text:
2015 Lexus RC F Review
Pros & Cons
- Powerful and refined V8
- impeccable interior craftsmanship and materials
- confident handling.
- Small backseat
- distracting touchpad infotainment controller
- not as engaging in spirited driving as rivals.
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Edmunds' Expert Review
The 2015 Lexus RC F amps up the performance compared with Lexus' regular RC 350 coupe. The resulting power and luxury is an appealing combination, but other rival high performance coupes are more desirable overall.
Vehicle overview
Just as Mercedes has AMG and BMW has its M division, Lexus also has higher-performing variants of its models. Granted, Lexus is just getting started with its "F" variants, as there have been just two cars so far: the exotic LFA supercar and the IS F sedan. But now a third car has joined the stable: the 2015 Lexus RC F.
Based on the similarly new RC 350 coupe, the RC F certainly looks the part of a high-performance machine with its more aggressive styling, quad exhaust tips, 19-inch wheels and available features like an actively deploying rear spoiler and a carbon-fiber roof panel. Of course, if you're going to talk the talk, you've got to walk the walk, and to that end the RC F boasts a naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V8 engine that cranks out 467 hp. A sport-tuned suspension, big Brembo brakes and an available torque-vectoring rear differential round out the performance upgrades.
Like the RC 350, the RC F also boasts a fantastic interior. The dashboard design is attractive and contemporary, and just about every surface you can find or touch is finished with high-quality materials. We're also fond of the comfortable and supportive front seats complemented by suspension tuning that isn't overly harsh. For general commuting and daily driving, the RC F is pretty docile and enjoyable.
Alas, there are weaknesses as well. While the RC F is certainly fun to drive, it's not as sharply focused as some other high-performance coupes. Acceleration and nimbleness in tight turns aren't exceptional for this class of car, and the stability control system can be annoyingly zealous at dialing back the fun any time you're driving spiritedly. We're also not sold on the infotainment system in navigation-equipped RCs due to its fiddly controller that requires too much of your attention, as you have to move your fingertip on a touchpad in mouselike fashion.
Overall, we're partial to the 2015 BMW M4. It's a superior performer, is more fun to drive and doesn't suffer from as many faults. There's also the highly impressive, all-wheel-drive 2015 Audi RS 5 to think about and the 2015 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG coupe, which is still great even though it's based on an older design. But if you're not prioritizing absolute performance and are more interested in a combination of power, luxury and style, the RC F should work out well.
2015 Lexus RC F models
The 2015 Lexus RC F is a compact, rear-wheel-drive, four-passenger high-performance sport coupe.
Standard equipment for the 2015 RC F includes 19-inch wheels with summer tires, a sport-tuned suspension, high-performance Brembo brakes, LED headlights, keyless ignition and entry, automatic climate control, a power tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, auto-dimming rearview mirror, a rearview camera, 10-way power driver seat, eight-way power passenger seat, driver memory settings, heated front seats and simulated leather upholstery.
Standard electronics features include Bluetooth phone and audio connectivity, a 7-inch display, a configurable multi-instrument display, voice commands and a 10-speaker sound system with satellite radio, HD radio, an auxiliary audio jack and an iPod/USB interface. Also standard is Lexus Enform Remote, which allows one, via smartphone, to remotely lock or unlock the doors, start and stop the car, turn the climate control on or off, find the vehicle and obtain vehicle status reports.
There are several option packages, though availability can vary depending on the region in which you live. The Premium package includes an active rear spoiler, heated and ventilated front seats, carbon-fiber interior trim, automatic wipers, auto-dimming side mirrors and blind spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert. The Performance package features a carbon-fiber roof and a rear spoiler, as well as a torque-vectoring differential. The All-Weather package includes a windshield de-icer, headlight washers and a heated steering wheel.
The Navigation package incorporates a console-mounted touchpad controller, a navigation system, upgraded voice commands and smartphone app integration (including Bing, Yelp, Pandora and iHeartRadio). The Navigation/Mark Levinson package adds a 17-speaker surround-sound audio system.
Stand-alone option highlights include a sunroof, leather upholstery, adaptive cruise control (bundled with a pre-collision system) and front and rear parking sensors.
2015 Highlights
Performance & mpg
The 2015 Lexus RC F comes with a 5.0-liter V8 generating 467 hp and 389 pound-feet of torque. A performance-oriented eight-speed automatic transmission is standard and routes that power to the rear wheels.
At Edmunds' test track, an RC F sprinted to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds. That's certainly a quick time, though it's a few tenths or so off the speediest segment entries.
The EPA estimates the Lexus RC F will deliver 19 mpg combined (16 city/25 highway).
The 2015 Lexus RC F's standard safety equipment includes antilock disc brakes with brake assist, traction and stability control, front seat side airbags, front knee airbags and side curtain airbags. Also standard is Lexus Enform Safety Connect, an onboard emergency telematics system that incorporates collision notification, a stolen vehicle locator and roadside assistance.
The optional Premium package includes blind spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert. The adaptive cruise control option is bundled with a collision mitigation system that can initiate braking automatically if a frontal impact is deemed imminent.
The 2015 RC lineup earned the top rating of "Good" from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in its small-overlap and moderate-overlap frontal-impact tests. It also scored the top rating of "Good" in side-impact, rollover performance and whiplash protection from its front seats.
In Edmunds brake testing, the RC F stopped from 60 mph in a short 106 feet, about average for a premium brand, high-performance coupe.
The 2015 Lexus RC F's V8 is a free-revving jewel that smoothly zings to redline and makes glorious sounds while doing so. Off-the-line grunt is respectable, while you'll notice an increasingly insistent push in your back as the revs climb. At the right speed and throttle position, the RC F's exhaust opens up to allow a rather glorious deep V8 bellow to fill the cabin. The eight-speed automatic is refined, and its upshifts and rev-matched downshifts are impressively quick. Competitors with the latest automated manual transmissions still feel a bit sharper and more responsive, but we suspect you'll still be pleased with the setup here.
The suspension is sprung firmly enough to remind you that you're piloting a high-performance car. Yet it's not stiff-legged or crashy over broken pavement. At a moderate pace, the RC F simply devours corners with crisp turn-in, minimal body roll and sharp, accurate steering. The robust chassis promotes driver confidence, but the downside of that is the car's chunky curb weight. This, along with the uncommunicative steering and safety systems that are very aggressive about reining you in when left in their default modes, make the RC F not quite as engaging a back-roads dance partner as more serious enthusiasts might desire.
The 2015 Lexus RC F's four-seat cabin is trimmed in consistently high-quality materials. The upper dashboard, armrests and even the sides of the center console (where knees tend to rub) are swathed in dense padding. The front seats are impressively supportive yet supple, but those with larger frames might feel slightly snug. The rear seats are very short on legroom and best left for kids or cargo. Headroom isn't much better.
The multi-tiered cockpit is peculiar, but attractive and contemporary overall, with a terraced layout and subtly upscale touches. The audio and climate controls are steeply angled, reinforcing the RC F's sporty vibe, and the buttons and knobs are generally easy to use.
The one notable foible is the touchpad controller that comes with the navigation system. Inspired by a computer trackpad, this controller is the primary method for making audio and navigation selections, and it's far from ideal. Although the 7-inch display is sharp, cursor control with the touchpad is wobbly, particularly when you're on the move. Similar-color icons on the screen also make it hard to quickly find what you want on the screen. Thankfully, there are a few redundant console-mounted hard buttons, but one for the map screen is conspicuously absent.
As far as carrying stuff, the RC F's trunk provides 10.1 cubic feet of capacity, about one or two cubes fewer than competitors. The rear seat does not fold down as it does in the RC 350, however, due to the F's additional structural bracing behind the seat.
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text: The latest on the feuding neighbors is that the offending neighbor "kiss and made up" with the neighbor he offended. To be honest, I doubt his sincerity but I hope he backs off now and keeps a low profile. There is no need in this community, no matter what our differences, for cursing and name calling and showing disrespect to our fellow neighbors. Neighborhoods after all are just a microcosm of the world in general that we, as neighbors should do everything in our power to get along with one another despite our differences. We will always have differences, that is the nature of homo sapiens. After all, that is what makes life and living so interesting. Unfortunately, it is the extremes of human emotion and activity that sometimes makes life so miserable. Not that I'm an expert on this subject, but I do have some knowledge after 66 years of dwelling on this earth and my interactions with my fellow human beings. I have found that no one is 100% bad or 100% good. We all have degrees of goodness and evil in us. Unfortunately, sometimes circumstances bring out the worst in us. Other times circumstances bring out the best in us. However, there are those time when mental illness is a factor. It goes without saying that those circumstances and people are the most difficult to deal with. I previously lived in Pennsylvania in a beautiful home that I had built on the side of a hill. As beautiful and comfortable as that home was, it soon turned into a nightmare when new neighbors subdivided the land next to my 7 acres and built their home. The wife was homophobic and, once settled in, she soon made my partner and my life miserable by her constant threats, taunts, harassment, and spreading false rumors with the other neighbors all in an effort to get us to move so she could have a "family" neighborhood. My partner and I endured that nightmare for about four years until the situation finally came to an abrupt climax when she went to the local police chief and demanded that he arrest us because we were "gaywads" (her term). He patiently explained to her that he could not arrest us unless we were doing something illegal. She said "They're perverts, isn't that illegal?" The police chief soon lost his patience and threw her out of his office and told her not to return again wasting his time. From that moment on there was no more harassment from this neighbor. She "tolerated" us. While the taunts, threats and vicious rumors had stopped, the neighborhood still was unfriendly. We never felt comfortable again. Thus it was with great relief when she finally sold her house and moved to Boca Raton, Florida and, hopefully for her, a "nicer" neighborhood. A few years later my partner and I decided to move to Delaware to escape the rapidly increasing confiscatory Pennsylvania school taxes. The neighborhood in which we live now is very diverse. There are four gay couples (two male, two female), retired couples, minorities (African American, Asian and an English couple), second home homeowners who spend part of the year here, and even a native Sussex County couple (who live next door to us) who just had a baby. Up until last week I never personally heard a derogatory term applied to any neighbor. How ironic that the first derogatory term would come from a gay man, who should know better. He now claims he doesn't remember saying it. Perhaps he doesn't, he was that angry. Hopefully he has learned his lesson that nothing is to be gained by throwing out hurtful names just to make his point. We can have our differences but let us resolve them in a mutually respectful manner. In other words, apply the Gold Rule. Treat Others As You Want To Be Treated. Live in peace. Life is to short to do otherwise.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Status: Closed
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text:
After a very tiering day at Versailles we decided to take it easy, sleep in, eat a slow breakfast and make our way to Jardin des Tuileries to enjoy the heat coming in to Paris. We sat in the sun for a while and then visited the very nice Musée de l'Orangerie, that houses a set of Monet paintings specially created for their oval rooms.
In a back-alley we found a cozy little restaurant in the sun.
Although there was a lot of people in the park, tourists, vendors and school classes filling out quizes about the numerous statues in the park, it was quite relaxing to stroll around it.
We did not venture into the Louvre, since we felt one had to come early to beat the crowds and to get a chance to really explore it. Instead we admired it pompous exterior and found that it more or less looked as big as Versailles.
We headed north to another, much smaller garden, at the Palais Royal, and caught an artist painting one of the sculptures.
At the classy Gallerie Vivianne, small, expensive fashion shops and second hand book shops fought for our attention. We found some old postcards at one little shop but only managed to buy one before the staff broke out in a fight about the man bringing young women to their flat while the lady worked at the shop.
By the metro station on our way home we walked in to the Sainte Estauche church, another magnificent Gothic church with beautiful ceiling.
Our trip to Paris was meant as a present for Monoton who just had his birthday and after a small break at our hotel we headed out for a fantastic 6 course dinner at a very nice Thai restaurant just around the corner from our hotel.
For our last day in Paris we had big plans to visit several museums and sights. We had bought a combination ticket the day before for the Musée de l'Orangerie and Musée d'Orsay, so we headed to Musée d'Orsay which is a fantastic building in itself. Our tickets enabled us to go straight in, instead of waiting in the huge lines, but the museum took us almost the whole day to explore and the crowds took their toll on us.
Instead we headed back to the hotel and then to a restaurant close by, we tried the Tartar Original which was very tasty.
…and managed to walk back to our hotel just when the Tour Eiffel had its light display on. That concludes our last days in Paris.


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WATAMOTE Episode 7 – "Since I'm Not Popular, I'll Enjoy Summer Vacation"
0 comments // in Articles Photos Simulcast Video // August 19, 2013 // Posted by muten
Since it's Monday, I guess I'll post about WATAMOTE:
Summer break has commenced, and well – things aren't looking very eventful for Tomoko the first couple of days. She needs to do something to fix this, and becomes interested in becoming an internet personality. After getting the great idea to go to an event where she could meet a famous voice actor, she creates her attempt at fame. Catch WATAMOTE every Monday evening at 10:05p PDT on Crunchyroll.


text:
- For other uses, see da Vinci.
The da Vinci was a shuttlecraft assigned to the USS Defiant in the 2370s.
In 2372, Chief Miles O'Brien and Doctor Julian Bashir used the da Vinci to investigate an adrift D'Kora class Ferengi marauder and search for survivors.
Captain Benjamin Sisko later used the Da Vinci to travel to Bajor. The shuttle was damaged by weapons fire but Sisko managed to beam out successfully before it hit the planet's surface. (DS9 novel: The 34th Rule)
|USS Defiant auxiliary craft
|USS Defiant I
|Chaffee • da Vinci • Faraday
|USS Defiant II
|Chaffee • Sagan • Tyson
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.


text:
This paper outlines some of the techniques being developed to provide affordable, reliable satellite communications suitable for a wide range of military aircraft, from agile platforms such as jets and helicopters to surveillance, tanker and transport aircraft. It also gives an overview of airborne SHF (Super High Frequency) and also EHF (Extremely High Frequency) satcom techniques. Although presently used UHF (Ultra High Frequency) satellite communication are relatively simple to install and comparatively inexpensive, suffer from very limited capacity and are prone to multipath and unintentional interference due to their poor antenna selectivity. Whereas, the SHF satcoms offer significantly increased bandwidth for high data rates or increased use of spread-spectrum techniques, together with localized (spot) coverage and adaptive antenna techniques " for nulling unwanted signals or interference.
The beginning of new millennium sees an important milestone in military aviation communication with the introduction of the first Super-High-Frequency (SHF) airborne satellite communication (Satcom) terminals, which are due to enter service on Nimrod maritime reconnaissance aircraft (MRA4). Satcom terminals using the Ultra-High-Frequency (UHF) band have been fitted to larger aircrafts for a number of years. Although relatively simple to install and comparatively inexpensive, UHF satcoms(240-270 & 290-320 MHz bands) suffers from very limited capacity (a few 25 KHz channels per satellite) and are prone to multipath & unintentional interference due to their poor antenna selectivity. SHF satcoms (7.25 " 7.75 & 7.9-8.4 GHz) offer significantly increased bandwidths (hundreds of MHz) for high data rates or increased use of spread-spectrum techniques, together with localised coverage and adaptive antenna techniques for nulling unwanted signals or interference.
For airborne platforms, the advantages of SHF satcoms come at the expense of a significant additional burden in terms of antenna siting and pointing, particularly for smaller, highly agile aircrafts. Antenna should be large enough to support the desired data rate and to provide enough directivity to minimise interference with adjascent satellites and avoid detection by hostile forces. Another feature of satcoms, unique to aircraft, is the effect of unwanted modulation from moving parts such as helicopter rotor blades, propellers and jet engines.
This paper gives an overview of development of airborne SHF and also Extremely-High-Frequency (EHF) satcom techniques, and terminal demonstrators by DERA (Defence Evaluation and Research Agency). This research is aimed at providing affordable, secure and robust satcoms to a range of military aircraft, supporting ground attack and reconnaissance roles to surveillance, transport and tanker aircraft.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) currently operates a constellation of three geostationary military communication satellites collectively known as skynet. The current generation of skynet 4 satellites provides satellite communication for all types of armed services at both UHF and SHF bands. Demand for all types of military satcom is rising rapidly, due principally to the need for even more timely information to prosecute operations effectively. Another factor is the growing expectations of service personnel familiar with a world of instant global communication and rapid availability of information via internet-type services.
Satcoms can span distance, terrain and hostile forces to provide a global reach for dispersed mobile platforms such as aircraft, submarines, surface ships, vehicles and man-packs. Fig.1 illustrates schematically, the breadth of military aerial roles that satcom may be required to support in future, providing global beyond-line-sight communications between aircraft and commander in theatre. Information carried by satellite could include:
¢ Near-real-time command & control " tasking, position, reporting etc.
¢ Data from reconnaissance & surveillance aircraft.
¢ Targeting data for stand-off weapons.
¢ Situation awareness.
¢ Transfer data from dissimilar and/or geographically separated line-of-sight (LOS) networks.
Fig. 1 Potential use of satcom by military aircraft.
In some case, direct communication with aircraft will not be necessary. For eg: air superiority fighters operates in the vicinity of an E3-D Sentry air-borne early-warning (AEW) aircraft with which they are in LOS communication. For these fighter aircrafts it would be more efficient to communicate via their LOS page link to the E3-D and then via satcom from E3-D, with the transfer between the two links operating seamlessly.
Typical rates for some of these military roles are given in Table-1. At the other end of the scale, unprocessed reconnaissance data demand large amount of bandwidths - the amount increasing year-on-year as the resolution of imaging and radar sensor technologies improves.
Scenario Data type Typical data rates
Tasking and position reporting
Verbal communication
Receive-only direct broadcast short messages
video/multimedia 50 " 300 bit/s
2.4 " 4.8 kbit/s
16 kbit/s " 20 Mbit/s
2 " 20 Mbit/s
Table 1: Typical data rates for various air missions
The use of non-military satellite systems, principally INMARSAT, by the military to supplement capacity for non-mission-critical communications is already common. Civilian mobile satcom is a $ 2.5 billion global industry and can provide significant additional capacity using the latest state-of-art technology.
Use of commercial satellite systems is bound by international treaties which typically place severe constraints on the use of these systems by military. Commercial satellites also have no specific built in resiliance to jamming and limited protection against information warfare.
Until recently INMARSAT was the sole provider of commercial aeronoutical satellite services, using 10MHz of spectrum in L-band (~ 1.6 GHz). Iridium system developed by Motorola provides truly global coverage using 66 satellites in polar orbit with 48 beams per satellite. This revolutionary system uses L band for communication with mobiles and Ka-band (20/30 GHz) for links to ground stations. Iridium is the first commercial satellite system to use on-board switching with inter satellite links (in the 23 GHz water vapour absorption band) so that links between mobiles need not use terrestrial gateways. Although Iridium system is primarily intended to support personnel communications aeronautical terminals with one to eight channels are being developed for the Iridium system by AlliedSignal Aerospace. Other Low Earth Orbit (LEO) personal communication systems (PCSs) such as Global star and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) systems such as ICO are due to come on-line in near future.
Fig. 2(a) AlliedSignal Iridium terminal currently undergoing trials
(b) An RAF Hercules aircraft.
THE AIRFRAME " ANTENNA PLACEMENT
One of the first problems encountered when considering an airborne satcom terminal is where to site the antenna on the airframe so as to gain an uninterrupted path to the satellite. Helicopters in particular present a unique challenge due to their rotor and body shape, which make it difficult to find an uninterrupted view of the satellite for all orientations. Fig. 3 shows the blockage for two hypothetical antenna location on the Apache attack helicopter. The blockage has been computed by projecting the silhouette of the airframe and main rotor, as illuminated from the antenna site, onto a hemisphere. Most apparent from these diagrams is the extent of the shadowing by the main rotor blade, which causes unwanted amplitude and frequency modulation. With the antenna mounted on the helicopter spine just behind the engine, the silhouettes of the cockpit (fore) and tail (aft) are very apparent. Moving the antenna to one of the two stubby `wingsâ"¢ which support the armament provides better fore and aft coverage but suffers blockage on one side due to the fuselage. Two antenna, on each wing would provide the necessary hemispherical coverage. Surprisingly, the best location for a satcom antenna on the Apache is above the centre of the main rotor on a de-spun mast.
Fig. 3
In addition to engine/rotor modulation, the modem (modulator/demodulator) in an airborne satcom terminal has to be designed to accommodate the effect of Doppler shift of the RF signal due to the aircrafts speed and acceleration. This speed could be upto 600m/s relative to satellite. The amount of Doppler shift increases with increasing radial velocity and RF carrier frequency.
Parameter Performance
Data rate C/N
Sensitivity Mode 1
(asynchronous data)
Sensitivity Mode 2
(synchronous voice)
Max. multipath
Max. Doppler offset
Max. Doppler rate of change
Max. rotor modulation degradation in C/No 50 bit/s 23 dB HZ
75 bit/s 25 dB HZ
300 bit/s 31 dB HZ
2.4 kbit/s 40 dB HZ
4.8 kbit/s 43 dB HZ
-10 dB
8 kHZ
500 Hz/s
1 dB
Table 2: Required SHF modem performance for large and rotary wing aircraft
An airborne tactical modem has the following requirements:
¢ To be efficient interms of carrier-to-noise density (C/No) for a
given bit error ratio (BER).
¢ To operate under high Doppler offsets & rates of changes due to
platform motion.
¢ To operate with minimal degradation in the presence of
multipath propagation & occasional signal loss due to airframe
blockage & antenna switching.
¢ Rapid acquisition of communications following signal loss.
¢ To operate with minimal degradation in the presence of rotor
¢ To comply with international regulation on power spectral
density & adjacent satellite interference.
¢ To implement electronic protection measures as required.
To illustrate the combined effects of Doppler, rotor modulation and multipath, we show Fig.4, the scattering function for communication to a medium-sized helicopter. Here the satcom antenna is mounted behind the main engines on the central fuselage below the main rotor.
Fig. 4
The scattering function is based upon the cross-ambiguity analysis, a tool commonly used in radar. It is essentially the output of a `filterâ"¢ that is matched to the uncorrupted transmitted signal (Sref). The signal filtering and processing incorporated in a satcom receiver is normally a very close approximation to that required to perform matched filtering of a received signal from the satellite. The magnitude of the scattering function illustrated in Fig.4, is a measure of the interference present in the received signal (S), which comprises the vector sum of several signal paths, each simultaneously offset in frequency (fD) and delayed in time (). Ideally the matched filter output for zero delay (multipath) and frequency shift (Doppler) would be a `spikeâ"¢ centered upon zero Doppler and zero delay (broadened by the finite time-bandwidth product). Significant signal loss arises when the received signal scattering function is `smearedâ"¢ in time and frequency by Doppler and multipath smearing is non-symmetric due to aircrafts relative motion.
The received signal undergoes both amplitude and phase modulation as a consequence of rotor modulation. Periodic fading results from rotor blade obscuration, and deep nulls arises due to complex coupling of phase and Doppler shift. The resultant scattering function in this case depends upon many factors, including the aspect angle to the rotors and aircraft from terminal and receiver, the number of rotor blades and structural composition, pitch angle, flexing and hub rotation rates. Rotor modulation thus poses serious problems for conventional satcom page link acquisition, RF carrier tracking and page link retention. With correct signal processing, the effect of rotor modulation can be reduced to <1dB power penalty.
After determining the required communication data rate and the available satellite power to support it, the aircraft antenna (aperture) has to be determined. Antenna requirements for use with geostationary satellite fall into three categories:
¢ Low gain for position reporting & messaging.
¢ Medium gain for voice & low-data-rate communication.
¢ High gain for applications such as file-transfer, surveillance/reconnoissance data etc.
The requirements for low-gain and medium-gain antennas are summarised in Table 3.
Parameter Low-gain antenna Medium-gain antenna
Transmit gain
Receive gain
Transmit polarization
Receive polarization
Axial ratio
Power handling
Rx/Tx isolation
Packaging 6 dBi
6 dBi
Rx7.25 " 7.75 GHZ
Tx 7.9 " 8.4 GHZ
6 dB
N/A (different antennas)
aircraft blade radome
1 Tx and 1 Rx blade 16 dBi
15.5 dBi
7.25 " 8.4 GHZ
3 dB
20 dB
aperture less than 10 cm
fully contained within 12cm
Table 3: Required SHF antenna performance (R (L) HCP = right (left) handed circular polarisation)
For satcom applications, the size, performance (aperture efficiency noise temperature) and cost of current phased-array technologies severely limit the usefulness of `holy grailâ"¢ of airborne antenna which is thin, conformal phased array which take the shape of the aircrafts skin. To reduce the cost, DERA has developed compact proof-of-concept low-gain and medium-gain airborne SHF satcom antennas using more conventional technologies.
Low Gain Antenna
A number of approaches have been investigated for a low gain antenna with the additional goal of reducing the complexity of the antenna pointing method to further minimise the cost. In particular the use of a number of static, switched-beam antennas with azimuth-independent gain has been pursued. The minimum number of independent beams required to cover a given solid angle can be inferred from the gain required for a single beam and Table 4, gives the theoretical directivity of switched beam antennas for various number of beams. In practice, the antenna gain will be lower than the directivity due to feed losses. The poor directivity of low gain antenna necessitates the need for alternative technique to reduce the unwanted interference, notably spectral spreading.
Beams per hemisphere Directivity per beam
5 3 dBi
6 dBi
8 dBi
9 dBi
Table 4: Minimum antenna directivity for different numbers of switched beams
A practical realisation of a switched three beam low-gain antenna is shown in Fig 5. Each beam is omni directional in azimuth with overlapping elevation coverage. The three elements (high, middle & low) are switched according to the aircrafts attitude. The preferred configuration is to have one transmit and one receive antenna, switched in tandem, each containing three beams in a so called `bladeâ"¢ housing (radome).
Fig. 5 Axial-symmetric, switched 3-beam, SHF low-gain antenna: (a) schematic diagram; (b) antenna patterns; © practical realisation
Medium Gain Antenna
The bidirectional medium-gain antenna for voice/low data-rate communication originally employed a corrugated circular horn Fig 6a, which has good cross polarisation and low sidelobe performance. The swept volume of this antenna is determined by its length and not its aperture, with the consequence that a relatively large radome is required " with a resultant impact on aerodynamic drag. Alternative solution is the short `back-fire™ antenna Fig 6b, appear to offer a more compact mechanical solution. These antennas operate in X band with 15% fractional bandwidth. The back-fire antenna has a very high aperture efficiency (the ratio of antenna gain to that of a perfect antenna of the same aperture area) of around unity, partly as a result of its semi resonant structure. It also has a very small swept volume " essentially limited by its aperture.
Fig. 6 Medium-gain antennas: (a) corrugated horn; (b) compact `short back-fireâ"¢ antenna
Having sited the antenna on airframe it is necessary to ensure that it continues to maintain the transmitted and received signals over a given page link within specific limits, regardless of the motion of the aircraft. Signal loss is an unwanted consequence of the inherent uncertainty in the tracking process and is affected by:
¢ Angular pointing offsets & drift.
¢ Antenna beamwidth.
¢ Platform stability.
¢ Static & dynamic loading.
¢ Beam squint resulting from near-field distortions & multipath.
¢ Attitude-sensor data accuracy & update rate.
¢ Time & frequency dependent collimation errors.
For a given positional accuracy, the signal loss due to antenna pointing is intrinsically proportional to the antenna beamwidth. This in turn is inversely proportional to the square root of the antenna gain. High gain antennas therefore require high accuracy pointing or tracking systems.
Most modern aircrafts incorporate an inertial navigation system (INS) or similar integrated navigation system that can potentially provide the information on the aircraft attitude to allow the antenna to be steered towards the satellite. The data obtained from the INS is not always suitable for satcom antenna pointing due to inadequate update rates or flexing of the aircraft structure between the INS sensor and the antennas location.
Here the approach is to exploit INS data where available but to concentrate on the use of autonomous attitude and heading reference system (AHRS), built into the satcom terminals as close to the antenna as is feasible. The two low-cost AHRS systems are:
The Watson C304 unit, Fig 7a is a small, lightweight strap-down AHRS based on a solid-state three axis gyrocluster, a pair of liquid angle sensors and a three axis magnetometer. The attitude is derived by integrating the signals from the triaxial gyro. These are then referenced to the earth axes via the angle sensors, which are employed as the gravitational reference and the triaxial magnetometer.
Fig. 7(a) Watson AHRS
The Trimble Advanced Navigation Sensor (TANS) vector, Fig 7b is a solid state attitude-determination and position-location system which uses the carrier phase difference of global positioning system (GPS) signals from upto six satellites, received at four separate antennas. The TANS vector requires no attitude or position initialisation.
Fig. 7(b) Trimble TANS Vector
The complete autonomous antenna pointing sub-system, Fig 7c comprises a GPS receiver, AHRS, antenna positioner and computer based antenna control circuit unit. The basic subsystem employs an open-loop pointing system, which in its simplest form predicts the antenna pointing angles based on satellite ephemeris data, air platform location and attitude.
Fig. 7 © control system schematic diagram
The accuracy and update rate of these low-cost AHRS systems with medium-gain antennas are, in fact, considered adequate for all the most demanding air platforms. Fig.8 shows the relative pointing losses associated with a range of platforms for 1 and 10 antenna (3 dB) beamwidths with both low-cost and high-grade AHRS. Pointing errors are most significant for satcoms with narrowest beamwidths on-board the most agile platforms. This impacts most markedly on the use of EHF satcoms on fast jets.
Fig. 8 Relative pointing antenna errors for various manoeuvres on different platforms: (a) 1 antenna beamwidth, high-grade AHRS; (b) 1 antenna beamwidth, low-cost AHRS; © 10 antenna beamwidth, low-cost AHRS
DERA has developed two variants of a proof-of-concept airborne SHF satcom terminals, Fig 9 based around a modular (plug & work) approach. The terminals can be configured to operate in various modes by connecting modules to a common controller. These terminals are fully autonomous requiring only DC power from the host platform. The principal operating modes of these terminals are:
¢ Mode 1: World-wide position reporting & messaging.
¢ Mode 2: Voice communication (in satellite spot beams).
¢ Mode 3: Voice plus position reporting & messaging.
Fig. 9 Proof-of-concept airborne SHF satcom terminal control unit
The SHF terminal modules are:
¢ The attitude & heading unit, comprising the AHRS.
¢ The antenna unit, comprising either the switched low-gain or steerable high-gain antenna together with a low-noise amplifier (LNA), high-power amplifier (HPA) & diplexer filters.
¢ The terminal control unit, developed in conjunction with Delta communication which contains the RF up & down-converters, the GPS receivers, the voice coder-decoder (vocoder) & a PC 104 embedded Pentium PC.
¢ The remote display unit, which provides the operator interface and comprises embedded PC with a touch-sensitive LCD display.
The existing skynet 4 constellation is due to be replaced by 2007. The next generation of satellites, skynet 5, due to be introduced from 2005, is currently the subject of a series of `Public Finance Initiativeâ"¢ studies. One of the options being actively considered for skynet 5 is the provision of an on-board processed, Extremely-High-Frequency (EHF) payload similar to that used on US Milstar constellation.
The Milstar EHF system operates in the 20.2-21.2 GHz (down-link)/ 43.5-45.5 GHz (up link) bands and was originally developed to provide post-nuclear strike command and control facilities. Milstar was designed to provide:
¢ Enhanced resistance to jamming.
¢ Enhanced immunity to ionospheric scintillation (such as that
following a high-altitude nuclear explosion).
¢ Reduced probability of interception/detection.
Milstar achieves this through combination of four factors:
¢ Use of an EHF for earth-to-satellite links.
¢ Use of highly robust communication waveform.
¢ Use of sophisticated on-board processing.
¢ Use of cross-satellite links.
Recent Milstar satellites have been adapted to provide tactical users with up to 1.5 Mbits of high-data-rate communications each. The use of time division multiplexing (TDM) on the down-link contributes to increased efficiency for high-data-rate services and removes the problem of intermodulation with frequency division multiplexing (FDM). On-board regenerationswitching also allows direct communication between so-called disadvantaged users, such as aircraft, without the need to use a large ground station as a hub.
High antenna gains are often cited as a benefit of operation at EHF frequencies; however the beamwidth of satellite antennas are generally determined by the geographical coverage required, with the consequence that all antennas with similar coverage also have similar gain, regardless of frequency.
The principal appeal for the higher frequency bands is therefore largely due to the increased spectrum available. Wider spectrum allows either accommodation of more users/services or greater exploitation of spread-spectrum techniques to counter jamming and to reduce the probability of interception through the use of spread-spectrum is usually characterised interms of the coding gain " the ratio of the spread bandwidth to the unspread bandwidth.
For airborne users the primary advantage of EHF frequencies is reduced likelihood of interception due to smaller antenna beamwidths for a given data rate. Deep-strike aircraft and attack helicopters can operate hundreds of kilometers behind enemy lines to disable the enemyâ"¢s infrastructure and supply lines. Low probability of detection (LPD) is vital on such missions. Increased spectrum for use by spread-spectrum techniques work in favour of the aircraft and against those trying to detect its transmission since a detector must search a larger spectral space to detect the aircraft signal.
Fig. 10 Integrated atmospheric attenuation against frequency at 90 elevation for an aircraft near sea level. The lower line is for relatively dry, rain- and cloud-free conditions; the upper line is for 12 mm/hr rain.
The most obvious disadvantage of operating at EHF frequencies is increased atmospheric attenuation in the troposphere, as shown in Fig 10. The familiar absorption peak occurs at ~60 GHz and ~118GHz due to gaseous oxygen and at ~23 GHz and ~183 GHz due to water vapour. Continuum attenuation above 10 GHz also increases significantly in the presence of rain and rain-bearing clouds as the signal wave-length becomes comparable with the size of water droplets. One advantage of the increased atmospheric attenuation at sea level is likely to be that terrestrially based interception will be more severely affected by atmospheric attenuation than airborne satcoms. At sea level, the effects of attenuation are greatest, and at about 20000ft (6096m) the attenuation is almost negligible.
Atmospheric attenuation is a major concern for users of EHF, but it is not the only problem to affect operation at these frequencies. Antenna pointing and airframe integration are key issues which are likely to become even more difficult as we move towards more agile, stealthy aircrafts such as the future offensive air system (FOAS). Providing highly robust, Milstar compatible, EHF satcoms to a highly agile, stealthy, air platform is a significant challenge. By developing and evaluating key technologies in airborne EHF terminal design, DERA is able to investigate the practical issues associated with these and other potential EHF options (such as use of military Ka band) for skynet 5 and minimize the risks associated with the procurement of the MoDâ"¢s future airborne satcom terminals.
For airborne users the primary advantage of EHF (Extremely High Frequency) is reduced likelihood of interception due to smaller antenna beamwidths for a given data rates. Increased spectrum for use by spread- spectrum techniques work in favour of the aircraft and against those trying to detect its transmission since a detector must search a larger spectral space to detect the aircraft signal. The combination of wider spread-spectrum bandwidth and narrower antenna beamwidth at EHF result in a significant improvement in aircraftâ"¢s LPD (Low Probability of Detection). Providing highly robust, Milstar compatible, EHF satcoms to a highly agile, stealthy, air-platform is a significant challenge and making it affordable is an even greater one.
1. Electronics and Communication Engineering Journal, IEE
2. Link margin for UHF airborne satellite communications operation. (FRANKE, E., and VAAL, G.) IEEE
3. An overview of aeronautical telecommunications in Europe and worldwide, IEE
4. Fixed and mobile terminal antennas, IEE
5. Rationale for future use of EHF for military SATCOMâ"¢s, IEE
6. Fundamental performance characteristics that influence EHF MILSATCOM systems, IEEE.
I extend my sincere thanks to Prof. P.V.Abdul Hameed, Head of the Department for providing me with the guidance and facilities for the Seminar.
I express my sincere gratitude to Seminar coordinator
Mr. Manoj K, Staff in charge, for his cooperation and guidance for preparing and presenting this seminars.
I also extend my sincere thanks to all other faculty members of Electronics and Communication Department and my friends for their support and encouragement.
Syed Arafath


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Assembling the arms and legs of HGUC Nu Gundam in this review.
Minus the direction of the ankle and thigh joints when assembled, the legs are actually perfectly symmetric. Every component of the legs is done twice for either leg. The design in my opinion, is pretty amazing ^^
Parts for the feet
The gripping claws on the bottom of the feet are painted, the portion revealed on the top is from foil sticker.
While there's a polycap joining the ankle and the shoe that allows the earlier to be lifted for added articulation, it's unfortunately limited by the white armor.
The "mecha" parts - thigh joint, interior of the leg and ankle joint.
Just two parts for the white armors on each leg.
The different direction in which the ankle joint is assembled defines which side it's for.
And some more parts to complete the leg.
While the front part seems pretty simple simple, ...
Plenty of details can be seen behind the leg and beneath it - on the thruster and behind its armor, details behind the knee armor and beneath the leg.
Parts for the thigh and knee joint.
Now I see it, so much gold and silver just for the knee joint is pretty striking ^^
Separating between left and right leg.
Completed. ^^
Just OK articulation for the leg, better than the MG version that it.
The new polycaps are really tight. ^^
Another look at the painted interior of the thrusters, claws and the knee joint. ^^
While the legs are symmetric, the arms, particularly the forearms are totally not. The left forearm is designed with a beam saber mounted, while the right one is pretty plain.
The left forearm is the only part on the model that can carry the shield as well. ^^;
All the parts for the left arm.
Comes with an optional spread palm as well.
Has the ability to store and deploy the beam saber just like the MG version.
An improvement as compared to the MG version: the shield can be mounted on the side or the back of the forearm.
It's foreseeable that it'll still hit the Fin Funnels on the backpack when they are mounted though ^^;
All the parts for the right arm.
A much simpler design, with no "hidden" function ^^
As with the leg, articulation is just OK. ^^;
Assembly will continue in the next review. ^^


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Anti-Brexit parties could double their seats in the European elections if they form pact
PUBLISHED: 14:01 18 April 2019 | UPDATED: 14:49 18 April 2019
Anti-Brexit parties could win twice as many seats in the European elections next month if they agree to join forces, new research suggests.
Become a Supporter
Almost four years after its creation The New European goes from strength to strength across print and online, offering a pro-European perspective on Brexit and reporting on the political response to the coronavirus outbreak, climate change and international politics. But we can only continue to grow with your support.
An analysis by the Financial Times found that if the newly-formed Change UK party, the Greens and the Liberal Democrats put forward a unified slate of candidates they could win 16 of the 60 European parliament seats being contested. The newspaper's research suggested that if they fielded candidates separately, they would only will only seven seats, all of which would go to the Lib Dems.
The FT based its analysis on polling data from four organisations which showed the Lib Dems currently hold a 9% share of the vote, with the Greens on 7% and Change UK on 5%.
The vast differences in fortune, depending on whether the parties can agree a pact, are down to the way seats are allocated on a regional basis under a proportional voting system used for the European elections. The small number of seats in each region introduces an effective minimum vote share threshold that any party must pass to get representation in the European parliament.
In north-east England, with just three seats to play for, parties will have to win more than about 20% of the vote to gain a seat. In south-east England, with 10 seats, the threshold is around 7%.
The FT analysis suggested that if parties all stood against one another in all regions Labour would win the most seats, with 26, followed by Conservatives on 14, Nigel Farage's Brexit Party would be on 10, the Lib Dems on seven and the UKIP on three.
However, if the three anti-Brexit parties were able to form an alliance, to avoid their candidates competing with one another, they could win 16 seats, with Labour on 22, the Tories on 12, the Brexit Party on nine and UKIP on three.
The Lib Dems, Change UK and the Greens – who all support the idea of a second referendum – have been in talks about presenting a unified slate of candidates. However, the plan has so far come to nothing.
Unless prime minister Theresa May succeeds in securing approval in parliament for her EU withdrawal agreement, European elections will go ahead on May 23 in the UK.
Become a Supporter
Almost four years after its creation The New European goes from strength to strength across print and online, offering a pro-European perspective on Brexit and reporting on the political response to the coronavirus outbreak, climate change and international politics. But we can only rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press with your support. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.Become a supporter


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I read three quarters of a story called "Opposites Attract" on Nifty today. One sentence the author wrote — something like "bits of electronics that would have one day become a computer" — made me suspect that he was writing a story we've all heard before. A little bit later, the non-POV character mentioned that he had a medical condition that got him out of gym class. That further solidified my suspicion. Cole is going to die of a disease that has prevented him from maturing normally. Freak the Mighty and The Cure were the same story. Physically powerful, mentally average loner boy meets mentally gifted, spirited, puny boy. Puny boy shows bigger boy how to live, then dies. I'm fairly certain that is what is going to happen.
I would like to see a story (or write it myself) where that doesn't happen. Or rather where the opposite happens. The bigger boy somehow manages to save the puny boy, perhaps at great cost to himself, so that the puny boy with the incredible brain doesn't live a short life who's only purpose was to be an influential memory for others.
Meh. It's an idea.
So yeah, I was wrong. They totally just did the deed, rolled over and went to sleep. How…disappointing. ;) Just shows you that I read WAY too far into a stray tense. Nifty really is not the place for me…


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This take on Minted was made by
undefined from , a member of Minted's
community of independent artists.
Designers were asked to submit a chic and modern design.
If you see a design that is not available for sale, please email us and we will help you purchase the design.
Front: You've always taught me to be my kind of beautiful., Inside: I'm so grateful for you, Mom. I celebrate you on your birthday and always., Design for a mother's birthday, based on the copy by Kate Ross. It features a mixed media illustration involving printmaking and digital.
You've always taught me to be my kind of beautiful.
greeting cards, Birthday, mother, Kate Ross, botanical, fern, illustration, printmaking
jade, rosé
May 02 2017
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We uncover design genius through ongoing design competitions. At Minted, all that matters is good design. Designers submit, and the Minted community votes to tell us what to sell.


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Fabulous 4+/- acre view parcel, close to town but quiet and private. Driveway is in leading to a level building site. Abundant wildlife and close to water access and USFS land. Contact Mark Smith (406)270-4284, Jeannette Carr (406)270-3921, or your real estate professional for more information.
Listing courtesy of Clearwater Montana Properties - Noxon.
IDX information provided courtesy of the Montana Regional MLS, LLC. IDX information is provided exclusively for consumers' personal, non-commercial use, and it may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing. The data is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed accurate by the MLS.


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Weekly Topic: Multi-tenant
Did you know that Microsoft Dynamics GP is multi-tenant? Do you know why you should care?
The Multi-tenant Microsoft Dynamics GP Web feature provides the ability to host multiple tenants on a single instance of the application. In basic terms, you can have multiple DYNAMICS databases on the same SQL Server instance.
A few of the reasons you should care:
1. Makes it easier to host GP in a multi-customer environment.
2. Customers with many company databases can deploy them in groups making it easier to apply service packs and upgrades.
3. Web Client. Enough Said.
4. It's multi-tenant the right way. It gives you control of your deployment with the flexibility to be in the cloud the way you want.


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I have been a staff member of the Department of Architecture at UTM since September 1997, first as a tutor then as a senior lecturer until today. Joining UTM as an academic at a high point in my professional career as a Part III RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architect) qualified architect still feels an immense personal sacrifice, since this meant I had to forego the life-long aspiration of becoming a successful architect in practice by serving as a full time academician who educates and nurture the nation's professionals. Nonetheless, even until today, I still maintain active and direct links with the professional institutions and the relevant industry based upon the strong understanding that this will be key to developing a better future in education, practice, and industry. I would see myself as the vital bridge or connection between the key aforementioned stakeholders. This is also a vital long-term strategy. Internationally, I am a Registered Architect with the ARBUK (Architects Registration Board United Kingdom). At the national level, I am registered with LAM (Lembaga Arkitek Malaysia), albeit as a graduate member, and constantly keeps abreast with the professional and educational development in Malaysia by attending LAM CPD courses. I was also recently appointed a pioneering member of LAM's Architectural Programme Accreditation as well as its Programme (International) Validation Panels. My current appointments as a Research Fellow at KALAM (Pusat Kajian Alam Bina Melayu) Centre of Excellence and head of one of the Faculty's Research Group (Design Processes, Practice and Management Group) are deemed appropriate in view of my deep interest on current developments education and learning, knowledge management, applied processes and technology and professional practice as well as sustainable and resilient approaches to built environment in general. However, the most important of all is how to integrate or 'connect' those issues and relevant domain knowledge in order to advance for the betterment of Man and his 'constructed' environment. As such, I see my role as an important catalyst for effective 'connectivity' between various stakeholders in the building industry, practice, research and academic institutions. For example, a PhD student under my supervision had held on-site discussion with BIM (Building Information Modelling) experts working on the massive Sungai Segget Re-development Project to explore the usability of BIM in building design development. 'Connectivity' also meant reaching out to other industries in a multi-disciplinary manner, such as my lecture and interview programme with PROTON (March 2011) undertaken through shared interest between architecture and automotive manufacturing in the areas of Design Development Processes. During my tenure as the Third Year Studio Coordinator (BSc. Arch LAM Part 1) 2014, we advocated an innovative Centre for Flood Relief and Mitigation (CFRM) building project in various sites in Kota Tinggi as a key architectural studio design exercise. The project was meant to bring greater understanding on the social and environmental effects of flooding to the building process and to encourage students to generate innovative design solutions with cutting-edge technology and techniques. Important institutions involved with Flood mitigation activities like Bomba and State Health Agencies and Non-governmental Organisations were invited to events pertaining to the studio project.
Furthermore, for a certain period and in my capacity as the Head of UTM Architectural Programme (From June 2009 until July 2011), I was actively involved in policy and programme development both at professional and university levels. This gives me greater awareness of the inner workings of the profession, industry and academia as well as new requirements and standards higher educational system as stipulated by MQA (Malaysian Qualifications Agency). It also enabled me, as the then Head of Architectural Programme, to facilitate the early development of the new Masters programme. The programme was intended to bring new direction to architectural education by formally inculcating 'scholarly' and research thinking approaches within the overall framework of new courses. Thus, the virtues of being in a position that continuously connects the profession, industry and education are immeasurable not only now but also for the foreseeable future. This is why I firmly believe that being a professionally trained teaching staff and one that is constantly 'connected' to professional institutions and the relevant industries is vital for the development of UTM as an institution that is wholly mindful of the professional and skilful requirements as well as, quite importantly, its social obligation to the constructive advancement of the nation's human capital. As part of my teaching ethos, I often use practical guidelines and codes of conduct as well as knowledge in practice in imparting relevant knowledge to my students about the world of design and practice. These augment theoretical knowledge that is so fundamentally associated with formal, university education. A huge impetus to all these efforts came through the successful completion of a PhD from the University of Sheffield in April 2007 and later through Masters by Research and PhD supervision.
My critical take on the role of practice in a vastly changing world further resulted in conference proceedings entitled "The Future Role of Architects" (1999) and journal articles like "The Architectural Profession and the Building Industry: Treading the lines of limitation and opportunities" and "Shaping the Future of the Architectural Profession" (2002). Currently, the concern over the role of design in bringing about vital changes to our environment has led me to examining the nature of cognitive behaviour and processes in the realm of designers and designer-user interface. There are many important lessons to be learnt from studying design and design behaviour, especially from the point of view of uncovering and harnessing tacit knowledge and its role in decision making processes, creativity and innovation. My own personal PhD experience as well as supervision process I conduct upon my postgraduate students certainly provided me the methodical advantage in exploring the nature and implications of the Design Activities and Behaviour. A High Impact article in the journal Research in Engineering Design entitled "The Cognitive Construct of Design Conversations" (2013), reflected the kind of intensity and diligence required in uncovering the complexity of intelligent human interactions. I find such a stance indispensable, particularly with reference to the second 'thrust' of the country's National Mission Charter that calls for the need 'to raise the country's capacity for knowledge, creativity and innovation and nurture 'first class mentality''.


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Hristo Kirilov is a professional sculptor and woodcarver. He has graduated from the National Academy of Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria, with master degree in woodcarving, which is his real passion. So far he has created many kids wooden playgrounds, tree-houses and large sculptures all over the country of Bulgaria. Many of his artworks are already part of galleries and private collections in Bulgaria, Portugal and the USA.
2007 - 2007 the University of Porto - Faculty of Arts, Portugal
2003 - 2009 the National Academy of Arts "Nikolay Pavlovich", Sofia, Bulgaria
Visit my website: http://woodarthouse.com/wp/
Artworks for sale: https://www.artfinder.com/artist/hristo-kirilov/#/
Grasshopper, 44x34x27 cm, cherry wood sculpture


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Our clubs offer private and prestigious atmospheres with picturesque views. Entertain your colleagues with a golf outing, put together a tournament for fun, host your charity's fundraising tournament, play golf after your next meeting and more. Our clubs are committed to providing first-class planning, quality cuisine and service that will make your event memorable.
Looking for a unique team building activity? Our Golf Pros are happy to assist with an invigorating clinic for you and your colleagues, or what about an evening round of Glow Ball? Ask for more information.
Tournament Sample Menu | Meet & Play Sample Menu


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If you haven't heard, in November, the LCISD Board of Trustees approved the mascot and school colors for Churchill Fulshear Jr. High School. And the winner is…
Mascot: Chargers
Colors: Purple & Black
During the meeting, Principal Ward provided a few mascot mockups, but no decision has been made on the final image. In order to determine community feedback, there were two Fulshear community presentations and two student presentations where attendees were given a chance to vote. The name "Chargers" beat out the other mascot options with an overwhelming lead of 48% of the vote and purple and black took the lead with 43% of the vote.


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50 quilts given out for Veterans at Walden's Ridge Community Center
November 2017
Walden's Ridge, TN — The Walden's Ridge Community came together to honor Veterans with quilts on honor of Veteran's Day last week. 50 quilts were made for veterans by the Walden's Ridge Quilting Club. Such a wonderful gesture by the Community to show appreciation to those who gave so much.
I walked in the door of the Walden's Ridge Community Center Thursday November 9, 2017, and I could not believe how many families and veterans were inside. I stood there with my 4 year old daughters and was humbled. My family has many veterans. But the one who stands out in my mind is my grandfather. He has always been a quiet man, but my Maw Maw told me about when he joined the air Force he only had a 8th grade education and while in service got his GED. He was stationed in Okinawa, Japan during the Korean War. He never saw the front lines, but he did tell me he did not want to raise a family while in service, so when he laid eyes on my grandmother at a USO dance he knew that his tour of duty was coming to an end. They were married one year later in a small church on their way from Alabama to North Carolina because my Maw Maw was not going to stay the night with him if they were not married. This would have been 1956. My Paw Paw would later work for Duke Power and rise up from washing toilets to being a manager of the Mechanics and Laborers.
My Paw Paw always told me "Love God, Love Family, Love your Country." When I was growing up I spent every Saturday cleaning, gardening, and cooking with my Paw Paw and we would talk about everything under the sun, but what I remember most was the day he raised his USA Flag (he called it the Colors). He stood there proud. I remember the moment of silence we took, and remember how precise he was in the raising of the colors.
My Paw Paw is 84 years old, and cannot remember many things; he remembers the colors and stands when the National Anthem is played. I have two things I am proud of that are at my store in Dayton, one is the Christmas trees my Maw Maw that she gave me and My Colors that hangs above my event room.
So, when I walked into the WRCC all I could see was my Paw Paw standing before his colors.. He would be so proud of what the quilting club does for our veterans. I had the amazing privilege of talking with Purple Heart recipient who still has shrapnel metal in his body from a mortar round(Ron Phillips). Also talked with 98 year old WW2 Veteran who stated with pride his willingness to serve in the Army, and even a young man who will end his tour of duty on my Paw Paws birthday Nov. 17 2017. He stated that he was proud to serve, and that one of his heroes is the veterans. I cannot tell you or describe the looks on the faces of the quilt recipients, but know this every pattern fit the individual, and every stitch helped heal.
I am humbled and honored to have covered the Second Annual Veterans Dinner. May God Bless each man and woman who put their heart and soul into the 50 quilts that were made and donated by the Walden's Ridge Quilting and Craft Club. This group does not stop with just quilts they also make quilts, pillow case, children's hospital gowns, and fidget quilts for local hospitals, nursing homes, Ronald MacDonald House, and any one in need. This astounding group of individuals have been making since 2012 and will continue their humbling work for years to come. For more information call: Lyn Summers at 423-775-1083.
I would like to also send a shout out to the Rhea High School ROTC and their commanding Officer. Cadet Ist LT. Wooden, Cadet Captain Rose, Cadet 1st SGT Bumpass, Cadet SGT. 1ST Class Valdez, and SGT 1st Class Harris (Retired). These young men and women presented the colors and gave us all hope for the youth of today in their respect for the veterans and our country. SGT 1st Class Harris was also a quilt recipient from a cadets mother. He said that " his heroes are his father and veterans."
God Bless,


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JH Life Serves Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst, Corona, Elmhurst, and Woodside, Queens, NYNew user? Please read The Rules.
he's in jail for talking about buying grenades.talking about it.meanwhile, that coast guard loon who threatened to murder our congresswoman had purchased an arsenal worthy of a large sized militia and kept it in his home -- and is walking free.not saying this kid is all sugar and spice. but he talked about violence.
the government arranged meetings with him. the agents suggested the scenarios. are you reading the same stuff i am?


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- Program Overview
- Mission
- Program Requirements
- Accounting Specialization
- Program Admissions
- Academic Catalog
Our program was created to prepare Catholic business people for leadership.
This program provides great preparation for success in the following fields:
- Management
- Human Resources
- Consulting
- Supply Chain Management
- Information Technology
- Accounting
- Finance
- Economics
This program features:
- Experienced faculty
- Flexible, totally online learning
- Opportunity to get an MBA in under 2 years
- Strong emphasis on business ethics
- Business learning integrated with Catholic Social Teaching
Is this Program for You?
Franciscan's MBA Program is designed for business professionals in all stages of their careers who are looking to advance to the next level and make a difference in their business.
The MBA Program is designed to make this degree possible for busy business professionals with family and life responsibilities looking for an excellent, flexible, and affordable MBA Program grounded in solid ethical and business principles.
Some of the people who would benefit from this program include:
- Lower level managers who plan to move up the organizational ladder
- Administrative Assistants who plan to move into leadership
- Recent business bachelor grads who want to move into upper management
- Non-business bachelor grads who want to improve their marketability
- Entrepreneur-minded folks who want to put their business idea into action
Generalists rather than Specialists
Using a highly integrated approach, Franciscan University's Graduate Business Program focuses on the application of functional business knowledge. The program aims to produce a generalist rather than a specialist.
To this end, students in the MBA program at Franciscan University examine:
- analytical and behavioral techniques,
- institutional considerations confronting managers, as well as
- problem solving skills and decision-making techniques essential to effective management.
An emphasis on teambuilding, communication, and leadership skills will further equip MBA graduates to work in a wide range of organizational settings.
As an MBA student, you will need to complete 11 core courses and 2 three-hour electives for a total of 37 graduate credits. The school year for the MBA Program is organized into three terms, so most students take two classes per term. The program is highly structured, and the successive courses are designed to build upon previous courses.
Students wishing to complete a research paper may substitute one elective with a one and a two credit research paper.
Accounting Program Track Available
While the primary goals of the MBA program and degree are administration and management skills, there are actually two Business Administration Degree programs available: the general and the accounting degree programs.
Students wishing to focus on accounting must have completed a Business Bachelor's Degree program and have at least 24 credits in accounting and 3 credits in business law. This program deviates slightly from the standard MBA program as it requires 40 credits instead of 37. Students enrolled in this track take their electives from a selection of accounting courses.
Graduating from the MBA Program at Franciscan University will position students to either assume greater responsibility with a current employer or to seek new management opportunities in the broader market. Currently our graduates are employed in senior management positions throughout the Ohio Valley and around the country.
See the course requirements and course descriptions in the Academic Catalog.
If you already have an undergraduate degree in accounting that includes a minimum of 24 credit hours of accounting courses and 3 credit hours of business law, you have the option of pursuing your MBA with a concentration in accounting. This requires that your four elective come from the BUS 830 series, which are graduate-level accounting courses.
This graduate track will increase the breadth and depth of your accounting knowledge, as well as prepare you to meet the requirements of professional certification in accounting such as the CPA or CMA designations.
Students in the accounting concentration will not be required to take BUS 614, but because there are 4 accounting electives in the specialization, these students will graduate with 40 credits.
How to Apply for Admissions
Gaining admission to the MBA program is simple, and we are ready to help you navigate the process. Here are the things we need:
- Application
- Official Bachelor Transcript and Official Transcripts with Relevant Transfer Credit
- Three Letters of Recommendation
Email them to [email protected]
Or mail them to:
Graduate Admissions
1235 University Blvd.
Steubenville, Ohio 43952
Associated Costs
The costs associated with the MBA program include:
- $525 per credit hour x 37 hours = $19,425
Contact Us
If you have any questions or need help please contact Graduate Admissions at [email protected] or (740) 284-5239
For Holly O'Brien '13, the strong Catholic values that are naturally part of Franciscan University's Business Program laid a firm foundation both for her studies and for career success. "My… read more
When Paul Herlihey started his internship with Kevin Sullivan Communications, he didn't try for anything flashy or ostentatious to stand out. Rather, he put his head down and went to… read more
When Alana first stepped on the campus of Franciscan University, she had no idea what major to pursue. However, with support and guidance from Franciscan's Career Services Office, she quickly… read more
Caroline Mentyka works with a team to coordinate improvements in Southwest Airlines' reservation system. She ensures that the airline delivers quality code to customers as well as front-line employees through… read more
"The professors at Franciscan have high expectations—they want students to do their best with whatever project they're working on," says Michael Blankenberger '12. It's a lesson that transitions outside the… read more
"No matter what you end up doing, you can do it more effectively, more ethically, with an economics degree."Stephen Hepburn initially planned to major in theology and philosophy, but with… read more
The Department of Accounting, Business Administration and Economics at Franciscan University of Steubenville has received specialized accreditation for its business programs through the International Accreditation Council for Business Education (IACBE) located at 11374 Strang Line Road in Lenexa, Kansas, USA. For a list of accredited programs click here.


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It's such a beautiful song. It brings out the thoughts that someone who is suicidal more accurately, clearly and emotionally than any other song I have heard. If you want just a small idea of how horrible a person going through those experiences goes through, just listen to this song.
By the way, anyone who has previously post that this song is about "breaking the habit" of drug addiction or whatever someone's problem might be should have a closer look at the lyrics. This is clearly NOT an inspirational song about getting over your problems. This is made clear towards the end with the lines:
"I will never fight again and this is how it ends" and "I don't know how I got this way I'll never be alright so I'm breaking the habit tonight" This is clearly saying that the person stopped fighting to fix their problem and has given up. He knows he will never get over his experience. It has made him so suicidal that he is going to kill himself tonight.
griffon651on July 17, 2012 Link
0You should give a listen to VNV Nation Ghost, Blue October Into the Ocean, Elizabeth on the bathroom floor by the Eels to name a few ^^Flagged TheXFactor3on March 22, 2013+2Maybe you have a pessimistic point of view. When I hear the refrain I understand that he's going to stop fighting to be normal,he's going to do what he wants,and that's what he means by breaking the habit.Flagged OliBlackStaron April 15, 20140Oilblackstar: Based on the lyrics of this song I think there is only one meaning that makes sense when you look at every line in the song. I didn't want to make my meaning post overly long so I left some things out. The only meanings to a song that works are ones that make sense when you can tie that meaning to every line in the song.
Your meaning of "he is going to start doing what he wants and stop trying to be normal" does make sense when you look at the refrain by itself. However, when you look at the second verse then the positive meaning doesn't work. In the second verse he is talking about "clutching his cure" and "I hurt much more then anytime before I have no options left again." So that tells you that he is breaking the habit by doing something physical. "Breaking the habit by trying to stop being normal" doesn't make sense when you look at that verse. Especially when you look at the rest of the verse "I have no options left again." Breaking the habit in the sense your talking about only requires a mental change. He is obviously talking about a physical change in "breaking the habit."
So we can establish that whatever his situation may be, its causing him unbearable pain and he has no options left but to break the habit. "Trying to stop being normal" can't take the pain he is describing away. Because its not being abnormal that's causing his pain, its whatever his problem is that's causing the pain. The only way he can stop that pain is through suicide.Flag griffon651on November 05, 2014+1@griffon651 I agree, and now incredibly sadly confirmed, years after this song was written. Also, I think Chester's use of the word "Tonight" really adds a lot of power and poignancy to the lyrics If he would have said anything else, the line would not be as powerful, but "tonight" really evokes a lot here just that word. anyway, the world lost a great artist.0@griffon651 Edit here - I looked up the song on wikipedia and there is a note stating that Mike started writing this before Bennington was even in the band. "Mike Shinoda began writing the song before he met Bennington based on another close friend's drug addiction.".0Fwdvision: Your absolutely correct. I should have clarified what I meant in that other post. Mike did write the song about a friend of his. But when Chester heard the song it must have struck a chord with him because he couldn't sing the song without crying sometimes. I thought the song reminded him of past issues that he dealt with and those issues were already resolved by this point in his life. Sadly with his passing its clear that he was still dealing with his demons.Flag griffon651on July 31, 2017


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Perfect for popping in your back pack or golf bag, the unisex Qikpac packaway trousers will help prepare you for the unpredictable weather. Designed with our Tres-tex fabric, these trousers are waterproof to 5000mm and feature taped seams, meaning sudden rain showers won't put a damper on your day. Further, with a highly breathable fabric, these trousers are fantastic at keeping you fresh and cool, perfect for highly energetic activities.
Lightweight and comfortable, these waterproof trousers can also be worn easily over a pair of trousers for added waterproof protection. The elasticated waist and hem stud adjusters allow you to manipulate the size for a better fit whilst the 3 pockets openings give you easy access to your valuables. And with pacakaway technology, these trousers can quickly and conveniently be put into the mesh pouch for easy storage for when the weather clears up. Ideal for avid hikers and walkers, these packaway trousers are an essential piece of outdoor clothing.


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Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - A magical reunion
It would be normal to feel goosebumps while we watch the first take and the music starts. We are coming back to a place that we cannot call "home" just because of the simple formality of not being a place where we actually can live in -even thou we would love to-. We see the landscapes, the skies, the silhouette of a castle that we know it's actually a wizardry school. We are back, and happy. We are entering again into J. K. Rowling's Wizarding World. And we don't want the experience to end.
After an incredible first reléase we'll be living this new movie as a reunión of sorts. We want to meet again with Newt Scamander, Hufflepuff's greatest hero to date, and ask him where has he been this last two years. Did he find new and fantastic animals? Did he kept in touch with Tina Goldstein -who we know as Katherine Waterstone in the muggle world-? What happened afterwards with Jacob Kowalski? We want to shower him with questions while sitting in a pub at Diagon Alley. Because even thou Eddie Redmayne is -surely- an interesting person in real life, he doesn't have a bag full of incredible creatures. So we would rather stay with his alter-ego.
But this wonderfull world -that would most assuredly kept us captivated for hours just with happy stories and landscapes- will show us that nothing is as great as it first looks. Because every fairy tail has it's monsters and dark sides. Because it's still up to debate whether Voldemort or Gellert Grindelwald holds the "most powerfull dark wizard of all times". And thou we have already saw a little bit of Johnny Depp's Grindelwald action, he is now returning to fulfill his destiny -albeit a dark one-.
Facing him we'll not only have Newt but also one dearly missed character of this world: Albus Dumbledore. This younger version of Hogwart's Headmaster will come at behest of Jude Law's interpretation, who will show us more of his past what ever before. Including it's relationship with the dark Bulgarian wizard.
Let's go back to this fantastic world and let's stay there for at least the incredible two hours that it promises. That little part in every single one of us that wants to believe in magic is begging us to do so.


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Now is the time to love your body
September 26, 2012
The stories about to be divulged are both about the average and not-so-average college student on campus, how they feel about their body today and the journeys they have taken to come to terms with, or even embrace, who they are.
As a child, junior math major Broghan Hunt was described as average, athletic and modest. Nothing has changed, she said, from how people described her then to how she describes herself now.
Hunt never had a major event in her life that made her uncomfortable with who she is, but many small occurrences like going to sleepovers, public school and pool parties heightened her awareness about physical differences.
"The knowledge that everyone isn't the same validates one's own self identity as an individual," Hunt said.
As a child, Hunt was exposed to all kinds of age-appropriate media and it hasn't seemed to affect who she has grown up to be or impede her confidence as a young girl growing into a young woman.
Rebecca Green, junior geology major, was described as a healthy child. Her media exposure from a young age introduced her to strong women such as country singer Shania Twain and news anchor Lisa Ling. Positive shopping experiences strengthening the bond between her and her mother helped build the frame for positive body image.
Though Green grew up with affirmative role models and joyful memories, keeping a positive body image is still a daily struggle for her.
This summer, she underwent a major weight loss surgery and has lost a total of 60lbs., but said she feels she still has more to lose until she reaches her goal weight. Green said she felt like weight loss surgery was her only option after giving birth to her daughter about six years ago.
Today Green is at a place in her life where she is starting to become proud of how she looks. She advises others to just be aware of what they put in their bodies.
"Take care of your bodies. Eat healthy, watch your portion sizes and get some physical activity in daily," Green said.
Though it can be hard for the average person to see themselves in a healthy light due to exposure to TV, film and advertising media; imagine trying to see yourself in a healthy light when there is no one in the media who looks like you, just as junior Kevin Coffman does.
Throughout his life, Coffman, a business major, looked up to his brother. He said his childhood was "good, with drastic ups and downs."
He attributes these ups and downs to living with a physical disability preventing him from walking on his own. A specific trip to Ikea with a horrible store layout and too many people crowding around him helped shape his general view of shopping and impacted all his future shopping trips anywhere.
Living with a disability and dealing with all the obstacles in his life has transformed him into the confident, yet somewhat cynical, ladies man he has become today. He encourages others who are in the same predicament to not limit themselves.
"(I believe in) all the clichés: stick to your own path, do what pleases you and embrace change," Coffman said.
Some strong individuals realize what the outside world thinks of them means nothing unless they give in to those stereotypes and media images of disability.
Jenny Zimmer, a fifth-year therapeutic recreation student who has a disability, grew up with multiple role models of both genders. One major role model she grew up with was her wheelchair-bound basketball coach of many years.
Zimmer describes her coach as a strong independent female who she felt she could rely on throughout her life.
Shopping experiences in Zimmer's life were both encouraging and irritating. She doesn't worry about what is in style, she buys what she thinks looks good. The irritating part comes when trying to try on the garments she wants to buy, as many big name stores have a bad habit of using the disabled fitting room for storage especially during the holiday rush period. Zimmer said it is a way of life when you are disabled.
"The chair is a part of me not all of me," Zimmer said. "Be your own person and don't let the chair consume who you are."
Beth Jones can be reached at [email protected]


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The Miracle Planet [VHS]
Product Description
- Hardcover:Â 257 pages
- Publisher:Â Gallery Books (January 1990)
- Language:Â English
- Product Dimensions:Â 12 x 9.3 x 1.1 inches
Based on a PBS television series of the same name, this book is a compendium of facts and theories about all facets of earth science. The authors have assembled a tremendous amount of information on geology, paleontology, meteorology, geography, and more for the general reader. They lead off with theories about the formation of the earth and the first appearance of life on the planet; in subsequent chapters, they examine human interaction with the environment and its subsequent destruction. Written in a breezy, readable style and filled with photographs, this book will entertain as well as inform. This is not a work in which to seek in-depth discussion of any particular aspect of the earth sciences, but it is a good place to start.
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L'affair Jeter
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Gathering steam by the day and promising to be the Hot Stove Season's most heart-rending melodrama is the Derek Jeter sob story which is all about a sweet but luckless baseball waif abandoned to the mercies of a heartless, corporate ogre. It's the tender tale of a great American made for true Americans who are, after all, suckers for such sentimental mush. It should bring Oprah to tears, right on the set.
Of course, it's also a story full of holes, equivocations, and mis-direction while also being prominently characterized by its dearth of logic, paucity of facts, and ridiculous flights of fancy. But who in our lean and whimsical Disneyland culture would let any of that dreary stuff get in the way of a good story.
On the chance you've been lately vacationing on Mars an update may be useful.
Mr. Jeter, the cool and elegant Yankees' shortstop over the last generation, has come to the end of his sumptuous 10-year, $189 million contract which -- it's necessary to note -- was both unprecedented and historic when it was regally conferred upon him by Daddy Warbucks himself, the late George M. Steinbrenner, to the astonishment of everyone else in the game.
But Jeter is soon to be 37 and coming off a .271 season of reduced power and efficacy while his defense continues to decline, no matter what those who hand out the ''Gold Gloves'' say and their reasons -- believe me -- are suspect.
None of this is a surprise for an athlete approaching his forties nor does any of it detract from his exemplary record both on and off the field, tarnish the gilded image he's so smartly sustained, or lessen his historic stature in the mighty lore and legendry of the New York Yankees. To all of this one adds a polite ''Amen,'' although the apparent obligation to do so tends to make one squirm. There is no attempt here to take Mr. Jeter's precious name in vain. But the fact that his bargaining position simply ain't what it was a decade ago remains indisputable.
Nonetheless the Yankees -- acutely aware of both the public relations issues implicit and their own unfortunate image as ''heartless corporate ogres'' -- are known to be willing to start re-negotiations by offering at least three-years at $15 million per with the likelihood of bargaining room that could swell the deal up to four years at $20 million per.
Every general manager, computer-driven talent evaluator, old fashioned bird-dog, and self-appointed media savant under the sun has been quizzed on this transcendental matter and there's near universal agreement that the Yankees are thereby apparently willing to give him least 50 percent more than he's now worth and twice what any other team, in its right mind, would even consider.
So where's the rub? How can this be regarded as callous or ungrateful, let alone ''heartless''? How can it possibly be argued the team is thereby demonstrating an appalling lack of respect? But that's what happening.
Media outrage is climbing. It's a familiar phenomenon. The fervor with which relatively impoverished sports reporters joyfully leap to the advocacy of multi-millionaire jocks has long astounded me. Years ago, when the ink-stained wretches of the morning newspaper were making about 75 bucks a week, they would campaign mindlessly for Jolting Joe or Teddy Ballgame to crash the magic $100 grand level.
Nowadays, of course, the stakes are infinitely higher and the logic even worse. If a baseball team declines to overpay its shortstop by several million a year it may make them brothers under the skin but it can hardly make one of them a cad and the other a hero.
Just watch! If Jeter plays the coy victim's card with the great unwashed public -- and his clever, media-savvy agent has already begun to do so -- it will be easy to portray the Brothers Steinbrenner as the sort of merciless, money-grubbing, skinflints who once cavorted insidiously on the pages of Charles Dickens. Hal Steinbrenner starring as Uriah Heep! I can see it now.
And if Jeter actually walks, which is not entirely unthinkable, the Yankees will be gleefully made the laughingstock of the western sporting world. Nor will the scenario be confined to New York, where many actually know better. It can be expected to play even more merrily everywhere else in the Republic where Yankee-bashing remains the game within the game.
This is not just a New York story nor is it only about Jeter. In this age of greatly altered relationships between teams and stars it's something all teams -- and certainly the successful ones -- must inevitably face. The age of Yaz and Kaline, let alone that of Williams, DiMaggio, Feller, and Musial are as gone with the wind as Tara.
Even more to the point, these decisions are crucial to the long term welfare of teams. Chain yourself to a sentimental journey with a loveable heirloom for money he's no longer worth is trouble for any team. Saddle yourself with a half dozen of them, as the Yankees are doing, and any team would face ruin even if it were owned by the Royal House of Saud. It's the loathsome deal that Hank Steinbrenner idiotically conferred on A-Rod when he was bidding against himself that now most aggravates the Jeter dilemma. It's doubtless what most sticks in Derek's craw.
You wonder what the Red Sox would have done had they faced the same dilemma with their own resident bull-in-a-china-shop icon, David Ortiz. Luckily they had an option to play with and could get off the hook for another year for a mere $12 million. In that year, Ortiz has a strong chance to further verify he's well advanced on the road to oblivion. If by some miracle Ortiz instead hits .340 with 50 homers while knocking off 40 pounds of weight and three years of age, the Red Sox will grit their teeth and belly up to the dilemma now engulfing the Yankees. Otherwise, they'll shed crocodile tears while happily waving the too-Big Poppi a fond and affectionate ''farewell.''
But here's the question. When they do, will they too be branded ingrates and cads? Why, of course not. That is the difference between the Red Sox and Yankees, or at least the standard by which they are judged.
No executive in all of sports is more coldly dispassionate and indeed downright ruthless about slicing away deadwood than Bill Belichick who rules the Patriots with an iron fist. The moment a veteran Patriot is adjudged to be not quite worth what he is being paid the guy is toast in Foxborough and we celebrate Belichick for his awesome efficiency. While it's doubtful he would come out and say so we can presume from his actions that Mr. Belichick truly believes that sentiment is for losers.
Great players are the last to sense when the party is over or even when the beginning of the end has begun. It is the painful duty of the Brian Cushman's and Theo Epstein's of the Baseball world to reconcile them with reality.
If the gentleman in question feels slighted, even though (as in the case of Jeter) he has been regally treated and raised to a level of immortality while being paid upwards to a quarter of a billion bucks with the opportunity to further parlay his baseball associations into even more such riches over the rest of his lifetime then what can you say. Maybe, "Sorry, old Sport." But that's about it.
Mr. Jeter is hardly the first baseball player to face this fascinating moment of truth. Highly regarded for his uncommon wisdom -- at least by the standards of athletes -- he would be making a surprisingly uncharacteristic mistake if he were to bet the Yankees wouldn't dare trifle with a ''living legend'' like himself. Three quarters of a century may have passed but the Yankees haven't changed that much since they bid a fond ''farewell'' to Babe Ruth.