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KERSHAW – Kershaw Town Councilman Wade Hunter walked into council chambers Monday night and wondered why members of his family were in the audience.
Council had met in closed session, and emerged from behind closed doors to vote on hiring Land Design, a consulting firm, to assist the town.
Councilman Morris Russell asked the council to approve adding a proclamation to the night's agenda. He didn't get specific.
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text: We now offer Sliding Scale fees and pricing options for our clients. The Sliding Scale program has been created in response to the lack of affordable representation in Georgia. The program offers reasonably rated legal services to those who do not financially qualify for pro bono or public defender services. Take a few minutes & apply now by clicking the link below, or visit us at www.CJWilliamsLegal.com for more information on how to apply.

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Notifications video tutorial
This article is no longer maintained, so its content might be out of date.
Firefox OS has a notifications system, so you have an easy way to access missed calls, voicemail, SMS text messages and any other activities on your phone.
The following screencast tutorial will show you how to pull down the notification tray to access voicemail and your missed call log.
Note: Important software update notifications will appear as a notification in the top of your home screen, so pull them down and tap them to update to the latest version for your safety and security on the web!


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Project: P0015(48)76, PCN 0214, Lincoln Co.
Location: S.D. 115 - Harrisburg corner (273rd Street) to 85th St. in Sioux Falls
Improvement Type: Reconstruct to 4 lane segment
Public Meetings
The South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) has a long history of public involvement in the development of transportation plans and projects. The 2005 passage of the Safe, Accountable, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) requires a public involvement process. Public meetings for the project scope and/or design will occasionally be scheduled to collect public input, provide information and answer questions.
Public Information Meeting - February 19, 2013
Public Information Meeting - March 20, 2012
For further information regarding this project, contact Sam Gilkerson, Consultant Manager Engineer at 605-773-6588.


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Chanel Spring 2013 | Runway
Chanel Spring 2013
Chanel Spring 2013
Under the wind turbine-adorned atrium of the great hall in the Grand Palais, Karl Lagerfeld offered up a Spring 2013 collection that felt pared-down, and modern — yet entirely rooted in the ethos of classic Chanel. Silhouettes were structured and full with an emphasis on rounded shoulders and wide sleeves on top and mid-thigh straight skirts, wide shorts, and super-slim trousers below. The house's signature tweeds were plenty present, but they came simply decorated with only a bit of contrast piping and nary a braided chain in sight. Adding to Lagerfeld's "neo Coco" theme were the innovative fabrics: appliqued floral "prints" had a three-dimensional effect and tech-knits came imprinted with a raised waffle grid. Later, that same grid motif appeared on pastel-hued silks and stiff organzas.
Accessories were eye-popping and fresh too. Choker necklaces and bracelets made from gobs of varying-sized pearls felt luxe yet cool, while the oversized hula hoop bags nearly stole the show.


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Updated 12:02 p.m.
• SkyDrive for Windows app to launch alongside new paid storage options in the coming weeks – Free storage for new users drops to 7 GB. Existing users get to keep their 25GB free storage, but must claim it from the SkyDrive folders page. And SkyDrive for Windows and OS X Lion app now available with new paid storage plans
• Facebook Paying Microsoft $550 Million To Get its Hands on Hundreds of Former AOL Patents
• Frustration, Disappointment And Apathy: My Years At Microsoft – A frustrated former employee at Microsoft rants about the culture he says he battled for years.
• Justice Department Bites Apple – Apple's taking 30 percent from everyone, regardless of what's being sold, is what drew the feds' attention in its pursuit of the company over e-books, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Original post
• Intel's Ivy Bridge will offer '20 percent more performance with 20 percent less average power' – The new processors are available today. Watch for announcements soon of new PCs that use them.
• Adobe announces CS6 pricing and pre-orders, estimated delivery May 7th – Creative Suite 6 will offer some pricing changes, some new applications, and the introduction of a $49-a-month Creative Cloud service that lets you use the suite via subscription.
• Sprint Launching First LTE Phones, Though Without Said High-Speed Service – That LTE service should be coming to Houston sometime next month.
• HTC is developing its own CPU for lower end smartphones with ST-Ericsson
• Nokia: Three Big Problems – Jean-Louis Gassée says Nokia is burning cash, the feature-phone business is in a "race to the bottom" and its Lumia phones have gotten mixed reviews.
• Skype for Windows Phone version 1.0 released, no longer considered beta
• Will Stanford and Silicon Valley Transform Education? – Stanford's relationship with the business of Silicon Valley is very cozy. Should there be a more hands-off approach?
• NimbleTV Aims to Stream TV on Devices – It's similar to Slingbox, and lets you watch what channels and packages you get from your cable company, but without set-top boxes. Watch for lawyers to come after this one quickly.
• U.S. Web site covering China scandal disrupted by cyberattack – The site's operator thinks the Chinese government was behind the attack, but says he has no hard proof.
• Microsoft yanks Office for Mac 2011 upgrade – The second service pack for Office 2011 apparently was corrupting Outlook.
• This Week in Tech Episode #350: The Jar Jar Of Tech – Om Malik, Justin R. Young, Leo Laporte and I talk Windows 8 and Microsoft, the FBI's moves with the DNS Changer malware, Apple and Liquid Metal and more in This Week in Tech. Download the podcast here or watch the video below.


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Kamila Aliane, Nasreddine Benahmed, Nadia Benabdallah, Abdelkader Benkaddour, and Fethi Tarik Bendimerad
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is widely used for noninvasive exploration inside the human body. It can provide clear images of organs and tissues, especially those with high water content like muscles and brain tissue. MRI systems operating at ultrahigh frequency (UHF) can benefit greatly from the use of a transverse electromagnetic (TEM) slotted elliptical tube resonator (SER), which can produce a uniform magnetic field. By working with electromagnetic (EM) software simulation tools based on the finite-element method (FEM) and the method of moments (MoM), the authors have successfully analyzed and designed a high-quality-factor (high-Q) quasi-TEM SER suitable for UHF MRI applications.
The fundamental principle of MRI is to receive nuclear magnetic resonance signals induced by radiating EM wave pulse to a human body, which is placed inside the high-intensity static magnetic field. MRI was developed by Lauterbur,1 Mansfield, and Grannell,2 and is based on applying a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique. Their work, which won the 2003 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, has since become a standard clinical method in modern medicine.
An MRI system is composed of various elements—including an RF coil, which plays an essential role in imaging. Several types of RF coils, such as a saddle coil,3 transverse electromagnetic (TEM) birdcage coil resonator (TEM BCR),4,5 TEM slotted tube resonator (TEM STR),6-8 and TEM slotted elliptical tube resonator (TEM SER),9-12 have been developed for a wide range of different applications. Among these RF coils, the TEM SER has gradually come to be most often employed since it produces an extremely uniform magnetic field and can effectively suppress the system's electric field.
This article builds on work presented earlier in Microwaves & RF.12 In support of the analysis and design of a high-Q quasi-TEM resonator suitable for UHF-MRI applications based on loaded slotted elliptical tube resonator, the authors have adapted effective approaches based on the use of the finite-element method (FEM) and the method of moments (MoM).
For this type of quasi-TEM resonator, there are no numerical or experimental results in the scientific literature. Hence, the authors were obliged, for the same geometrical and physical parameters of our quasi-TEM elliptical resonator, to make simulations by using two numerical approaches (FEM and MoM). Modeling of this elliptical resonator consisted in analyzing the even- and odd-mode characteristic impedances (Z0e, Z0o), even- and odd-mode effective dielectric constants (eeffe, eeffo), and the primary inductive and capacitive matrices ([L], [C]), yielding the frequency response for the return loss, S11, at the RF port of the designed inhomogeneous MRI probe using the transmission-line method (TLM).13
As an application, the authors present the design results of a UHF-MRI probe loaded with a human head model14 of average relative dielectric constant of 64 and using the optimum configuration of the TEM SER. The probe with high quality factor (Q) operates at 340 MHz (proton imaging at 8 T) and has minimum reflection of -139.5 dB. The UHF-MRI probe using quasi-TEM SER is easy to construct, inexpensive, and simple to operate. Furthermore, the elliptical coil presented here may be constructed to work at different resonant frequencies.
Figure 1(a) shows a schematic depiction of the quasi-TEM slotted elliptical tube resonator. As shown in Fig. 1(b), this coil consists of two conductive bands containing a biological load (having a relative dielectric constant of er) with thickness, t, carrying opposite currents on each side of a cylinder. The two conductive bands can be mounted on the long (a) or short (b) axes of the ellipse. The conductive sheets are connected at the ends with capacitors to the cylindrical outer shield of radius rb (Fig. 2). Figure 1(b) shows an elliptical cross section of the quasi-TEM SER. Angle θ is called the "window angle." The quasi-TEM SER structure generally performs as well as inhomogeneous cylindrical birdcage coils, with the advantages of being easier to construct and operate.
For the analyzed TEM SER (i.e., unloaded resonator) of ref. 11 with a/b = 1.8 and rb/a = 2.4, the optimum field homogeneity was obtained for a window angle of 72 deg. In ref. 12, the current authors presented the design results of a UHF-MRI probe with high Q, operating at 7 T (i.e., 300 MHz) and using the optimum configuration of the slotted elliptical tube-line TEM resonator. Unfortunately, changes introduced by human biological loads with high dielectric constants in the quasi-TEM resonator were not negligible, because of the nonhomogeneity of the structure. For this reason, the authors adapted the previous numerical tools based on FEM and MoM approaches from ref. 12 to analyze a slotted elliptical tube resonator loaded with biological material.
The EM properties of the quasi-TEM SER can be described in terms of its primary parameters [L], [C] and its secondary parameters: the even- and odd-mode characteristic impedances, Z0e and Z0o, the even- and odd-mode effective dielectric constants, eeffe and eeffo, and the loaded quality factor, Q, where the primary parameters can be found from:
The inductance matrix [L] contains the self-inductances of the sheets on the diagonal, and the mutual inductances between sheets in the off-diagonal terms. Matrix [C] accounts for the capacitative effects between the two conductive sheets, characterizing the electric field energy storage in the quasi-TEM SER.
The coefficients for these matrices are obtained by solving a two-dimensional static field problem using the FEM15,16 and MoM methods.17
For the FEM approach and under the FreeFEM environment,18 the solution can be obtained by solving the Laplace equation as shown in Eq. 1 [Fig. 3(a)]:
V = 1 V on the ith conductor's surface, and
V = 0 V on all other conductors.
This solution represents the distribution of the potential, V, at the different mesh nodes of the structure [Fig. 3(b)].
When the potential V is known, it is possible to calculate the ith row of the [C] matrix from the electrical charge on each conductor, as in Eq. 2:
qs = e0erEN;
1j represents the contour around the jth conductor; and
EN = the normal component of the electric field.
In the high-frequency limit—i.e., the skin depth is sufficiently small such that current flow occurs only on the surface of the conductors—the inductance matrix [L] can be obtained from the matrix [C0].8 The inductance matrix in terms of [C0] calculated for er = 1 is:
For the MoM approach described in ref. 12, the numerical calculations of the EM-parameters of the studied resonator were carried out with LINPAR for Windows (Matrix Parameters for Multiconductor Transmission Lines), a two-dimensional (2D) software program for numerical evaluation of the quasistatic matrices for multiconductor transmission lines embedded in piecewise-homogeneous dielectrics.17 For the slotted elliptical tube-line quasi-TEM resonator, the authors were obliged to supply the cross section of the structure and all relevant dielectrics characteristics including the segmentation by using our programs in FORTRAN (Fig. 4).
When the EM-parameters are determined, it was possible to estimate the resonance spectrum (S11) of the quasi-TEM resonator shown in Fig. 2 using programs based on the TLM or other numerical tools.
The UHF-MRI probe developed for this article consists of an SER resonator with length l, matching capacitor, CM, and terminating capacitors, CSi and CLi (with I = 1, 2). The loaded Q of the quasi-TEM elliptical resonator can be estimated from the reflection-parameter (S11) sweep with frequency12:
fr = the resonant frequency of the circuit;
fu = the 3-dB frequency above the resonant frequency; and
f1 = the 3-dB frequency below the resonant frequency.
To design a loaded UHF-MRI probe operating at 8 T (i.e., 340 MHz) and using the optimum configuration of the TEM SER (for θ = 72 deg.), the authors applied modified and coherent FEM- and MoM-based numerical modeling tools to the structure of Fig. 2 with the following set of features:
- A short b axis of 10 cm
- A long-to-short-axis ratio (a/b) of 1.8
- An outer radius-to-long-axis ratio (rb/a) of 2.4
- A sheet thickness-to-short-axis ratio (t/b) of 0.1; and
- A window angle (θ) of 72 deg
The numerical approaches make it possible to simulate the performance of a design and decide if a given set of constraints makes it possible to realize the UHF-probe.
The authors' FEM and MoM approaches were employed as shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 to determine the EM parameters of the quasi-TEM elliptical resonator. As discussed above, the integration of the normal flux over the conductor contours determines the per-unit-length parameter matrices. For instance, Table 1 lists the elements of the [L] and [C] matrices for er = 64. The table clearly shows good agreement between the results obtained by the two numerical approaches for inhomogeneous slotted elliptical tube-line resonator.
First, a UHF-MRI probe was designed using an unloaded slotted elliptical tube-line TEM resonator with the following features: resonator length, l (with respect to the wavelength of free space, λ0), of 20 cm (l ˜ λ0/4); a matching capacitor, CM, with value of 22.24 pF; and source and load trimming capacitors, CS and CL, respectively, both with value of 1.44 pF. The simulated S11 responses at the RF port for the designed unloaded MRI probe are shown in Fig. 5 for both TLM programs and for MATPAR software.19
In practice, for UHF-MRI proton imaging at 8 T, such results remain valid when the quasi-TEM SER is filled by an inhomogeneous biological load (such as a human head). In ref. 14, 18 tissue types (in addition to air) were identified in the images given in Fig. 6 in order to obtain a detailed human head structure. These included blood, bone-cancellous material, bone-cortical material, cartilage, cerebellum, cornea, cerebro spinal fluid (CSF), dura, fat, gray-matter (GM), mucosa, muscle, nerve, skin, tongue, vitreous-humor, white-matter (WM), and mixed-GM-WM.
For the same length (i.e., l = 20 cm) of the unloaded elliptical MRI probe, the authors introduced a biological load having a relative dielectric constant (er)20 into the MRI resonator and numerically tuned matching capacitor CM and terminating capacitors CSi and CLi until achieving resonance. At 340 MHz, the values obtained for these capacitors are shown in Table 2, along with the EM parameters of the elliptical resonator, for each biological load. From Table 2, the value of the matching capacitor varies between 1 and 2.06 pF for MRI use when applying the optimum configuration of the quasi-TEM SER. The values shown in Table 1 (for the element of matrix [L]) and Table 2 are essential for designing inhomogeneous elliptical UHF-MRI probes operating at 8 T. Table 2 provides the key parameter values for the wide range of load types in the MRI probe at 340 MHz, including blood, bone, cartilage, cornea, muscle, nerve, and skin materials.
Considering that the average relative dielectric constant of the human head is 64,14 the wavelength inside the head is approximately 11 cm. As a result, the EM parameters of the quasi-TEM SER loaded with the human head model obtained from the authors' MoM analyses include even- and odd-mode characteristic impedances, Z0e and Z0o, of 134.6 O and 8.8 O, respectively, and effective dielectric constants, eeffe and (eeffo, of 1.066 and 35.36, respectively, and primary inductive and capacitive matrices, [L] and [C], respectively, as follows:
Figure 7 shows the simulated frequency responses of S11 at the RF port for the designed UHF-MRI probe using quasi-TEM SER loaded with the human head model, using both of the authors' TLM programs and commercial MATPAR software. From this figure, it appears that the biological load introduced into the SER improves the value of the reverse transmission, indicated by the response of parameter S11, at 340 MHz. For matching capacitor CM with value of 20.83 pF and terminating capacitors CSi and CLi, both with capacitance value of 1.31 pF, the loaded UHF-probe operates at 340 MHz (proton imaging at 8 T) and has -139.5 dB minimum reflections. Using Eq. 4, Q was estimated to be very superior to 500.
This report has presented the analysis and the design of a UHF-MRI probe with high Q, operating at 8 T (i.e., 340 MHz) and using the optimum configuration of the slotted elliptical tube-line quasi-TEM resonator. The EM parameters of the elliptical quasi-TEM resonator were characterized using modified FEM and MoM programs. When the EM parameters were determined, it was possible to simulate the frequency response of S11 at the RF port of the designed quasi-TEM resonator loaded with any biological element having any combination of relative dielectric constants. The high-Q quasi-TEM UHF-MRI probe that was designed operated at 340 MHz. Using a SER loaded with a human head model having average relative dielectric constant of 64, minimum reflections of -139.5 dB were measured. The UHF-MRI probe described in this report is inexpensive, easy to construct, simple to operate, and can be easily modified to work at different resonant frequencies. It can be effectively applied to research on organs and tissues with high water content, including muscles and brain tissues.
- P.C. Lauterbur, "Image formation by induced local interactions: examples employing nuclear magnetic resonance," Nature, Vol. 242, 1973, pp. 190-191.
- P. Mansfield and P.K. Grannell, "NMR diffraction in solids?" Journal of Physics C, Vol. 6, 1973, pp. L422–L426.
- C.E. Garrido Salmon, E.L. G´ea Vidoto, M. J. Martins, and A. Tann´us, "Optimization of Saddle Coils for Magnetic Resonance Imaging," Brazilian Journal of Physics, Vol. 36, No. 1A, March 2006, pp. 4-8.
- G. Bogdanov and R. Ludwig, "A Coupled Microstrip Line Transverse Electromagnetic Resonator Model For High-Field," Magnetic Resonance Medicine, Vol. 47, 2002, pp. 579-593.
- R. Ludwig, G. Bodgdanov, J. King, A. Allard, and C.F. Ferris, "A dual RF resonator system for high-field functional magnetic resonance imaging of small animals," Journal of Neuroscience Methods, Vol. 132, 2004, pp. 125-135.
- D.W. Alderman and D.M. Grant, "An efficient decoupler coil design which reduces heating in conductive samples in superconducting spectrometers," Journal of Magnetic Resonance, Vol. 34, 1979, pp. 425-433.
- S. Li, Q.X. Yang, and M.B. Smith, "RF coil optimization: Evaluation of B1 field homogeneity using field histograms and finite element calculations," Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Vol. 12, 1994, pp. 1079-1087.
- N. Benabdallah, N. Benahmed, B. Benyoucef, R. Bouhmidi, and M'. Khelif, "EM analysis of the slotted-tube resonator with circular cross section for MRI applications," Journal of Physics in Medicine and Biology, Vol. 52, August 2007, pp. 4943-4952.
- S. Crozier, L.K. Forbes, W.U. Roffmann, K. Luescher, and D.M. Doddrell, "A methodology for current density calculations in high-frequency RF resonators," Concepts in Magnetic Resonance, Vol. 9, 1997, pp. 195-210.
- M.C. Leifer, "Theory of the quadrature elliptic birdcage coil," Journal of Magnetic Resonance Medicine, Vol. 38, 1997, pp. 726-732.
- S. Bobrof and M.J. McCarthy, "Variations on the slotted-tube resonator: Rectangular and elliptical coils," Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Vol. 17, 1999, pp. 783-789.
- N. Benabdallah, N. Benahmed, and B. Benyoucef, "Analyzing a resonator for MRI applications," Microwaves and RF, Vol. 46, No. 11, November 2007, pp. 92-98.
- R.P. Clayton, Analysis of Multiconductor Transmission Lines, Wiley, New York, 2008.
- T.S. Ibrahim, R. Lee, B.A. Baertlein, A.M. Abduljalil, H. Zhu, and P.L. Robitaille, "Effect of RF coil excitation on field inhomogeneity at ultra high fields: A field optimized TEM resonator," Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Vol. 19, 2001, pp. 1339-1347.
- R. Bouhmidi, N. Benabdallah, N. Benahmed, and M'. Khelif, "Design coupled microstrip resonators for MRI," Microwaves and RF, Vol. 46, No. 3, March 2007, pp. 59-66.
- N. Ben Ahmed, M. Feham, and M'. Khelif, "Analysis and design of a coupled coaxial line TEM resonator for magnetic resonance imaging," Journal of Physics in Medicine and Biology, Vol. 51, April 2006, pp. 2093-2099.
- A.R. Djordjevic, M. B. Bazdar, and T.K. Sarkan, LINPAR for Windows: Matrix parameters of multiconductor transmission lines, Software and user's manual, Artech House, Norwood, MA, 1999.
- www.Freefem.org.
- A.R. Djordjevic, M. Bazdar, G. Vitosevic, T. Sarkar, and R. F. Harrington, Scattering parameters of microwave networks with multiconductor transmission lines, Artech House, Norwood, MA, 1990.
- C. Gabriel, "Compilation of dielectric properties of body tissues at RF and microwave frequencies," AL/OE-TR-1996-0037 1996.


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The lawyer for Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski said his client must be freed from house arrest in Switzerland, because a U.S. Court rejected the auteur's bid to be tried in absentia for his child sex case.
Herve Temime, Polanski's lawyer, told reporters in Switzerland today that "it is up to the Swiss authorities to tell the truth and give back Roman Polanski his freedom once and for all, regardless of the roar and unbearable pressure of an ill-formed public." His comments were made in a statement given to Agence France Presse.
Temime's comments came after a state appeals court ruled Thursday that court hearings requested by Polanski, including sentencing in absentia, cannot occur unless Polanski surrenders to California police and ends his 33 year run as a fugitive.
Despite a request from the then-child victim that the case be dropped, prosecutors say Polanski should be jailed for violating terms of the bail that he jumped while awaiting sentencing for unlawful sexual relations when he drugged and sodomized the child in 1977.
"One gets the feeling that there's the desire to see him arrive (in Los Angeles) in shackles, when there's no reason why Roman Polankski should be extradited, none at all," Temime told Europe 1 radio in Paris.
After being a fugitive for more than 30 years, Polanski was arrested last September in Switzerland while on his way to a film festival. The 76-year-old filmmaker -- who won an Oscar in 2002 for directing "The Pianist" -- has been under house arrest at his ski chalet in the Swiss resort of Gstaad since being released from a Swiss jail Dec. 4. Polanski pleaded guilty in 1977 to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl at Jack Nicholson's home in the Hollywood Hills.
He fled to France in 1978 before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Laurence Rittenband, who had indicated he was going to reject a plea agreement under which the director would have been able to stay out of prison, could sentence him.
Swiss authorities said last February that a decision on whether to extradite Polanski could not be made until the filmmaker exhausts his U.S. appeals. A Los Angeles judge in January initially denied Polanski's bid to be sentenced in absentia.


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Euros delivered a first in-house developed offshore blade from its prototype production facility on the German Baltic Sea island Rügen to Mitsubishi of Japan. The 81.6-metre blade weighs 32.5 tonnes and is currently the world's second longest — the largest is an 83.5-metre blade made by SSP Technologies for a Samsung turbine. Euros designed the blade to last 25 years for Mitsubishi's 7MW SeaAngel offshore turbine featuring a 167-metre rotor.
The first test blade has been sent to Bremerhaven-based German wind technology institute Fraunhofer IWES. The institute will conduct extensive static and dynamic load testing on its test rig, effectively compressing the blade's lifespan into five to eight months. Speaking about the testing, Euros chief technical officer Hinrich Graue said: "The main aim is to ensure that the structural design model and manufacturing process fully comply with blade calculations and verification modelling results, and key certification requirements."
Long-term experience
In 2009, Euros launched its own offshore rotor-blade programme. But its experience dates back as far as 2003 when it manufactured 56.5-metre Aerodyn-designed blades for the 5MW Multibrid (now Areva) M5000-116 prototype. Graue said: "Aerodyn Energiesysteme designed this rotor blade, but we jointly developed the production technology. The fact that this blade contains carbon fibres in highly stressed sections substantially helped us understand the physics and underlying mechanisms, especially in keeping dynamic loads under control."
Graue stressed that these combined design and manufacturing experiences have proven useful when moving to the next levels in rotor blade design. "However, scaling up from state-of-the-art 55–60-metre long blades to our latest 81.6-metre rotor blade represents a step of a completely different magnitude. As it involves an significantly increased innovation ratio, each step in the development process has to be considered very carefully," he said.
Joint programme
All aspects regarding design, manufacturing, transport/logistics and long-term upkeep were carefully evaluated in a joint research and development programme with Mitsubishi. Extensive wind-tunnel tests had to ensure the highest aerodynamic performance, and resulted in a "thick" yield-enhancing trailing edge for the rounded inner blade section called "flat-back".
Structurally, Euros engineers incorporated four (2x2) load-carrying reinforcements in between the shells. Called spar caps, they are made of carbon-reinforced epoxy laminate and a new core filler material originating from the aerospace industry. Graue said: "This core material is a new kind of foam, characterised by favourable specific mass [kg/m3] and reduced resin demand. Innovative materials usage, tailored production processes and a focus on the highest possible manufacturing quality all contributed to optimal strength, stiffness and durability plus a favourable blade mass. Our first blade was manufactured within less than 1% mass deviation from the target design value."
In parallel to the test blade delivery, Euros built two SeaAngel blade sets. The first is destined for an onshore prototype in Scotland for later this year, the second set for a floating offshore turbine envisaged near Fukushima, Japan, during 2014.
Euros' headquarters and design office are both in Berlin, while rotor-blade production is concentrated in southern Poland. A massive expansion programme will be finished this month, increasing total production capacity five-fold to 600MW annually.
"Our facility at Rügen is only temporary and proved convenient for the Mitsubishi prototype blade project, including the initial sets of pre-series blades. In the future, Euros plans to establish a new offshore wind facility in the port of Rostock for both pre-series and serial production, serving international clients from the blade design phase to serial production", Graue concluded.


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2020 TLM Pilgrimage to the Holy Land
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- surritter: "Tha t, dear friends, is how you say, 'Up yours!R 17; in Germano-Ch urchese. 8221; Ha ha! Well summarized , dear Fr. Z!
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- Riddley: At the risk of seeming unduly positive 8230; CS Lewis said some things about man' s relationsh ip with nature which were not too far off what' ;s being said in this (admitt...
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Tag Archives: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Editorial: Church leaders, to be "transparent", are still abusers. Of priests.
What an easy way the forces of Hell have found to bring down good priests and bishops. First, through agents and for decades undermine the Church's identity through dreadful preaching and worse liturgy. Then, as society swirls on its parallel … Continue reading


text:
burda style magazine 01/2010 Dress
Added May 1, 2010
Munich, Germany
Light shirt dress
burda style magazine patterns FAQ
Material Notes
10 Comments Sign in to add a post
Sep 14, 2010, 12.41 PMby Anna Aasbjerg
Ohhh, now I understand why exposed zippers and jeggings haven't really been on the site before now (Thanks, elishafaerie! :-) ). In Denmark, we've been wearing jeggings since spring/summer 2009 and the exposed zippers isn't super-trendy anymore.
Jun 18, 2010, 12.10 PMby Anna Aasbjerg
Don't really understand the problem. If you think a single pattern from Burda Magazine is too expensive compared to the whole magazine, why not buy the whole magazine? It's about 4-9EU a month/per issue. Not a fortune.
1 Reply
Jun 20, 2010, 01.10 AMby megneh
That's what I was thinking, too! Just go on amazon.com and get the subscription, people! And Vogue has a sale about once a month where you can get their patterns for $3.99 each instead of $18-$20. Maybe if Burda has sales every now and then, people would calm down. Although, if you take into account the fact that most patterns are free, paying $5.40 every now and then still means you aren't paying that much on average for your patterns.
Jun 16, 2010, 02.16 PMby holasoylulu
the magazine will all the proyects costs EUR3.95, so I do think that they have gone a bot over the top with the prices on the web…
Jun 16, 2010, 09.34 AMby carolyn-s
I haven't bought a burdastyle pattern yet, but I don't think $5.40 is too much to ask. However if you want to buy $10 dresses from the high street as discussed in these comments then consider the real cost of these clothes. The real cost being that children in countries such as India and China are getting paid 20c to make up your $10 dress; if you can live with that sort of exploitation then by all means buy from the high street.
May 26, 2010, 09.09 AMby fuchsiamagellenica
I don't mind paying for patterns, but $5.40 is quite expensive, and if you add the cost of the materials, with all the time put into it as well it does cost as much as dress from a high street shop. I think it's quite reasonable for the designers to charge, but if it costs so much to produce a pattern why did it used to be so much cheaper or even free?
May 25, 2010, 12.38 PMby sewverytall
I wish I understood the ATTITUDE of some of the people on this site. This site gave people something for free for awhile, and are they grateful for that? No. When a small fee is started being charged, they feel they actually have a right to complain that you're not giving them MORE and MORE and MORE for free. It reminds me of spoiled children who think they are owed the world. A lot of work goes into developing patterns. I was just looking at some new Vogue patterns and they cost over $20 each [which yes, I do think is too expensive, but I don't HAVE to buy them]. p.s. I'd love to know where TanyaDenning gets RTW dresses for $10 each…perhaps the Salvation Army?
1 Reply
Jun 6, 2010, 12.26 PMby Dani Restercher
Opinions are fine but don't attack people's characters "spoiled children".. That's rude, people disagree with you doesn't mean they're bad people. IMO $5.20 is expensive especially because the magazines themselves aren't that much more. This is ideal for people who can't get the magazines but perhaps $3-4 would be better
May 19, 2010, 07.43 PMby tanyadennings
I agree with Bynn. For a site to advertise free patterns I would've thought you would've highlighted the free patterns on the e-newsletter. Seems like you entice us with great clothes and we think it's a free pattern, then we get disappointed when it shows up as a $5.40 cost. Granted it's not much, but it adds up after just a few. For $20 I can buy a couple of dresses and save myself the trouble of making them.
May 19, 2010, 05.01 PMby bynn
I find it very upsetting that a site I joined for the free patterns and member ideas and variations has gone so money-hungry. While this is a charming piece, I have noticed nothing but an upswing in pattern pricing from this company, who originally started as a free-source site.
Then they started charging for patterns – but only $1 or $2 a piece, which made a liar out of whoever said that Burda style was free-source, but was not unreasonable. Now we're up to $5.40 on a site that started it's life as one of free-sharing of beautiful clothes and ideas. This jump has taken less than 18 months.
I seriously suggest starting to offer sales if you're going to up your rates this consistently, or start offering buy 1-get 1 or 2 at half price deals or something. It's time to get back some of Burda's original dignity and customer orientation. At least that's my opinion, and I'm sure others see it differently.
May 18, 2010, 08.39 PMby kathrin
I can´t see the point why you sell the same patterns now as available long ago on www.burdastyle.de but more expensive!!!???http://www.burdastyle.de/schnittmuster/schnitte-aus-dem-heft/burda-style-01-2010/kleid_pid_90_3864.html
2 Replies
May 18, 2010, 10.39 PMby nessys
Maybe if my German was better . . ! Sigh. The best I could do is go "da drüben" to the German site! (I am sure my grammar is appalling)
I am just annoyed that my Australian $ is buying a lot more € now that it did when I was in Germany . . am sure you are not so glad . . Damn that GFC).
May 19, 2010, 02.59 AMby elishafaerie
I agree that it shouldn't be more expensive, which it is by nearly US$1 than it would be by conversion from the Euro, but as to why it appears on here later than the burdastyle.de site is because western nations like the US and Australia often get fashion trends about a year or so after they've appeared in Europe.
May 18, 2010, 05.29 PMby Rikki Cade Battle
wow! i love this creation! i may just have to make it. it's stunning and the model just looks amazing in it.
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Dress 01/2010 #109
Produced by burda style magazine
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S1 E13 Episode 113
ENTREPRENEUR: Nate Berkopec
PITCH: The Factionist, an ethical and environmentally-friendly apparel brand
ASKING FOR: $30k for a 20% stake.
BEST PART OF THE PITCH: Nate is a student at New York University who makes organic t-shirts featuring socially conscious messages. He's easy to like and very enthusiastic. Regarding his product, Nate says, "The Factionist is not just another apparel brand. It's a movement. It's time for you to invest in America's future." He has $3,000 in sales in six months but needs money to expand.
DO THE SHARKS BITE?The t-shirt business is brutally competitive. Robert says, "Nate, there are millions of other people with a movement who have more brand, more credibility, more PR, more everything." That seems to sum up what all the sharks are thinking. He doesn't have a brand on his shirt, so no one will know how to find what he's selling.
RESULT: As much as they like this guy's passion, no one can get behind the idea. Robert says, "You've got the passion. Don't ever lose that because that's infectious and you'll go a long way." Hey, Nate's only 19. Maybe we'll see him again someday back on Shark Tank with a better product.
WANT TO KNOW MORE: Visit www.thefactionist.com .
ENTREPRENEUR: Anthony and Tina Calvert
PITCH: The Podillow, a face-down tanning and massage pillow with storage pockets
ASKING FOR: $250k for a 33% stake.
BEST PART OF THE PITCH: Anthony is a 20-year veteran of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. He admits that he's taken some razzing from his fellow officers over such a, well let's call it "fluffy" product. But it is practical because lying on your stomach is tough to do without the proper implement to prop up your head. They've sold about 6,000 units over two years. They cost about seven bucks to make and sell for $29.95. They are in two major catalogues and had to turn down purchase orders because they didn't have the inventory.
DO THE SHARKS BITE? Kevin O. doesn't believe the company is worth the asking price. Kevin H. thinks the Podillow is made for the beach. He doesn't want to invest in a seasonal/regional product. He's out. Daymond loves the product but thinks they missed the mark with the evaluation. He's out. Barbara and Robert feel the same way.
WANT TO KNOW MORE: Visit www.podillow.com .
ENTREPRENEUR: Kimberly and Matthew Foley
PITCH: Wee Can Shop, a store where kids can shop for the ones they love.
ASKING FOR: $200k for a 30% stake
BEST PART OF THE PITCH: Kimberly and Matthew are a brother and sister team who own Wee Can Shop, a family business with no competitors. As the store is geared towards children, they opt to tell their tale by having Kimberly read from a storybook. She begins, "Once upon a time, Kimberly and Matthew came up with a brilliant idea to open a gift shop where children shop for the ones they love." When Daymond asks about the passion they have for the shop, Kimberly becomes very emotional. It's obvious that she truly loves this whimsical world they created.
DO THE SHARKS BITE? Kimberly and Matthew have increased the amount of money they make each year, but still have only topped out at $13,000. Kevin O. says, "There's nothing more evil than a business that doesn't create a profit." He suggests they shut it down and he's out. Barbara bails because it seems like more of a hobby than a business. Kevin H. says they shouldn't shut it down, as it has grown over the years. But he's still out, as are Daymond and Robert. This can't quash Kimberly's passion. She says, "We're gonna be okay." We hope she's right.
WANT TO KNOW MORE: Visit www.WeeCanShop.com.
ENTREPRENEUR:Tim Stansbury and Erin Whalen
PITCH: Grease Monkey Wipes
ASKING FOR: $40k for a 40% stake
BEST PART OF THE PITCH: Tim and Erin are avid cyclists who wanted to create a product to remove grease and dirt that gets on your hands when you do things like change a bike tire. So they invented Grease Monkey Wipes, individually-packaged degreasing cleaning wipes. They are designed to clean the nastiest grease and grime. They can also clean permanent marker, paint and crayon. The product has been on the market for a few months and they've sold 7,600 wipes. DO THE SHARKS BITE? Daymond loved the presentation as well as Tim and Erin, but it's not the business for him. Kevin O. has a problem with the proprietary content, as the product is not patented. He's afraid someone will rip off the formula, so he's out. Kevin H. bails, as he believes the product isn't unique. Barbara can't warm up to it either, as she says she's never gotten her hands dirty. And then there was one.
RESULT: Robert is totally on the fence. Erin says, "I promise you, if you partner with us we will not let you down." He can't help but be impressed with these two. He jumps on board. As he does, Barbara admits that she was just going to jump back in. She says to Robert, "I love this girl so much...what do you say I do it 50-50 with you?" Robert welcomes her onboard. They have a deal!
WANT TO KNOW MORE: Visit www.greasemonkeywipes.com .


text:
NEW YORK, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal kept up his recent dominance on hard-court surfaces and Roger Federer also breezed into the U.S. Open's Round of 16 with a win Saturday.
The Spanish star outpaced Croatia's Ivan Dodig 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, improving to 18-0 on hard courts this season in his quest for a second New York title.
Nadal's previous U.S. Open win came in 2010. He now goes on to face 22nd-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, who advanced with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) upending of 13th-seeded American John Isner.
Seventh-seeded four-time champion Federer, meanwhile, also cruised in his second-round match, taking apart Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-0, 6-2.
Also advancing Saturday was fourth-seeded David Ferrer, who had to work much harder to get past Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
His next opponent will be No. 18 Serb Janko Tipsarevic, who regrouped after a rough first set to overcome American Jack Sock 3-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-1, 6-2.
Tenth-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic moved on as well, bouncing No. 23 Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, while eighth-seeded Richard Gasquet of France was ahead of No. 32 Dmitry Tursunov, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 4-2, before the Russian retired in the fourth set.
Also Saturday, No. 19 Tommy Robredo bested Daniel Evans 7-6 (8-6), 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.


text:
By Yoko Kubota
TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp's <7203.T> reliance on the U.S. market to drive record profits is deepening this year, its latest outlook showed, with strong sales of refurbished SUVs and Camry sedans expected to offset weakness in Thailand and other emerging markets.
The world's best-selling automaker, which analysts say could be overtaken this year by German rival Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) in global auto sales, also said it would stick to utilising existing plants to maximum capacity before investing in new factories.
Toyota on Tuesday posted 692.7 billion yen ($6.76 billion) in April-June operating profit, up 4.4 percent year-on-year and its best quarter ever with solid U.S. sales, cost cuts and a weaker yen bolstering profits.
That exceeded the 637.3 billion yen mean estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
North American operating profit rose 45 percent to 149.7 billion yen, surpassing Asia excluding Japan, which posted far more modest profit growth of 5.6 percent to 110.3 billion yen.
"Conditions in Thailand, India, Brazil and other emerging markets are weak," Managing Officer Koki Konishi told an earnings briefing.
"But we're trying our best to get an additional 50,000 vehicles out of Japan to offset some of that, and to reach around 2.3 million in the U.S.," he said, referring to Toyota's 2014 calendar year sales targets.
For 2014, the company trimmed its global group-wide sales forecast to 10.22 million vehicles, a reduction of 110,000 vehicles. The Toyota group includes Daihatsu Motor Co <7262.T> and Hino Motors <7205.T>.
Toyota raised its North American sales target for the financial year to next March while cutting its target for Asia excluding Japan and China, although its first-quarter profit margins in Asia rose slightly.
"In Asia, where competition is intensifying, sales growth is struggling but there's no drop in margins and it's nothing to worry about," said Kentaro Hayashi, an analyst at Tachibana Securities.
Toyota, which does not plan to build any new plants globally until around 2016, is still giving no hints on what its future investment plans might be. The automaker has annual global production capacity of about 9.8 million vehicles for its Toyota and Lexus brands, Managing Officer Takuo Sasaki said.
"This would suffice, considering our current production and sales balance," Sasaki said.
For the year to March 2015, Toyota stuck with its full-year operating profit forecast of 2.3 trillion yen. That would be a record high, although just a 0.3 percent increase from a year earlier as the tailwind from a weaker yen that helped boost export profits runs out of steam.
Toyota's shares ended flat at 6,042 yen before the earnings announcement, compared with a 1 percent drop in Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei average (.N225). For the year to date, both Toyota and the benchmark have fallen 6 percent.
($1 = 102.47 Japanese yen)
(Additional reporting by Hirotoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Matt Driskill)


text:
Wrongful Convictions Clinic
"As a former prosecutor and judge, I know that no honorable prosecutor seeks the conviction of the innocent, but such convictions do occur, nonetheless. A university law school like ours has a unique responsibility and opportunity to address such problems, to increase public awareness of them and to assist those who are wronged by flaws in the system."
- Former Dean David F. Levi


text:
Last week, in the run-up to Father's Day, Marc Tracy wrote at The New Republic that we are seeing the beginning of the Daddy Wars. It's not true. It's even more a falsehood than the "mommy wars" ever were. But while the title is wrong—and I don't think it will stick—Tracy did rightly identify a new tenor of discussion that is a very good thing indeed—not just for dads, but for families in general.
Tracy pointed to Richard Dorment's odd screed at Esquire titled "Why Men Still Can't Have It All," a reaction to the infamous Anne-Marie Slaughter article in The Atlantic. Dorment complained that he is just as torn up as women are about "work-life" conflict—i.e., having to choose between the job and the family. Dormant's piece detailed the ways that he, too, misses his kids every minute—but then he went on to crab that men don't whine about it the way women do, goddammit, because men are men and life is unfair and women have to stop the goddamn whiny whining.
And yet despite the fact that Dorment's piece was shot through with Esquire's faux-masculine anti-feminist posturing, it was chockful of important insights. And it started at least a mini-conversation about a profound truth: the issues facing working family are not women's issues. Tracy's piece was far smarter, noting the same problems without the attitude. So was Kurt Soller at The Cut, who got it half-right when he wrote:
"But I hope that, by the time I have kids, some five or ten years out, there are more viable role models or groups or self-help books or something that takes these very real, legitimate, and actually not-so-gendered problems, and then provides specific solutions for guys."
Stop right there. Back up. Replay: "actually not-so-gendered problems."
Repeat after me, please: These are not gendered problems. The conflict between work and family is not gender-specific at all. There will be no specific solutions for guys. There will be no specific solutions for gals. These are American family problems. And until we see them that way, we will not solve them.
Seeing things that way wasn't an option thirty years ago. The generation of women who cracked into the professional world had to carry everything on their padded shoulders. They couldn't ask their employers for more flexibility; they couldn't ask their husbands for more help. They were treated as if they were being done a favor by being allowed to have non-secretarial work at all. They really did have to solve everything, by themselves.
That time is over. The boys they raised are now in the workplace. They may not call themselves feminists, but they see women, home, work, and family very differently than their fathers did. These dudes knew that that would mean they'd have to step up a little more at home. And the good news is: They are.
Younger men really are leaning in at home—and long to do so even more, as is clear in Dorment's long complaint. According to the most recent Pew Research Center study, sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census, men today spend three times as much time with their children as their fathers did (women are spending twice as much as their mothers did). Between work and home, "fathers and mothers are carrying an almost equal workload." Other recent research tells us that four out of five households with children have women as the primary breadwinner; sometimes that's as single parents, but millions are out-earning their male partners or husbands, and their incomes are family incomes that can't be sacrificed for the dubious privilege of becoming a housewife.
And here's what's really new: Dads and moms are about equally divided in their dislike of the work-family juggle. As Pew puts it, "56 percent of working moms and 50 percent of working dads say they find it very or somewhat difficult to balance these responsibilities." Twice as many dads (46 percent) as moms (23 percent) wish they could spend more time with the kids. And here's the real war Tracy, Dorment, Soller, Dan Kois at Slate are writing about: whether or not to talk openly about how to manage this conflict.
Men are permitted a minimum of flexibility for having families: leaving to go to the kids' soccer games or trying to get home to kiss them goodnight paints them as being good, reliable family men, whereas if women do any of that they are hit with the mommy penalty documented by Shelley Correll and other social scientists. It's an unconscious bias that leads people to treat a "working mom" as less reliable than men with children or anyone without them. But the flip side is that if men really do try to stretch their time as much as women do, they get penalized more for escaping their gender roles and acting like … women.
So what is to be done? Tracy wants a discussion about it all:
"Every day I see smart, career-ambitious women having an intelligent, heated conversation, informed by personal experience and strewn with first principles, about what a woman's proper roles are, and what society, men, and other women could do to realize a better world. I don't feel as though I've been kept out. But I do think men have been altogether too shy about joining this conversation or, perhaps, starting their own"
But will men who dare to discuss this anguish be seen as whiny whiners? Will Dorment's no crying in baseball shut-up-and-live-with-it attitude bleed into contempt for other men's requests for a civilized conversation about the conflict between work and family? That would be a shame—not just for the men involved, but for all of us. Because the real problem isn't a mommy war, or a daddy war. It's a family war—a war of workers against the expectation of 24-hour availability. Instead of making this a battle between the sexes, or a battle within the sexes, can we make this a battle for working families?
As I've written elsewhere, the "mommy war" was never a war—not between women, at least. The infotainment media staged some fake battles between stay-at-home mothers (SAHMs, in the jargon) who looked down upon "working mothers" neglecting their children, while those heartless career women looked down on SAHMs for neglecting their brains. But in real life, over the past forty years, nearly everyone who could work has been, lest their families crash down through the economic crevasses opening beneath them.
The point is that each American family has tried to manage conflicts as best they could, patching things together however it was possible: keeping one parent home half-time, or taking jobs with more predictable hours, or stepping off the fast track for a couple of years, bowing to reality. We all know the stories. We've mostly heard complaints from the elite top-ten-percenters who have desperately tried to sneak out to see the kids while also giving everything they could on the job—answering emails until all hours, saying yes to international conference calls at dinner time—so that they could keep those jobs. But similar problems have bedeviled minimum wage earners, where one parent works the day shift and one parent works the night shift, texting each other requests to pick up milk on the way home, and handing the kids off to grandma when mandatory overtime strikes.
Americans like to think individually about social structure: individual dreams, individual efforts, individual rises and falls. At work, that's framed as a battle to get ahead and an incessant improvisation act if you dare to imagine you could have a life beyond the job. But we forget that we are all improvising from a shared common ground. If we put down a better playground, if we built a better highway, we could all manage a little better.
The most hopeful thing I've seen in awhile is Jonathan Cohn's cover article in The New Republic, The Hell of American Day Care. It was a thorough and thoughtful investigation of what it will take to actually care for our country's children, ready to be our next workforce, paying for all our Social Security benefits. And it was written by a man.
Once men take up the work-family concerns, we're going to be much closer to solving them. Men, please: don't think of the work-family conflict as your private problem. Think of it as our shared American problem. All of us need a way to work, be with our families, be human beings, and make a decent living. We all need paid sick days, especially the 40 percent of the work force that doesn't have them, We all need family and medical leave, fathers and mothers, and care-taking adult children alike. We also need public policy changes, to expand who's eligible under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and to make it affordable. Family and medical leave insurance funds like the ones established in California and New Jersey, where employees pay a small amount into an insurance pool and can then draw wages while they're out on leave, would make a huge difference in the lives of parents and children.
Research shows us that a program like this increases men's role in caregiving by making it possible for them to be involved without the family taking a big financial hit. In California, for example, fathers' leave-taking for bonding with a new child rose 12 percent from 2011 to 2012.
Every child gets routine ailments like stomach flu and pink eye—ailments that schools and child care centers cannot accommodate, but are not covered by the FMLA. Right now, about 40 percent of workers in the private sector do not earn paid time off when they or a child is sick.
These are not women's issues. These are not feminist issues. These are workforce and public health issues. These are quality of life issues. Once upon a time unions would work on issues like this but, well, good luck with that now.
We all want to see our children, or friends, or families. We all want to have lives beyond the desk or construction site. We all need to have the next generation grow up literate, healthy, happy, and productive.
It's not a daddy war. It's not a mommy war. It's a war of humans trying to stay human instead of being treated like wage-earning robots. Guys, what do you say?


text:
Casio WK7500 76 Key Touch Sensitive Workstation Keyboard
Sequencer and mixer functions for total musical creation support
Turn Your Inspiration Into Music, Instantly
The new Casio WK-7500 offers powerful and extensive features at a price that is unheard of in the portable keyboard market. It offers 800 world-class tones, 250 preset rhythms, 17 track sequencer, 32 channel mixer, as well as audio recording capabilities. Any piece of music you create can be recorded as an audio file on an SDHC card. 9 sliders extend your versatility and provide an impressive 50 drawbar organ tones. Whether you are an amateur or professional musician, the WK-7500 will allow you to create, edit and play your compositions at home, in the studio or on the stage.
Tones That Will Inspire Your Music
The WK-7500 provides 800 world class tones organized by category in a new easy-to-use interface. Dynamic stereo pianos, vintage electric pianos, strings, drums and a wealth of synths and acoustic instruments are at your fingertips. Each of those 800 voices can be edited with control over filters, envelopes and more. For added depth and realism, an extensive set of DSP effects are available to enhance these tones, providing you with pure inspiration at your fingertips
Sliders Galore
You can't miss them, nine strategically placed sliders on the front panel. Just press the Drawbar Organ button and start playing. The sliders allow you to control the level of each harmonic overtone to produce a powerful and rich organ sound. Rotary speaker effects and percussion control are all instantly accessible. For the final touch, you can dive deeper into edit mode to customize key click, overdrive, rotary speeds and more for the ultimate drawbar organ experience.
Capture The Moment
With the new WK-7500 you can capture those moments of creativity so they'll never get lost. Featuring a powerful 17-track sequencer, you can even edit and tweak your performances enabling you to turn out broadcast ready, professional tracks. Once you've created your masterpiece you can save your song file to an SDHC card. Better yet, you can save it as an audio recording. That's right, this new keyboard can mix down internally and save your new song to an SDHC card as an audio file. This allows you to share your music with the world. Utilizing Casio's free DATA Manager 6.0 computer software your recording can be converted into a .WAV file, so you can burn your song to a CD, put it in your favorite music player, send it to friends or a record producer. Making music and sharing it has never been this easy or affordable.
A Full Band: Included
A total of 250 preset rhythms with full accompaniment are built-in. One button click brings you access to styles from rock, pop, Latin, jazz, country, classical and everything in between. You can choose to have just a drummer or full virtual band at your disposal, so now you can play and write music with more speed and sophistication than ever before.
Mix Your Masterpiece
Whether you're playing live or in the studio, you have total control over your mix. The front panel sliders provide quick control over volume, pan, effect sends for each channel including the MIC and instrument inputs.
Get Connected
The back panel provides 1/4 " (L/MONO, R) outputs, MIC and Instrument inputs and a stereo audio in. There is also a class-compliant USB MIDI port. This means you can easily use your favorite computer music application without the need for drivers.
Ready For The Stage
The WK-7500 is ready to conquer the stage. You can easily create splits, layers or both simultaneously. You can store this combination of three tones as a registration for instant recall on stage. The 96 registration slots will let you cover any gig, or save those magic sounds that define a new hit song. If you're a solo performer, registrations can also recall rhythms and accompaniments for you to play along with. The WK-7500 features a piano-style touch- response keyboard that provides a realistic piano experience. USB MIDI
Casio continues the tradition of providing "class compliant" USB connectivity on Workstation Keyboards. This allows Casio Workstation Keyboards to be used with Mac or Windows computers without the need to download drivers. Class Compliant USB MIDI also allows Workstation Keyboards to be used as a controller for the Apple iPad by using Apple's Camera Connection Kit.
|WK-7500 Specifications
|76 Piano-style keys
|Touch Response
|2 Sensitivity levels / Off
|Sound Source
|Tri-element AHL
|Polyphony (max)
|800 incl 50 drawbar organ tones
|User Tones
|100 tone editor + 50 drawbar organ
|Drawbar Organ Tones
|Built-in Rhythms
|User Rhythms
|10 Types
|5 Types
|100 Preset / 100 User
|Start / Stop, Intro, Normal / Fill-in, Variation / Fill-in, Synchro / Editing
|Pattern Sequencer
|8 track editing x 6 patterns (intro, normal, normal fill-in, variation, variation fill-in, ending)
|Rhythm Editor
|Song Sequencer
|16 tracks + 1 system track supports up to 5 songs. Real time recording, step recording, song edit, track edit, event edit, punch in / out
|32 Channels + ext in (instrument or mic), 9 sliders
|Layer / Split
|Registration Memory
|6 sets x 16 banks, 100 user presets
|One Touch Presets
|Pitch Bend Wheel
|0 to 24 Semi-tomes
|General MIDI Compatible
|16 Channel multi-timbre received, GM level 1
|Up to 5 audio files
|SD Memory Card Storage
|SD or SDHC
|Backlit LCD
|Speakers w/ Bass Reflex System
|4.7 x 2 + 1.2 x 2
|Line Out
|L / Mono, R - Std jack
|Mic In
|Mono - Std jack
|Instrument In
|Mono - Std jack
|Audio In
|Stereo - Mini jack
|Sustain Pedal
|Std jack
|Stereo - Std jack
|12V DC or six D cell batteries
|Included Accessories
|AC Adaptor
|Music Stand
|Dimensions and Weight
|Unit size L x W x H
|46.7 x 15.7 x 5.9
|Unit weight
|19.6 lbs.
|Boxed size L x W x H
|49.5 x 19.5 x 8.0
|Boxed weight
|28.7 lbs.
|Built-In Speakers
|Number of Keys
|76 key


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The sister of missing Sheffield toddler Ben Needham is "hopeful that he's out there" despite detectives finding a toy car they think was with Ben when he disappeared on Kos.
Leighanna Needham was speaking after South Yorkshire Police formally ended a three-week search on the Greek island, saying they believe he died as a result of an accident involving a digger on July 24 1991.
Although extensive searches of two sites on Kos did not find Ben's body, officers discovered what is understood to have been a yellow toy police car where a digger driver working outside the farmhouse where the 21-month-old was playing 25 years ago deposited earth and rubble.
Speaking to Good Morning Britain, Miss Needham said her grandparents were 90% sure the toy was Ben's.
She said: "But what I can't stress enough is that my nan is only 90% sure that it's one that's similar to the one that Ben had. We can't say for definite that it is Ben's toy car.
"Over the three weeks of the dig, they have come across a number of toys; that farmhouse has been a family home to many people throughout many generations so it could be Ben's, it could not be Ben's."
It is my professional belief that Ben Needham died as a result of an accident near to the farmhouse in Iraklis where he was last seen playing.Jon Cousins
She said: "I still remain hopeful that he's out there".
Miss Needham said the family had been given the option of gathering at the farmhouse to mark Ben's death.
But she said: "That's not something we can do because there's no proof that he's there.
"So how can we say goodbye to someone knowing that there is still that hope?"
Miss Needham added: "I've got a pretty big heart and I take a few more because I want to find out what happened for my mum and for the rest of my family because they can't take any more."
Ben's grandmother, Christine, told the Daily Mirror she remembered buying him two toy cars in Kos town centre.
The 64-year-old said: "I was shaken by it and both me and Kerry (Ben's mother) cried. I just felt sick really. It was a shock.
"I expected it to have no paint on but I was 90% sure it was Ben's. When I saw it I felt disbelief."
Referring to digger driver Konstantinos Barkas, also known as Dino, she said: "It must have been dumped at that site by Dino. It didn't walk there."
Mr Barkas is believed to have died from stomach cancer last year.
Speaking at the scene on Monday, Detective Inspector Jon Cousins said the recovery of the toy added to his belief that material had been removed from the farmhouse on or shortly after the Sheffield toddler disappeared.
He said: "My team and I know that machinery, including a large digger, was used to clear an area of land on 24 July 1991, behind the farmhouse that was being renovated by the Needhams. It is my professional belief that Ben Needham died as a result of an accident near to the farmhouse in Iraklis where he was last seen playing.
"The events leading up to and following that incident have been explored by my team of experts to great lengths. The fact that we have not had a direct result during this visit to Kos does not preclude the facts that we know to be true.
"An item found on Saturday, which I have shown personally to some of Ben's family, was found in one of the targeted areas at the second site, very close to a dated item from 1991.
"It is our initial understanding that this item was in Ben's possession around the time he went missing."
Despite this stage of the investigation coming to an end, the officer pledged to continue searching for answers, and paid tribute to Ben's family.


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Ben Nelson to work on Obamacare
Former Sen. Ben Nelson's Obamacare legacy won't end with the so-called Cornhusker Kickback.
The Nebraska Democrat, the holdout who eventually provided the key vote for President Barack Obama's health care law, will head up the nonpartisan National Association of Insurance Commissioners — and that means he'll be way more involved in the nitty-gritty of Obamacare than anyone could have imagined three years ago.
Story Continued Below
As CEO, earning nearly $1 million a year, Nelson will be a leading intermediary between the states and Washington. The states are trying to implement the wide-ranging law without sinking their health insurance markets — or giving up too much of their traditional regulatory turf. And the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is working like mad to get the law ready in time for 2014 — including in states that aren't exactly bending over backward to help.
Nelson's hiring gives the NAIC a high-profile leader who knows the ins and outs of state and federal policy at a time when states are struggling to understand the new environment. Though Nelson's portfolio includes major items, like storm recovery and insurance-related aspects of Dodd-Frank, the immediate Obamacare deadlines put health care concerns front and center before the major coverage expansions take effect in 2014.
Nelson's post-Senate gig offers cynics one of those "only in Washington" moments: The conservative Democrat who nearly doomed the president's landmark health care law is getting paid to help carry it out now that he's in the private sector.
While plenty of health care groups have spent the past few years throwing jabs at Obamacare, that's not the NAIC style. The regulators have been thinking through policy questions and seeking common ground in an industry where that's often hard to come by.
"There's a division of opinion and positions within the NAIC, and the NAIC has been able to navigate very carefully through these differences of opinion," Nelson said on a press call Wednesday when he was introduced in his new role.
The call came soon after reports that Nelson also will be joining the public-affairs firm Agenda as a senior adviser.
Nelson himself has a complicated history on the health care law. He skated close to sinking it in 2009 — but after he announced he would not seek reelection, he began speaking out more favorably. He criticized "activist" Supreme Court judges who could strike it down and clashed with Nebraska's Republican governor for refusing to set key parts in motion.
Now, Nelson goes from being an advocate for the law to backing states' ability to carry it out on their terms.
It's an odd position given that his vote was so much in doubt in December 2009.
During the drafting of the Affordable Care Act, Nelson withheld support for weeks until striking a deal to become the 60th Democrat to support the bill, allowing the Senate to take its memorable Christmas Eve vote. Nelson gave his support after a provision bringing in bonus Medicaid dollars for Nebraska was added — a move Republicans were quick to label the Cornhusker Kickback — a name he never quite lived down.
Though the provision was dropped from the final version, and Nelson denied trading his vote for the extra Medicaid funds, his political standing suffered. The failed Cornhusker Kickback drew so much bad ink that even Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia mentioned it disparagingly during last year's marathon oral argument on the health care law.


text: Chautauqua Lake Ice Pick off and running Posted on February 5, 2013 - 07:41 PM by Richard Benedetto BEMUS POINT The Chautauqua Lake Ice Pick is officially back. The ice pick has been placed on the ice and bets are now being accepted at www.clakeicepick.com. Peter Sullivan, event organizer, said proceeds from the contest will benefit the Chautauqua Lake Association. ''Fifty percent of the proceeds will go to the CLA,'' he said. ''The other 50 percent will be split among the five winners. The first winner will receive half. So if we raise $10,000, they would receive $2,500. The other four winners will split the rest of the money.'' The Chautauqua Lake Ice Pick contest is based on a successful Alaskan tradition, the Chautauqua Lake Ice Pick is a fundraiser where people predict exactly what time and date the ice will break and the tripod placed on the ice will fall into the lake. The contest's inaugural year was 2011, when $8,000 was raised to benefit the Chautauqua Lake Association. However, in 2012, due to unseasonably warmer temperatures, the contest was canceled. The idea for the event was brought back by Sullivan, who traveled to Nenana, Alaska, and witnessed an event held annually to predict when the ice breaks. The Alaskan tradition started as people waited for the ice to break on the Tanana River, which would mean the start of supplies coming their way. Although Alaskans may not be as dependent upon the ice breaking to get supplies now, the guessing is still carried on as thousands of dollars are raised for charity. Sullivan transformed the idea into a local fundraiser, with BOCES classes constructing the tripod that is connected to a clock to mark the exact time the ice cracks on Chautauqua Lake. In the inaugural contest in 2011, Greg Peterson won by correctly guessing 9:37 a.m. on March 18. Each guess costs $5. Bets will be accepted until the end of February. Sullivan said the contest is ''off and running'' because a private foundation has already donated $5,000 toward the competition. Comments There are no comments for this post. Be the first to comment! Leave a comment Comment Already have an account? Yes No Email Password Forgot your password? First Name Last Name Phone Email Password Login and Add Comment


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Collection Items
Book/Printed MaterialReport upon United States Geographical surveys west of the one hundredth meridian A. A. Humphreys, chief of engineers until June 1879. Succeeded by H. G. Wright. Date of publication for vol. 2. Astronomy and barometric hypsometry: 1877 (t.p.) Available also through the Library of Congress Web site as a raster image. Form AACR2: ga10 2004-03-02
- Contributor: Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian (U.S.) - Wheeler, George M. (George Montague) - Humphreys, A. A. (Andrew Atkinson) - Wright, Horatio Gouverneur
- Date: 1889
View 81 Pages View 96 Pages


text: Milo Azarmsa has served as senior vice president of finance since February 2008. He joined SanDisk in June 2005 as vice president of operations finance. Previously, Azarmsa was vice president of finance and controller for worldwide sales at Palm, Inc. Prior to that, he held financial and business development positions at Verifone, Pacific Telesis and VoiceCom Systems. Azarmsa earned his bachelor's degree in finance from Abadan Institute of Technology and his master's degree in business administration from the School of Business and Economics at California State University, Hayward.


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The solution that I produced is far from perfect. First and foremost, I did not make any effort to target other phones than my trusty Nexus S. Phones which have sampling frequency of around 50 Hz in SENSOR_DELAY_FASTEST mode will work fine, significantly different sampling frequencies are not supported. It is more important, however, that I was not able to create a foolproof algorithm for the problem.
Initially I thought that some sort of rotation could be measured when the front of the car is lifted by the speed bump but I was not able to detect this rotation from the sensor signal. The car generates all sorts of vibrations and it is not easy to extract this relatively small rotation from the noisy background. So I went back to the acceleration spike which is generated when the car hits the bump and I used just the acceleration's absolute value as described in this presentation. The trouble is that this spike is pretty reminiscent of a class of other spikes like knocks, etc. For example here is a beautiful double street bump somewhere in Budapest.
There is no perfect solution to this problem, at least I could not find any. Eventually I obtained the best result by calculating the cross-correlation between the acceleration signal and a pre-recorded speed bump signal. I re-sampled this representative signal for +/- 10% of its initial frequency and calculated the cross-correlation with all the three variants (initial, +10% frequency, -10% frequency). Then I used a sliding window to calculate the power of the cross-correlation signal. This is the pre-recorded sample I used for cross-correlation:
Using a limit of about 150, the two signals can be separated and no fake bumps are detected even on the bumpy road.
Click here to download the example program.
There are a lot of problems with this approach. First, speed bumps come in all shapes and sizes and this method can detect speed bumps that are similar to the one used to generate the reference signal. Then there is the problem of the car itself. I did not have the chance to test with a lot of different cars but I bet the different suspension systems will yield drastically different signals in different car types. Anyway, I thought somebody may find this post and this post can start some thinking.


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RAM Mounts Introduces the RAM X-Grip Mounts for the Apple iPhone
Sometimes, its all about the design. If you are looking for a compact mount for your iPhone 5 without that cookie cutter shape, you've found it. The RAM X-Grip has a clean and clever four leg design that sports great holding power without hiding your iPhone 5 behind foam pads and plastic. The perfect compliment to the modern sleek interior of today's vehicles, the RAM X-Grip is the iPhone 5 holder evolved. Compatible and interchangeable with a wide range of popular RAM Mounting products, this elegant holder is ready to compliment your iPhone 5 and become the most useful accessory in your vehicle.
About RAM Mountsuse if there is a picture end picture
RAM stands for Round-A-Mount and got its start in 1995. Most of the product line is based on a patented design revolving around a rubber ball and socket system. Far and away the most innovative product line of its kind, RAM continues to evolve into one of the most sought after accessories for electronics. RAM products have quickly become an essential mounting component for a wide variety of applications including rugged vehicle, industrial, military and defense, material handling as well as any application requiring a robust mounting solution. Incorporating a non-slip feature as well as shock and vibration dampening, our often imitated but never duplicated mounting solutions are truly one of a kind and enhance every application they are used in. Unwilling to compromise durability and versatility, many RAM products are available to support devices from less than a pound up to 185 pounds. Utilizing the finest assembly hardware, durable composites, steel, stainless steel, rubber, and aluminum, our mounting bases and complete kits are manufactured to perform above expectations and remain cost effective.


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Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty
TMZ was the first to report that Michael Jackson has died. He was 50.
The King of Pop suffered a cardiac arrest earlier today at his home in Bel Air and was rushed to UCLA hospital. Sources tell TMZ that Jackson was not breathing at the scene and, once at the hospital, the staff tried to resuscitate him but was unsuccessful.
He is survived by three children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, and Prince "Blanket" Michael Jackson II.
My heart goes out to the family. This has been a rough day in Hollywood with Farrah Fawcett's passing as well.


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Nearly 700 people applied to become police officers during the last recruitment window in West Yorkshire.
The county's force is aiming to recruit around 300 news officers in addition to its usual hiring to cover vacancies naturally created.
It is particularly keen to receive applications from people in groups which are currently under-represented on the force.
There were 658 applicants in June, 27 per cent of which came from diverse groups or backgrounds such as the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LBGT) community.
The news has been welcomed by senior officers as they prepare to open latest window for applications tomorrow.
Assistant Chief Constable Andy Battle said: "We had a staggering response to the last recruitment drive at West Yorkshire Police in June this year with nearly 700 people applying to become police constables.
"The scale of this recruitment offers a real opportunity to increase the diversity of our workforce and I would strongly encourage anyone from an under-represented group who is interested in a career in policing to make use of the positive action workshops that we are running and apply to join the Force."
Applications are being accepted until September 23.
Two live web chats will also be held via the West Yorkshire Police website to give people the chance to ask questions about joining the force.
They will be held tomorrow night (Thursday) and on Tuesday, September 13, 7pm-8pm.


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Washington is buzzing about a cryptic line on the president's daily schedule Monday:
12:00PM THE PRESIDENT and former Secretary Clinton meet for lunch
Private Dining Room
Closed Press
Not even a mention of "Hillary" or "Hillary Rodham" or the State Department, her former perch – just "former Secretary Clinton," the bare minimum required to distinguish her from her husband. Maybe the White House thought if it used fewer words, the lunch date would slide below the radar. But no, on a slow news day, it's a talker.
Since the former secretary of State stepped down from her post on Feb. 1, she has been traveling the country delivering speeches, both paid and pro bono. We're also sure she's taken a little time to rest, after four grueling years as the most-traveled secretary of State in terms of countries visited.
And she's widely thought to be considering another run for president. If not, she surely would not have allowed some A-list Democrats to start a "super political-action committee," called Ready for Hillary.
So in the absence of hard information, we thought we'd float some theories on what the two might discuss.
The 2016 presidential race. Yes, it's super early, but both major parties' nomination races are well under way. President Obama's understudy, Vice President Joe Biden, is clearly interested. But Clinton would clear the field if she jumped in. She just has to decide if she's ready for another go at cracking what she called the "highest and hardest glass ceiling."
How can Mr. Obama help her decide? He can bring her up to speed on what presidential politics are like in the age of 24/7 social media – already a factor in 2007 and 2008, but not like today – and 24/7 political coverage. Remember, Politico launched on Jan. 23, 2007, just three days after Clinton announced she was forming an exploratory committee for a presidential campaign. Now Politico (and BuzzFeed and all the other new politically obsessed sites) is a force to be reckoned with. No tidbit is too small.
Obama and Clinton recovered from their epic nomination battle long ago. The memory of Clinton denouncing Obama – "Shame on you, Barack Obama" – over alleged lies in campaign literature is fading. And every president wants to be succeeded by someone from his party, so it's in Obama's interest to help her run a successful campaign, if she goes for it. Obama may even openly encourage her to get in.
Foreign policy. Obama certainly has a full plate, and Clinton can obviously speak knowledgeably about the range of issues he faces – Egypt, Syria, Russia, Edward Snowden, the Keystone XL pipeline, the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that begin in Washington Monday evening. John Kerry, of course, is now Obama's secretary of State, and Clinton's task as a "former" is to be quiet and let the new guy do his job. Thus a closed-press lunch meeting is the perfect forum for discussion, away from the cameras.
One more topic on foreign policy: The issue of Benghazi – the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on US diplomatic facilities in the Libyan city that left four Americans dead, including the ambassador – is still a thorn in Obama's side. And it happened on Clinton's watch, making it fodder for political opponents in a second Clinton presidential campaign. Maybe it's on the lunch menu.
Life. To paraphrase Sigmund Freud, sometimes a lunch is just a lunch. Maybe it's just two friends breaking bread together, catching up on how they and their families are doing. Obama's daughters are growing up – Malia is a teenager, and Sasha is almost there – and Clinton has experience raising a teenage girl in the White House. How did the Clintons handle all the normal teen issues – clothes, makeup, boys, parties, driving?
We might also be tempted to suggest that Clinton could offer advice on what it's like to run for office as a sitting first lady, as she did when she ran for US Senate in New York in 2000. Certainly Michelle Obama would be a formidable prospect to run, say, against Sen. Mark Kirk (R) of Illinois in 2016. But when asked, Mrs. Obama adamantly rejects the idea of running for anything. For now, we believe her.


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Wild and Free| Fine Art Landscape Photography | Barefoot and Bluegrass
Wild and Free| Fine Art Landscape Photography | Barefoot and Bluegrass
Manes blowing, sun shining… wild and free
Special thanks to New Beginnings Stables in Columbia City, Indiana.
It's all about the details…
Items are 100% hand crafted and made locally in the Midwest. Our Fine Art Prints are created using archival quality Giclee printing on Watercolor Paper. Canvas art comes ready to hang and are gallery quality wrapped images.
Some print sizes require cropping- final product may vary slightly. Unframed images will ship within 5-7 business days. Framed and custom pieces will require additional time. You will be notified when your item is shipped.
All artwork comes unframed and unmatted unless otherwise noted and requested. Framing is available for 16x20 and 24x30 sizes only and available in black, white, gold, and expresso finishes. Foam Core Mounting is available in all print sizes.
Would you like to create a custom framed piece of Art? We have a local framing Master!
We work with local craftsman and organic Midwest lumber sources (reclaimed barn wood, cherry, walnut) to create functional & beautiful custom built framed, ready to hang, statement pieces that will last a lifetime. We never compromise the quality of our work. From Farm to Home- we maintain the highest standards and take a tremendous pride in our work. A great design is a continuous balance of art and craftsmanship and each of our partners maintains a special talent that is developed beyond years of multi-faceted experience.
Contact us for more information!
Images are copyright of Photography by Meg Miller.


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This question already has an answer here:
- When is a BIG Rewrite the answer? 25 answers
When you begin a new project/function/object you mostly have an idea of the model you want to build. It can be based on the clients' wish, on your ideas for the app or whatever. In the middle you often realise that your model will not work. There may be new requirements, you didn't think of something etc. Then you have two options. Either you rewrite your code to work with the new specifications, or you "hack" the current code to do what you want. A rewrite is time consuming, and you may need to do it several times, but in the long run it often pays. Hacks are fast and often effective for the moment, but many hacks will make the code really bad, and after a while they may come back and bite you in the behind...
How do you determine when to do what?
(Pardon my very non-academic way of explaining this, but I hope you understand what I'm getting at.)