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This story first aired on NBC on July 9, 2006. Click here to skip ahead and find out what we've uncovered about 'Christy' since then.
Two families wanted to adopt and thought they'd found the perfect birth mother, a woman they met online. Instead, the Mantooths from Texas and the Colemans from Tennessee became victims of a heartless con. Dateline's Victoria Corderi exposes one cold-hearted scam in a Dateline Hidden Camera investigation.
Karen and Mark Mantooth spent the last seven years trying to become parents. First, their treatments for infertility were unsuccessful. Then, two adoptions fell through. It seemed like heartbreak after heartbreak.
KarenMantooth: That's all I've ever wanted out of life was to be a wife and a mom. Just the frustration of "Am I ever going to be a mom?"
Victoria Corderi, Dateline correspondent: So it's been a tough nasty road?
Mark Mantooth: Oh yes.
Karen Mantooth: It has.
Last fall, they thought the long wait was almost over when they met a woman looking for a couple just like them: a loving family to adopt her baby girl.
The Mantooths didn't find her through a traditional adoption agency but with the help of the Internet. They had signed up with an adoption match-making service that posted their profile online. It was essentially an advertisement offering themselves as potential parents.
Mark Mantooth: The audience was targeted to birth mothers who wanted to find a home for their child.
Karen and the birth mother bonded quickly, talking on the phone several times a day.
Karen Mantooth: I'm like, "This person really cares about this baby." You know? She really cares about what kind of family this baby's going to.
Finally, Karen and Mark seemed to be on their way to parenthood. While they prepared for their baby at home in Texas, a couple 800 miles away in Tennessee hoping to adopt also turned to the Internet.
This would be Lori and Chris Coleman's second adoption. Like the Mantooths, they had endured years of infertility treatments. Then they turned to a private attorney who specialized in adoption. Kennedy was placed in their arms four years ago, just hours after being born.
Their first adoption experience was a good one. For the second adoption, the Colemans thought they could find a potential birth mother on their own, using the vast adoption resources online. Web sites, message boards, and chat rooms are all part of the fast-growing world of independent adoption.
Lori quickly discovered posting from expectant mothers.
Corderi: What were you seeing online? "Birth mother looking for a loving family?"
Lori Coleman: Yeah, exactly.
Independent adoptions are usually less expensive than traditional private adoptions because lawyers or agencies aren't paid to find a birth mother, but step in later just to do the legal paperwork.
The Coleman's found a promising candidate quickly. Lori replied to a posting from a pregnant woman named Christy. Soon they were talking daily and exchanging heartfelt e-mails, like this one.
"I am so happy that I have found you. I wanted the perfect family for this baby and I know in my heart that I have found them. I am 100 percent sure of this adoption and placing this baby with you both."
Lori and Christy became fast friends, confidants even.
Chris Coleman: They were talking ten or 15 times a day.
Lori Coleman: She called me a lot.
Twice, Lori drove three hours to Nashville to meet Christy in person. She gave Lori a photo of her daughter, and said she was a single mother, raising a 2-year-old alone.
Lori Coleman: She was just a really super, nice, sweet person that I just connected with.
The Coleman's hired an attorney to draw up the adoption papers. Christy signed documents saying she was nearly 8 months pregnant and Lori and Chris made plans to be at the hospital for the birth. They also agreed to pay some of Christy's living expenses, rent and food. This is standard procedure in most private adoptions.
4-year-old Kennedy was excited about becoming a big sister, while Lori happily got ready for the new addition to family.
Lori Coleman: I completely redid the nursery. And I bought all new clothes and bought something for her to come home from the hospital in.
In Texas, Karen and Mark Mantooth also had hired an attorney, and were making plans to be there for their baby's birth.
Both the Colemans and the Mantooths felt the anticipation and excitement of impending parenthood. The birth mothers had told them they were the only ones and there was no going back.
There was just one problem: Both couples were talking to the same person. Christy, it appeared, had promised her baby to two different families.
Was she simply undecided? Or was this some kind of cruel game playing with people's lives?
Lori Coleman: She was really just totally confusing me at this point.
Mark Mantooth: We just wanted to find out the truth and if this is really happening.
We wondered the same thing. Dateline decided to go looking for Christy with our hidden cameras to find out.
The Mantooths' and Colemans' prospective parent turned out to be the same woman: Christy.
Just how did they figure that out?
It began when just four weeks before Christy was due to give birth she suddenly stopped calling Lori Coleman.
Christy's cell phone was disconnected.
Lori Coleman: We were so afraid that something had happened to her.
They didn't hear from her for a a week — no word, no e-mails, nothing.
Lori Coleman: I thought that maybe she was just changing her mind.
Victoria Corderi: And she was too embarrassed to tell you?
Lori Coleman: Yeah, she didn't want to hurt us because we were so close.
The Colemans were desperate for an explanation. Lori turned to the Internet again. Through a message board where adoptive families share information, she started talking to Karen and Mark Mantooth. They told her their story about Christy, and how three months earlier their relationship had ended in almost the exact same way.
Christy had given documents to both couples. There were different due dates and different last names.
Lori Coleman: They were from the same area. They were the same age.
Karen Mantooth: The address was the exact same except for the city.
Lori and Chris Coleman: Social security numbers. Date of birth.
Karen Mantooth: It was just too much coincidence.
In both cases, Christy had called the couples frequently, more and more, as the due dates approached. At first, just to chat, then to ask for money. She'd told both families that she was behind on her rent and short on cash for basic necessities.
Lori Coleman: She would just say, "Do you know anybody that could help me with food?"
Victoria Corderi: To which you would say, "How much do you need?"
Lori Coleman: She was asking us for food for her daughter. What good person is gonna say no?
The Colemans had given Christy more than $800: $300 in Wal-Mart cards for food, and $510 for rent. The Mantooths say they'd sent her more than $1,200.
Karen Mantooth: When you are in the last months of your pregnancy, you can't work being on your feet all the time. I have no problem doing that.
Even though it's common practice for adoptive families to pay some basic living expenses for a potential birth mother, most couples understand that it is a gamble. If the woman changes her mind, and the adoption doesn't go through, she's not legally required to return the money but this situation did not appear to be a case of second thoughts. To the families involved, this had the makings of a scam.
Karen Mantooth: I fully believe it was a scam.
Corderi: From the start?
Mark Mantooth: Yes.
Corderi: How would you describe what she did to you?
Karen Mantooth: Emotional rape. That's what I felt like. I'd felt that I had just been stripped raw of every emotion that I could even think of.
When the Colemans realized Christy might be a con artist preying on vulnerable families, their sadness turned to anger.
Chris Coleman: My frame of mind was, "I'm gonna find out who this girl is. I'm gonna get this girl."
Dateline wanted to find her too. We asked the Colemans to try to get back in touch with Christy so that we could investigate.
Lori Coleman: I sent her an e-mail and said, "I want the baby. I want to know you're okay. I care about you as a friend." I'm also coming as someone who's desperate for a baby.
Chris Coleman: We wanted her to feel like we were just suckers.
Just as suddenly as she'd vanished, Christy reappeared on Lori's computer screen through an instant message.
Lori Coleman: She says that she's fine. She's sorry she lost contact. I ask her, "Do you still want us to have the baby?" She says yes, without a doubt.
Why the abrupt disappearance? Christy said she had run off to Florida for her grandfather's funeral and that she'd lost her cell phone.
With that, the women took up right where they'd left off, chatting on the phone day in and day out. Only this time Lori was acting, pretending not to be suspicious.
Lori and Christy made plans for the following week: a lunch date in Nashville. What she didn't tell her is that Dateline would be there too with hidden cameras, watching her every move.
It's no surprise that for their meeting, Christy asked Lori to bring cash. She says she needs $600 for rent and overdue bills.
Lori on the phone with Christy: Does the $25 late fee need to be paid this month or next month?
The Colemans had already given Christy $800 and say they spent thousands more on legal fees to prepare for the adoption. Now that Dateline has decided to investigate, Dateline will provide the money.
The night before our meeting, Christy asks for even more. She calls Lori to say that she and her little girl Jasmine are hungry and broke.
We buy them a $100 gift card at Wal-Mart for food. Lori calls Christy back and urges her to use it.
Lori on the phone with Christy: You need to get you some groceries.
The next day, we finally get a look at Christy, up close and in person. She arrives at a Nashville hotel for what she thinks is a casual lunch date. She has no idea that Dateline is watching or that Lori is part of our hidden camera operation.
She comes upstairs where I am posing as Lori's friend, with five cameras secretly rolling.
Lori Coleman: I've been tellin' her about you. Hi, honey. This is my friend, Vicky (referring to Dateline's Victoria Corderi who is undercover).
Christy: Can I take my shoes off?
Lori Coleman: Here, yeah, come over here and sit down.
As we sit down to lunch, I get right to the point, although Christy thinks I'm kidding.
Victoria Corderi: I'll be your servant.
Christy: Oh.
Corderi: Because I want to find out everything about you.
Christy: Uh-oh. (Laughter)
Our hidden cameras record every word as we settle in like old friends. As we snack on cookies, Christy thanks Lori for the grocery money we gave her the night before.
Christy: I got some grapes because after I have this baby, I'll have to be on the diet.
Christy does look pregnant, but not quite like a woman in her ninth month as she claims to be.
Christy: I told you I've dropped a lot. (Laughter)
Corderi: What's your due date?
Christy: January 26th. But I've been dilated at two for how long?
Lori: Two weeks.
She repeatedly plays up how soon she thinks the baby will be born.
Christy: I'm telling you, I'm having the baby today or tomorrow. I swear, if I don't have her tomorrow I'm going in there tomorrow and telling them I'm having contractions. I know it's not nice to lie.
Perhaps to convince us she's not lying, she invites Lori to a doctor's appointment the next day. She says she wants to have labor induced so that Lori can be there for the birth.
Christy: Really, she's coming. Tomorrow we need to go in there as a team; you're not leaving till she's born.
Over the next 2 hours, Christy has a ready answer for every question: details we say we need for the adoption paperwork.
Her address, her mid-wife's name, her history.
Victoria Corderi: What's your maiden name?
Christy: Tidwell.
She even volunteers information about her job: a profession that highlights her generosity and goodwill.
Christy: I work at a domestic violence shelter.
Corderi: What do you do there?
Christy: I'm an advocate.
Corderi: What's the shelter's name?
Christy: Hope House.
She tells us the story of how she got pregnant: a drunken one-night-stand.
Christy: That's just one of those whoops. I had too much to drink and woke up in some other man's bed. Whoops.
Perhaps it is a way to show there is no father involved, nothing to get in the way of the adoption.
She even answers sensitive questions without hesitation, telling us just what she thinks we want to hear.
Corderi: Is this gonna be hard for you?
Christy: Giving the baby up? Actually, I don't think so, 'cause I never got attached to the baby. My whole pregnancy I never considered it my baby.
Lori Coleman: Like I've always told you though, if it weren't for people like that were so unselfish I would never get to be a mom.
Throughout our hidden camera meeting, Christy makes a point of talking about her daughter Jasmine.
Christy: I love my daughter unconditionally, but she's been so clingy.
She knows that Lori bonded with her over their shared experience of raising a little girl.
Christy: I can't even take a shower without her pullin' the curtain.
Corderi: Does she know that the baby's going elsewhere?
Christy: She knows it's Lori's.
Christy takes pains to show how careful she was in selecting Lori out of all of the women on the Internet who wanted to adopt her baby.
Christy: A lot of people emailed me.
Corderi: Why'd you pick her, do you think?
Christy: Because she didn't come right out and say, "I want the baby." She said, "I want to be there for you." She actually cared more about me than the baby.
I wanted to know the family. And I'm not going to hand over some babies to a complete lunatic.
As if to prove that she of high moral character, Christy tells us the story of a woman she met online who had asked her to lie on the adoption paperwork.
Christy: She wanted me to use a fake name, so the baby couldn't find me when the baby turned 18. You can't do a fake name. It won't be legal. How could I go through the court proceeding?
Christy doesn't know that Lori's husband, Chris, is watching it all in the next room. He's sure Christy is lying and gets fed up her act.
Chris Coleman: I was to the point where I was so angry, I was so mad, I had to leave. Lori brought out the outfit that she wanted to bring the baby home in and that girl sat there eatin' her little sandwich, not even lookin' at the outfit. That's when I got so mad that I left.
Christy, on the other hand, seems willing to stay all afternoon. She hasn't said a word about money, yet she's too busy laying it on thick, getting Lori excited about the birth.
Christy: Oh, you're gonna see it all in the delivery room, honey. Now, will Chris be in the delivery room, too? In case you fall apart?
Lori: I'm not going to fall apart.
Christy: He just needs to be on the top part. Hey, I want him to cut the cord. No I want you to cut it. Maybe you...
And once again she says something to convince Lori she's serious about handing over the baby.
Christy: I don't want to hold her, I don't want them bring her to me. I don't want it laying on my stomach; I don't want to hold her. I just want you to snip and go.
Christy is saying all the right things and her performance is so convincing that despite everything Lori knows, she finds herself being drawn back in.
Lori Coleman: So now I'm getting really double-extremely excited. You're not going to change your mind, right?
Christy: No, I'm not changing my mind.
After all, Lori is still a woman deeply longing for a baby. And even though she is here as part of a Dateline investigation, she can't help but feel a spark of hope that maybe, just maybe, some of what Christy says is true...
Lori Coleman: I kept thinkin', "Well, maybe she's scamming everybody but us."
Corderi: So even though you were being nice for us and having this contact to let it play out.
Lori Coleman: I was still thinking, "Well, I might get the baby."
Soon enough, Christy turns the conversation to the real reason we think she is here. She drops a not-so-subtle hint that she needs the cash...
Christy: I'm set. Just need to get the rent paid or I'll be without a place to live.
Lori hands over more $600. Then Christy gets up to go.
Outside, we watch the two women say goodbye, and wonder if they will ever see each other again, or if Christy is about to take the money and run.
Corderi: We were pretty sure you weren't going to hear from her again.
Lori Coleman: Oh, exactly.
Corderi: This is the way the game ends.
Coleman: It had to end. But will it?
Minutes later, to our surprise, Christy calls Lori's cell phone. Was Lori right to hope? Could Christy be for real this time? We were about to find out
Dateline checked up on Christy, and on the information she'd so willingly supplied: The address was bogus. Her midwife's office doesn't exist. Nor does the domestic violence shelter where she claimed to work.
One thing's for sure— she's not who she says she is. Dateline searched public records in Tennessee and found a mug shot of Christy Tidwell from a 1998 drug arrest. She looks nothing like the Christy we knew, but guess what? It turns out that the real Christy Tidwell is a friend. Our hidden cameras saw them together.
Remember the Wal-Mart card we'd bought in response to Christy's desperate plea for food? We watched the two women spend that money together. Not on groceries, but on baby supplies— an indication that she really is pregnant and probably planning on keeping the baby.
So who is this woman?
In the hours after that meeting, she called repeatedly, telling Lori where she was going and with whom. All of it lies. We know because our hidden cameras were still watching.
She told Lori she was picking up Jasmine, her two year-old daughter, while we recorded her doing something else.
She first stopped at the offices of a cell phone company, then went to a residence hotel and picked up her friend.
She called again to say she was having a quick dinner with her daughter, while we see the two women go to an upscale Nashville mall and dine at this expensive restaurant, with no toddler in sight. She had no idea that Lori was nearby in the mall parking lot when, once again, she did something that took us by surprise.
She told Lori on the phone she was in labor and had 3 contractions, giving specific instructions on what she and Chris should do.
Lori Coleman: When the contractions got to 14 minutes apart she said that Chris and I would need to come get her and take her to the hospital. She also said, "Well, it looks like by the time you get home Kennedy's gonna have a baby sister."
So what did this woman who was supposedly in labor do next? She got behind the wheel ofa car and went on a shopping spree. We watched her drive all over suburban Nashville. She went grocery shopping, stopped at a dollar store, a K-mart, and a Wal-Mart looking like she didn't have a care in the world.
Meanwhile, Lori was back at the hotel waiting by the phone. Two hours passed.
Lori Coleman: It was at that point that I tried to call her cell phone. Her cell phone had been disconnected.
Victoria Corderi, Dateline: That was the breaking point.
Lori Coleman: So I knew game over.
Corderi: It really hit you?
Lori Coleman: That's when it hit me. It hurts beyond belief.
Whatever hopes Lori had been harboring about adopting that baby girl were gone. For two months, through all the phone calls, e-mails and loving preparations, Lori had wanted to believe in Christy. Now cold reality set in. The rush of emotion surprised even her.
Lori Coleman: (crying) Then we're gonna have to go home and there's gonna be a nursery there. I just didn't think it would hurt this bad. I thought I was prepared.
She had hurt Lori just as she had hurt the couple from Texas, Karen and Mark Mantooth, months before.
Dateline found her trail of deception is even longer than that.
Corderi: You all feel pretty certain it was the same person?
Group, in unison: Yes.
Todd Miller: Most definitely.
The woman we knew as Christy is going have quite a bit of explaining to do.
When it comes to this pregnant woman and the promises she's made and the hearts she's broken, there is always one question.
Lori Coleman: How could anybody be so cruel and so heartless?
They are from different states, and different backgrounds, but all of these people believe they were conned in the same cruel way by the person we knew as Christy.
A New York woman, Jackie, read one of Christy's e-mails:
"I feel she should be placed in your arms when first born. She is your baby, not mine."
Jackie: After a few conversations she said we would be the perfect parents for her baby.
And three years ago, thinking a baby was on the way, a couple from North Carolina sent her more than $2,000 before she disappeared.
Cindy Miller: It was just like a piece of my heart had been ripped out of me.
The North Carolina couple knew her as "Jamie."
Dateline found other adoptive families who'd met her online as "Amy Ost Cumbee." They all admit they were easily taken in by her.
Karen Mantooth: You are desperate to have a child when you're willing to go through all of this.
Victoria Corderi, Dateline correspondent: Isn't that the key here?
Cindy Miller: Yes that's the key.
Corderi: Isn't that what any scammer would know? That you're a bunch of sitting ducks?
Cindy Miller: Yeah.
Mark Mantooth: Yes.
Corderi: You and everyone else who really wants a baby.
We showed the group some of our hidden camera videotape: Christy buying infant supplies with the money meant for food (a sure sign she was keeping the baby), and the easy lies and intimate conversation.
Corderi: What did you think watching that?
Cindy Miller: I think she's sick.
Corderi: What was the worst thing you heard her say?
Todd Miller: She doesn't want to touch the baby.
Karen Mantooth: "I want you to cut the umbilical cord."
Mark Mantooth: Yeah.
Karen Mantooth: She was playing in to those emotions because anything that we get to do like that makes it all the more special.
Karen Mantooth: It's just cold and manipulative and how could somebody do that?
Cindy Miller: (Crying) How could they take people like us that can't conceive a child? How could they come into our life and make us so devastated wantin' that child and walking away with nothing?
Now, we wanted to look for Christy again. This time we wanted to get an explanation and to let her know that Dateline was on to her.
We found her in a parking lot the morning after she'd claimed to be in labor.
Corderi (confronting 'Christy' or Amy Ost Cumbee): Christy. Hey. How are you doing?
'Christy': Good.
For a woman who was supposedly about to give birth, she seemed awfully relaxed.
Corderi: So are you in labor? You told Lori you were in labor.
'Christy': I stopped contractions.
Corderi: When did they stop?
'Christy': Last night around 11:30.
She had told us her name was Christy Tidwell Miller.
Corderi: I have some questions for you.
We showed her the real Christy Tidwell.
Corderi: My name is Victoria Corderi. I'm with Dateline NBC and this is Christy Tidwell. Your friend that we see you going around with…
'Christy' also known as Amy Ost Cumbee: Why is he recording me?
Corderi: Because we're with Dateline NBC and there's a lot of information that you gave us that didn't check out.
Amy Ost Cumbee: I don't have to talk to you until I talk to my lawyer.
Corderi: These are pictures that you sent to other women promising them babies. As Amy in Alabama. This is you. As Amy in Pennsylvania saying this is your daughter.
Cumbee: I'm sorry I have talk to my attorney. (Gets in car and drives off.)
Corderi: Do you have any explanation? Why did you disconnect your phone?
She drove off, but within minutes she called Lori Coleman from a new cell phone number. Later that morning, she surprised us yet again by agreeing to sit down and answer our questions— in the very same room where she'd told a string of lies the day before.
Corderi: First of all, who are you?
Cumbee: Amy Cumbee.
Corderi: Who is Amy Ost?
Cumbee: That's my maiden name.
Corderi: Why are you representing yourself as Christy Miller?
Cumbee: I don't know.
She admitted she lied to the Colemans and that she had scammed others as well.
Cumbee: I've done this before and I just need help.
Corderi: You need what kind of help?
Cumbee: I just need help. I didn't mean for it to go this far.
She described how she uses the Internet to find her targets.
Cumbee: I'd go look at Web sites and try to find a family.
Corderi: What do you tell them that makes them believe you?
Cumbee: I just tell them that I want them to have the baby.
Corderi: Do you think this is fraud?
Cumbee: Yeah.
Corderi: What are you doing it for? Are you just doing it for the money?
Cumbee: I don't know.
Corderi: Do you feel powerful when you're holding a baby over somebody's head basically and they're pleading with you?
Cumbee: No.
Corderi: So why do you think you're doing it?
Cumbee: I don't know why I'm doing it.
Corderi: You're not working?
Cumbee: No.
Corderi: So you are doing it for the money?
Cumbee: Part of it, I guess. Yeah.
She told us that she learned the adoption scam from her ex-husband.
Cumbee: He was the one that got away with it the first time.
Corderi: Where's your ex-husband now? He's not doing this. This is you. So whose fault is this?
Cumbee: Mine.
Corderi: I've seen a lot of scams but the level of cruelty in this scam is hard for me to imagine, especially as a mother— to string somebody along who thinks she's going to be a mother, and go so far as to tell them you are in labor and then cut them off. I can't even conceive of that, I can't even imagine how somebody would think to do that. Do you realize the level of cruelty?
Cumbee: Yes.
Corderi: Were you having a good laugh?
Cumbee: No.
Corderi: Every time you got off the phone?
Cumbee: No.
Corderi: What were you thinking?
Cumbee: I don't know. I wasn't. I guess I just believed it too.
Corderi: You believed you were in labor?
Cumbee: Just believing my own lies at times.
"Christy," who we now know is really named Amy Ost Cumbee, says her real due date was months, not days away and that she was buying infant clothing because her girlfriend wants to keep the baby.
As for Jasmine, the 2-year-old she talked about so often and so convincingly? She'd made her up as part of the con.
Cumbee: I can't be a mother. I don't know how to be one, I guess.
Despite her lies, she still tried to insist she planned on allowing the Colemans to adopt her baby.
Corderi: You never intended to give the baby to Lori.
Cumbee: Yes I did.
Corderi: You cut her off last night.
Cumbee: I still called.
Corderi: You called after we caught you. You did exactly with this what you've done before. When you're done you have the phone cut off. Can you just be that honest?
Cumbee: Yeah, that is what I do.
Corderi: I don't know what to say. What are you saying about yourself?
Cumbee: I'm a terrible person.
Corderi: Do you really think that?
Cumbee: Honestly I do.
Corderi: Did you think that before you got caught?
Cumbee: Yes.
Corderi: But it didn't stop you.
Cumbee: I guess not.
The Colemans were nearby, listening. We invited them in.
Corderi: It's not often that you get to see the face, you know, or see the pain of the people that you hurt. You're emailing and these people are just strangers.
Cumbee: I fell in love with Lori.
Lori Coleman: No, you didn't. You told me what I wanted to hear.
Cumbee: Then I fell in love with you as a friend; you have the perfect family, a loving husband, a wonderful daughter, that's what I want.
Chris Coleman: Here's what I'd like to see happen. You've been caught. You've been busted by Dateline. Just stop the lies. Tell us the truth. I was sitting in there hearing one lie after another. I had to sit there and listen to my wife cry for two days straight in the room that we had set up for the baby that you were supposed to give us. How do you feel about that?
Cumbee: It hurts me.
Chris Coleman: It hurts you?
Lori Coleman: You don't know- you should be thankful you can have kids. Even when I knew you were lying; ask Vicky, what did I tell you?
Corderi: She still had hope.
Cumbee: I want you to still have hope.
Lori Coleman: I can't have hope- that's not fair! We have to go home to an empty nursery.
Chris Coleman: You're sitting there crying and we're the victims here. All the people you scammed are the victims and all you have to say is "I don't know."
Cumbee: I'm sorry. I wish I did know. Maybe I have mental problems.
Corderi: Was there any satisfaction for you at all in being able to confront her?
Chris Coleman: Yes there was because I got to look in this girl's eyes and make her know that we caught her at her own game and that we were not as stupid as she thought we were.
Corderi: Did you see remorse?
Chris Coleman: No.
Lori Coleman: Absolutely not. I saw eyes that were just empty.
Chris Coleman: I wanted to choke the girl, I did.
Lori Coleman: At the same time you're sitting there thinking, that poor innocent baby.
Amy Ost Cumbee: I don't know what else to say. After I get help I just hope y'all can forgive me.
"Christy"left our interview a worried woman, afraid her next stop might be jail.
When Amy knew she was caught her first statement to me was, "I guess you hate me." And then her second question was, "Am I goin' to jail?"
Cumbee: I'll take the heat for it you know. If I go to jail, I mean, maybe that's what I need.
Victoria Corderi asked the heartbroken prospective adoptive parents what should happen to Amy.
Chris Coleman: She must go to jail.
Lori Coleman: Jail.
Cindy Miller: Jail.
Todd Miller: Jail.
Karen Mantooth: Needs to go to prison.
And there's at least one more person who would like to see her behind bars: Eric Cumbee. Dateline tracked down Eric Cumbee, the ex-husband Amy claimed had introduced her to adoption scams.
Eric Cumbee, Amy's ex-husband: I think she's probably one of the most sinister people I've ever met in my life. Was I ever involved in an adoption scam? No.
In fact, her former husband says he wasn't her accomplice, he was her victim. They were married six years ago and after just 2 months, he says she abruptly disappeared.
Eric Cumbee: When she left, I received a stack of bills that were probably about 12 inches high. I had credit cards I didn't know I had. I owed people I didn't even know money. She put me about $15,000 in debt.
Cumbee believes his entire marriage was an elaborate con.
Eric Cumbee: She is a professional con artist. This is her job. This is what she does. And she's very good at it.
So it appears there are numerous people who want this woman to face justice. But will she?
Three of the couples reported her to the police. Karen and Mark Mantooth filed reports in Texas and Tennessee, while the Colemans went to the FBI as well to local law enforcement. They all say no one seemed willing or able to prosecute.
Chris Coleman: What our local district attorney told us was, "Chris and Lori, I'm sorry. I don't know what to charge it with."
Proving adoption fraud can be difficult—remember a potential birth mother is allowed by law to change her mind and keep whatever money she's received for expenses.
Chris Coleman: It's so frustrating that this girl scammed all of us and many more people—and nothing's being done, about it.
More victims come forward after the report aired on Dateline
No prosecution: That was where things stood when Dateline first broadcast this story in July. By then, the woman who'd admitted her real name was Amy— not Christy— had seemingly disappeared. She'd checked out of her hotel and had disconnected her cell phone.
But that wasn't the end of the story. When our report aired some viewers recognized her and contacted Dateline with new information. More people came forward to say they too were scammed by the woman at the center of our story.Mike and Chantelle Early say last April "Amy Cumbee" promised them a baby and that they sent her nearly $1,000 dollars.
Chantal Early, prospective adoptive mother: She knew what to say to us to draw us in. And make us feel like we were gonna have a little girl.
The Earlys say they drove all the way from Iowa to Nashville because Amy told them she was about to give birth. Then, they say, she cut them off.
Mike Early: It was a devastating car ride back with an empty car seat.
Chantal Early: And I still (sobbing) I still held on. I still had that little glimmer of hope. I think that was the hardest thing was. Watching that show, and seeing all the other couples having the same hope. You know, that baby was everybody's baby.
These two men from Amy's past say they were victims of a different sort—that Amy stole their hearts and then their money.
Victoria Corderi, Dateline correspondent: What did you think when you saw what she was doing?
Jimmy Hodge, Amy's ex-husband: It's like "Not again. What are you doing? When is enough enough?"
Jimmy Hodge says he and Amy were married in 1998, and just like the ex-husband we meet earlier, he says Amy fleeced him then fled.
Hodge: She left me and took off, and just took everything, I mean everything. The house was cleaned out. She took my dog.
Nathan Offut says he's an ex-boyfriend who also was taken for a financial ride.
Nathan Offut, Amy's ex-boyfriend: The stories and stuff are the same, just different little lies in it.
Caught pulling another con
So where was Amy when our report aired? Apparently pulling another con. This time, she'd convinced a domestic violence shelter to put her up in an apartment by claiming that she and her girlfriend were sisters who'd been abused by their father and needed a place to hide. Imagine the shelter director's shock when she watched our story and learned the truth.
She says she immediately called the Nashville police.
Police arrested Amy on an outstanding warrant for a probation violation. She'd pleaded guilty to running out on a hotel bill using yet another fake name, Marissa Foltz.
Her seeming accomplice talks to Dateline
But what about the real Christy—Amy's girlfriend? Our hidden cameras had seen the two women go on a shopping spree together with money that was meant for rent and food.
Well, she was not arrested. And in fact, the real Christy—who appeared to be in on the scheme—agreed to an interview with Dateline. She claims she's another one of Amy's victims.
While she admits she lied to the domestic violence shelter about being abused, says she knew nothing about Amy's dealing with the Colemans.
Christy Tidwell: She said her family was sending her money. And churches was giving her money. I never knew about anything else.
Christy says she has bipolar disorder, and that Amy convinced her to stop taking her medication and to hand over her disability checks. What's more, she says she believed that baby would be hers too.
Tidwell: She said we could raise it together, it'd be ours.
She says it wasn't until she saw our story that she realized what her friend had done, using her name.
Tidwell: It just blew my mind. I didn't know what to think.
Corderi: Were you ever involved in an adoption scam?
Tidwell: No, ma'am. And I can put my hand on the Bible, I couldn't hurt nobody like that.
In a final twist, Christy has joined the other couples we met in wanting to see this woman punished. She is cooperating with the Nashville DA's office to put together a case of identity theft.
Assistant District Attorney (in court): Did you ever give Amy Cumbee permission to use your name in a pregnancy scam with Miss Coleman?
Christy Tidwell: No, ma'am. I will swear on anything. I did not.
Amy waived her right to appear at a preliminary hearing in July. Lori Coleman was there to testify.
Lori Coleman: It was hard reliving everything 'cause I'm at the point now to where I'm angry instead of just heartbroken.
Then earlier this year, Amy pleaded guilty to identity theft. She got a suspended sentence of 2 years, and after spending nearly 10 months in jail she'll be released to a halfway house in May.
What happened to the baby?
But one big question remains: What happened to the baby? Or perhaps, was there ever a baby? The math just doesn't add up. When we met amy she said she was 7 months pregnant. Then six months later she was in the domestic violence shelter, still claiming to be pregnant.
Her room there was full of this baby gear that the shelter had helped her collect from local charities.
Corderi: Now you were with her every day for more than a year and she never gave birth to a baby?
Tidwell: No.
The men who knew her say Amy repeatedly said she was pregnant, then claimed to miscarry, and soon would announce she was pregnant again.
Corderi: How often did she tell you she was pregnant?
Hodge: I got it so many times I couldn't count.
Jimmy Hodge says he even caught her strapping on padding before a baby shower in her honor.
Hodge: I came home and I walk into the bathroom and she's there with a pillow on her stomach wrapping an ace bandage around it. I'm like, 'What the hell are you doing?'
The Colemans now believe that baby they'd wanted so badly never really existed.
Lori Coleman: And, looking back, when I touched her stomach as much as I touched it, her stomach was very soft. I wanted to believe she was pregnant because I was desperate for a child.
Still, happy endings
Fortunately, many of the couples who say they were burned by Amy have been able to fulfill their long delayed dreams of parenthood.
The Mantooths brought home a son they names Joshua just a month after they were stung.
And after all the anguish they've been through, the Colemans too have seen their dream come true. In September, they adopted Kingston, a baby boy they say makes their family complete.
© 2013 NBCNews.com Reprints


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Yesterday I visited Flash Camp London '09, an all day community-run Adobe sponsored event on all things Flash Platform.
Last September I attended Flex Camp '08, (essentially the same, but obviously focused on Flex) so I expected much the same – cool demos, sneak previews, maybe some insight to what Adobe have in the pipeline for the future – and got pretty much exactly that.
Serge Jespers' opening keynote held a lot of optimism and promise for the future of the Flash Platform, quoting the huge number of downloads to date and pointing to the constant growth in market share that the Flash Player and AIR are enjoying – throwing in a couple of digs to the various doubters in the sums while he was at it.
He spoke about the Open Screen Project and Adobe's ongoing aim to achieve a level of open portability across multiple platforms – not only in the browser and onto the desktop, but to mobile devices too and television platforms. On the subject of the mobile platform, he discussed prototype versions of Flash Player 9 (and 10?) running on a few devices he had to hand (though unfortunately no demo) and expressed Adobe's wish to have those ready for manufacturers by the end of the year, with intention to have them consumer ready for the end of 2010.
Seb Lee-Delisle was first up, showing off some of the Papervision work he'd recently completed with his agency. He also had some nice demos of the augmented reality tutorials that have been going around lately. These usually use nice applications of the ARToolKit, but Seb pointed to a Flash port I hadn't yet come across called the FLARToolKit. Presumably with which, you have full control via Actionscript. The Papervision blog has a pretty cool example of the kind of things you can achieve with it.
Next up was Michael Chase, Senior Creative Developer at AKQA. He presented his latest work, Nike Football, which involved a lot of work with Pixel Bender – the new video processing and visual manipulation platform available with Flash Player 10.
Pixel Bender is a non-destructive way to manipulate the pixel data of images and videos by means of developing bespoke plug-ins that function in Flash in a similar way to the various visual effects and filters do in Photoshop or Illustrator.
He demonstrated the Pixel Bender Toolkit, the GUI software used to create these filters. It's purposely almost identical to every other program in the Creative Suite. Adobe are really pushing for seamless integration across the whole family of software for creators – the vocabulary, workspace, tool sets – all feel very familiar.
For the Nike site, Michael basically developed one filter for use across all video and image content. This seems straightforward enough, but it's an brilliant advancement only made possible by using Pixel Bender. This way, there's no need to render of every piece of video with the filter on – or subsequently re-render when the filter is inevitably tweaked (which, of course, could only be the case if permission was given to manipulate supplied video footage in the first place). It also means the video filter doesn't have to be designed by a creator skilled in After Effects or other video editing software – as said, the Toolkit handles very much like Photoshop, which most designers are fluent in – I think Michael said you could actually use Photoshop to create filters anyway.
It also means you can change the single filter once and apply the changes to all the assets rather than having to edit every piece individually – and as he suggested, not having manipulated the source material means the un-filtered source can be reused elsewhere. And of course because it's just Actionscript before it's compiled, the whole plug-in script can be manipulated by a Flash developer.
It was good to see this in use, I'd only really seen the default demo 'Swirl' effect that a lot of others there also seemed only to have seen (I'm not sure of the real name). That 'swirl' is so drastic it seems to have no possible use case, so I'd not really considered Pixel Bender since. Here though its use is subtle, well executed and well placed – I'll have to give it a go.
Mike Chambers then discussed 'Scripting with Actionscript 3.0'. Though relatively well-covered territory for the developers, he set about debunking popular misconceptions of Actionscript 3, going through the benefits of migration and giving some examples.
He started with a little background on the new Actionscript version, discussed how the Flash Player was hitting the limits of performance that AS2 could achieve, that Actionscript 3 was heavily driven by the need for application development – which by that point a lot of (the now) RIA developers were forcing into Actionscript 2. They also had Flex in mind.
As I agree with him, ultimately, AS3 isn't that different to AS2, but it is just different. It's not harder, or 'slower' per se. On a language level, the syntax is still simple and very much the same – it's the APIs that might present more difficulty for those migrating. The APIs in Actionscript 2 grew organically, expanding where needed, but unfortunately did so inconsistently. It's that realignment that's a larger change to overcome.
Arguably, any developer with OOP experience, where consistency is promoted, wouldn't struggle. He suggests that learning Actionscript 3 is future-proofing yourself for new languages that will be far more digestible now that Actionscript contends as a stronger language.
With that in mind, he did admit that the way Adobe present Actionscript 3 can be somewhat intimidating to those without that kind of basic knowledge. The documentation is very much aimed at developers – the code examples are in class and package structures, assuming programming experience where the previous help documentation never did.
Timeline coding is still possible, easily, but it isn't documented anywhere near as much as class structured code. With one or two caveats, it actually works in almost exactly the same way.
As well as the 'future-proofing' mentioned, Actionscript 3 heralds a whole load of other advantages. It's more verbose (probably where the argued 'slower development process' claim lies) but in that, offers better debugging – the compiler can be set to be more strict and to detect errors earlier, even – and it's also the language for new libraries and APIs (think Papervision, Alchemy, the many tweening engines) both from Adobe and efforts from the community.
Richard Dean presented his work on the EA Spore microsite, specifically his efforts built using the Inverse Kinematics and 3D of Flash CS4 – demonstrating some nice timeline-based animation effects, the use of the new 'Bone' tool to build character skeletons (more about this later) – as well as some handy tips and best practices.
James Whittaker's presentation 'Your First Custom Chrome AIR App With Flash CS4' delivered exactly what it said on the tin. He offered a walkthrough on how to build your first AIR application, how to design a custom chrome and the various provisions that must be made in doing so, up to publishing an AIR application file and customising the various settings in the new CS4 GUI. He also spoke about handling icons, digital signing, then creating a nice installer badge at the end. His presentation files are already up online.
Lee Brimelow had a huge amount to say about the new CS4 version of Flash – apparently trying to cram a whole day session into his 45 minute slot. He spoke about the new animation model in Flash, how it's more like After Effects now – again, the overlapping of software uses in the Creative Suite – how even the timeline in the standard workspace is at the bottom of the screen, more along the lines of video editing software.
So much more of the animation process is automated now, to great effect. Motion paths are automatically constructed, even for simple tweens. The path can be treated like any other line in Flash thereon, allowing curvature, adjustment of Bézier angles. Adding a keyframe and point in the middle of a tween no longer creates an awkward corner, but a curve to compliment the original motion path.
There's far more control. The tween itself is handled as a unique object, so moving or resizing or changing the length of an animation is much easier and also independent of the clip being tweened – there's no more clumsy attempt to select multiple frames to modify a complete tween.
Again there was demonstration of the native '3D' in Flash Player 10. Lee couldn't emphasise enough though, that these is intentionally simple 3D effects for transitions and such – not for full 3D immersive environments, for which he recommends to look to Papervision or similar. When the 3D tools are in use though, it's seamless. There's a tool to rotate by the Z-axis as simply as there is one for the 2D axes – in doing this, Flash starts to look like 3D rendering software.
These renders are possible because of the 'notorious' inclusion of a constantly-running Flash Player on the stage – it's how Adobe have addressed differences seen in author-time to run-time. In having an constantly running instance of the Flash Player, there should be far fewer discrepancies – although, as they are fully aware of – is a memory hog.
Lee also pointed out the code snippets panel Flash CS4 offers – something I thought Mike Chambers would have mentioned. They're basically small templates of handy bits of code that anyone unfamiliar with Actionscript (or Actionscript 3, for migrating developers and designers alike) to add common bits of functionality – mouse or frame event handlers for example.
Again we saw Inverse Kinematics – these are great for character animations and (I think perfect) for mocking up prototypes when realistic proofs are required but perhaps the resource isn't available to fully code them. They're very quickly put together but equally very effective. Simply constraints applied to skeleton joints create faux-physics that look very convincing. Have a look here if you've not seen these in action.
All of that is possible with zero code. Also, all the drag-drop manipulation possible at author-time can also be translated for the user to play with at run-time with the tick of a box – still, with no coding.
Finally Lee demonstrated the new motion editor, which has also has given a huge amount of control to the author compared to what was available before. The complexity of a tween (whether an 'x' position or alpha value or whatever) can now be broken down into multiple channels of manipulation.
For example, previously the complexity of control over a tween was determined (and limited) by the tweening graph. This remains, but now different types of easing can be applied to the different parameters within that graph. Say a clip was moving diagonally across the stage – the horizontal movement could have an ease out whilst the vertical direction may have an elastic easing (or obviously any combination). All the tiny tweaks and nuances to animations that couldn't be easily achieved in previous versions of Flash, or even those only achievable by code now look entirely possible on the timeline at author-time. Lee's tutorial is a must-see.
Finally, Serge returned to discuss 'Flex workflows with Flash CS4'. He demonstrated some good techniques in working across Flash and Flex within single projects – firstly how to use Flex metadata tags in Flash, then how to create classes using the Flex SDK and compile those as Flex Library Projects to use as SWC files within Flash (and the Flash CS4 use of SWCs is so much better – adding files to the library rather than to the classpath list) – then likewise compiling components in Flash to handle in Flex. The latter also maintains coded methods on the Flash components that can be handled within the Flex projects, easing the workflow between Flash and Flex developers no end.
Similarly, to ease the workflow between developers and designers (and as I thought would get a mention), Serge ended by demonstrating Flash Catalyst (previously 'Thermo'). He created Flex components from Flash graphics, multi-layered PSD files and Illustrator assets – all of which generated MXML code that a developer can play with later.
All in all, a great session – Chester and the guys were never going to disappoint. 😉
Various content online can be found in a number of places if you look for the 'flashcamp_uk' tag – there's a whole heap of conversation on Twitter, I expect photos on Flickr and videos on Youtube and Vimeo will surface soon enough. I'll also put up links to presentations files and source code as and when they find themselves uploaded online.
Update (09.03.09): Serge now has a video tutorial over on his blog demonstrating how to use simple Flex Library Projects in Flash.

subset: commoncrawl


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Science Friday® is produced by the Science Friday Initiative, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Science Friday® and SciFri® are registered service marks of Science Friday, Inc. Site design by Pentagram; engineering by Mediapolis.
|Yes, we know they're imaginary -- but what would a psychiatrist make of the brain of a zombie? Can a researcher develop a consistent theory of undead neuroscience from a detailed study of zombie films? And are there psychological tips to surviving a zombie attack? We'll talk with Steven Schlozman, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a lecturer at the Harvard School of Education, a leading authority on the brains of the living dead.


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Main Office
Performance Management & Development Program (PDMP) is a new campus-wide software program designed to streamline and track activities and conversations between supervisors and their direct reports. This will provide greater consistency in how performance management is recorded while granting employees greater transparency and agency over their individual performance reviews.
The Office of Human Resources will be conducting trainings for both employees and supervisors. Everyone is encouraged to attend these sessions to understand how this new system will impact their overall performance management and career within the UW. This will take effect for Fiscal Year 19 reviews.
Register at https://go.wisc.edu/xc225k.
Maximum capacity 60.


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Make sure you have these essentials on hand before you bring the baby home!
- Car seat(s): A properly installed car seat is a must-have before leaving the hospital with your new bundle of joy. A bucket-type seat is ideal from birth until your baby is about 5 to 7 months old (depending on your baby's size).
- Stroller(s): For infants, a snap-n-go stroller is a quick way to go from car seat to stroller – the seat easily fits right in the stroller frame.
- A place for baby to sleep: Whether baby sleeps with you or in her own room, there are many choices out there, including a crib, mini-crib, pack-n-play, bassinet, arms reach co-sleeper or your own bed! Think about your home set up and lifestyle before you make any sleeper purchases.
- Diaper bag: When purchasing a diaper bag, consider your lifestyle and budget, and who will be using it (i.e., something your husband/partner won't be embarrassed to carry too!) Other options include a backpack or even a larger purse you already own.
- Baby bathtub: This really will make your life easier. You can put it in your kitchen sink or in your tub and it keeps your little one confined in a smaller space. You will probably be using your tub for six months, if not longer, until you feel comfortable with your baby sitting up in the big tub.
- Bottles and feeding supplies: Even if you are planning on exclusively breastfeeding, it's a good idea to have a few bottles and nipples sterilized and ready to use. You never know how breastfeeding will go and you may want your partner/family member to give the baby a bottle of expressed milk or formula at some point.
- Swing or bouncy seat: This is a great item to borrow from friends or purchase second hand, as they are usually gently used for a short period of time. Swings and bouncy seats are ideal for when you need to put your baby down so that you can take a shower, fix yourself lunch or take a break! If you go for a swing, look for the kind that swing from side-to-side as babies seem to like this motion best.
- 8 to 10 sleepers/outfits/onsies: It's good to have a week's worth of outfits on hand, washed and ready to go. The last thing you want as you are recovering from childbirth is to have to do multiple loads of laundry each day. Babies tend to spit up, poop, and leak out of their clothes so don't be surprised if in the first weeks, your little one goes through two or three outfits per day.


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We have eight ongoing programs.Learn More
We have eight ongoing programs.Learn More
Individual Placements
For individual placements, please contact Lynn Pierson for community service opportunities or Kyle Bray for service-learning opportunities.
Go on a Bucknell Trip
Bucknell faculty, staff, and student organizations have service trips to offer from around campus. || Learn More
Work with a Service Organization
There are many non-Bucknell organizations that host alternative break trips. || Learn More
Plan Your Own Experience
Students can design their own learning and service opportunities and pursue their passion for making a difference. || Learn More
Take Flat Bucky with you!
We have seven annual programs.Learn More
Take part in an alternative break!
Bucknell Buddies
After-school tutoring for the children of Essex Place, an affordable housing complex located within minutes of Bucknell's campus, and Meadow View located north on Route 15. || More about Bucknell Buddies
ESL Tutoring
The Bucknell ESL Tutoring Program supports English Language Learners in local school districts and community sites. || More about ESL Tutoring
The Lewisburg Community Garden Project offers plots to local residents interested in growing their own produce.Learn More about the Lewisburg Community Garden Project
Held at St. Andrews Church in Milton, this weekly Bucknell sponsored hot meal program, is run by students, staff, faculty, and local community members.Learn More about Community Harvest
We have many community service crafting projects that benefit the local area.Learn More About Crafting
Part of the National Head Start Association, a private non-profit organization that provides services of education, health, nutrition and parent involvement to low-income families with children.Learn More about Head Start Outreach
Provides a pack of food 1 weekend a month to low-income families with school-aged children.Learn More about Snack Pack
Find a list of one time upcoming events and opportunities.View Upcoming Events
Fill baskets with Thanksgiving dinner items for local families in need.Learn more
Take a dip in the mighty Susquehanna River to benefit the Lewisburg Downtown Partnership.Learn More About the Polar Bear Plunge
Each September and January, local agencies seeking volunteers are invited to campus to recruit volunteers for their organizations.Learn More about How to Participate
An innovative program to raise money for local foods programs that assist the needy.Learn more about Empty Bowls
Assist downtown businesses with spring projectsLearn More about Neighborhood Thaw Out
Provide holiday gifts for local community members in need.Learn More About The Giving Tree
Celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. with our many different service events.Learn More
The following links are virtual breadcrumbs marking the 27 most recent pages you have visited in Bucknell.edu. If you want to remember a specific page forever click the pin in the top right corner and we will be sure not to replace it. Close this message.


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Solid Green Ties
Need solid green ties for teams, school groups or choirs? Need a solid green tie that can be embroidered on? Need green solid colored neckties at discount prices -- with even greater discounts for quantity orders? Then you've found the Internet's best place to shop for solid green neckties!


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remarquian wrote:I just RSVP'd for the PP Climb on the 24th.
Coming down from Denver and planning on QC at the REI in CS.
2k1Toaster wrote:
Or go across the street to Woodmen Nissan and get the QC for free.
-- Nick
Nfuzzy wrote:Yeah, if you have NCTC evgo is much faster, but woodmen Nissan is usually available. I will be doing the hill climb too. Glad I won't be the only leaf this year!


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Topic: Mandalorian Basilisk War Droids
Thought this was pretty cool. A new Bounty Hunter expansion pack for the Star Wars Miniatures games.
http://www.starwars.com/gaming/other/rp … 60816.html
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=st … ntyhunters
And one of the new figs is even a Mandalorian Basilisk War Droid. Very nifty.
"I'm just a simple Fan, trying to make my way in the universe."


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Stuart Gibbard & Harold Beer
Format: PAL
Duration: 203 minutes
First Pasture Price: £43.61
Status: In Stock
This Special Offer Collection contains all three volumes of Ferguson on the Farm, a superb series filmed in Devon. With a saving of £7 this three dvd set will appeal to all Ferguson and farm machinery enthusiasts.
Ferguson on the Farm Part One: Harry Ferguson's system of farm mechanisation is brought to life here by some 25 implements filmed at work. Beginning with early summer cultivations and potato planting, the programme covers weed control in potatoes and kale, hay and silage making, hedge trimming and general farm tasks such as post-hole boring and milk churn transport. It concludes with potato lifting, disc ploughing, earth moving and work with the Ferguson reversible plough.
The majority of the implements are from Harold Beer's working collection in North Devon and many were bought new. A range of Fergies provide the power, one of them still at work on the family farm where it was first used in 1949. The programme has a full commentary scripted by Stuart Gibbard, author of The Ferguson Tractor Story. The narrator is BBC broadcaster and tractor enthusiast David Holt.
Ferguson on the Farm Part Two: This dvd shows a wide range of Ferguson equipment, ploughs, cultivators and disc harrows at work. Ferguson provided a complete system of mechanisation and we see many of the rarer implements in action, including the sub-soiler, rowcrop thinner, crane, dump skip, winch, cordwood saw and hammer mill. Muck-spreading and bale-loading sequences show all the different Ferguson trailers and loaders, illustrating just how extensive the range had become by the 1950s. Nearly all the implements come from Harold Beer's collection in North Devon.
Ferguson on the Farm Part Three: Our third visit to Great Shortridge Farm near Umberleigh, sees Harold Beer demonstrate implements from the later Ferguson era as well as machines from the early Massey Ferguson range. We join him in the spring as he uses a Rotavator attachment to prepare a seedbed for potatoes that he then plants with an MF 718 Automatic Potato Planter. Going on through the year, we see Harold at work with an MF 770 Heavy Duty Spike Tooth harrow, a 32-7 unit seeder, an MF 37-7 hay conditioner and a 732 mower. Some eighteen different sequences show a variety of machines in action from an MF 203 digger loader to unusual ploughs. Highlights include an MF 711 potato harvester lifting the crop we saw planted earlier.


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Updated February 2019
London isn't all high-rises and big crowds, there are flourishing gardens and vast, emerald spaces to be found. From wildlife in Richmond Park, to secret central city spots, six gardening experts reveal their favourite hidden gems.
1. Skip Garden, King's Cross
"Sited between cranes, in the middle of a building site, Skip Garden at King's Cross shows that it's possible to grow food almost anywhere. By growing flowers, vegetables and plants in skips, the garden can be moved when needed. It's so inspiring to see lush herbs and salad leaves in the heart of the city." – Mark Ridsdill Smith, founder, The Vertical Veg Club
2. Eccleston Square, Victoria
"Hidden away behind Victoria Station, elegant Eccleston Square contains one of the best secret gardens in London. Extending to three acres, it feels like a private garden, with paths lined with majestic plane trees winding around open lawn and borders filled with an array of rare and wonderful plants. The garden is open to the public twice a year, in aid of the National Gardens Scheme (NGS) and Open Squares Weekend." – George Plumptre, chief executive of National Gardens Scheme
Little critters
When you wander through London's parks and meander along paths, keep your eyes peeled for little creatures and colourful flowers.€121 pppnBook a stay at Eccleston Square
Go green
Hidden away by the Thames, Chelsea Physic Garden's heat-trapping high brick walls shelter over 5,000 different edible, medicinal and historical plants – including the largest fruiting olive tree in Britain. If you're visiting in summer, join one of the free garden tours.Book flights to London
Garden kitchen
Tuck into seasonal super salads, soups, sandwiches and sweet treats – often made with organic ingredients grown on site – at Skip Garden Kitchen. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am-4pm.Book a trip to London
3. Carlos Place, Mayfair
"One of my most favourite green spots is under the trees outside of the Connaught Hotel on Carlos Place and the junction of Mount Street in Mayfair. Here, you'll find a water feature called 'Silence' by the world-renowned Japanese artist Tadao Ando. You can sit on the granite stone blocks at the entrance to the Church of the Immaculate Conception, with its lovely olive trees, and admire the water sculpture on the opposite side of the road." – Stephen Woodhams, garden designer and founder of Stephen Woodhams Design
4. Raworth Gardens, Twickenham
"You can't beat a private garden when you want some peace and quiet. One of my favourites is Jenny and Richard Raworth's hidden oasis in Twickenham. It's full to bursting with everything a lush English garden should have — scented roses, wonderful herbaceous borders, gorgeous topiary and even a bog garden... and all in a small space. Very inspiring indeed. The garden is open to the public twice a year, in aid of the NGS, or by appointment with Jenny though the website." – Laetitia Maklouf, garden blogger and author
Secret garden
First opened to the public in 1953, the ornamental woodland garden is best known for its azaleas and rhododendrons – which are particularly striking during April and May at their peak of flower – as well as other rare and exotic trees and shrubs.Book flights to London
5. The Isabella Plantation, Richmond
"The Isabella Plantation is nestled in the middle of Richmond Park, Surrey. It's a joy to wander through its vast array of scented plants and shrubs. It is a riot of colour in spring, with its outstanding collection of Rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas. The perfect spot for quiet contemplation." – Thomas Broom, horticultural director, Petersham Nurseries
6. The Chelsea Physic Garden, Chelsea
"The Chelsea Physic Garden is a hidden delight. Behind its high walls lies a tranquil and fascinating collection of edible, useful, medicinal and rare plants. A great spot for a party or a quiet cup of tea while discovering the history of the garden and the impact that particular plants have had on modern society." – Will Ramsay, founder of GROW London


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The idea for Red Savannah was always based on a clear market need. A small team of the most experienced travel designers, supported by the latest technology and delivered with the lightest touch. In short, a travel company redefined for the 21st century.
Registered Office
Reading Bridge House,
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Registered in the UK and Ireland
Company number: 07430273
Red Savannah® is a registered trademark of Red Savannah Ltd
© 2019 Red Savannah Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Development news
Second update in a week !
Second update in a week !
Heh, you didn't expect that so soon, did you ?
Here it is, a new AAO update. It contains the following changes.
New features :
- Dynamic playtesting from the editor. Clicking the Playtest button in the editor now opens a player that contains your pending, unsaved changes. No need to save the changes every single time you need to test them ! (Unas)
- New smooth scrolling modes. In addition to the linear transition previously available, you now have other options to adapt the scrolling rate to your needs. (ThePasch)
- Expression to return player health. Use f:player_health in the expression engine to get the current player health. (Enthalpy)
Bugfixes :
- Issue brought by latest update where the "Start" button and preloading process would be automatically skipped when loading a save. (Enthalpy)
- Issue #78 : Fix conversion process for old trials which contained invalid external sprites. (Enthalpy)
- Issues #154 and #156 : Fix error in the screen preview panel of the editor. (Enthalpy)
- Issue #129 : Fix some broken aspects of loading game saves, regarding CR Icons, psyche locks and camera positioning. (Enthalpy)
- Issue #160 : Errors when editing multiple contradictions. (Enthalpy)
- Only apply style fixer to local stylesheets, to avoid conflicts with browser extensions. (Unas)
Regarding the big new feature that is the dynamic playtesting, it's worth noting that this change was made possible by the Diff&Patch engine implemented in the previous update.
First on a technical level because it works by actually sending a diff of all your unsaved changes towards the player; but also from a usability perspective - because the Diff engine also powers the warning when closing the editor with unsaved changes.
Indeed, without this warning, you could easily forget that your changes are unsaved and close everything after playtesting - and you would lose those changes. Thanks to the warning, however, this is no longer the case : the editor knows that your changes are unsaved, and will remind you about it if you try to close it.
I hope you enjoy this update !


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For some time now I have been pondering the point of FourSquare.
I joined the sit and started checking in with gusto in December 2009. However, I found myself becoming underwhelmed rather quickly.
I was also uncomfortable broadcasting my location, especially after seeing the state of my Facebook and Twitter feeds after a shopping trip to London.
When the website Please Rob Me appeared with its constantly updating list of tweeted Foursquare updates, it didn't surprise me.
Since December I have given it a try a couple of times, without Tweeting locations, but the game hasn't grabbed my attention and I couldn't see wider application for it at this stage.
Then I read Elizabeth Redman's article on Editor's Weblog "What does Foursquare mean for newspapers".
Redman quite rightly points out Foursquare is a great way to link up with venues for reviews and reader offers.
The New York Times has created a badge for people who "check in" at Vancouver Winter Olympic venues.
Canadian newspaper Metro has joined with Foursquare to link editorial content to locations and send alerts out to subscribers/friends.
Reading this I can see the potential for local newspapers, linking reader offers with a Foursquare to do list. The difficulty is grabbing advertisers' imaginations.
Something I keep reminding myself is how I didn't "get" Twitter or Facebook in the early days.
Even now many of my colleagues can't see the point of using social media to drive traffic to our newspapers' websites and interact with a wider audience.
But, there is hope as the advertising sales people are starting to ask about using Twitter and Facebook. After all, these sites are our fourth and seventh biggest referrers.
Additional (March 13, 2010) : I am still playing with Foursquare and have become mayor of two locations. There is a long way to go before its potential is realised in the UK.


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You are here
Save money and the environment in Lynchburg by recycling!
Acceptable Recyclables
- Corrugated Cardboard - flattened
- Drink & Food Cans - rinse and crush
- Newspapers & Inserts - no strings or bags please
- Mixed Paper - food boxes, magazines, mail, bad report cards, etc., flatten boxes please
- Plastic Containers #1 through #7 (no styrofoam or plastic bags) - rinse and crush
- NOTE: Due to the current market, glass is no longer accepted at any of the recycling sites.
Drop-Off Center Locations
- Grace Street, Behind Fire Station
Linkhorne Drive, Behind the Comcast Cable Office
Kroger, Old Graves Mill Road & Timberlake Road
- River Ridge Mall (2 locations JCPenny's parking area & across from Macy's parking area)
- Corner of Alleghany Avenue & Lakeside Drive
- Village Court Shopping Center, Boonsboro Road
- 2704 Concord Turnpike, Parking Lot
Find the nearest drop off locations
Search by address to find the recycling center nearest you!
Example: 900 Church St
Pick up FREE recycling boxes!
The City of Lynchburg has resurrected the famous recycling box! The box is ideal for storing recyclables to take to the drop-off recycling centers. Easy to follow instructions on how to properly recycle materials are printed on the box.
Lynchburg residents may pick up a free recycling box at the following locations:
- City Hall Information Desk, 900 Church Street
- Public Works Building, 2nd Floor, 1700 Memorial Avenue
For more information on recycling, contact the Regional Recycling Program Manager:(434) 455-6085; Email firstname.lastname@example.com


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Intensive care linked to BPA exposure in newborns
Highest levels of pollutant occur in sickest babies, study finds
Hospitals rush newborns into a neonatal intensive care unit when those babies are struggling to survive. Although NICUs offer tender and vigilant care, many of the devices they rely on can expose their tiny patients to a relatively large dose of a hormone-mimicking pollutant, bisphenol A.
Newborns in intensive care excrete BPA, on average, at levels of around 17.8 micrograms per liter — well above the 0.45 µg/l typical of healthy infants, researchers report in the March Pediatrics. One of the most reliable indicators of BPA exposure was the level of care that a baby received, reflected by the number of devices used to deliver that care, notes nurse and exposure-science researcher Susan Duty of Simmons College in Boston. Breathing tubes, intravenous drug delivery lines and enclosed incubators are plastic, and several types of plastic can contain BPA.
Although researchers have not figured out what doses of BPA cause toxicity in people, several studies have linked elevated prenatal exposures to later behavioral problems (SN Online: 7/16/12) and moodiness (SN: 11/7/09, p. 12) in young children. Animal studies have also linked BPA exposure during development to feminization in males and risks of later hypertension and diabetes.
Duty's team studied 55 infants, each of whom spent at least three days in a NICU in the Boston area, and most of whom had been born prematurely or were for other reasons very small. The researchers measured BPA in the breast milk and formula that these tiny babies consumed. Both nutritional sources had small, comparable amounts of BPA.
Regular urine samples then revealed how much BPA the babies had encountered.
The urine of newborns who had received treatment with four or more NICU devices contained 36.6 µg/l BPA on average. That level was almost three times as much as babies treated with three or fewer devices. "I was surprised," Duty says, "especially because this particular [NICU] had taken considerable care to purchase products that were BPA-free whenever possible."
Roughly one-fifth of the babies had been treated with at least four medical devices. Contrary to her expectations, Duty found that respiratory devices, not IV tubing, proved to have the strongest link with elevated BPA levels.
Another surprise was that prematurity accounted for 30 percent of the variability in urinary BPA, says Laura Vandenberg, a developmental biologist at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., who was not involved in the study.
One possible explanation for prematurity's link to BPA levels emerged at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Boston. On February 17, researchers with the Food and Drug Administration's National Center for Toxicological Research in Jefferson, Ark. reported rodent and monkey experiments showing that very young animals broke down BPA very slowly (SN: 3/9/13, p. 9).
If the animal data hold true for humans, Vandenberg says, immature babies may get a more potent punch from BPA simply because their bodies are relatively inefficient at breaking down the compound.
S.M. Duty, et al. Potential sources of bisphenol A in the neonatal intensive care unit. Pediatrics. Vol. 131. March 2013, p. 483. doi: 10.1542/peds.2012-1380. [Go to]
D.R. Doerge. BPA pharmacokinetics in the adult and perinatal periods in experimental animals. American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting. Presented February 16, 2013. [Go to]
L.S. Vandenberg, et al. Hormones and endocrine-disrupting chemicals: Low-dose effects and nonmonotonic dose responses. Endocrine Reviews. Vol. 33, June 2012, p. 378. doi:10.1210/er.2011-1050. [Go to]
Å. Bergman, et al. (Editors). State of the science of endocrine disrupting chemicals 2012. A report of the Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals. Published by the United Nations Environment Program and the World Health Organization. Feb. 19, 2013.
J. Raloff. Blood levels of BPA become source of controversy. Science News. Vol. 183, March 9, 2013. [Go to]
J. Raloff. White dental fillings may impair kids' behavior. Science News Online, July 16, 2012. [Go to]
J. Raloff. BPA fosters diabetes-promoting changes. Science News Online, February 9, 2012. [Go to]
J. Raloff. EPA considers new call for toxicity testing of BPA. Science News blog. July 26, 2011. [Go to]
J. Raloff. BPA makes male mice less macho. Science News. Vol. 180, July 30, 2011, p. 16. [Go to]
J. Raloff. Cans bring BPA to dinner, FDA confirms. Science News blog. May 25, 2011. [Go to]
J. Raloff. Skin is no barrier to BPA, study shows. Science News. Vol. 178, December 4, 2010. [Go to]
J. Raloff. Exposure of moms-to-be to hormone-mimicking chemical may affect kids years later. Science News Online, May 19, 2010. [Go to]
J. Raloff. BPA in womb shows link to kids' behavior. Science News. Vol. 176, November 7, 2009, p. 12. [Go to]


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Palm Coast has rejected a request from Flagler County to keep red-light cameras off State Road 100.
Palm Coast has rejected a request from Flagler County to reconsider installing red-light cameras along State Road 100.
Flagler County Chairwoman Barbara Revels sent a letter to the city asking that it reconsider placing red-light cameras on S.R. 100. Revels wrote that citizens are already avoiding shopping in central Palm Coast because of red-light cameras and don't want to have to deal with the devices on S.R. 100.
But that argument did not sway the City Council during its workshop Tuesday. Mayor Jon Netts said Revels' argument was not convincing and he would draft a letter rejecting the request.
"To me the argument was weak: We'd rather have people driving unsafely than not," Netts said.
Councilman Bill McGuire agreed.
"The idea that you wouldn't shop in a city because they require you to obey the law... " McGuire said.
"And, quite frankly, if you are that bad a driver that you can't obey the law, then maybe I'd rather you shop somewhere else," Netts said.
But Revels said in a phone interview that Netts' and McGuire's remarks were missing the mark by framing it as drivers wanting to disregard the law.
"I think that's a huge overstatement," Revels said. "That supposes that I'm not going to come to Palm Coast and shop there because I want to run red lights and not obey laws. That's ridiculous. None of us wants to accidentally run a red light or barely be in an intersection when the light turns red."
Revels sent the letter Sept. 11 saying she had been contacted by residents in Bunnell, Flagler Beach, Palm Coast and unincorporated Flagler County about the planned red lights on S.R. 100. Revels said she recognizes the city has the right to install the cameras within its boundaries even on a state highway.
"Up to this point, you have primarily placed the cameras in the City's core on roadways entirely controlled and almost entirely used by the citizens of Palm Coast," Revels wrote. "With the cameras proposed on State Road 100, you will now be affecting other communities and tourism in a major way."
Revels also wrote that people want to be able to shop without concern about red-light cameras and tickets of $158.
The city now has 10 cameras covering six intersections. Drivers who run red lights or turn right on red without sufficiently slowing are ticketed. A batch of 45 additional cameras to monitor numerous intersections are due to start filming by the end of this year.
That includes new cameras on S.R. 100 at Belle Terre Parkway, Seminole Woods Boulevard, Memorial Medical Parkway, Interstate 95 and Old Kings Road. Once cameras go up, motorists will have a 30-day grace period during which they will receive warnings, City Manager Jim Landon said.
That would put cameras on a route many drivers use to get to the interstate, the SuperTarget center and Winn-Dixie shopping center, and the beach.
"They have stated that they currently avoid shopping in Palm Coast's core area due to the traffic and red light cameras," Revels wrote in her letter.
She also wrote that the red-light cameras could hurt tourism.
"Getting a ticket of $158 may become an unpleasant reminder of their visit and a reason why they will not come back to visit our community," Revels wrote.
Netts said the city already has a contract with American Traffic Solutions to install the additional cameras on S.R. 100 and elsewhere.
"I would expect everybody to drive safely no matter where they shop," Netts said after Tuesday's meeting. "If you drive safely and properly and obey the speed limits and keep appropriate distances the fact that there is a red-light camera shouldn't influence or affect you at all. Drive carefully, that's the message.


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This Wind Pro Vest from Northwave features a kite-like polyester material, ensuring a decent level of wind blocking. With reflective shoulder straps, mesh back, zip underlay and a self packing pocket, do all these features make for a category winner?
The aforementioned polyester material is extremely windproof, labelled as 'Windshield Plus' It is almost impenetrable. It is a great option for when the weather really turns or if beginning a long descent - when you know you're going to be getting a wind battering.
The problem is that it feels a bit like a plastic bag; it is crunchy, unlike other clothing materials like Windtex. I can liken it to a kite or parachute, and because of this, I didn't really want to wear it for prolonged periods.
It's not unlike a lightweight rain jacket in that sense: it does the job when you need it but once the rain (or wind in this case) stops, you start to notice what you're wearing.
Thankfully, the gilet has a neat self-packing feature, so you can take it off and stow away as necessary. It works using a little pouch on the rear, which you roll the gilet up into, creating a pac-a-mac sort of bundle that can fit into a pocket.
All this windproof polyester should make for a sweat trap but a large meshed rear panel section helps to prevent this. I did find it sweatier than other gilets - even with this panel - simply because the wind blocking sections work both ways. It's not a problem though if you wear it as a 'use and put away' garment.
I tested a large and found it to be too big for me really (184cm, 36cm chest). With a gilet like this you want a fairly close fit to prevent any flapping in the wind. Elastic cuffs around the waist and arms hold the gilet on well and a high collar prevents any wind creeping down the neck.
Gilets are often used once the gray skies come, so it's nice to have a couple of reflective strips on the shoulder and lower back, along with reflective text.
Praise where praise is due for this gilet's ability to provide protection from the wind. The trouble is that this comes at the price of breathability and comfort.
If what you're looking for is a gilet where protection trumps over all-day comfort; the kind of gilet you pack away again once used, the Northwave Pro Wind Vest could be just for you.
A pack-away gilet with excellent wind protection, if a little crunchy.
If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website
road.cc test report
Make and model: Northwave Wind Pro Vest
Size tested: Large, white
Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
It's a gilet that sides more on wind proofing properties than breathability and all-day comfort.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
MAIN FABRIC: 100% polyester extra light + coating on the back
ZIP: Full opening zip with garage
VENT INSERTS: Mesh inserts under arm
REFLEX INSERTS: Front - back
TECH: Internal wind coating
PACKAGING: Packable on the rear pocket (banana pouche)
No problems as such but nothing out of the ordinary either.
Superb as a wind and weather blocker but not as nice to wear as other gilets.
Seems to be well made with a good quality zip.
Comfort in terms of weather protection is good but in terms of wearer comfort, the polyester is crunchy, which can be slightly uncomfortable.
The £40rrp seems a little steep to me for a gilet whose material selection isn't particularly technical. Features like the self-packing pocket and reflective strips help to hold this up though.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
As a wind stopper and one which packs away once used, it was great.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
Its wind protection credentials.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
The material is crunchy and slightly like wearing a plastic bag.
Did you enjoy using the product? At times.
Would you consider buying the product? No, I prefer gilets that make up another layer of clothing than this 'use only if required' type.
Would you recommend the product to a friend? If they wanted a sleeveless weatherproof, yes.
About the tester
Age: 23 Height: 184cm Weight: 66kg
I usually ride: Orbea Onix (Carbon) - Summer, Orbea Asphalt (Alu) - Winter My best bike is: Orbea Alma G10
I've been riding for: Under 5 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Semi pro
I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, time trialling, cyclo cross, club rides, mtb,


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Last year I was contacted by the Nakatomi Invitational to produce a T-Shirt and Print based on the theme of robots. So I racked my brain and came up with MILTON GLASER V. MAGMA TAISHI a tribute to the only robot with long beautiful flowing locks, Osamu Tezuka's Magma Taishi (Goldar in the US) done in the style of 60's poster designer Milton Glaser.
Limited edition T shirts and Prints are available for one month only, so check it out if you have a chance.


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(Adds details on deal, background on Olympics, host cities)
By Liana B. Baker
May 7 (Reuters) - NBC Universal, the media unit of Comcast Corp, signed a $7.65 billion agreement to be the U.S. broadcaster of the Olympics until 2032, locking up valuable live sports rights for the next two decades, The deal, announced in a joint statement with the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday, includes media rights across broadcast television, cable TV, internet and mobile platforms. The new agreement extends NBC's previous contract by 11 years.
The host cities of the three summer and three winter games that occur between 2022-2032 have not been awarded yet. The next Olympics to be decided will be the 2022 Winter Games, which the IOC is expected to announce the winner in 2015.
Without an Olympics since the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Games, the United States could be back in the running to host an Olympics in 2024, as interest in bringing the Olympics back to the United States is gaining momentum both at home and among IOC members.
Comcast, which clinched full control of NBC Universal last year, has been using the Olympics as a spring board to promote its prime time lineup and boost viewership of its cable networks.
NBC and its rival networks have been stocking up on live sports content, which are popular with advertisers because large audiences watch in real-time and do not skip the TV commercials.
NBC had previously spent $4.38 billion on the U.S. broadcasting rights for four Olympic games until 2020, which will be in Tokyo. After that deal was announced, NBC executives had said the network should reap a profit from that contract.
But the Olympics haven't always scored for NBC. The unit lost $223 million at the Vancouver games in 2010, according to General Electric GE.N, which owned NBC at the time. Olympics that feature prime time live events usually perform better in the ratings.
NBC added on Wednesday that it had to agreed pay an extra $100 million signing bonus to promote the Olympics for five years beginning in 2015. (Reporting by Liana B. Baker in New York, additional reporting by Julian Linden in London; Editing by Franklin Paul and Andrew Hay)


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Champion Confident of Back-to-Back Wins in Busselton
All eyes are on German star Andreas Raelert in Sunday's IRONMAN Western Australia … or are they?
Denmark's Jimmy Johnsen is confident he has the goods to defend his 2012 SunSmart IRONMAN Western Australian title over a stellar international field. There's a record field of 1,600 competitors from 39 nations set for the 10th anniversary of the popular event in the beachside town of Busselton.
Johnsen faces a powerful group of challengers led by Germany's Andreas Raelert, a four-time podium finisher at the IRONMAN World Championship and Australia's Luke Bell, a two-time IRONMAN winner this year.
While Raelert is the best credentialed athlete in the race, Johnsen believes the biggest barrier between him and back-to-back titles will be Australian David Dellow.
"Dave Dellow is probably my major rival. A lot of people are probably talking about Andreas, but for me Dave didn't race Kona so he is probably pretty fresh and eager to race well. He can handle the hot conditions so he is the person I have my eyes on," Johnsen said.
After a disappointing end to his IRONMAN World Championship campaign when injury forced his withdrawal after the bike leg, Raelert had no hesitation in signing on for the Busselton event. He is a double Olympian and finished on the podium at Hawaii for four straight years up to 2012.
Aussie star Luke Bell is a major threat to complete an outstanding year after IRONMAN wins at Port Macquarie and Mont-Tremblant.
Also in the field are well-performed Aussies Matty White, Josh Rix, Courtney Ogden; IRONMAN Japan winner Martin Jensen (Denmark), Frenchman Jeremy Jurkiewicz and veteran Eduardo Sturla from Argentina, a two-time IRONMAN Brazil winner.
The women's field includes two previous winners at Busselton in Michelle Bremer and Western Australia's Kate Bevilaqua along with current IRONMAN Australia champion Rebecca Hoschke.
Bevilaqua, the 2010 champion, believes it is one of the strongest fields in Busselton.
There are a number of internationals with strong pedigrees including Lucie Reed (Czech Republic), a double podium finisher this year; American Liz Lyle, who had top five finishes at Lake Tahoe and Frankfurt; and Kiwi Melanie Burke, a former national rowing rep, national marathon champion, elite cycling rep and Zofingen winner in 2011.
Other homegrown athletes to watch include the in-form Lisa Marangon, who won IRONMAN 70.3 Port Macquarie, and Kat Baker.
Check out our live coverage of IRONMAN Western Australia here on Ironman,com this weekend.


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Google has enjoyed a considerable head start on the mobile-mapping front, but Apple and Microsoft haven't been idle. Both companies have licensed data from a number of services to flesh out their competing map offerings in an effort to bolster their respective phone platforms and chip away at Google's dominance.
But there's more to a map than getting users to and from work: We rely on maps to figure out where we are, to find new places, and to plan trips far beyond our local haunts. Here's a look at which mapping service offers the best features and functionality.
A tale of three map apps
Google Maps
Google Maps' greatest strength lies in its robust search capabilities: Throughout my testing I found that I could type in a location and (generally) find the business or landmark I was seeking, whereas Apple and Windows Phone often required me to add a city to my search query. Google Maps also offers a killer feature in the form of Street View. If you've ever used Google Maps in a browser, you're likely familiar with the little yellow Pegman avatar that gives you a first-person view of the location you're searching for. It's incredibly useful, providing a clear idea of where you're heading before you ever arrive.
The robust direction options are another killer feature. All three mapping services offer directions by car and on foot, but only Google includes public transportation and biking directions. Public transit results can be hit or miss, however—many users have reported that bus schedules and the like don't necessarily line up with reality, though I've had pretty good luck while using the service in San Francisco.
Google Maps' Places functionality serves as a sort of neighborhood-savvy guide: You just tap the pin icon on the map for a list of places nearby, and filtering options let you limit searches to locations that are currently open, fit into a particular price range, or have a minimum review score. Finally, Google Maps displays reviews that its users have posted for most every establishment you could search for, from restaurants to police stations.
Apple Maps
Apple's flyover view is a novel and admittedly attractive attempt at emulating Google Street View, but ultimately it falls flat. The vector-based maps certainly are eye-catching; but unless you're actually planning on flying a small plane over your destination, the view won't offer much in the way of utility. And let's not forget the often comical rendering issues that are the subject of at least one Tumblr blog, where bridges appear to melt into the landscape and some landmarks disappear entirely. Apple is working on correcting many of these issues, but they do mar Apple Maps' presentation.
Apple has tapped into Yelp's massive user community to find locations and power its reviews, and that's a powerful asset in places with an active Yelp community. Unfortunately, Yelp's business listings are mostly limited to larger cities in the United States, so you're out of luck if you're traveling through smaller towns or internationally. Tapping a business name in the Apple Maps app kicks you out of Maps and into the Yelp app—if you don't have it installed, you'll be prompted to get it. Swapping between apps can make casual browsing a bit annoying, but Yelp user reviews are decidedly more numerous and robust than Google's similar offerings.
Windows Phone 8
Windows Phone 8 uses Nokia's mapping engine, but the native Maps application isn't nearly as robust as the Nokia Drive app currently offered exclusively to Nokia Lumia owners. The Maps app on Windows Phone 8 is ultimately the most limited of the bunch: Although it pulls reviews from sites such as Citysearch and TripAdvisor to fuel its Buzz section, the app lacks photos or any sort of Street View analogue. The Buzz section also has far fewer reviews than Yelp or even Google, which can limit its utility at times.
Windows Phone Local Scout is a bit like Google Places, but Microsoft's offering takes top honors. It scans the area around you (or the location you've searched for), and lists establishments that are nearby. Results are divided into four categories. 'Eat + Drink' covers bars and restaurants, while the Shop section covers, well, shops. The sections serve up business hours, contact information, and the average ratings assigned by Citysearch and TripAdvisor users. The filtering options are fairly extensive; you can, for example, limit results to restaurants that are open and serving a particular cuisine, or hardware stores that are currently offering deals. The 'See + Do' section lists nearby upcoming events and places of interest—though the unfiltered list is a bit impractical if you're exploring casually, with museums and art galleries listed alongside New Year's Eve parties and high school reunions. Finally, there's the For You section, which couples data from Bing and Facebook to guess what sorts of venues you might be interested in; my suggestions were largely limited to bars, which makes sense based on my admittedly sparse Facebook check-in history.
Offline Maps
A final useful feature that all three services provide is offline maps. Apple's implementation is rudimentary: Once you've visited a location on the map, it and the surrounding areas are cached automatically to your device. You won't be able to search without Wi-Fi or cellular service, but the streets, businesses, and landmarks are preserved in all their vector-mapped glory.
If you're planning in advance, the latest version of Google Maps will let you make sections of a map available offline. Just tap the menu button, choose make available offline, and select a section of the map you'd like to preserve. Alternatively, you can select My Places from the Maps menu, choose new offline map, and search for a city to download a snapshot. The service will tell you exactly how much space the map will take up (in my tests the San Francisco Bay Area claimed approximately 35MB of storage space), and then it will download the section you've selected. Unfortunately, you can't search the map without a data connection.
Windows Phone's brute-force approach is actually my favorite implementation: You can download entire maps from a number of regions around the world. Although they take up considerably more space (California weighs in at just shy of 210MB) and you lose out on most of their satellite imagery, you'll have full search and navigation functionality—even in areas with a spotty data connection.