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Over the years, engineers have developed many definitions for measuring power with distorted voltages and currents. However, none of these definitions successfully characterize all of the distinguishing power components necessary for billing purposes, nor do they explain how to compensate for components that are not useful. To deal with this problem, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) organized a task force, chaired by Dr. Alex Emmanuel of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The task force developed Standard 1459-2000, the "IEEE Trial Use Standard for Standard Definitions for the Measurement of Electric Power Quantities Under Sinusoidal, Nonsinusoidal, Balanced, or Unbalanced Conditions." This standard is the subject of this month's column.
In the power business, nothing is more basic and important than measuring delivered energy for billing purposes. In addition to active (or real) delivered power, industry personnel often measure reactive power and/or total apparent power (definitions to follow). This allows them to factor in the additional system capacity required to supply a load's total power requirements.
Conventional induction disk watt-hour meters provide accurate real-power measurements. Engineers can use the same meters to measure reactive power by shifting the voltage 90 deg. Recently, engineers have developed electronic meters that accurately measure voltages and currents and calculate different power and energy quantities of interest. They also provide additional capabilities, including flexible demand periods, time-of-use rate calculations, and power quality measurements.
All of this works great for the assumed conditions of balanced systems and sinusoidal voltages and currents. The definitions and formulas used today for active, reactive, and apparent power have been used since the 1940s. When these definitions were developed, loads were dominated by motors, lighting, and other linear loads. This allowed the calculations to be simplified by taking advantage of the nondistorted voltages and currents and relatively balanced systems.
But what happens when harmonic components distort voltages and currents? This is an important question, considering the increasing applications of electronic equipment in all customer categories. Power electronic devices such as computer power supplies, adjustable-speed motor drives, phase-controlled rectifiers, thyristor-controlled loads, fluorescent lighting with electronic ballasts (including compact fluorescents) are everywhere. These nonlinear, harmonic-producing loads result in distorted voltages and currents that change the characteristics of the power delivered and the system capacity required to supply it.
Sinusoidal Conditions
Let's begin by reviewing the definitions for balanced and sinusoidal conditions. In these cases, we can use single-phase measurements for single-phase and 3-phase systems.
The instantaneous power (p) is defined as the instantaneous voltage (v) multiplied by the instantaneous current (i). Now divide this power into two components — active and reactive.
Active power (P), measured in watts, is the integral of the instantaneous power signal over some integral number of cycles:
Where: T=1/f = the period of one cycle in seconds, k is an integer number, and τ is the time at which the measurement starts.
This is the power component that utilities normally charge for and the component measured by a watt-hour meter. It results from the component of the current that is inphase with the voltage. In the case of a sinusoidal system, the active power is given by:
Where: V is the rms voltage magnitude, I is the rms current magnitude, and θ is the angle between the voltage and the current.
Reactive power (Q), measured in vars, is the power associated with the component of the current that is out-of-phase (in quadrature) with the voltage. This type of energy oscillates between the source and inductances, capacitances, and moving masses that pertain to electromechanical systems. The average value of this rate of flow is zero, and the net transfer of energy to the load is zero. It is obtained in a similar manner to active power, resulting in the following definition:
Note that reactive power is positive if the load is inductive and negative if the load is capacitive.
Apparent power (S) is the product of the rms voltage and current. It's measured in volt-amperes (VA):
Apparent power is important because it represents the total capacity that must be available to supply power to the load — even though only a portion of this is useful power. Some utilities use a demand charge based on the total apparent power to account for this system capacity requirement.
Power factor is defined as the ratio of active power (P) to total apparent power (S). This ratio represents the portion of the delivered power that is useful for performing work:
In sinusoidal situations, power factor is equal to the cosine of the angle between the voltage and current (cosθ).
Active, reactive, and apparent power form the power triangle shown in Fig. 1, on page 8.
Distorted Voltages and Currents
What happens when the voltage and current are not pure sinusoidal waveforms? In this case, it's useful to separate the voltage or current signals into two distinctive components — the power system fundamental frequency components v1 and i1, and the remaining terms vh and ih, which include all of the distortion components (both integer and noninteger harmonics). Consequently, the rms values of these components are related as follows:
These definitions provide the basis for the traditional measurements of total harmonic distortion (THD) in voltages and currents:
With harmonic distortion included, the power triangle that defines the power factor and the individual power components doesn't work. Some new definitions are needed. Rather than reviewing the whole history of definitions for power components that include harmonic distortion, we'll focus on the definitions developed for Standard 1459-2000 and the basis for this set of definitions.
The philosophy behind Standard 1459 involves defining a number of different components that could be useful in defining the responsibility and the costs associated with supplying power. These components can then be combined as necessary for particular situations. Here are the important components:
Active power (P) is divided into a fundamental component and a harmonic component. This is important because, typically, only the fundamental component benefits the load.
For example, motors produce no useful work from the power at harmonic frequency — they only cause additional heating in the motors. In most practical situations, the harmonic component of the active power is quite small.
Electronic meters can separate these two components if utility personnel want to base electricity charges on only the fundamental active power, rather than the total active power. (Currently, most electronic meters would not make this distinction and would try to accurately calculate the total active power). Conventional induction disk watt-hour meters can't make the distinction between the fundamental active power and the total active power. However, the responses of conventional watt-hour meters provide some attenuation at harmonic frequencies, which makes the meters focus primarily on the fundamental component of the active power.
It's possible to divide reactive power (Q) into two components in a similar manner. However, it's more useful to use a different breakdown of the nonactive power components because of distortion power components. The main purpose for defining a component called reactive power is to develop procedures and equipment for controlling the voltages and losses in a system at the fundamental frequency. Only fundamental frequency reactive power is important for these objectives.
For instance, you can size a capacitor bank to correct for fundamental frequency reactive power, but this capacitor bank would not compensate (and could magnify) nonfundamental frequency components.
The definition for total apparent power (S) remains the same — the product of the rms voltage and rms current (which now both include harmonic components). However, it's a good idea to separate the apparent power into fundamental and nonfundamental frequency apparent power. The fundamental frequency apparent power (S1) and its components (P1 and Q1) define the rate of flow of electromagnetic field energy associated with 50Hz and 60Hz voltages and currents.
These components can be used for power system design and evaluation in traditional manners.
The total apparent power will then consist of a number of additional components when the harmonic effects are taken into account. The expansion of rms voltages and currents into fundamental and harmonic terms is used to resolve the apparent power into its different components as follows:
Where: SN is the nonfundamental frequency apparent power:
Distortion Power Components
The breakdown of the total apparent power helps determine three different distortion power components that make up the nonfundamental frequency apparent power (SN).
Current distortion power (vars). The harmonic distortion in the current interacting with the fundamental frequency component of the voltage causes this component. It's usually the largest of the distortion power components. To develop penalties for harmonic current injection into the power system, you might use this component as the basis for these calculations.
Voltage distortion power (vars). This component is caused by the harmonic distortion in the voltage interacting with the fundamental frequency current. It's usually not as significant because voltage distortion tends to be smaller than current distortion. Also, because many people consider voltage quality to be the responsibility of the utilities, it may not be wise to make this the basis of charges for nonfundamental frequency apparent power.
Harmonic apparent power (VA). This is usually the smallest of the nonfundamental frequency apparent power components. It is defined as follows:
Sometimes it may be useful to divide harmonic apparent power into two separate components, one of which we have already defined above (PH).
The other term, DH, can be called harmonic distortion power (vars).
Power factor. The definitions for power factor do not change. Power factor is a measure of how efficiently the active power is being supplied. However, only the fundamental frequency power factor is useful for designing traditional power factor correction solutions that help improve voltage profiles and losses due to fundamental frequency reactive power flows on the system. This is sometimes referred to as displacement power factor. We will use the symbol PF1 for this quantity. Here are the power factor definitions:
There are simplified calculations for true power factor based on realistic distortion levels in voltages and currents, but we will not address those in this article.
Table 1, on page 12, summarizes the different definitions presented and groups them according to their use and whether they are associated with fundamental frequency or harmonic components. These are the definitions proposed by meter (and other monitoring equipment) manufacturers.
Standard 1459 provides a simple example that illustrates these calculations in a practical situation. The example is based on supplying a thyristor-controlled load, such as a dimmer switch controlling a light. The voltage and current waveforms at the metering point are shown in Fig. 2.
The important quantities needed to calculate the different power components are as follows:
The fundamental frequency apparent power (S1) for this example is 1229.7VA. Table 2, on page 12, summarizes the different power components in percentages of this base value. The true power factor is 0.58 and the displacement power factor is 0.696. Note that an electronic power supply load might have a similar true power factor but could have a displacement power factor close to unity. Also note that the nonfundamental frequency apparent power (684VA) is a significant component of the total apparent power in this example. This will be true in any case where current distortion is significant. To correct for this component, you would have to use some type of harmonic control rather than traditional power factor correction.
You may have noticed that we did not address unbalanced conditions in this article. This is because unbalanced conditions make situations even more complicated. You may want to investigate this further by obtaining the standard from the IEEE (www.ieee.org).
The definitions proposed in Standard 1459-2000 provide a blueprint for meter manufacturers and other monitoring equipment manufacturers to implement accurate power measurements in environments with significant distortion using a standardized approach. The standard breaks the power measurements into components that can characterize three things: the useful real power delivered to the load, the reactive power that can be compensated with conventional power factor correction, and the power components that require other methods of compensation (such as active filters). If we are going to charge for the system capacity required to supply these harmonic components, we must agree on standard definitions to measure them.
Mark McGranaghan directs power quality projects and product development at Electrotek Concepts in Knoxville, Tenn. You can reach him at [email protected].
Erich Gunther is responsible for technology development at Electrotek Concepts in Knoxville, Tenn. He is also the chief architect for the Dranetz-BMI Signature System™. You can reach him at [email protected].
The authors wish to thank Alex Emmanuel for his significant contributions to the article.


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Whether you wish to improve the efficiency of your existing heating and cooling systems or are considering upgrading to a new system, the information on this page will help you to make informed decisions!
Cooling and Heating Load Reduction
One of the first steps you should consider in your facility before upgrading your heating and cooling system is to reduce your load (i.e. how much heating and cooling you actually use). Reducing your facility's load allows existing systems to operate less frequently and newer systems to be designed smaller, thereby lowering operating costs. Common load reduction strategies include:
- "Tightening" your building shell and adding additional insulation to reduce leakage.
- Installing energy-efficient windows such as ENERGY STAR qualified windows.
- Upgrading lighting systems. Energy-efficient lighting systems emit less heat into conditioned space than older inefficient technology.
- Reducing solar gain (e.g., cool roofing and window tints) in cooling dominated climates, and in cold climates taking steps to increase solar gain.
- Selecting efficient office equipment and consumer electronics to reduce heat output.
- Controlling ventilation to improve occupant comfort and save energy.
Once you have addressed these areas, you can then make the most of your heating and cooling equipment dollars.
Heating and Cooling Systems
Heating and cooling systems are critical to most businesses, but also represent a large component of many facilities' utility expenses. Cooling systems, in particular, are typically very energy intensive and are almost always fueled by electricity. Their operation typically coincides with periods that are subject to peak and time of use charges.
Heating and cooling systems have advanced significantly in design and efficiency. For example, today's air conditioners use 30% to 50% less energy to produce the same amount of cooling as air conditioners made in the mid 1970s. Even if your air conditioner is only 10 years old, you may save 20% on your cooling energy costs by replacing it with a newer, more efficient model.
Heating and Cooling System Tips:
For commercial facilities, request an ACCA Manual N, and for home businesses request a Manual J, evaluation of your facility's heating and cooling loads before purchasing any major heating or cooling system. By following these guidelines you will receive a system that is sized appropriately for your facility.
- Consider implementing efforts to reduce heating and cooling load before selecting equipment.
- NEVER OVERSIZE! Avoid over sizing equipment at all costs. Over sizing equipment increases the capital cost at the time of the installation and the costs of operation of the equipment. Request that your HVAC professional conduct an Air Conditioning Contractors of America's (ACCA) Manual N Commercial Load Calculation to ensure proper sizing.
- When selecting a new cooling system, have your HVAC professional provide you a quote and specifications for a standard-efficiency and high-efficiency unit including lifecycle costs. If the lifecycle cost is less on the high-efficiency unit, purchase it.
- When purchasing Room Air Conditioners or Light Commercial heating and cooling units, select those units that are ENERGY STAR qualified.
- Consider energy recovery ventilation systems to reclaim waste energy from the exhaust air stream and use it to condition the incoming fresh air.
- In humid climates, consult your HVAC professional about supplemental dehumidification. By controlling humidity at your facility, you can increase occupant comfort and allow for further downsizing of equipment.
- Consider specifying economizers. Often available at a low incremental cost, these units draw in fresh air from the outside when the temperature outside is lower than the temperature inside.
- Install programmable thermostats and use automated settings to achieve savings.
- At a minimum, specify National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) premium motors on HVAC equipment, and consider specifying variable speed drives (VSD) on condenser and evaporator fans.
- In dry climates, consider evaporative coolers. These coolers use the evaporation of water to cool spaces, eliminating the need for energy intensive compressors.
- For facilities that have heat-generating processes such as cooking, or onsite distributed generation equipment, consider heat recovery as a way to capture free waste heat and use it to offset facility heating and cooling costs.
- For areas such as warehouses and garages, consider installing radiant heating. Radiant heating warms objects instead of the air, and requires less fuel. Radiant heat is also useful for warming exterior areas that require heating, such as patios and waiting areas.
- Many buildings are impacted by what goes on inside the building just as much as (and sometimes even more than) the weather conditions outside. That is why it is important to properly size equipment and consider the use of a demand controlled ventilation system coupled with economizers to meet the internal loads of the building, e.g., commercial kitchens, computer data centers, etc.
Heating and Cooling System Energy-Efficiency Resources
- ENERGY STAR Qualified Products: Heating & Cooling Efficiently
- EPA Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Resources
- DOE EERE Consumer's Guide: Space Heating and Cooling
- American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
- Air Conditioning Contractors of America Resources
- FEMP Energy-Efficient Products: How to Buy an Energy-Efficient Commercial Unitary Air Conditioner
- Consortium for Energy Efficiency: High-Efficiency Commercial Air Conditioning & Heat Pumps
Control Systems
A great way to improve the efficiency of heating and cooling systems is to incorporate control strategies that ensure systems are used only when necessary. Common control strategies include ENERGY STAR qualified programmable thermostats, multiple zones, and CO2 demand sensors. These strategies can be specified on new heating and cooling systems and retrofitted to older systems as well.
- ENERGY STAR Qualified Programmable Thermostats: These simple, easy to install thermostats allow convenient night/weekend setback to save you money. Models range from $50 to $200 depending on the desired features and usually include manual overrides to ensure comfort for late night workers.
- Multiple Zones: By dividing your facility up into multiple heating and cooling zones, your system can deliver more efficient heating and cooling by eliminating inaccuracies from a central sensor point. In addition, building occupants in different areas can adjust the temperature to meet their actual needs. If your facility has many rooms or floors, multiple zones are recommended.
- Demand or CO2 Sensors: Most heating and cooling systems draw in ventilation air by assumed occupancy, however modern technology has sidestepped this by designing systems that actually can regulate the air quality of your facility by measuring the amount of CO2 present. The result is more energy-efficient operation and better air-quality.
Just like your automobile, your facility's heating and cooling systems need maintenance to operate efficiently. To improve efficiency and help ensure reliability and long life, consider the following tips.
- Engage a qualified HVAC firm in a maintenance contract with seasonal tune-ups. During these tune-ups, a technician should check combustion efficiency, refrigerant charge, and belt tension as applicable.
- Replace air filters regularly. Accumulated dirt and dust make your fans work harder. Clean or replace filters as recommended by your system's manufacturer.
- Clean the evaporator and condenser coils on your heat pump, air-conditioner, or chiller. Dirty coils inhibit heat transfer; by keeping them clean, you save energy.
- Inspect ducts and piping for leakage or damaged insulation. Leaky ductwork is one of the biggest contributors to cooling loss in buildings. Apply duct sealer, tape, and insulation as needed.
- Repair old valves and steam traps. These can waste hundreds of dollars and are low cost parts.
To learn more about maintaining your heating and cooling system visit ENERGY STAR's Heating and Cooling Maintenance Checklist and Duct Sealing information and Air Conditioning Contractors of America's Preventive Maintenance = $avings.

subset: commoncrawl


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Standard ECMA-222
Adaptive Lossless Data Compression Algorithm
(June 1995)
This Ecma standard specifies a lossless compression algorithm to reduce
the number of bytes required to represent data. The algorithm is known
as Adaptive Lossless Data Compression algorithm (ALDC). The numerical identifiers
according to ISO/IEC 11576 allocated to this algorithm are:
ALDC 512-Byte History Buffer: 3
ALDC 1024-Byte History Buffer: 4
ALDC 2048-Byte History Buffer: 5
The following file can be freely downloaded:


text: Gwinnett County, created in 1818 from treaty lands ceded by the Creek and Cherokee Indians, recognizes Button Gwinnett, one of the three Georgia signers of the Declaration of Independence. He not only helped draft the state constitution but also agreed to fill the unexpired term of governor. When he later failed to win election, Gwinnett entangled himself in his last political stand, a fatal duel with General Lachlan Mclntosh. The county seat, Lawrenceville, is named for Captain James Lawrence, a wounded commander of the Chesapeake during the War of 1812. It was he who, dying, gave his crew the battle cry: "Don't give up the ship!"


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Betty Hutton gets the star treatment in this authorized paper doll book filled with clothes from Betty's musical and comedy movie roles such as Annie Get Your Gun, The Stork Club, The Greatest Show on Earth, Let's Dance, Somebody Loves Me, Incendiary Blonde and more! This authorized paper doll, illustrated by Judy M Johnson, also includes a star bio by David Wolfe. Special price $8! Reg. $12.
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text:
numbness in hands
Are YOU Missing the real cause to Numbness and Tingling in the hands and fingers?
Numbness and Tingling in the hands and fingers can not only be fleeting and intermittent but can become quite detrimental if you start dropping things or develops into chronic pain that can interfere with daily living activities.
In a recent article I reviewed online by chronicbodypain.net (Feb 04 2018) the periodical reviewed multiple sources for the development of hand and finger numbness and tingling ranging from drug interactions gone wrong, metabolic issues like Hyperaldosteronism, Raynaud's Disease to the more simplistic sources like sitting on your hands for too long.
However, the after mentioned article forgets to mention the most common cause – Subluxation.
Subluxation of the neck vertebrae. A misaligned vertebra in the neck where the nerves originate and feed down the arms to the hands and fingers is the most common source of chronic and intermittent numbness and tingling to the hand and fingers that I see in my office.
When clients show up to my office I always tell them to follow the anatomy. Once ruling out other reasons for numbness and tingling via a thorough history intake, the origins of the nerves exiting the neck are usually the culprit and it either relates to degenerative conditions in the spine or poor posture due to forward head posture from computer, phones or gaming type systems.
Subluxations in the neck will eventually involve some form of neuropathology (nerve irritation) that will begin a cascade of abnormal signaling of nerve transmissions down the arm and into the fingers. This process can happen quickly like after a car accident or more slowly from poor day-to-day posture while working at a computer.
Correction of the Subluxation is paramount in reduce the symptom of numbness and tingling. Symptoms can resolve quite quickly in a newer complaint with specific adjustments to the neck or may take longer when degenerative factors of the neck are present and may need other forms of treatment like Laser, Massage and Acupuncture.
So if you or loved is suffering from numbness and tingling in your hands or even the feet that please make sure that the spine is evaluated as a possible and most likely source for these symptoms.
And remember make posture a priority and not a liability!
Need help with numbness and tingling then please give us a call at 604-535-7373 or book online at https://injoylife.ca/contact-us/


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International Vehicle Identification Plates
Where does the motorhome or RV in front come from? Now you can tell from the Identification plate on the back. When UK residents travel abroad they have to have a 'GB' plate, or sticker on the rear of their vehicles. Here is a list of marks from the rest of the world.
How many do you know?
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Are you a slave to success? So are we. And so we present our Enslaved strategy guide to help you beat the game, defeat every boss, and find all Tech Orbs and hidden Masks.
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MILFORD � With a referendum on a host agreement for a resort casino less than three weeks away, casino activists on both sides have ramped up their campaigns. At a forum hosted Wednesday by Casino-Free Milford, opponents underscored their message that a casino would hurt the town.
Voters will decide Nov. 19 whether the application by Crossroads LLC, doing business as Foxwoods Massachusetts, will move forward in its developers' quest to obtain the sole resort casino license the state will award for Eastern Massachusetts. Foxwoods has proposed a $1 billion, 980,000-square-foot resort casino north of Interstate 495 at Route 16.
The forum Wednesday at Upper Town Hall drew more than 200 people at the 7 p.m. start.
Describing the fight against well-heeled casino developers as a David and Goliath situation, author and former Connecticut congressman Robert Steele said, "What we need is to give a little time to David."
Mr. Steele, who wrote a novel, "The Curse: Big-Time Gambling's Seduction of a Small New England Town," based on Connecticut's experience with Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, said, "One has to wonder whether Massachusetts officials have looked at the downside of casinos or at what's been happening lately."
He recited increased crime statistics in towns surrounding casinos, including arrests for drunken driving and domestic violence, and a 400 percent increase in arrests for embezzlement, 10 times the national average, since casinos opened.
"The monopoly that has led to the casinos' success in Connecticut is rapidly ending," Mr. Steele said. He noted that slots revenue was down 32 percent as a result of the slow economy and increasing gambling competition from Rhode Island, New York, Maine and soon from Massachusetts.
Thomas Larkin, a psychologist who works in the Massachusetts prison system, told the audience, "The social costs of gambling easily exceed the cost of drug abuse."
He said 21 percent of active gamblers, versus 7 percent of non-gamblers, have been incarcerated.
"Most people who gamble don't have a problem. But here's the key point: They don't lose very much," Mr. Larkin said. Twenty percent of gamblers, those who have gambling addiction or problems, account for 80 percent of casino revenue.
Finance Committee member and lawyer David Morganelli took issue with the host community agreement's lack of a secured guarantee that the town would receive the $25 million to $30 million in annual revenue, in case casino revenues declined.
He said that even if the full revenue is received and 25 percent of it is applied to property taxes, the average household tax bill would drop less than $500 a year.
Mr. Morganelli cautioned against the town "putting all its eggs in one basket" by counting on one taxpayer, the casino, for roughly a third of its tax revenue.
Former School Committee member Jose Costa spoke about Foxwoods' previous failed partnerships for casinos in Philadelphia and Kansas, where licenses were rescinded and taxes went unpaid when casino development didn't proceed as promised.
Michael Kaplan, head of the pro-casino group Citizens for Milford's Future, one of a handful of casino supporters in attendance, said, "A balanced forum to obtain true facts would have been more appropriate."
He said the $25 million was guaranteed. "It's in the contract," he said. "It's not facts when you present just one side."
Mr. Morganelli responded that the guarantee was not secured and couldn't be enforced.
The host community agreement specifies that Foxwoods would pay the town $33.1 million up front and approximately $35 million annually, according to the election warrant. Foxwoods would use its best efforts to create at least 3,000 construction jobs and 3,500 permanent jobs.
Among other commitments, Foxwoods would fund a new highway interchange from Interstate 495 to Route 16 and traffic improvements at seven intersections; provide upgrades to the water production system; and extend public sewers to residences in East Milford.
In pro-casino activity, Foxwoods announced yesterday a site visit and barbecue from noon to 3 p.m. Nov. 2, with parking at the Milford Stone Co. property, 429 E. Main St.
According to a Foxwoods news release, residents can get a firsthand look at the property and gain further understanding of how the planned project fits into the natural environment. Architects, project executives and engineers will be on hand to answer questions.
If the Milford referendum passes, voters at a special town meeting Dec. 9 would have to approve a zoning bylaw change to allow the final application to be filed with the state.
Competing Eastern Massachusetts resort casino proposals have been filed by Wynn Resorts in Everett and by Suffolk Downs, although the racetrack proposal's status is in flux after Caesars Entertainment pulled out last week.


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Cramer Hall Renovation in Works, June 13, 2005
by Kathleen Hedges
Right: Conceptual drawing of the future Cramer Hall. This drawing was made before a revision that added another wing to the north side.
SOCORRO, N.M., June 13, 2005– Cramer Hall, the oldest classroom building on the New Mexico Tech campus, is undergoing a renovation that will nearly quadruple its size, while keeping the character and flavor of its traditional Mission style.
The new Cramer Hall will have two wings almost identical in exterior appearance to the original building and set at right angles to it, one on the north side and one on the south. It will also have additional space in the back, where a basement is currently being constructed.
[The accompanying architect's conception of the building shows only the original building (center right) and the addition on the south (lower left). The drawing was made earlier in the planning process, before the north wing was added.]
In recent weeks, wings added to Cramer Hall in the 1970s have been removed, leaving a core building that looks surprisingly small. This core, the original building constructed in 1927, is a mere 8,850 square feet. According to Mike Hill, the architect for the new building, who works for the company Van Gilbert Architects PC, the renovated Cramer Hall will have a total of 34,500 square feet.
"Originally, the plan was to simply renovate the inside of the existing building, including the wings built in the 1970s" Hill says. "However, as planning continued, it became evident that Tech would get more high-quality space by removing those sections rather than by re-doing them. We could not only get more classroom space but also create a building more in keeping with the traditional Mission Style architecture."
Hill also faced the challenge of adapting Cramer Hall to departments needing high-tech equipment and access. In particular, the Department of Computer Science and the Distance Education Program are slated to move in.
"Computer Science will have their own server rooms," Hill said, "with lots of internet and electronic connections. It will have a number of classrooms and meeting areas, as well as office space. Distance Ed will have two studio spaces in which they can videotape classes."
The interior of Cramer will look much like the renovated interior of Weir Hall, with attractive wood doors and architectural details. Weir's warm and appealing appearance has been well-received by students, faculty, and visitors to campus.
"The original plan," says Hill, "was to remodel both buildings simultaneously." That plan meant that many offices and classrooms would have to be displaced at the same time. Instead, the decision was made to renovate one building at a time.
"The renovation of Cramer Hall is a tremendous opportunity for our traditional academic programs to be housed in a facility that offers such quality classroom space," said Dr. Peter F. Gerity, Vice President for Academic Affairs.
"We're also very excited about the high-quality course production and delivery facilities provided for Distance Education students, which has become a critical element of New Mexico Tech's academic programs," Gerity said.
In noting the similarities between the recently renovated Weir Hall and plans for Cramer Hall, Gerity said the architectural design and interior style will continue a legacy of "high quality space and traditional appearance which adds so much to the quality of our campus."
The estimated completion date for Cramer Hall is May 2006. In addition to Computer Science and Distance Education, the Psychology Department is slated to move into the new hall.


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Something In The Movies For Everyone
With 4 new movies out this weekend, there's one for everyone in the family - comedy, cartoon, documentary and drama it's all here!
Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston star in Just Go With It, Justin Bieber in Never Say Never, Gnomeo & Juliet and The Eagle.
Catch the previews of these movies after the jump.
Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston starring in Just Go With It.
Justin Bieber starring in his documentary Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.
Gnomeo & Juliet
Channing Tatum in The Eagle.


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The Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen video game lets gamers step into the shoes of the Autobots or Decepticons, select any available mission and pick from the largest, most diverse range of playable Transformers – each with their own distinct abilities and weaponry. Playing as both the Autobots and Decepticons, players are propelled into an adrenaline-pumping battle for supremacy across the globe where every second and every choice makes the difference between mankind's salvation and annihilation.
Also known as: Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers The Movie 2: Revenge of the Fallen -- The Game
Release Region: United States
Release Date: June 23, 2009
Publisher: Activision
Release Region: United Kingdom
Release Date: June 26, 2009
Publisher: Activision
Release Region: Australia
Release Date: June 24, 2009
Publisher: Activision
Also available on: PC, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, Wireless
Transformers: Revenge ... at IGN
Transformers: Revenge ... at GameSpy
Transformers: Revenge ... at GameStats


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Soulcalibur IV Characters
Setsuka's got great combo starters, like her Setsuka Stomp ( + K ) and Rising Crescent ( or + B ). Use her speed to get opponents into combo opportunities and strike hard with the Winter Funeral ( BA ). Setsuka's not much of a pressure character but works better as a counter fighter, so be patient and be ready to strike when your opponent slips up.
|Setsuka can be purchased for 4,000 Gold in Character Creation.
|Key Moves & Combos
|Winter Funeral : : This mid hitting attack is very quick and does solid damage. The actual range of the blade isn't especially long, but Setsuka steps forward for the attack, making it a good counter to an attack that whiffs at range. Best of all, the Winter Funeral knocks opponents down and pushes 'em back, making it a solid ring out attack.
|Shade Buster : : After crouching under an opponent's high attack or throw, bust out with this crouching attack for a very fast mid strike. The Shade Buster has excellent range for such a fast attack and causes knock down and knock back that'll easily ring out opponents.
|Rising Crescent : : This is a good 8-way-run attack to throw out when side stepping around the opponent. The attack hits quick, hits mid, and launches the opponent into the air. You can then follow up with just about any attack for an easy juggle.
|Horizon Sweeper : : Another good 8-way-run attack to come out from a side step, though this one comes from walking the opposite directions of the Rising Crescent. Similarly opposite, the Horizon Sweeper hits low. You can't follow with a juggle, but it does cause knock down so it gives you the favorable momentum.
|Setsuka Stomp Combo : : The Setsuka Stomp ( + K ) hits high and stuns on impact, no matter whether or not it's a counter. The last attack needs to be execute after the second attack has fully finished, but must be executed very quickly to be able to catch opponents before they fall. The simple three hit combo deals very good damage, provided you can master its execution.
|Give us feedback!
|Continue Characters...
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony Cheats
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City Cheats
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Cheats
Saints Row: The Third Cheats
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned Cheats
Red Dead Redemption Cheats
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cheats
Assassin's Creed III Cheats
Minecraft (Xbox 360 Edition) Cheats
Call of Duty: Black Ops II Cheats
Professor Layton and the Last Specter
X360 Forza Motorsport 4
Wii Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny
NDS Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns
PS3 Dark Souls
PC Dark Souls (Prepare to Die Edition)
X360 Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
Web War Commander
PS3 Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3
X360 Trials Evolution
Soulcalibur IV at IGN
Soulcalibur IV Cheats at IGN
Soulcalibur IV Guide at IGN
Soulcalibur IV at GameSpy
Soulcalibur IV at TeamXbox
Soulcalibur IV at GameStats


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Against the counsel of law enforcement, family and clergy, last Friday I set off on a road trip with Free Press Managing Editor Bryan Hanks.
What event could cause a seemingly sane person (me) to be locked in a petroleum-propelled motor vehicle with a man deemed incurable by the Bromidrosis Institute? A concert by The Who, that�s what.
For many years, if I went to a concert there was a good chance I�d be alone. Aside from my father and long-time concert compadre Jon Hughes, the odds of me strangling the person riding to the show with me were 50/50 on a good day.
While inviting someone to a concert seems like a fairly casual thing to do, it is a deadly serious social contract.
Your average mook is going to show up at least a half an hour later than the agreed upon time of departure. Anybody that shows up late outside the umbrella of A) a family emergency or B) anything involving a really good-looking woman should be treated as a possible terror suspect.
Another potential power keg is food. Especially when heading to a show after work, time is of the essence. Even without the clarity achieved after a series of raps to the head with a tire iron, most people would realize it makes more sense to get something quick that�s on the way.
Sadly, there is a chunk of the population that believes it�s perfectly viable to visit a sit-down restaurant, take seven to nine hours to peruse the menu (to end up ordering a hamburger) and expect to get to the concert on time.
Then there�s booze. Acquiring that rare import beer that was brewed in a hut by the Dalai Lama and kept cool by being stored in the hole where Perez Hilton�s soul should be is to some people even more important than the concert itself. I once witnessed a guy get so schmammered in the parking lot before a Pink Floyd show that he passed out on the hood of his car and missed the entire show.
Years later when I encounter this guy, he talks about how awesome the show was. Instead of pointing out his lie I smile, nod and lift a few prescription pads from his desk while he�s not looking.
This year, however, has been a time of rejuvenation. After a thoroughly enjoyable trip to see the Chris Robinson Brotherhood with the aforementioned Mr. Hughes, I hit paydirt again with last week�s Who concert. Joining me on the excursion were Hanks and my band mate Joe Gray.
I did most of the driving, so that meant I had control over the iPod � even over numerous protests from Hanks. While Hanks is a lifelong U2 fanatic, there are some things on his iPod that would make Helen Keller want to be cured of deafness just so she could go deaf again. You might think that was an insensitive thing to say, but the man has a hip hop song in his collection that uses �Visine� as a rhyme.
On the way up, we had time to stop and allow Joe to do a little shopping for his wedding anniversary. At the time, it seemed perfectly normal for two adult men to sift through racks of women�s coats, gloves and scarves. Later on, Hanks brought up the fact that my very first column was about two guys shopping. It was a clear cut case of life imitating � art.
I�m happy to report neither of my travel partners felt the need to drink enough alcohol to float Rosie O�Donnell out of dry dock. All of us did OD on one thing � barbecue from Greensboro landmark Stamey�s. We�re spoiled with good barbecue around here, so I was skeptical. With one combined bite of barbecue/hush puppy, though, we were all smitten. The barbecue was so good we took turns slapping each other.
Two of us proposed to the waitress; one of us proposed to the chef.
Once inside the concert venue, the line to get through security was long and slow. This didn�t sit well with Joe since his teeth were about to start floating. The man was in need of a W.C. in the worst way. To help him out, I started talking about waterfalls, massive rain storms and gushing tidal waves.
At one point, Hanks used his iPhone to pull up a video of a plumber flushing a toilet over and over and over. Two of us thought this was hysterical; one of us did not.
The show was fantastic. It was inspirational to see Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey � both of whom are approaching 70 � put it down in such an authoritative manner. Hanks may or may not have floated an air biscuit close in vicinity to the one person out of 20,000 who was sitting down as the band members were introduced.
Three of us thought this was funny; the guy in charge of shutting the fire alarms off did not.
Hanks drove a chunk of the way back home, so I begrudgingly relented control of the iPod to him. Thankfully, he pulled up U2�s �Achtung Baby� and a sing-along of �Glee� proportions ensued. Turns out Hanks has one heck of a falsetto � especially when the seat belt malfunctions and performs an amateur vasectomy on him.
Long live Rock � be it dead or alive.
Jon Dawson�s columns appear every Tuesday and Thursday in The Free Press. Contact Jon at 252-559-1092 or email@example.com. Purchase Jon�s book �Making Gravy in Public� at the Free Press office and at jondawson.com.


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Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Alec Baldwin's pregnant wife sued over yoga class
ALEC BALDWIN's pregnant wife is facing a lawsuit from a man who alleges he was injured during her yoga class.
Spencer Wolff claims he suffered "serious" injuries and "emotional upset" during the January (13) session at Yoga Vida in New York City held by Hilaria Thomas, who is due to give birth to the 30 Rock star's baby later this year (13).
Wolff has filed papers in Manhattan Supreme Court and blames the "overcrowded" class and Thomas' "negligence" as two causes of his alleged accident, according to the New York Daily News.
Thomas has been instructing yoga since 2005.


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Ask and you shall receive: More than 150 people, agencies and organizations lobbed comments – many of them dozens of pages long – about the America's Cup regatta to the city planners.
Concerns veered from the mundane (transit capacity of the F-line trolley) to the expected (hey, there are a lot of people coming) to the random (those people could be drunk and step on the plants).
"The document, massive as it is, still lacks necessary information in many regards, and repeatedly understates the impacts of the race events on the City and the Bay," said one letter from a coalition of groups including the Sierra Club and the Telegraph Hill Dwellers.
The 2,200-page document is the legal underpinning of the city's plan to host what officials say will be the greenest sailing race in the history of the sport. The 2013 race could bring $1 billion for the local economy and bring 5.5 million viewers, the city estimates.
The deadline to comment on the double-door-stop-sized plan was last week, but the city has accepted comments from a few late stragglers, said Joy Navarrete, with the Planning Department. The final document will eventually have to be approved by the Planning Commission.
Many worry the city hasn't thought about everything that could happen.
"We find it lacking in many important respects" including "insufficient analysis" and "unclear commitments" to fixing the problems, said a letter from the National Park Service.
A litany of other government agencies, including the Coastal Commission and AC Transit, also seemed a bit skeptical.
But that's part of the process, city officials have said. Everyone gets a chance to raise concerns, and the city will spend several weeks responding to them. If necessary, officials can tweak parts of the plan.
The Crissy Field Dog Group, which represents notoriously rabid dog owners, worried the 77,000 people expected to crowd onto Crissy Field each day would make it hard for them.
The plan should "insure that regular park visitors would be able to continue to have access in this recreation area," their letter said. "There will be a very high volume of foot traffic and a lot of alcohol consumption and we want to protect the promenade and grassy airfield area too."
– Will Kane
C'mon Irene: We could blame the weather or Paris Hilton for this one: Dozens of Chihuahuas are going to be stuck in a San Francisco animal shelter after their planned airlift to New York was scrubbed because of Hurricane Irene.
A posse of the tiny short-haired dogs from San Francisco Animal Care and Control had been set to board a Virgin America flight this morning from San Francisco to New York as part of Operation Chihuahua. But with the backlog from hundreds of flights canceled because of the hurricane, the canine airlift is on hold until later this year.
A similar airlift in December 2009 was postponed because of East Coast snowstorms, but ultimately 15 of the miniature canines flew from San Francisco to New York in January 2010 in the original Operation Chihuahua.
In what appears to be a uniquely Californian phenomena, shelters here in recent years have been inundated with Chihuahuas, which has led animal care and control officials to seek help from their counterparts on the East Coast, where this particular breed isn't so numerous and stands a better chance of adoption.
– John Coté
E-mail the City Insider team at email@example.com.


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Last week and during my vacation, my good pal Mith and I got together for gaming, good company, and something we'd been planning for some time: we sat down for a Whoathon of epic proportions. We watched a good 24 episodes of consecutive Hartnell Who plus sundry special features, including some lost episodes and recons. We'd recommitted to watching "it all." And "all" included, problematically for my sanity, The Web Planet. Even worse, our Whoathon started with The Web Planet. But having watched it one and a half times before (once interrupted by sheer boredom), I was well prepared for what lay ahead. My opinion didn't change. And so, I represent the Prosecution–this one's bad. Really bad.
So what do you need to know about Who's 13th serial, The Web Planet? Well, primarily the three reasons it's so bad. It's well worth a watch if you're a completionist as I am–there are interesting concepts explored, and some pushing of technical boundaries in making a 1965 BBC sci-fi serial. But these interesting concepts ultimately, as you'll see, fail. In any case, watch it or no, you'll be well suited knowing these three things about Web Planet, and moving on to the far superior 14th serial, The Crusade. And in no particular order, here are the three things you need to know.
1. An enemy needs periodic anthropomorphizing to hold the audience's interest. Peter Jackson, in his masterful Lord of the Rings trilogy, made the risky choice to not represent the Big Bad Sauron with any human form throughout his series except in the brief prologue, showing the Big Bad fighting the alliance of Men and Elves. Rather, through the three movies Sauron was represented as a flaming eye, seated atop a large, and faraway tower in Morder. This worked so well in Lord of the Rings since there were proxy enemies aplenty: the Nazgul, Saruman, the orcs in Moria, as well as Gandalf's (channeling Tolkien's own words) masterful prose describing the all-too-humanlike enemy and threat Sauran once had been.
In contrast, The Web Planet's Zarbi, the heroes' threat through much of the serial, are actors wearing clunky, if impressively bulky, ant suits, who issue streams of repetitive (guaranteed to drive you nuts) electronic chirps that convey nothing of notable complexity. Not so much as an R2-D2-style humanizing with baleful chirrups and whirrs. Nope, these Zarbi are essentially mute drones. The Menoptera, in fact, say as much, telling us the Zarbi are little more than "cows." How's that for a thriller–rampaging, mind-controlled cows threaten the heroes for over two hours. And that's what The Web Planet essentially is.
The Animus, who is revealed as the "real enemy" as the serial wears on, should be built-up so that the viewer will care. But the Animus is never given the full Sauron-treatment. That amazing scene of Tom Baker and Lalla Ward, inside the rocket-ship in Episode Three of State of Decay and waxing nostalgic over childhood tales from Gallifrey of the Great Vampires, is a wonderful example of how such a disembodied enemy can be built-up simply through compelling dialog. It's much like the scene early in Fellowship of the Ring where Gandalf finally gives Frodo the full story of Sauron the Deceiver. The original crew members in State of Decay serve as chilling stand-ins and reminders of the omnipresent threat of the Great Vampire itself, just like the numerous smart, and Machiavellian, minions of Sauron. That gradual development of the "lore" of the enemy, and the notion that the minions are either zealous believers in some greater evil, or tragic and unwilling servants, gave me frissons of excitement. But there's no such buildup here, either properly villifying the Animus, or giving us any buy-in to care about the enslaved Zarbis' plight.
In fact, our Zarbi lack anything more than mute worker-drone "cow status." The Animus is given little air time until the final minutes of The Web Planet. The Animus appears briefly merely as a disembodied voice in Web Planet Episode 2; only suddenly, in the final moments of The Web Planet, do we actually see the Animus. Small wonder we don't care about the Animus, except to be thrilled that its destruction means we can finally leave the godforsaken planet Vortis.
2. Ballet moves in a sci-fi serial, generally, look like trash. I actually liked the bee-like Menoptera. After the nonsense Zarbi, the fact that the Menoptera could talk with the TARDIS crew, and had dreams and goals, was refreshing. Sadly, and tragically, given the amount of time spent developing and rehearsing their ballet-like "unique" movements, they're mesmerizingly preposterous-looking. Their three-beat, ascending lilting sentences, with accompanying elbow waves and closing paws, are so distracting as to both sound like giant Swedish insects with speech impediments, and drown-out any substantive content in the Menopteras' lines. The effect is all the more distracting when it's clear that not all the Menopotera actors care enough to complete the effect: the upstart "invasion force" Menoptera that appears later in the serial does none of the bobbing or vocalizing–he merely waves his elbows and hands. His apparent recalcitrance to engage in the "Menoptera dance" jars us out of any suspension of disbelief (or catatonic state) that the serial managed to eke out of us.
So too their underground cousins the Optera: they sound and look like gruff, gutteral guys hopping around in felt outfits with big eyes and felt tentacles attached to their heads. But they don't always hop: sometimes the actors decide to walk. And it jars us back to how spotty The Web Planet is. And the subpar triumvirate is complete with the Larvae Guns: they're often mounted on small carts, rolling smoothly across the landscape–except when they aren't, and the actors decide to crawl, again breaking the Vaseline-smeared ambiance.
Credit is due, though, to The Web Planet's semi-thrilling invasion sequences: the scenes of Menoptera gliding through space down to landings on the Vortis surface are fantastic. Suspension wires are nowhere to be seen. And the fight scenes are among the best in the six-part serial. Much time was obviously spent getting these fight and landing scenes right, and it shows.
3. From there to here, from here to there, gaffes on Vortis everywhere. If Hartnell is known for "Hartnell fluffs" or line flubs when the rest of the serials sailed relatively smoothly about him, The Web Planet is famous for how nothing quite seems to work. The actors' performances are lackluster: one scene where Ian sits on an Vortis bluff, William Russell looks almost detached and impassive while talking with the Menoptera Vrestin about his hopes for retaking its homeworld–a scene that should be filled with trademark William Russell enthusiasm. In that same scene, and all the scenes on the surface of Vortis, Vaseline is smeared on the camera's lens filter so the scenes look "otherworldly." Instead, it simply makes the serial look annoyingly smudged and blurry. Multiple times, the plot device of hanging a golden yoke on characters necks–including the necks of the Zarbi–fails simply because the yoke keeps falling off the characters' necks.
Bill Hartnell sums it up:
Best quote of The Web Planet goes to the Doctor, speaking to the Animus as a creaky plastic shell descends and the disembodied voice booms at him, inviting him to step inside the shell: he dismissively gestures towards the prop, calling it a hairdryer. It sums up the entire creaky Web Planet mess for the viewer.
I, for one, was so irritated by so many of the Web Planet's failings that I couldn't wait to get the hell out of the Isop Galaxy.


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Lady Gaga isn't retreating.
After her vomit-drenched performance at the recent South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, inspired many Internet scolds to insist that she'd finally -- gasp! -- gone too far, the pop star might've been expected to restrain herself for her next move.
After all, with a run of shows at New York's Roseland Ballroom set to kick off Friday night (and a North American arena tour after that), she needs committed fans right now more than she needs another round of media outrage.
Fortunately, though, Lady Gaga seems uninterested in such glum logic: Over the weekend, she unleashed a music video for her song "G.U.Y.," and if you were fragile enough that her SXSW gig offended you -- as opposed to her truly icky corporate alliance -- then you're in for another rude shock.
Filmed in large part at Hearst Castle in San Simeon, Calif., the "G.U.Y." clip follows a loose narrative in which a winged Gaga is shot with an arrow, laid to rest in a swimming pool and then resurrected -- or something -- in time to jam with several ladies from "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills." (Another Bravo personality, Andy Cohen, appears in the video, which premiered Saturday night on Bravo's sister network NBC.)
The singer also appears to wake Jesus, Gandhi and Michael Jackson from some kind of cryogenic deep sleep before taking over an office space in a bit that looks like "The Matrix" meets "The Wolf of Wall Street."
Is it a lot? It's a lot, which is probably why the clip is scored not just by "G.U.Y." but also by parts of several other tunes from last year's "Artpop," including "Venus" and "Manicure."
Watch it above and give thanks that Gaga is still going.


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Learn how to take much of the work out of turning low-quality, low-resolution images into crisp, clean graphics.
Every now and then I come across imaging software that's above the ordinary. Such was the case at the recent SGIA Exposition in Las Vegas. As is usual, I came across it quite by accident. I almost didn't bother to stop, but I'm glad I did. I knew after just a couple of minutes watching the live demo that this software application had the potential to overcome some very common and annoying problems.
Any screen printer who's been in this business for more than a few months has experienced it. It's everywhere—and getting worse. The problem is low-resolution raster art. The customer may have swiped the offending image from the Internet, scanned it from a business card, a pencil sketch, or who knows what. To make matters worse, the customer often enlarges the low-res image, which leaves us with a graphic that looks bad before we get the chance to work on it. The art department then faces what could be hours of hard labor to render new art from the old. In many cases, you're better off building the art from scratch—but the customer won't pay the art charges. Reworking art is like remodeling a house. You don't know what you're getting yourself into until you're into it.
Tracing software
Auto-trace programs are the solutions that artists most often use to repair art. Software applications like CorelDRAW and Adobe Illustrator offer a tracing function to aid those who need to convert a raster image to vector format. Sometimes the tracer works, but most of the time it's just a starting point for more node editing and clean up. The auto-trace concept is sound enough, but until recently, it lacked the power and sophistication to be a serious, reliable tool in the production designer's arsenal.
Enter Imagaro Z from Sweden's Imagaro AB. It's a standalone application that takes the auto-trace concept and extends it nicely. Imagaro Z also offers powerful editing tools that supplement its superb auto-trace function.
The program can convert really terrible bitmapped images (scanned or downloaded) to clean, sharp, crisp vector art in a matter of seconds. The process starts by opening the original art in the Process window. The program handles line art, grayscale, full color, and photo. Most major file formats are supported, including PSD, JPG, TIF, BMP, PNG, and GIF. The program then determines whether the image is grayscale or color.
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Lady Gaga Reminds People in Four States to Vote for Marriage Equality
Lady Gaga is the patron saint of marriage equality and the Mother Monster filmed a short, but poignant video. She's encouraging people and little monsters who live in four specific states to make sure that they check off the ballot for marriage equality, if they so believe in the concept, when they cast their votes during the presidential election on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
In this short clip, Gaga, looking glam as ever in an electric blue suit, winged eyeliner and dagger nails, reminds people who live in Maine, Minnesota, Washington and Maryland that they can actually vote for same sex marriage by clicking a button at their polling stations. So voters can take advantage of a two-fer when they go to cast their votes. Oh, how we love living in a free, democratic society.
The ability to vote for marriage equality might not be common knowledge to a lot of voters, so Gaga's digital reminder to do so is quite an effective strategy. Knowledge is power and there is nothing wrong with a famous pop star doing her part and using her sphere of influence to help advance social change before the big election day.
Learn more here.
BTW, how amazing is it that Gaga took time out of her chaotic schedule to film this video? She really cares about this cause.


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Final Essay for the Comparative Religion Course
I found this course to be extremely informative. As a minister and a funeral director I am faced daily with people of various backgrounds and cultures. I have worked with almost every major religion and have long been a student of religions. I find the differences fascinating, but conversely also find their similarities equally fascinating. Most people are unable to look past the proverbial "end of their noses" to see that there are many cultural universals in this world. I like to use the model inspired by an old Indian tale - that of the blind men who tried to describe an elephant. It is said that once upon a time a king gathered a few men who were born blind. They were asked to describe an elephant, but each one was presented with only a certain part of it.
To one was presented the head of the elephant, to another the trunk, to another its ears, to another the leg, the body, the tail, tuft of the tail, etc. The one who was presented with the head said: "The elephant is like a pot!" The one who was presented the trunk answered, "The elephant is like a hose." The one who touched only the ears thought that the elephant was a fan, the others said that it was a pillar, a wall, a rope, a brush, etc. Then they quarreled among themselves, each thinking that he was the only one right and the others were wrong. The obvious truth is that the elephant is a unity of many parts, a unity that they could not grasp in their ignorance.
I personally believe that a better illustration to envision is that many paths lead to the same mountain peak. We are all or we all should be seeking enlightenment, the path and vernacular we choose is of secondary importance. It is important to know that this is not the case. As an example both Christianity and Islam each claims to be the only right path to God. Therefore the other option is that world religions are not pieces of the same puzzle or parts of the same spiritual elephant or different paths to the same goal or mountain peak. We as a race are very ethnocentric. A little understanding through knowledge would do us all good. However, both possibilities exist. So, a proper evaluation of these opposite views should be done before we decide a course of action. If the first is true, that all religions lead us to the same finality, and we choose the second, that only one of them is right, then we have lost nothing.
Despite our ignorance, we will arrive at the same end result as others who have chosen different spiritual paths. A worse outcome would be if the second were true, that only one path was correct and we had chosen the wrong one. A third and much worse possibility is that all spiritual paths are wrong. This possibility is denied by our nature and thirst for a spiritual quest, which demands fulfillment. Otherwise, our hunger for ultimate truth could not be justified and all religions would be nothing but human fantasy.
What I liked best about this course was the depth of the knowledge imparted by the author. I found this course to be well written and a wonderful resource for future independent study. The author alluded to a second part to this course. I certainly hope the ULC Seminary will provide this course in the near future.
Peace be with you,
Rev. Steve Harris
"Dreams are illustrations...from the book your soul is writing about you."


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If you have or know a solar project, please submit it to us for consideration as a featured project using Submit an Item. http://www.solaripedia.com/302/submit-an-item.html
Not long ago, it took at least three hours for electricity to travel the 50 miles from Port-au-Prince to Boucan Carré on Haiti's remote Central Plateau, moving laboriously by four-wheel-drive up a rocky, rutted dirt road, sloshing in barrels or cans smelling of diesel.
Now it gets there at the speed of light – direct from the sun, 93 million miles away.
In 2009, the Solar Electric Light Fund, an organization that brings solar power to impoverished areas of the world that lack grid electricity, worked with the medical-aid group Partners In Health to install a 10-kilowatt solar array on the roof of a medical clinic in Boucan Carré. Until then, diesel generators had been the only way to produce electricity in the village.
It was a familiar scenario for Robert Freling, and one that he hopes will be repeated many times over. And now, as Haiti struggles to recover from a devastating earthquake, he sees solar as a ray of hope for rebuilding there, and elsewhere.
"Out of a global population that now exceeds 6 billion people, close to 2 billion still don't have access to electricity," says Mr. Freling, executive director of the Solar Electric Light Fund, or SELF, based in Washington, D.C.
From Haiti, to Vietnam, to a Navajo community in America's Southwest, the nonprofit group is helping isolated populations leapfrog from kerosene lamps and fuel-gulping, fume-spewing generators to compact fluorescent and LED lights, solar-powered water pumps and wireless Internet access.
Mikhail S. Gorbachev, former president of the Soviet Union, believes that as the world emerges from recession, now is the time, and solar is the way, for under-developed regions to make the leap to modernity.
"It's not just a matter of rescuing the world's economy – there is more at stake," Mr. Gorbachev said last year at a press conference in Texas oil country. "This economic crisis must mark the beginning of a new sustainable development path that has been long overdue. Solar power needs big investments to expand and create significant effects. For the 2 billion people currently living without electricity, the sun is the best hope."
The Solar Electric Light Fund has been turning that hope into reality since its founding in 1990 by Neville Williams, a journalist, author and former U.S. Department of Energy employee.
SELF did not give solar panels away but sold them to families or villages at a small markup and created loan funds for use by others. Small 50-watt modules produced electricity that could be stored in a battery to power a few lights and a small black-and-white television set or radio at night.
The goal, Mr. Freling says, was not to install photovoltaic modules at a few locations and walk away, but to create a self-sustaining approach that would lead toward commercial solar electrification in developing countries. In Bangalore, India, the fund established a for-profit affiliate called the Solar Electric Light Company, or SELCO, which has achieved commercial success in selling lower-cost solar equipment, mostly to low-income rural residents, and is now completely independent.
When SELCO was spun off in the late 1990s, Mr. Williams went to work for it and Mr. Freling, who had started in 1994 as a volunteer translator for a SELF project in China, took over as head of the Solar Electric Light Fund.
"I got to re-fashion SELF in my own vision," says Mr. Freling, a Dallas native and Yale University alumnus who holds a graduate degree from the Annenberg School of Communications Management at the University of Southern California.
"With lights alone, I felt we were not fulfilling our potential. I felt that solar could be used to power not just lights but also a wide range of other applications, such as schools, clinics, water-pumping systems and wireless Internet access. I wanted to expand our mandate."
The organization has adopted what Mr. Freling calls a "whole village" model in which solar projects are chosen by the residents of rural communities and equipment is bought by individuals, families or groups using micro-credit financing.
Villagers, both men and women, are trained to install solar systems and to provide any maintenance or repairs that may be needed.
Some communities have also incorporated solar into school studies – a practice now becoming common in U.S. schools, such as in Vermont and California, as well.
The broader mission SELF has embraced has been validated by the success of a project in Benin, Africa, just west of Nigeria.
Working with an expert on drip irrigation – Dov Pasternak of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics – the Solar Electric Light Fund used solar modules to power water pumps to efficiently irrigate vegetable gardens.
"We were approached by the local community and took on the ambitious goal of bringing electricity to more than 40 villages and 100,000 people, and to use the energy for a whole range of applications," says Mr. Freling. "When we did a needs assessment, we found that the most critical problem was food insecurity, especially during the six-month dry season of November through April.
"From previous experience I knew that drip irrigation could be a solution. I spoke to a lot of experts about it, and one of them was Dov Pasternak, who developed the 'Africa Market Garden,'" a project that trains small-plot farmers to transition from grain production to growing fruits and vegetables that not only improve the nutrition of farming families but also can be sold for profit.
Mr. Pasternak placed water barrels on concrete blocks a few feet or more above small farm fields, then ran drip irrigation lines from the water barrels to the growing plants.
Drip irrigation is both inexpensive and highly efficient at getting water to the roots of plants in arid regions.
A drawback of the market garden was that the water pumps were powered by diesel generators, which had a low initial cost but a high continuing fuel cost. They also demanded repeated maintenance and spare parts, which could be expensive and hard to get, and required workers trained to make repairs.
The Solar Electric Light Fund's project powered the pumps with solar modules. The solar equipment had a higher initial cost, but required no fuel, very little maintenance, and little training to operate. Because the water was pumped during daytime hours, no batteries were necessary.
The result over two years, according to a study published recently in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was a significant increase in the nutrition and incomes of villagers.
"Though photovoltaic systems are often dismissed out-of-hand due to high up-front costs, they have long lifetimes, and in the medium term, cost less than liquid-fuel-based pumping systems," said a report on the study, led by Jennifer Burney, a postdoctoral scholar in the Program on Food Security and the Environment at Stanford University.
The researchers reported that because of such low long-term costs, "photovoltaic drip irrigation systems could be an important source of poverty alleviation and food security in the marginal environments common to sub-Saharan Africa."
In addition to using solar to power lights and to grow food, "another very important aspect has been the opportunity we've found to marry solar energy and electronic communication," says Mr. Freling.
Solar equipment has been used by SELF and others to provide Internet access, cell-phone service and solar-powered WiFi networks in remote areas. "To bring electronic voice and data capabilities to a poor rural village is a tremendous way to open them up to the wider world," Mr. Freling says.
The Solar Electric Light Fund is "technology-agnostic," Mr. Freling says – it has used a variety of panels from many manufacturers, including both crystalline silicon and thin-film types. "Our hope is that as the solar industry grows, we will be able to receive more in-kind contributions and possibly direct financial aid," he says, noting with gratitude a recent grant from the SunPower Foundation, which is affiliated with the California-based solar panel manufacturer.
"We're simply not equipped to take on as many projects as we could be doing," because of limited funding, Mr. Freling says, although SELF did grow during 2009, expanding its staff and its reach. "There's so much more that we can and should be doing."
Immediately after the earthquake in Haiti, the fund diverted solar modules from another Haiti location to Port-au-Prince to help power an emergency field hospital established by Partners In Health. It is planning to ramp up its work there dramatically as Haiti rebuilds.
The Solar Electric Light Fund has now completed electrification projects in about 20 countries, including in New Orleans and in a Navajo community in northeastern Arizona. With the solar industry growing rapidly around the world, rural solar electrification has become a major focus of governments in China and India, both of which are in the process of bringing solar electricity to thousands of villages.
In Africa, Zambia's Rural Electrification Authority recently announced a major funding allotment for solar electricity and water pumps in remote communities. In Kenya, where, as in Haiti, only a fraction of households are connected to the grid, sales of lower-cost solar equipment have spawned a growing entrepreneurial market. In the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar, the government is considering using solar for crop irrigation.
The growth of solar power in the United States can only help, Mr. Freling adds.
"As volume goes up and prices come down, it will make it easier to do our job," he says. "As more people become interested in solar electricity, and grow to understand and appreciate it more in this country, and learn about the effects it can have in other parts of the world, the better chance we have to draw upon this increased interest and appreciation in order to help bring solar's benefits to places that otherwise would not have it."
He says his own appreciation of solar electricity is deeply rooted.
"Part of it is the intellectuality of it," he says. "I've always had a love of solar. It's a beautiful thing to take photons and transfer them into electrons that can be used in so many ways; it's a beautiful technology."
His initial volunteer work in China's Gansu province for the Solar Electric Light Fund made an indelible impression.
"I got to see families flip a switch and have electric lights come on for the first time," he says. "To be able to bring light into a household in some of the world's most remote and poorest regions and to see how much it does for a family – getting to experience it firsthand is what did it for me. It's such a compelling experience."
In Haiti, where Partners In Health co-founder Dr. Paul Farmer is an iconic figure, nine more of the group's clinics on the Central Plateau still get nearly all of their electricity from diesel. These clinics have been treating refugees fleeing from Port-au-Prince and the coast.
SELF plans to accelerate its timeline for installing solar-electric systems of at least 10 kilowatts each at all of the Partners In Health clinics.
"Partners In Health is at the leading edge of providing quality health care in Haiti," says Mr. Freling. "The faster these medical centers can switch from a primary reliance on diesel generators to using solar power, the sooner the Haitian people will have reliable access to the high quality of care that Partners In Health provides."
But Mr. Freling doesn't want to stop there. He wants to start there.
"As Haiti rebuilds," he says, "solar energy has to be a big part of its future. This is an opportunity to put Haiti on a sustainable path. The country is blessed with an abundance of sunshine. Why not tap into that resource? From schools to homes to hospitals and streetlights, the crisis has presented a chance to brighten Haiti's future. Without power, the Haitian people will never climb out of poverty. Solar must play a vital role in rebuilding Haiti."
Michael Balchunas, a free-lance writer, is a former editor and reporter at newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and The Hartford Courant.


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Green Lodging at APPLEWOOD INN, Lexington,Virginia
Applewood Inn, now a B&B offering green lodging, is an eco-friendly structure built in 1979 as a private home, which continued as such until Linda and Chris Best bought it in July of 1996. The structure is a three-story passive solar home design by Lee Merrill, a Lexington architect who has designed a number of solar homes in the area. The envelope design works extremely well, but it was very expensive to build. Thus, there are relatively few such homes in existence.The design allows for air convection all the way around the house, from the south-facing, two-story enclosed porches upward through the "envelope" into the attic space and then down the "envelope" on the north side to the crawl space underneath. The enclosed porches on the second floor are essentially usable year round, except during prolonged cloudy cold weather, with daytime temperatures on a sunny January day reaching into the 80s. Auxiliary gas heat and central air conditioning are used to balance the natural fluctuations.
Applewood Inn & Llama Trekking
242 Tarn Beck Lane
Mail: P.O. Box 1348
Lexington, VA 24450
(800) 463-1902 (540) 463-1962
Fax: (540) 463-6996
e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Lexington Virginia Luxury BandB | Lexington VA B & B | Lexington VA B&B | Lexington Va Bed & Breakfast | Applewood Inn & Llama Trekking | Lexington Virginia BnB


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JDBC - Drop Tables Example
This chapter provides an example on how to delete a table using JDBC application. Before executing the following example, make sure you have the following in place −
To execute the following example you can replace the username and password with your actual user name and password.
Your MySQL or whatever database you are using, is up and running.
NOTE: This is a serious operation and you have to make a firm decision before proceeding to delete a table, because everything you have in your table would be lost.
Required Steps
The following steps are required to create a new Database using JDBC application −
Import the packages: Requires that you include the packages containing the JDBC classes needed for database programming. Most often, using import java.sql.* will suffice.
Register the JDBC driver: Requires that you initialize a driver so, you can open a communications channel with the database.
Open a connection: Requires using the DriverManager.getConnection() method to create a Connection object, which represents a physical connection with a database server.
Execute a query: Requires using an object of type Statement for building and submitting an SQL statement to drop a table in a seleted database.
Clean up the environment: Requires explicitly closing all database resources versus relying on the JVM's garbage collection.
Sample Code
Copy and paste the following example in JDBCExample.java, compile and run as follows −
//STEP 1. Import required packages import java.sql.*; public class JDBCExample { // JDBC driver name and database URL static final String JDBC_DRIVER = "com.mysql.jdbc.Driver"; static final String DB_URL = "jdbc:mysql://localhost/STUDENTS"; // Database credentials static final String USER = "username"; static final String PASS = "password"; public static void main(String[] args) { Connection conn = null; Statement stmt = null; try{ //STEP 2: Register JDBC driver Class.forName("com.mysql.jdbc.Driver"); //STEP 3: Open a connection System.out.println("Connecting to a selected database..."); conn = DriverManager.getConnection(DB_URL, USER, PASS); System.out.println("Connected database successfully..."); //STEP 4: Execute a query System.out.println("Deleting table in given database..."); stmt = conn.createStatement(); String sql = "DROP TABLE REGISTRATION "; stmt.executeUpdate(sql); System.out.println("Table deleted in given database..."); }catch(SQLException se){ //Handle errors for JDBC se.printStackTrace(); }catch(Exception e){ //Handle errors for Class.forName e.printStackTrace(); }finally{ //finally block used to close resources try{ if(stmt!=null) conn.close(); }catch(SQLException se){ }// do nothing try{ if(conn!=null) conn.close(); }catch(SQLException se){ se.printStackTrace(); }//end finally try }//end try System.out.println("Goodbye!"); }//end main }//end JDBCExample
Now, let us compile the above example as follows −
C:\>javac JDBCExample.java C:\>
When you run JDBCExample, it produces the following result −
C:\>java JDBCExample Connecting to a selected database... Connected database successfully... Deleting table in given database... Table deleted in given database... Goodbye! C:\>