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Sentry Card Access Control Systems
Need help with motion sensor action units?
Sentry's motion detection units use infra-red to detect movement, then perform a defined action, such as locking, unlocking, or sounding an alarm.
These systems are very important for high-security situations - if you need help ensuring you've found the right thing, speak to Darrel, our technical expert - he can assist you!


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Enquire Contact form
- Description
The Arcam Solo Mini replaces the traditional 'pile of black boxes' hifi system disliked by anyone with an eye for interior design - this one box system has an elegant slim line case housing audiophile CD player, 2 x 25W amplifier, FM/AM/DAB tuner, iPod interface for Arcam rLead or irDock and USB input for playing WMA or MP3 files.
So how can the Solo Mini sound as good as similarly priced separates? Well, the engineers have designed in the same technology as in their award winning CD players and amplifiers to give superior musical performance, and mated that technology to traditional audio engineering of over specified toroidal transformer, large resevoir capacitors and careful PCB layout. The Arcam Solo Mini punches far above it's weight, you will love the sound, your home will remain clutter free.
- Specification
CD player
CD text, CD-R and CDRW transport
low jitter crystal clock
MP3 compatible
24-bit DAC
Power amplifiers
25W RMS into 8ohms continuous power output
passive fanless cooling system
Full size speaker binding posts
Oversize toroidal transformer
Independently regulated power supplies
Five line level inputs plus record output
Preamplifier output for external power amps
Front panel mini jack input for MP3 players or games consoles
Front panel headphones mini jack
iPod interface with control via rDock or rLead
Infrared jack input
Full bass and treble controls
Front panel USB input
Custom Installation
Rear panel RS232 input for control of all functions and software update
Infrared input jack for control
Discrete IR codes for toggled commands (standby, mute, etc.)
Audiophile grade sound quality
Matching Muso speakers available
All metal casework
Full dot matrix display with easy-to-read text
Simple set up and operation
Full remote control from supplied remote
High sensitivity integrated DAB/FM/AM or FM/AM tuner
Size 230mm (9") x 90mm (3.4") x 350mm (13.2")
Weight 5.3kg (11.7lbs) nett 6.7kg (14.7lbs) packed
- Reviews
- Delivery
Providing your item is in stock, the order is usually dispatched within 24 hours. Please remember that postage and packing is completely free for orders over £50*. Out of stock items will be dispatched as soon as they become available, out of stock items can take between 4 to 21 days for dispatch.
Deliveries usually take 1-3 working days. The majority of orders are sent via our couriers'; Interlink Express on a next-day-delivery service. Smaller, low value or light-weight items are normally posted using Royal Mail Recorded or Royal Mail Special Delivery.
Once your product has been dispatched, you will be notified via email and sent a unique consignment number, you can use this number at http://www.interlinkexpress.com to check the status of your delivery. If you have provided a mobile telephone number, Interlink's Predict service will notify you by text (and email) of a one-hour delivery window. If the window they suggest is inconvenient, you can change the date of delivery to a later one via text or email.
*We ship free of charge to mainland UK addresses, excluding the Scottish Highlands or 'Out-Of-Reach' Scottish locations. Please consult the post-codes below to see if your location falls within this category. If you are still unsure, please contact us on 01432 354921. We also ship to Northern Ireland, Channel Islands, Scilly Isles, Scottish Isles and Scottish Highlands, however delivery to these locations will incur a charge and can only be sent via a 2-day service.
Shipping Costs Mainland UK (Next-Day) Offshore/Out-of-reach (2-day)Northern Ireland, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Scottish Islands, Scilly Islands Republic of Ireland (2-day) Under £50 Orders £7.50 £12.50 £15.00 Over £50 Orders FREE £19.99 £29.99 Surcharge Orders £50.00 £69.99 £79.99 Saturday Delivery £12.99 N/A N/A Sunday Delivery £12.99 N/A N/A
Post codes exempt from the free delivery service include:
Scottish Highlands Post Codes: AB30-38, AB41-42, AB44-56, FK17-99, G83, IV1-28, IV30-39, IV52-54, IV63, KW1-14, PA21-33, PA34-40, PH15-26, PH31-41, PH49-50
Islands Post Codes: HS1-9, IV40-51, IV55-56, KA27-28, KW15-17, PA20, PA41-49, PA60-78, PH42-44, ZE1-3
Northern Ireland: All BT postcodes
Channel Islands Post Codes: JE, GY
Scilly Isles Post Codes: TR21, TR22, TR23, TR24, TR25
- Press & Awards

subset: commoncrawl


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The glittering sequins on your dress, the confetti scattered across the carpet, the sound of champagne bottles uncorking. There's so much to take in on New Year's Eve. So why not let us be the DJ? If you're throwing an NYE bash of your own, we've compiled the perfect party mix made up of (mostly) current jams that everyone can dance to or at least slowly groove along to. These are the songs you're going to remember as 2014 fades away and 2015 sparkles into view. From Nicki Minaj and Selena Gomez to Charli XCX and Ed Sheeran, this hour-long playlist is chock-full of songs from last year's biggest breakout stars. So, go ahead, press play and let the sounds billow through your household. And when your music guru friend asks if you chose the songs, you can pretend you made the playlist yourself. We won't tell anyone.
Credit: Flickr


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Please select one of the given amounts below by clicking on it, or simply click "choose your own amount here" and type in the amount you would like to donate for women.
Margaret's is a non-profit organisation. We are also a UK registered charity. Our prime purpose is to help poor, ill women in the UK in the form of grants made through caring professionals. If you can make a donation for charity, it will help us to get more money into the hands of people who really need it.
Your donation to charity will help women with disabilities, women with COPD or MS, women with serious chest and pulmonary conditions, women with TB, all of them poor women. We also help poor women who suffer domestic violence or abuse.
If you make a donation to Margaret's Fund, you will be giving to a good cause: rest assured you will be donating to a charity which has a genuine track record helping women in need. You can make your donation securely and safely on this website by selecting one of the options below
Donations to Margaret's Fund can be made online easily on this site with a normal debit or credit card – anything small or large is most welcome your money will go to a good cause and will be used to directly help women who are in financial need and suffering from illness in the UK.
To donate to charity, simply click on the amount you want to donate and fill in your personal data afterwards. You can donate via PayPal or debit/credit card (using payment protected by a Secure Socket Layer). We accept Visa, Mastercard and all leading debit cards. If you give now, your donation will help the needy.
Click here for a range of PayPal choices
Thank you for supporting our work! You are helping the poor and ill!


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The section of the web site that you are trying to access is available only to current or previous OTC exhibitors/sponsors. If you are a current or previous OTC exhibitor/sponsor then you must first log-in to access this section.
New exhibitors/sponsors should contact firstname.lastname@example.com and, once qualified, will be given their password to submit an Online Space/Sponsorship Application.
Security provided by: a2z, Inc.
Review Booth Space Terms & Conditions.
Booth Pricing:
NRG Center Indoor Price USD 37.50 per sq.ft.
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Outdoor OTC Parkway 4-day Hospitality Lounges:
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If you have never exhibited with OTC, please provide us with a few details. Simply submit the form and we will contact you directly with more information.


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SA Rowers Qualify Three Boats For World Finals
With a little bit of luck and lots of guts South Africa's rowers stand a chance of winning more medals at the World Rowing Championships in Auguebelette, France than they did at last year's Championships in Amsterdam. Four South African crews qualified for the A-finals. Equally exciting is the fact that South Africa has already qualified three boats for next year's Olympic Games in Rio and there is still a chance for them to qualify a fourth crew.
The good news is that South Africa's defending world champions, James Thompson and John Smith, are still on track to defend their title in the lightweight double sculls, after having to dig deep to survive their semi-final. Over the last 100 metres they had to fight off the fast finishing Polish crew of Artur Mikolajczewski and Milosz Jankowski. Luckily they were able to finish third to guarantee a spot in Saturday's final.
Smith says: 'Definitely not our best race.' According to Thompson things went awry for them between 1000 metres and 1500 metres. Smith says: 'You can say we lost our 'groove' in the boat and we nearly paid the price for it. But it's good that we had this mishap in the semi-final and not in the final.' Thompson emphasised that they will be going into the final as the underdogs: 'But it is nothing new for us. We are used to it. We now realise that we will have to dig deep to find something special for the final.'
Stany Delayre and Jeremie Azou from France won the semi-final in which the South Africans competed. Their winning time was 6:15.94. Italy's Andrea Micheletti and Pietro Ruta were second in 6:17.59.
Thomspon and Smith finished in 6:19.50. South Africa's Kirsten McCann and Ursula Grobler were involved in a titanic battle against Canada's Jennerich Lindsay and Patricia Obee in their women's lightweight double sculls semi-final. The South Africans were in the lead from 500 metres to 1 500 metres but they slowed down over the last 500 metres, giving the Canadians an opportunity to catch up and pass them.
The Canadians won in 6:57.02m and South Africa was second in 6:57.83, the two fastest times in the semi-finals. Grobler (Tuks/HPC) was quite relieved afterwards that they were able to qualify for the Olympics: 'This has been my dream ever since I started rowing.' Naydene Smith and Lee-Ann Persse (Tuks/HPC) seem to have mastered the art of peaking at the right time.
They finished second in their semi-final in a time of 7:14.41, making sure that they go through to Saturday's final of the women's pairs. Unfortunately for Shaun Keeling and David Hunt things did not quite work out for them and they could only finish fifth in their semi-final of the men's pairs. But all is not lost for the Tuks/HPC crew.
They can still qualify a boat for next year's Olympic Games in Rio if they can manage to finish fifth or better in their B-final. On Friday South Africa's Willie Morgan, Jake Green and Leo Davis will compete in the final of the men's coxed pair. Last year in Amsterdam South Africa's Thompson and Smith won a gold medal, while Shaun Keeling and Vince Breet won a bronze medal in the men's pairs final.


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Dunkin D/Griff666/FAMEFLYNET PICTURES
Bobbi Kristina Brown's loved ones came together Friday evening for the 22-year-old's wake in Atlanta.
Whitney Houston's mother Cissy Houston and Pat Houston were seen arriving together at the funeral home around 6 p.m. to say their unimaginably difficult goodbyes.
Meanwhile, Bobby Brown and his wife Alicia—along several other members of the Brown family—were seen waiting in the cars as the Houstons were inside the home.
Upon their departure, per People, Bobby and Alicia made their way inside to see Bobbi Kristina.
A funeral service will be held at St. James United Methodist Church at 11 a.m. tomorrow morning, according to NBC affiliate WXIA.
E! News has also learned that there will be a burial in New Jersey on Monday.
It has been five days since Bobbi Kristina passed away, after nearly seven months in a comatose state stemming from a January 31 incident where she was found unconscious in a bathtub at her home.


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Item No: 37-075B
Item Name: Large Round Chinese Pail with Wide Handle
Dimension : 36 (w) x 39 (d) x 56 (h) cm
Chinese peasants have long crafted and used these fine wooden vessels to cart rice and water as part of their daily lives.
Today we enjoy the craftsmanship and rich shapes and timbers of their form. In a modern Asian setting they provide wonderful storage for magazines, timber and household items


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More on Arp's Peculiar Galaxies
Arp 1-6 are low surface brightness galaxies. Click here to see an example.
Arp 7-12 are galaxies with split arms. Click here to see an example.
Arp 13-18 are galaxies with detached segments. Click here to see an example.
Arp 19-21 are three-armed spiral galaxies. I have not yet photographed an example of this category.
Arp 22-24 are one-armed spiral galaxies. I have not photographed any examples of these galaxies.
Arp 25-30 are spiral galaxies with one heavy arm. Click here to see an example.
Arp 31-36 are integral sign spiral galaxies. These are galaxies that look like astretched-out S shape, or like the integral sign used in calculus. Click here to see an example. I am not satisfied with any of the examples I have in this category, and plan to take better images soon.
Arp 37-48 are spiral galaxies with low surface brightness companions. Click here to see an example.
Apr 49-78 are spiral galaxies with small high surface brightness compainions. Click here to see an example.
Arp 79-91 are spiral galaxies with large high surface brightness companions. Click here to see an example.
Arp 92-101 are spiral galaxies with elliptical companions. Click here to see an example.
Arp 102-108 are elliptical galaxies connected to spiral galaxies. I have no image of this category -- yet.
Arp 109-112 are ellipitcal galaxies repelling sprial arms. Click here to see an example.
Arp 113-132 are elliptical galaxies close to and perturbing spiral galaxies. Click here to see an example.
Arp 137-145 are galaxies in which material appears to be emanating from the ellipitcal galaxy. Click here to see an example.
AMORPHOUS GALAXIES -- these are not spiral or elliptical.
Arp 146-148 are galaxies with associate rings. I am lacking an image from this category.
Arp 149-152 are galaxies with jets (material is being ejected outward from their nuclei) Click here to see an example.
Arp 153-160 are disturbed galaxies with interior absorption (hmmm, a peculiar galaxy that is disturbed?) Click here to see an example.
Arp 161-166 are galaxies with diffuse filaments. Click here to see an example. This is a poor example and I need to make better images of this category.
Arp 167-172 are galaxies with diffuse counter-tails. Click here to see an example.
Arp 173-178 are galaxies with narrow counter-tails. I have no example of this.
Arp 179-193 are galaxies with narrow filaments. Click here to see an example.
Arp 194-208 are galaxies with material ejected from nuclei. Click here to see an example.
Arp 209-214 are galaxies with irregularities, absorption and resolution. Click here to see an example.
Arp 215-220 are galaxies with adjacent loops. Click here to see an example. This is another category that I need to revisit, as this image is not very good.
Arp 221-226 are galaxies with amorphous spiral arms. Click here to see an example.
Arp 227-232 are galaxies with concentric rings. Click here to see an example. This is another category I want to revisit in order to take better images.
Arp 233-256 are galaxies with the appearance of fission. Click here to see an example.
Arp 257-268 are galaxies with irregular clumps. Click here to see an example.
Arp 269-274 are galaxies with connected arms. Click here to see an example.
Arp 275-280 are interacting galaxies. Click here to see an example.
Arp 281-286 are galaxies with infall and attraction. Click here to see an example.
Arp 287-293 are galaxies that appear to have "wind effects." Click here to see an example. I have two, very poor images of these galaxies -- I need to do more work here.
Arp 294-297 are double or multiple galaxies with long filaments. Click here to see an example.
Arp 298-310 -- Arp did not give a subclassification to these objects. They are mostly interacting pairs. Click here to see an example.
Moon Watch - Sunrise Over Crater Babbage
Still, I decided to watch the sunrise today -- starting at 6 PM, ET -- and the sunrise was on the moon.
At 6 PM, 7 PM, 8 PM, 9 PM and 10 PM I took note of the changes sunrise brought to Crater Babbage, which is not far from the lunar limb, just beyond Sinus Iridium.
Here is the area at 6 PM. You can see Sinus Iridium very clearly as a dark area.
Crater Babbage is mostly a dark area, with only the southeastern (bottom on image) rim of the crater clearly visible. There is a hint of Crater Babbage A. At 6 PM, however, it is unclear whether Babbage is a crater. Babbage A might be a hill rather than a crater. Things become clearer at 7 PM.
At 7 PM (below), Babbage looks more like a crater, with the rim not quite complete, but nearly so. Babbage A is a complete crater. Crater South at 6 PM doesn't look like a crater at all, with just the eastern wall showing. Jump to 7 PM it is clearly a crater, although a shallow one.
Below is the 8 PM image. The difference between the 7 PM and 8 PM is not as great as the difference between the 6 PM and 7 PM images. Everything does continue to become clearer, but not much new is showing up.
There is a jump in the difference between the images of 8 PM and 9 PM (the 9 PM images is seen below). The entire floor of Crater Babbage is visible and the rim of that crater is just barely complete in this light.
Clouds obscured a decent image at 10 PM, but visual observation showed (through clear patches in the clouds), that the crater rim was very complete. More detail could be seen on the floor of Babbage.
Moon Watch -- Observing Cassini
"I sometimes do not recognize this old hand," my father finally said, "and I wonder what happened to the smooth skin of my youth."
Cassini is an aging area that hints at a more magnificent youth, but which has aged with grace and character.
Cassini is found on the edges of Mare Imbrium, the Sea of Rains, or the Sea of Showers, within a little area that calls to my mind the sub-continent of India, but which is known as Palus Nebularum. If one follows Plato and then moves along the Montes Alpes and beyond its end, the Promontorium Deville, there the observer will find Cassini.
The walls of Cassini itself are clearly seen, but at this lunation they seem to be ancient to the point of nearing extinction. The walls give the impression they what is seen is a remnant of what once was a more magnificent crater. The walls seem thin, and the floor of Cassini seems flooded with the same material that formed Mare Imbrium. Surrounding these thin walls are mountains and a roughness that must have once been part of a more youthful and dynamic Cassini Crater. Rather than having a central peak, as neighboring Aristillus possesses, or having a simple and flat flooring as does neighboring Archimedes, Cassini's floor has an interesting collection of craters and craterlets.
It is the presence of newer craters that makes Cassini an interesting area to observe. These would have been formed after Cassini, and the intrusion of material from the formation of Mare Imbrium.
Cassini B is on the southwest edge, inside the crater. Cassini A is closer to the center, but a bit on the northeast. Cassini A seems a bit rough around the edges, and not quite circular in shape. Just outside of the Cassini walls is Cassini M. Further in the distance the observer will see F, C and E, but these move not only away from Cassini, but also away from Mare Imbrium and into a more rugged area.
Like all things that age, dignity is threatened. At this lunation, the thinning walls of Cassini seem strongest at the east, seeming to form a sort of silly grin. With Cassini B and Cassini M being at just the right angles and distance, these three appear to form two eyes and a grin – a silly, undignified "happy face" that detracts from the greatness of this feature.
An Asteroid passing by Galaxy M77
On this second image, I indicated the movement of Triberga by adding some white pointer lines.
These photos will appear small on the blog, but if you double click the image you should see a larger view.
Mercury Transit 2006
I was able to observe the Transit of Mercury today -- which means that Mercury appeared to move across the face of the sun. The first time I saw one was in 1971 -- I've also seen the transits in 1993, 1999, and 2003. The next one will be on May 9, 2016.
With the Mercurian year so short, it would seem that the planet would appear to pass across the sun more frequently -- but for a transit to occur Earth, Mercury and the Sun must be on the exact same plain, which does not happen very frequently.
The weather made it challenging.
The skies were cloudy most of the day -- I only had about a 40 minute period of very sporadic moments to see the transit through openings in the clouds.
The photo below is an image of tiny Mercury moving across the face of the sun. Mercury is easy to see here, appearing as a tiny, distinct, black dot.
This image was taken in Calcium K light at 393.4 nanometers. The termally stable interference filters on this telescope allows one to view the chromospheric network of ionized calcium emissions that are created when supergranulation cells sweep through magnetic fields where they collect and strengthen. The emission line is not visible to the eye to all observers -- such as older observers -- "older" apparently applying to me :( -- so an imaging device to take photos is necessary.
The layer of gas that is visible in this image is cooler and at a lower level of the Chromosphere than the one observed with an H-Alpha filter.
The next photo shows the transit in H-Alpha light. The red light of hydrogen alpha with a wavelength of 656.3 nanometers allows one to see the layers up to 1700 km above the sun's visible surface. With H-Alpha filters, one can see the white areas around the black sunspots (called plages), as well as brilliant solar flares, filaments, and prominences.
The CaK and H-Alpha filter photos shown here were taken at the same time.
Because of the off-and-on cloudy weather in the Greater Atlanta area where I live, it was handy to be able to look through a telescope via the Internet. The telescope used an H-Alpha filter and was located in Arizona and was available through www.Slooh.com -- which usually offers a remote telescope viewing from the Canary Islands, off the coast of Africa. I found it difficult to capture images from this set up -- and finally just grabbed a digital camera, aimed it at the monitor, and shot this image.
I also had a friend in New Mexcio, and he and I were each other's "Plan B" in case of cloudy skies. We had arrangements to look through each other's telescopes via the Internet. I got the better end of the deal -- with the brevity of my own clear skies, I did not have the time to broadcast any of my views online, nor did I have the time to turn on an electronic eyepiece in order to make videos of the tranist. There were several online sites showing the transit -- besides looking at www.Slooh.com, I also wached part of the transit live from Japan. I tried to watch Kitt Peak Observatory, but I kept having to refresh that web page and it would not always refresh efficiently.
I took quite a number of other images, and may post more later.
Astronomy Clubs
The Atlanta Astronomy Club has been a bit of a disappointment -- I showed up for their meeting in September, only to find the building locked. I found out later you have to arrive early, before the security guard locks the doors. I showed up in October, only to find out later they had no meeting that month. The club is large enough to become impersonal - but I highly recommend them because they are large enough to afford to bring in wonderful speakers and programs. So stick with them for a while!! They maintain a great dark site and astronomy village. They have several telescopes and observing programs.
The Northwest Georgia Astronomy Association is a very hospitable group. They are an informal group where there are no dues and anyone with an interest in any aspect of astronomy is welcome and 'belongs'.
The Southern Cross in south Miami is a great group and has a great outreach into the community by having solar viewing set up on Sundays at the Miami Zoo. Their star party in the Keys is one of the best.
The South Florida Amateur Astronomy Association has a great observatory (Fox) and is very welcoming to visitors, guests and new members.
When I started in astronomy, I had no mentors to help me learn how to use a telescope or find the Ring Nebula. My first contact with other astronomers was at a viewing area for a solar eclipse in 1971. It was sponsored by the Astronomical League, which is a wonderful resource for those of us who are "at large" members who are not close enough to a good club.
If you can't join a local club, the Astronomical League is well worth your time.
Uranus In Motion and Comet Swan's Appearance
I'm still spending a lot of time looking for and photographing Arp Peculiar Galaxies -- but maybe the Divas have convinced me to spend a little more time looking at asteroids.
I haven't seen Comet Swan from my backyard yet, but I was able to see it this evening with Slooh -- which is a remote controlled telescope off the coast of Africa in the Canary Islands. The image below was taken on 2006 October 17 at 1932 utc. That is another great thing about www.Slooh.com -- at 1932 utc it was still mid to late afternoon where I am.
Asteroid 7 Iris -- Surprisingly Bright
I'm not a big observer of asteroids. They usually look like nothing more than a dim star. But not with Iris. Right now we are fairly close to Iris, so it was surprisingly bright -- well, surprisingly to me!
Comet Faye Moves On
Comet Faye passed by the field of view with a galaxy over a period of a few days in October.
These two photos show the motion, relative to the somewhat indistinctive galaxy NGC 821. This photo also shows how a comet hunter can easily mistake a small fuzzy object with a galaxy or nebula.
The first photo was taken on October 11, 2006, at 2130 UTC, using 14-inch diameter Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope, with a 3910mm focal length, and a magnification of 470. The photo does not show the galaxy very well, but in larger images it does show up as a fuzz-ball that is somewhat smaller in appearance than the comet.
The second image was taken with the same telescope, set on the exact same coordinates (Right Ascension 2 hours, 8 minutes and Declination 10 degrees 47' 27"). The second image was taken on October 13th at 2332 UTC.
Seeing was at 4.5 for both nights (4 out of 5). Examining the stars in the background, the conditions seem to be identical.
Neptune's Motion Through The Skies
Seeing was poor on the first night (1.7 out of 5), but exellent on the second night. I have drawn a line in a pattern of stars to show the movement of Neptune from October 4th through October 9th.
Double click the image for a larger view of the photos.
Comet c/2006 T1 (Levy)
I observed the comet last night, and even with a full moon I was able to spot it and take this 5 minute exposure photo. The equipment used was a 14 inch Schmidt Cassegrain.
You can barely see it -- but it is there. It shows up as a bluish haze. I could not see a distinct tail at all.
The positions for the comet for the next few evenings will be:
2006 10 07 09 55.04 +12 56.6This ephemeris comes from http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/Ephemerides/Comets/2006T1.html
2006 10 12 10 13.68 +09 39.4
2006 10 17 10 31.47 +06 23.1
2006 10 22 10 48.44 +03 10.2
2006 10 27 11 04.65 +00 02.5
2006 11 01 11 20.16 -02 58.4
2006 11 06 11 34.99 -05 51.6
2006 11 11 11 49.19 -08 36.6
2006 11 16 12 02.79 -11 13.0
2006 11 21 12 15.80 -13 40.8
2006 11 26 12 28.23 -15 59.9
2006 12 01 12 40.09 -18 10.7
My New PST for Observing the Sun
Which view of the sun would you rather have? On the bottom is a photoI took during the 1999 Mercury transit, using a 3.5 Questar, one of the best Maksutov-Cassegrain telescopes available. It is a great shot, but besides tiny Mercury, all you see is a nice complex of sunspots. The problem is that even with the excellent filter of the Questar, you are looking at the sun in White Light. In order to see solar prominences and filaments you have to look at the sun in H-Alpha.
The other photo is one I took this week using a new telescope.
Questar does a nice job with sun spots, but I wanted to see prominences, filaments, plage and flares -- and sunspots. The picture below was found on www.coronadofilters.com.
Coronado produces PSTs, or Personal Solar Telescopes-- a wonderful telescope for solar viewing.
PSTs allow a person to view the sun in the H-Alpha bandwidth of the spectrum. Questar offered an H-Alpha filter. The only problem is that it costs about $6,000 to add this to an existing Questar telescope.
Coronado offers a much more affordable option. Their PSTs don't have a lot of power and magnification, but when looking at the sun it is not magnification you need as much as the filter.
I ordered one of these PSTs. It came on Monday.
I woke up on Monday, knowing it would arrive sometime during the day, and was distressed to see the gray clouds covering the sky. But by 9 AM, the sky went from cloudy to clear blue within a short time -- like a curtain being opened.
I had a chance to spend a couple of hours playing with my new toy.
The PST is simple to use. The instruction manual is really just a small single sheet, making a tri-fold pamphlet. There is not much to know about how to use it. However, I did come to appreciate what the tiny instruction manual meant when it said, "It can take time to 'train' one's eye for H-Alpha viewing." My first reaction to looking through the telescope was disappointment. All I saw was an orange-red sphere. It took a while to understand how to look through the new telescope.
The PST is simple to use, even more so that a Questar. When I use the Questar to look at the sun, I have to screw in the solar filter and remember to flip the hinge operated, built-in solar filter over the view finder. (Johnny Carson is responsible for that addition to Questar. He was an avid astronomer and when he bought his Questar in the early 1960's he personally complained about the danger of not having a built in solar filter for the view finder).
With the PST, the filter is built in. Period.
Coronado has also come up with a special view finder. There is a pinhole-size opening in the base of the telescope that reflects the sun's image on a screen.
After putting it on the tripod, I located the sun using a special view finder Coronado has devised.
As you can see in the picture above, the tiny, circular screen shows a tiny solar image. Center that and the sun should be visible in the eyepiece. It is handy, in that you can move the telescope's position and look through the eyepiece while keeping the other eye open to look at the view finder screen.
The focus knob, shown here, is conveniently located. To focus the PST, don't look at the body of the sun, but along the limb. When the limb is sharp, the telescope is in focus.
My initial disapointment is that nothing came into view once I focused the telescope.
The instructions provided by Coronado says that there is another important adjustment the observer can make, in addition to focusing.
It is a knob encircling the tube of the telescope called the tuner -- something not found on other telescopes. It rotates or tunes the filter. Coronado adjusts this at their factory and says that you normally would never need to adjust the tuner. After several minutes of being frustrated with nothing to really see, I dared to adjust the tuner.
Everything came into view! There were prominences and filiments all over the surface of the sun. The entire sun had a distinct texture to it.
This telescope was reviewed in Sky and Telescope magazine a year or two ago, and the reviewer's main criticism is what Coronado calls the "sweet spot." When the telescope is tuned and focused, the eye will see filiments and prominences in the "sweet spot" of the eyepiece. As the earth turns and the sun seems to move out of the view of the telescope, those solar features will appear to grow and then disappear.
It takes a while to become accustomed to the sweet spot, and I don't pretend that I have gotten used to it after only two days.
The closest I can compare it with is looking at Andromeda Galaxy, M-31. That dark sky object is visible with the unaided eye -- or was before all the street lights were set up. Even in a rather small telescope, the image is so large that the best way to look at it is to turn off the clock-drive and let the earth's rotation turn the telescope so that the image slowly comes into and then out of view while the observer just sits there and watches the show.
Setting the telescope on the edge of the sun the observer can watch the sun come in and then out of view. The sweet spot will highlight different features on the face of the sun.
It is taking some time to master photography with the PST -- this image here is my very first attempt. It shows a prominence along the limb, or edge, of the sun, but it doesn't to justice to what I actually saw. The more recent photos are a vast improvement over this first try.
The PST comes with a single eyepiece, a 20mm (20x) 1.25" Kellner. I added a 2x Barlow and enjoyed the viewing much more with the increased power. Coronado recommends buying their eyepieces, but I found that any of my 1.25" occulars were good.
Amateur astronomers are not usually as interested in magnification as the general public, because there are other things more important to us, such as resolution. Still, the question is a good one -- what is the magnifying power of the PST?
The formula to calculate a telescope's magnification power is M= fe/fo, or magnifcation equals fe, which is the focal length of the eyepiece, divided by fo, which is the focal length of the objective lense. The PST has a focal length of 400mm. Using the 20mm eyepiece, that is a small magnification power of only 20x. The barlow I have is a 2x, which increases the power by having a deminishing effect on the eyepiece focal length. In other words, the 2omm eyepiece with a barlow becomes a 10mm eyepiece -- resulting in a magnification of 40. It is still small, but sufficient for the sun. I have a 12.5mm eyepiece, which is the smallest I have -- so with a 2x barlow, that becomes a 8.25mm for a power of roughly 48.5. That's quite a bit different from the magnification of my 3.5 Questar, with which I can achieve a magnification of about 360x, or the 10 inch reflector I have that can reach about the same, but captures more light.
But I digress.
Getting back to the PST, I was particularly pleased with the video images I took using a Meade electronic eyepiece -- it has a 320x240 pixel CMOS monocrome imaging sensor. Even though it records the image in black and white, the detail of the image was better than I was able to get on the first several tries I made with the digital still-camera.
Last night was a clear night, so I continued to take a few photos of the from Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. Below is Arp 049, NGC 7545. The duration of the image was ten minutes, and it still is a bit of a disappointment.
Next is Arp 28, NGC 7678.
NGC7678 is a face-on spiral galaxy in Pegasus. it has an arm that is nearly as massive as the rest of the galaxy, which I believe is why Arp included it in his list.
Arp Galaxy 337
NGC 3034 is bright enough to be in Charles Messier's catalog as M82. It is often referred to as the "Cigar Galaxy" and it certainly appears to deserve its name.
M81 and its neighbor M82 form a striking pair in the small telescope. M82 is being physically affected by its bigger neighbor. Tidal forces caused by gravity have deformed th eM81 galaxy, a process that started roughly 100 million years ago. This interaction has caused star formation to increase 10 fold compared to "normal" galaxies. At present the centers of M81 and M82 are about 150,000 light-years apart.
Here is a photo I took of M81 a few years ago.
M82 is the type example of an Irr-II -- Irregular galaxy type II, meaning the disk is irregular. Recent studies, however, suggest that it may actually be a barred spiral galaxy seen edge on from earth.
Of course, as good as I think I did, NASA did better with the Hubble Space Telescope!
Observation notes:
2006 September 16, 23 hours 02 minutes local time.
Sky -- excellent. 4 out of 5. Dark sky.
5 minute exposure on 3 megapixel CCD.
14 inch Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope with 3910mm focal length.
Stephen's Quintet -- Arp Peculiar Galaxy # 319
Stephen's Quintet is another very tough challenge to find and photograph.
The quintet is a prototype of a class of objects known as compact groups of galaxies and has been studied intensively for decades.
As its name implies this is a group of five galaxies (NGC7317, 7318A, 7318B, 7319 and 7320) and lies about 270 million light-years away in the constellation of Pegasus (North-west of the Great Square of Pegasus).
The galaxy group discovered by the French astronomer Edouard Stephan in 1877, using the Foucault 80-cm reflector at the Marseilles Observatory -- and it was the first such grouping to be found. Today we know of hundreds of similar groupings, but few are as spectacular as Stephan's Quintet.
Observation notes:
2006 September 16, 19 hours 37 minutes local time.
Sky -- excellent. 4 out of 5. Dark sky.
5 minute exposure on 3 megapixel CCD.
14 inch Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope with 3910mm focal length.
Arp Galaxy 728
The top image was taken on September 4th, with a 12 day moon -- pretty close to full. The bottom image was taken on September 16th, with a 24 day moon -- still fairly bright, but not so bad.
The galaxy has a "V" shape to it.
This pair of 14th-magnitude galaxies lies in northwestern Pegasus, about 200 million light-years away. In the image, NGC 7253 B is the larger galaxy nearer the top, and NGC 7253 A is the smaller one, apparently on the bottom from this view point.
Observation notes:
2006 September 16, 22 hours 52 minutes local time.
Sky -- excellent. 4.5 out of 5. Dark sky.
5 minute exposure on 3 megapixel CCD.
14 inch Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope with 3910mm focal length.
Arp Peculiar Galaxy # 225
I should visit this galaxy again later on -- I simply did not get a good image tonight. It is a 3 minute exposure and it needed a longer period.
Observation notes:
2006 September 16, 20 hours 15 minutes local time.
Sky -- excellent. 4 out of 5. Dark sky. No moon.
5 minute exposure on 3 megapixel CCD.
14 inch Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope with 3910mm focal length.
Arp Peculiar Galaxy # 169
I have inverted the image so the galaxies stand out a bit.
Observation notes:
2006 September 16, 19 hours 30 minutes local time.
Sky -- excellent. 4 out of 5. Dark sky. No moon.
5 minute exposure on 3 megapixel CCD.
14 inch Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope with 3910mm focal length.
Arp Peculiar Galaxy # 112
Arp 112 is a very dim, difficult galaxy to photograph. It is more commonly known as NGC 7805 and NGC 7806. NGC 7806 is particularly dim. Because this pair is so dim, I am only posting an inverted image. The fuzzy star next to NGC 7805 is simply that, a star that simply appears fuzzy.
Observation notes:
2006 September 16, 21 hours 50 minutes local time.
Sky -- excellent. 4 out of 5. Dark sky. No moon.
5 minute exposure on 3 megapixel CCD.
14 inch Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope with 3910mm focal length.
Arp Peculiar Galaxy # 86
Arp realized that the reason why galaxies formed into their usual shapes of spiral or elliptical patterns was not understood by astronomers. With this atlas, astronomers had a sample of peculiar galaxies that they could study in more detail. The atlas is not a complete overview of every peculiar galaxy in the sky and does not intend to be -- but it does provide examples of the different phenomena as observed in nearby galaxies.
Because little was known at the time of publication about the physical processes that caused the different shapes, the galaxies in the atlas are sorted based on their appearance.
Objects 1-102 are individual peculiar spiral galaxies or spiral galaxies that apparently have small companions.
Objects 102-145 are elliptical and elliptical-like galaxies.
Objects 146-268 are individual or groups of galaxies with neither elliptical nor spiral shapes.
Objects 269-327 are double galaxies.
Finally, objects that simply do not fit into any of the above categories are listed as objects 332-338.
Most objects are best known by their other NGC numbers, Messier numbers or other catalogue listing, but a few galaxies are best known by their Arp numbers, such as Arp 220.
There is better understanding today about the physical processes that lead to the peculiarities seen in the Arp atlas. A large number of the objects are interacting galaxies, including Arp 85, Arp 220, and Arp 244.
A few of the galaxies are simply dwarf galaxies that do not have enough mass to produce enough gravity to allow the galaxies to form any cohesive structure. NGC 1569 or Arp 210 is an example of this.
A few others are radio galaxies -- these contain active galactic nuclei that produce powerful jets of gas called radio jets. The atlas includes the nearby M87, or Arp 152, as one of these radio galaxies.
Here is a photo of Arp #86 I took this evening. More commonly called NGC 7753, this is a spiral galaxy with a small nucleus and a small bar. NGC 7752 is a close companion that is apparently attached to one of NGC 7753's spiral arms. It was first thought to be an elliptical galaxy, but later images show that it is an irregular and disrupted system with three major H-{alpha} areas. The pair seem to have recently collided and are very similar to the M51 galaxy pair.
This pair is included in Arp's catalog of unusual galaxies as ARP 86. The system is in Arp's class "spiral galaxies with large high surface brightness companions on arms".
I inverted the colors on the photo -- an old astronomer's trick that brings out some of the hard-to-see details. The smaller galaxy is more easily seen in the inverted image.
Observation notes:
2006 September 16, 22 hours 52 minutes local time.
Sky -- excellent. 4.5 out of 5. Dark sky. No moon.
5 minute exposure on 3 megapixel CCD.
14 inch Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope with 3910mm focal length.
Another Look at Comet Faye 4P
This was taken with a 14 inch Schmidt Cassegrain with a focal length of 3910mm. The image was taken with a 5 minute exposure using a CCD with 3 megapixels.
As often happens with comets, the lesser power gathers more light from the tail. Here is a shot taken with a 85mm APO refractor with a 480 mm focal length.
The image is not as good and clear, but the tail shows up better.
Faye was discovered in 1844 and has a short 7.5 orbital period.
For my previous observation, go to:
3200 Phaethon
Comet: 3200 Phaethon
Date and Time: 2 September 2006
Observing Location: Lawrenceville GA
Instrument: First photo used a 14 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope with 3910 focal length.
The second image used a 34 mm reflector with 135 mm focal length. Skies were excellent. It shows the comet with a highlighted circle.
I felt the tail was clearer in the lower powered telescope. The nucleus is bright. Tail is hazy, but it is clearly a tail that is on one side of the comet rather than a hazy surrounding a star-like object.
Comet Faye 4P
Date and Time: 30 August 2006 2307 UTC
Observing Location: Lawrenceville GA
Instrument: 14 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope with 3910 focal length
Conditions: Clear Skies, Sky & Star Steadiness: 1
These pictures show the very dim comet. Through the eyepiece, there is a distinct coma, though dim. These photos are identical, with the addition of a circle in the second image to highlight the comet.
Comet - Barnard 2 177
Date and Time:
25 July 2006 UTC 1717
Observing Location:
Lawrenceville GA
14 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope with 3910 focal length
With good skies. IC 1236 is seen in the upper left corner of photo.


text: FIAM, the Finnish Internet Audience Measurement, is the official measurement of online audiences in Finland. FIAM provides a wealth of information about audiences for sites, subsections, sales packs, or ad networks, as well as for different terminal devices and as a whole. FIAM was established at the beginning of 2017 and is run by a Subsidiary Group consisting of customers. The measurement also includes a Technical Group. FIAM's practical work is handled by Media Metrics Finland. The primary function of FIAM's activities is to promote the use of reliable and commonalized data on online audiences in Finland. FIAM is an agency that knows, defines and manages common standards for measuring online audiences. FIAM is not a Join Industry Committee (JIC) in the same way as Media Audit Finland, for example, because it does not own the measurement data purchased by its customers. It is a so-called hybrid model in which a commercial partner owns data and can commercialize it closely under agreed terms.


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Well I haven't written in a while. I have been busy with trying to finish out the summer. I am going to be substitute teaching at Hosanna and Central and starting Premier Design Jewelry. I am having fun with that and can't wait to get in full swing with it.
Bryan starts school on the 17th and Lauren on the 24th. The book is coming along and I am excited about what God has in store. Please continue to keep us in prayer as our lives venture into new territory. Take care my precious friends and know that your prayers make a difference for me and all the people you lift before the Father.
Friday, August 14, 2009
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Hallo We were discussing about your implementation proposal and there came up some question about the constructors and the underlying data type of a matrix class: Related to the Khronos TypedArray specifications: http://www.khronos.org/registry/typedarray/specs/latest/ Would it be an idea to design the Matrix class in a way that: - It works internally on ArrayBuffer as the underlying data container. - The Matrix class itself derives from an ArrayBufferView like TypedArrays does. Pros: - Extendable by any existing libraries that are acting on TypedArrays (glMatrix) without any copy of data from and to the Matrix class (just provide a pointer to the underlying TypedArray container) - Possibility for a performing way for creating arrays of matrices: By multiple views into a single container (see subarray() & constructor(buffer, byteOffset, length) @ TypedArray spec) - Same interfaces for 32 and 64 bit Matrices - No overhead for copy to the GL context Cons: - If you act on a ArrayBufferView you cannot create a 3x3 matrix "view" into a container, holding a 4x4 matrix (like subarray() of TypedArrays) due the offset after each row break. For work around this issue, the Matrix could act on an extended 2 dimensional ArrayBufferView...with holds information on size and offset for the 2. dimension...or a construct like the step_iterator, available in the boost gil library: (see http://stlab.adobe.com/gil/html/gildesignguide.html#StepIteratorDG) Sincerely Timm Drevensek > [ > // Creates an identity matrix > Constructor(), > > // Creates a new matrix from the value passed in (which is CSS transform string with > // matrix() or matrix3d() - not other functions). > Constructor(in DOMString string), > > // Creates a new matrix from the Float32Array value passed in (length of 6 for a 2d matrix, or 16 for a 4x4 matrix). > Constructor(in Float32array array), > > // Creates a new matrix identical to the passed matrix. > Constructor(in Matrix4x4 matrix), > > // Creates a new matrix from the array of 6 or 16 values passed in > Constructor(in sequence<float> array) ] ... > // Copy the matrix elements into a Float32Array > // Throws an exception if the input is invalid (e.g. wrong length, etc). > void copyIntoFloat32Array(inout Float32Array array) raises (DOMException); > > // return a Float32Array (length 16) with the values [m11, m12, ...] > Float32Array toFloat32Array();Received on Tuesday, 24 January 2012 14:59:11 UTC
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Orchid Culture and Growing Orchids in San Miguel
By Jim Roberts
Orchids are in the class of plants called epiphytes, which means they grow on trees and other plants for support but not food. Epiphytes get moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, and from small pools that form on their host plants.
Light. Like all plants, orchids depend on sunlight to survive and grow. When the plant has stored sufficient energy from the sun, it will then turn from survival and food production to reproduction, first forming a bloom stalk which will hold the flowers and later the seeds.
Temperature. Temperature is the second most important factor. Temperature controls the cells, which control the conversion of light energy to chemical energy. When the temperature is low, the conversion is slow; when the temperature is warmer, the conversion is speeded up.
Water/Humidity. Water in all its forms is the third most important factor in orchid culture. Orchids have evolved over millions of years by absorbing rain water or humidity through their leaves and roots.
Air movement. Good air movement is important for the health of orchids because they live in seasonally moist and often wet environments. With the low humidity around San Miguel, air circulation may cause the plants to dry out too quickly.
The Orchid Market
If you're looking for more answers about to how to grow orchids successfully, come to the third annual orchid market on Saturday and Sunday, September 3 and 4, from 10am–5pm at Ancha de San Antonio 32 (within the Instituto walls,). The orchid market will have 20+ vendors who will be selling orchids, orchid supplies, succulents, and cacti.
Sandro Cusi, from Río Verde Orchids, one of the leading orchid growers and breeders in Mexico, will present a one-hour workshop on successfully growing orchids on Saturday, September 3, at 1pm (in English), and at 3pm (in Spanish). The workshop will be held in a classroom on site. The cost is 100 pesos. At 2pm there will be a discussion led by local growers relating their experiences with successfully growing orchids in San Miguel. Admission to the discussion group is 50 pesos. Tickets to the workshop and discussion can be purchased on site at the information table. Admission to the orchid market is free.
Kick-off Fiesta
The fun will begin on Friday night, September 2, with a kick-off fiesta at Café Baile, starting at 6:30pm. Tickets are available by contacting Mark Smith at email@example.com. The fiesta will feature a silent auction.
Please join us on the weekend of September 3 and September 4 for a wonderful opportunity to see, buy, and learn about some of the most beautiful orchids available in all of Mexico. The orchid market is being sponsored by the Orchid Growers of San Miguel, a group of people whose love of orchids has brought them together not as a formal club, but as a fun, social group with one common denominator: everyone's personal love of orchids.


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So I added a new feature to my blog. It's a list of upcoming linky parties in my right sidebar. Yay! This way we can all know when linky parties are coming up so we can remember to attend! I'm going to be leaving it up as a link party directory, and updating it as needed. So from now on when you're looking for a linky party, you know where to come! But I need all of you to help me keep the list current, so drop me a note and let me know where the party is!
For anyone unfamiliar with the concept of a linky party, the host blogger will pick a theme, such as a particular craft or decorating concept. My favorites are the linky parties that have a very specific theme, like "toy storage". They set a day, and on that day, everyone shows up and enters their link into the Mr. Linky box at the bottom of the post.
Linky parties are great because (other than being a ton of fun) it's an amazing way to get traffic to your blog! And if people like what they see, they just might stick you in their reader and come back later! A good linky party will get you a considerable amount of extra traffic.
Below are some posts that I think were fantastic linky parties, and they're still worth checking out even though they're in the past:
Mr. Linky Etiquette calls for you to enter first your name or the name of your blog into the first box. Then if desired, share a word or two about your post (in parenthesis). In the next box, enter the direct link to the proper post. Easy peasy!
Basic linky party etiquette
- Be sure to mention the linky party in your own post and link back to their post. This is the most important rule!
- Always enter the direct post address... NEVER your generic blog address. That is very poor Mr. Linky etiquette.
- Make sure that your post is on the topic. I know we all love to link up, but it's just frustrating when you click on something that isn't relevant. Plus, it's likely that the hostess will remove your link if you don't follow the rules. It's very rude to put her in this situation.
- It's generally fine to dip into your archives. If you have 2 really good on-topic posts, it can be ok to link more than one. After all, we're all looking to be inspired! But don't use this opportunity to spam someone else's blog. After all, you are a guest there. When using an archive, don't forget to updated it and link back to the party.
- Visit some of the other links, and of course, leave a comment! In my comments, I like to mention that I'm visiting from the party. If you mention you're participating too, it's likely that they will come visit your post as well!
- Reply to your new visitors who left you comments. Visit their blog and comment on their post as well.
- Sign up for a free Mr. Linky account here. Anyone can do it!
- Set a date for your party, and be sure to give your readers some notice.
- It's nice to have a button available- it will help with your advertising, but this is certainly not a requirement. Other bloggers might add it into their sidebar as a sort of "RSVP" to the linky party.
- Pick a specific topic. The more specific it is, the more likely people are to click on the links. It's fun to link up at something generic like "Take-a-look-at-my-random-post-Tuesday", but no one really clicks on those. I generally do not get many extra hits on my blog from attending things like this.
- Visit all of your attendies and comment on their posts. They took the time to come and link up, so it's nice to show your appreciation for their attendance.
- Please don't require your party animals to use your button. It's nice to spread the linky love, but requiring others to post your button on their blog crosses the line into greedy. A simple link in their post should suffice.
- Don't sweat it if the turnout is smaller than you'd hoped. Blogging is supposed to be fun. This isn't high school. No one is laughing at you if you've been "stood up".
Now, come on... you know there's a linky party coming up that you want to tell me about, right??? Leave it in the comments, or send me an email: email@example.com


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Letters for Scarlet
By: Julie C. Gardner
Pain can take a lifetime to heal, but hope lasts even longer…
Corie Harper is twenty-eight years old when she is first visited by a ghost—in the form of a graduation letter she forgot she wrote. Although she spent a decade burying that desperate girl and her regrets, each page resurrects the past, dragging Corie back to a time when all she craved was Scarlet Hinden's friendship and Tuck Slater's heart. But she couldn't keep them both and keep her word.
Scarlet is haunted in her own way, by memories of Corie and of a night that left her wishing she were dead. But Scarlet is not only alive, she's carrying new life: a baby she never wanted and is terrified to have. Convinced she would be a disastrous mother, she questions whether or not she deserves the love of any man. Especially the father of her child.
"Letters for Scarlet" traces one friendship from deep roots to branches torn by broken promises and loss.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I will admit that before reading this book I did not read the synopsis and had no idea what it was about. Usually the synopsis colours my opinion and I begin the book with preconceived ideas of how I think it's going to go, or how it should be. Maybe reading the synopsis in this case would have helped me with this book, as it was completely unexpected and lackluster, in my opinion.
The story is told from two points of view, which I did enjoy as it gives an intimate view of more than one character and makes it easier for the reader to bond with both characters. Unfortunately this was not the case for me. While I found myself sympathizing with Corrie and really enjoying her points of view, I did not like Scarlet at all. Her character felt cold and juvenile and while I was able to sympathize with her life events I found myself unable to care about her well-being. The idea that she carried her pain from a childhood incident for 10 years, blaming her childhood friends for the events that happened the whole time, was childish and unrealistic. I thought that maybe motherhood would help her grow up a bit but that doesn't seem to be the case either.
I often found myself speed reading through Scarlet's story to get to Corrie's. Corrie's character was pitiful which made her more likable than Scarlet. Her marital problems and fertility issues were so sad, that I absolutely felt for her plight. She seemed like a genuinely good person who wanted nothing more than to be happily married to her high school sweetheart, have babies and repair her friendship with Scarlet. I felt myself wanting all of that for her too. So the end of the book felt like a bit of a disappointment to me, although, based on what we know of Scarlet's character it wasn't a surprising outcome.
I found a lot of the book to be dull and had a hard time reading through those parts to get to any interesting bits. The thing that kept me going the most was probably the writing style. I may not have enjoyed the story very much but I thought the author did a fantastic job at making me feel Corrie's emotions and giving a good visual description of the settings in the book.
Final Rating:
Probability of Rereading:
Thanks for reading!
Opinionated Bookworm
I am taking my love of reading one step further by creating this book blog. I will review books I've read, talk about books I want to read and blog about book characters and settings. By all means please leave comments. I enjoy other point's of view even if they don't coincide with my own.
Friday, September 1, 2017
Letters for Scarlet Review
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This will be a fun week for us. My kids have school today and tomorrow, then they are out for 5 days. During that time, we have a pizza dinner with friends planned, going to go see Wreck it Ralph, Thanksgiving, of course and more! I'm really looking forward to it!
Here is the freebie for today:
**Link has Expired


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NEW YORK/TOULOUSE (Reuters) - Europe's Airbus (AIR.PA) mounted a transatlantic charm offensive on Thursday to boost sales of the world's biggest jetliner, the A380, and shine the spotlight on its brand-new A350 - a day after its shares were hit by a record order cancellation.
Airbus teamed up with the same airline that canceled 70 A350s on Wednesday, Dubai's Emirates, and leasing company Amedeo to sell potential buyers on the merits of the A380 superjumbo.
Emirates is by far the biggest customer of the A380 but is disappointed that more airlines do not share its vision for the double-decker and shares an interest with Airbus and leasing partner Amedeo in developing a market for the $400 million jet.
But the pitch was not made directly to airlines. Instead, the companies went to New York to convince financiers and Wall Street analysts that the massive aircraft will not threaten industry profit margins and in fact would make economic sense.
If U.S. airlines don't use the A380, "they are leaving profits on the table for others to take," said Mark Lapidus, chief executive of Amedeo, speaking on the sidelines of a briefing at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
"We are a little concerned with how the Street will react to enlarging capacity," he said, noting that the executives of Airbus, Emirates and Amedeo are here to "broaden their knowledge" of how the airplane can make money.
By flying 500, 600 or more passengers into airports such as London Heathrow or Hong Kong, airlines can accommodate growing demand for air travel without adding additional flights.
"We're able to use it to grow revenue in a way that we wouldn't be able to do with any other aircraft type," said Nigel Hopkins, an Emirates executive vice president.
The major U.S. carriers, American Airlines Group (AAL.O), United Continental Holdings UAL.N and Delta Air Lines (DAL.N), do not currently use the A380 but are facing growing competition in the United States from Emirates and other carriers that do.
With many airports "slot constrained" - at or near the limit of number of takeoffs and landings they can handle - airlines face limited scope for revenue growth. But U.S. planemaker Boeing (BA.N) says there is a more promising market for smaller airplanes that open up new secondary routes, bypassing hubs.
The briefing came a day after Emirates canceled 70 orders for Airbus' brand-new A350 aircraft, which is smaller than the A380 but has newer technology. It also comes as Amedeo seeks lease customers for 20 Airbus A380s it agreed to buy in February.
As part of the New York briefing, Airbus, Emirates and Amedeo were due to take some 150 analysts and journalists on a special A380 demonstration flight over Manhattan, showing off the A380's quiet cabin and ability to climb quickly to altitude.
Separately, Airbus took another 150 journalists on a special flight onboard an A350 in Toulouse, France, earlier on Thursday, a day after Emirates said it was canceling its entire order for the airplane, worth $16 billion at list prices.
Airbus officials said the A350 flight, coinciding with an annual media seminar, was first mooted before the Emirates move.
Lightly loaded and carrying no bags, the A350 climbed steeply but quietly on take-off and took journalists 31,000 feet above the Pyrenees for just over an hour.
To the surprise of the A350's first passengers, the flight was accompanied at one point by a French Rafale fighter practicing intercept maneuvers with the agreement of Airbus test crew. It is a common if little publicized piece of co-operation involving Airbus test flights carried out in French military airspace. Because passengers were on board, the French fighter was ordered to stay well away from the carbon-fiber jet.
"This is a very quiet flight. In some parts of the airplane, up in first and business, you hear wind noise more than the engines, so I was very impressed by that," said Scott Hamilton of Leeham News, an aerospace analyst from the Seattle area.
Analysts said Airbus would be able to sell the A350s at higher prices than launch prices offered to Emirates in 2007.
"It was more bad headlines than substance. Deliveries are in 2019, five years away, and that gives Airbus plenty of time to resell those slots," Hamilton said.
Still, JP Morgan said in a note that while the cancellation would not seriously dent Airbus's overall order book, it raised questions over the European planemaker's product strategy as a revamped version of Boeing's 777 will fly more people further.
Reporting by Alwyn Scott and Tim Hepher; Editing by Steve Orlofsky, Geert de Clercq


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Well the first part of Cars & Coffee has nothing to do with coffee, those who know me well (and now you too) also know I don't like coffee and never drink the stuff. I drink tea. Maybe it's part of me being an Anglophile, which doesn't explain the two German cars in my garage—or maybe it does.
The main reason I love Cars & Coffee is you see the most interesting car and meet the most people too. Like, Ziggy the owner of the 1954 Holden 4-door that he brought. Note the New South Wales Holden Car Club badge in the grille. It was Ziggy's car back in Australia and when he moved to Florida ten years or so ago he brought it along with him. How hard was it to import? Nobody said anything and nobody hassled him, he told me. And when it came to registering in Colorado, it was no problem either. Maybe things are loosening up. One of the two (real) Nissan Skylines (below) is owned by an Aurora, Colorado policeman. And yes, I have a thing for Skylines that appears lost on my wife who doesn't get the whole JDM thing. But that's a topic for another post.
Trivia: Holden was the GM subsidiary in Australia and built many interesting cars and trucks there, including the El Camino-like vehicles they call "utes" down under. In Australia, the Chevy Colorado isn't a pickup truck but is also available as an off-road-capable SUV called (what else) the Holden Colorado.
I love Cars & Coffee because you always learn something. In this case it was when I talking with the owner of a Pontiac Solstice coupe. Yes, a coupe, when's the last time you saw one in person. I never had. The coupe version of the Solstice was unveiled at the 2008 New York Auto Show and while the roof can be removed it doesn't fit in the trunk. An optional cloth top is available, which can fit into the tiny trunk. The car went on sale in early 2009 and was the last new Pontiac model before they went down the tubes, sadly creating yet another orphan marque. There were a total of 1,266 Solstice Coupes manufactured before the production line in Wilmington, Delaware was shut down.
But that's not all I learned. His son has a Land Rover 90, "a Defender I asked." Nope, he says "until the Discovery was introduced in 1989, they were all just called Land Rovers." And were renamed Defender in 1990. And these are just a few of the reasons, I love Cars & Coffee.
PS> Please join me this Saturday, July 8 at The Vehicle Vault at 18301 Lincoln Meadows Pkwy in Parker, CO for Cars & Coffee from 9AM to 12. I'll be bringing one of my mirrorless cameras and the new Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 8-18mm f/2.8-4 ASPH lens to shoot some images that will be featured in a post here.


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Hello Fellow Quilters!
Now that the My Sunshine quilt is completed are you ready to move on to our next project? Pay attention this one goes fast!
There is a fun trend out there called Jelly Roll Racing. What is it? Well, it is a way to create a quilt front in less than an hour. The basic idea is that you will open a jelly roll and then just sew all the strips together. This is what Roxy's first quilt will be, but more on that in a bit.
While this quilt is fairly simple it can get confusing if you skip a step. Have your jelly roll handy? Let's get started!
What are we using? Life in the Jungle by Doohikey Designs for Riley Blake!
Step 1: Sew the Jelly Roll Together –
Simply sew one strip to the next. Don't worry about the order of the strips it will make sense as we go. Just take the top one and work your way to the bottom. The method for stitching these together is exactly the same way we connect binding strips. Place the right sides together and stitch at a 45 degree angle. Make sure the small ends are facing to the right as we will be trimming these next. Alright time to stitch!
The idea is to chain stitch the bottom of one strip to the top of the next one.
Yes, you will have a lot of strips! Please excuse all the fuzzies. I would recommend a lint roller as well. I know we made good use out of it.
Step 2: Trim and Press –
Now that all of your strips are sewn together we need to trim them apart and cut the very large 'dog ears'. Once you do this you should have one long 'binding' strip of fabric.
I know Baxter enjoyed the 'dog ear' confetti party.
Here is how the strip should look once they are pressed.
Step 4: Race Away, Connecting the Strip Together –
Pick one end and trim 18" or so. If you don't do this all the angled seams will start to line up and it will not give you the variegated look desired. With right sides together you are going to sew the two ends of the strips together. Careful not to get any twists. Once you reach the end, (don't panic, this is going to take a while) you will need to trim the loop part to create two flat ends. (See Roxy's photos below for an example. Now, don't get all up in arms the photo was purely for show. We laid it out and used a rotary cutter to make sure the edges were straight. )
Then, guess what? Yes, put the right sides together from the trimmed end and the other end you started and start sewing again! Note: YOU ARE MATCHING SHORT END TO SHORT END AND STITCHING LENGTHWISE. Don't make a long tube, one side should always be open.
With each round you will repeat the trim and the ends together until you have your desired width of quilt. Each time gets half as long so the strips get shorter and shorter. Here is a rough video to show you:
You may want to wind a few bobbins ahead of time and watch every so often to make sure that you haven't ran out of thread. It will happen my friends, just you wait.
After you have hit the desired width (the one below is ~48×60)you want you can proceed to spraying, pinning, quilting and binding or you can add a border, etc. It is completely up to you. But, let's just take a moment shall we?! I mean how easy is this?! You don't even have to decide how to arrange the fabric.
Now, I am making mine into a baby quilt for my dear friend Audra who got to say hello to her super healthy baby 3 weeks early! As you can see time is of the essence, but this quilt is too big for an everyday baby quilt.
After much deliberation with Roxy we decided that I could make three out of this one quilt, but how?! That, my friends, is next week's post, but until then I will leave you with Roxy's first ever quilting experience in slide show form! Seriously, how awesome is she! High-five first timer!
We almost did this entire quilt in a day too! (with only 1 or 2 sweat shop references…)
Until next week my friends! Have fun quilting!
Step 2: Originally Posted on 3/10/2014:
When we last spoke I had just finished the Jelly Roll Race Quilt front. I mentioned that I was making this quilt for my friend Audra's new baby boy, Reece. Well the quilt front we finished was quite large. My intention was not for a twin sized quilt, but rather for a play date throw-down in the grass rough and tumble quilt.
With that said I decided to break up the Jelly Roll Race quilt into three sections. Deciding on the first two was easy, but how to make the third took a little deliberation. That's when after much discussion with Roxy I decided to continue the race one more time through the machine. Let me just tell you, that was one long quilt front!
At this point all I needed to do was to decide where to 'rip' out the seams to create three quilt fronts. This came down to some pretty easy math; add up the strips and divide by three!
Now that I have the three fronts it became apparent that I would need sashing and a border to set off the 'race' as well as make it the final desired size. I knew that it would need something going in since the width was only 2ft and I needed more than that for a baby quilt. Before adding the sashing and borders it was necessary to 'square' up the quilt fronts to make them true and even.
I chose a white on white and a white on green polka dot fabric. Using the same concepts as the My Sunshine Quilt I cut the white on white into 2 ½" strips and the green into 4 ½" strips. In the end they will be 2" and 4" after the 2- ¼" seam allowances. In the same manner as the My Sunshine Quilt you will stitch the sides and trim the strips down and then stitch the top and trim the strips down. Remember to trim your edges and salvages so you are working with straight edges.
In the photo below you can see where I stitch off the edge of the bottom of the quilt. After you complete the stitching you will want to trim the edges down. This takes the guess work out of measuring your sashing and give you a perfect finish every time!
Here is the quilt front with the completed sashing. Starting to take shape!
Ta da! The final quilt front with the green dot border! Don't you think it frames the 'race' nicely?
In this process I discovered Sulky thread for quilting. Man do I love it! You have to be careful with threading and tension, but it makes quilting go so much more smoothly than before. I chose to quilt the borders and then every third Jelly Strip row.
On a side note, it took a bit for me to get the tension correct on the Sulky thread. Translation…I had to rip out quite a bit. Well, look who was more than eager to help. Needless to say he is yet again in the hinder category.
Time to bind and these quilts are done! Look for them on my Etsy shop soon!
Next Up…disappearing 4-patch with Dori! Here's a sneak peak!
Happy Quilting! Let's chat again soon!


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Early detection is essential for early intervention and prevention, when new treatments become available, Snyder noted.
Clinically, at this time it is only possible to detect Alzheimer's late in its development, when significant brain damage has already occurred.
Beta-amyloid protein is the primary material found in the sticky brain "plaques" characteristic of Alzheimer's disease.
In a study led by Devanand, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Centre in the US, researchers investigated a multi-ethnic sample of 1,037 non-demented elderly people in New York City and found that in 757 subjects who were followed, lower odour identification scores on a smell identification test were significantly associated with the transition to dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
"Odour identification deficits were associated with the transition to dementia and Alzheimer's disease, and with cognitive decline in cognitively intact participants, in our community sample," Devanand noted.
In a separate study researchers found that amyloid levels detected in the retina were significantly correlated with brain amyloid levels as shown by PET (Positron emission tomography) imaging.
The results of the studies were reported Sunday at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.


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Wednesday, April 8
Featured project: Urban Graffiti Eggs!
Sacred Yoli sent us her fabulous Urban Graffiti Eggs using Crafty Chica Varnish.
We heart her mixed-media take on Easter eggs. This is a great project for anyone who is more into bold and brights, not pastels!
Talk about taking a project to the next level! Great job Yoli!
Posted by ilovetocreate at 1:12 PM
Labels: crafty chica varnish, easter eggs, graffiti, graffiti eggs, sacred yoli, unusual easter eggs, varnish
2 comments:
- finola said...
Wild! Talk about taking Easter eggs into a new dimension - I love them!
- April 8, 2009 at 2:53 PM
- Sacred Yoli said...
Thank you so much for the kind words and the feature!
- April 8, 2009 at 9:14 PM


text: I haven't played at all for about a year, and I've just started practicing again in the last week as it looks like work is going to ease of for a while. Question on tone production I'm finding it impossible to hold an absolutely even tone in terms of pitch. My long tones have little blips in the pitch going up and down - about 1-3 blips per second, but the blips are very short themselves. I'm working on this by just carefully listening and keeping even tone and breathflow - hard to tell if its getting better. Is it just a question of practice, or do I have mad cow disease and its giving me the shakes? Steve


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Martha Stewart Living, March 2012
As your sweaters and other cold-weather items go into hibernation for the summer, use this trick to make sure they stay odor- and moth-free. Cotton muslin bags, commonly used to mull spices, can be used to make sachets. Fill a bag with fragrant dry ingredients, such as thyme, cloves, lavender, mint, or cedar, which are all thought to be natural moth repellents. Tie the bags shut, and pop them in closets and dresser drawers. Next fall, you'll smell the sweetness of wardrobe-keeping success.
Organic lavender flowers; organic thyme; organic cloves; organic spearmint; and small cotton muslin bags; mountainroseherbs.com. Red cedar shavings, frontiercoop.com.


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Today was the day – the 28th annual running of the goats. This is the fourth consecutive year I've attended this ridiculous event.
I took a couple more pictures.
Brandi and I went to the Bloomsburg Fair tonight. There was the normal assortment of games, rides, barnyard animals, weirdos, etc.
Just as we were about to leave, this caught my eye:
It was a woman wearing a shirt advertising the New York State Woodsmen's Field Day, a lumberjack festival. I'm a big fan of the woods, and (perhaps surprisingly) of lumberjacks. Everybody knows two things about lumberjacks:
Everybody also knows that pancakes are no good without syrup on them, and we've discussed the evils of Mrs. Butterworth previously. If you want to grow up to be a big, manly lumberjack, you need real maple syrup, from real maple trees.
As luck would have it, the lady inside the shirt was running a maple syrup stand.
Pat's Sugarhouse
We bought a pint of her syrup (we were fresh out), and she told us all about lumberjacks and her sugaring operation. In exchange for free publicity on bonius.com, she invited us to come out in the spring and check out her trees and syrup production facilities, which was pretty darn cool of her.
She doesn't have a web page yet, but we might be able to barter a site in exchange for a bucket or two of syrup.
Anyhow, if you're eating dry pancakes, you're a damn fool, and I don't think you could get maple syrup from a nicer lady. So here's how to get some of her syrup:
Pat's Sugarhouse
14611 Dickson St.
Guys Mills, PA 16327
Phone: 814.377.2483
Fax: 814.337.1366
From the first google result for "sunset rocks trail:"
The scramble over boulders on the Sunset Rocks trail is not difficult for an experienced hiker, but could be dangerous in wet conditions.
The Sunset Rocks' ridge is especially challenging, and doing it in the rain is not recommended
I wish I would have googled the trail beforehand.
Yesterday, Brandi and I went into the woods in hopes of completing another 10 miles of the Appalachian trail. It was kind of a misty, dreary day, so we had the whole woods all to ourselves.
The leaves are starting to turn.
We saw a sign for a blue-blazed bypass trail called "Sunset rocks." It sounded pleasant enough, like maybe it was a retirement home for mountain climbers or something. It was only 2.5 miles long, and the map showed a scenic overlook on it, so we figured that would make a nice place to have lunch.
The trail wandered through the woods, and then shot straight up an evil climb. This is to be expected on the way to a scenic vista.
The view was somewhat less spectacular than I was hoping, obscured by trees, but pretty nonetheless.
The trail kept climing, so, hoping for better views, we pressed on. Things rapidly went to shit from here. We quickly found ourselves on a craggy boulder outcropping. The blazes were painted directly on the boulders. We successfully navigated maybe 2 or three of these things before I fell. Maybe 8 feet, but it easily could have been 20 or more. I got scraped up, and I hurt my shoulder pretty bad.
Now, we were in a world of shit. I had only limited use of my right arm. I didn't think I would be able to go back the way I came, but the way forward was equally bad. The rocks were wet and covered in lichen.
My battle scars
We made a guess that after a half mile of these boulders, we should almost be done with them, so we pressed on slowly. After a few more (less dramatic) falls, we made it back to the AT.
We did manage to get our 10 miles in.
Today, I can't even lift my arm far enough to put on deodorant. If it's no better in a day or two, I guess I'll have to seek out medical attention.
Anyhow, for the benefit of google (and everyone, I guess), and since there are no signs warning people about this:
The Sunset Rocks trail in the Michaux State Forest is a fairly technical bouldering trail. Do not attempt unless you are experienced, insane, and have a good life insurance policy. At least if it's been raining out.
If you like pictures, there are more pictures of this trip in my gallery.
Yo Ho, Yo Ho!
A Pirate's life for me!
We pillage and plunder and we rifle and loot
Drink up, me Hearties, Yo Ho!
We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot!
Drink up me hearties, Yo Ho!
Spent Saturday night with me crew swillin' grog 'n carryin' on. Since we already layed waste to all the towns between Lewisburg and Sunbury, and burnt to the ground all the villages between Montomery and Milton on other trips, we left our saucy wenches behind, and set off to put the water between Milton and Lewisburg under the keels and claim the entire lower 23 miles of the west branch Susquehannna river for our own selves. Savvy?
Cap'n Bone, the Klinutor/Klinutus brothers, Stinky (the bilge rat), and the Mad Taoist rounded out me crew.
Shiver Me Timbers, Klinutus found a rope swing!
Treasure was what we was after, an' treasure we found. In a secret lagoon, we found many a round treasure chest, bearin' the name of him that buried it there. There was tresure from Cap'n Goodyear, Cap'n Firestone, and the terrible old one-eyed Cap'n Dunlop.
Avast! There be buried treasure about!
Not a bad day's piratin' if I do say so me own self.
Yo Ho, Yo Ho!
A pirate's life for me!
We're beggars and blighters and ne'er do well cads!
Drink up, me hearties, Yo Ho!
Aye, but we are loved by our mommies and dads
Drink up me hearties, Yo Ho!
Yo Ho, Yo Ho,
A pirate's life for me!
The weather man was calling for a day of solid rain, so Brandi and I canceled our trip to
the north country, and opted to hike closer to home.
We ended up tooling around some of the hiking trails in Pine Grove Furnace State Park.
We hiked on the Swamp Trail, the Appalachian Trail, then we got lost and hiked on two trails I can't find on any maps… They might have been creek beds or goat paths or something.
Anyways, when we finally figured out where we were, It was time to test out my new pot. I also got to test the windscreen I crudely fabricated from the bottom of one of those aluminum foil turkey-roasting pans. This setup still didn't exactly boil the water! It got close. I had those little tiny bubbles coming up off the bottom, but no roaring boil.
The guys over at backpackinglite have done an embarrassing amount of research into "Stove Windscreen Dynamics and Design" and I'm thinking maybe I should make or buy a windscreen of the type they recommend.
Esbit in action
The stove also leaves greasy funk all over the bottom of your pot, but it wipes off really easily.
Greasy Funk
Despite the stove's inability to boil water, it got plenty hot enough to reconsitute our freeze-dried lunches. I made Backpacker's Pantry Kung Pao Chicken. I didn't much care for it, but it was instrumental in the development of some lovely weapons-grade flatulence, much to the consternation of my hiking companion 🙂
Diligent readers may remember how a few weeks ago, I tried and failed to bring water to a full boil with my combination of an Esbit stove and steel mug.
Well, that truly sucked, and after reading all sorts of backpacker forums, it looks like my stainless mug is really not a very efficient way to boil water. It's a tall cylinder of water, so very little of the water is in direct contact with the heat from the stove.
So, I broke my piggy bank on gear again. The nice lady at Wildware hooked me up with a very sexy MSR Titan Kettle.
The kettle with 16 oz. in it has much better ratio of volume to surface area than the mug.
Also, it has a lid, the benefits of which never even occured to me. Hopefully, I will be able to get water to a roaring boil now.
As part of this weekend's bourgeois gear-buying orgy, I have also obtained a new pack.
I got the CamelBak Alpine Explorer, which, at 3 pounds, is a touch heavy for ultralight backpacking, but I think I can go overnight out of it, so long as I am careful about what I bring and it's not too cold out.
Brandi and I are ditching work on Friday and heading out for a hike on the great and terrible Mid State Trail, so I hope to me able to field test all my new toys and report back with Jihadi ratings for them 🙂
I went for a bike ride today. I rode down the Stony Creek Rail Trail. I'm too tired for eloquent prose, sorry.
It was pretty.
Our old friend the Black snake made a brief appearance.
I made a video, so you can see what it's like to ride a bicycle in the woods.
I was planning to do some kayaking over the weekend, but the water level in the river was looking awfully low. Hurricane Ernesto came to the rescue and refilled all the creeks and rivers, even the mighty Tiadaghton Creek (aka. Pine Creek).
Yesterday, Klinutus, Klinutor (Younger brother of Klinutus), Mama-Klinutus (the matriarch of the Klinutus clan), and I decided to make a run on Pine creek before the water went back down.
I had to get up at the proverbial butt-crack of dawn to get up there on time. As butt-cracks go, this one was kind of nice looking.
No SUVs on this trip. Who needs an SUV when you have a roof rack and a bit of courage.
The creek was a mixture of flatwater and some fairly snarly sections.
Klinutus and Mama-Klinutus manning the mothership / Snack barge.
After we came out of a particularly snarly section, I saw a Bald Eagle sitting in a tree. By the time I got my camera out of waterproof storage, we were pretty far downstream, so the picture sucks.
A blurry eagle
One of these days, I'll get a camera with more than 2 megapixels of resolution…
During his attempt to photograph the eagle, Klinutor got too close to shore and was nearly devoured by renegade Ents reaching over the water. He narrowly escaped impending doom, or impending splinters in any event.
We covered about 11 miles of the creek all together. Not a bad way to spend a Monday morning.
I have been hearing strange comments from people at work lately. Many people seem to feel that I am "so lucky" that I live close enough to the office to be able to commute on my bicycle. Normally, I'd launch into my rant about how luck and careful planning are inter-related, but I thought I'd try something more constructive for a change.
CAT operates 15 "park-and-ride" locations, where you can park your car (for free!), and hop on the bus.
Sadly, CAT buses to not have bike racks, so multimodal (bike + bus) commuting is generally not possible. There is another alternative, however. If you have a bike rack for your car, you can drive to a park-and-ride location, and ride the rest of the way to work from there.
I think it's reasonable to assume that even someone in pretty bad physical condition could ride 4-6 miles without much difficulty. With that in mind, I made a map of the Harrisburg area and superimposed circles with a radius of 4 miles from each of the park-and-ride locations.
But that looks a bit confusing. So, using my advanced jedi powers in the Gimp, I made a slightly more readable version.
You can see that there really aren't many destinations in the Harrisburg "metro area" that are more than 4 miles from a park-and-ride location.
Obviously, these are 4 linear miles, and peculiar road layouts, lack of bridges, etc. May make your actual commute a few miles longer.
If you really want to try bicycle commuting, and live further away than it's practical to ride, maybe this kind of multi-modal commute will be helpful.


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Saturday, January 12, 2013
10 tips on how to calm an over excited dog...
6 comments:
I have a 9 month ons border collie. I have been a dog trainer for 12 years in agility, obedience and sheep herding. well I have this problem that h can't seem to get this dog to understand. he is very smart in some ways. I can take him out to play and train him. but once j bring him back in the house he will run though the house and bounce off my walls and jump all over my older border collie I have tried to keep a leash on him and keep him by me. I have tried puttinv him in the kitchen with the baby gate and he jumps it. I don't know how to get him to stop and behave in the house. iv asked some other trainer and they said just get ride of him. but he is really good with my 3 year old son. I just want him to be good in the house not a phyco dog Any help would be great never have I had a border act like this and iv grown up with them my hole life. thanks AprilReplyDelete
Have you tried teaching him to be calm in an area where there isn't anywhere else for him to go. It might sound strange, but if you taught him how to settle and relax at your feet and started training it in the restroom where there is no where for him to run or go, he would eventually lay down and you would be able to reinforce him for calmer and calmer behaviors. Training calmness is so much different than training agility, obedience or herding. It is all about looking for calmer behaviors and secretly (without the dog staring at you) rewarding your dog with treats. It sounds like he would benefit from learning to be calm. You could also first use a mat. Here is a video on how to train a dog to settle on a mat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ0Rii_5ckE Feel free to leave me another comment if you are not able to see the video or if you do not understand it. I am happy to help! PamReplyDelete
Great ideas! Zenzi is getting better about her explosive enthusiasm for play. :)ReplyDelete
Instead of barking my Kelpie nips/snaps at my hands. I can't use any hand signals at all, he will snap at my hand if I do, :( Do you have any ideas on how to stop this? I could have my hand still pointing to his crate, and he will run to his crate but snap at my hand as he goes by. He does this with the tunnel, or any tricks with a hand signal. I really want to teach him more tricks and start agility foundation since he gets bored easily and needs to be working, but I can't if he snaps at my hand. I've tried clicking for when he is calm when my hand is waved around, I would start waving my hand then pointing it and click when he looks away. I did this for a month until last week, he seemed to get the idea so I thought I'd finally try sending him to the tunnel. I sent him to the tunnel with a hand signal and he snapped at my hand. ;|ReplyDelete
Hi Molly,ReplyDelete
I would say to continue doing the clicking for reaching towards him, waving your hands, or any movement you can think of. Keep doing it, if it was working, while you were just in your house, you will need to increase your criteria. So, start with you being still and by clicking as you move your hand towards him, give a treat. You will be clicking and treating him for just not nipping at your hands. I would personally not even care if he looked away or not. Just if he does not nip, click and treat. You are training an alternate response of doing basically nothing as you move your hands. Once he is really good at that with you standing or sitting still (except for your hands of course), then add a bit of movement (you move and walk around) and as you walk click and treat him for your hands moving and him not nipping at you. I think that when he is running and you are moving it is over stimulating for him and he gets too excited and snaps at your hands. That is what it sounds like to me. You might continue to play this reaching hands moving game a lot, just to desensitize him to your hands moving. Good luck! Pam
Wow! Thank you so much for this wonderful tips my friend. I needed a lot of effort to let my dog behave well. But it doesn't seem to work out. I hope that your tips and advise will help my dog learn in a quick period of time.ReplyDelete


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Rediant is a 3 column Magazine theme from MagPress.
It comes with it's own options page and has built in functions for Adsense and Twitter. Breadcrumbs are integrated into the design and the home page has a featured post slider too.
Rediant is a good looking design though I would love to see a 2 column version as the 3 column design seems a bit crowded at times. I'm sure this format will suit news and magazine type blogs though.
The theme is free to download and is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Download & Info: Rediant WordPress Theme


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TORONTO, May 27 (Reuters) - Toronto stocks dropped more than 100 points near the open on Tuesday as weak gold prices and a reversal in the price for oil weighed on the resource-heavy market.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was down 100.52 points, or 0.7 percent, at 14,658.05. ($1=$0.99 Canadian) (Reporting by Scott Anderson; editing by Renato Andrade)


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We'd like to see you all at our State Shoot! We had a GREAT State Shoot in 2014 and expect this year's to be bigger and better!
"The Smokin Gun"
July 17, 18, & 19, 2015
Head of the Lakes Fair Grounds
4700 Tower Ave
Superior, Wisconsin
4X Elimination – Last Man Standing Format
Must be current CFDA member to participate; all CFDA rules apply
Early Registration for the Main Event: Adult Division … $85.00
… $110.00 for Adults after June 30th
Billy the Kid/Annie Oakley (under 16) Division …………… $25.00
Banquet Saturday evening: ……………………………………….. $20.00 each
Registration forms available on the CFDA website under "2015 Shooting Events"
Questions: Call "Lightnin" aka Deb Stadin at (218) 496-5715 or email her at email@example.com
"The Smokin Gun" Schedule of Events:
10:30 am – Registration opens for the Charity Shoot
$10.00 entry fee- all proceeds go to the Challenge Center of Superior (website: challenge-center.org)
11:00 am – 4:30 pm – Challenge Center/Sponsor Shooting with the Charity Shoot following.
Range will be open for practice following the Charity Shoot until 4:30 p.m.
Concessions are available each day.
5:00 pm – Meet & Greet at VIP
Vintage Italian Pizza - 1201 Tower Avenue, Superior, WI 54880.
Light appetizers of Pizza and Chips/Salsa will be served and a full menu is available for meals.
Registration will be open.
Main Match: 3 out of 5, 4X last man standing format
7:30 am – Registration and gun check
8:00 am – Registration closes; Shooters Meeting
8:30 am – State Championship match begins
Concessions are available each day.
6:00 pm – Social Hour at Elks Lodge 403
1503 Belknap St, Superior, WI 54880
We will be holding silent auctions/gun raffle. Also, new this year is a Moustache/Beard contest with
prizes for both Men and Ladies, so start grooming or constructing them!
7:00 pm – Dinner at the Elks Lodge 403 will be catered by Rich Cuisine.
8:30 am – Shooters meeting
9:00 am – Shooting continues
Concessions are available each day.
Motel/Hotel Accommodations:
Bay Motel 715-392-5166, 306 E 3rd St, Superior WI
Androy Hotel 715-394-7731, 1213 Tower Ave, Superior WI
Super 8 715-398-7686, 4901 E 2nd St, Superior WI
Bay Walk Motel 715-392-7600, 1405 Susquehanna Ave, Superior WI
Barker's Island Inn 715-392-7152, 300 Marina Drive, Superior WI
Holiday Inn Express 715-392-3444, 303 2nd Ave E, Superior WI
Bridge View Motor Inn 715-392-8174, 415 Hammond Ave, Superior WI
RV Camping:
Copper Creek Rangers Club Range
4258 E Kerwin Rd, Superior, WI
12 minutes from the Head of the Lakes Fairgrounds
Contact "Scrap Iron" aka Dick Gudowski at 218-348-3201 or rgudowski @ aol.com
The Black River Bandits thank you for coming, & we hope you have a great time!


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People's Choice Awards 2016 by iProperty.com
Hi Churpers!
We have good news for all of you! People's Choice Awards by iProperty.com is coming back again this year! iProperty.com is having the awards for the third year running, so don't miss a chance to vote for your favourite developers this year.
iProperty.com People's Choice Awards 2016, is Malaysia's most prestigious real estate awards for property developers. With 13 award categories, there are 13 winners to be chosen.
The iProperty Group is focused on developing and operating leading real estate portals and delivering the most comprehensive set of related real estate services and project marketing across the region. The group owns portals which are market leaders in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Hong Kong region and is the leading portal in Singapore. The group is continuously working to capitalise on its market-leading positions and the rapidly growing online property advertising market throughout the region.
Running successfully for the third year, the iProperty.com People's Choice Awards 2016 promises to be one of the most recognised and credible property industry awards in the country for giving recognition to developers and celebrating the highest levels of excellence, quality of projects, innovation and more, where the winners are selected by a panel of judges and consumers.
Awesome prizes worth over RM 20,000.00 to be won include:
- 2x (2 Day 1 Night stay at KL Hilton vouchers worth RM 700 each)
- Sharp 32' TV
- 10 (25L of Dulux Pentalite Paint Cans)
- 11' Macbook Air
- Khind Noodle Cooker
- Khind Jug Kettle
- Khind Bread Toaster, and more!
How to vote:
Step 1 – Go to https://www.iproperty.com.my/awards/vote-now/1
Step 2 – Go to Vote Now tab
Step 3 – Login with your iProperty account, sign up one if you do not have any account yet
Step 4 – Start voting!
Terms and Conditions:
- The voting period ends on November 14th, 11.59pm 2016
- Winners of the consumer voting campaign will be announced via iProperty.com main social channels – FB / Google+, Twitter & Instagram no later than Nov 28th, 2016
So, what are you waiting for Churpers? Start voting now! 🙂