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The National Science Education Standards prescribe that an understanding of the importance of classifying organisms be one component of a student's educational experience in the life sciences. The use of a classification scheme to identify organisms is one way of addressing this goal. We describe Conifer ID, a computer application that assists students in the identification of conifers without requiring prior specific knowledge. Conifer ID promotes careful observational skills and presents students with visual aids during the identification to overcome some of the weaknesses of more traditional identification methods.
As part of a life sciences curriculum, the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996) suggest the inclusion of activities to promote student comprehension of the importance of organization in biological systems as a way of understanding the world around us. This goal, as defined by the Standards, includes understanding how taxonomy allows us to meaningfully organize living organisms into groups. This goal can be profitably addressed from two opposite directions. The first is to ask students to group organisms on the basis of careful observations of the organisms' characteristics, in effect creating a classification scheme. This type of activity emphasizes an inductive form of reasoning. The second approach is to engage students in the use of a preexisting classification scheme to deductively identify biological specimens, again employing careful observation of the specimen to be identified.
Traditionally, four methods have been used to identify unknown biological specimens: expert consultation, recognition, comparison with specimens of known identity, and use of keys or similar devices. Although obtaining expert advice to identify an unknown specimen would be ideal for a number of reasons, it is unlikely that an expert would be available for consultation in the classroom setting. Recognition as a means of identification presupposes past experience that many students do not have, so this method is generally unsuitable for the classroom. The likelihood of success using the comparison method depends on the suitability of the materials used for comparative purposes. Often, these are local field guides or picture books of the more common species found in a geographic region and are, therefore, limited in their usefulness. Such identification materials generally provide either photographs of specimens, in which relevant identification details may be difficult to see, or idealized artwork that tends to emphasize the details important for identification but that, as a consequence, may not match well with the specimen being identified. Additionally, none of these three methods promotes students' understanding of the organization underlying the classification of organisms. For these and other reasons, the most common identification method used in educational settings has been some form of a taxonomic key. Keys are readily available for a variety of different types of organisms, are reliable, and emphasize the organization behind the classification by grouping organisms that have similar characteristics.
The most common form of taxonomic key, the dichotomous key, originated with Jean de Lamarck in 1778 (Woodland, 1991). The dichotomous key employs a series of pairs of contrasting statements (couplets) related to morphological features of the organism being identified. Each couplet is considered in order, and the contrasting statements lead the key user either to another couplet or to an identification of the specimen. It is useful to consider a dichotomous key as a decision tree, with the first couplet representing the top of the tree and the contrasting statements leading the user either to the left or to the right to the next level down in the tree. Key formats in which more than two contrasting statements are considered simultaneously at each level of the decision tree are polychotomous. Although keys in this format generally lead to the identification of a specimen in fewer steps than a dichotomous key, they are much less commonly used.
One of the primary limitations of the dichotomous key format is that users must begin at the first couplet and progress sequentially through subsequent couplets until an identification is made, a restriction that unfortunately implies a hierarchy among the characteristics used to identify a specimen, whether intended or not. This limitation is a direct consequence of the dichotomous key design, in which the identification relevance of the characteristics considered by a particular couplet relies entirely on the prior accumulation of information about the specimen in the preceding couplets. This also leads to a potential difficulty in using such single-entry keys with students in the classroom (i.e., the inability to accurately consider the morphological characteristics addressed by a couplet prevents the user from completing the identification). This inability could be caused by lack of familiarity with the terminology used in the couplet, by a specimen in poor condition, by seasonal effects making the characteristic unavailable for observation, or by a mistake made earlier in the key. Regardless of the cause, such roadblocks can lead to considerable frustration among students attempting to use dichotomous keys and may lead to disengagement from the activity. One method of dealing with this limitation is provided through the use of polyclonal, or multi-entry, keys. This key format has traditionally used a set of stacked cards, each representing one of the possible identities of the unknown specimen. The cards have holes or punched edges or are color-coded in such a way that groups of cards that share characteristics with the unknown specimen can easily be separated from those that lack the characteristics. Relevant characteristics can be considered in any order, and the process of eliminating groups of cards is continued until only a single card with the unknown specimen's identity remains. Unfortunately, the increased complexity of traditional, printed multi-entry keys makes them more difficult for students to use, and they are far less commonly available than single-entry keys.
With the increased availability of computers in educational settings, many previous difficulties associated with the complexity or inflexibility of various taxonomic key formats have become less of a consideration. Here, we describe Conifer ID, a computer application and associated conifer database we developed to assist students who have little or no prior identification experience in identifying common conifers. Conifer ID uses both a polychotomous, multi-entry key and a comparative approach to identifying specimens, while insulating students from the details involved in using these methods. Visual aids in the application provide explanations of terminology that may be unfamiliar to students, which helps reduce frustration with the identification process. By addressing the classification of conifers as an example of the usefulness of organization in biological systems, and by encouraging the use of computers in an educational setting, Conifer ID will help instructors develop a curriculum that meets the requirements of the National Science Education Standards.
Installing & Using Conifer ID
Conifer ID is designed to be used in the classroom or the field, using either desktop or portable computers. To provide flexibility, installation requirements have intentionally been kept to a minimum, and the software can be run directly from a CD-ROM disk or copied to the computer's hard drive. Regardless of the installation method used, Conifer ID is started by opening the CID.exe file. Conifer ID has been tested using Windows 98, 2000, XP, Vista, and 7 and works best with a screen resolution of at least 800 ×× 600 pixels. Macintosh computers capable of running Windows should also support Conifer ID. Conifer ID is provided free on CD-ROM from the authors, and users are encouraged to make any number of additional copies of the CD-ROM for use on multiple computers.
The Conifer ID user interface is simple by design and consists of a single screen divided into three areas: the character panel on the left, and the image and information panels on the right (Figure 1). Conifer ID assists in identifying a conifer specimen by asking the user to provide specific information about the specimen for the five characteristics shown in the information panel: leaf position, shape, association and arrangement, and type/position of the fruit. In keeping with Conifer ID's design as a multi-entry identification method, the characteristics can be considered in any order, by using the forward and back buttons at the bottom of the characteristics panel to cycle among them or by selecting a characteristic in the information panel. As each characteristic is visited, the user is presented with a question at the top of the character panel, followed by a set of radio buttons from which the user can choose an answer based on careful observation of the specimen. To the left of each choice is a help button that will provide the user with visual assistance about that choice in the image panel.
As information about the specimen is provided by the user for the characteristics, conifers in the Conifer ID database are gradually eliminated as possible candidates for the specimen's identity. The progress of the elimination process is shown at the bottom of the character panel, where the number of conifers remaining under consideration is displayed and continually updated as additional specimen information is provided. At any time during the identification process, the user can browse through photographic images of the conifers remaining under consideration by using the forward and back buttons in the image panel.
The conifers are an ideal group of plants for students to use in a learning exercise investigating taxonomic organization. Not only are conifers common native or cultivated components of the vegetation in most areas, they maintain nearly all the morphological characteristics needed for identification throughout the year, in contrast with the seasonal availability of suitable specimens of deciduous trees or herbaceous vegetation. This provides instructors with considerable flexibility in scheduling such an exercise as part of their curriculum.
By combining the use of a polychotomous, multi-entry key with a comparative approach to the identification of conifers, Conifer ID generally leads to specimen identifications more rapidly and with greater flexibility than a comparable dichotomous key. The latter method would typically require a total of 22 couplets to identify the conifers in the Conifer ID database, whereas Conifer ID accomplishes the same identification using only five characteristics. This increased efficiency permits greater time in the classroom for discussion and inquiry. At the same time, treating characteristics as single entities with multiple alternative forms rather than as a series of couplets emphasizes to students the way in which morphological characteristics are used to group organisms. As a multi-entry key, Conifer ID permits students to address characteristics in whatever order they choose or to skip those characteristics that may not be clear from the specimen at hand. In the latter case, browsing through the images provided by the application permits students to use the comparison method to identify the specimen, avoiding a common source of frustration with single-entry keys.
Students' Perceptions of Using Conifer ID
To evaluate students' experience with the Conifer ID application as compared with a traditional, printed dichotomous key, students enrolled in several sections of our Introductory Biology Laboratory were asked to complete a voluntary anonymous survey after identifying specimens using both methods. Each student used a dichotomous key to identify five deciduous tree specimens and Conifer ID to identify a similar number of specimens from conifers. The survey collected information about the students' experience with the two methods regarding relative ease of use, which methods they enjoyed using more, whether they found the availability of photographic images useful, and which method they would use if given the choice. Students were also asked to provide demographic information and to rate their comfort level with using computers. Frequencies of student responses were analyzed using Mathematica, version 6 (Wolfram Research, Champaign, IL), for heterogeneity, goodness-of-fit, and independence by G-tests, employing Williams's correction where appropriate (Sokal & Rohlf, 1981). The administration of this survey was approved by the Slippery Rock University Institutional Review Board (IRB Protocol ##2010-004-08-A).
A total of 171 students in nine sections of our Introductory Biology Laboratory course completed the survey. A test of the level of heterogeneity among the results for the criteria ease of use, level of enjoyment, and overall user's choice of methods from the several sections of the course was not significant (P > 0.05 for each criterion), and further analysis considered the data from the sections pooled into a single sample (Table 1).
|Frequency (%%) .
|Criterion .
|Dichotomous Key .
|Conifer ID Software .
|Ease of use
|37 (21.6)
|134 (78.4)
|31 (18.1)
|140 (81.9)
|User's choice
|33 (19.3)
|138 (80.7)
|Frequency (%%) .
|Criterion .
|Dichotomous Key .
|Conifer ID Software .
|Ease of use
|37 (21.6)
|134 (78.4)
|31 (18.1)
|140 (81.9)
|User's choice
|33 (19.3)
|138 (80.7)
The results showed a clear preference for using Conifer ID over the dichotomous key. Departures of the observed response frequencies from those expected under a null hypothesis of a 30:70 ratio (dichotomous key:Conifer ID) were significant for each of the three criteria (Table 1), with the observed proportion of students preferring Conifer ID consistently greater than expected. The 30:70 expected ratio was chosen for tests of significance as it represents an internal assessment standard used in our department for the acceptance of curricular and policy changes.
Students were asked to self-report their level of comfort in using computers on a scale of 1––5 (not at all comfortable to very comfortable). Using a score of 3 as an average level of comfort, students were categorized into those possessing a below-average comfort level (scores of 1 or 2) and those having an average or above-average comfort level (scores of 3 or above). Two-way tests of independence between comfort level and identification method preference for each of the criteria in Table 1 revealed no significant association between the two (P > 0.05 for each criterion), which indicates that a lower-than-average comfort level with using computers does not preclude a preference for Conifer ID over more traditional identification methods.
Student Engagement
A common challenge in courses for students from diverse majors is maintaining a level of engagement conducive to inquiry and learning. Nearly 95% of the students who completed the survey reported their academic major as being outside the science disciplines. This is consistent with the general trend of enrollment in our Introductory Biology Laboratory course by students fulfilling an institution-wide science laboratory requirement. As a consequence, the survey reflects student perceptions in a population drawn from diverse majors throughout the institution. Taking student preference for Conifer ID over the use of a dichotomous key as an indication of the level of engagement, Conifer ID appears to be the more effective method. The students' preference for Conifer ID may be partly attributable to its being a computer-based method. This is consistent with recent studies that demonstrate a connection between computer use in the classroom and levels of student engagement and motivation (House, 2002, 2009; Udovic et al., 2002; Presland & Wishart, 2004).
One of the primary advantages of Conifer ID is the assistance it provides to students as they complete the identification of a specimen. The instructors leading the classification exercise in our Introductory Biology Laboratory course reported that a considerable amount of explanation was required to prepare students to use a dichotomous key. By contrast, students seemed to find the use of Conifer ID more intuitive and required little explanation. As noted previously, a common source of frustration among students with little or no experience in the use of identification methods is unfamiliar terminology. Conifer ID addresses this potential issue by providing images that visually clarify the contrasting statements associated with a characteristic. Approximately 94% of the students surveyed indicated that they found these images helpful during the identification process. In addition, as students progress through the identification of a specimen, Conifer ID disables the choices for each characteristic that are no longer relevant to identification of the specimen, permitting students to focus only on the choices that remain important. Finally, as students browse through the images of known conifer specimens in the image panel, the correct choice for each characteristic is highlighted, allowing students to more easily determine the proper response to a characteristic using the comparison method.
Suggestions for Using Conifer ID
Although we have described Conifer ID primarily in terms of its use in identifying conifer specimens, the application is flexible enough to be used in other ways to address the educational goals set by the National Science Education Standards, depending on the specific goals of the instructor.
For example, the visual aids that Conifer ID provides can be used to gradually expose students to the terminology important for plant identification. Rather than being given a list of definitions, the students are exposed to terms as they are needed and learn the terminology by actually applying the knowledge instead of by rote memorization. In the sense that ""a picture is worth a thousand words,"" having access to the images supplied by Conifer ID may be helpful in getting students to understand and correctly apply the terminology. Conifer ID can also be used to emphasize the manner in which taxonomic classification schemes group organisms on the basis of similarities by allowing students to browse through the images of specimens in the Conifer ID database and to note that the members of the database remaining under consideration become increasingly more similar as more characters are specified by the student.
It is worth noting that the database of conifers used by Conifer ID is located in a text-based file separate from the main application. As a consequence, it is possible to edit the database to suit a particular need, such as more or less sophisticated terminology, to extend the database to include additional conifers, or even to construct a new database dealing with the classification of items other than conifers, whether biological or otherwise. More advanced students could be asked to develop a classification system based on careful observations and construct an appropriate database for use with the application. To assist with this type of learning activity, a separate computer application that will simplify the construction of new database files is currently in development.
We are grateful to the instructors and students involved in the evaluation of Conifer ID in the classroom.


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I read this comment today on a Washington Post article about the outbreak of Legionnaire's Disease in NYC. I'm not sure if this is the pinnacle of stupid, or the rock bottom, or perhaps an epic troll.
Crazy how all these old-timey diseases like bubonic plague and Legionnaire's have come roaring back from extinction since Obamacare became the "law of the land"

subset: commoncrawl


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Everyday, but specially today, i celebrate and fight for love.
It´s so sad that we still need to tell a lot of people and countries in the world that all types of love deserve respect and equality. To all of them i tell them: society will not be free until we are all equal, because rejecting and hating makes us prisoners, and keep us from achieving a better place for all.
I join the gay pride, today and everyday.


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A generator is a common electrical product used in both home and office. It is generally a combination of a control system, circuit breaker, engine, and an alternator fitted on a base. In addition to the above-specified generator parts, a generator also comes with fuel tank and sound attenuated canopies for reducing noise created during working.
At times, jacket water heaters are added in combination to the above-specified sets to keep the water warm in a generator. Generally, generators need more time to get operated in cold temperature. The presence of a jacket water heater allows getting operated within a short period of time.
Today, many of the generator sets come up with extras like Automatic Transfer Switch and Automatic Mains Failure. Another extra feature that has been added commonly in a generator is the remote administration system. People can make use of 3G or GSM network for the functioning of remote administration system. There are different types of generators available in online stores which have these functionalities.
Choose Generator Size
Price rate of a generator varies as per the quality of the brand and the power of the product. Size varies from a small briefcase up to larger ones with big fuel tank and canopies. The needed size of a generator is chosen according to the purpose of the application.
For example, generators are used for camping purpose is basically small in size when compared to that of industrial use. Hence the size of a generator is chosen according to its working function. To ensure backup, a big sized generator usually comes up with a small sized standby generator to meet the immediate needs.
Generally, a standby generator is meant to meet up the emergency needs. It generally works for a short period of time. Today, generator sets of both 1500 rpm and 3000 rpm can be easily availed from any online store like Amazon for example. Those generator sets which run at 3000 rpm can even work up to eight hours a day. Chance of engine failure in a generator which runs at 3000 rpm (or even more) is higher when compared to that of others which run at 1500 rpm.
Overstrain on generator engine is the main factor that contributes to this trouble. Servicing of each product plays a great role in ensuring high performance of the generator. To get improved performance, be sure to do the servicing of the generator at frequent time intervals.
Generator Control System
The Control system is the main part of each generator which performs a key role in its function. In earlier times, the control system was an array of relays, gauges, and switches. At present, the control system of a generator is in digital mode. This particular part of a generator is mainly responsible to monitor the whole process and function of a generator.
Generally, engines of generators are equipped with sensors to give information about problems like oil pressure or other details. Any troubles during the working of the generator can be thus noted with the help of these sensors provided by major brands.
Monitoring the input and output voltage and current plays a great role in enhancing its performance. Today, users can make use of sensors on engines to note down the voltage and current voltage output of a generator.
The complexity of one generator may be entirely different from that of others. Working purpose and the time period of working are the two main factors that decide the complexity of power generators.
Alternator and Rotor
First, the Alternator is one of the main generator parts that play a key role in the working process. This particular part is mainly responsible to produce power during its working. An engine inside the generator will turn the alternator to produce power for its operation.
Rotor and stator are the two main generator parts seen inside a generator. The rotor is the rotating machine placed outside the stator of an alternator. Current generated from an iron core is then transmitted from generator to the needy products for their working. A generator is usually made up with three stators to generate three-phase electricity.
Most of the generators available in stores generally run with diesel fuel. Apart from diesel fuel, you can also get generators that run from petrol and gas. Petrol fueled generators are used in small-sized products, whereas gas type generators are used in large type generators. To ensure the best result, feel free to select generators of high-quality brands.
10 Interesting Facts about 3 Phase Generators
What is behind those power machines? Here are some interesting facts to know:
Mostly Used for Commercial Power Supply Purposes
The 3 phase generator is mostly used in large commercial power stations. Most homes use one phase generators as sources of power. The 3 phase generators are usually larger than their one phase counterparts and are preferably used in manufacturing industries as reliable sources of power in case of power blackouts. Emerging power production trends have made it easier to have steadfast power backup sources that ensure maximum commercial productivity.
Three Simultaneous Alternating Currents
Most 3 phase generators use 3 alternating currents simultaneously from the same machine. This gives the 3 phase generator models an upper hand on the one phase generators in terms of providing a reliable power output. These generators are designed with complex features that allow the harmonious production of 3 alternating currents in the same piece of equipment. The three current phases are usually 120 degrees from each other.
Electromagnetic Current
The 3 phase generators are usually designed with an electromagnet that requires brushes to provide current to the wiring system. The wiring system more often than not consists of multifaceted cables that transmit the power to the electronic devices.
It is important to note that some modern three-phase generators are installed with technical power production systems that do not require the use of brushes to produce current. The modern brush-less three-phase generators are becoming popular as alternative power sources to many homes and industries.
High Voltage Power Supply
The 3 phase generators produce high voltage power output that can reach up to 12 kilowatts. This power output can be used to light up over twenty residential houses for three consecutive days without going off. It is for this reason that these generators are regarded as some of the most reliable power sources that are doing well in the market today. These generators can provide enough power for 12 hours of operation without stopping.
The current produced by the 3 phase generator can be converted to one phase power system by using special 3 phase converters that are available for sale at a number of stores and online shopping sites. The use of the 3 phase converters in providing one-phase currents has made the use of these generators to provide power to homes possible. Most people have installed these converters to their generator system as they look forward to having enough power for their home needs.
The 3 phase portable generators are becoming popular because of the ease on which they can be moved from one place to another. This has made it possible for people moving homes to have the much needed consistent power supply for their needs. With the portable 3 phase generator, you can easily move it to and from your workstation if any need arises.
Less Fuel Consumption
Most 3 phase generators use diesel or petrol to power their systems. These generators are known to use less energy in transforming these fossil fuels into electric power. By consuming less fuel, the 3 phase generators not only help in reducing global warming as a result of high carbon-related gas emissions but also help in reducing the cost of supplying power as you get to spend less for high Kilowatts.
Easily Available Accessories
The 3 phase generators have special accessories that are used hand in hand with the main generators in improving efficiency. These accessories are easily available and mainly include special load transfer panels, converter plug-in appliances and special fuel tanks that are designed to increase efficiency in power production.
Consistency in Power Supply
The 3 phase generators can be used for supplying power for a long period of time without the need for regular switching of knobs or buttons. This consistency in power supply plays a major role in increasing the number of people seeking the services of these power generators. A consistent power supply will ensure maximum productivity.
Available in over 50 Models
The 3 phase generators are easily available in major online shopping sites. There are over 50 models of these machines that are available at relatively low prices. The prices are designed to ensure that you get value for your money. The common models of the 3 phase generators include the portable Hitachi model and the Kohler 180kW 3 phase backup generator. All these models are designed to offer reliable power supply and solutions to emergency power needs.


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I expect the usual "What does a user experience designer do?" question when talking with people outside of design & technology industries.
What's scary is the vast discrepancies over the answer to that question according to people within the most relevant industries to UX.
Part of the problem is simply the large spectrum of various specializations which all fall under UX design. OnwardSearch's "A Guide to UX Careers" infographic helps examine some of these differences. (Although, I would add a "UI Developer" role to pinpoint UX developers who are more equipped with the technical skills to code foundations of front-end designs).
While OnwardSearch's resource does a great job identifying differences between job titles, the titles still don't quite align with job descriptions posted by HR managers or tasks requested by co-workers. This infographic conveys these roles as separate jobs which fall under the UX umbrella.
Instead, I see a spectrum of UX disciplines which range across four core anchor points:
Of course, this a spectrum. So there are aspects of each point which may overlap or fall between others. And that's part of what complicates the identity of a UX designer's capabilities, responsibilities, purpose and title. I think it might help to start associating these titles not only with task-based skills, but goal-based verbs. We need to think about who is strategizing, who is designing, who is producing, who is executing. (You might even classify the latter two disciplines as separate — Graphic Artists and Front-End Developers, for example. But these skills are often coupled under "UX Designer" today).
For example, a UX designer might be designing the functionality of an interface, and may play an influential part in the strategic, visual and technical decisions — but the responsibility to actually produce the visuals or to execute the product may or may not be part of that person's job. This is where that gray area exists, and where we need to be more specific about identifying the core purpose of each UX role. After all, as Jakob Nielson and Don Norman define it:
"'User experience' encompasses all aspects of the end-user's interaction with the company, its services, and its products."
Another major part of the problem pertains to UX designers in that first of four categories — the one which primrily revolves around the conceptualization, strategy and user-centered design. This problem, which I frequently face, is the misunderstanding of the UX design process. For this role, tasks should never begin with "make a wireframe that shows this" or "put this button here." UX processes begin with the problem and the users — not with the solution. Instead, assignments should start with "familiarize yourself with this company's product, audience and needs."
Similarly, UX designers should not be called upon to immediately provide the "expert" decisions for flows, interfaces, visual designs and technical specs without understanding the context first. Whitney Hess wrote an excellent blog post about this subject matter, emphasizing the importance of intel over instinct and intent over matter. Yes, we are constantly researching and testing usability, and we are knowledgeable of the general best practices. But this usability knowledge can only be as valuable as understanding the context and goal to which it is applied. Good UX designers should be depended upon for their attention to details — but always in the frame of the big picture as a whole.
We need to stop expecting UX designers to always know the answer; we need to focus more on the UX designer's ability to know how to find the answer and convey it through thoughtful solutions.
Please. Don't ask a UX designer to blindly make decisions. You will devalue their role and miss out on their positive contributions.


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Yesterday I was brave. Even though I'm not quite finished with the bead embroidery portion of this piece, I took out a brand new paintbrush, and a new tube of hot pink acrylic paint. I painted an entire 12″ square canvas pink! One thing I learned while doing this was that painting just one colour is almost as difficult as it is to paint with many colours!
But, why pink? The exhibition I am participating in is called Abigail in Perspective. I didn't know much about Abigail Adams, so I began to do a little research. For a woman who lived in the late 1700's, she was very ahead of her time. While she did learn domestic skills such as sewing, fine needlework, and cooking, she also spent much time in her father's library reading subjects that women weren't supposed to read (such as philosophy, history, and poetry). She also opposed slavery and she believed in equal education for boys and girls. By practicing these beliefs, it's no wonder she was both wife and mother of two U.S. Presidents!
Knowing all of these things, I began to envision Abigail Adams in a more contemporary light. I chose this pink because it is bold, moderne, and feminine – all of which describes Abigail perfectly. What do you think about pink? 😀


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Deadly Venom unblocked is a kind of Action game where you play as a female hero who is ready to take out all wicked opponents. Take control of your character and your best to defeat all enemies. You can perform many skills while battling and try using various weapons, like knife, tranquilizer gun and so on. Throw your knife carefully, cover yourself skillfully and make sure all enemies will get killed! Doing so will help you finish your mission! Now, let's get started and conquer all challenges!
Date: 2016-12-08 515 Plays 0.0


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On the way to Nepalgunj our bus is so new, the plastic film wrapping has not yet been removed (green arrow), yet our seats are out of order (red arrow). We found it funny, but others here did not seem surprised at all. From here on we stand!
On the way to Nepalgunj our bus is so new, the plastic film wrapping has not yet been removed (green arrow), yet our seats are out of order (red arrow). We found it funny, but others here did not seem surprised at all. From here on we stand!
Ready to get the bus two Dolpa after spending two days for visiting the National Innovation Centre and getting our trekking permits.
Each Friday for the next three weeks, the Tanzania EWH team will work at Mount Meru Hospital just outside the heart of Arusha.
The Tanzanian health care system consists of larger referral/consultant hospitals such as Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center, regional referral centers covering several districts, and smaller hospitals covering one district each such as Karatu Hospital.
Mount Meru is a regional hospital with departments for obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, surgery, out-patients, and units for ophthalmology and dentistry. The hospital also has a laboratory and an intensive care unit. The hospital typically sees 500 patients per day on an outpatient basis and admits approximately 250-290 patients every day.
Generally there is a fee to be seen by a doctor at Mount Meru; however, as a public hospital, they are obliged to serve all people, and will provide free health care to those who cannot afford it.
The typical population served by the hospital consists of farmers, pastoralists or industry workers. These are families that earn a low to middle-class income. Some of those who work in the outskirts of the districts covered by Mount Meru Hospital (for example people coming from Ngorongoro or Longido district) have nine hours travelling time to the hospital. Others simply can't afford the cost of transportation. As a result, acute patients, especially pregnant women and children, often reach the hospital too late for doctors to do anything.
According to hospital staff, the largest barriers to provide health care services in Tanzania are lack of capacity to handle all, but especially acute patients, lack of funding and lack of accessibility to medicines, supplies and health care technologies. These issues are more or less apparent in all across governmental Tanzanian hospitals from the district level up to referral/consultant levels. Handling acute cases is a particularly large problem at district hospitals, which is why regional hospitals like Mount Meru experience a very high occupancy rate and a high number of patients, that do not reach the hospital in time for an ideal outcome of their treatment.
At Mount Meru Hospital, one challenge in meeting the demand is the large amount of donated equipment of which only about half is currently functioning. The entire region has just one biomedical engineering technician (BMET), Mr. Sharif Rajabu Kishakali. As of early 2015, he is the first ever BMET at Mt. Meru Hospital. He is currently working on a preventative maintenance program for the hospital's equipment. The attached pictures are a collection from the projects he is currently working on.
As described extensively on this blog, working in a developing country hospital is not always easy.
In effect, it always results in a great sensation of success, when one suddenly finds a hidden stash of valuable – yes – cables. Exactly that happened when our group found the ECG's cables and power supplies shown in the pictures below.
In a storage room at the emergency department of the hospital we found 7 vital signs monitors, 7 Power supplies, 2 pulse-oximeters and 3 ECG cables in woking condition. Unfortunately, all remaining cables for the seven machines were broken, an example of which (an SPO2 sensor/pulse-oximeter) is shown here.
From all the parts we had an fixed we managed partially assemble 5 working Vital Signs Monitors: Two of them were put back in to service with pulse-oximetry and ECG working, 3 of them with ECG only. Unfortunately the department didn't have any compatible blood pressure cuffs, so we would have to buy new ones, just as we wouls need additional pulseoximeters and ECG cables.
Vital signs monitors are fairly simple pieces of medical equipment, however the cheapest completely refurbished set found on eBay that is corresponding to these machines is $3.503.
Thus having these pieces in working condition would have an extremely high value to Roosevelt Hospital. Meanwhile the cheapest prices on eBay for replacement parts, that we need to put all of these vital signs monitors back into service, are found for $24 (SPO2) + $54.50 (ECG) + $12.5 (Blood pressure cuffs).
In "How to repair shielding on ECG cables and leads" I described how we we repaired three sets of cables. The fixes were good, but not perfect in that we did make the cables work, but the signal was still somewhat noisy, for which reason the machines couldn't have been used in surgery and detailed diagnosetics – rather they were useful for general "simple" monitoring.
Considereing the fixed cables as being in working condition (a somewhat noisy signal is, after all, better than no signal at all), we now just needed 2 ECG cables, 5 SPO2 censors and 7 blood pressure cuffs to make all of these machines work.
The total cost of this according to the prices on eBay would be just $321, although with used parts.
Considering that a completely new refurbished set on eBay costs 3.503, the value of these equipments reach $24521 in order to buy seven of these machines.
By repairing these machines our team achieved 79x value for money (even though the fix wasn't perfect).
Now, I thought this story would end here, when, out of the blue, I received an email from Mr. Juan Fernández at Spacelabs Healthcare in Latin America, who wrote that they would be able to send the broken parts to us — free of charge! We could now make all the machines work perfectly (with no noise on the line). My collegue in Guatemala, biomedical engineer and expert technician Mr. Joe Leier will receive and bring this donation to Roosevelt Hospital as soon as possible.
I want to thank the people, that have been a part of saving these machines: my collegues Ms. Rebecca Avena and Mr. Joe Leir and Mr. Juan Fernandez at Spacelabs. We at EWH and Roosevelt hospital we are extremely thankful for this donation, which now means that Roosevelt hospital has 7 fully refurbished, high quality patient monitors working in their emergency department.
By Michael Kosteljanetz
Originally Published: April 10th 2014
It would not be fair to judge the entire developing world based on personal experience which stems from a brief stay in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, where I worked at a private Christian hospital and a large public university hospital and three stays in Kigali, Rwanda, where I have worked for a total of 6 months in a public, teaching hospital as participant in a large American-Rwandan project. My daily work takes place in the hospital's surgical department.
Rwanda's situation may be different from the situation in other African countries, because the shortage of health personnel here largely is a consequence of the genocide in 1994, where approximately one million people were killed, and among them a great number of health workers. Besides, a great number of people fled to the neighbouring countries and Europe or America.
In many ways Rwanda is a well organized country, partly because of its small size, approximately 2/3 of Denmark. It is very densely populated, almost 11 million people live there. There is a network of roads, the main roads are paved and there is a well developed network of buses that takes you almost anywhere in the country. Mobile phone penetration is around 50% (in 2012), internet approximately 10%.
In my specialty, neurosurgery, there are two neurosurgeons that serve the population, both work in the capital Kigali, where one million people lives. One works at a private hospital, the other at the university hospital. The two departments are affiliated and patients can be transferred from one hospital to the other under certain circumstances.
The hospital where I worked is one of 3 or 4 greater referral hospitals. The country has a great number of health centres, more than 40 district hospitals, most of them run by nurses and general practitioners, who can perform a limited number of operations, e.g. caesarian section. In a few district hospitals there are surgeons who can perform "neurosurgical" operations e.g. shunts for hydrocephalus.
Although the economy is growing, the country is still poor, the average income being 1/30 of that in Denmark, which of course has major influence on the quality of healthcare delivered. More than 90% of the population has a health insurance, which is very uncommon for an African country. In most cases the patients have to pay 10% of the expenses, which in a poor country like Rwanda may be more than they can afford, even though it amounts to what we would consider a minor expense, say 50 or 100$.
The University Hospital of Kigali, Rwanda was originally built almost 100 years ago and almost all buildings which are pavilions are more than 70 years old, which means that facilities and logistics are far from satisfactory. Most rooms have 8 or more beds. Washing and toilet facilities are of course very scarce.
There is one CT scanner at the university hospital, however, it may not always work. X-ray films are not always available, so most often it is not possible to get print-outs of the scan. Even if one gets one it will only depict a fraction of the entire examination; as a consequence not all aspects and angles of the disease are depicted, sometimes making it very difficult for the surgeon to make a professional decision based on the CT, just as surgical and treatment planning may be challenging. X-rays and scans cannot be transmitted electronically, so in order to discuss a case with a colleague, say when a transfer is considered, one has to take a photo of the scan on one's smart-phone and send it and again, for which reason the image quality is a challenge. If the patient needs a MR scan they have to go to the private hospital where the only MR in the country is, but the same remarks that apply for CT goes for the MR as well.
The Operation Theater was built in 2009, but in spite of that it is already worn down, most likely because it was built with the poor materials. Many of the tiles in the floor are broken, so that water can collect in the small cavities that have been formed, the humidity has penetrated the ceiling in the theatres so that there is visible mould in most operating rooms. Because of the humidity, but probably also because of poor quality, whatever that can rust has become rusty; the wheels on most tables, where surgical instruments are placed during surgery are broken so hardly any table can roll. Legs of tables and stools are broken or at least most times broken so that they stand askew. The Danish "Arbejdstilsyn" (Danish Working Enviroment Au- thority, red.) would immediately close the operating theaters due to the electrical installations. Electric lines and sockets runs across the floor even though it is regularly wet from the cleaning and sockets in the walls are faulty. Many of the lights and the operation lamps do not work properly and 1 or 2 out of 4 bulbs often do not work. The doors to all operating theatres are broken, so that they can neither open or close, meaning that they are more or less open most of the time, also during operations, which is practical because the personnel tends to come in and out of the room. Since the sun shines most of the time the room gets hot, and the ventilator switch cannot be reached by most people of average height. The windows have no shadow so the sun shines and sometimes blinds the surgeon.
Operating tables cannot be adjusted electronically as they could when they were new and even to adjust them manually is difficult. Suction equipment which you need to suction away blood during an operation is faulty. The main reason being that the disposable suction tubes, like many other disposable consumables are used not one but several times leading to a change in the stiffness of the tubes, so that they collapse, when suction is activated.
Since the surgical instruments themselves often are robust, made by steel, they are usually working but even simple instruments may not be available.
Now, while you can perform a great number of abdominal operations with a very limited number of instruments, neurosurgery is for the most part a hightech area. Scissors and scalpels almost always work, especially when they are sharpened. Most surgeons use suction, which I have described and a bipolar, which is a kind of electrical tweezers that can burn tissue in a very limited area and thereby induce coagulation of vessels and stop bleeding. Contrary to other surgical fields, bleeding in neurosurgery cannot be stopped by ligature of the bleeding vessel. Our bipolar has been repaired with adhesive tape, so that it works most of the time, which it did not the year before.
Essentially problems related to the operating theaters can be divided into:
Logistic problems include poor planning and surveillance of the daily surgical plans. If one wanted to be sure that the cases one had planned would be brought to the OR, it was mandatory to be present in the OR, meaning that one could not leave the OR for rounds or seeing patients in the out–patient–clinic while waiting for the preparations for the operation. Because of the long and awkward routes from the wards to the OR (among other things), waiting time before and between operations were often 2-3 hours. Part of the waiting time could sometimes be explained by shortage of a consumable that had to be procured or instruments that were not sterilised.
Roughly the above mentioned can be divided in a) shortage of fundings for buildings, including repair and maintenance b) shortage of skilled personel c) lack of resources for training and education of personel e) logistic problems.
To which extent one or more of these issues are more important than others cannot be concluded from my non-scientific observations, neither can I conclude which means are most appropriate to solve the problems. This will demand further analysis. Considering that Rwanda is a country where the economy is steadily growing there is a chance that some of these problems can be solved because of improved funding but other problems could be dealt with in the meantime.
Note: Neurosurgery is the specialty that deals with the surgical treatment of diseases and congenital conditions and injuries in the central–nervous–system, that is the brain, the nerves, the spinal cord and the surround- ing tissue (meninges and skull and verter- bal bodies). The neurosurgeon removes e.g. tumours, haemorrhages, aneurysms. Some neurosurgeons mainly operate on the spine.
Authored by Michael Kosteljanetz, edited by David Kovacs. Published by the Engineering World Health chapter at the Technical University of Denmark.
Find PDF Version at: challenges-working-hospital.
Global Medical Aid (GMA), an aid organization from the Capitol Region of Denmark, was given broken medical equipment and therefore forced to spend their resources separating life-saving medical equipment from useless machines. Unfortunately, not all organisations perform this vital quality control: many donations end up as nothing more than piles of junk at the world's poorest hospitals.
Medical equipment is extremely valuable and has the potential to significantly improve health care in developing countries. In an effort to aid the world's poorest health care systems, western hospitals often donate used medical equipment when updating their inventory.
Unfortunately, donations often don't have the intended positive impact. An example of how donations can end up causing more harm than good was featured on the main Danish news channel DR1:
"Aid Organization was Given Broken Medical Equipment: We are Being Used as Landfill"
The news story was on national Danish television and radio.
It is described how regional politicians of the Capitol Region of Denmark did not set aside resources for testing of equipment donations before the machines were given to Global Medical Aid (GMA). GMA had to spend a large amount of financial and human resources on separating useful pieces from broken ones — resources that should have been spent on the transportation of equipment to developing countries. (See translation of the full story at the end of this post).
Not all aid organisations pay third parties to test the quality of their donations as GMA does. Many aid organizations simply ship malfunctioning equipment directly to developing countries without any quality assurance whatsoever.
An example of this is illustrated in the pictures below from Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City, taken on the the 30th of December 2014. I am currently working at the hospital with Engineering World Health as part of a six person team of students and professionals from Rochester Institute of Technology, George Mason University, Marquette University and the Technical University of Denmark. We are based at Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City with the aim of placing broken donated equipment back into service.
Already during our first day at the hospital we found vital medical equipment out of use: 14 haemodyalisis machines, 7 vital signs monitors, 4 anaesthesia machines and an incubator. The well-meaning donations are left as junk in the "equipment graveyard" in the back of the hospital.
Another example of failure to target donations properly is shown in the following picture from the same hospital, featuring the pictured dental chair, which is still partly contained in the original wrapping, indicating that the chair has most probably never been used.
Unfortunately, the problem we are facing at Roosevelt Hospital is not unique. It is seen in developing countries around the world. Leslie Calman, CEO at Engineering World Health, summarises the issue as follows:
"The donation of medical equipment is a generous and well-meaning outpouring of aid, intended to strengthen health care systems, reduce human suffering and extend life-saving remedies to millions. But if not done with care and attendtion to local conditions — including the capacity of local hospitals to install and maintain the equipment — the generosity may not live up to its donors' good intentions. The Secretary General of the United Nations has stated that as much as 70% of essential medical equipment is not functioning in the developing world. Coupled with equipment donations should be an investment in training a local workforce to maintain and service the equipment. This would create local jobs, build skills, improve the environment, and create the conditions in which healthcare can be safely delivered."
The magnitude of harm caused by faulty equipment donations goes largely unnoticed. To illustrate this, consider the following: According to World Bank, the Danish health care expenditure in 2012 was 11.2% of Danish GDP, accumulating to $6,304 per capita (the corresponding number in the United States is 17.9%). This means that $6304 is spent on health care for every single one of Denmark's 5.6 million citizens.
$34.65 billion is spent on health care in Denmark every year. Contrary to popular belief, this money is not spent on the high salaries of doctors. Based on the average yearly physician's salary in Denmark of $85,000 and nurse's salary set at $54,000, only 18% of the Danish health care expenditure is spent on salaries. The major part of the remaining $28.14 billion is spent on hospital infrastructure and the extremely valuable medical equipment.
My point is not that poor hospitals don't need equipment donations. Rather, the important aspect to realise is that the donation of advanced technologies is extremely complicated. Resource-poor health care systems are in need of expertise from professionals who understand advanced health care technologies and the logistical complexity behind donations.
The fact that a vast amount of broken equipment is sent off to fill up the words poorest hospitals without ever being used is ethically irresponsible and indefensible. It is essential that local health care workers, departments, and hospitals ensure that well-meaing donations actually end up fulfilling their life-saving purpose.
Translation of the original story:
Danish hospitals donate used medical equipment to alleviate poor countries. However, aid organisation warns that the equipment may be dangerous to use.
In a corner of Global Medical Aid's storage halls in Birkerød you'll find more than 30 infusion pumps. They are donated from hospitals in the Capitol Region and should have been sent to poor countries in Africa, but as it turns out, this equipment is completely defective.
The relief organisation Global Medical Aid sends hospital equipment to poor countries around the world. They are now accusing the Capitol Region for using them as a landfill.
The reason is that the organisation has been given an abundance of used medical equipment that does not work at all. Everything from anaesthesia machines to infusion pumps and defibrillators have turned out to be broken.
"We have obviously been treated as if we were a landfill site, where hospitals could get rid of the equipment they have been storing in basements for years" says Hans Frederik Dydensborg, the president of Global Medical Aid (GMA).The politicians of the region have now decided that medical equipment is to be donated in an ethically responsible way. According to GMA, it is directly unethical when hospitals donate equipment that doesn't work. GMA has incurred large expenses in separating working pieces from broken ones -- money that should have been spent on bringing the equipment to the world's poorest countries."We have had large amounts of unnecessary expenses, with the consequence being that we haven't been able to send off the containers as expected" says Hans Frederik Dydensborg.In the Capitol Region, the chairman of the IT and debureaucratisation committee, who is responsible for recycling medical equipment, is concerned about the fact some donations have proven to be useless."Of course the equipment must have a certain standard, and of course it to be in a condition such that it can be used" says Lise Müller (Socialist People's Party).To avoid faulty donations in the future, the Capitol Region is now creating a storage hall in order to collect used equipment from hospitals and check it up for errors and deficiencies before they are sent on to aid organisations.In the region of Mid-Jutland, they have good experiences with a corresponding scheme."I am sure that we can find people who could find use of the equipment. If they don't, we will have to throw it out. But of course we have to learn from this, that the equipment we donate is of the right quality" says Lise Müller. The new storage halls will cost about DKK 2 million (USD 330.000) a year to maintain and the money will be found in the 2016 budget of the capitol region.
The work done by engineers in a developing country includes a range of smart repairs that help hospitals save significant expenses.
Equipment cables are common examples of broken parts found in developing countries. Just a week ago I described how our group found seven vital signs monitors out of use at Roosevelt National Hospital in Guatemala. This last week, our group found the cables for the monitors, however the shielding on them was broken. The picture on the left shows the cable with broken shielding, while the picture on the right depicts the noisy — and clinically useless — ECG signal.
Buying one new ECG cable for a patient monitor would cost $51 if purchased on eBay. However, it is feasible to fix the ECG cables and avoid the cost of purchasing new parts. In order to do this, we performed three simple steps:
1) Wrap foil carefully around the ECG cables.
2) Ensure that the foil is electrically connected to the ends of the original ECG cable shielding.
3) Wrap the foil tightly in electrical tape
The photo on the right shows the resulting ECG signal. The 'p-q-r-s-t" sequence of a normal ECG signal can be seen on the screen.
The result is still not optimal, as there is residual noise interfering with the signal. Our group is currently investigating ways to make the shielding more effective so that the foil is optimally electrically connected along the entire length of the cables.
Guatemala log #2
During our first day at the hospital we've been working on two projects:
The Vital signs monitors.
The emergency department of Roosevelt hospital has received seven vital signs monitors as donations. They suspect the machines should be working fine, however the cables for measuring oxygen saturation, ECG and oxygen saturation are broken. Unfortunately we cannot test these machines as the power supplies are missing.
Furthermore only managed to collect one set of cables in condition good enough for them to be reapaired and unfortunately buying new ones would cost hundreds of dollars per machine.
For now the strategy will be to get a DC power supply for the machine as quickly as possible (18 V, 2,7A) and then we will try to get just one machine up and running.
The 13-17 dialysis machines
I have seen thirteen machines with my own eyes, some say however that the hospital has 17 Dexter 1550 type dyalisis machines. We started out trouble shooting two of the machines that looked as if they were in a proper condition.
The machines are quite old old but some of them are in a surprisingly good condition. Currently the haemodialysis department is renting machines from an external company, which is expensive, so it is our hope that we can help the hospital by getting their own machines working and thereby save some expenses.
Unfortunately we are currently in doubt whether or not the consumable products are necessary to use the machine are available.
For now however, we are still testing the machine!
Stay tuned for the coming updates for the continuation of these projects and the initiation on the baby-bottle project!
Guatemala Log #1
On the first day of the 2014/15 Guatemala Winter institute we had an introductory morning briefing to talk about program details, safety guidelines, culture shock and logistics.
Later on that day we would proceed to Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City, one of the the largest hospitals in Guatemala.
As we arrived, Head of the biomedical engineering department at the hospital, Hector, showed as around and introduced us to several different projects that the EWH engineering team could work on during our three weeks.
The following is a list of the projects we found on the first day at the hospital:
1) 14 Dialysis Machines: In the basement of the hospital we found about 14 dialysis machines out of order. If can put these back into service it will be vital to find and teach a technician at the hospital about the machines as they require continuous maintenance. See picture in the gallery below.
2) 7 vital signs monitors: These machines actually work perfectly (according the emergency department staff) but the cables are destroyed. We are looking into getting a hold of all the cables from the emergency department so that we can find out if we can fix them.
3) The baby bottle project: The baby bottle cleaner of the hospital is broken. 1500 babies need to be fed everyday there are 45 different recipes for the baby food depending on the state of the babies. For example prematurely born babies are prescribed more oily food. Thus the department staff must manually clean 1500 bottles a day. They don't have any proper substitute tools and it gets really difficult to clean the baby bottles. See pictures in the gallery below.
4) Tortilla machine (kitchen): This machine is working but the tortillas are sticking to each other and one side was burned more than the other. Sometimes the tortillas are cut in half. In effect a lot of dough is wasted. See picture in the gallery below.
5) Bread oven (kitchen): Issues with the temperature regulation.
6) The outside yard with broken medical equipment: Most of the equipment has been outside in the rain and it has become rusty. It is likely though that there are several valualble spare parts in the "junk yard". See pictures in the gallery below.
Additionally a pre-trip equipment assessment was made by biomedical Joe Leier who is assisting EWH 2014/15 Winter Institute.
7) Three additional vital signs monitors.
8) Seven suction pumps.
9) Three defibrilators were found, condition onknown.
10) Five Electrocardiographs.
For now we will start working on projects 1, 2 and 4. I will follow the progress of the projects here on this site. Stay tuned!
Antigua, Guatemala: Site of the Engineering World Health Winter Institute in 2015. The coming two weeks 15 engineering students from around the world are going to put broken medical equipment back into service to aid the Guatemalan health care system.
Getting to Guatemala was probably the longest flight of my life. The trip started in Copenhagen at 3:30, went through Amsterdam and Atlanta to finally reach Guatemala Airport at 8:30 in the evening. Once I arrived in Guatemala I had been on the way for 24 hours exactly.
Antigua is like a small and very romantic town. It could have in Spain apart from the fact that's it's surrounded by volcanos(!) Very cool. Have a look at the Gallery! It gives a quite nice impression of small and romantic Antigua.


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Posted by Editoress on 03/18/08
Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team 1-2 at LA Circuit Race
Report Courtesy Matt Davio
Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team fielded five riders in Sunday's LA Circuit Race around the Los Angeles International Airport and finished with Hilton Clarke taking 1st and Dominique Rollin taking 2nd. It was a great team effort in the field sprint with all five members assisting Hilton to the victory. Dominique Rollin finished on the wheel of Hilton Clarke for a Toyota-United one-two punch.
Rollin said, "It was a great team effort all day. During the final field sprint we really pulled away on the final 1km and Hilton had a great finish with me on his wheel and no one behind us for 10 meters."
Clarke said "It was cool to have the chance to follow as all our guys took turns with the lead out. The last 1.5 km, I just had to hold on to the wheel of my teammates, which was the hardest thing. First, I had Chepe, then Caleb, followed by Dominguez, then Rollin at the end. All I had to do was to hold on to their sprint for the finish. When Rollin launched his sprint I looked back and there was no one left behind and I just had the legs to pull by and finish just ahead of him." The conditions were fast, on the way out the wind was in the racers faces, but on the way back there was a strong tailwind with the Toyota-United boys reaching speeds of 45mph as they approached the finish line.
LA Circuit Race March 16th
Elite Pro/1/2 Men
1. Hilton Clarke (Toyota/United)
2. Dominique Rollin (Toyota/United)
3. Kayle Leo Grande (Rock Racing)
4. Patrick Nuber (erdgas schwaben)
5. Sterling Magnell (Rock Racing)
6. Raul Frias (Vitamix/Sixtufit.com)
7. Mark-Paul Gosselaar (5 Star/Waste Vegetable Oil)
8. Andrew Salcedo (Acqua al 2/SDBC)
9. Aron Ghadia (Kahala La Grange)
10. Marcus Weinberg (Kahala La Grange)
11. Chris DeMarchi (5 Star/Waste Vegetable Oil)
12. Ivan Dominguez (Toyota/United)
13. Fabian Reyes ( )
14. Brandon Cunningham (Vegas Velo Rading Team)
15. Tommy Robles (Sho-air/Sonace)
16. Mark-Paul Noble (Time Factory Team)
17. Matt Wilson ( )
18. Aaron Quesnell (Acqua al 2/SDBC)
19. John Slover (Helens Racing)
20. Randall Coxworth (Acqua al 2/SDBC)
21. Stuart Press (Kahala La Grange)
22. Fritz Bottger (Vitamix/Sixtufit.com)
23. Jason Lowetz (Team Bearclaw)
24. Adrian Gerrits (Kahala La Grange)
25. Steven Nadon ( )
Elite Pro/1/2/3 Women
1. Dotsie Bausch
2. Bonnie Breeze (Helens/Trek)
3. Rachel Herring (Team Rock)
4. Pam Schuster ( )
5. Simone Morisette (Helens/Trek)
6. Deborah Durand (Helens/Trek)
7. Beatriz Rodriguez (SC Velo)
8. Anna Drakulich (Bicycle Johns Serious Cycling)
9. Courtney Hammond (Team Rock)
10. Erika Graves (Helens/Trek)
11. Kate Ligler (Proman Racing)
12. Dianna Del Fante (Higher Cadence/Bannings Bikes)
13. Lisa Young (Acqua al 2/SDBC)
14. Ryanne Spady (SC Velo)
15. Kendall Ryan (Major Motion Cycling Club)
16. Amy Hutner (Kahala La Grange)
17. Charlayne Barger (Bicycle Johns Serious Cycling)
18. Jamie Hughins (Helens/Trek)
19. Dara Rogers (Helens/Trek)
20. Alicia Boland (Higher Cadence/Bannings Bikes)
21. Cheryl Roth (Helens/Trek)
22. Lana Atchley (Team Rock)
23. Lea Adams (Helens/Trek)
24. Heather Rose (Higher Cadence/Bannings Bikes)
25. Sandra Villarruel (Martins Pro Bicycles Team)
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Plumerias are exotic, fragrant plants also known as frangipani. Plumeria is a genus of flowering plants in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. The flowers are native to Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America as far south as Brazil but can be grown in tropical and sub-tropical regions.
Plumerias are relatively small trees, but what they lack in height they make up in width often becoming as wide as they are tall. They have a well-behaved root system which makes them great for the home garden and for growing in pots. Frangipanis are also great survivors coping with drought, heat, neglect and insect attack. They are also deciduous, losing there leaves in the winter months. Frangipani flowers appear in clusters, also at the end of the branches, and are distinctively scented.
With its gnarled branches, long leaves and distinctive flowers, the frangipani is easily one of the most common and identifiable trees. The bark is grey/green and scaly in appearance. The scaling is formed when leaves drop in winter leaving small semi-circular marks on the bark.


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Three weeks into the 2010 season finds Ohio State undefeated as expected, and for the most part, they have proven to be worthy of their No. 2 ranking, but they do have a few flaws.
There is always room for improvement and the Bucks can ill-afford to become complacent if they want to truly be a legitimate BCS title game contender.
First off, the disturbingly obvious inefficiencies on special teams are still a huge concern.
Through their first three games, OSU has allowed a blocked field goal, a blocked PAT, and one punt and two kickoff returns for touchdowns, one of which ultimately didn't count, but still.
DeVier Posey's older brother Julian returned a kickoff 99 yards for an apparent touchdown for OU before an illegal block penalty negated the return.
Sure it didn't count, but just the fact that the Bobcats technically were the third straight Buckeye opponent to score a special teams touchdown against OSU is very disconcerting.
It is even more concerning considering that fixing this problem had to be a primary focus over the past week or two.
It may be as simple as just a personnel issue, or something bigger. That's up to Tressel and his staff to figure out. The bottom line is it has to be fixed, whatever it is, and whatever it takes.
The other challenge facing Tressel and company is a two-headed monster.
First, they need to find a consistent No. 3 wide receiver threat to help free up Posey and Dane Sanzenbacher.
The play of tight end Jake Stoneburner has helped with that cause somewhat, but with Terrelle Pryor really coming into his own as a passing QB, a true third option at receiver would greatly benefit the Buckeye passing game.
The second part of this equation is finding a way to get sophomore Jordan Hall, and especially redshirt freshmen Jaamal Berry more touches out of the backfield. As of now, each have returned kicks and punts, but have seen little action at tailback.
The solution—move Saine to wide receiver. This would kill two birds with one stone.
Tressel is loyal to his upperclassmen, almost to a fault, so Dan Herron could still technically be the "starter", but everyone, including Tressel, knows that he's not a guy that can carry the ball 25-plus times a game.
Making this move would give the Buckeyes a legit No. 3 wideout, a veteran starter at running back, and it would then allow Hall and Berry more opportunities to carry the rock.
As mentioned, Pryor continues to prove he's more than just a scrambler and the defense appears to be one of the best Tressel has ever had, having only allowed 17 points over these first three weeks.
Kicker Devin Barclay has been solid as well.
The offense is close and the defense is there.
Figuring out the special teams situation and finding that reliable third receiver could mean the difference between a good year, or a legendary one for the Buckeyes.
Better protection and blocking in the middle on field goals and PATs, as well as improved kick and punt return coverage, in addition to shifting Saine to [more of] a receiver role and thus allowing an increased role for Hall and/or Berry will increase the odds for Ohio State to win all of their games, and further establish and solidify their position as one of the best teams in the nation.
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Mountain View, Calif.-based Blue Jeans Network has secured $76.5 million in new financing in what widely assumed to be a pre-IPO round.
The start up burst onto the video conferencing and communication scene in 2011 with a cloud-based offering that connects business conference room systems like Cisco and Polycom to desktop and mobile apps like Skype and Google,
Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates (NEA) led the round with participation from previous investors Accel Partners, Battery Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners, and new investors Glynn Capital, Quadrille Capital, and Derek Jeter (yes, that Derek Jeter) among others.
With this funding round Blue Jeans has secured about $175 million all together from investors.
Watching His Words
CEO Krish Ramakrishnan doesn't call his company's latest capital raise a pre-IPO round, But Jon Sakoda, general partner at NEA, does in a press release.
Ramakrishnan's preferred term is mezzanine finance, the type of capital that is tapped by later stage companies.
Still, though, he easily acknowledges that the investors participating in this round are companies that typically invest in pre-IPO and post-IPO companies. "We have been on a great tear and the market realizes that," he told CMSWire.
From Cisco to Skype, Via The Cloud
It is easy to see why: Blue Jeans' offering is an end run around some of the biggest pain points in the telecommunications space — integration and the proprietary approach of most legacy offerings.
This is roughly how Blue Jeans did it, Ramakrishnan said.
"We built a cloud infrastructure consisting of a number of servers that are able to take the individual streams of video and convert them into whatever format the end point requires in real time."
So a, for example, Cisco end point will receive a video via Blue Jeans' platform but that Cisco end points thinks it is talking to another Cisco end point, Ramakrishnan said.
"With our Google-style architecture, we are able to imitate the properties and vagaries of the Cisco endpoint."
How exactly that happens, he said, is the company's secret sauce, as is the way it has managed to scale along with its growth, incidentally.
Today, the Blue Jeans supports more than 1 billion minutes of real-time video collaboration to more 25 million participants around the world.
More Products
Since its launch Blue Jeans has gone on to offer other products aimed at its growing corporate user group.
It rolled out a converged conferencing offering, a single tool and interface to manage audio, video, and web conferencing activities, most of which are provided by different vendors.
More recently, it has introduced APIs that allow users to embed interactive videos in such applications as Salesforce Chatter and their own internal workflows.
Blue Jeans reports that these APIs are being used by healthcare, training, and call center companies.
Then came an entirely new product line, Blue Jeans Primetime, which offers interactive streaming capabilities for events.
It is a great way to generate a back-and-forth with a virtual and otherwise passive audience, Ramakrishnan said, as the moderator can switch from being an active participant to a passive observer as the audience members speak.
It was Primetime that caught Jeter's eye. Newly retired from baseball, Jeter was in the process of launching The Players Tribune, a media site in which athletes tell their own stories directly.
Jeter loved the interactive ability of Primetime and eventually became a fan of all of Blue Jeans' offerings, Ramakrishnan said — and then an investor.
Other users include Facebook, Sephora, Red Hat, The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and Code.org.
Global Growth; Sales and Marketing
As for the new proceeds, Ramakrishnan said he plans to use those to continue the company's growth.
He would like to see the product line make further inroads globally as well as invest more money in its sales and marketing operations. And of course, to continue to build out its product line up. "We are always looking to innovate," he said.


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Probably a very long shot but anyone from my area who crafts? I do alot of scrapbooking, card making and sewing. message me if you are be great to chat about crafting and fibro!!
The discussion forums for those with Fibromyalgia in the UK
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Celebrity trainer Kira Stokes knows a thing or two about sweat. A leader in the fitness industry, and creator of the Stoked Method, UNDO sits down with Kira to talk pushing boundaries, smashing limits, and how she got those abs!
Undoordinary: You created the STOKED METHOD. What does it mean to GET STOKED, both as a fitness methodology and lifestyle brand?
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As a lifestyle brand, getting STOKED is about living life to the fullest through a commitment to fitness. It is about making fitness the focal point of your life and creating a lifestyle that revolves around it. There is no finish line….just an unwavering commitment to strive to be a better version of you every day. The sense of community that has naturally evolved from the bond forged in sweat is truly life changing for STOKED Athletes.
U: Take us through an average day for you, from teaching classes to eating to getting in your own workout.
KS: My typical day begins around 4:45am. The first hour or so of my day is my "Princess Time." I love the peace and quiet in the early morning hours. I use this time to prepare for my day, plan my strategy for each client or class I am going to teach, answer my email, begin my social media posts for the day, and I might even get some on-line shopping done!
I usually leave home around 5:50. If it is a city day, I jump on the train and head in. During the train ride, I continue my social media posts and messages, answer emails ,and generally just chill a bit because the minute I hit the city, I am running full speed.
On Mondays, I get into the city around 7am and either train a client or grab a quick hour of cardio. I then teach classes all morning before heading to Central Park for my STOKED Fit Camp at Bethesda Fountain. Bethesda Fountain is one of my favorite places in the entire city. We are usually the biggest tourist attraction going. People are taking pictures, screaming things at us like, "holy shit, never seen so many ripped women in my life!" or they just stop and stare. It is a trip. I love it.
After Central Park, I head back to the West Side to train two of my celebrity clients at their home gyms. It's always nice to have an entire gym to train a client in private. It keeps my client focused on working his/ her butt off! No distractions, no excuses… just pure work.
I then head back to Reebok and get a solid workout in. Usually my workout involves a mix of intense cardio, often in the form of a run followed by STOKED Circuits (jump rope, plyo's, etc.) and weights/functional training. However, no two workouts I do are the same. I am a cross-training machine, always challenging my body in different ways. I also love my personal workout time because it allows me to create new moves for my classes. I am my own test athlete!
I then finish up the day with three more classes at Reebok. My last class ends at 7:30pm. I race to Grand Central to catch the 8:10pm train home (if I am lucky). Long, long day but – oh so exhilarating!
I eat when I get a free moment, more often than not on my way to and from a destination.
I pack STOKED Snacks the night before so I am never left empty handed. My meals are more like snacks than actual "meals." Ranging from 150-200 calories at a time. But, I pretty much have something to eat every 90-minutes or so. You must feed your metabolism to keep it running at an optimal level. I need quite a bit of quality fuel to keep going at my max.
Some examples of STOKED Snacks:
- Quinoa with mixed vegetables (often first thing in the morning)
- Grilled chicken breast
- Hard-boiled eggs with hummus (take most the yolk out, it's like a healthy deviled egg)
- Oatmeal with almonds or walnuts
- Egg white omelette with spinach and avocado
- Kale salad
- Protein smoothie. I'm obsessed with Vega Sport Performance Protein Powder. Both vanilla and chocolate. I use 1/2 unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1/2 water as a base, a couple strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, chia seeds, and macca powder. I have a protein smoothie religiously within 30-minutes of every one of my personal workouts.
U: Your abs are next level. What's the number one thing people can do to tone their core?
KS: People need to cross-train their core performing dynamic movements for what I consider the powerhouse of the body. Crunches alone will not get you results. I teach clients to always mind your muscle. Put your brainpower into the muscle groups you are focusing on. This very much applies to the core as often times people just go through the motions of abdominal work rather than truly allowing their body and mind to connect. Planks (and variations of planks) are an essential at strengthening the core, as are c-curves static holds. Our core is involved in every single movement we perform, even standing still. So, draw the navel towards the spine all the time!
U: What's the most common mistake you see people make in spin or STOKED Series classes, and what's the best thing you see people doing?
KS: In general, I notice people taking breaks not necessarily when they need them, but when workouts get super challenging, often times out of habit. Those are bench mark moments in a STOKED Series class. When you think you have nothing left to give; that's the good stuff. That's what changes your body and wakes up your spirit. Embrace the challenge and get uncomfortable with your workout. Another general mistake, as I mentioned above, people just going through the motions rather than really engaging.
One of the best things I see people doing is – showing up! When I see athletes really watching their bodies as they workout and making the form adjustments I always give during class. I often say, "take the cues I give and apply them to your body, rather than just hearing them."
U: What do you do for your own fitness needs?
KS: I really and truly love to workout. Although I know I should, I really never take a day off from getting my sweat on. I feel extremely lucky that I've been able to turn what has been a passion of mine, since I was a little girl, into a successful career. My work is my passion. Every day my schedule is different as I split my time between Westchester and the City. Although I would love to be able to crush my personal workouts first thing in the morning, that is prime time for clients and classes. I have learned to enjoy working out at all hours of the day. 2pm may not be the time of day when your body necessarily wants to workout, but it's all mental. I consider it another challenge of the workout to make it happen and give 110% effort. As a fitness professional, if you can't motivate yourself, you have no business motivating others. I also feel changing the time of day when you conquer a workout is another way to keep the body guessing and shock it into stellar shape.
My last meal on earth would be pizza or pasta…carb up.
People would be surprised to know that I was a rockstar clarinetist from 4th grade on; once I hit Boston College I sadly put that talent to bed. However, I put as much time and effort into developing my skill as a musician as I did being an athlete growing up. One more fun fact, I grew up with an obstacle course in my backyard. My father literally turned nature into a playground/gym in the woods behind our home. He built balance beams that ran from tree to tree, some parallel to the ground, some ascending/descending. Shipping rope connected trees and a real trapeze allowed me to set my sights high and reach for the stars! My love of bodyweight training (now STOKED Primal) was born in my backyard.
Number one track on my iTunes playlist is:
This is a tough one as there are many I use to pump myself up for a workout. "Sirius" by Feenixpawl vs. The Alan Project, is one that folks may not know about that gets me fired up. My forever favorite, "I Will Wait" by Bloombox and Sam Feldt remix, takes me somewhere amazing on a run. "Pumpin Blood" by NONONO, is no doubt perfect for a workout, "Hangin On" by Sigma Remix, helps me nail sprints.
Get Stoked 260 on kirastokes.com
Follow @kirastokesfit for daily inspiration


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A. 20min AMRAP (In Teams of 2)
400m Run
9 Power Cleans 50/35kg
6 Front Squats
3 Thrusters
On 3,2,1 GO athlete A will run 400m while athlete B starts an AMRAP of 9/6/3. When athlete A returns, pick up where athlete B finished. Continue in this order for 20min.
Result: 14 rounds
B. 4 sets of
12 Barbell Rollouts
Rest 20s
30s L-Hang
Rest 40s
The metcon (A) was tough times, I was working with Braedon and while I was off running the very first 400m, he ripped through almost two sets of the barbell work. This set my expectations, I needed to be punching out two sets with the barbell, and chasing a triathlete during the run. In hindsight these were high expectations and explain why around my 4th cycle with the barbell my output halved. It was tough times.
Crossfit / Olympic Lifting:
A. Behind The Neck Jerk
In 18mins Work up to a heavy for today. (not max)
Result: 75kg
B.EV 30s x 30
Clean & Jerk @ 70% 1RM Jerk.
Result: 40-60kg
I was happy with where I got to with the jerks, so encouraged that I might possibly have pushed past the point of "not max", into the territory of "that was totally my max". After setting that PB though, I cycled a few clean and jerk warmups and strongly believed there was no way I'd be able to move 70% of it (55kg) 30 times, so I went light.
Half a dozen reps in, I knew I was cheating the effort, and started to add change plates. Stepping up through 45, to 50, on to 55, and finally reaching 60kg for the last few reps. Catching and driving straight into the jerk. Pausing in the (partial) squat to gain full control over the bar, standing it tall, then dropping it for a few moments rest before the next rep.
The fire of insatiable hunger was certainly lit today.


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Susan Gregory Thomas is the author of "In Spite of Everything: A Memoir."
I'M not interested in being hip or a hippie. Nor does my happiness particularly hinge on artisanal cheese. (Odd, perhaps, given that I grew up a stone fruit's throw away from Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif.)
As a 42-year-old Brooklyn mother of three, what I care about is lunch, and feeding my family on a tenuous and unpredictable income. And so I have 20 fresh-egg-producing hens and a little garden that yields everything from blackberries to butternut squash to burdock root.
My turn with spade and hoe started a few years ago when I found myself divorced and flat broke. My livelihood as a freelance writer went out the window when the economy tanked. I literally could afford beans, the dried kind, which I'd thought were for school art projects or teaching elementary math. And I didn't know how to cook.
Luckily, my late father had hammered into me that grit was more important than talent. So, when I couldn't afford fancy food — never mind paraben-free shampoo — for my babies, I figured, if peasants in 11th-century Sicily did all this, how hard could it be?
I researched how to raise hens from chicks so we could get our omega-3-filled eggs. I learned to stretch a single piece of cheap meat into nearly a week's worth of dinners. I made my own cleaning products. Not because I liked it. Because it was cheap.
My goal was to have healthy, unprocessed food for $10 or less a day. Cereal was the first thing to go. It dawned on me that making granola was a matter of tossing oatmeal and nuts into a bowl with a little oil, honey and spices — and then baking until brown. No more $14 boxes of fancy grains with pomegranate antioxidants.
Bread wasn't hard either; it was just a drawn-out procedure. Yeast, water, a little honey, salt, whole wheat flour, and assorted seeds. Mix; wait for rising; knead; wait; knead; wait; bake. I made batches and froze them. So long, Eli Zabar's 10-buck Health Loaf. Hi there, homemade loaf for less than $1. I soon realized that it's not necessary to follow every recipe to a T, particularly if it calls for expensive items. For example, if a recipe called for red wine, I used diluted balsamic vinegar, or even apple cider vinegar and a wee bit of honey mixed with water. If the recipe called for saffron I used turmeric, which is cheap in bulk at Patel Brothers in Jackson Heights, Queens. And I always added twice as much garlic to everything.
With all the fetishizing about terroirs and concerns about lead in urban soil in the eco-foodie blogosphere, I was scared to grow vegetables, period. But my kids and I planted seeds, bulbs and rhizomes inside in midwinter in little cups; we started a universe of tomatoes, squash, green beans, kale, beets, garlic and standard herbs. They were ready for planting by spring.
We quelled concerns about lead in the soil by hammering together boards to make a raised bed, and made "good" dirt from compost of decaying leaves and coffee grounds and the cheap soil at Home Depot. It quickly became obvious that anyone with a rectangle of sunny ground outside can grow stuff; you just need to think about what grows up and what grows sideways so that you can get it all in there properly.
We lived off the land all summer, supplementing our diet with dried beans, nuts, baking basics, dairy products, olive oil, and the occasional long-lasting protein (pork shoulder, chicken, canned anchovies and sardines). The children snipped off the fixings for homemade pizza, pasta, tarts and Mediterranean-like bean salads. I made yogurt and even got the hang of making ricotta and mozzarella by heating up milk in a pot and squirting a little animal rennet in it. And it was not a hassle. Plus, homemade ricotta, with a little olive oil, honey and fresh basil for dessert? Homemade frozen yogurt pops with just-plucked blackberries? Crazy. We were locavore, organic kings.
I had to be sold on the chicken idea, two years later. It seemed like a lot of work, flies and yucky upkeep. But an out-of-work antiques restorer (who later became my boyfriend and is now my husband) persuaded me to do it. We ordered 2-day-old peeping chicks for $2.75 apiece by mail and kept them under heat lamps in a Pack 'n Play in my daughters' room for about a month, and they became the coolest pets and science lesson ever. Five months later, we had a coop and four hens.
Today, we eat a mostly vegetarian diet, with plenty of protein. My cleaning products are distilled white vinegar for wiping and baking soda for scouring (and also for tooth brushing). Our soap and shampoo is Castile mixed with olive oil. We live this way for $100 a week. And I'm still the sole breadwinner.
IT is a lot of work. You have to be organized and able to improvise on your feet. But, frankly, it's awesome. Before we embarked on this Waldenesque life, the only thing I had ever used my hands for was picking up a book or typing on my keyboard; today, my family and I are living our own scrappy take on President Obama's promise of "Yes, we can!"
Even if things turn around financially, I don't think I could stomach going to Whole Foods (except maybe for olive oil) because my biggest revelation in terms of self-sufficiency is this: It is no big deal. You can tell yourself anything is too difficult, or you can just do it. And you do not need to reconstruct your worldview or take issue with others.
You just need to be hungry.


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Former Senior Advisor to President Obama and the brains behind two, winning presidential campaigns, David Axelrod, touted the Obama White House ethics record, Buzzfeed reported.
Responding to a question during a recent event at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics, Axelrod said:
"I'm proud of the fact that basically you've had an administration that's been in place for six years in which there hasn't been a major scandal. And I think that says a lot about the ethical strictures of this administration."
Now, I don't know what protective bubble these idiots live in, or if this one buried his head in the sand surrounded by a block of concrete, which in turn kept oxygen from getting to his scrambled brain, but this man is totally clueless. I am sure that he has heard of "FAST AND FURIOUS"? I could name about 15 or so more scandals that have been part of the Obama administration if he can't remember. This man is an idiot.
Kind of shows everyone just what kind of mentality resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue these days huh?
How about these Mr. Axelrod:
1. IRS Targeting Scandal
In 2013, the IRS admitted to targeting specific political groups who applied for tax-exempt statuses based on the names or the mission of the organizations. A criminal probe entered the IRS, which led to an FBI investigation and the resignation of the department's acting director.
2. Benghazi Attack
On September 11th, 2012, Islamic militants captured a U.S. consulate in Libya, killing four Americans including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya. In subsequent weeks and months, an amateur American filmmaker was arrested for "inciting the violence" and multiple top U.S officials were called to testify before a special Select House Committee.
3. "Fast & Furious"
The Arizona Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) allowed firearm dealers to sell guns to illegal "straw buyers," in the hopes of tracking the weapons to Mexican cartel leaders. Instead, the weapons were used by the cartels to continue their reign of violence south of the border. More than 200 murders have been traced back to guns used in Fast & Furious, including the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
4. NSA Spying Scandal
In 2013, a NSA contractor with top-secret security clearance leaked millions of U.S., British, and Australian intelligence documents to a select few reporters. This led to investigations and probes about the U.S. government spying on its own citizens by storing all forms of telecommunication. Additionally, it inspired many western nations to review their own methods of intelligence and document storing.
Now these were just off the top of my head, and I know there are more. I found the descriptions of each on RedFlagNews.com. But there are many more, and if Mr. Axelrod isn't smart enough to know about these major scandals of the Obama administration, then he is too stupid to be part of our government.
Come to think of it……most there are too stupid to be part of the government. Thank God there are some new ones who still believe in the American dream and the Constitution. We need more of that kind and way less of ones like Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Dick Durbin, Barack Obama, Dianne Fienstein, Lindsay Graham, John McCain, et al.
The sooner we replace these and many more, the better off this country will be, because then, maybe the truth will me something to strive for again. Cause with this administration, it has no place in the mix of things going on that are scandal ridden.
God Bless America
God Bless our Troops
God Bless us to bring America the Great Back


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Ed Gamble
Ed Gamble is a Chortle Award winning stand up comedian and one half of comedy duo Peacock & Gamble, with Ray Peacock. He is currently starring in a new seven-part comedy series for BBC America named Almost Royal.
Ed has supported comedians such as Greg Davies, Russell Kane and Chris Addison on national tours. He has also performed on Dave's One Night Stand. Ed has written for Never Mind The Buzzcocks as well as Mock The Week and Ask Rhod Gilbert.
Ed has appeared on Russell Howard's Good News, performing as both a solo stand up and as part of Peacock & Gamble on series five. Ed Gamble and Ray Peacock are the only acts to make a return appearance on Russell Howard's Good News.
For four years, Ed was co-writer and host of the Peacock & Gamble Podcast. Several series of this cult podcast have culminated with special, series finale live audience recordings. The duo also received a Chortle Award Nomination for the Peacock & Gamble Podcast.
With Peacock & Gamble, Ed has presented shows for BBC Radio 4 Extra's The Comedy Club and has appeared as a regular host, alongside Ray Peacock on the show. The duo also starred in Warm Up for BBC Comedy Online. They toured with their 2013 Edinburgh show Peacock and Gamble Heart-Throbs.
By Arrangement with Artists Management
"An ability to open his mouth and spontaneously say something hysterically funny."
The Guardian
"He really did nail it. He may well have to make a comeback next year – by popular demand."
Loungefest 2015
"Ed really worked the stage and hosted so well... My own Director was telling me today how hard he laughed!"
Neon Events, for Microsoft MicroFest
Available for:
At Kruger Cowne, we make it happen.Book Ed Gamble
Or alternatively call us to book Ed Gamble on +44 (0)20 3124 1860