text:
About James
The problem with your scenario is that it assumes I have access to a computer, the internet, and my super-secret-squirrel password.
I have nothing to hide (ha!) but should I ever be arrested, or even detained, I doubt I'll be able to ask for a connection to my confiscated phone so I can spoliate whatever evidence might be there.
Were I paranoid, I'd likely root my phone and install a mod that executes different routines, based on my screen unlock code:
1234 gives me access as me
5678 gives me access to a subset suitable for a child or friend
2468 performs a "factory reset" such that the phone isn't damaged, but I can reinstall my apps and backed-up data
9753 performs a 5220-level wipe, then triggers some hardware exploit that leads to a melted phone.
In fact, if such a mod were available, I'd pay for it. Just because it would be nice to have. In case, you know, I need to carry some Scentsy across town, or stand with my buttocks clenched the wrong way.
But what we're mainly concerned about is the fact that an agency that claims its doing this to combat terrorism can't seem to come up with much evidence that its programs are working. The NSA has deprived us of civil liberties while delivering next to nothing in terms of security.
Ask any motorcyclist who's been riding for more than 15 years or so, and this kind of behavior will bring back (not so fond) memories.
Any gathering of more than, say, a dozen bikes would draw the attention of the local constabulary. There were a handful of times I saw cops going down a line of bikes, taking down license plate numbers and sometimes checking VINs.
Not for any enforcement action ... simply because there were a lot of bikes around, and that meant danger.
Never mind that I, and the people I rode with, didn't belong to motorcycle clubs (in the gangster sense), and the most illegal thing we did was ride too fast.
But actions taken during Occupy Wall Street show that the PD's agenda usually means treating protesters (as well as anyone with a camera) as criminals. And attempting to "unmask" participants in an Anonymous rally lumps all attendees in with the activist group, even if many of them have never actively participated in any illegal activities. It also shows a fundamental misunderstanding of Anonymous' "structure," i.e., there is none. There's no "head" to capture and mount on the metaphorical wall. There's also no "tail" to drag off to HQ and sweat down in hopes of it offering up higher-ranked members.
Thank you for a cogent, passionate encapsulation of the beauty of atheism.
As you lambast people for having faith, you display your own ignorance. Not because you're an atheist. But because you are an asshole. The two are not inextricably intertwined.
"We won't torture or Kill Eric Snowden."
"We won't illegally detain the partner of a journalist who's engaged in acts we disagree with."
"We won't abuse the power entrusted to us."
I'm wondering when the NSA surveillance will have its "Bork Blockbuster" moment. For those with short memories, it used to be legal to share video rental history data ... until Robert Bork's video rental history was revealed during his confirmation hearings.
Now that every conversation in Washington DC (the 202 area code)has been monitored, will Congress finally realize that they are targets too? After all, they are simply citizens, USPs to the NSA.
re: wearing charges of villainy ...
You left out the part about "doing so for those who were unwilling to do so."
I love the way he called out his co-workers and Congress as cowards.
what would be outrageous is police arresting and attorneys general prosecuting people using ordinary computers under the bad wording of this statute--NOT the bad wording itself. The bad wording does not necessarily or even usually produce the conceptually possible bad result based on the bad wording. This is one reason we have judges--they typically don't let cases move forward that fall outside reasonable interpretations of the law (and yes, this happened in all the criminal CFAA cases too, but let's leave those alone for now).
This is another data point in the argument against, "I haven't done anything wrong. Why should I care if the NSA monitors my every utterance and online post?"
And for the Dad-haters - maybe, just maybe, the Old Man is hoping that others will learn, by the example of his son's incarceration, of the dangers of posting "casual" threats.
Used to be, if you were in a "bad part of town," you'd keep your mouth shut about the way someone was dressed or how hot a woman looked - the local denizens might just inflict some instant justice on you for your freedom of expression.
Now, the thugs wear suits (or uniforms) and use the courts, rather than their fists.
re: AC said:
The only way to get a representative sample of a population is to choose members randomly.
Who the heck are you, and what is your problem?
I generally avoid feeding the trolls ... but I'm genuinely curious.
What merits, exactly, do you think Mike is avoiding?
How should they be addressed?
Is it your contention that we should ignore the issue of governmental monitoring?
If you don't have a coherent point to make, then go away. If you're willing to discuss the issue, or make a cogent argument as to why the issue shouldn't be discussed, say your piece.
Or keep sniping, being the annoying gadfly that does little more than annoy the participants here.
Imagine how quickly the USPS would dry up and blow away if there was any question that every letter was going to be opened, and the contents recorded for posterity,before delivery.
Secure competitors would spring up overnight.
Apparently Stop Watching Us has been hacked, as the link to their Privacy Policy is redirected to heroku.com.
Who knows where the emails, names, and addresses of those who "Signed" the site have ended up.
I don't mind standing up for my rights - I'll even stand up publicly. But it truly sucks when online "protests" are vulnerable to potential redirection of personal information.
It's no-win:
Don't use real info, and the "signatures" won't be taken seriously.
Use real info, and Google only knows who gets copies of that info.
Even if the SSL error I got is benign, the issue remains: just because "FightForTheFuture" says they're protesting, who's to know?
You attempted to reach www.fightforthefuture.org, but instead you actually reached a server identifying itself as *.heroku.com. This may be caused by a misconfiguration on the server or by something more serious. An attacker on your network could be trying to get you to visit a fake (and potentially harmful) version of www.fightforthefuture.org.
News at 11.
Seriously ... where are the "old school" journalists who dared to ask tough questions? Of lots of people? And then report what they found out, even if it was tough to talk about?
I'm not talking about Bill's under-the-presidential-desk un-sex, or JFK's affairs. I'm talking about Watergate, the Pentagon Papers, even Whitewater.
Instead, the evening news is "Instant Index" "reports" of he latest viral video, and how many boobs Angelina has left.
It's saddening. And now it's time for me to go have a beer and watch some Deadliest Catch reruns.
What can we do about it?
If you're an American voter ...
You can email your senators and congressman from their officially provided web sites. You can get there via:
It only takes a couple of minutes to let your voice be heard.
Speak up.
Better yet, call your elected representatives' offices on your cell phone, and inform the person who answers that the call is being logged by the NSA.
"Refining," as in "making better." Not as in "never been done."
A large American insurance company uses a HUGE database of policyholders, claims, physicians, and other data. Their fraud division routinely mines this data for connections that imply the possibility of fraud. On a simple level, it's "If a policyholder in the zip code 90210 has a claim for back injury as a result of auto accident and sees this doctor, investigate." In reality, it's far, far more complex.
With the metadata the NSA has been collecting, at a simple level, it could be "Trace the connections involving three international calls, within 24 hours, of this bank of numbers of "known terrorists."
So a Chechen-descended American citizen calls home, then calls his girlfriend, who calls her brother, who contacts a veterinarian, who is the same one I call for my cat's excessive hairball. The calls are each unrelated, but I am now "tagged" as being in the communication chain with the Boston Bomber.
When it works, we get stories like this one http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/22/us-usa-explosion-florida-idUSBRE94L0J820130522 (except for the suspect dies in custody part).
But "I have nothing to fear, so why should I care?" Well, through sheer coincidence, I'm now linked with the terrorists. And should another unlikely coincidence occur, I could well wake up to quasi-military police kicking down my door to ask some questions.
If you're an American voter ...
You can email your senators and congressman from their officially provided web sites. You can get there via:
It only takes a couple of minutes to let your voice be heard.
Speak up.
The NSA has these new-fangled things called computers, that allow them to look at the data faster than humans can. Depending on what these "computers" are told to do (by people called "programmers"), the computers may be able to compare the call data and make unexpected connections.
I wonder if there's a list of protesters' phone numbers somewhere.


text: Not one to be outdone, well by no one at this point, peripheral kings Thrustmaster will start selling a $250 replica of a Ferrarri 430 Scuderia in June for use with PC and PS3 games. The only thing that the fold-up cockpit is missing is the... cockpit. But hey, nice wheel and pedals.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
After a survey of the wreckage-strewn devastation on the edge of this once-bustling port, Japanese Premier Naoto Kan's declaration that his country is suffering its worst crisis since World War II rings horribly true.
It is impossible not to recall images of Hiroshima in 1945. Two weeks ago, here stood street after street of homes, shops, factories, and warehouses. Today, a sodden wasteland stretches into the distance, choked with the silent remains of a daily life that was swept away March 11 by a wall of water.
Cars lie on their sides, crushed. Reinforced concrete telephone poles droop, bent like straws. Whole houses, some still intact but adrift from their foundations, lean drunkenly wherever they washed up.
It is a near-apocalyptic vision matched in other towns and villages along Japan's northeastern coast that were struck by a tsunami triggered by the most powerful earthquake in the country's history. And in a bitter irony for the only nation to have suffered the effects of atomic weapons, the danger of a nuclear disaster shadows the land as engineers battle to stabilize damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
For Japan – a country that has struggled for two decades to shake off political and economic stagnation, has sometimes seemed racked by self-doubt, and is having to cope with the burden of a rapidly aging population – the disaster's death toll, financial costs, and nuclear implications might be expected to add to a deep malaise.
Instead, say many foreign observers and Japanese alike, the need to recover from the crisis may in fact serve to give the country a new sense of purpose: Fortune may be born of misfortune, as a Japanese saying has it. That, though, is subject to the crucial caveat that no one can begin to foresee how the government or people would react should radioactive fallout threaten millions of citizens.
YOUR THOUGHTS: How would you recommend using the more than $25 million donated for victims of last week's earthquake and tsunami?
"This catastrophe could focus Japanese minds on catching up and rebuilding," says Koichi Nakano, a professor of politics at Sophia University in Tokyo. "The challenge of putting things back on track will unite us, and we know how to do it."
Japan has done that before, of course, and on a much, much greater scale. By the end of World War II, 60 cities had been flattened by bombing raids, half a million people were dead, 10 million were homeless, and a quarter of the national wealth had been destroyed.
Within less than four decades, the country had transformed itself into the second biggest economy on earth. "They pulled together and rebuilt in a quite spectacular way," says John Dower, author of "Embracing Defeat," an account of that recovery. "I would expect them to pull together again with amazing resilience."
Deep in the soul of the Japanese lies the spirit of gaman. Central to the nation's image of itself, it means "toughing it out, taking whatever comes at you and enduring," says Roland Kelts, an author who drew on his mixed Japanese and American heritage to write "Japanamerica." "There is an enormous amount of cultural DNA about being under siege that goes back centuries."
It's a spirit that the Japanese people have been forced to draw on often in the past in the face of natural and human-caused disasters. From the great Tokyo earthquake in 1923, through World War II to the Kobe quake in 1995, "circumstances have differed, but there has been one constant," says Merry White, an anthropologist specializing in Japan at Boston University. "There has been relatively little wallowing and much more mobilization."
Makoto Mizenoya is one who is not wallowing. Standing outside the school where he and all the other residents of his hometown of Narahama – near the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant – have been evacuated, he brushes off concerns he might have been contaminated by fallout.
"We cannot really think about that," he says, as he cares for residents of a senior citizen center, who are now huddled on a classroom floor. "I feel kind of guilty getting all these messages of good luck from my friends. I can only get on with my work."
The scale of the disaster, though, and the threat of a nuclear emergency, mean "this could be the ultimate test of the Japanese spirit," Mr. Kelts warns.
The death toll from the earthquake and tsunami is expected to rise well above 10,000. Nearly half a million people have lost their homes or been displaced. Some 850,000 homes have no electricity, and 1.5 million households are without water. In the quake zone, food is short and gasoline nearly unobtainable.
In the face of these difficulties, victims have shown remarkable stoicism. The relief effort has not always run smoothly, plagued by lack of information and transportation problems, but few complain. Instead they wait patiently in orderly lines for water, food, gas, blankets, or whatever is offered.
In Sendai, a city where half the residents have no electricity or water, people line up in the snow outside a convenience store that has just opened for the first time since the earthquake. "I'm waiting to buy food and water," says Yuta Okada, a young man who has just joined the end of the line. "I'm worried because the staff say they don't have enough for everybody. All I can do is wait and see."
Foreign journalists with experience of similar natural disasters elsewhere in the world have been surprised that there have been no reports yet of looting, though shops and homes stand unguarded across the quake zone. In a society where group interests take precedence over individual desires, says Professor Nakano, "there is a general willingness to abide by the rules and not cause problems for other people by respecting the order of things. That is helpful in situations like this."
The task of rebuilding shattered towns will be daunting, and could cost as much as $185 billion, estimates Barclays Capital. Even with the Japanese sense of resolve and social cohesion, it is likely to take years. Five and a half years after hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, for instance, parts of the city still haven't been rebuilt. Ten years after hurricane Andrew hit the Southeastern United States in 1992, recovery work was still going on.
Yet other natural disasters are an imperfect gauge of how long it might take Japan to recover, since it is the first to confront three crises at once: quake, tsunami, and nuclear emergency. "We've never had anything like this," says David Neal, director of the Center for the Study of Disasters and Extreme Events at Oklahoma State University.
Cleaning up the Fukushima nuclear facility alone will be a formidable task. Even if the situation at the site were to stabilize from here, at least three of the six reactors at the site have been lost. If the Japanese were to decide to dismantle the stricken units, the process, based on the lesson of Three Mile Island, in Pennsylvania, could take up to two years. "Decommissioning is a very, very big job," says Charles Forsberg, a nuclear expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. "It's like building a reactor itself."
The Japanese will also face disruptions to the economy. All the country's big automakers have temporarily shut down manufacturing, in part because of a shortage of parts from damaged plants in the north. Many quake-hit electronics plants have suspended operations as well. Shipping ports in northeastern Japan suffered damage, and many foreign and domestic companies interrupted business as workers fled possible radiation leaks.
Yet many economists expect the overall damage to the economy to be minimal. "The direct economic impact of the disaster is extremely limited," says Martin Schulz, an analyst at the Fujitsu Research Institute in Tokyo. A steel mill, two oil refineries, and some factories were impaired, but the region where the quake and tsunami hit accounts for only 6 percent of Japan's economy. The huge industrial belt in central and southern Japan is intact, and though many factories are still closed, they will probably reopen when transportation links are restored.
The Kobe earthquake, which cost almost as much as this one is expected to, "did not cause even a blip on the economic statistics," Mr. Schulz recalls, and he does not expect more than a marginal drop in this year's growth rate, predicted before the disaster to be 1.5 percent. Next year the huge investment that will be needed to rebuild homes, bridges, roads, and railways damaged by the quake and tsunami might even boost GDP growth a little.
On the political front, the government, which was on the point of falling a week ago, has benefited from the pulling together that often accompanies a national emergency. While there has been sharp criticism over its lack of candor surrounding the nuclear debacle and concern about the slowness of getting relief supplies to the north, national crises provide an opportunity for leaders to rally a nation, and their own fortunes, though risks lurk if it isn't done right. "With the crisis, the opposition parties cannot criticize the government, and for the time being this has rescued them," says Eisuke Sakakibara, a former finance minister.
The authorities have handled aspects of the response reasonably well, experts say, and ordinary citizens are too concerned with their own preoccupations to care much about politics for now. They have, though, been deeply unhappy for several years with successive governments: Japan has had five prime ministers in as many years, and Mr. Kan's popularity had fallen to below 20 percent before the earthquake. Hopes for real change when the electorate voted the Liberal Democratic Party out of office for the first time in half a century in 2009 have been dashed, "but this incident might really kick-start something," Schulz says.
That movement might begin, he says, if voters blame the Tokyo Electric Power Company, the classically bureaucratic, secretive, oligarchic firm that owns Fukushima, for the nuclear accident. "There will have to be major changes," he believes.
On a deeper level, some observers see a chance that the recovery effort will galvanize a society that has often seemed mired in self-doubt since achieving its postwar miracle. On the one hand, it could revive the Japanese people's traditional self-image, encapsulated in the national mantra that the country is a small island archipelago with few resources that can cope, however battered by outside forces.
At the same time, people here have been delighted by the outpouring of sympathy from the rest of the world. Unlike in 1995, when the authorities spurned the help offered by foreign governments in the wake of the Kobe earthquake, Tokyo has welcomed outside aid, asking the US military and the International Atomic Energy Agency, among others, for assistance.
The international reaction "has reminded us that we still matter and that people still care about us at a time when the Japanese have been feeling more insecure about their international standing and relevance," says Nakano.
Ironically, the unfolding events "are rebuilding some confidence in some core aspects of Japanese culture and society," concurs Michael Green, an Asia analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Japan may have lost the dynamism that powered its extraordinary rise during the second half of the 20th century, but it is a country that is still well placed to recover from the current disaster so long as the challenges are not rendered insuperable by a nuclear catastrophe. It is one of the richest countries in the world, with one of the best-educated and most talented workforces and with strong state institutions. Japan is not Haiti. Underpinning those strengths is a sense among ordinary people who have lost everything that there is no other way ahead but to "start over in a shattered land," as Professor Dower described the nation's task in 1945.
In the small coastal village of Yamamoto, the manager of an agricultural supplies store, Toshiyo Shishido, rallies his employees to the long job of clearing the piles of rubble, trees, and mud that clog his forecourt and shop. It might be months before he is back in business, Mr. Shishido worries. "But we have to rebuild," he says. "It's the duty of those of us who survived."


text:
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text:
Keith Blackwell, M.D., Ph.D.
Research Summary
The Blackwell laboratory studies how cells and organisms defend themselves against environmental and metabolic stresses. These stresses include high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and other potentially harmful products of metabolism, misfolded proteins, and perturbations in protein synthesis. We are particularly interested in understanding these how stress defenses influence the aging process. Cellular stress defenses are important in diabetes in several ways. For example, chronic elevations in blood glucose lead to high levels of ROS (oxidative stress) in endothelial tissues, one of the most fundamental causes of diabetic complications in both Type 1 and Type 2 patients. During Type 2 diabetes, the demand for insulin synthesis can place enormous stress on the beta cell endoplasmic reticulum, eventually leading to oxidative stress and beta cell demise.
In addition, the effectiveness of cellular stress defenses is influenced by insulin and other metabolic regulatory pathways of importance in diabetes. Increasing evidence indicates that these defenses not only protect against stress, but also act in opposition to the aging process, during which the likelihood of Type 2 diabetes and severity of diabetic complications inexorably increase. Cellular stress defenses, their regulators, and the aging process profoundly influence the regenerative and developmental capacity of multiple types of stem cells, and are therefore important for tissue repair. Finally, these defense mechanisms are important in a wide variety of additional disease settings, including atherosclerosis, neurodegeneration, carcinogenesis and cancer progression, drug metabolism, and reperfusion injury.
We are studying stress defense mechanisms in the nematode C. elegans, in which these mechanisms and most basic aspects of their regulation seem to be conserved. This organism offers tremendous advantages for genetic screening and manipulating the activity of genes, and for studying biological processes on the organismal level. Importantly, insights obtained from C. elegans have generally proven to be applicable to humans. Work in C. elegans has been particularly important for identifying mechanisms that influence aging, because of its short lifespan and advantages for genetic studies.
Most of our studies of stress and aging are centered around the transcription factor SKN-1, which is the C. elegans counterpart to the mammalian Nrf1/2/3 transcription regulators. We have found that SKN-1 orchestrates a transcriptional response to oxidative and related stresses that is conserved among eukaryotes. More recently, we have determined that SKN-1 has a broader range of functions than realized previously. Through expression profiling, we have obtained evidence that SKN-1 not only mobilizes oxidative stress defenses, but also regulates genes involved in metabolism, drug transport, protein homeostasis, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and insulin signaling, among other important processes. One of our most active areas of interest is investigating how SKN-1 interacts with other stress response regulators to defend against a wide range of stresses.
We are also very interested in understanding molecular mechanisms through which the activities of SKN-1 and cooperating signals are controlled, because we believe that harnessing the benefits of SKN-1 and other stress defenses could be important in several disease settings. In C. elegans, we can perform high-throughput screens to identify such regulatory mechanisms. Such studies are revealing that SKN-1 responds to perturbations in a surprisingly wide range of cellular processes.
We are particularly interested in understanding how SKN-1 cooperates or works in parallel with other mechanisms to influence the aging process. Across species, aging is profoundly affected by the activity of insulin/IGF-1 signaling, an effect that was discovered in C. elegans. We have determined that SKN-1 is regulated by insulin/IGF-1 signaling, and is important in the effects of this pathway on stress resistance and lifespan. Others have determined that SKN-1 is required for lifespan to be extended by caloric restriction, and we have more recently implicated SKN-1 in additional signaling pathways that are important in aging. Together, these results place SKN-1/Nrf as having a role in defense and metabolic mechanisms that may have profound effects on aging and chronic diseases such as diabetes.
In parallel to these efforts, we are using C. elegans to study how other types of gene regulatory mechanisms influence the aging process, and the development and self-renewal capability of stem cells. We expect that the fundamental mechanisms that we uncover in C. elegans will identify new areas of inquiry to be pursued in mammalian and human models, and are pursuing such collaborations both within Joslin and the broader Harvard community.
Dr. Blackwell was born in Greenville, SC. He received a BS degree in Chemistry from Duke University in 1978, and the MD and PhD degrees from Columbia University in 1987 and 1988, respectively. Dr. Blackwell performed his graduate work with Dr. Frederick W. Alt, studying how B- and T- cell antigen receptor genes are assembled.
In 1989 he joined the lab of the late Dr. Harold Weintraub (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center) as a postdoctoral fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation. He then developed high-throughput systems for analyzing protein-nucleic acid interactions, and studied how regulatory proteins recognize DNA. This work eventually established the direction for his current work, investigating gene regulatory mechanisms involved in development, metabolism, stress defense, and aging.
In 1993 he became a Junior Investigator at the Center for Blood Research (now IDI), and an Assistant Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Blackwell was promoted to Associate Professor in 2001, and Professor in 2008. He was named a Searle Scholar in 1995, and an Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar in Aging in 2010. He has participated in numerous review panels at the NIH, and is a member of the editorial board of the journal Aging Cell.
In 2004, Dr. Blackwell moved his laboratory to Joslin, where he is Associate Research Director, co-head of the Section on Islet Cell and Regenerative Biology, and a principal faculty member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.
Page last updated: September 19, 2019


text:
for my most often asked question, what should we wear in our family photos here is a little color story i have been thinking of. peaches and cream. everywhere i look there is peach. pretty, soft, simple and great layered with lots of cream accents.
white top / jcrew shorts / topshop cardigan / herringbone throw / necklace / sandals / teepee image via pinterest
men's timex watch / vintage skateboard / vans / striped shirt / gray pants / modern home
stripe shirt / peach toddler sweatshirt / burlap toms / bone colored khakis / youth ringer tee / gray hoodie / coral native shoes / ikat tunic for girls / ball necklace /
here are what i think pairs well with peach
and just in case you didn't see enough peaches and cream, here are some more ideas to fit every style:
pair this gingham bowtie for boys with a khaki suit or cuffed chinos and rolled up sleeves on their oxford
are you a little bit of a hipster family? pair this colorblock cardigan with a striped tee.
pair this sweet tulle skirt with a white tee, denim jacket, knee highs and the ballet flats below for a classic look.
floral flats
catch her riding on her beach cruiser in this fun peplum top, denim shorts and slide on sneakers around a beach city for a carefree and relaxed portrait.
have an art lover? let her express herself with this quirky rendering top on top. high top sneaks on the bottom. this is just enough graphic to be interesting, not distracting.
anthropologie not available online
club monaco sweater
similar at anthropologie
joy folie flats
crew cuts leggings.
these would be great under a long slouchy sweater for a casual look or layer a button up with a sweeter and ballet flats. or try them peeking out of the bottom of a trench coat.
for a field or rustic shoot i would keep this floral sundress simple with soft leather sandals and put everyone else in khaki and shell colored clothing.
pretty floral cardigan by boden
stella mccartney polka dot tulle skirt.
i would pair this with a simple cardigan (or the one above) and metallic flats to let the ombre polka dots be the star of the outfit.
convinced you can't get the older boys in peach? i know my hus wouldn't go for it. i would layer mine in creams and grays. BUT if the guys in your life are more daring here are some fun pieces to try.
quiksilver coral chino
perfect for the beach shots this super casual flannel will help him relax in front of the camera. and it comes in sizes from little boys to mens.
suede studded flats
next pull on coral chinos. a great update from just plain blue denim. these would work great for baby and toddlers.


text:
Quest Joondalup
The new 90 key Quest apartment hotel development is located in Joondalup near Lakeside Shopping Centre
Quest Joondalup
Boas Avenue, Joondalup
The new 90 key Quest apartment hotel development is close to Lakeside Shopping Centre, Joondalup Healthcare Campus, ECU University, many local cafes and restaurants and easy access to the Freeway.
Quest Ascot
The new 112 key Quest apartment hotel development is located on a prime corner site on Great Eastern Highway between Perth CBD and Perth Airport.
Quest Ascot
Great Eastern Highway, Ascot
The new 112 key Quest apartment hotel development is located on a prime corner site on Great Eastern Highway between Perth CBD and Perth Airport.
M/32 Terrace Homes
M/32 Terrace Homes consist of 23 spacious 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom three-storey dwellings
M/32 Terrace Homes
Gage Road, North Coogee
M/32 Terrace Homes by Match is located at the visionary Shoreline Precinct in North Coogee and consist of 23 ultra-mordern and spacious three-storey terrace homes featuring a generous balcony and spacious ground-floor courtyard.
M/32 Terrace Homes include 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom and 2-car bay dwellings with exclusive access via a private laneway or quiet streetfront.
M/31 Terrace Homes
2-storey townhouses in the visionary Shoreline precinct
M/31 Terrace Homes
Reinforcement Parade, North Coogee
M/31 Terrace Homes by Match comprises of 16 contemporary terrace homes in a secure gated community in the visionary Shoreline precinct.
These 3 bedroom and 2 ½ bathroom two-storey residences come complete with a private and sheltered courtyard for entertaining, a double carport and a separate store room.
First Home Completed June 2019
M/28 | Mixed Use Development
3 storey development on South Terrace Strip | Completed May 2019
M/28 | Mixed Use Development
South Terrace, South Fremantle
M/28 by Match comprises 20 apartments and 6 commercial spaces spanning over 3 levels located on the prominent South Terrace cafe strip.
The building also houses a common landscaped courtyard for residents on the first floor.
Completed May 2019
M/25 | Mixed Use Development
3 Storey Development, Mt Lawley | Completed December 2018
M/25 | Mixed Use Development
Walcott Street, Mt Lawley
M/25 by Match is a mixed use development over 3 levels comprising 30 one and two bedroom apartments and 6 commercial spaces to the ground level.
Located on Mt Lawley's well-known Walcott Street this development is designed with inspiration from the surrounding terracotta roofed homes and will include wall art by a popular Perth-based artist.
Completed December 2018
Form Apartments
50 apartments over 5 levels | Completed August 2018
Form Apartments
Port Coogee
Construction is now completed at Form by Match, a 5-level development that comprises 50 modern beachside apartments including one, two and three bedroom layouts setting an exciting standard in the prestigious Port Coogee Marina.
Completed August 2018
Leda Education Support Centre
Construction of new Leda Education Support Centre
Leda Education Support Centre
Leda Primary School
Construction of new Administration Support Centre for Leda Primary School.
Completed January 2019
Warwick Police Station
Refurbishment of upstairs open office, armory room and transportable building
Warwick Police Station
Warwick Police Station (37 Eddington Road, Warwick)
Refurbishment of upstairs open office, armory room and transportable building including lighting, fire services, mechanical, flooring, gyprock & cabinetry.
Perth Zoo Office Upgrade
Stripping & Refurbishment of 2 open offices and reception
Perth Zoo Office Upgrade
20 Labouchere Road, South Perth
Stripping and refurbishment of 2 open offices and reception area.
St Martins Hay St Mall
Removal of structure
St Martins Hay St Mall
Removal of existing gull-wing canopy.
Perth Arena
New Internal Staircase
Perth Arena
Two new staircases inside Perth Arena was completed with the aim to integrate with the existing building fabric. M/Construction conducted extensive research and identified a new product "Jesmonite" that was being used in Europe, which is as strong as concrete but much lighter for transportation and installation. The material was tinted to match the surrounding podium and fabricated off-site so that the construction could be coordinated around the busy schedule of events happening at Perth Arena.
Cannington Greyhounds
New Score Board
Cannington Greyhounds
Installation of a new scoreboard structure.
Councillors Carport, Civic Administration Centre
Steelwork Remediation - Revitalise ageing and damaged stainless steel mesh infill panels
Councillors Carport, Civic Administration Centre
City of Canning Civic & Administration Building
The primary focus of this asset renewal project was to revitalise a number of ageing and damaged stainless steel mesh infill panels located within the City of Canning Civic & Administration building.
The large stainless steel mesh panels were removed from the site, sandblasted, re-galvanised and powder coated, then reinstalled in their original locations. Works also included the cleaning and re-painting of the surrounding steelworks to ensure a harmonious finish.
Replacement of Timber Posts, Littoria Boardwalk
Renewal and replacement of aged timber posts at the popular Littoria Boardwalk
Replacement of Timber Posts, Littoria Boardwalk
Littoria Boardwalk in the Ferndale Flats Park
This project involved the renewal and replacement of aged and rotted timber posts supporting the popular Littoria Boardwalk in the Ferndale Flats Park. The team systematically replaced damaged posts and painted the tops of each post with a protective coating which will ensure the longevity of the boardwalk.
These works were completed around peak use periods to minimise disruption as well as damage to the works in progress. Environmental protection was also critical with the work completed under strict environmental controls to ensure the health of the surrounding flora and fauna.
Storeroom Enclosure, Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club
Construction of a small building extension to the existing storeroom at the Club
Storeroom Enclosure, Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club
Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club
This project involved the construction of a small building extension to the existing storeroom at the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club.
Works included the installation of new externally clad stud walls, extension of the existing roof line, and alterations and connections to the existing services. A key component of the project was to achieve a seamless integration with the existing building and ensuring a high quality finish. Disruption was minimised as the works were completed while the Club remained operational for events and functions.
Custom Build
Luxury Bespoke Home in Peppermint Grove, Western Australia
Custom Build
Peppermint Grove
M/Construction was invited to provide a turnkey solution for the development of this luxury bespoke home, driving the design, project management and construction of the spacious five-bedroom, four-bathroom residence.
The home is a culmination of international influences and high-end tastes, with construction undertaken with craftsmanship and practical solutions for large family living.
34 apartments over 4 levels | Completed January 2015
Port Coogee
Helm received a Commendation in the Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing category at the 2015 WA Architecture Awards. An extract from the Jury Citation reads: '……this four level block of thirty four apartments has broken new ground in providing an alternative and much more affordable typology in a suburban beachside setting. This has been achieved without compromising quality and the overall standard of apartment living.'
Completed January 2015
One-bedroom dwellings in the old Dalgety Woolstores | Completed February 2012
58 one-bedroom dwellings in the old Dalgety Woolstores. This was done in conjunction with the Department of Housing as part of their urban infill and affordable housing programme.
Completed February 2012
M/24 | Mixed Use Development
4 Storey Development in Leederville | Completed May 2017
M/24 | Mixed Use Development
M/24 by Match located in Leederville is a boutique mixed-use development consisting of 39 one and two bedroom apartments and 4 retail/commercial spaces at street level.
The building spans over 4 storeys and showcases a custom built feature facade emulating bubble formations paying homage to the former use of the site as Golden West Soda Company.
Completed May 2017
Mixed use development over 3 levels | Completed February 2016
Carine Cricket Club
Refurbishment of clubrooms
Carine Cricket Club
Demolition and refurbishment of existing clubrooms and public toilets for home and away teams.
Churchill Avenue
Churchill Avenue, Subiaco
Churchill Avenue
Three luxury townhouses (house and land package) built with the client's specific finishes in mind.
Claremont Renovation
Claremont renovation
Claremont Renovation
Claremont, Western Australia
Modern Style extension was completed at the rear of the Federation Bungalow home which had cultural significance and heritage value in Claremont.
M/Construction specialises in renovations for bespoke homes in Western Australia.
The resulting project was the winner of Best refurbishment and Additions 2016 – Australian Institute of Architects WA Architecture Awards.
Thompson Road
Four luxury townhouses
Thompson Road
North Fremantle
Four luxury townhouses (house and land package) designed and built on small narrow lots. Located between the ocean and the river in North Fremantle.
Napier Street
Bespoke luxury home
Napier Street
Bespoke luxury home built according to client's exacting brief.
M/26 | Apartments
40 apartments over 3 levels | Under Construction
M/26 | Apartments
40 apartments, positioned at 7 Mary Street, Como over three levels plus basement car park.
Refreshment of Toilets at West Leeming Primary School
Toilet Refurbishment at West Leeming Primary School
Refreshment of Toilets at West Leeming Primary School
West Leeming Primary School
M/Construction Maintenance & Minor Works completes Schools Toilet refurbishments for Programmed Facility Management ahead of schedule.
M/Construction were able to mobilise within days of award making good use of the Term 1 school holiday period completing the noisy and disruption demolition before school returned. The work area was well defined with temporary fencing protecting staff and students during school hours. The clever programming and efficient use of school holiday period reduced the onsite project time to 3 weeks, less than 2 weeks into Term 2.
Our successful bid for this project provided the school with a complete refurbishment of both boys & girls toilets to high standards and prevented the need to scale back scoped works due to budget constraints. Additional works to install electric hand dryers to boys and girls toilets were complete within reduced time frame and budget.
Curtin Glass Facade
Glass facade design & installation at Curtin University
Curtin Glass Facade
Curtin University
Building 402 located at Curtin University had a glass facade stiffener self implode and fall from its current position in the foyer. M/Construction were engaged to make the area safe, remove the shattered glass from beneath and relocate furniture to a secure storage facility. M/Construction were consulted by Curtin University to propose an Engineered Design suitable for the remediation without compromising the remaining structure.
M/Construction approached structural engineers BG&E and facade design consultants Atelier/JV to provide an option that would deliver a solution in the earliest possible timeframe. The recommended solution was to remove the remaining glass stiffening supports mitigating any future hazard. The engineered detail accounted for the fabrication and installation of new aluminium mullions, which were to be installed on the internal side of the office located on Level 3 of the building.
The success of this project is highlighted by M/Construction's ability to react, prepare, procure and deliver a complex project solution. These works were delivered over the Christmas period, a time when many contractors and suppliers have taken a break in trade.
Curtin Brick Facade
Brick Facade Investigation and Repairs - Curtin University
Curtin Brick Facade
Curtin University
M/Construction provided plant, materials and labour to facilitate the inspection of brickwork to multiple buildings around the Curtin campus.
Remedial works were successfully completed to the acceptance of structural consultant. Such remedial works included; the removal and replacement of brickwork to install column straps, installation of SS Thorhelical brick ties to southern and western parapets of Building 109.
M/Construction further carried out painting to all steel columns, awnings and balustrading to Building 109 and fabricated a new PFC pressing to detail provided by architect and structural consultant. This additional works were undertaken over Christmas period, minimising impact on building occupants and campus operations.
St Martins
St Martins Westpac Tenancy Strip Out
St Martins
Corner of St Georges Terrace and Barrack St, Perth CBD
M/Construction were engaged to de-fit the old Westpac tenancy (Corner of St Georges Terrace and Barrack St, Perth CBD) inclusive of all internal finishes, ceilings and flooring.
M/Construction completed all noisy disruptive works out-of-hours and implemented strategies to minimise impact on adjacent pedestrian thoroughfares during works. Tenancy was de-fit to base build standard and handed back to client clean and ready a new fitout.
Alchera Living Carpark
Alchera Carpark Extension & Refurbishment
Alchera Living Carpark
Alchera Living, Willagee
This project was an upgrade of in-ground services (storm water connection and Soakwells), extension of carpark, resurfacing, and installation of 2 new carport structures at Alchera Living.
Alchera Living in Willagee is a senior citizens living estate. The car park is situated within the estate and is surrounded by residential housing. Additional works were done such as new fencing, new footpaths, installation of external lighting as well as new plumbing services.
Perth Town Hall
Perth Town Hall New Waste Storage Area
Perth Town Hall
Perth Town Hall
M/Construction was involved with the installation of a new enclosed waste storage area within the heritage listed Perth Town Hall. Works included liaising with all authorities, stakeholders including the Heritage Council. The works entailed demolition, new stud walls, engineering of a new suspended slab and stairs and ventilation system.
Riverton Leisureplex
Riverton Leisureplex Pool Hall & Steel Waterslide Structure
Riverton Leisureplex
Riverton Leisureplex
M/Construction were involved in the preparation and painting of the Riverton Leisureplex Pool Hall and Steel Structure. This also included sandblasting, steel fabrication and remediation, painting, as well as general carpentry works.
Trolley Bay Upgrade to Albany Brook Gardens
Trolley Bay Upgrade
Trolley Bay Upgrade to Albany Brook Gardens
Albany Brook Gardens Shopping Complex
This project included the replacement of 12 trolley bays including signage throughout the carpark of Albany Brook Gardens Shopping Complex.
Restoration of S.E.C Substation
Heritage Listed Restoration
Restoration of S.E.C Substation
12 Parry Street, Fremantle
The S.E.C. Building which functioned as a Substation ceased operation in 1980 which was converted into the Western Power's Energy Museum up to 2010. The building was unoccupied & derelict for many years. We were engaged to undertake the Heritage Rectification & Sub-division Works to restore the building to its former glory.
The scope of works included restoration to existing brickwork, installation of new windows, tuck pointing and removal of graffiti The removal of septic tanks and the installation of ministers sewer line. The repair & patching of the existing concrete lintels over openings due to reinforcement corroding and the replacement of corroded brick cavity wall ties.
The heritage works were required to lift the heritage conservation listing on the project to allow the client to sell.
Bennett St Hotel
Serviced apartments
Bennett St Hotel
East Perth
Recently, the City of Perth Council described this development as "a catalyst for renewed redevelopment of the East Perth Precinct". This serviced apartment hotel comprising 35 individual units with a commercial / cafe and basement car park, now provides affordable, quality accommodation close to major CBD attractions.
Tambrey Bottle Shop
Retail space and care taker's unit
Tambrey Bottle Shop
Tambrey Bottle Shop is a a modern functional facility based on the current bulk warehouse style of retail. The building was designed to incorporate efficiencies that provide a number of ongoing running and cost benefits in the harsh operating environment.
Baileys Hotel and Bella Vista Restaurant
Refurbishment and extensions to kitchen and restaurant
Baileys Hotel and Bella Vista Restaurant
East Perth
The Bailey's Hotel is a two storey building shaped around a carpark, offering guests direct access to rooms. The original, outdated kitchen was on the first floor whist the dining room was on the ground floor serviced by a dumbwaiter-lift. M/Construction's challenge was to:
- Provide a more functional, efficient kitchen on the ground floor without losing existing apartment capacity or food service to guests
- Extend the restaurant to gain an additional fifty covers
- Provide main street presence and pedestrian access
North Fremantle
Construction completed of 16 boutique apartments including studio, one and two bedroom layouts in North Fremantle between the ocean and the river.
Completed February 2016


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The conference 'Psychical Research and Parapsychology in the History of Medicine and the Sciences' organized by Andreas Sommer is open for registration. It will be held at University College London on 25-27 January 2013. Go to:http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cehp/chpd/current-phd-students/andreas-sommer
For an online interview discussing the histroy of Dutch parapsychology in relation to this conference see:http://xtraordinarium.com/2013/01/15/dutch-psychical-research
The Parapsychological Association is an international professional organization of scientists and scholars engaged in the study of psi (or 'psychic') experiences, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, psychic healing, and precognition. The primary objective of the PA is to achieve a scientific understanding of these experiences.
First established in 1957, the PA has been an affiliated organization of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) since 1969. The PA is a non-profit, non-adjudicating organization that endorses no ideologies or beliefs other than the value of rigorous scientific and scholarly inquiry.


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I caught up with Intel's Australasian Technical Manager, Graham Tucker to find out more about Intels plans in the smartphone space.
PP: Intel sppears to have made quite push into the mobile space. What is the rationale underpinning this move?
There is unit growth in all mobile segments - smartphones, tablets and notebooks. And the lines are starting to blur between all these devices. We're seeing Ultrabook convertible devices in the market now, offering a tablet experience when you want one, and a laptop when you reach that point where you need to actually start creating content. Users are demanding uncompromised computing capabilities in all their mobile devices.
PP: What are the new mobile centric chips that Intel have announced?
GT: There are two processors for smartphones that have been announced, the Intel Atom Z2420 mobile for the value segment and the Intel Atom Z2580 (formerly Clover Trail+). The Atom Z2580 is scheduled for introduction in the first half this year. In the tablet space, Intel Atom Z2760 (Clover Trail) based products are currently shipping.
PP: The mobile/smartphone market is a pretty competitive place, what do you see as Intel's key competitive edge with these new chips?
GT: If you look at what Intel has recently delivered for smartphones and tablets; power consumption, battery life and form factor have improved dramatically from one generation to the next, and not at the expense of performance.
Our competitive edge is a combination of factors starting at our process technology, ability to build high performance and efficient system-on-chips (SoCs) and to work in many software ecosystems. What it really comes down to is this, to be competitive we needed to focus on uncompromised computing and battery life. And we're confident we've met the consumers' needs.
PP: What are the main design and technical challenges to creating silicon for smartphones?
GT: The technical challenges have been developing our SOC capability. That said, we feel very good about the progress we've made in 2012 in bringing a competitive smartphone SoC to market. And we'll build on this in 2013 with new high performance and value platforms that continue to raise the bar. We have had state of the art process and architectural design capability for some time.
PP: What do you think the future holds for smartphone design?
GT: There will be a growing focus on performance coupled with extreme battery life. New slim form factors will emerge too. Interoperability between all users devices is a key requirement, we're on the path towards ubiquitous computing. With technologies like near field communications (NFC) and by using an industry standard architecture like x86, this is all on the horizon.
PP: What about killer features for smartphones, what will these look like in the near future? Will we see an ultraphone just like there's been Ultrabooks?
GT: How we interact with all computing devices will change. Starting with our Ultrabook strategy, we are examining what we call perceptual computing.
Looking at new capabilities such as close range hand gestures, finger articulation, speech recognition and augmented reality, devices will be able to perceive our actions which makes interacting with these devices more natural, intuitive and immersive. As performance increases in tablets and smartphones, some of these capabilities are a possibility. It's all very exciting once you understand the possibilities.
PP: Looking out longer term, Google have already created quite a stir with their wearable Google glasses concept, do you think the traditional phone form factor will change much? If so how?
GT: In 1943 Thomas J. Watson, the head of IBM at the time, said, "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." I guess what I'm trying to say is that computing changes so rapidly that anyone who tries to predict it can quite quickly look quite silly. Do I think it will change? Absolutely. Do I think I know how? Yeah, I've got a couple ideas, but when it comes to changing form factors, well, I'm still waiting for my flying car.
PP: Thanks Graham, Good luck with that Flying Car.


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Households are set to see £12 a year cut from bills after the energy regulator announced plans to curb the spending of power network operators.
Ofgem said five of the six electricity distribution companies will be allowed to spend £17 billion on upgrading and maintaining Britain's local electricity network over the period between April and 2023.
This represents a saving of £2.1 billion on their previous business plans and will be passed on to consumers through a cut in bills over the eight years.
There are 14 different distribution networks in Britain, with their operations accounting for 8% of an annual dual fuel bill. Today's proposals will now be subject to consultation before a final decision in November.
The price cut will vary according to regions and may be offset by other supply costs. It comes as the UK's major retail energy providers come under pressure to cut their bills after Ofgem said today that a typical large supplier's pre-tax margin for the year to June 2015 rose £5 on a month earlier to £106.
Ofgem chief executive Dermot Nolan said the regulator's intervention over the monopoly network companies will deliver better customer service and efficient investment at a lower cost for the bill payer.
He added: "Today's announcement is all part of Ofgem's consistent drive to get the best deal for consumers while maintaining a stable regulatory regime which attracts investment as cheaply as possible."
Last November, Western Power Distribution was the only company to have its prices agreed early after Ofgem judged its business plan for the eight-year period showed sufficient value for consumers.
Ofgem returned five out of the six companies' plans - UK Power Networks, Northern Power Grid, SP Energy Networks, SSE Power Distribution and Electricity North West - because they failed to deliver value for consumers.
Since then, companies have identified £700 million of savings and Ofgem has ruled out a further £1.4 billion following further analysis.
SSE said it was disappointed with a number of elements within the draft determination, including Ofgem's assumptions about the scope of further cost reductions across the industry.
It said it was already one of the most cost-efficient operators in Britain and said it would review Ofgem's assumptions on how it will be able to operate and develop its distribution networks for customers benefit.
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HP Compaq Presario C770US 15.4" Notebook PC - FE932UA
Simplicity RedefinedFrom the simple step-by-step setup through easy support tools with pre-installed Advisor, the C700 series can get you up fast and keeps you running. And DVDPlay provides access to DVD movies at the touch of a button. Watch DVD movies on the full screen using intuitive media controls. Edit, store and share photos with Photosmart Essentials. Simple entertainment is here!Built to lastFor those seeking the great mobile performance technologies and high-impact design, the Compaq Presario C700 series Notebook PC provides the features you need and easy-to-use digital entertainment features. Optimized for mobile performance, it 6.6 lb. design supportsIntel mobile processors and high-speed wireless LAN. Its 15.4" diagonal WXGA BrightViewdisplay supports high-definition8 video playback.LightScribe Direct Disc LabelingCreate custom laser-etched disc labels right in the drive with LightScribe. Just burn data on the disc, flip it over and burn the cover image using any scanned image and/or text. Free label designs and color background discs in five vivid shades are now available. Visit the LightScribe Web site for more information.Extra SecurityCompaq notebook PCs are designed with the features and power you need to get the most from Windows Vista. The result is intuitive system controls, simple, powerful search and organization tools, plus more security when you go online.
World-Class SupportHP Support provides world-class service when and how you need it.One-year limited hardware and sofware warranty with 24/7 phone support? Toll-free phone support during warranty @ 1.800.HPINVENT (1.800.474.6836) ? Email and real-time chat support for the life of the product by clicking on the desktop "help" icon? Easy-to-use dashboard for system diagnostics and updates with preinstalled Advisor
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1


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Frequent flights to Nairobi
British Airways offers five flights to Nairobi a week – the perfect way to reach Kenya.
Vuelos a Nairobi
De674 € ida y vueltaReservar
British Airways offers five flights to Nairobi a week – the perfect way to reach Kenya.
De674 € ida y vueltaReservar
Nairobi is always hot and sunny – locals refer to it as the 'City in the Sun' – but after dark is when it really sizzles. With bountiful nightclubs and bars, especially in the district of Westlands, every night feels like the weekend and making new friends incredibly easy.
While Nairobi's urban sprawl can be intimidating (vast economic disparity means petty theft is a problem, and walking downtown requires a degree of caution), there are some green spaces to enjoy. A particular highlight is the Nairobi National Park, 43 square miles of plains, cliffs and forest surrounding the city. It offers prime game watching (including lion and cheetah), and all with a shimmering urban skyline as a backdrop. Just outside the city, the Karen Blixen Museum, the Out of Africa author's former farm at the foot of the Ngong Hills, is fascinating and its gardens lovely to explore. At the weekend, head out to pretty Lake Navaisha – a popular hangout spot for locals.
Si encuentra un vuelo de British Airways por menos dinero, le reembolsaremos la diferencia.
Buscador de precios bajos y depósitos iniciales bajos.
Viaje con British Airways y disfrutará de un servicio que ha sido merecedor de varios premios y de una excelente relación calidad-precio.
Los precios en clase económica incluyen:


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Connect with Us
- HHP Facebook Page
- HHP Twitter
- iTunes
- YouTube
TwHP in Heritage & Historic Preservation
National Park Service
Teaching with Historic Places
Heritage Education Services
Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) uses properties listed in the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places to enliven history, social studies, geography, civics, and other subjects. TwHP has created a variety of products and activities that help teachers bring historic places into the classroom.
Professional Development
Most of us can recall a moment when we realized we were standing on a spot suffused with history. It might have been the home of a famous person, the site of a famous battle, or a neighborhood that recalls life a century ago. Teachers, preservationists, and historic site specialists have long known that historic locations can have the same effect on students, capturing their attention and interest in a way that textbooks may not.
Yet professional training on how to incorporate these places into the classroom has rarely been easily available. The Teaching with Historic Places program has responded to this need by developing a series of professional materials and development opportunities.
Teaching Teachers the Power of Place contains most of our professional development materials, including materials highlighted below. There you'll find introductory PowerPoints and video clips, articles by professors of education and classroom teachers, sample workshop agendas, links to other resources, and more.
Teaching with Historic Places
is an introductory video to the Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) program. The video explains the concepts and benefits of using historic places to improve both teaching and learning, describes lesson plans developed by TwHP, and shares experiences of educators who use the program.
Cultural Resource Management: Creative Teaching with Historic Places
(vol. 23, No. 8, 2000)
is a thematic issue of CRM now available online. The articles in this issue of CRM highlight the power of place in learning, the evolution and creation of TwHP lesson plans, how individuals and organizations have employed TwHP ideas and materials, and the program within the broader context of a variety of National Park Service initiatives.
Cultural Resource Management: Teaching with Historic Places
(vol. 16, No. 2, 1993)
is a thematic issue of CRM now available online. The articles in this issue of CRM explain the origins, goals, and progress of the Teaching with Historic Places program within the wider contexts of educational programs that use the built environment--often called "heritage education"--and national educational reform.
Teaching with Historic Places' lesson plans
use historic sites to examine developments throughout American history and across the country. Many of our lesson plans are now on the Web and ready to use in the classroom. These lessons are created by National Park Service interpreters, preservation professionals, and educators. The lesson plans act as models for creating your own educational materials. We also have added an online author's packet providing further guidance that can help you write a lesson plan using the TwHP format.
Participants in a Teaching with Historic Places field study in Cleveland, OH. Photo Courtesy of Beth Boland.
Teaching with Historic Places occasionally offers workshops and conference sessions that explain the ideas behind the program and demonstrate how the historic places in your community can teach American history to people of all ages. Much of this information is now available on the Teaching Teachers the Power of Place website.
Learn more about these programs by visiting our workshops page.
- Comments about previous workshops:
- "The field study was great...I've never been in another program like this."
- "One of the best if not the best I have attended."
- "Extremely valuable.."
This bibliography lists sources that describe TwHP and the theory behind it and provides other information about how places fit into the teaching of history and social studies.
*Images from top of page (left to right): Gettysburg Battlefield, courtesy of Beth Boland; The Red Mill, Clinton, New Jersey, courtesy of Flickr's Creative Commons; The Stewart Building at Kempner & Mechanic, Historic Strand District in Galveston, Texas, courtesy of Colleen Shepherd; Grand Canyon, courtesy of Greg Hindsley.


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Thenac Luxury Homes and villas
Thenac Luxury Property Search
Trending Properties
Featured News
French property sales continue to grow in 2018
A strong market in Paris has helped to lift France's prime residential property market with prices in the city up 12% last year, the latest analysis insight report shows.
7 Panoramic Views Along the Côte d'Azur
To call a destination "colorful" is to offer it one of many roles. A hotspot brought to life by vibrant arts and culture. A destination famed for its bounty of natural colors.
Architectural Spotlight | Enchanting Chalets
Nestled into the sides of mountains, these often-snowy homes are also ideal for the ski-enthusiast, or simply someone wishing to escape the hustle and bustle of metropolitan life.
French property market set to see growth in 2016
Enquiries into French property are up by 60% in the first quarter of 2016 compared with the previous year, the latest data shows, with steady growth predicted for the rest of the year.
The growing French market for new properties
After seven years, the market for new properties in France is finally improving, claims a leading European property specialist – and the latest market backs it up.
House prices continue to fall in rural France
House prices in regional France continued to fall in 2014, but there are considerable variations, according to figures from estate agents.


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Gettysburg Hospital Auxiliary
147 Gettys St.
P.O. Box 3786
Gettysburg, PA 17325
Supporting the Health of our Community
Gettysburg Hospital Auxiliary is a group of dedicated community women and men who volunteer their time and services to support the mission of Gettysburg Hospital. To financially support hospital projects, auxilians give countless hours to operating WellSpan Gettysburg Hospital's Gift Shop, the Auxiliary Thrift Shop on Lincoln Square, and several fund-raising events throughout the year. The Auxiliary advocates for improved community health through innovative programs, preventative education, community partnerships, and fund raising. If you would like more information on upcoming events or on becoming a Gettysburg Hospital Auxiliary member, please call (717) 337-4272.
The Auxiliary's service to the community can be seen in various ways. Since its inception in 1920, the Gettysburg Hospital Auxiliary has donated over one million dollars to support the growth and service of the hospital. From providing funds to redecorate patient and waiting rooms to purchasing new equipment to help the hospital maintain state-of-the-art technology, the Auxiliary provides valuable support to this community and Gettysburg Hospital. Highlights of the Auxiliary's recent support include:
|Sponsored Holiday lighting and decorations on Gettysburg Hospital campus
|Fulfilled a pledge of $99,000 to the Gettysburg Hospital Foundation's Care Path Campaign which supports the hospital's Outpatient Services Unit
|$50,600 for fetal monitors and $3,600 for infant warming blankets for Gettysburg Hospital's Maternity Care Center; $28,000 for EMS defibrillators for Gettysburg Hospital's Medic 28 unit
|$20,000 for the meditation room at the WellSpan Adams Health Center and $50,000 to furnish Gettysburg Hospital's lobby
|$62,000 for Medic 28 vehicle upgrade (bringing our total support of the paramedic unit to $550,000 since the unit was introduced in 1984)
|$35,000 for furniture upgrade and audio-visual equipment in Gettysburg Hospital's community rooms
|$25,000 to the Gettysburg Hospital Allied Health Learning Center at the Gettysburg Campus of Harrisburg Area Community College
|$100,000 for a bone densitometer and $182,000 stereotactic breast biopsy unit.
|1991 - 1996
|150,000 for the refurbishing of the hospital's B-2 and Maternity floors, raised $91,000 for mammography services, and pledged $200,000 for the hospital's building campaign used for women's center, nursery, and classroom.
Additionally, the Auxiliary awards an annual $2,000 scholarship to local students pursuing careers in health care.
Apply for the scholarship here
WellSpan Gettysburg Hospital Auxiliary Thrift Shop
10 Lincoln Square
The Auxiliary Thrift Shop features a wide variety of gently used clothing and accessories for men, women and children and at very affordable prices. The Thrift Shop also partners with local service organizations to support those who have lost their belongings because of fire, flood, or other disasters. For store hours or to volunteer, please call (717) 334-5264.
WellSpan Gettysburg Hospital Auxiliary Gift Shop
WellSpan Gettysburg Hospital (Main Lobby)
The Auxiliary Gift Shop is home to a number of gift items. From stuffed animals to candles to new baby pieces, there is sure to be something of interest for everyone. The shop also has a nice selection of cards and fresh flower arrangements.
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Davey Lopes became a prime candidate for the Dodgers' vacant first-base coaching job after resigning the same position with the Phillies on Monday.
Lopes, 65, was on the Phillies' staff from 2007-10, and also was the baserunning and outfield coach credited with instilling his aggressive style in players like Shane Victorino, Jimmy Rollins and Jayson Werth. Philadelphia had the best stolen-base percentage in baseball during his time as coach.
Lopes also brings managerial experience, having guided the Brewers from 2000 until being replaced 16 games into the 2002 season. His record with Milwaukee was 144-195.
The Dodgers' first-base job has been handled the past five years by Mariano Duncan, who was told at the end of the season that he could look for a Major League job elsewhere, and if he didn't find one, a job somewhere in the organization would be available to him.
Coincidentally, both Lopes and Duncan are represented by Tony Attanasio, who has served as their agent since they were players. Duncan, who played for the Phillies, has already surfaced as a possible replacement for Lopes.
Lopes and the Phillies couldn't agree on salary. Lopes said the responsibility he was given for overseeing the running game and outfield increased his value above that of most first-base coaches. Lopes said he would seek a job on the West Coast.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, could use Lopes' experience. The departures of manager Joe Torre (70), bench coach Bob Schaefer (65) and third-base coach Larry Bowa (64) have removed the three senior members of the staff.
A move with Lopes, who also won a Gold Glove Award as a second baseman, would explain why the Dodgers have not announced their coaching staff yet. There had been speculation that general manager Ned Colletti wanted to talk to someone on one of the playoff teams. The Phillies were eliminated by the Giants last week.
The Dodgers' staff is expected to include Trey Hillman, bench coach; Rick Honeycutt, pitching coach; Jeff Pentland, Chili Davis and Manny Mota, hitting coaches; Tim Wallach, third-base coach; Ken Howell, bullpen coach.
Lopes lives in the San Diego suburb of Point Loma and previously spent eight seasons as first-base coach of the Padres working for Kevin Towers, who is now the general manager of the D-backs. The Padres and D-backs have announced their 2011 coaching staffs. Both have former Dodgers -- Dave Roberts and Eric Young -- as first-base coaches.
Lopes played 16 seasons in the Major Leagues, the first 10 with the Dodgers as a base-stealing leadoff catalyst on a team that went to the World Series four times, winning in 1981 as Lopes was being phased out of the lineup.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd ... mp;c_id=la


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"Mitt Romney was very gracious in his remarks in his concession speech. Shortly after Mitt Romney conceded, Paul Ryan was untied and set free." –David Letterman
"Congratulations to President Obama on being reelected president of the United States. Turns out it is not all bad news for the Republicans. It seems that depression is covered by Obamacare." – Jay Leno
"Exit polls show that President Obama did well with women, beating Romney by 11 binders." – Jay Leno
"Some more good news – the president announced today he is not going to raise taxes on the entire 1 percent, just Donald Trump." – Jay Leno
"I really think in all of what happened yesterday, the only person who should be considered a 'loser' is Donald Trump. I'll tell you why. He went on Twitter demanding a revolution. So far no one's listened to him — because he's Donald Trump! After that, Trump tweeted, 'The world is laughing at us.' I'm thinking, No, Donald. The world is laughing at you and this is why. It is because you're wearing an orange face and a crazy wig. This is the uniform the world over of a clown! Nobody laughs WITH the clown. They laugh AT the clown. Then when the clown gets angry, it is funnier." – Craig Ferguson
It seems there are hundreds of reasons why the Republicans lost, the best ones come from letters to the editor, in this case these came from the NY Times:
"Perhaps their underlying problem is arrogance. Perhaps the problem is scorn for the common plight. Perhaps the problem is the morality or nostalgic thinking trapped in a thankfully bygone era... But I think that the most likely reason of all is simply that the Republican heart has grown two sizes too small."
"... They are not talking about examining the core principles that turned off many voters... If they continue to be more interested in getting votes than in getting at the issues that are important to the changing face of America, they will continue to lose. And they will slide further towards irrelevance."
Unfortunately, among the crazy conservatives who want to drag the rest of us into the depths of their depressions, we get emails like this: "The bottom line is the revolution is nearing completion. We have lost our privacy, soon we will loose our right to self defense, and then The Bill of Rights will be no more. This is no longer the Republic we older people once knew. Re-electing this man is unforgivable. All of our descendants will curse us for betraying and mismanaging this beautiful idea that was once America. We have sentenced them to a life without personal rights, class mobility, or the joy of being truly free. Get ready for the era of Executive Orders, a european socialist form of government. We are now a nation of 350,000,000 dead men walking. Including the people who consider themselves liberal. What a joke on them."... I'm sorry you feel so negative about the election results my fellow old fart; I wonder where you got your doom and gloom philosophy... Maybe it would be better for all of us if you just went ahead and committed suicide... I may be grumpy, but I'm not a self-deluded idiot...
Err, forgive me, too much caffeine. But, by far my favorite letter is from Michael Lazare from Boise, Idaho: "I'm an old white guy (80). I've voted for every Democratic presidential candidate since Adlai Stephenson. My age allows me to be crotchety, so to all you newspapers, networks, pundits and pollsters, just one request: Stop categorizing me. I don't like it."
What impressed me the most about this election was the larger portion of citizens interested in policies, foreign policy, and economics, educating themselves so that all those years spent in college paid off... A smarter, more engaged electorate forced the news media to be more challenging to the candidates and the spin both campaigns gave to events. Hopefully, this trend will continue, but I do think that the energy we put into our national debate will not be as intense if Hillary decides to run.
The hot news today is the resignation of the Army's golden boy, David Petraeus. I had been wondering what he had been up to because he'd be keeping a low public profile once he became director of the CIA. That didn't stop Leon Panetta from making regular press releases when he was director, but David didn't speak out when Iran shot down a drone, or his listening post in Benghazi was attacked this last 9/11. Turns out he was too busy horn-dogging around, having an affair with the woman who was his biographer, Paula Broadwell.
Coincidentally, the FBI is investigating if Ms Broadwell could have had access to any private emails or military intelligence since David became the top spook, which may have defined the timing of his resignation, before the situation got ugly. Kiss your marriage of 37 years good-by champ...
What bothers me, and makes me want to call Mr Petraeus a coward, is the fact that the affair had been going on for several years, and it was called off only after it had been discovered by the FBI. If this hadn't happened, they could have continued the affair indefinitely. It's always activites like these that reminds us that we are led by flawed human beings, so different from the people we put on their golden pedestals... Usually, the CIA takes care of their own investigations. The FBI would have to be invited to investigate within the CIA, so it looks like someone didn't get along with the head honcho very well... Revenge can be a bitch, sometimes...


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Home › Scene › Ritz-y Occasion ›
Ritz-y Occasion
The Party
Lionheart Capital and Yardbird Southern Table & Bar hosted more than 200 Miami socialites and celebrities alike at The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Miami Beach, to celebrate Lee Brian Schrager's new cookbook, Fried & True: More than 50 Recipes for America's Best Fried Chicken and Sides.
The Players
Harry Casey, Sam Robin, Ophir Sternberg, Ricardo Dunin, Megan Riley
The Scene
Foodies enjoyed some of Yardbird's signature bites and toured the Ritz's modernist sales gallery. The night concluded with one-on-one meet and greets with Schrager, during which guests received a personalized cookbook.


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Built on a foundation of steel, Pittsburgh is a modern, cosmopolitan city situated where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet to form the Ohio. These mighty rivers and the surrounding hills greatly influenced the layout of the city. The wealth generated by its industrial might has created an enduring cultural legacy.
Pittsburgh Attractions
Near Pittsburgh rentals, you will find many well-known, world-class cultural institutions dedicated to fine art, natural history and native son Andy Warhol. The Pittsburgh Symphony, Opera and Ballet are cornerstones of a lively performing arts and music scene. Other popular attractions include major sporting events, the Pittsburgh Zoo, PPG Aquarium and the Alleghany Observatory, as well as annual festivals and celebrations.
Pittsburgh's Natural Splendor
Pittsburgh's bridges, rivers and hills enhance the natural scenic beauty of the city. The surrounding landscape of the lush, green slopes provides amazing views of the city and valleys. The many verdant urban spaces include four large parks that are excellent for walking, jogging, cycling and relaxing. The Phipps Conservatory features a stunning floral display. The Frick and Riverview Parks are situated in natural woodland settings. Pittsburgh is the gateway to the spectacular countryside of western Pennsylvania.
Pittsburgh Apartments
Apartments in Pittsburgh range from hip, one-bedroom lofts in refurbished turn-of-the-century buildings to spacious three-bedroom homes in modern apartment communities. Many Pittsburgh apartments are pet friendly and convenient to public transportation. Available amenities include covered parking, onsite laundry facilities and fitness centers. Whatever your needs, Apartment Guide can help you find suitable apartments for rent in Pittsburgh. Our search features enable you to sort through multiple listings of apartments for rent in Pittsburgh, PA based on the distance from the city center, amenities and price range. With the help of Apartment Guide, the perfect Pittsburgh apartment is easy to find.
© 2019 RentPath, LLC. All rights reserved. All photos, videos, text and other content are the property of RentPath, LLC. APARTMENT GUIDE and the APARTMENT GUIDE Trade Dress are registered trademarks of RentPath, LLC or its affiliates.
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Information is copyrighted and school data provided by GreatSchools.org. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Schools listed above are based on distance from the selected location and are just a sampling of the schools in the area. To find a particular school district, and how it relates to a specific apartment, please contact the apartment manager.


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Sniffing out an intermittent high-voltage fault
Detective work found the root cause for a high-voltage electrical fault after repeated breaker trips. Here's how.
Recently, I received a late evening call from the controls engineer at a local chemical plant. He was seeking help troubleshooting a high-voltage electrical problem. Blown fuses on one of its 12.5 kV distribution feeders had shut down part of the plant. Unfortunately, it happened around noon on two days in a row. Power had been restored without finding any problems on both days. Pressure was mounting to find and correct the problem before noon the following day.
Outages, restarts
During the first outage, 100 amp high-voltage fuses were replaced, the line was re-energized, and all equipment restarted normally.
During the second outage, fuses were replaced, but the 480 V main circuit breaker on one of the two unit substations served by the feeder had to be reset before all the equipment would restart. The plant electrician resetting the breaker reported smelling an unusual odor at the substation. He discounted the observation, however, since it was not suggestive of overheated or burned electrical insulation.
We made plans to start a forensic investigation early the next morning. My initial theory was that there had been flashovers triggered by high-voltage spikes on the distribution system. Since both faults had happened at approximately the same time of day, I suspected transients might be coming from a timer-controlled power-factor-correction capacitor. However, the plant and electrical utility company both reported no capacitor banks or major loads had been switched at the time of either outage.
Arc flash locations
Disregarding the "trigger," we were certain the faults had exceeded the 100 amp current rating of the fuses. The faults had obviously been cleared each time the fuses opened. I reasoned that arcing within the interlocked-armor-cable distribution wiring would have left enough carbonized residue to prevent the system from being re-energized. That assumption narrowed the logical places to look for evidence of arcing. There were only four places where arc flashes could have taken place in open air: the fuse compartment, the junction box where the interlocked-armor-cable was split to feed the two substations, and the high-voltage termination compartments of the two transformer substations. See Figure 1.
Due to the lost production and operational hardships caused by the previous power outages, a short feeder outage to look for damage was easily scheduled.
Telltale sign
As the cover was being removed from one substation's high-voltage compartment, I noticed an extremely strong odor of ozone escaping. This was after the distribution line had been down for 10-15 minutes. I immediately associated the ozone with the electrician's report of a strange odor following one of the outages. Ozone is a common product of electrical discharges. Before the cover was fully removed, I pronounced we had found our culprit. As soon as it was off, we could see where current from the center phase conductor had been tracking over a dirty insulator and arcing to the metal cabinet. See Figures 2 and 3.
Phase-to-phase arcing had also left bright areas of eroded copper on both of the outer buses in addition to the bus bar above the site of the ground fault. See Figure 4.
Arcing fault evidence
All the evidence suggested this was the arc location and a classic example of what one might expect to find in the aftermath of an arcing fault. The heat of arcing current between the center phase and ground generated an expanding cloud of hot, ionized gasses. Being lighter than the surrounding air, the gasses rose to the upper levels of the high-voltage compartment. There, they accumulated around the uninsulated bus bars, lowering the dielectric strength of the air between the energized conductors. The ionized gas concentrations climbed to levels that facilitated phase-to-phase flashovers.
Worthy of note is that this particular high-voltage distribution system uses a neutral grounding resistor. An important function of these resistors is to limit the damage done by ground faults. But, in this case, the resistance could have held ground fault currents below the trip setting of the upstream circuit breaker for extended periods of time. That could have contributed to longer-term, low-level arcing from the center phase to ground.
Root cause, recommended actions
Root cause of the outages: Dirty high-voltage insulators
Recommended actions:
- Clean all the insulators before restoring power.
- Replace the damaged insulator.
- Increase the frequency of inspection and cleaning.
- Train plant electricians to recognize the odor of ozone.
– Robert Fischer is an electrical, instrumentation, and reliability consultant with Fischer Technical Services. Edited by Mark T. Hoske, content manager, Control Engineering, email@example.com.
See also: Arc Flash University webcasts are on-demand here and links at the bottom of this posting.
Key concepts
- Troubleshooting high-voltage electrical systems.
- Phase-to-phase arcing causes damage.
- Root cause of the outages: Dirty high-voltage insulators.
Consider this
If more electrical maintenance could avoid arc flash or downtime, would there be more budget available?
More about the author
Robert Fischer is a physicist and electrical engineer with over 40 years' experience in automated manufacturing, chemical plants, and refineries.


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"Insane Coaster Wars" would be the ultimate road trip for any ride enthusiast who had about $100,000 to drop on a single vacation and the fortitude to travel around the world.
Photos: 28 thrill rides competing in 'Insane Coaster Wars'
Premiering at 8:30 p.m. Sunday on the Travel Channel, the internationally themed second season of "Coaster Wars" will take viewers on a virtual ride aboard 28 roller coasters in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia and the United States.
The impressive lineup for the new season boasts some of the top coasters in the world, with at least half the rides appearing in the top 25 of either the Amusement Today or Mitch Hawker polls, the two most respected annual rankings by coaster enthusiasts.
"It literally is the cream of the crop," said Theme Park Review's Robb Alvey, who serves as a coaster expert on the show. "It showcases the best coasters out there."
He should know. Alvey has traveled to more than 400 theme parks around the world and ridden 1,528 coasters during tours set up through his Theme Park Review fan website.
Photos: 24 rides from the first season of "Insane Coaster Wars"
After the first season of "Coaster Wars," Alvey sat down with the show's producers to shape the ride lineup for the upcoming season.
"The list covers a lot of my favorite rides," said Alvey, who has ridden all but one of this season's coasters. "It really is a roller coaster trip around the world."
Every "Coaster Wars" show will pit four rides against one another with the results from in-park polling shown at the end of each episode.
With Alvey's help, let's take a look at each of the seven episodes:
Episode 1 (June 9)
The first episode includes the one coaster from Season 2 that Alvey hasn't ridden: the 249-foot-tall Shambhala, which opened in 2012 at Spain's PortAventura and ranks in the top 10 of the Mitch Hawker poll.
The other three coasters in the episode typify the stellar lineups found throughout Season 2 of "Coaster Wars" - Superman: Ride of Steel at Maryland's Six Flags America (a former No. 1 coaster in the Hawker poll), Formula Rossa at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi (the reigning fastest coaster in the world at 149 mph) and the terrain tracing Tatsu at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California (Alvey's favorite Bolliger & Mabillard flyer).
Alvey's pick: Unable to choose, he opts for a tie between the top speed of Formula Rossa and the intense airtime of Superman: Ride of Steel.
Episode 2 (June 16)
The second episode takes viewers to one of Alvey's all-time favorite parks for the Blue Fire magnetic launch megacoaster at Europa Park, a proving ground for Germany's Mack Rides.
The Tower of Terror II shuttle coaster at Australia's Dream World more than makes up for its short ride in speed (0 to 100 mph in 7 seconds), height (377 feet) and weightlessness (6.5 seconds). The Titan mega coaster at Six Flags Over Texas reaches similarly impressive speeds (85 mph) and heights (245 feet).
Alvey's pick: With a top speed of 90 mph, the 305-foot-tall Intimidator 305 at Virginia's Kings Dominion has been known to cause "grey outs" at the bottom of some drops.
Episode 3 (June 23)
Alvey opts for another tie in the third episode, unable to decide between the 197-foot-tall Colossos at Germany's Heide Park (the tallest wooden coaster in the world) and Skyrush at Pennyslvania's Hersheypark (the most intense air time in the U.S.)
You know it's a stacked episode when the powerful 2012 Leviathan at Canada's Wonderland, one of the fastest (92 mph) and tallest (306 feet) coasters in the world, can't muster more than a bronze medal in Alvey's eyes.
Also ran: The Griffon floorless dive machine at Busch Gardens in Virginia with a pair of vertical drops each topping 100 feet.
Episode 4 (June 30)
In the most stacked episode of the season, Dodonpa at Japan's Fuji-Q Highland (the world's fastest launch at 0 to 107 mph in 1.8 seconds) can do no better than third best while New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas (a top five coaster in both the Hawker and Amusement Today polls) must settle for silver.
Alvey's pick: The 2001 Expedition GeForce at Germany's Holiday Park, the No. 1 steel coaster in the Hawker poll.
Out of the money: The 80 mph Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, a 2001 B&M mega currently the No. 3 steel coaster in the Amusement Today poll.
Episode 5 (July 7)
In the fifth episode, the seven-inversion Takabisha at Japan's Fuji-Q Highland (the world's steepest roller coaster with a beyond vertical 121-degree first drop) and the lightning fast and ground-hugging Furius Baco at Spain's PortAventura (the world's only launched winged coaster) are forced to battle for no better than second place.
Alvey's pick: Maverick at Cedar Point in Ohio, which combines multiple launches, dual inversions and loads of air time for what he calls the "most well-paced ride in the world."
Bringing up the rear: The 1998 Volcano: The Blast at Virginia's Kings Dominion, the world's first launched inverted coaster and a one-time record-holder for the tallest inversion at 155 feet.
Episode 6 (July 14)
The sixth episode features a pair of unique rides in the Superman Escape dark ride-coaster combo (one of Alvey's all-time favorites) at Australia's Warner Bros. Movie World and X2 (a fourth-dimension coaster with rotating seats) at California's Six Flags Magic Mountain.
Alvey's pick: iSpeed at Italy's Mirabilandia, the European cousin of Maverick with a magnetic launch, 180-foot-tall top hat element and plenty of airtime hills.
Out of the running: the 2012 X-Flight winged coaster at Six Flags Great America outside Chicago.
Episode 7 (July 21)
The season finale includes Magnum XL-200 at Ohio's Cedar Point, a 1989 Arrow Dynamics hyper that many enthusiasts still consider one of the greatest coasters ever built.
But Alvey opts instead for Katun at Italy's Mirabilandia, a relentless inverted coaster built in 2000 with six inversions that he calls a "bat out of hell."
That leaves the Behemoth mega coaster at Canada's Wonderland and the Batwing flyer at Six Flags Maryland to fight over third place.
Related theme park stories and photo galleries
Disneyland: Fantasy Faire | Mickey & the Magical Map
Universal Studios Hollywood: Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Six Flags Magic Mountain: Full Throttle
Knott's Berry Farm: Timber Mountain | Coast Rider
SeaWorld San Diego: Aquatica
U.S. parks: Top 13 for 2013 | Disney World | Cedar Point | Top 10 water coasters
International parks: Top 13 for 2013 | Shanghai Disneyland | Disneyland Paris | Top 20 water parks
> Follow the Los Angeles Times Funland theme park blog on Twitter, Facebook and Google+


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Learn how to make an affordable collection of original cake designs for satisfied customers who keep coming back and bring their friends!
Delight customers with a line of amazing designs you can create efficiently, consistently and for much less than the cost of a custom cake. With expert decorator Chrissie Boon, you'll learn cake business tips for pricing your designs, and making decorations ahead of time to cut down complexity. Then, discover Chrissies time and cost-saving processes as she guides you through four dazzling cake projects from start to finish. You'll see how to create Chrissies basketball-themed cake with a scoreboard, a princess cake with beautiful bling, a drippy icing cake decorated with fun fondant candles and a gift box cake you could mistake for the real thing. Plus, take a tour of Chrissie's Web site to see how she markets and displays her cakes!
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