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This is the third part of my USB tutorial for ATtiny2313 and V-USB library. In the second part we got the breadboard setup more or less covered, and now is the time for actual code! This will most likely be the longest of the three parts, so let's get started.
Adding V-USB as a part of your project
First, we will download the latest version V-USB library from OBdev. Head to the Downloads-section and get the latest .zip – I got vusb-20120109.zip.
Unzip the archive and copy the usbdrv subfolder to your project folder (the whole folder, not just contents). Go to the subfolder and make a copy of
usbconfig-prototype.h with the name
usbconfig.h. Locate the #define lines for IO port and port bits and clock rate, and update them as necessary to reflect our configuration where D+ is in PD2 and D- in PD3 and clock rate is 12 MHz:
#define USB_CFG_IOPORTNAME D #define USB_CFG_DMINUS_BIT 3 #define USB_CFG_DPLUS_BIT 2 #define USB_CFG_CLOCK_KHZ 12000
It's also a good idea to ensure that V-USB tells the computer that it is powered via USB (i.e. not self powered) and takes maximum of 50 mA of power (defaults in my version is USB power, 100 mA max.):
#define USB_CFG_IS_SELF_POWERED 0 #define USB_CFG_MAX_BUS_POWER 50
We will be using OBdev's licenced vendor and device IDs, so they don't need to be changed (note that this also means my tutorial will fall under GPL, including the schematic in part 2). But we do want to customize the vendor name and device name (note the backward slash in vendor name string used to split the #define to two lines so it fits into this blog post):
#define USB_CFG_VENDOR_ID 0xc0, 0x16 /* = 0x16c0 */ #define USB_CFG_DEVICE_ID 0xdc, 0x05 /* = 0x05dc */ #define USB_CFG_DEVICE_VERSION 0x00, 0x01 #define USB_CFG_VENDOR_NAME 'c', 'o', 'd', 'e', 'a', 'n', 'd', 'l', \\ 'i', 'f', 'e', '.', 'c', 'o', 'm' #define USB_CFG_VENDOR_NAME_LEN 15 #define USB_CFG_DEVICE_NAME 'U', 'S', 'B', 'e', 'x', 'a', 'm', 'p', 'l', 'e' #define USB_CFG_DEVICE_NAME_LEN 10
usbconfig.h header file is well documented so you may want to read the rest of the options to get an idea what the library can can do. Now the only thing missing is the actual C file to use the library. Here is the barebones version of
main.c we'll start with:
#include <avr/io.h> #include <avr/interrupt.h> #include <avr/wdt.h> #include "usbdrv.h" #define F_CPU 12000000L #include <util/delay.h> USB_PUBLIC uchar usbFunctionSetup(uchar data[8]) { return 0; // do nothing for now } int main() { uchar i; wdt_enable(WDTO_1S); // enable 1s watchdog timer usbInit(); usbDeviceDisconnect(); // enforce re-enumeration for(i = 0; i<250; i++) { // wait 500 ms wdt_reset(); // keep the watchdog happy _delay_ms(2); } usbDeviceConnect(); sei(); // Enable interrupts after re-enumeration while(1) { wdt_reset(); // keep the watchdog happy usbPoll(); } return 0; }
The code should be pretty straightforward to understand:
- Include the
usbdrv.hto access V-USB functions
- Implement
usbFunctionSetup()to handle USB requests (we'll do that soon)
- In the main function, set up a 1 second watchdog timer that resets the microcontroller if 1000 milliseconds pass without a call to
- Call
usbInit()to initialize the V-USB library
- Enforce USB device re-enumeration using
usbDeviceDisconnect(), a 500 ms delay (while calling the watchdog reset every 2 ms) and
- Enable interrupts
- Loop forever while calling the watchdog reset and
The reason we are using the watchdog timer is, that our code might for some reason freeze (for example, corrupt data is read and a bug or eternal loop occurs) and the USB device would then stop responding. In this case, the
wdt_reset() gets no longer called and after 1 second, the watchdog timer automatically resets our ATtiny, and the program execution starts again (like you'd just resetted the circuit yourself). While this is not absolutely necessary, it is a good practice and saves the user from unplugging and replugging the device if something strange happens.
Another thing you may wonder is why the disconnect/delay/connect -procedure is needed at all. This is because the host PC can remember the identifier assigned to a USB device even if our device resets and forgets that identifier. By enforcing re-enumeration we make sure that both the host PC and our device have the same ID used to communicate over the USB bus.
Now let's see if we can get it all to compile. The easiest way is to use my ready-made Makefile which also contains the necessary statements for our PC side command-line client. Put the makefile to your project folder and run
make main.hex too see if it works. This way, you also see the actual commands the Makefile is used to run – there is nothing special with V-USB, the main things you need to remember is to have
-Iusbdrv in place for the compiler to find the .h files from usbdrv folder, and then just having the three additional object files (usbdrv.o, oddebug.o, usbdrvasm.o) put into the same .elf file along with main.o.
Responding to USB control messages
Before we head to PC side code, let's make our device firmware respond to two basic commands sent via USB: Turning a LED on and off. USB communication is initiated from host side and so-called control messages are sent to make USB device return it's name or any other desired function. The specification also has room for vendor-specific control messages. Let's define two such messages:
#define USB_LED_OFF 0 #define USB_LED_ON 1
Now V-USB library automatically calls our
usbFunctionSetup() method when it receives a vendor-specific control message. The parameter is a 8-byte buffer actually containing a structure called
usbRequest_t that is defined in
usbdrv.h. I suggest you to check that definition out. At this point we are interested in the
bRequest property that will either be 0 (USB_LED_OFF) or 1 (USB_LED_ON) – we will shortly see how our command-line client on PC side will generate these control requests, so there is nothing magical happening here – we just send a request from PC side and interpret it on the other side. Here's the modified function to turn the LED on or off:
// this gets called when custom control message is received USB_PUBLIC uchar usbFunctionSetup(uchar data[8]) { usbRequest_t *rq = (void *)data; // cast data to correct type switch(rq->bRequest) { // custom command is in the bRequest field case USB_LED_ON: PORTB |= 1; // turn LED on return 0; case USB_LED_OFF: PORTB &= ~1; // turn LED off return 0; } return 0; // should not get here }
Of course for this to work we need to set PB0 as output in the beginning of
main() (I suggest just after the "uchar i;" line):
DDRB = 1; // PB0 as output
Now we're ready to deploy our code to the chip. Just call
make flash and the dependencies should take care of recompiling the main code file automatically.
Windows driver hell
Now if you are doing this project on a Linux box, congratulations, you likely can just get LibUSB and compile the command-line client to talk to your new device. On Windows, however, you will need a custom device driver. Especially nasty was the fact that older example projects on V-USB site don't work with 64-bit Windows 7 at all. For this reason, I'll outline the basic steps for creating and installing your own driver.
Now immediately after you have flashed the ATtiny you should hear the standard Windows fanfare di-dum sound that tells a new USB device has been plugged in. Windows will look for a driver and most likely fail. This is where libusb-win32 comes to the rescue:
- Go to the libusb-win32 home page (google if it the above link doesn't work)
- Locate the heading "Device driver installation" and follow the instructions to download the latest version. I used libusb-win32-bin-22.214.171.124.zip. Unzip to a subfolder called "libusb" in the project folder.
- Run the INF-wizard using the instructions, put the installer somewhere you like (I recommend a new driver-subfolder in your project folder)
- Easiest way to install the driver is to do it as the final step of INF-wizard, there's a button for it
- Replug your device and pray for the best
I could have a separate tutorial covering my trial-and-error methods of getting the USB device driver to install and work. I hope you have better luck. In case of problems, here are some helpful tips:
- You can use Windows Device Manager to uninstall wrong drivers for your device, or if you get and "Unknown device", update drivers for the device
- Select "Browse my computer for driver software" and point Windows manually for correct location. Do not mind any "drivers not certified" -alerts, to go through them
- Sometimes Windows manages to cache the device in a certain port and no matter how many times you unplug and replug it, it gets recognized wrong. Changing USB port or switching even to a different hub (e.g. from computer case front to back) helped me in some cases
- Restarting the machine or googling for tools to reset USB cache may help, too :)
This is what the INF-wizard (located in the bin-subfolder of libusb) looks like if you are lucky (USBexample device visible):
This is what you can also enter manually if you are not so lucky:
After clicking Next, you get to save your generated driver to a folder. It's a good idea to use "Install now…" to avoid installing the drivers manually. My installation hanged 50 % of the time (needed to wait 5 minutes for the installer to exit), but the driver still seemed to install OK.
Command-line client
Congratulations! We are almost there! Now we only need to prepare the host-side software. For compiling it, I recommend the GNU C compiler gcc from MinGW project and the MSYS tools that you should be able to install along with it, but probably Visual C and others work just fine. MinGW installer is really hard to locate (big thumbs down for the wiki authors on usability), but currently trial and error should eventually get you here.
We already installed libusb-win32 in the previous section, and the needed library and header files are all there. Just copy (or rename) the oddly named lusb0_usb.h to usb.h in the libusb/include folder and we're good to go.
First thing we'll need to do is to have a little helper function to decipher USB descriptor strings used for vendor name and device name. For this and also later for communicating with our device, we will use
usb_control_msg() function provided by libusb. You basically pass the device handle, direction of message (USB_ENDPOINT_IN for device to host and USB_ENDPOINT_OUT for host to device) and other information used to define the recipient and direction, and the control message request, index and value codes, as well as a buffer for input/output, buffer size and maximum timeout for the call.
For those who want to understand the control messages better, I warmly recommend the surprisingly user-friendly USB 2.0 specification. The part on control messages starts on page 248 and the first table concerning this should be Table 9-2. You can find the download link for the spec from part 1 of this tutorial. The specification is rather simple and defined constant values closely reflect the #defines in libusb so you should understand everything rather well just by comparing the spec and my example code.
If you wonder what the rest of our helper function does after calling
usb_control_msg, it's basically checking the return value and response length, and converting it from UTF16-LE to Latin1 (same as ASCII if there's no special characters). The USB descriptor return format is strictly defined to remove any possibilities for interpretation. This is all explained in chapter 9.5 of the USB specification. So here's the helper function (it's basically a slightly revised version of the one used in V-USB PowerSwitch example):
/* Used to get descriptor strings for device identification */ static int usbGetDescriptorString(usb_dev_handle *dev, int index, int langid, char *buf, int buflen) { char buffer[256]; int rval, i; // make standard request GET_DESCRIPTOR, type string and given index // (e.g. dev->iProduct) rval = usb_control_msg(dev, USB_TYPE_STANDARD | USB_RECIP_DEVICE | USB_ENDPOINT_IN, USB_REQ_GET_DESCRIPTOR, (USB_DT_STRING << 8) + index, langid, buffer, sizeof(buffer), 1000); if(rval < 0) // error return rval; // rval should be bytes read, but buffer[0] contains the actual response size if((unsigned char)buffer[0] < rval) rval = (unsigned char)buffer[0]; // string is shorter than bytes read if(buffer[1] != USB_DT_STRING) // second byte is the data type return 0; // invalid return type // we're dealing with UTF-16LE here so actual chars is half of rval, // and index 0 doesn't count rval /= 2; /* lossy conversion to ISO Latin1 */ for(i = 1; i < rval && i < buflen; i++) { if(buffer[2 * i + 1] == 0) buf[i-1] = buffer[2 * i]; else buf[i-1] = '?'; /* outside of ISO Latin1 range */ } buf[i-1] = 0; return i-1; }
Now we can use this helper function when we iterate over USB devices to recognize our own device with vendor name "codeandlife.com" and device name "USBexample". The libusb-win32 API documentation gives us a good starting point in the examples section. I won't be hand-holding you too much on this function, the basic logic is just to loop through every USB bus and every USB device in them, open a device and ask it's vendor and device name, return it if it matches or close and proceed to next one if it does not:
static usb_dev_handle * usbOpenDevice(int vendor, char *vendorName, int product, char *productName) { struct usb_bus *bus; struct usb_device *dev; char devVendor[256], devProduct[256]; usb_dev_handle * handle = NULL; usb_init(); usb_find_busses(); usb_find_devices(); for(bus=usb_get_busses(); bus; bus=bus->next) { for(dev=bus->devices; dev; dev=dev->next) { if(dev->descriptor.idVendor != vendor || dev->descriptor.idProduct != product) continue; /* we need to open the device in order to query strings */ if(!(handle = usb_open(dev))) { fprintf(stderr, "Warning: cannot open USB device: %s\n", usb_strerror()); continue; } /* get vendor name */ if(usbGetDescriptorString(handle, dev->descriptor.iManufacturer, 0x0409, devVendor, sizeof(devVendor)) < 0) { fprintf(stderr, "Warning: cannot query manufacturer for device: %s\n", usb_strerror()); usb_close(handle); continue; } /* get product name */ if(usbGetDescriptorString(handle, dev->descriptor.iProduct, 0x0409, devProduct, sizeof(devVendor)) < 0) { fprintf(stderr, "Warning: cannot query product for device: %s\n", usb_strerror()); usb_close(handle); continue; } if(strcmp(devVendor, vendorName) == 0 && strcmp(devProduct, productName) == 0) return handle; else usb_close(handle); } } return NULL; }
Oh and the 0x0409 is the language code for English, this is also found from the USB specification. Note how the vendor and device names need to be fetched using our helper function – the standard device descriptor in
dev only tells the parameter values we need to use for
usbGetDescriptorString() to get them (fields iManufacturer and iProduct). This is of course understandable as device descriptor is constant length but the vendor and device names have varying length.
Now that we got past all the sillyness of helper functions to scan all USB devices and return their specially formatted descriptor messages in order to get one simple device handle, the rest of the code is very straightforward. Only thing making the USB communication different from standard structure of accessing a file are the calls to
usb_control_msg(), otherwise the general structure of open / do stuff / close applies:
int main(int argc, char **argv) { usb_dev_handle *handle = NULL; int nBytes = 0; char buffer[256]; if(argc < 2) { printf("Usage:\\n"); printf("usbtext.exe on\\n"); printf("usbtext.exe off\\n"); exit(1); } handle = usbOpenDevice(0x16C0, "codeandlife.com", 0x05DC, "USBexample"); if(handle == NULL) { fprintf(stderr, "Could not find USB device!\n"); exit(1); } if(strcmp(argv[1], "on") == 0) { nBytes = usb_control_msg(handle, USB_TYPE_VENDOR | USB_RECIP_DEVICE | USB_ENDPOINT_IN, USB_LED_ON, 0, 0, (char *)buffer, sizeof(buffer), 5000); } else if(strcmp(argv[1], "off") == 0) { nBytes = usb_control_msg(handle, USB_TYPE_VENDOR | USB_RECIP_DEVICE | USB_ENDPOINT_IN, USB_LED_OFF, 0, 0, (char *)buffer, sizeof(buffer), 5000); } if(nBytes < 0) fprintf(stderr, "USB error: %s\n", usb_strerror()); usb_close(handle); return 0; }
Note that the second parameter for
usb_control_msg now uses USB_TYPE_VENDOR to indicate we are sending a vendor-specific control message. You can also see that the request, value and index parameters (here USB_LED_ON/OFF, 0, 0) can be freely used to communicate with our code on device side.
You can grab the complete code for
usbtest.c from project zip file with two #defines that match the ones in
main.c and compile with
make usbtest.exe (actually just "make" suffices, as usbtest.exe is one of the default targets). Now you should be able to turn the LED on and off using commands "usbtest on" and "usbtest off". Note again that you need MinGW installed and "gcc" working in order to do this. The full compile command that "make" runs is:
gcc -I ./libusb/include -L ./libusb/lib/gcc -O -Wall usbtest.c -o usbtest.exe -lusb
Wow! That is all. I think this is enough for anyone to grasp in a single reading, so I will be splitting additional V-USB tricks into a fourth part of this tutorial that I will write later. Spending 5 hours in one setting to write this one is enough. :)
Proceed to the next part of this tutorial


text:
Keanu Reeves takes the starring role in Constantine, Warner Bros' big screen adaptation of DC Comics/Vertigo's Hellblazer graphic novels, also materialising on PS2 in the form of a third-person action horror. Mirroring the plot of the movie and promising paranormal thrills aplenty, Constantine sees you switching between realms and using supernatural weapons in a battle against pure evil.
The demon-bashing action takes place in the twin planes of Earth Los Angeles and Hell Los Angeles. One is a weird and vile domain, plagued by corruption and inhabited by evil, unnatural beasts. The other, presumably, is Hell LA.
Digs at America's movie capital aside, Constantine ticks all of the right boxes in terms of doing justice to its source material. Reeves and his co-stars Tilda Swinton, Gavin Rossdale and Max Baker have all loaned their likenesses to the game, as have legions of the film's hellish creatures. Fortunately, John Constatine packs a mean array of paranormal weapons and abilities to send them back to hell, such as the Crucifier, Storm Crow, and the Holy Shotgun.
1 Players
1 Player Types
See it in action

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Find the right fit.
English horse bits are a necessary piece of tack equipment when competing in English style riding events. They can be used while performing in the show ring or just on a ride in the yard. Snaffle bits, Pelham bits, and Kimberwick bits are used by riders of all experience levels. And don't forget curb chains, to ensure comfort for the horse.
Starting at:
Starting at:
Starting at:
Horse.com Resources
Sometimes, manufacturers require that products be advertised only at their suggested prices.
When we choose to sell these items for less, we display the sale price only in the cart. To see the price, click Add to Cart.


text:
ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at firstname.lastname@example.com.
- Thompson, Darrell Irwin
- Bush, Jeffrey
- 1 Arizona State University
- 1 Demars, James
- 1 Little, Bliss
- 1 Norton, Kay
- 1 Sunkett, Mark E
- 1 English
- Sound
- 1 Doctoral Dissertation
- 1 Public
- FyrStar
- African studies
- 1 African American studies
- 1 Music
- Reverse Fountain Cytoplasmic Streaming in Rhizopus Oryzae
- Diné Research Practices and Protocols: An Intersectional Paradigm Incorporating Indigenous Feminism, Critical Indigenous Research Methodologies and Diné Knowledge Systems
- Developing an Augmented Reality Solution for Mapping Underground Infrastructure
- Characterization of 2D Human Ankle Stiffness during Postural Balance and Walking for Robot-aided Ankle Rehabilitation
- Using Molecular, Cellular and Bioengineering Approaches Towards Understanding Muscle Stem Cell Biology
Illuminating Silent Voices: An African-American Contribution to the Percussion Literature in the Western Art Music Tradition will discuss how Raymond Ridley's original composition, FyrStar (2009), is comparable to other pre-existing percussion works in the literature. Selected compositions for comparison included Darius Milhaud's Concerto for Marimba, Vibraphone and Orchestra, Op. 278 (1949); David Friedman's and Dave Samuels's Carousel (1985); Raymond Helble's Duo Concertante for Vibraphone and Marimba, Op. 54 (2009); Tera de Marez Oyens's Octopus: for Bass Clarinet and one Percussionist (marimba/vibraphone) (1982). In the course of this document, the author will discuss the uniqueness of FyrStar's instrumentation of nine single …
- Contributors
- Thompson, Darrell Irwin, Sunkett, Mark E, Bush, Jeffrey, et al.
- Created Date
- 2012


text:
VersaCell Systems
One tube, one point-of-entry, one operator, one report.
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The VersaCell System links multiple chemistry and immunoassay instruments as needed. It's the simple path to improved workflow. With the VersaCell System's consolidation on demand, your lab will experience:
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Simple to Operate, Easy to Consolidate
The VersaCell System redefines simplicity. You simply open the sample drawer, load sample tubes, and close the drawer - the VersaCell System does the rest:
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Related Products, Services & Resources
The products/features (mentioned herein) are not commercially available in all countries. Due to regulatory reasons their future availability cannot be guaranteed. Please contact your local Siemens Healthineers organization for further details.


text:
Are banks the new black?
Recent returns indicate yes, as the sector racked up its biggest profit year-to-date since 2003, dragging the overall S&P 500 index with it.
Star analyst Meredith Whitney believes it's no fluke, and will continue into 2013, telling CNBC on Tuesday that Bank of America (BAC) and others are poised to post double-digit gains in the year ahead.
"There's an incredible growth opportunity within the financials, particularly Bank of America, Citigroup (C), Discover (DFS)-and there are others," Whitney told the network. "I think the underlying support is housing is close to bottom, so that is a great headwind relief for banks … They've come a long way."
She said the main catalyst would come in March when the Federal Reserve is expected to approve banks' plans to return more capital to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks in March.
Conservatively, that approval could allow BofA to quadruple its dividend, Whitney told CNBC.
As the network notes, Whitney has long been bearish on the industry, but turned more positive on the group Monday and upgraded Bank of America along with Citigroup and Discover.
She sees 45% upside for Bank of America alone.
"It's hard to find upside like that in any sector," she said.
Of course, she's been wrong before, famously predicting a massive wave of municipal defaults in 2011 that never occurred. Whitney first rose to fame with her accurate call on Citigroup in 2007, a precursor to the banking and credit crisis.


text:
Reno-Stead Airport (RTS) Offers
The Reno-Stead Airport is a 5,000 acre general aviation facility that serves as a reliever airport for Reno-Tahoe International Airport. Approximately 200 aircraft are based at Reno-Stead. This award winning airfield earned a well-deserved Airport Safety Award in 2006 from the Federal Aviation Administration in recognition of its safety enhancements, tenant relations, and community outreach.
Photos courtesy of Mark Johnston - www.intsysint.com
Located approximately 15 miles north of Reno, Reno-Stead Airport is working to develop itself as a major economic hub in the north valley. Recent improvements have included a new Air Tanker Facility opened by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as well as 9,000 feet of new runway and upgrades to runway lighting.
Click on the map below to see in a larger pdf format.
- 3,000 acres available for development
- Rare airside access at general aviation/reliever airport
- Annexed into City of Reno
- Rail spur option
- Two Runways
- Instrument Landing System and GPS approaches
- Airfield designed to commercial aircraft standards for emergency reliever use
- Over $40 million has been invested in airport improvements over the last seven years
For more information regarding economic development opportunities at Reno-Stead Airport, please contact Tina Iftiger, Vice President of Airport Economic Development, at 775-328-6417 or email@example.com.


text:
There may be no more beautiful way to explore the countryside villages of timeless Burgundy than from a river barge coasting the Saône River. Drift from one stunning landscape to another, stopping to roam the region's famous vineyards, ride bikes through its vast forests, and indulge in its unforgettable flavours. Then head to Paris for two nights of discovery for all of your senses. Experience the France of your dreams from the inside out.
- Travel Style : National Geographic Journeys
- Service Level : Upgraded
- Physical Grading : 3 - Average
- Trip Type : Small Group
- What's Included:Your Journeys Highlight Moment: Burgundy Wine Talk and Horizontal Tasting, Chalon-sur-Saône
Your Journeys Highlight Moment: Visit Hospices of Beaune, Beaune
Your Journeys Highlight Moment: Local Market Visit with a Chef, Paris
Your Welcome Moment: Meet Your CEO and Group
Your Hands-On Moment: Côte de Beaune Bike Ride, Chalon-sur-Saône. Six nights aboard the Danièle canal river barge. Orientation walk of Dijon and Ducal Palace. Verdun-sur-le-Doubs walking excursion. Visits to Dole and Longecourt-en-Plaine. Cycle through Gevrey-Chambertin. Côte de Nuits visit. Use of bicycles during shore excursions. All transport to/from included activities and between destinations.
- Highlights:Learn about Burgundy's renowned vineyards, Bike through the vineyards and villages, Stroll through the charming town of Seurre, Explore the markets of Paris
- Dossier Disclaimer:The information in this trip details document has been compiled with care and is provided in good faith. However it is subject to change, and does not form part of the contract between the client and the operator. The itinerary featured is correct at time of printing. It may differ slightly to the one in the brochure. Occasionally our itineraries change as we make improvements that stem from past travellers, comments and our own research. Sometimes it can be a small change like adding an extra meal along the itinerary. Sometimes the change may result in us altering the tour for the coming year. Ultimately, our goal is to provide you with the most rewarding experience. Please note that our brochure is usually released in November each year. If you have booked from the previous brochure you may find there have been some changes to the itinerary.
VERY IMPORTANT: Please ensure that you print a final copy of your Trip Details to review a couple of days prior to travel, in case there have been changes that affect your plans.
- Itinerary Disclaimer:While it is our intention to adhere to the route described below, there is a certain amount of flexibility built into the itinerary and on occasion it may be necessary, or desirable to make alterations. The itinerary is brief, as we never know exactly where our journey will take us. Due to our style of travel and the regions we visit, travel can be unpredictable. The Trip Details document is a general guide to the tour and region and any mention of specific destinations or wildlife is by no means a guarantee that they will be visited or encountered. Aboard expedition trips visits to research stations depend on final permission.
Additionally, any travel times listed are approximations only and subject to vary due to local circumstances.
- Itinerary Notes:This itinerary may change slightly due to river conditions.
- Important Notes:While it is our intention to follow the itinerary as advertised, some modifications to the itinerary may be needed if water levels become very low. This is rare, but please note that some excursions and activities may change if it is necessary to modify the sailing route.
All travellers are strongly encouraged to pack a reusable water bottle that can be filled from the water fountain on board the barge.
- Group Size Notes:Max 22
- Meals Included:9 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 4 dinners
- Transport:Private vehicles, Daniele river barge, bicycle, train, walking.
- Solo Travellers:We believe solo travellers should not have to pay more to travel so our group trips are designed for shared accommodation and do not involve a single supplement. Single travellers joining group trips are paired in twin or multi-share accommodation with someone of the same sex for the duration of the trip. Some of our Independent trips are designed differently and solo travellers on these itineraries must pay the single trip price.
- Accommodation:Aboard the Danièle river barge (6 nts), hotel (3 nts).
- About Accommodation:12 spacious cabins.
Amenities: each cabin has a window and is equipped with private en-suite facilities (shower and WC), TV, radio, telephone (for internal calls only), safe and independent air-conditioning.
Number of cabins : 12
Maximum passenger capacity : 24
Number of crew members : 5
Amenities on board : spacious lounge with bar - restaurant - sun deck with loungers and parasols - barbecue deck - Jacuzzi - bicycles on board available for use by passengers - wifi on board.
- Joining Hotel:For details of your joining hotel please refer to your tour voucher, G Account, the G Adventures App or contact your travel agent.
- Joining Instructions:When you arrive to Dijon, you will have several options to get to the hotel:
From Dijon Ville train station it's about 10 – 15 minutes by taxi to the hotel and the price is around €10 depending on traffic. Alternatively, you can take Tram 1 from stop Foch Gare to Auditorium which takes about 10 – 15 minutes as well and costs €1.20.
If you arrive into Gare de Dijon Porte Neuve it's a 10 minute walk or a few minutes by taxi. A taxi will cost around €5 - €6.
**We always recommend printing out the address of the hotel (in the native language as well as English if available), to show to your taxi driver.**
It's easy to reach Dijon by train. There is at least one direct train a day, otherwise most trains will go via Lyon and most trains will go into Dijon Ville train station. Some trains might arrive into Dijon Porte Neuve.
For the latest time tables and tickets, please visit http://www.sncf.com/en/passengers
Please note that day 1 is an arrival day and no activities have been planned on this day. Upon arrival to the city on day 1 (or earlier if you have booked pre-accommodation with us), please make your way to the joining hotel (note that check-in time will be in the afternoon). Once you arrive at the hotel, look for a note or bulletin board in the reception with a note from your CEO. This note will give the details of your Welcome Meeting on day 1 (usually between 5pm and 7pm), where you will get a chance to meet your CEO and other travellers, as well as learn more about how the tour will run. If you don't see a note, please ask reception for details!
If you are arriving later and will miss the Welcome Meeting, your CEO will leave a note at reception for you with any information you may need, and with morning instructions for the next day.
- Arrival Complications:We don't expect any problems, and nor should you, but if for any reason you are unable to commence your trip as scheduled, please refer to the emergency contact details provided in this dossier and contact us as soon as possible. If you have a pre-booked transfer, and you have not made contact with our representative within 30 minutes of clearing customs and immigration, we recommend that you make your own way to the Starting Point hotel, following the Joining Instructions. Please apply to your travel agent on your return for a refund of the transfer cost if this occurs.
- What to Take:We recommend using a backpack for your convenience, or a medium-sized suitcase if you prefer. A daypack is also essential for carrying everyday items. Space is limited on transportation, so there is a limit of one main piece of luggage per person. You will be responsible for carrying your own luggage. You must be prepared to carry your luggage up and down stairs, as well as on and off transportation.
Dress on board is informal. Plan to bring comfortable, casual clothing for all activities. When packing, we suggest that you do not weigh yourself down with too many clothes or too much gear. Select informal, practical attire that can be worn in layers.
- Packing List:Documents:
• Flight info (required) (Printouts of e-tickets may be required at the border)
• Insurance info (required) (With photocopies)
• Passport (required) (With photocopies)
• Required visas or vaccination certificates (required) (With photocopies)
• Vouchers and pre-departure information (required)
• Binoculars (optional)
• Camera (With extra memory cards and batteries)
• Cash, credit and debit cards
• Day pack (Used for daily excursions or short overnights)
• Ear plugs
• First-aid kit (should contain lip balm with sunscreen, sunscreen, whistle, Aspirin, Ibuprofen, bandaids/plasters, tape, anti-histamines, antibacterial gel/wipes, antiseptic cream, Imodium or similar tablets for mild cases of diarrhea, rehydration powder, water purification tablets or drops, insect repellent, sewing kit, extra prescription drugs you may be taking)
• Flashlight/torch (Headlamps are ideal)
• Fleece top/sweater
• Footwear
• Hat
• Locks for bags
• Long pants/jeans
• Moneybelt
• Outlet adapter
• Personal entertainment (Reading and writing materials, cards, music player, etc.)
• Reusable water bottle
• Shirts/t-shirts
• Sleepwear
• Small travel towel
• Sunglasses
• Toiletries (Preferably biodegradable)
• Watch and alarm clock
• Waterproof backpack cover
• Windproof rain jacket
Smart Dress:
• Smart outfit (For evenings out)
Warm Weather:
• Sandals/flip-flops
• Shorts/skirts (Longer shorts/skirts are recommended)
• Sun hat/bandana
• Swimwear
- Laundry:Laundry facilities are offered by some of our hotels for a charge. There will be times when you may want to or have to do your own laundry so we suggest you bring non-polluting/biodegradable soap.
- Visas and Entry Requirements:Contact your local embassy or consulate for the most up-to-date visa requirements, or see your travel agent. It is your responsibility to have the correct travel documentation. While we provide the following information in good faith, it is vital that you check yourself and understand that you are fully responsible for your own visa requirements.
All visitors to the EU (European Union) and EEC (European Economic Community) countries require a valid passport (with a minimum 6 months validity). USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand passport holders do not need a visa to visit the Schengen area (see below), however they may not stay longer than three months in any 6-month period.
For other nationalities, travelling in Europe has been simplified with the introduction of the Schengen visa. As a visitor to the Schengen area (Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Portugal, Finland, Italy, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Sweden, Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland) you will enjoy the many advantages of this unified visa system. Generally speaking with a Schengen visa, you may enter one Schengen country and travel freely throughout the Schengen region during the validity of your visa. There are limited border controls at Schengen borders, if any at all.
Please note that the UK and Ireland are NOT part of the Schengen agreement.
A Schengen visa is applied for at the Embassy or Consulate of the Schengen country in which you will be spending the most nights on your trip to the Schengen space. If you are only visiting one country on your trip then you apply for your visa at the Consulate of this Schengen country.
- Emergency Fund:Please also make sure you have access to at least an additional USD $200 (or equivalent) as an 'emergency' fund, to be used when circumstances outside our control (ex. a natural disaster) require a change to our planned route. This is a rare occurrence!
- Tipping:It is customary in Europe to leave a small tip for service providers, such as waiters, if you are pleased with the service (€1-2).
Tipping is an expected - though not compulsory - component of your tour program, and an expression of satisfaction with the persons who have assisted you on your tour. Although it may not be customary to you, it is of considerable significance to the people who will take care of you during your travels. There are several times during the trip where there is opportunity to tip the local guides. You may do this individually, or your CEO will offer to collect the money and tip as a group. Recommendations for tipping local guides would range from €3-5 per day, depending on the quality and length of the service; ask your CEO for specific recommendations based on the circumstances and culture.
Also at the end of each trip if you felt your G Adventures CEO did an outstanding job, tipping is appreciated. The amount is entirely a personal preference, however as a guideline €30-40 per person, per week can be used.
- Optional Activities:Paris
- Sacre Coeur Visit (Free)
- Eiffel Tower Visit (16EUR per person)
- Luxembourg Garden Visit (Free)
- Napoleon's Tomb - Les Invalides Army Museum (12EUR per person)
- The Louvre Visit (12-16EUR per person)
- Musée d'Orsay Visit (11EUR per person)
- Musée Rodin Visit (12EUR per person)
- Walk Along the Seine River (Free)
- Moulin Rouge Dinner & Show (175-185EUR per person)
- Palace of Versailles Visit (18EUR per person)
- Monet's Giverny Gardens (10.20EUR per person)
- A Couple of Rules:Illegal drugs will not be tolerated on any trips. Possessing or using drugs not only contravenes the laws of the land but also puts the rest of the group at risk. Smoking marijuana and opium is a part of local culture in some parts of the world but is not acceptable for our travellers. Our philosophy of travel is one of respect towards everyone we encounter, and in particular the local people who make the world the special place it is. The exploitation of people in the sex trade is completely contrary to this philosophy. Our CEOs have the right to expel any member of the group if drugs are found in their possession or if they engage in any form of paid sex work.
- Travel Insurance:Travel insurance is compulsory in order to participate on any of our trips. When travelling on a group trip, you will not be permitted to join the group until evidence of travel insurance has been sighted by your leader, who will take note of your insurance details. When selecting a travel insurance policy we require that at a minimum you are covered for medical expenses including emergency evacuation and repatriation. A minimum coverage of USD200,000 is required. G Adventures can provide you with the appropriate coverage. We strongly recommend that the policy also covers personal liability, cancellation, curtailment and loss of luggage and personal effects. Some tours include adventure activities that require extra coverage (e.g. crampon use); please review your itinerary and make sure that you are covered for all included activities. If you have credit card insurance we require proof of purchase of the trip (a receipt of credit card statement) with a credit card in your name. Contact your bank for details of their participating insurer, the level of coverage and emergency contact telephone number.
- Newsletter:Our adventure travel e-newsletter is full of travel news, trip information, interesting stories and contests. To avoid missing out on special offers and updates from G Adventures, subscribe at www.gadventures.com/newsletters/
Stay current on how our company invests in our global community through our foundation – Planeterra. Sign up for Planeterra's monthly news to learn more about how to give back and support the people and places we love to visit.
- Minimum Age:You must be 18 to travel unaccompanied on a G Adventures tour. For minors travelling with a guardian over 21 years old, the minimum age is 12.
- International Flights:Check-in times and baggage allowances/restrictions vary by airline and can change at any time. For the most up-to-date information for your flight, please contact your airline. We recommend checking in online in advance to avoid potential delays at the airport.
- Group Leader:Chief Experience Officer (CEO) throughout.
Itinerary (10 days)
- 1
Arrive at any time.
- 2
Enjoy an orientation walk in the morning to explore Dijon. Visit the Ducal Palace, the local market and the old town. In the afternoon, enjoy free time before transferring to the river barge and embarking the Danièle.
- 3
Cycle to Gevrey-Chambertin, a small but well known Burgundy village. Enjoy wine tasting at a local winery and continue to Côte du Nuits before meeting the barge in Longecourt-en-Plaine. This mostly flat route is the best way to see quintessential Burgundy.
- 4
Spend this morning walking along the canal stopping in small villages and looking at the various locks. Enjoy the Burgundy canal as we walk a 10km (6.2 mi) stretch of the canal between Longecourt and St-Jean-de-Losne. Embark on the barge to continue towards Auxonne. Upon arrival, take a short train ride to the charming town of Dole for dinner and free time to explore.
- 5
Have a relaxing morning on board, or take some more time to wander around Auxonne. Continue on to Seurre with some free time to explore this quaint town on your own.
- 6
Spend the morning relaxing on the barge. This afternoon, take in a presentation by a local winemaker and enjoy a horizontal tasting. Continue towards Verdun-sur-le-Doubs with free time to explore.
- 7
Enjoy a full day of biking through vineyards and villages along the Canal du Centre. Stop in the charming villages of Chagny and Santenay along the way. Enjoy wine tasting at the Château de Marsannay, followed by a stop in Meursault for an optional lunch before returning to the barge in Fragnes.
- 8
Transfer to Beaune, the historic wine capital of Burgundy. Enjoy a tour with a docent, exploring the Hospices of Beaune, a charitable hospital that has been funded by the annual wine auction for over 155 years. Delve into history and discuss the relationship of the hospice with the powerful wine merchants of Burgundy. Enjoy some free time to explore before catching the train to Paris.
- 9
Explore the historic covered Marché d'Aligre with a local chef and food expert. Rarely visited by tourists, this market is where locals come to shop for food. Meet vendors, enjoy tastings, and learn about the history of the market and the specialties offered here. The afternoon is free to explore the city on your own.
- 10
Depart at any time.


text:
| 10.8°C Belfast
Rowan Atkinson has successfully claimed £910,000 to fix his smashed-up McLaren F1 supercar, it has been reported.
The Blackadder star's repair bill is believed to be the highest ever recorded in Britain.
And after the year-long work following the August 2011 crash, the Mr Bean star's annual insurance premium is now thought to be as high as £60,000.
Rowan, whose Mr Bean act returned to a worldwide audience during the Olympics opening ceremony last summer, suffered a shoulder injury in the crash involving the 240mph car, which is thought to be worth around £3 million.
Ben Stagg, a senior client manager at specialist insurers RK Harrison, told the online Daily Mail: "It costs between £10,000 and £15,000 a year just to keep a McLaren F1 insured off-road in a garage.
"If you want to drive it - and it seems Mr Atkinson drives his a lot - your premium could rise to between £20-£40,000 a year because of the added road risk.
"Now he has crashed it, Mr Atkinson's insurers may increase the premium by another 50%. They could also insert a limited mileage clause and increase his excess to around half the car's total value."


text:
Peter_Frank wrote:Dont know where that is...Westozzy wrote:Most people are sheep, true. Probably why 90 percent use directionals now maybe in our part of the world, the other 9.9 percent on other types, 0.1 on modern mutants. Whose the sheep here?
Here most are still using TT's
But fortunately many are becoming aware of the advantages of directionals now, so a slow change is gradually coming it seems
The major problem here, is to find someone to kite with - and most often out alone, as so few are into waves, and choose the low water TT instead
West coast of western australia mate


text:
DALLAS, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Larry Hagman, the actor who became one of TV's favorite villains as J.R. Ewing in "Dallas," died Friday at a Dallas hospital, family members said.
Hagman, 81, was in the city to film a new version of "Dallas" for TNT, The Dallas Morning News reported. His family said he had been suffering from cancer.
"Larry was back in his beloved Dallas re-enacting the iconic role he loved most," his family said in a statement. "Larry's family and close friends had joined him in Dallas for the Thanksgiving holiday. When he passed, he was surrounded by loved ones."
Hagman, son of Mary Martin, then a 17-year-old future Broadway star, and her then husband, Benjamin Hagman, a Texas district attorney, began his stage career in Dallas. For many years, he was a busy actor appearing on stage, in guest appearances in TV shows and roles in movies like "The Group." He was best-known for his star turn in the situation comedy "I Dream of Jeannie."
In 1977, he was offered the role of J.R. The show, originally a mini-series, ran for 13 seasons on CBS, and Hagman appeared in all 357 episodes. At the height of the show's popularity, an estimated 300 million people in scores of countries watched each episode.
In a memoir, "Hello Darlin,'" Hagman talked of the summer of 1980: "Ronald Reagan was campaigning against Jimmy Carter, American hostages were being held in Iran, Polish shipyard workers were on strike, and all anyone wanted to know was, who shot J.R.?"
Hagman negotiated a new contract getting him $100,000 an episode.
He is survived by his wife, Maj Axelsson, who married him 59 years ago, a son and daughter and five granddaughters.


text:
Man these things are good. I just ate today 2 plates full of them, by full I mean normal sized dinner plate with them lined up in a circular fashion(I would say about 12-15).
Then I heated them in the microwave for 30 secs and ate. Then after I was done with that I proceded to make two sandwhiches of which consisted of nothing than a plate of them and heated them.
After finishing that off. I proceded to make another plate of pepperoni. All while watching T.V. and drinking cherry flavored store bought soda I might add.
Who else here loves pepperoni?


text:
SLD Teacher (Specific Learning Disability Teacher) is very similar to another occupation for which we have
a full profile.
Check out our full profile for:
Special Education Teachers, Middle School
Teach middle school subjects to educationally and physically handicapped students. Includes teachers who specialize and work with audibly and visually handicapped students and those who teach basic academic and life processes skills to the mentally impaired.
BD Special Education Teacher (Behavioral Disorders Special Education Teacher)
Behaviorally-Emotionally Disabled Teacher (BED Teacher)
Early Intervention Specialist
EBD Special Education Teacher (Emotional-Behavioral Disabilities Special Education Teacher)
ED Special Education Teacher (Emotional Disabilities Special Education Teacher)
Educational Resource Center Teacher (ERC Teacher)
EMD Teacher (Educable Mentally Disabled Teacher)
Exceptional Children Teacher (EC Teacher)
Exceptional Student Education Teacher (ESE Teacher)
Functional Mental Disability Teacher (FMD Teacher)
Hearing Impaired Teacher (HI Teacher)
Inclusion Teacher
Individual Education Program Team Leader (IEP Team Leader)
Individual Small Group Instructor
Interrelated Special Education Teacher
Intervention Specialist
Learning and Behavior Disorders Special Education Teacher (LBD Special Education Teacher)
Learning Center Instructor
Learning Disabilities Resource Teacher (LD Resource Teacher)
Learning Disabilities Specialist
Learning Disabilities Teacher (LD Teacher)
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Learning Support Teacher
Least Restricted Environment Facilitator (LRE Facilitator)
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MID Teacher (Mildly Intellectually Disabled Teacher)
Middle School Resource Teacher
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MMD Unit Teacher (Mild Mental Disability Unit Teacher)
MMI Teacher (Mildly Mentally Impaired Teacher)
MOID Middle School Teacher (Moderately Intellectually Disabled Middle School Teacher)
MOMD Teacher (Moderate Mental Disability Teacher)
MR Teacher (Mentally Retarded Teacher)
NSH Teacher (Non-Severely Handicapped Teacher)
Reading Specialist
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SED Special Education Teacher (Severe Emotional Disorders Special Education Teacher)
Self-Contained Special Education Teacher
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TMD Teacher (Trainable Mentally Disabled Teacher)
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VE Teacher (Varying Exceptionalities Teacher)
Vocational Trainer


text:
Abstract and Keywords
Connectionism is an important theoretical framework for the study of human cognition and behavior. Also known as Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP) or Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), connectionism advocates that learning, representation, and processing of information in mind are parallel, distributed, and interactive in nature. It argues for the emergence of human cognition as the outcome of large networks of interactive processing units operating simultaneously. Inspired by findings from neural science and artificial intelligence, connectionism is a powerful computational tool, and it has had profound impact on many areas of research, including linguistics. Since the beginning of connectionism, many connectionist models have been developed to account for a wide range of important linguistic phenomena observed in monolingual research, such as speech perception, speech production, semantic representation, and early lexical development in children. Recently, the application of connectionism to bilingual research has also gathered momentum. Connectionist models are often precise in the specification of modeling parameters and flexible in the manipulation of relevant variables in the model to address relevant theoretical questions, therefore they can provide significant advantages in testing mechanisms underlying language processes.
Keywords: connectionism, neural networks, parallel distributed processing (PDP), language development, language processing, bilingualism, simple recurrent network (SRN), self-organizing map (SOM), DevLex models
Access to the complete content on Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter without a subscription.
Please subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.
For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can''t find the answer there, please contact us.


text:
Suppose you have a set A which has the same cardinality with real numbers R, which means |A| = |R|. Also suppose that you have a finite set B , which of course has finite cardinality. Also suppose A is a proper subset of A union B, I mean there are some objects which are not an element of A but they are an element of B.
Now is the cardinality of A union B greater than the cardinality of real numbers, also if so is this cardinality of A union B equal to cardinality of the power set of real numbers ?


text:
Car/snowmobile collision leaves 1 in hospital
VERNON -- A Rome man is in the hospital after a car/snowmobile collision in the Town of Vernon Saturday.
Zachary Reader, 25 of Rome, was operating a 1997 Ski-Do snowmobile heading west on Trail No. S70B around 7:10 p.m. when police say he failed to stop prior to crossing Route 26 and drove into the path of a southbound 2010 Chevrolet SUV operated by Robert Clemons of Holland Patent. Reader was ejected from the snowmobile and knocked his helmet off of his head.
Reader was transported to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Utica for non life-threatening injuries. Clemons was seen by emergency medical personnel at the scene but declined medical treatment.
Both the snowmobile and SUV sustained major damage as a result of the collision.
Reader was later issued tickets for imprudent speed, failure to stop prior to crossing a highway, unregistered snowmobile, and operating a snowmobile on a highway without insurance. He is scheduled to appear in Vernon Town Court at a later date.
The Oneida County Sheriff's Office was assisted at the scene by members of Vineall Ambulance, Vernon Fire Department, and the New York State Police.


text:
As cyclists we should be pretty happy with Seattle Mayor "Bikin' Mike" McGinn's proposed city budget for 2011-12. At a time of severe belt-tightening at all administrative levels of government, alternative transportation fares well — a bump up of $13 million for the coming year.
So sure, the cyclist in us celebrates our good fortune. There's just one problem.
With everyone else hurting, we cannot feel too good about getting ours.
If there's one thing we missed at last night's inaugural public hearing on the budget, it was a shared sense of burden. Group after deserving group, cause after worthy cause, decried the slashes in funding — their own funding. The Non-Profit Assistance Center … SCAN public TV … Friends of the Library … library hour cutbacks, homeless funding, refugee assistance, neighborhood support, low-income housing. All earnestly pleaded for more dollars.
Nobody denies their legitimate claim to more funding. Nobody believes their constituencies deserve less. But the brutal truth is that the city has fewer dollars this year than last, and will probably fall short of projected revenue as well. The downward cycle is in full swing — increased unemployment means less spending, less spending means less revenue, less revenue means increased unemployment. To quote Leonard Cohen, everybody knows the good guys lost.
The fact is, cyclists as a niche group understand, sympathize with, and directly support things like libraries, neighborhood centers, minority needs, homeless efforts and other causes. And it's just as true that each of these constituencies supports the work of their fellow underprivileged or disenfranchised.
When everyone is hurting, it helps no one to hold out an I-me-mine hand. We should all be in this together. Sending the message that our bottom line should be funded without expressing solidarity with other deserving efforts plays into the hands of corporate kingpins who justify their own greed and selfishness on the grounds that even Tibetan refugees are only out for their own self-interest. It's divide and conquer at its most cynical.
As Michael Moore put it in "Sicko," we have to decide whether we're a me society or a we society.
What if this happened. What if everyone got together at the start of the hearing and gathered at the microphone and, in unison, said, We all support one another's efforts to make Seattle a better place. We all support one another's need for restored funding. We all want to work with the City Council and Mayor McGinn to figure out how to distribute the budget burden fairly and equitably among all constituencies. And we'll all look out for all our own best interests.
As a cyclist, our message to the Council is:
We're exceedingly grateful for Mayor Mike McGinn's funding of cycling, pedestrian and transportation alternatives. But any satisfaction we derive must be tempered by the plight of Seattle's many deserving but underfunded other efforts, from libraries to the homeless, the hungry and minority communities. We urge the City Council to find a way to reduce the deep budget slashes imposed on all Seattle's social-support efforts. If we have to sacrifice our own gains, so be it. The goal is fair fiscal distribution. Perhaps we could start by reassessing the wisdom of a $4 billion tunnel — an unimaginable amount of money that would fund any number of city causes in perpetuity.


text:
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An introduction to the journal is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics related to reviewed books and the range of reasons why the review process is meaningful.


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Ato 5X3 Single Sofa Bed , big corner sofabed
From £1,224
26 October
Move over DFS!!
Absolutely fantastic service and quality of product. Fast to answer the phones and emails queries, generous in ensuring customers may receive swatches to choose the perfect match for their room,
26 October
Second sofa we have bought from Nabru…
Second sofa we have bought from Nabru and both have been excellent. Customer service both before and after purchase has always been outstanding. Highly recommend
Beata Winterton
23 October
Great product and service
I ordered a sofa bed from this company and was very impressed. I got an email from them the day before the scheduled delivery to advise me that they had run out of my preferred material but offered
Stumpy S
19 October
Highly recommend
Delivered on time, kept me updated when i asked for a rough time the morning of delivery, delivery driver was lovely and helpful even though my road is extremely difficult! Fairly tricky to get
10 October
Highly recommended
I had previously owned a sofa from Nabru and was so happy with it I decided to use the company again. I love that you can customise everything so the sofa can fit into your room and get the fabric
7 October
Best sofa ever!
Sofa turned up exactly when we arranged and the quality is absolutely fantastic, without a doubt the comfiest sofa I've ever used the fabric is excellent and cleans very easily, all in all an
Matt Gibson
7 October
Fantastic service
Fantastic service, from start to finish, everyone I have dealt with has been amazing. Ordered the Sker 3x2, 2 weeks ago, delivered today. Amazing quality and the guy that delivered it was so pleasant
Ms Allison Phillipps
6 October
Great business model, maybe too much business to manage.
2nd Update, Had a really good experience today, advance call of delivery, prompt arrival and quick but careful setup. First impression is the sofa is comfy and feels like it's built to last. 1st
Trev B
1 October
Quality product, fantastic service
I have owned my Nabru sofa for 8 years and moved house with it 4 times. It goes really well in lots of different room configurations. People often comment on it. I recently replaced the covers due to
30 September
Great customer service and good…
Great customer service and good
30 September
Excellent service
Excellent service. We bought a sofa bed for our loft room a few years ago and we are delighted with it, very comfortable and easy to assemble. Earlier this year we bought a two seater sofa and again
Mrs Maddocks
30 September
We liked the choice in colours and size…
We liked the choice in colours and size of our new sofabed. It could be assembled by one person although it was sometimes hard to add cushion covers. Nabru was quick to replace a damaged piece of
CollectPlus Customer
30 September
Really good Sofas at a great price
Really good Sofas at a great price, it's really good that they're easy to
Raghad Sallomi
30 September
Simple to build, rewarding to sit on, excellent value
I had a fantastic experience with Nabru, easy to assemble the couch. Took about an hour for a 3 seater. Their customer service is exceptional and the communication was thorough also. Even their
Robert Traynor
30 September
Great product
Great product, great price, swift
Lee Snedker
30 September
An amazing sofa
An amazing sofa. It's easy(ish) to put together - as a bloke, I chose to not read the instructions or watch videos of course, but I would actually recommend you do. It's like a huge 3D jigsaw and
Adam Gale


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| 10.6°C Belfast
Kim Deal is no longer part of the Pixies.
The band announced on their Facebook page that the 52-year-old bassist has decided to leave the group.
The remaining members said in a statement they are "very proud" to have worked with Deal.
Black Francis, Joey Santiago and David Lovering also said they will always consider her a member of the group.
The Pixies released their debut in 1988. Their rock hits include Monkey Gone To Heaven, Here Comes Your Man and Letter To Memphis.
They disbanded in the early 1990s and reunited in 2004. Deal was also a part of the band The Breeders, which she formed and worked as lead singer and guitarist.
The Pixies' last tour was in 2011. Their last single was 2004's Bam Thwok.


text: The newest offering from the time honored builder, Jim Lindell. The Offshore 38 Outboard is a combination of all the incredible features of the many other Lindell models. She is so fishing capable she could be used commercially, and so luxury rich that she can be used as a fine luxury cruising yacht. Built for the Pacific Northwest but capable anywhere in the world. If you are looking for a vessel that fulfills a purpose, a craft that enables you to do more and do it in comfort and safety, the Lindell Offshore 38 Outboard might be just the boat for you. Now is the time to customize her exactly like you want her.


text: Windows 10 is out, but when will you get it?By Mark WilsonPublished 2015-08-01You won't have missed the fact that Windows 10 is now out in the wild. The wait is over! Or is it? This is something of a soft launch this time around; not everyone will be getting the upgrade at the same time as it is being staggered.Detailed information about at:


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Light Up Your Life with a Custom-Made Neon Sign from Echo Neon
All You Need Is Love – Custom Neon Light , Perfect For Weddings | xoxo Wedding Chicks
All You Need Is Love – Custom Neon Light , Perfect For Weddings | xoxo Wedding Chicks
Shop Now: Echo Neon Studio
Does setting a dark wallpaper or theme on a phone improve its battery life?
Only OLED / AMOLED / SAMOLED displays can save power if a black wallpaper is kept. Normal LCD displays will have no effect and will use the same power if a white or lighter wallpaper is use.
The reason for that is in OLED displays, individual pixels light up to create an image. So on the black regions, you are actually turning the pixels off thus they use no power. Whereas LCD has a back-light which is always on no matter what colour is displayed on your screen.
Here are list of the best 5 OLED Smartphones Today:


text:
Here are the
Company info
Terms of Use
Article 1: Use of the Website
Article 2: Prohibited Activities
Article 3: Website functionalities
Article 1: Use of the Website
The website and/or mobile application
(the "
") is available to any user above 13 years of age (the "
"), subject to the acceptance of these Terms of Use. The Website owned and operated by
s.r.o., ID No. 29352886, with registered office at Palachovo náměstí 797/4, Starý Lískovec, Post Code 625 00 Brno, registered in the Companies Register maintained by the Regional Court of Brno, file no. C 74565, Tax ID No. CZ29352886.
The User agrees to keep confidential any passwords provided to access the Website and ensure that no unauthorised third parties gain access to them. The User accepts responsibility for any financial consequences arising from the use of this Website with the User's password to the Website or from the use of the User's passwords by third parties.
The rules regarding the processing of the personal data of the Users can be found in Privacy Policy within the Website.
Article 2: Prohibited Activities
The content and information on this Website (including subjects of intellectual property, price and availability information relating to the products and services provided via the Website), as well as the infrastructure used to provide such content and information, is proprietary to
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In addition, the User hereby agrees not to:
use another person's name, ID or password without permission or use this Website while impersonating another person;
use any device, software or routine to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of this Website;
make any speculative, false, or fraudulent booking or any booking in anticipation of demand;
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"frame", "mirror" or otherwise incorporate any part of this Website into any other website without
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The Website contains multiple functionalities which are available to the User. Please see below the terms of use of these functionalities below.
Price Alert
Price Alert is a functionality available on the "search" part of the Website. This functionality allows Users to save particular search query in order to be notified about the better price(s) related to this query. User has to type the email, receive the confirmation email and that will submit the price alert.
The usage of this functionality is conditioned by the following steps on the side of the User:
the User clicks the "create price alert" button;
the User submits his/hers email to
via modal window with the overview of the respective flight(s);
the User verifies the email address via verification email send by
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After that moment, the respective price alert is created and the following shall apply:
the User will obtain email notification in case that the respective price changes within more than 5%;
the User may obtain other promotional emails from
the User may modify the parameters of the price alert only via "manage my booking" part of the Website
the User may cancel the price alert notification emails and/or any of the promotional emails by "cancel" and/or "unsubscribe" buttons which are part of the each email sent to the User.
The Newsletter is a marketing related functionality which can be used in order to contact and inform the Users via email email about specific marketing and product related topics, news and offers.The Users may be asked to enter their email address in three separate locations within the Website, namely the Booking page, the dropdown menu on the
homepage, or within
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the User submits his/hers email to
via "Subscribe to Newsletter" modal window;
the User is asked via check-box if marketing offers and news can be sent into his/her email address:
if Users Opts-in into marketing offers and news, newsletter can be sent into email address;
if Users Opts-out into marketing offers and news, newsletter can not be sent into email address;
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homepage: by clicking "subscribe to newsletter" button
Stories: by clicking "subscribe" button
Booking page: just by the fact that email address was filled in into email address field
After that moment, the respective Newsletter subscription is created and the following shall apply:
full Newsletter subscription=the User clicked subscription button or finished any booking and is opt-in into marketing offers and news: the User may receive email newsletters randomly with specific marketing, product or 3rd party offers. email address is kept for 3 years after the latest booking or email subscription activation;
medium Newsletter subscription=the User clicked subscription button or finished any booking and is opt-out from marketing offers and news: the User may just randomly receive transaction related information including abandoned cart and search campaigns. email address is kept for 3 years after the latest booking or email subscription activation;
low Newsletter subscription=the User started a booking process, filled an email address into email address field on booking page but booking process was not finished because of any reasons. The User may receive just abandoned cart email notifications. Email address will be kept in our database for 30 days, then will be anonymized;
the User may cancel or modify Newsletter subscription by "cancel" and/or "unsubscribe" buttons which are part of every email sent to the User.
To login or register navigate to the Website and select "Manage My Booking". This opens up the register / login screen.
An account can be created through various channels:
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Using "Email" - with this option, the email and password provided during registration is used. Once the User has registered on the Website, they would use the "Sign In" option on the register / login screen.
After a booking has been created with respective booking credentials
Price Alerts
After the User has logged in, they can amend the frequency of their existing Price Alerts to either daily or weekly. The Price Alert can be deleted from the list on the "My Price Alerts" tab. There is no way to amend the dates on an existing Price Alert. A new search needs to be specified and a new Price Alert created using the "Create Price Alert" button on the
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At Top Limo Las Vegas we stress the importance of providing our clients a safe journey and professional service and our goal is to exceed their expectations. With over ten years of experience our chauffeurs are knowledgeable about the casinos and all venues in Las Vegas. You are in good hands when you ride with Top Limo Las Vegas.
Whether you need a memorable strip tour or a comfortable ride to a vital business meeting, let Top Limo Las Vegas transport you in a luxurious limo with the professionalism and care that you deserve. Experience exceptional customer service and make a reservation with Top Limo Las Vegas, call 702-823-1118.


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SAN RAFAEL (AP) — The trial of a Northern California teenager charged with the brazen theft of celebrity chef Guy Fieri's Lamborghini sports car from a San Francisco dealership has started in a Marin County courtroom.
Max Wade, 19, has been charged with commercial burglary and auto theft in the 2011 heist that was pulled off by a burglar who rappelled into the British Motors dealership and drove off in Fieri's $200,000 convertible, which was being repaired. He is being tried as an adult, although he was a minor when the theft occurred.
Marin County authorities who were investigating Wade in an unrelated drive-by shooting found the missing car last year when they followed him to a storage facility across San Francisco Bay.
Wade also has been charged with attempted murder in the shooting, which involved a girl whom Wade allegedly liked and her boyfriend. Neither was injured.
"Max Wade already had the flashy yellow Lamborghini, but he wanted to have the beautiful blonde to go with it, and he was willing to kill to get it," Deputy District Attorney Yvette Martinez told jurors during opening statements in a San Rafael courtroom Friday.
Defense lawyer Charles Dresow countered that only circumstantial evidence links his client to either crime.
"The Lamborghini theft and the shooting occurred. There is no doubt about that," Dresow said. "They were victims. The evidence will show that they were not victims of my client."
Wade has pleaded not guilty to all charges, which would carry a maximum prison term of up to 30 years if he is convicted.
Along with Fieri's car, Marin detectives found the gun allegedly used in the shooting, climbing gear, two assault rifles and shotgun shells, a San Francisco Police Department uniform and badge and false identification cards for California, Florida and New York.
The Marin County sheriff's department has taken extra security precautions, such as tethering the defendant to a chair bolted to the floor, for Wade's trial, which is expected to last about a month.
Last year, at least two suspects tried to break into the Marin County juvenile detention facility with sledge hammers in what investigators believe was unsuccessful attempt to free the teen. Outside the jail, investigators found holes cut into two perimeter fences, bolt cutters and a damaged window at Wade's cell.
His mother, Leylla Wade, took offense at the prosecution's description of her son, calling it "cruel" and "untrue."
"Of course I'm his mom and I'm going to defend my son, but he would never, ever try to take someone's life," she told the Marin Independent Journal.
SAN RAFAEL (AP) — The trial of a Northern California teenager charged with the brazen theft of celebrity chef Guy Fieri's Lamborghini sports car from a San Francisco dealership has started in a Marin County courtroom.


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Space debris: assessing the risk
The threat posed by small, untracked space debris is significant, precisely because their exact number (a lot) and dispersion (almost everywhere) are tough to quantify. (Part 2 of a 3-part series.)
Assessing the risk that space debris pose to operational spacecraft and satellites is a challenge and depends on whether you are worried about being hit by a known, tracked debris object or by an unknown object. At least the known objects are, well, known. These include old spacecraft, other satellites, rocket bodies and large fragments from past break-ups.
They are tracked by a number of countries, including Germany, France, the UK and the USA, as well as by ESA itself, using both optical telescopes and radar. At the end of 2003, there were some 10 000 catalogued debris objects surrounding Earth.
"Radar is most efficient for debris detection below 5000 km altitude while optical tracking is preferred for higher levels and for geostationary orbital zones used by telecommunications and broadcast satellites," said ESA's Professor Walter Flury, speaking at a seminar in Germany last October.
The resulting orbital data for large debris objects are compiled into catalogues widely available in the space community; these include the DISCOS (Database and Information System Characterising Objects in Space) database maintained by the Mission Analysis staff at ESA's Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt.
DISCOS can be used to generate detailed data on all known, tracked objects. ESA uses it to assess the threat to agency satellites; when the risk of a collision meets a predefined threshold, an alarm is sounded and mission controllers can order the spacecraft involved to take evasive action.
"It's now standard practice that near-Earth satellites carry an allowance of fuel simply for taking evasive manoeuvres during the craft's operational lifetime," says Dr Heiner Klinkrad, a debris specialist at ESOC in Darmstadt, Germany.
Small objects, big threat
However, assessing the risk due to smaller debris objects and meteoroids is an entirely different matter, as these are difficult or impossible to track.
Smaller debris range from microscopic particles of dust, which are relatively harmless, up to objects about 1 cm in diameter. Objects in this range are a threat, but protective shielding, including Whipple Shield technology, is sufficiently robust to defeat these. Shielding, however, can only be used on some missions, such as the International Space Station (ISS).
Whipple Shields use a multi-layer system similar to the armour employed on tanks and military vehicles to defeat armour-piercing rounds fired from high-velocity cannon. Orbital debris objects are also travelling very fast, typically tens of thousands of kilometres per hour.
Deadly objects in 1- to 10-cm range
Objects from 1 to 10 cm in size — about the diameter of a salad bowl — cause the real worry. These are too small and numerous to be individually tracked but could cripple or kill any craft they hit.
To assess risk in the deadly 1- to 10-cm range, scientists at ESA and other space organizations use sophisticated probability models and software. Risk is predicted based on a spacecraft's cross-sectional area, its orbital altitude and flight path, the assumed size of debris objects, the geometry of a collision event and relative speed, among other factors.
For example, for a satellite with a 100-m2 cross-sectional area (including solar panels) orbiting at 400 km altitude, the mean time between impact with a debris object 10 cm in size has been calculated to be on the order of 15 000 years.
More specifically, for ESA's ERS Earth observation satellites, which use Synthetic Aperture Radar and other instruments to measure ocean winds and surface topography and have an area profile of about 30 m2, the mean time between collisions with an object larger than 10 cm is about 4000 years.
Collision events once per decade
While these figures may at first glance seem comfortably large for any particular satellite, there are many satellites in orbit around the Earth. "If you calculate the combined profile area of all satellites in orbit, you find that the average time between destructive collisions is about 10 years," says Klinkrad.
Considering that even a single 10-cm debris collision event could wipe out a multi-million-Euro spacecraft or hit the (manned) ISS, a risk of even one impact per decade suddenly becomes very serious.
Destructive collisions do happen
In 1993, the first servicing mission found a hole over 1 cm in diameter in a high-gain antenna mounted on the Hubble Space Telescope; a debris object completely penetrated the antenna dish (but the unit continued working).
In July 1996, France's Cerise military reconnaissance satellite was struck and severely damaged by, ironically, a catalogued Ariane upper-stage explosion fragment; a 4.2-metre portion of Cerise's gravity gradient stabilisation boom was torn off.
As of 2001, Space Shuttle windows had been replaced 80 times due to sub-millimetre object impacts.
Will there be more collisions in the current decade? Nobody can predict with certainty, but it is obvious that steps toward mitigation are required.
ESA space debris research
In addition to the debris warning system developed at ESOC, additional ESA space debris research is done at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), in The Netherlands, mainly focusing on the space segment. Activities include:
- Development and deployment of impact detectors
- Development of impact risk assessment tools
- Development and testing of shielding designs
- Support for shielding design verification
- Impact analysis of retrieved hardware
- Assessment of impact damage
In many cases, ESA actively shields its satellites, or at least critical areas — such as pressurized tanks, a requirement that is obligatory for human space missions. "It is a mandatory requirement for the ISS by NASA and ESA that all modules and other critical areas used for human space flight should be shielded," says Dr Gerhard Drolshagen, a debris research scientist at ESTEC.
Dr Drolshagen explains that special shielding has been developed and applied to the Columbus module, a 4.5-metre cylindrical orbiting lab expected to significantly boost research capabilities on the ISS and described as "ESA's biggest single contribution to the ISS." Protective measures have also been taken for pressurized tanks onboard XMM and Rosetta.
"Hyper velocity impact testing was performed for the Huygens heat shield to verify that it would be effective even with some impact craters suffered during the long cruise phase," he adds.
Cross-border debris research
ESA is not the only organization working on space debris. "International cooperation in the space debris field is, both qualitatively and quantitatively, very good and could be taken as exemplary in science and engineering. All major players recognise that circum-terrestrial space is a strategic resource, and all reasonable and practicable efforts must be taken to preserve it for future generations," says Dr Luciano Anselmo of the Spaceflight Dynamics Laboratory at the Institute of Information Science and Technologies, part of the Italian National Research Council (CNR).
Dr Anselmo is part of a 3-person group investigating models of the orbital debris environment, short- and long-term debris field evolution, the propagation of debris clouds, evaluation of spacecraft risk, effectiveness of mitigation measures, survivability and re-entry event predictions.
Further a field, Dr Toshiya Hanada, Associate Professor at Kyushu University's Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, located near Fukuoka, Japan, works on developing optical sensors that can scan satellite solar arrays for signs of impacts and on modelling the debris field.
Dr Hanada's research team pays particular attention to geosynchronous Earth orbit. "We have developed an orbital debris evolutionary model for geosynchronous Earth orbit and conducted low-velocity impact tests, below 1.5 km/s, to model these impacts on spacecraft in GEO," he says.
Clearly, the debris issue has grabbed global attention.
Risk assessment software on tap
Back at ESOC, Dr Klinkrad explains the risk assessment software that ESA and a contractor team have developed. It is called DRAMA, for Debris Risk Assessment and Mitigation Analysis, is freely available to the space community and can be used to assess the risk of a catastrophic impact for any specific mission.
"You can also determine how much of your spacecraft might survive re-entry and possibly pose a risk to people on the ground," says Klinkrad. The software uses global population distribution data depending on latitude and longitude to create a "swath image" showing where a piece of satellite might hit. "DRAMA allows you to estimate your mission's 'total risk' for both in-space and on-ground impacts," he adds.
Despite such tools, the space-debris situation is unlikely to improve unless concentrated, coordinated and systematic steps are taken to mitigate the risks that are now so clearly understood. "Too many objects could render space too risky and unusable in the future," emphasises Klinkrad.
Spacecraft operators must avoid deliberate and unintentional break-up of their craft including deliberate and unintentional explosions or collisions, as these are the major sources of untrackable yet deadly debris.
Editor's note
The third and final part of the space-debris series, "Mitigation and the Case for a Code of Conduct," will examine current proposals for space debris mitigation through measures that cost little yet contribute significantly to protecting the space environment for future use.
Part 3 will be published early in April, in advance of the the 4th European Conference on Space Debris, taking place at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany, 18-20 April 2005. For registration, programme and additional information, access the conference link at right above.


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Quote:My brother thinks their language was developed from being drunk all the time. It´s so blurry..
Quote:I didn't expect this question at all. I think you just haven't read carefully because I have said that my source of information is a preview in the Bulgarian PC magazine "Gamers' Workshop". Anyway, I understand that people can't read everything - I will never read the Kuma's Tavern thread. Those are more than 400 replies after all!
Quote:Anyway, another Bulgarian PC magazine has an article based on the Heroes 4 beta. But it doesn't say anything new. I wonder if all the PC magazines in the world are told not to reveal much information...
Quote:I don't know how 3DO have included those dragon golems!! Theu SUCK and they shouldn't be in the game no snowING WAY!!!!!
Quote:i'm sorry, i'm jist a nubie, but how do ya know that dragon golems suck? i've never seen any reports of what they'll be like in h4, an' altho i am an adnd roleplayer, i've nevr heard of the beasts. maybe you could direct me to some pertinent homepage, or to a thread in the heroescommunity.com ?
i din' mean ta put you off, it's jist that i've met too many people who say that somethin's this or that even tho they know close ta nuthin' on the subject...
Quote:Btw. I interpret the numbers so that the Trolls have 180 hp, and the Orcs have 12 hp. (The top number = damaged inflicted, the bottom number = creatures killed.)
Quote:i mean, if it's like it was in homm3, when you do 1000 damage on a stack consisting of 1 skeleton, only one skeleton dies.
Quote:the thing that might be a problem is that the orcs receive so little damage. maybe the orcs have some massive magic resistance?


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SAN RAMON — Chevron has released details about its crucial liquefied natural gas project on an island off the coast of Western Australia, saying project costs have increased about 41 percent.
The total cost estimate for the Gorgon LNG project is now $52 billion, up from $37 billion in previous estimates.
"Gorgon project economics are attractive," Chevron Vice Chairman George Kirkland said.
San Ramon-based Chevron said the project should begin operations by late 2014. The first LNG cargo should ship during the first three months of 2015.
"While investment requirements have grown, oil prices, which directly impact the overall revenue stream, have increased by approximately 80 percent over the same time period," Kirkland said.
Contact George Avalos at 925-977-8477. Follow him at twitter.com/george_avalos.


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Alamance County
"Fortinet is a major player in the technology sector known for their security products. The FortiVoice solution just adds to their arsenal of being a complete solution company."
– Paul Bobak, Network Operations Manager, Alamance County
Alamance County located in North Carolina is a region encompassing many rural towns and cities. The county is responsible for many of the services offered to the residents including the sheriff's department, health department, social services, finance, and many more. The county manages over 23 different departments offering a variety of services. Their main focus is on the correct routing of calls and effective handling priority of emergency calls, while maintaining a working solution that will allow for growth without breaking the county's budget.
Alamance County was looking for a centralized system that allowed easy-to-use call control and features. When Fortinet presented the solution to them, they had listened closely to the requirements and helped ensure what was provided really did meet their needs. It was a positive engagement with sales and, "We felt that we mattered," said Bruce Walker, Alamance County Assistant County Manager / IT Director. "This feeling continues today with any follow up communications between the groups."
Read this case study to learn how Fortinet helped deploy a centralized and secure voice for Alamance County.
Business Impact
Centralized call control
Easy and flexible solution
Minimize operational overhead
Cost-effective solution
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The dark story of poverty in your coffee cup
Posted by TheShot on 05 Feb 2006 | Tagged as: Beans, Fair Trade, Robusta
Today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported on: The dark story of poverty in your coffee cup.
In particular, it discusses the coffee paradox — i.e., how there could be a coffee boom in the consuming countries at the same time as a coffee crisis in the producing countries. Despite citing the impacts of the Vietnamese robusta glut and the Big Four coffee retailing giants, it goes on to suggest that, "One inescapable conclusion is that the coffee paradox exists because what coffee farmers sell and what consumers buy are becoming increasingly 'different' coffees. It is not material bean quality that coffee consumers pay for. It is mostly symbolic quality and in-person services."
It also makes mention of the National Federation of Coffee Growers in Colombia, which has opened retail coffee shops under the Juan Valdez name in a few U.S. locations. The truth is that the only people who believe Colombia grows "the richest coffee in the world" are the Colombians and the brainwashed marketing subjects of years of Juan Valdez TV commercials. But you cannot fault their intentions.
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[…] But with Colombia coffee producers having already invested so much in their brand iconography (not to mention Juan Valdez-branded cafés in the U.S.), the successor to Mr. Sanchez will be announced next month. […]
[…] It appears Coke's strategy is to lay claim to a chasm-crossing beachhead — their Omaha Beach or Anzio if you will — securing some footing in the restaurant coffee business. And they are making their assault on multiple fronts — Juan Valdez branding being just their latest tactic. This also presents a branding oddity for the National Federation of Coffee Growers in Colombia, which has opened retail coffee shops under the Juan Valdez name in a few U.S. locations. However, the Juanistas may feel they can avoid brand confusion because their Coke deal markets to restaurateurs and their cafés market directly to consumers. UPDATE: May 21, 2007 Coca-Cola's Juan Valdez system now has something in common with what rugged outdoorsmen drink for caffeine while writing their manifestos at their wilderness compounds: The Food Network's 'Unwrapped' to feature Java Juice(R) Liquid Coffee Extract – Food & Beverages News from Send2Press Newswire Mon, 21 May 2007. There's no denying it — shelf-stable liquid coffee extracts are all the rage! […]