understanding kids, being for kids, giving them what they wanted to see, and giving them a place where they could be kids.
To preserve that concept, after launching Nicktoons, the channel promptly fired Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi for producing cartoons that were too raunchy and adult, because while Nick wanted strong creators, they didn't want them to be so strong that Nick couldn't control their content. They wanted to keep their doors open for the next Jim Henson or the next Walt Disney, not the next Ralph Bakshi. One of Laybourne's main edicts was to create a space where kids didn't feel obligated to grow up too fast. In an interview with MIT professor Henry Jenkins in Nickelodeon Nation, Laybourne says, "We were going to be a safe harbor where kids could be silly, where they could have a sense of humor, and where there were no double entendre jokes." Even shows like Blue's Clues—which tried to teach children life skills, and frequently acknowledged the grown-up world—remained on a level primarily engaging to kids under 5.
Some parents have trouble with Nickelodeon's express partitioning of childhood, with toddlers kept away from pre-teens, pre-teens separated from teens, and all kept clear of adults. But while adults can enjoy the various youth-oriented Nick programming, these shows aren't for us. If we can appreciate the craft or laugh at a joke, fine, but if we find the art too ugly, the humor too puerile, the music too annoying—well, for the most part, that's none of our business.
Because I write about movies, music, and TV for a living, friends of mine who are parents often pull me aside and ask for advice on children's entertainment, assuming that I'll know all the hippest kid-music acts and non-Barney TV. But I don't, really. In the car, I play the kind of music I like to hear, and in their rooms, my kids listen to the local pop radio station. Early on, my wife and I stocked both of their bookshelves with books and comics we thought they would like, but we've always let them choose which ones they wanted to read. And if I don't like a TV show that my kids like, I go to another room and work while they watch.
To be honest, I want my kids to pick out their own shows, the same way I did when I was younger, even if they end up watching the junk that every other child their age is watching (again, the same way I did). I especially want that for Archer, because those kinds of shared media experiences with peers—and not parents—are some of my fondest memories of growing up. Right now, Archer prefers maps, instruction manuals, and books of chess strategy to kid-lit. He can't talk with his classmates about Star Wars or Transformers or Iron Man, because he'd rather watch videogame-walkthrough clips on YouTube. I love him for all that, and wouldn't want him to be any different. But I still encourage him whenever he shows an interest in the Diary Of A Wimpy Kid books, or Wii games, or Pokémon, because those give him some common ground with his fellow fourth graders—a way in socially, if he chooses to take it.
One of the great joys of being a parent is seeing how kids develop their own personalities and interests. For a long time, I could trace back nearly everything Archer said to a book he read, or to a Blue's Clues episode he'd watched. We had the only 4-year-old in town who talked like a TV host 95 percent of the time, and yet in those learned phrases and behaviors, he was able to communicate his actual needs and feelings. But then one day we sent him off to school, and he started coming back with ideas and turns of phrase that we hadn't programmed into him. The same thing happened with Cady Gray, but at an even younger age. These days, I'm constantly amazed by what they say and do, because it's rarely anything I could predict. There are weird toy-constructs in different rooms of the house, and pieces of paper filled with stories, drawings, and games that they've come up with on their own. I hear them both sometimes, playing in Archer's room, pretending to be teachers, or game-show hosts, or Pokémon trainers, or who knows what else? I miss a lot, because—as it should be—the door is closed.
Next time, on A Very Special Episode… The Dick Van Dyke Show, "The Return Of Happy Spangler"


text:
Everything about this clip is wonderful, and if J.R. Smith somehow makes it to the Hall of Fame one day, it should submitted to the hall in lieu of a plaque.
How running an NFL team is like running a restaurant | Chef Emeril Lagasse
The best thing about it is the five seconds of silence that stretch between Smith's traveling violation and Mike Woodson's eruption. Woodson's head must have been filled with so much familiar anger and befuddlement during that pregnant pause, as he once again contemplated the meaning behind the universe's decision to deliver J.R. Smith into his life.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
It's getting harder and harder to deny that Qatari migrant workers are dying at an alarming rate. One report, published by ITUC in March, estimated that World Cup construction will eventually kill more people than 9/11. (That report didn't sit well with Qatar's Supreme Committee of Delivery & Legacy.) A more recent report, this one commissioned by the Qatari government itself, has concluded that nearly 1,000 migrant workers have died in Qatar since 2012, and that the country's entire labor system needs an overhaul.
This latest report was conducted by international law firm DLA Piper at the request of the Qatari government, and it does not paint a glowing picture. From The Guardian:
The report by the international law firm DLA Piper calls for changes to the much-criticised kafala system that ties workers to their employers. It also contains the Qatari government's own figure on the numbers of migrants who have died on its soil: 964 from Nepal, India and Bangladesh in 2012 and 2013. In all, 246 died from "sudden cardiac death" in 2012, the report said, 35 died in falls and 28 committed suicide.
The report also come with 62—62!—suggested reforms that need to be made by the Qatari government, which is to say that the entire system as it currently stands is a completely fucked-up death factory. Case in point:
In light of the apparently unusually high levels of heart attacks, it calls for an independent study into sudden cardiac arrests over the next three years and for there to be proper investigation into unexpected or sudden deaths.
A country that needs an independent law firm to tell it that hey, maybe it's worth looking into why workers are just dropping dead from heart attacks for seemingly no reason is not one that should be hosting the World Cup.


text:
|Contents [hide]
This is a list of Heritage Quests, sorted by level. These quests are all heroic or epic in nature and are more difficult to complete than normal quests. The rewards are legacy items from EverQuest. Quest series that reward items that are unique to EverQuest II are called Signature Quests.
|Quest Name
|Starting Zone
|In Honor and Service
|Dwarven Ringmail Tunic
|Greater Faydark
|Echoes of Faydwer
|The Return of the Light
|Greater Lightstone
|The Commonlands
|These Boots Were Made For...
|Dwarven Work Boots
|A Strange Black Rock [10]
|Glowing Black Stone
|An Axe from the Past[1]
|Polished Granite Tomahawk
|Thundering Steppes
|Dragoon K'Naae of the Thexians
|Shiny Brass Halberd
|Nektulos Forest
|Hadden's Earring [2]
|Fishbone Earring
|Thundering Steppes
|Restoring Ghoulbane [2]
|North Qeynos
|A Missing Mask [2]
|Guise of the Deceiver
|Nektropos Castle
|Stiletto's Orders Intercepted [1] [10]
|Thundering Steppes
|War and Wardrobe
|Robe of the Oracle
|Butcherblock Mountains
|Echoes of Faydwer
|Foomby's Stolen Goods
|Bag of Sewn Evil Eye
|Enchanted Lands
|The Reaching Blade of the Assassin [7]
|Serrated Bone Dirk
|Enchanted Lands
|The Rescue of the Green Hoods [3]
|Short Sword of the Ykesha
|Zek, the Orcish Wastes
|The Stein of Moggok: It Can Be Rebuilt...
|Stein of Moggok
|East Freeport
|Training is a Shield [3]
|Shiny Brass Shield
|Zek, the Orcish Wastes
|An Eye for Power
|Tobrin's Mystical Eyepatch
|By Hook or By...
|Hierophant's Crook
|The Bone Bladed Claymore [4]
|Bone Bladed Claymore
Electrified Bone Bladed Claymore
|The Lost Legend of Lavastorm
|Crown of King Tranix
|The Teachings of Yoru [7]
|Flowing Black Silk Sash
|Saving Soles
|Golden Efreeti Boots
|The Journey is Half the Fun
|Legendary Journeyman's Boots
|The Screaming Mace
|Screaming Mace
|The Staff of the Observers
|Staff of the Observers
|Steamfont Mountains
|Echoes of Faydwer
|An Ancient Desert Power
|Scepter of Rahotep
|The Sinking Sands
|Desert of Flames
|A Thread of Hope
|Flowing Black Cloak
Flowing Black Robe
|The Shadow Odyssey
|Casualties of the War of the Fay
|Rain Caller
|Greater Faydark
|Echoes of Faydwer
|The Wondrous Inventions of a Crazed Gnome
|Bag of the Tinkerers
|The Bonemire
|Kingdom of Sky
|The Symbol in the Flesh[5]
|Crested Mistmoore Shield
|Loping Plains
|Echoes of Faydwer
|Draco Mortuus vos Liberatio
|Bone-Clasped Girdle
|Tenebrous Tangle
|Kingdom of Sky
|A Thorn of Old
|The Wurmslayer
|The Barren Sky
|Kingdom of Sky
|Cloak of Flames Quest Series [6]
|Cloak of Flames
|EoF zones
|Echoes of Faydwer
|Trail to the Past
|Shiny Metallic Robe
|Moors of Ykesha
|The Shadow Odyssey
|The Name of Fear
|The Fabled City of Kor-sha
|The Shadow Odyssey
|The White Dragonscale Cloak
|White Dragonscale Cloak
|Miragul's Phylactery: Scion of Ice
|The Shadow Odyssey
|The Book of Thex
|Thex Mallet
|Befallen: Cavern of the Afflicted
|The Shadow Odyssey
|The Means to an End...[8]
|Dark Mail Gauntlets
|Ruins of Guk: Halls of the Fallen
|The Shadow Odyssey
|Justice for Jojo
|Mystical Claws of Jojo
Mystical Claws of Jojo (Offhand)
|The Sundered Frontier
|Sentinel's Fate
|Digging in the Dirt
|The Stonebrunt Highlands
|Sentinel's Fate
|Ritsy's Lucky String[9]
|The Bow of Underfoot
|The Sundered Frontier
|Sentinel's Fate
|Coldain Insignia Ring Quest Series [11]
|Each quest rewards an insignia ring.
|Great Divide
|Destiny of Velious
|The Essence of a Prophet
|Lodizal Shell Shield
|Great Divide
|Destiny of Velious
|What Dreams May Come [12]
|Blessed Coldain Prayer Shawl
|Vision of the Past
|Destiny of Velious
|Beauty's Only Skin Deep
|Embalmer's Skinning Knife
|ToFS: Shadowed Corridors
|Destiny of Velious
|The Legend of Froststone
|Great Divide
|Destiny of Velious
|Tangled Roots of Growth
|Scimitar of the Emerald Dawn
|Eastern Wastes
|Destiny of Velious
|A Source of Malediction
|Paw of Opolla
|The Stonebrunt Highlands
|Sentinel's Fate
|The Heart of Bones [13]
|Zlandicar's Heart
|Thurgadin, City of the Coldain
|Tears of Veeshan
|Waters of Norrath
|Cloak of Crystalline Waters
|Siren's Grotto: Alluring Embrace
|Destiny of Velious
|Paranoia [14]
|The Bloody Shank
|High Keep: The Bloodless Incursion
|Tears of Veeshan
[1] The quests An Axe from the Past and Stiletto's Orders Intercepted have steps in common and should, if possible, be done together.
[2] The quests Hadden's Earring, Restoring Ghoulbane and A Missing Mask have steps in common and should, if possible, be done together.
[3] The quests Training is a Shield and The Rescue of the Green Hoods have steps in common and should, if possible, be done together.
[4] If you have completed Berik's Revenge and possess Berik, Sword of Thunder you can combine the 2 swords into the Electrified Bone Bladed Claymore
[5] Ghoulbane Empowered is a Sub-quest of The Symbol in the Flesh and is not counted as a Heritage Quest.
[6] This quest behaves like a Signature Quest series. There are 12 quests in the Cloak of Flames Quest Series starting with the Collection quest An Old Memoir. Also note that only the final quest in the series counts towards the Suffix Titles.
[7] The Reaching Blade of the Assassin and The Teachings of Yoru share mobs in the same zone and can be completed together at times.
[8] This quest is part of a great series of quests which starts with Mysterious Mark
[9] This quest is part of a great series of quests which starts with Ritsy Delivery
[10] The quests A Strange Black Rock and Stiletto's Orders Intercepted have steps in common and should, if possible, be done together.
[11] The Coldain Insignia Ring series is a chain of 10 heritage quests, each with their own reward improving on the last.
[12] The quest What Dreams May Come is the first and only tradeskill Heritage Quest.
[13] Zladicar's Heart heritage quest is a series of three quests and has rewards for every class.
[14] The Bloody Shank heritage quest is a series of three quests and has rewards for every class.
When a Heritage Quest reward is examined you are given the choice to mount it. This turns it into a House Item. If you examine the House Item you are given the choice to unmount it. You must unmount it if you wish to use it or to sell it.
If you've sold, lost, mounted or used your Heritage Quest reward in a quest, you can purchase a replacement from Shady Swashbuckler XVIII on the docks in Nektulos Forest.
There are suffix titles that may be won by completing Heritage Quests. To receive the title, speak to Indis Surion in The Concordium Tower in Qeynos Capitol District (South Qeynos) (yellow portal), Navarius Orvalis in The Academy of Arcane Science in The City of Freeport (North), or Piritta Silvarri in Kelethin after completing the required number of Heritage Quests.
|Title Reward
|Treasure Hunter
|Lore Seeker
|Relic Keeper
|Artifact Raider


text:
Cisco Systems Inc. is unveiling new Ethernet access switches and enhanced routers designed to take on more of the jobs frequently handled by separate devices, such as those dedicated to handling video traffic or ensuring network security.
Cisco's latest offerings fit into its Borderless Networks strategy, a concept Cisco introduced with its Integrated Services Routers last fall. Those branch office routers, dubbed ISR G2, are optimized for video and virtual services, Cisco said at the time.
This week, Cisco extended video enablement among its Catalyst fixed configuration access Ethernet switches. Cisco also expanded the energy efficiency and security capabilities among some of its switches and routers.
"The days of the stand-alone appliance that sits alongside a network are over," says Zeus Kerravala, senior vice-president at Boston-based Yankee Group Research Inc. "Much of this stuff should belong in a network device. The value proposition is that it's much easier to automate a lot of the process that goes into making those modifications" for video, power and security.
"The idea of Borderless Networks…gets away from the traditional idea that the network has to have a 'hard' edge," says Steve Schuchart, principal analyst for data centre at Sterling, Va.-based Current Analysis Inc.
Even so, both analysts say Hewlett Packard Development Co. LP, which owns the ProCurve switch manufacturer, shouldn't be in any rush to try and match or exceed what Cisco's announced. The company will have its hands full closing the deal to acquire 3Com Corp., which HP agreed to buy last year. After it absorbs 3Com, HP can focus on what its customers demand in video, power and security support, Kerravala and Schuchart say.
As for Cisco customers, they may have a hard time comprehending and literally buying into the company's Borderless Networks scheme.
"Cisco's going to have to beat this drum awfully hard," Schuchart says. "Borderless Networks is not a thing customers are going to understand in five minutes. Cisco's going to have to do a lot of work to drill it down to specific cases for customers."
Some of the tangibles to this week's Borderless Networks launch are the new switches. The Catalyst 3750-X (US$5,200) and 3560-X (US$3,400) are stackable devices with embedded security, energy efficiency, video and mobility features.
Both switches support 24 or 48 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet ports, Power over Ethernet+ capabilities, four Gigabit or two 10G Ethernet modular uplinks, and Cisco StackPower features for allowing switches in a stack to share a power supply. The 3750-X also supports Cisco StackWise Plus which enables nine switches to be grouped in a single logical unit with a 64 Gbps interconnect.
The StackWise Plus interconnect cables create a bidirectional closed loop path that allocate packets between two logical counter-rotating paths so that if a switch or cable failure is detected, traffic is wrapped back around across the remaining path to maintain uptime.
The switches also feature IEEE 802.1ae "MACSec" data encryption, which secures LANs from attacks such as passive wiretapping, masquerading, man-in-the-middle and some denial-of-service attacks. The switches also include location-based services for mobile users and Cisco EnergyWise 2.0 software for energy efficiency, and support video services that adhere to Cisco's MediaNet network video enablement strategy.
The switches come with three software options depending on the breadth of features needed.
Cisco also announced that its TrustSec security architecture, which authenticates users based on identity and policy, is now available across the 3750/3560 switch lines.
Another new switch line is the Catalyst 2960-S. This roughly US$2,000 switch comes with 24 or 48 10/100/1000Mbps ports, four Gigabit or two 10G Ethernet SFP+ fixed uplinks, a 20Gbps stacking interconnection, and 15 watts/port PoE and PoE+. Without PoE, the 2960-S requires less than 2 watts/port, Cisco says.
The 2960-S comes with two software options based on feature requirements and price.
Borderless Networking enhancements for Cisco's routers include MediaNet, EnergyWise and other extensions for various applications. The ISR G2 3900E, 887, 887V, 888E and 1921 platforms now have MediaNet 1.0 software for resource reservation, QoS and device detection, and embedded video processing; and EnergyWise-enabled slot-based power control and real-time reporting capabilities via a 48-port 10/100/1000Mbps EtherSwitch module.
Cisco has also added video surveillance on the routers' Services Ready Engine modules; a NetScout probe agent on the routers' application processing module; a 350Mbps WAN connection; VDSL2, EoSHDSL and 900MHz HSPA interfaces; and Smart Call Home automated support notification capabilities.
The ASR 1000 edge router running IOS XE 2.6 has attained Cisco Unified Border Element – or CUBE – Enterprise class session border controller features for interconnecting independent VoIP and video over IP enterprise networks. It, too, has Smart Call Home, performance routing for application-specific treatment, and VPN Routing and Forwarding-aware IPSec and firewall capabilities.
Cisco also rolled out EnergyWise Orchestrator, which extends power management to PCs and laptops in addition to PoE devices. Cisco also released tools enabling third-party developers to implement EnergyWise support in their products.
Lastly, Cisco launched a suite of professional services to help customers implement the Borderless Networks architecture. They include: Cisco Network Architecture Discovery; Assessment; and Planning and Design Services; TrustSec Readiness and Deployment Service; Cisco Services for Energy Management; and Cisco Medianet Readiness Service.


text:
Weekly Photo Challenge: AFLOAT…
"I have often been adrift, but I have always stayed afloat." David Berry
There is only room in the lifeboat of your life for one, and you always choose yourself, and turn your parents into whatever it takes to keep you afloat. Anna Quindlen
"Never set a child afloat on the flat sea of life with only one sail to catch the wind." D.H. Lawrence
There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures. William Shakespeare
"Action is at bottom a swinging and flailing of the arms to regain one's balance and keep afloat." Eric Hoffer
Your shallowest help will hold me up afloat,
Whilst he upon your soundless deep doth ride;
Or, being wrecked, I am a worthless boat,
He of tall building, and of goodly pride.
William Shakespeare
My fellow bloggers were equally creative with their selections. Check out how others interpreted the theme below.
This post was inspired by a prompt from WP Daily Post: Weekly Photo Challenge: AFLOAT This week, share a photo that's afloat. How do you interpret the word afloat? It could be the expression on your son's face as he jumps on the bed. Maybe it's your daughter's triumphant smile after tossing training wheels to master her two-wheeler. It could be a beautiful cloud formation, pollen on the breeze, or an errant birthday party balloon making its escape into the sky. So looking forward to seeing what afloat means to you.
Positive Motivation Tip: Life is about ups and downs… no matter what, stay afloat.
More Weekly Photo Challenge Posts
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos from my Personal Collection.
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
sustainabilitea permalink10/04/2015 1:02 pm
I like that Barry quote and I love the lily pads. They're so enormous!
13/04/2015 4:36 am
Thank you. They are quite huge. 🙂
lingeringvisions by Dawn permalink10/04/2015 1:12 pm
Love the quote from David Berry, very apropos.
10/04/2015 3:54 pm
Great choices for the theme! I love the balloons. Classic…
13/04/2015 4:31 am
I love them too as they add color to the others which were taken on not so sunny days. TY
Masshole Mommy permalink10/04/2015 3:57 pm
Those lotus pads are so cool. It reminds me of an obstacle course type thing at a water park we go to that my kids love.
class&chic permalink10/04/2015 5:33 pm
Afloat: A Poem by C&C
Life took me out on a boat
She left me stranded
Tired, hungry; I demanded
She come back. I demanded. I wrote.
I rolled it up
I sent it out in a bottle
I watched it float
Away. And I waited with frustration
Until I felt the syncopation
In me; how it rewrote
The story of my life.
And my heart wasn't where it wanted to be
And my rhythm was off, afloat
In the midst of life's ocean.
I think she held the notion
That I could emote
My lack of her
Until I lacked of her.
And then I found the antidote
To my affliction
It was my addiction.
It was her.
13/04/2015 4:31 am
This is beautiful. Thank you for sharing your poetry!
Lenze permalink10/04/2015 6:38 pm
Beautiful pictures! Those lotus pads are unreal.
Roz K. Walker (@rozkwalker) permalink10/04/2015 7:00 pm
Nice photos and good motivational tip. Those big lotus pads always amaze me.
itsberyllicious permalink10/04/2015 7:05 pm
i like the one with balloons.. it somehow represents that in life, we must stay positive and see things in a colorful light and perspective.
franckxethee permalink10/04/2015 7:24 pm
At times, life is like the rough seas. We have to find ways to keep afloat and stay up against the tides.
Jessica Beal Harlow permalink10/04/2015 8:01 pm
Love the opening quote! Such a good distinction to make in life…between staying afloat and occasionally being adrift! 🙂
upliftingfam permalink10/04/2015 8:45 pm
I loved all of the photos. I I need to take the kids to the park and feed the ducks.
kristrange permalink10/04/2015 9:35 pm
The balloon photo is so cute, my son asked if it was for a birthday party, or always there?
11/04/2015 12:20 am
The Lawrence quote is very poignant Elizabeth.
13/04/2015 4:24 am
Quite… yes.
11/04/2015 2:24 am
My feeling… trying hard to stay afloat and happy while I'm struggling beneath the water 🙁
stretchyourpesomom permalink11/04/2015 2:40 am
Nice photos, very fitting for the theme word afloat. Thanks for sharing!
Kero Pinkihan (@Kero_P) permalink11/04/2015 3:07 am
lovely shots and quotes! I especially like the bird onto the shopping trolley
Rebel Sweetheart permalink11/04/2015 4:29 am
These photos look amazing, especially the lotus pads!
JessicaACassidy (@wifetoalineman) permalink11/04/2015 4:30 am
You too beautiful shots. I LOVE the lilies the most.
Elana Khong permalink11/04/2015 4:45 am
Very cool pic of floating. Especially love the balloons pic!
Christina Boyer permalink11/04/2015 5:01 am
I love this quote- "Life is about ups and downs… no matter what, stay afloat." That pretty much sums up what I think afloat is. The ability to just keep going. Stay positive.
Fred permalink11/04/2015 5:24 am
We all have our own ways to keep afloat during the difficult times. I find prayer and faith as the best lifejackets. – Fred
harrietb (@harrietb) permalink11/04/2015 7:54 am
I love how you used those photos. Your quotes really work well too.
poojakawatra permalink11/04/2015 9:53 am
Gorgeous click !! Specially the lotus as I love them so much.
Your positive tip is so inspiring.
Sunshine Kelly permalink11/04/2015 9:54 am
Wow! Great job, all your photos are awesome and clear. May I know what camera / apps that you are using.
foundfrolicking permalink11/04/2015 10:09 am
Love these photos. The lotus pads in particular are stunning. They don't even look real! I've never seen lotus pads with a lip on them like those.
mamtabalani permalink11/04/2015 11:25 am
afloat for me means charming smile of my daughter when she gets a chocolate from me.
Ayesha Serrato permalink11/04/2015 11:53 am
Nice photos and challenge! My fave is the lotus pads 🙂
Raquel permalink11/04/2015 1:24 pm
Those are very beautiful pictures and so are the quotes that accompany it. I interpret the word "afloat" as living life every day. The problems make the body sink yet my head is still above water surviving.
Damita M-S permalink11/04/2015 3:04 pm
These are beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing.
rochkirstin permalink11/04/2015 5:12 pm
I love how you captured the ducks in the pond. They looked so calm and they are a good reminder to pause for a while in the midst of a busy lifestyle.
Rosey permalink11/04/2015 10:51 pm
Nice bird in flight picture. I like the lotus pads too. I don't think I've ever seen any in person.
Jillian Fisher permalink11/04/2015 11:02 pm
I am always impressed with how well you do on the photo challenges.
Karen permalink12/04/2015 12:37 am
So those are lotus pads, I thought it's bilao, a native product here in PHL
Holly @ Woman Tribune permalink12/04/2015 1:32 am
These are such lovely photos. The lotus pads are amazing!
amayachika permalink12/04/2015 1:48 am
I always dream that I was floating…something like this "AFLOAT", floating in water. And I ask my mother what is the meaning of that, she answered..that I am drifting to something..moving ahead without guidance. So I have to be very careful with my decisions in life.
12/04/2015 4:15 am
I love the thought for this weekly photo challenge. When I was in my grade school years, back when I was in our swimming team, our coach would always tell us to keep ourselves afloat; not just in the water but also keep our hopes & dreams afloat. That way, we were able to accept lost competitions and appreciate the ones we won in. 🙂
Jacqueline permalink12/04/2015 7:14 am
Yes, in the challanging times we need to stay afloat by keeping our heads above water as they say. I try to always remain positive! Have a great day!
12/04/2015 11:58 am
These nature images are just lovely. They really help to get one in a calm and stress-free mood.
12/04/2015 12:18 pm
Thank you Maria, one of them (waterlily pads) was taken in your neighborhood at the botanical gardens. 🙂
12/04/2015 1:54 pm
YOur photos are always so wonderful! I love the lily pads- gorgeous!
martinkadelux permalink12/04/2015 7:55 pm
"I have often been adrift, but I have always stayed afloat." David Berry …I really feel like this right now.
Maggie King permalink12/04/2015 9:02 pm
Love the pictures and the message! Great post!
Papaleng Pagulong permalink13/04/2015 12:18 am
Love those photos specially that of the swan on the pond. This quote did caught my attention . Never set a child afloat on the flat sea of life with only one sail to catch the wind." So true indeed.
Jason Panuelos permalink13/04/2015 3:16 am
What a beautiful metaphor for life! Love the photo of the lily pads, it's so calming! 😀
Jenny Temcio permalink13/04/2015 6:54 am
What a fun and beautiful place to visit. I cant even believe those lilly pads are real!
Stace permalink13/04/2015 8:59 am
That lotus pad photos is awesome. I am loving these photo challenges.
mrenkema79 permalink13/04/2015 10:23 am
Those lotus pads are just gorgeous!!!
Carly Anderson permalink13/04/2015 7:57 pm
I love those lotus pads, what an amazing picture!
Manu Kalia permalink14/04/2015 7:21 am
Such a lovely place to visit, I love all of the captures, the place is perfect for relaxation.
phyliciamarie permalink17/04/2015 2:39 am
My favorite photo has to be the ducks, mainly because I don't see that here, only in pictures in magazines. i think you captured afloat really well, especially with the lily pad!
msposh2013 permalink17/04/2015 11:55 am
I can relate to all of that float stuff. Have a great weekend!
meunfinished permalink17/04/2015 9:46 pm
I could lose myself there for days! Those large lily pads are so beautiful! Peaceful 🙂
19/04/2015 11:08 am
Thank you. It was taken at the Bronx Botanical Gardens. They have a greenhouse for plants like this and other exotic flora.
18/04/2015 10:24 pm
lovely photos . . . those pads are my best pick
- Afloat | My Atheist Blog
- Weekly Photo Challenge-Afloat | WoollyMuses
- 15-04-10 Weekly Photo Challenge – Afloat (Danza_de_los_Voladores) | The Quotidian Hudson
- Photo Challenge; Afloat | tnkerr-Writing Prompts and Practice
- Ed Paschke | litadoolan


text: When the welfare officers came to take three-year-old Archie Roach from his tin-lined house in Framlingham in southeastern Australia, they told his mother they were escorting him to a picnic. His aunt tried to scare them off with a gun, but it wasn't loaded. Institutionalized in a Melbourne orphanage, young Archie was told his family had died in a fire. His minders tried to force his hair straight, breaking comb teeth in his frizzy curls. It was a vain attempt by whites to make an Aboriginal child more like them. It didn't work, and the combs weren't the only casualties.


text:
Modified Electronic Enclosures
Almost every enclosure will need some kind of modification to be useful. In house modifications can be tedious, over-complicated, and a distraction from your core business. A third party shop can add time and expense. Let us help you by delivering quality products made to your exact specifications.
Why Use Hammond?
Thousands of Standard Enclosures
Hammond offers a wide selection and massive inventory ready to be modified.
Low Minimum Orders.
Typically, the minimum order is 25 units. This can vary depending on product and services required.
Experience & Personal Service
Hammond has an experienced enclosure modification team and two dedicated modification facilities located in North America and Europe. We are knowledgeable, available, and capable.
Expect Perfection
Hammond helps eliminate scrap and design errors with approval drawings to confirm correct interpretation of your design requirements. Many orders will also include fast delivery of sample enclosures for inspection. These steps ensure that your assembly fits perfectly before heading to production.
Popular Modifications Offered:
- Holes
- Cutouts
- Tapping and Countersinking
- Pressed-in hardware (studs, standoffs)
- Silk Screening
- UV Printing
- Special colors
- Special length extrusions
- Pre-Installed Accessories
- Available services vary by product
Request A Quote
Please fill out the form below to receive a quote for modified Hammond enclosures.
*Please note that our modification services may not be available in all regions. Please contact us for more information.


text:
Sob! It is a happy time as we have found CT Anne, Evil Froggie, and it is Halloween!! But, alas, it also is the end of the 31 Days of Halloween for 2016! How we shall miss seeing all the faboolous makes this wonderful event brings! Just remember, at Dream in Darkness we are the home of Halloween ALL year long....it never really ends! So dry your tears and start thinking how you can creep, weird, odd, plain old mess up Thanksgiving projects! Here we go with our last makes for the event but never our last makes for Halloween! NEVER!!
CT Anne says Hooray!!!! She has corrupted her teamies over the pink issue, or worn them down, made them use up all the pink in their stash, got it all out of their system - see, Nan can barely produce a digital pink watermark MWAHAHAHAHA!!!
I don't know if I'm thick-skinned or thin-skinned, but I do know that I need something to protect my fabulously awesomely inventive brain from the Slings And Shafts of Life, and this is something like what you'd find twixt skin & brain... bone!
Even DH got a bit of a fright when he came home from work to be met by this apparition! But he still likes it - bless him :) And my dentist says there's nothing wrong with my teeth apart from a few aged fillings
(as he hands me a bill for $583 for replacing just one!)
The papier mache skull is from Silver Crow Creations. It sucks up and holds black gesso then paint much better than a plastic skull. They also have the centre headpiece "wings" which colour up well with alcohol inks, or rub n buff, or any paint really. The jewellery came from 16kg in a banana box I acquired very very cheaply some years back. A lot of it was earrings, with many duplicates, so the stalk for pierced ears pokes through the paper mache to help hold the pices on while glue dries. The mdf cupcake stand is a Kaisercraft kit- got as far as priming it with black gesso. The crochet veil/mantilla... can't remember where the pattern came from, but the handiwork is all moi
The painting techniques came from various online classes (and 2 books)
from Michael deMeng including his currently-running Skullduggery class.
I've edited the photo to exaggerate the colouring.
And the test tube... is for catching all the ideas that
still keep dripping out of my brain moi-mwahahaha
CT Kim has this...
or is it?
MDF Skull to Celebrate the Day of the Dead...layered up with more DecoArt treats!
CT Granne has modest offer of a card, using mainly DI's and Tim Holtz stamps and dies.
Well, there was a stencil, few other stamps and fabric tape together
with torned piece of paper involved also...
Happy Halloween!!
CT Nan is ending the 31 days with a beginning? Yes, November and December will be sponsored by the awesome Grumbacher Art! So she has a partial reveal of the inside of a book that has a lot of Grumbacher goodness on the outside so be sure to come back tomorrow for a peek at the front! She will also be showing some more pics of the inside of the book as November moves through with a chill in the air and the smell of paint in the house!
The book includes products by Tim Holtz, images from Mischief Circus, and some of the vintage images I have in my Etsy Store "Odditiesdigitalstamps. If you want to grab any of these images free, just run over to my blog and download them for free! Happy Halloween!
Remember, two months of Grumbacher fabulous products and projects and the winners of November and December will win Grumbacher products! So get those painty hands ready and those ideas churning for a chance to be a winner!


text:
My editor recently told me that publishers don't like the "s" in "towards," "backwards," or "forwards." Add this to the ever-increasing list of things I didn't know about writing. So I thought the title of this post was kind of apropos.
It's come to my attention that the first few posts here sent somewhat of an ambiguous message so I want to set the record straight.
I'm a total novice at this writing gig. I've got no background to speak of, but I'm chuck-full of ideas. I decided to try my hand at romance since I'm a sucker for drama, spicy hot shower scenes and HEA. Three rewrites later, it's 97% done. I guess the third time really is a charm.
So I've got a big decision to make. How do I get my story out to the masses? Do I self-publish and become an indie author? Or shall I try my luck (again) and go the traditional publishing route?
I love the idea of being an indie author. As a self-proclaimed entrepreneur, the whole model just suits me. Also, I'm a little Type A so the idea of being the master of my own destiny is rather appealing.
But other factors come into play. Do I have the bandwidth to take care of my family as well as juggle all the elements of my day job, my household AND a budding career as a romance novelist? Maybe I should seek a partnership with a smaller press where I can have a voice at the table and leverage their expertise. That may just be the ideal scenario for me.
The truth is, I don't have the answer. Hence the reason for my first set of posts. I spend a lot of time opining on all of the alternatives and sometimes a glass of wine gives me some short-term clarity (any more than a glass and it's back to square one).
What I've learned is that you need to have a solid platform, regardless of the chosen publishing method. The bigger the following, the more lucrative the prospect. I've been doing a lot of research to figure out how to create my author brand and I wanted to share my findings, not to be confused with my anticipated successes.
So any time I come across information that I consider helpful, I'm going to share it here. I'm not even close to being an "expert"; I'd settle for "somewhat informed" at this point.
And so, my journey continues.


text:
10 Rating(s)
$25.98 | Sale: $18.19
Club: $12.99
Author: Newt Gingrich, Pete Earley
Series: Pete Early
Narrator: Eric Martin
Unabridged: 13 hr 56 min
Format: Digital Audiobook Download
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Published: 10/10/2017
Genre: Fiction - Political
Leading politician and bestselling author Newt Gingrich and novelist Pete Earley are back with another gripping international thriller. A terrorist drives an explosive-packed rental truck into Major Brooke Grant's Washington, D.C., wedding, intending to detonate a deadly bomb. Saved by a last-minute fluke, Brooke seeks revenge against the master terrorist responsible, an international radical Islamist known only as the Falcon, who is determined to murder her, bring America to its knees, and create a modern-day caliphate. An unorthodox, newly sworn-in president recruits Brooke to join a clandestine CIA team in pursuit of the Falcon. With help from an odd coupling-a Saudi intelligence officer and an Israeli Mossad agent-Brooke goes after her elusive zealot nemesis. But before the trio can close in on their target, they discover that America's worst nightmare has come true. Intertwined with backroom Washington political intrigue, Vengeance is a fast-paced, realistic thriller that entertains while raising serious questions about our national security, the power of religious faith to inspire good and evil, the consequences of revenge, and the validity of our constitutional safeguards. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Washington Post reporter turned novelist Pete Earley are at their best in this third installment of their bestselling Brooke Grant series.


text:
Your brain is electric. Tiny impulses constantly race among billions of interconnected neurons, generating an electric field that surrounds the brain like an invisible cloud. A new study published online July 15 in Neuron suggests that the brain's electric field is not a passive by-product of its neural activity, as scientists once thought. The field may actively help regulate how the brain functions, especially during deep sleep. Although scientists have long known that external sources of electricity (such as electroshock therapy) can alter brain function, this is the first direct evidence that the brain's native electric field changes the way the brain behaves.
In the study, Yale University neurobiologists David McCormick and Flavio Fröhlich surrounded a still-living slice of ferret brain tissue with an electric field that mimicked the field an intact ferret brain produces during slow-wave sleep. The applied field amplified and synchronized the existing neural activity in the brain slice. These results indicate that the electric field generated by the brain facilitates the same neural firing that created the field in the first place, just as the cloud of enthusiasm that envelops a cheering crowd at a sports stadium encourages the crowd to keep cheering. In other words, the brain's electric field is not a by-product; it is a feedback loop.
Although researchers knew that periods of highly synchronized neural activity (such as that of deep sleep) are crucial for maintaining normal brain function, exactly how these stable phases are coordinated—and why they go awry in disorders such as epilepsy—was never clear. The new study indicates scientists may find some answers in the surprisingly active role of the brain's electric field.
"I think this is a very exciting new discovery," says Ole Paulsen, a neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge who was not involved in the study. "We knew that weak electric fields could impact brain activity, but what no one had really tested before was whether electric fields produced by the brain itself could influence its own activity."
Fröhlich sees therapeutic applications as well, particularly in improving a promising technique called transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS), which applies weak electric fields to the scalp to treat, for example, depression and chronic pain. Traditionally tDCS uses standard electric fields that do not change much, as opposed to the dynamic electric fields used in the new study to mimic a living brain. "The next logical step is to use these more complex waveforms in a clinical setting and see if they improve the treatment," Fröhlich says.


text:
Activists of the Russian community of Toronto, Montreal, and other North American cities will protest against the blanket ban on the Russian National Team of Paralympic athletes from participation in the Rio 2016 Olympics. The decision to ban the athletes demonstrates an absolute disregard for the legal right of people to the presumption of innocence. We cannot allow such blatant attacks on our morals, ethics, and democratic freedoms. Unfortunately, we are witnessing increasing politicization of sports and major sporting events on the planet.
No matter how eloquently officials of the International Paralympic Committee attempt to justify and explain their decision to ban the Russian Paralympians, people around the world understand the real politicization and partisanship behind this unprecedented action. Such restrictions on the participation of the entire team in the Olympic Games cannot disguise the growing Russophobia. We have no doubt that such blatant acts of injustice aim at the denigration and humiliation of Russia through the slandering of her outstanding athletes.
It is our moral duty to our historical homeland to make public our disagreement with this policy of hatred, enmity, and injustice by international sports committees. We are driven by compassion and solidarity with the Russian Paralympic athletes who've spent years preparing, overcoming their physical disabilities to earn the right to participate in the greatest international sporting event. They were deprived of their rights with the cruel and inconsiderate decision and without legitimate reasons, other than allegations and insinuations. This is direct and senseless discrimination on a national basis, which we, the citizens of democratic countries, cannot and should not accept as the norm.
On 28 Aug 2016, the United Russian Community of Canada will hold a mass protest in several cities of Canada against the decision of the International Paralympic Committee. We encourage everyone to please come out and join us in voicing support of our Paralympians. They were hit the hardest. Let's show them our support and solidarity! Please help spread the word about our campaign across the world. People throughout the world should know that we in Canada feel a special responsibility for the unfair and biased report issued by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which initiated and provided the basis for the infamous decision by the IPC.
Together we are the force!
Russian Congress of Canada
Russian Canada
Russian Orthodox Unity of Canada
Russian Friends Group
Communauté Canadienne Culturelle Russophone
Le Monde Russe de Montréal


text:
Khichudi, the name reminds me of those rainy days and rainy nights. Khichudi had always taken a special soft corner in my heart. Mom used to cook it whenever it started and rain means no going out and so everybody at home. The whole family waiting impatiently for the hot and yummy porridge to be served at the dining table. I especially remember one night. It was raining cats and dogs; mom was very ill that night and couldn't even get up from bed. But we were all in full mood to enjoy khichudi. So what to do? The answer came from my dad, let's prepare it ourselves. Hearing that my mom started screaming, here to mention at that time my dad was a terrible cook, though with the passage of time and because of his transferable job he has learnt a lot about cooking. Now let's go back to that night. So here we were me and my dad in the kitchen preparing porridge. That night at last we had to call a nearby restaurant to deliver food, that porridge was absolutely burnt and had to throw away everything.
Days have passed, a lot has changed, but still I can't separate monsoon rain and porridge. I have learnt to prepare it myself and so whenever it rains, you can smell khichudi in my kitchen. Oh! I missed out something. To make this delicacy something more special don't you forget to fry those hilsa pieces or at least an omelet. This combination is just awesome.
Serves: 4
Rice (Chal): 150 gm
Pulses (Massor dal): 150 gm
Turmeric powder (Halud Guro): 1 teaspoon
Chilli powder (Sukhno Lankar guro): 1 teaspoon
Onions (Peyaj): 3
Garlic (Rasun): 4 /6 cloves
Ginger paste (Aada Bata)
Panch Phoron: 1 teaspoon
Green chilli (Kacha Lanka): 2/3 pieces
Mustard oil (Sarser tel): 2 teaspoon
Salt to taste
So we are ready with the ingredients, now before we start just a few word. Cut one of the onions into half and the other two julienned. You can add some vegetables like potato , cauliflower (cut into small florets), carrot, peas, etc.
- Wash the rice and dal together.
- Take water in a handi and heat it just for 2 minutes.powder,
- Add the rice, dal, half cut onion, garlic cloves, vegetables, turmeric powder, chilli green chilli and salt.
- Now leave it and let it cook by itself.
- Add water whenever required.
- When the rice is almost cooked, heat oil in an wok and add the left out onions and panch phoron. Sauté it.
- Add this to the cooked rice.
- Then cook the rice for 2 minutes more and your porridge is ready to serve.
Khichudi with ladies finger fries
You can have it with any kind of fries, or even with chutney and papad (poppadam). There are some more ways to cook porridge, check out my following posts to find out how.
Tips: Porridge tends to become very dry, so before you take it out of the stove ensure that it has not become too dry and so leave out some water.


text:
Class::Struct - declare struct-like datatypes as Perl classes
use Class::Struct;
# declare struct, based on array:
struct( CLASS_NAME => [ ELEMENT_NAME => ELEMENT_TYPE, ... ]);
# declare struct, based on hash:
struct( CLASS_NAME => { ELEMENT_NAME => ELEMENT_TYPE, ... });
package CLASS_NAME;
use Class::Struct;
# declare struct, based on array, implicit class name:
struct( ELEMENT_NAME => ELEMENT_TYPE, ... );
package Myobj;
use Class::Struct;
# declare struct with four types of elements:
struct( s => '$', a => '@', h => '%', c => 'My_Other_Class' );
$obj = new Myobj; # constructor
# scalar type accessor:
$element_value = $obj->s; # element value
$obj->s('new value'); # assign to element
# array type accessor:
$ary_ref = $obj->a; # reference to whole array
$ary_element_value = $obj->a(2); # array element value
$obj->a(2, 'new value'); # assign to array element
# hash type accessor:
$hash_ref = $obj->h; # reference to whole hash
$hash_element_value = $obj->h('x'); # hash element value
$obj->h('x', 'new value'); # assign to hash element
# class type accessor:
$element_value = $obj->c; # object reference
$obj->c->method(...); # call method of object
$obj->c(new My_Other_Class); # assign a new object
Class::Struct exports a single function,
struct. Given a list of element names and types, and optionally a class name,
struct creates a Perl 5 class that implements a "struct-like" data structure.
The new class is given a constructor method,
new, for creating struct objects.
Each element in the struct data has an accessor method, which is used to assign to the element and to fetch its value. The default accessor can be overridden by declaring a
sub of the same name in the package. (See Example 2.)
Each element's type can be scalar, array, hash, or class.
struct() function
struct function has three forms of parameter-list.
struct( CLASS_NAME => [ ELEMENT_LIST ]);
struct( CLASS_NAME => { ELEMENT_LIST });
struct( ELEMENT_LIST );
The first and second forms explicitly identify the name of the class being created. The third form assumes the current package name as the class name.
An object of a class created by the first and third forms is based on an array, whereas an object of a class created by the second form is based on a hash. The array-based forms will be somewhat faster and smaller; the hash-based forms are more flexible.
The class created by
struct must not be a subclass of another class other than
It can, however, be used as a superclass for other classes. To facilitate this, the generated constructor method uses a two-argument blessing. Furthermore, if the class is hash-based, the key of each element is prefixed with the class name (see Perl Cookbook, Recipe 13.12).
A function named
new must not be explicitly defined in a class created by
The ELEMENT_LIST has the form
Each name-type pair declares one element of the struct. Each element name will be defined as an accessor method unless a method by that name is explicitly defined; in the latter case, a warning is issued if the warning flag (-w) is set.
The four element types -- scalar, array, hash, and class -- are represented by strings --
'%', and a class name -- optionally preceded by a
The accessor method provided by
struct for an element depends on the declared type of the element.
'$' or
The element is a scalar, and by default is initialized to
undef (but see "Initializing with new").
The accessor's argument, if any, is assigned to the element.
If the element type is
'$', the value of the element (after assignment) is returned. If the element type is
'*$', a reference to the element is returned.
'@' or
The element is an array, initialized by default to
With no argument, the accessor returns a reference to the element's whole array (whether or not the element was specified as
'@' or
With one or two arguments, the first argument is an index specifying one element of the array; the second argument, if present, is assigned to the array element. If the element type is
'@', the accessor returns the array element value. If the element type is
'*@', a reference to the array element is returned.
'%' or
The element is a hash, initialized by default to
With no argument, the accessor returns a reference to the element's whole hash (whether or not the element was specified as
'%' or
With one or two arguments, the first argument is a key specifying one element of the hash; the second argument, if present, is assigned to the hash element. If the element type is
'%', the accessor returns the hash element value. If the element type is
'*%', a reference to the hash element is returned.
'Class_Name' or
The element's value must be a reference blessed to the named class or to one of its subclasses. The element is initialized to the result of calling the
new constructor of the named class.
The accessor's argument, if any, is assigned to the element. The accessor will
croak if this is not an appropriate object reference.
If the element type does not start with a
'*', the accessor returns the element value (after assignment). If the element type starts with a
'*', a reference to the element itself is returned.
struct always creates a constructor called
new. That constructor may take a list of initializers for the various elements of the new struct.
Each initializer is a pair of values: element name
=> value. The initializer value for a scalar element is just a scalar value. The initializer for an array element is an array reference. The initializer for a hash is a hash reference.
The initializer for a class element is also a hash reference, and the contents of that hash are passed to the element's own constructor.
See Example 3 below for an example of initialization.
Giving a struct element a class type that is also a struct is how structs are nested. Here,
timeval represents a time (seconds and microseconds), and
rusage has two elements, each of which is of type
use Class::Struct;
struct( rusage => {
ru_utime => timeval, # seconds
ru_stime => timeval, # microseconds
struct( timeval => [
tv_secs => '$',
tv_usecs => '$',
# create an object:
my $t = new rusage;
# $t->ru_utime and $t->ru_stime are objects of type timeval.
# set $t->ru_utime to 100.0 sec and $t->ru_stime to 5.0 sec.
An accessor function can be redefined in order to provide additional checking of values, etc. Here, we want the
count element always to be nonnegative, so we redefine the
count accessor accordingly.
package MyObj;
use Class::Struct;
# declare the struct
struct ( 'MyObj', { count => '$', stuff => '%' } );
# override the default accessor method for 'count'
sub count {
my $self = shift;
if ( @_ ) {
die 'count must be nonnegative' if $_[0] < 0;
$self->{'count'} = shift;
warn "Too many args to count" if @_;
return $self->{'count'};
package main;
$x = new MyObj;
print "\$x->count(5) = ", $x->count(5), "\n";
# prints '$x->count(5) = 5'
print "\$x->count = ", $x->count, "\n";
# prints '$x->count = 5'
print "\$x->count(-5) = ", $x->count(-5), "\n";
# dies due to negative argument!
The constructor of a generated class can be passed a list of element=>value pairs, with which to initialize the struct. If no initializer is specified for a particular element, its default initialization is performed instead. Initializers for non-existent elements are silently ignored.
Note that the initializer for a nested struct is specified as an anonymous hash of initializers, which is passed on to the nested struct's constructor.
use Class::Struct;
struct Breed =>
name => '$',
cross => '$',
struct Cat =>
name => '$',
kittens => '@',
markings => '%',
breed => 'Breed',
my $cat = Cat->new( name => 'Socks',
kittens => ['Monica', 'Kenneth'],
markings => { socks=>1, blaze=>"white" },
breed => { name=>'short-hair', cross=>1 },
print "Once a cat called ", $cat->name, "\n";
print "(which was a ", $cat->breed->name, ")\n";
print "had two kittens: ", join(' and ', @{$cat->kittens}), "\n";
Modified by Damian Conway, 1999-03-05, v0.58.
Added handling of hash-like arg list to class ctor.
Changed to two-argument blessing in ctor to support
derivation from created classes.
Added classname prefixes to keys in hash-based classes
(refer to "Perl Cookbook", Recipe 13.12 for rationale).
Corrected behaviour of accessors for '*@' and '*%' struct
elements. Package now implements documented behaviour when
returning a reference to an entire hash or array element.
Previously these were returned as a reference to a reference
to the element.
Renamed to
Class::Struct and modified by Jim Miner, 1997-04-02.
members() function removed.
Documentation corrected and extended.
Use of struct() in a subclass prohibited.
User definition of accessor allowed.
Treatment of '*' in element types corrected.
Treatment of classes as element types corrected.
Class name to struct() made optional.
Diagnostic checks added.
Class::Template by Dean Roehrich.
# Template.pm --- struct/member template builder
# 12mar95
# Dean Roehrich
# changes/bugs fixed since 28nov94 version:
# - podified
# changes/bugs fixed since 21nov94 version:
# - Fixed examples.
# changes/bugs fixed since 02sep94 version:
# - Moved to Class::Template.
# changes/bugs fixed since 20feb94 version:
# - Updated to be a more proper module.
# - Added "use strict".
# - Bug in build_methods, was using @var when @$var needed.
# - Now using my() rather than local().
# Uses perl5 classes to create nested data types.
# This is offered as one implementation of Tom Christiansen's "structs.pl"
# idea.


text:
Seacell Leggings Leggings
The leggings are made from SeaCell™, a fabric blend that includes the sustainable raw materials seaweed and wood, through methods that save energy and resources. The SeaCell™ fibers are carbon neutral, completely biodegradable and production takes place in a closed loop system. The garment is incredibly soft on the skin.
- Made in Germany and Portugal
- SeaCell™ blend
- Eco-conscious
- Full Oeko-Tex Certification
The leggings are created to allow for a relaxed and clean look.
Please consider that all little people come in different shapes and sizes: If you are unsure of what size to get, always go up a size – or check out the size guide for details.


text:
Paste This Link in an IM, Email, or Message
Paste This HTML Link Code in a Website
Return to the list of practice GMAT reading comprehension questions.
Although websites such as Facebook and MySpace experienced exponential growth during the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, some users remain oblivious to the fact that the information they post online can come back to haunt them. First, employers can monitor employees who maintain a blog, photo diary, or website. Employers can look for controversial employee opinions, sensitive information disclosures, or wildly inappropriate conduct. For example, a North Carolina newspaper fired one of its features writers after she created a blog on which she anonymously wrote about the idiosyncrasies of her job and coworkers.
The second unintended use of information from social networking websites is employers who check on prospective employees. A June 11, 2006 New York Times article reported that many companies recruiting on college campuses use search engines and social networking websites such as MySpace, Xanga, and Facebook to conduct background checks. Although the use of MySpace or Google to scrutinize a student's background is somewhat unsettling to many undergraduates, the Times noted that the utilization of Facebook is especially shocking to students who believe that Facebook is limited to current students and recent alumni.
Corporate recruiters and prospective employers are not the only people interested in college students' lives. The third unintended use of social networking websites is college administrators who monitor the Internet—especially Facebook—for student misconduct. For example, a college in Boston's Back Bay expelled its student Government Association President for joining a Facebook group highly critical of a campus police sergeant. In addition, fifteen students at a state university in North Carolina faced charges in court for underage drinking because of photos that appeared on Facebook.
Although more users of websites such as Facebook are becoming aware of the potential pitfalls of online identities, many regular users still fail to take three basic security precautions. First, only make your information available to a specific list of individuals whom you approve. Second, regularly search for potentially harmful information about yourself that may have been posted by mistake or by a disgruntled former associate. Third, never post blatantly offensive material under your name or on your page as, despite the best precautions, this material will likely make its way to the wider world. By taking these simple steps, members of the digital world can realize the many benefits of e-community without experiencing some of the damaging unintended consequences.
The following is an outline of the passage:
Define a problem: "some users remain oblivious to the fact that the information they post online can come back to haunt them."
Provide three examples of the problem: "First, employers can monitor employees who maintain a blog...The second unintended use of information...The third unintended use of social networking websites is..."
Provide Ways to Remedy the Problem: "many regular users still fail to take three basic security precautions. First, only make your information available...Second, regularly search for...Third, never post blatantly offensive"
Evaluate the Issue at Hand: "By taking these simple steps, members of the digital world can realize the many benefits of e-community without experiencing some of the damaging unintended consequences."


text:
Berkshires Autumn Trip and some other scenes.
From the Mohawk Trail (Rt 2) thru Williamstown to Lenox, MA & Columbia Cty NY, Boston Metro West & N.H.Read More
Photos may not be used for any purposes without the express written permission of Rich Turk. All images © 2006-2020 Rich Turk Photography


text:
SRAM's low-profile GX 2x11 Front Derailleur was designed specifically around SRAM's 2x11 X-GLIDE shifting. When used with SRAM's wide-range 11-speed cassette and their GX 2x11 rear derailleur, the GX 2x11 front derailleur provides one of the widest gear ranges possible, so no terrain is off limits.
• Max ring (teeth): 38-tooth
• Derailleur capacity: 14-tooth


text:
Charleston, the capital city of West Virginia, has been virtually shut down because of a chemical leak in the water supply. As the chemical is being flushed from the system, the scariest thing isn't what's known about the danger to public health but what's not known. Are regulators doing their best to find out? Also, Egyptians go to the polls to vote on a military-backed constitution, and a court ruling may lead to higher costs for Google, Facebook, Netflix or other services. Could the FCC help consumers without stirring up a political firestorm?
Banner image: Water is distributed to residents at the South Charleston Community Center in Charleston, January 10, 2014. President Obama has issued an emergency declaration for the state of West Virginia, ordering federal aid in the aftermath of a chemical spill that has left up to 300,000 people without tap water. Photo: Lisa Hechesky/Reuters


text:
The U.S. International Trade Commission has decided to investigate smartphones from Taiwan's HTC based on Apple's claims of patent infringement.
Apple filed the patent infringement charges with the ITC, as well as with the U.S. District Court in Delaware, in early March. The complaints make frequent reference to Android, Google's operating system that HTC is using in many of its touch-screen phones. Apple has said the products infringe 20 patents related to the iPhone's user interface and hardware.
On Wednesday, the ITC said that one of its administrative law judges will hold an evidentiary hearing to look into Apple's complaint. The ITC now has 45 days to set a target date for completing the investigation.
Apple has asked the ITC to forbid HTC from selling the phones in the U.S.
HTC has vehemently denied infringing Apple's patents, and Google has said it will stand by its phone-making partners.
Apple warned when it introduced the iPhone that it had hundreds of patents related to the device and would aggressively defend them.
But while there have been many copycats since the first iPhone launched in 2007, there have been few lawsuits. Some observers wonder why Apple decided to act now against HTC, and have speculated that the charges are really aimed at Google, which has had an increasingly strained relationship with Apple.
The two companies historically did not compete, but with the introduction of Android, Google is directly competing with the iPhone.
Apple is also engaged in a patent battle with Nokia, the number-one handset maker in the world. Nokia initiated that dispute when it filed a patent infringement suit against Apple in October.


text:
Lasers cut, weld and mark the metal alloys and polymers used to build the latest medical implant breakthroughs, surgical instruments, and other related medical products. Many key characteristics of today's lasers make the devices ideal for use in medical applications such as cutting stents and endoscopes, pacemaker components and other medical components.
Laser cutting processes offer many advantages, including being a noncontact method of cutting that has minimal thermal input into the workpiece while delivering extremely precise spot sizes, or tool widths, on components requiring high precision and high quality. Lasers are used to process a wide range of materials from stainless steel to Nitinol, a shape-memory alloy, and titanium, the preferred alloy for implantation into the human body, and polymers used in the high-volume fabrication of microfluidic devices.
Many lasers currently deployed are either CO2 or fiber lasers, with fiber gaining converts in recent years as prices for fiber lasers have fallen. Both these types of lasers use a fusion cut that melts metals efficiently while using nozzles to deliver a gas, either oxygen, nitrogen, or even shop air, to blow away particles from the cutting area. A newer class of extremely short-pulse picosecond lasers also is starting to be employed, particularly for cutting stents, with a cold process where the laser vaporizes the material instead of melting it.
The manufacturing of stents is an important area in medical device manufacturing, notes Sascha Weiler, program manager, Micro Processing, Trumpf Inc. (Farmington, CT), but lasers are used in many aspects of medical manufacturing. "You can divide that into three applications: welding, marking, and cutting. These can include welding of pacemaker housings, endoscopes, parts that require clean and smooth welds, which go into the human body. And marking, it's the same story, marking pacemakers, surgical instruments, or hearing aids, which are made of many materials."
In stent cutting, the state-of-the-art cutting method still is the fusion cut with mostly 100 to 200-W fiber lasers, Weiler adds. "This works well for stainless steel, maybe for Nitinol, because here and there you can allow some postprocessing, and you need the postprocessing because it's a fusion cut, where the laser melts the metal and you have gas nozzles that blow the metal out of the cutting surface."
With fusion-cut stents, cutting kerfs typically are 10-20 µm, he notes. Trumpf offers fiber lasers, as well as newer short-pulse picosecond lasers in the green wavelength specifically aimed at cutting stents, which have relatively thin walls and don't require higher power lasers.
"For stent cutting, we typically use a green picosecond laser. The reason is because it's more versatile—it can cut a metal stent as well as polymer and nonmetal stents," Weiler states. "This is very different from the fusion cut. Picosecond pulses are so short that the material is not molten, like with the fusion cut, it's vaporized. So now we don't have any metal, we just have vapor, so we just need some kind of nozzle to blow away the vapor—people call it 'cold cut' or a cold process, and that eliminates any residual heat in the material, which results in perfect edge quality, and especially for the nonmetallic stents, they cannot be cut with a fusion cut at all, the cutter would just melt the whole thing."
Picosecond lasers like the Trumpf TruMicro Series 5000 laser line can vaporize metal or nonmetals using 50W of power and a pulse energy rated at up to 250 microjoules. These short pulses of less than 10 picoseconds vaporize the material so fast that no heat-affected zone (HAZ) can be detected. Microprocessing applications for the TruMicro 5000 line include cutting, structuring, ablation and drilling. "That's a short pulse, actually high intensity, because in the peak of the pulse, you've got the power of multiple tens of megawatts," Weiler observes. "It's like a very tiny, but powerful hammer. And you've got like 800,000 of those hammers a second. This is how it works, this is how you get the productivity."
The Trumpf TruMicro 5000 line comes not only in different wavelengths, but also different power levels, adds Weiler, noting that the TruMicro 5250 green picosecond laser is the best bet for this type of medical work. Trumpf, which launched its first picosecond lasers in early 2008, is now offering its second-generation picosecond lasers for microprocessing applications. "I'd say for the cutting nonmetals in medical, truly it's an enabling technology. You couldn't do that before, with this kind of quality.
"At the beginning, it was a testing element—no one was sure it was going to take off," Weiler recalls of picosecond lasers. The technology is used not only in medical, but for a wide variety of applications, he adds, including semiconductors. Key to the success of these short-pulse lasers is the quality of the cut. "If the quality isn't there, it means it must be somehow post-processed, and believe it or not, it's done manually. There are guys sitting there with a microscope and checking if they see anything on the stent, and then they do sandblasting or brushing, and check again. And it is very time-consuming and a lot of labor."
Hand finishing of stents involves small sandblaster tools used with microscopes to spot any imperfections in the stent, he notes. "Camera vision is literally impossible to implement. The human eye, you can teach it. You have to somehow hold the stent under the microscope and play with it, and then you see the obstacles. You can do it manually, but it's very difficult, and a lot of stents are made out of Nitinol, which is 50% nickel and 50% titanium, the shape-memory alloy. It's a very expensive material, and you waste a lot of money."
Laser cutting technology's advantages play to medical manufacturing's requirements for high cut quality in a noncontact, highly flexible process, notes Geoff Shannon, laser technology manager, Miyachi Unitek Corp. (Monrovia, CA), a developer of laser welding, marking and cutting systems. "In recent years, there's been a lot of movement in medical to laser welding for the obvious reasons—noncontact, very flexible, highly controllable, and you can weld really small parts, which is obviously very good for the medical industry."
Medical device builders have shown increasing interest in lasers for cutting many different devices, from cannulars, needles, arthroscopic devices, endoscopes and other products, Shannon notes. "It's all minimally invasive tooling, so the tools are very thin tubing, and normally they need to have some slots or holes for other things to either attach or kind of be fed through," he says.
In the medical industry, there is some interest in picosecond lasers, Shannon says, adding the technology can offer a unique processing capability for metals and plastics though it is somewhat at the industrial R&D stage. "Companies are looking at it because the picosecond laser offers high quality and fine dimensions that are not attainable with other lasers, but they have really become industrial tools rather than lab devices over the last three or four years.
"One of the considerations with the picosecond lasers is that they are certinaly not cheap, with a system costing you around half-a-million dollars. However, the $64,000 question is does the laser offer such a unique process that the product improvement can justify this level of investment?"
Fiber lasers are the focus for Miyachi Unitek cutting systems, which typically use a 100 or 200-W single-mode fiber laser for medical cutting applications, Shannon says, noting that the lasers offer the ability to cut parts with diameters of about 0.050″ to 0.25″ (0.13–6 mm) with wall thicknesses of about 0.003 to 0.020″ (0.076–0.51 mm). "This represents quite a broad range of cutting capability, and there's a lot of different features that you can do with lasers," he says, "such as the single-sided slots, windows, on axes and off-axes features and spirals for many flexible shaft, hypotube, and cannula applications.
"Traditionally the medical industry has used a lot of EDM technology, both wire EDM and sinker EDM, and while wire EDM is still quite prevalent, sinker EDM is normally used for single-sided features," he adds, "and it is much, much slower than laser cutting—significantly slower than laser cutting."
With wire EDM, medical manufacturers can cut out teeth on arthroscopic tools for knee surgery, he says. "If you have symmetric teeth on both sides of the tube, wire EDM is great, because it's like a cheese cutter, and you can rack up 10 or 15 of these parts and you can cut more than one at once. So the advantage with wire EDM is, in some instances, you can gang up multiple parts, so although the cutting speed is slow, you're cutting 15 parts in one go."
Lasers can do the same thing, but only on one part at a time, and it offers features that you can't attain with an EDM process, Shannon says. "It offers the capability to give you different angles on different geometries that they cut, and being able to cut 3-D shapes in the tube without having to take the part out, re-tool it, put it back in, or take it over to another machine," he adds. "So there are some advantages there for the lasers in multiple areas, particularly in the sinker EDM, which is probably four to five times slower, if not more, than laser cutting. When you look up the price per part, it's significantly more than laser cutting, and that's obviously driving a lot of the changeover."
The medical industry has always been cost-conscious but in recent years it has become much more so. "Perhaps four–five years ago, it probably wasn't quite as aggressive as it is right now," Shannon notes. "What's also driving laser cutting is the high-speed/high-quality capability—laser are very flexible and cut lots of materials, thicknesses, shapes and high-mix parts."
Allan Callander of Prima Power Laserdyne LLC (Champlin, MN) concurs with that assessment, noting medical builders are looking for cost-effective, validated manufacturing processes. "There used to be a perception in medical device technology that price was no object. That has changed," Callander states. "The engineers have to think of this right from the start."
Medical device makers need stable, proven manufacturing processes, he says. "It's absolutely a renewed emphasis on cost, and increasing emphasis on process validation. They work so hard to make sure that the process is validated and can meet FDA requirements."
For medical, Prima offers its Laserdyne 430 fiber laser system along with its System 94 software and hardware that is validated right from the start, Callander says. "The 430 is designed for lasers that are either directly or fiber-delivered. It is also possible to use a lot of the same system components and deliver the wavelength that best suits the application. For example, a laser with a wavelength in the green is ideal for precision cutting because of the high absorption and ultrafine spot sizes. We can change the optics, but the basics and the machine control don't change.
"The micromachining of coronary stents was a key aspect of the medical system device world," he adds. "It opened up a lot of eyes on what could be done with lasers." While the ultra-short-pulse lasers have appeal, those systems are still coming up short, he notes. "They're not too cost-effective, because they're still too slow. A typical 10 or 12-mm stent can be cut in minutes with a fiber laser."
For most medical applications, high-precision cutting is a given on parts requiring the highest accuracy possible. With the growing numbers of aging Americans requiring ever-increasing joint replacement surgeries, the medical market remains strong, notes Mazak Optonics' Keith Leuthold.
Mazak Optonics' STX 44 laser is specifically aimed at medical products that can be accommodated on the unit's 4 × 4′ (1.2 × 1.2-m) table, he says. "What makes this machine unique is that it's a precision ballscrew," he says. "When dealing with customers' medical components, they not only need high precision but stability." The STX 44 system features a cast-iron frame made of Meehanite, he says, offering stiffer properties than standard granite. The biggest problem of any machine is the vibration, and the size of a laser beam is about four to six thousandths in diameter," he states. "The precision on how to focus that beam is crucial. A human hair is about two thousandths."
With the latest-generation hybrid HVII laser system from Mitsubishi Laser/MC Machinery Inc. (Wood Dale, IL), one medical customer cuts saws used in knee replacement surgeries, notes Jeff Hahn, Mitsubishi Laser national product manager. The hybrid laser offers better accuracy and a simpler machine tool design, with the stability inherent in the system's cast frame made from Dianite, which Hahn says is Mitsubishi's version of Meehanite. "Generally, the hybrid has the best accuracy," Hahn notes. "Bone saws are generally a very intricate piece, and it's nothing that you're going to go fast at. But with the 2-D hybrid 2-kW laser, in this application, it's cutting thin stainless at about 0.0060″ (0.152-mm) thicknesses, and when you're using nitrogen-assist, it will give you a low HAZ."
The HV II machine, which Mitsubishi demonstrated at Fabtech 2011, features the company's latest M700 series control with a 15″ (380-mm) color touchscreen display. The HVII series is available with either a 2, 3, or 4-kW laser resonator. Travel in the Z axis is two times faster than previous models, according to the company, resulting in cutting part-to-part transition times in half. Larger stroke in the Z axis allows preformed parts to be loaded in and out. The machine also offers an attached tool storage center, a fine-pierce option, and a diminished clamp zone for increasing parts production and quality. ME
Connect With Us


text:
The Greek situation is going to make the world economy stagnant for many years. Rich Cocovich
Global Star Capital. Richard Cocovich
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
Long time executive Rich Cocovich, Founder of Global Star Capital (www.globalstarcapital.com) is the top consultant in private funding. With clients in over 100 countries since 1991, the firm is the professional link to project funding. Begin your relationship with Global Star Capital by following the OUR PROCESS section of the website www.globalstarcapital.com. We guarantee that no entity you are dealing with can represent your project to the degree Global Star Capital can.


text:
Roswell Commercial Locksmith
You can count on us to help keep your business secure. Commercial grade lock changes, repairs and installations. Your store front security, panic hardware and exit alarm specialists.
We offer invoice billing for our commercial accounts. This makes the process convenient and since we know what locks you use, will be ready to take care of you at anytime.
High Security Locks
Lock Changes
Panic Hardware
Call AM PM Locksmith today
If you are locked out of your car, home or business we are your best choice. Our locksmiths will go over the latest products and help you figure out how to best meet your need(s). Give us a call if you have questions!
We install all types of security hardware for your home and business. Sliding glass door and exterior locks and latches. Convenient and beautiful keyless locks too. Store front and exit hardware specialists.


text:
Jonathan Lu is about to step into the biggest shoes in Chinese e-commerce.
The 43 year-old Alibaba executive has been named as chief executive, succeeding billionaire company founder Jack Ma, who is resigning to make way for younger leaders.
Ma and several partners launched the company from his apartment in Hangzhou in 1999. He will continue to set Alibaba's strategic direction and develop future leaders, but hand over his responsibilities as chief executive to Lu by May 10.
Lu joined Alibaba in 2000 and is the only senior company executive to have headed all of its major divisions.
Alibaba's company blog describes him as an operations whiz who shuns the spotlight.
His ability to execute will be tested immediately. In January, the company said it was splitting operations into 25 divisions to become more flexible.
Lu led the development of online payments service Alipay. Later, as chief executive of Tabao, the dominant e-commerce site in China, he oversaw an eight-fold increase in value of goods traded on the platform.
Related: Jack Ma steps down as Alibaba CEO
"Serving as Alibaba Group CEO is an extremely challenging and difficult job, especially succeeding a founder CEO like me," Ma wrote in a letter to employees obtained by CNNMoney. "I strongly believe that with all your support and assistance, he can lead Alibaba Group to achieve even more seemingly impossible things in our pursuit of building a business ecosystem."
Alibaba said Lu had laid the groundwork for early development of Taobao's group shopping initiative, known as Juhuasuan, and oversaw the development and early growth of Taobao Mall, a service that lets consumers buy goods directly from retailers online.
Most recently he served as chief data officer, building a data-sharing platform for small businesses and consumers, and had responsibility for the group's Aliyun mobile operating system.
Before joining Alibaba, Lu worked in the hotel industry and co-founded a network communication company.
Ma, 48, said in January he wanted to make way for younger Alibaba executives with "better, more brilliant dreams than mine".
Yahoo (YHOO) once owned 40% of Alibaba, but sold back about half its stake in the company last year after a series of disputes soured the relationship.


text:
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges against a Honolulu woman posing as an investment banker and soliciting investors through Twitter, Facebook, and other social media.
An SEC investigation found that Keiko Kawamura engaged in two separate fraudulent schemes to raise money from investors while casting herself as an investment and hedge fund expert when in fact she had virtually no prior trading experience. In one scheme, she sought investors for her self-described hedge fund and posted on Twitter some screenshots of brokerage account statements suggesting she was personally obtaining incredible investment returns. However, the account statements were not hers. And instead of investing the money she raised from investors, she spent it on her own living expenses and luxury trips to Miami and London. In a later scheme, Kawamura continued to boast phony experience to attract investors to her subscription service for investment advice. She falsely told subscribers that she had been in the investment banking industry for nearly a decade and had achieved 800 percent returns in her personal brokerage account. Said Michele Wein Layne, director of the SEC's Los Angeles Regional Office:
As alleged in our case, Kawamura used social media to ensnare investors and raise money to support her lifestyle. Investors should beware of fraudsters who use social media to hide behind anonymity and reach many investors with little to no cost or effort.
The SEC's order instituting administrative proceedings alleges that Kawamura willfully violated Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5, and Sections 206(1), 206(2), and 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Rule 20(4)-8. The administrative proceedings will determine any remedial action or financial penalties that are appropriate in the public interest against Kawamura.
The SEC's investigation was conducted by Brent Smyth and Finola H. Manvelian of the Los Angeles Regional Office. The SEC's litigation will be led by Donald Searles.