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It`s a Jungle in Here
Here's a pop quiz:
Which of the following does Amazon want to sell you?
A. The book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
B. A Nintendo Wii
C. An Apple Mac laptop
D. One terabyte of storage
E. The computing power of 10,000 servers
F. Thought processes of a million human brains
G. All of the above
If you chose "all of the above," there's a strong chance you're one of the more than 330,000 customers—predominantly developers and startups—tapping Amazon.com's vast computer network to take advantage of some of the world's most inexpensive computing power and data storage.
With the launch of the Simple Storage Service (S3) in March 2006 and the Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) in August 2006, the $14.8 billion e-commerce giant served notice on the IBMs, Microsofts, Googles and Sun Microsystems of the world: Amazon wants a piece of the action.
"Amazon is at heart a technology company—a big, massive Internet application," says Adam Selipsky, vice president of product development and developer relations at Amazon Web Services (AWS).
"It's really a new line of business for us, these Web services that are measured and metered very much like a water bill or a phone bill," adds AWS lead evangelist Jeff Barr.
By stepping beyond its circumscribed sphere of selling books, toys, music, DVDs and computers online, Amazon is not just poaching far from its own turf by penetrating an entirely new market, it's also challenging the established players in the emerging software as a service (SaaS), managed services and grid-computing sectors. It's as if General Motors suddenly opened up its factories worldwide to allow thousands of companies to make their products using its equipment and facilities.
"This definitely is a disruptive technology," says James Staton, an analyst at Forrester Research. "It's totally different from the mainstream offerings today. It's something that can be used without anyone's authority, where you can pay with a credit card. For a high-tech startup, for, say, two guys in a garage, it means they can start and grow a $100 million business without ever having bought a server."
Pay by the Drink
If ever there was a business that needed shaking up, it's the cozy world of enterprise computing. Every year, companies large and small spend billions of dollars on IT infrastructure and expert staffs to build and maintain complex systems. Software licensing, hardware integration, power and cooling, and staff training and salaries add up to a massive sum for an infrastructure that may or may not be used to its full capacity.
Then came the idea that companies could pay for computer processing "by the drink"—that is, pay for each transaction, minute of server power or megabyte of data stored. This approach, which is generally known as utility computing but also includes SaaS, lets companies use and pay for computing resources as needed, in the same way they use telephone and electric services.
The goal is to maximize the efficient use of computing resources and minimize user costs. Ideally, users can dial up or dial down usage in real time depending on operational demands. However, for several years, utility computing remained more of a concept than a reality, according to Forrester's Staton.
What makes Amazon's online computing services different from typical utility computing is that the company already has the infrastructure in place to provide these services.
"What Amazon is doing is cloud computing—they already have an infrastructure, with utility billing as a byproduct of that resource," Staton says. He defines cloud computing as "a set of highly scalable, Internet-accessible infrastructure resources capable of hosting end-customer applications."
In Amazon's case, there is no doubt about the infrastructure being in place and ready for action: The company invested more than a dozen years and $2 billion assembling its network of servers and online resources for its e-commerce business. The infrastructure was designed with sufficient capacity to handle the most prodigious holiday traffic spikes.
This past holiday season, Amazon's e-commerce site handled customer orders for a whopping 5.4 million items on Dec. 10th alone—more than 60 items per second. Its fulfillment network shipped 3.9 million units in a single day. Nintendo's Wii game systems flew out the doors at an incredible clip—17 per second—when the coveted games were in stock.
Amazon's e-commerce success hasn't gone unnoticed on Wall Street. The company's shares last year soared 135 percent, fractionally better than tech darling Apple's and nearly three times the stock-value growth of search juggernaut Google.
Both revenue and profit spurted last year, with sales up 39 percent (from $10.7 billion in 2006 to $14.8 billion in 2007), and net income up 150 percent (from $190 million in 2006 to $476 million in 2007). Although its Web services foray has yet to be viewed as a major revenue contributor, Amazon's computing-services revenues range from $46 million to $92 million, analysts estimate.
Unlike conventional software vendors that must build vast data centers to get into the SaaS business, Amazon is tapping its existing—and often underused—infrastructure. "Amazon has a lot of capacity that sits idle for a lot of the year," AWS' Selipsky says. It's as if a thoroughbred racehorse, restricted to running in cheap claiming races for 50 weeks of the year, suddenly was spurred on to compete in the Kentucky Derby.
Amazon has long been hip to the idea of making a buck off its various e-commerce systems. Nearly one-third of Amazon's revenue comes from third parties, such as merchants that use its various technologies. "This is a multibillion-dollar business for us," Selipsky says.
Shaking Up the Establishment
Amazon's push into Web services is also drawing the attention of traditional technology companies. The vendors that stand to lose business to utility computing are fighting back and, in some cases, fighting fire with fire.
Just two months after Amazon sent aloft its Elastic Compute Cloud, IBM filed a pair of lawsuits against the retailer. Big Blue, which coined the term "grid computing," took aim at the online retailer's core business in what could be considered a shot across Amazon's services bow.
IBM charged that Amazon had infringed on five of its patents governing the presentation of online advertising, as well as the way data is stored in an interactive network. IBM also claimed Amazon had taken its idea for the "weighted user" to create its well-known feature that enables a site to recommend books to customers based on previous purchases by other customers with similar reading tastes.
Microsoft is also fighting back, but its primary target is, of course, Google. After months of rumors and speculation that it was interested in acquiring Yahoo, Microsoft pulled the trigger last month with a $44.6 billion offer to buy the number-two search and online advertising company (see "Battle of the Brands" on p.12). Yahoo would give Microsoft more than just search technology: It would also provide the massive server infrastructure to deliver the online services and applications Google currently offers. (At press time, Yahoo had rejected Microsoft's bid as inadequate.)
Other entrants in the utility computing space include tech distribution giant Ingram Micro, which launched its Seismic program last year. It offers a massive infrastructure that leases space to IT resellers and service providers for the delivery of managed services.
Smaller India-based startup Zenith Infotech came to the United States with a similar model, providing inexpensive backend resources that resellers can use for everything from monitoring and managing customer networks to delivering remote backup and storage services. And the concept of specialized enterprise-class SaaS continues to catch fire as marked by Salesforce.com rival NetSuite's $160 million IPO.
The competitor that most closely mirrors Amazon's services is Sun. Under the slogan "Own the results, not the hardware," Sun's Network.com site offers pay-per-use computing resources provided by the company's Sun Grid Compute Utility. The utility consists of a package of powerful computational applications that enable software vendors and developers to build, test and deploy on-demand applications over the Web.
Sun's applications library contains computational mathematics, computer-aided design engineering tools, design automation, molecular simulations, weather prediction systems, and even financial services applications for pricing and risk management analytics.
Despite the notion of large companies being "disruptive" by entering noncore businesses, forays by large tech-savvy companies into new arenas—especially by acquisition—can be risky. Just look at what happened when eBay strayed from its knitting to purchase online telephony service Skype for $2.6 billion in 2005. In October 2006, eBay took a $1.4 billion writedown when Skype failed to deliver the heady returns needed to justify the price eBay had paid for it. Now, with CEO Meg Whitman gone, eBay is reportedly considering spinning off Skype.
Amazon's foray into grid computing pits it in a race against Google, Microsoft and a host of other companies that are rumored, according to Forrester's Staton, to be vying to build the next big platform for the Web. Amazon wants its services to be that fabric—a layer of basic services on top of which everyone else builds their Web sites.
So far, Amazon seems to have staked out a major chunk of Web computing turf. In last year's fourth quarter alone, the bandwidth used by customers of EC2 and S3 was greater than the bandwidth used by all of Amazon's global Web sites combined.
Windows Limitation
A significant barrier that could keep Amazon from grabbing too big a piece of the enterprise computing pie is its limited usefulness to Windows-based shops. Although Amazon's Selipsky says the S3 data storage service is platform agnostic, the EC2 computing service is open only to Linux-based platforms. EC2's default operating system is Red Hat Linux, which many users replace with their own preferred version of Linux.
Microsoft currently doesn't offer a license to fit this type of computing infrastructure, Forrester's Staton points out. And even if it did, it's not a slam-dunk that Amazon would embrace Windows on EC2 for cost reasons, because doing so could be prohibitive to the company's pricing strategy of offering computing power at nickels and dimes per hour.
"We do intend to support Windows on Amazon EC2," Selipsky says, "but currently there is no licensing model that supports the hourly pay-as-you-go pricing that has sparked such interest in Amazon EC2."
The lack of support for Windows-based applications isn't a serious limitation for AWS, according to Selipsky. "We typically see that large organizations have a mix of technologies, and many can make full use of Amazon EC2 in these heterogeneous environments," he says. "The rapid uptake we've seen for this service speaks to that fact."
For small companies, the Windows issue may be even less of a deal-breaker. At New York-based startup Animoto, a Web-based service that puts customers' still photos to their choice of music, getting the sheer computing chore done as quickly and cheaply as Amazon can do it is what's most important (see "Developers, Entrepreneurs Tap Into Amazon's Cloud," p.31). Even so, the process is such a chip-burner that it typically takes up to 10 minutes, and sometimes longer, for the music and photos to be combined into the finished product.
"Our customers upload JPEG images and MP3 music files, and our algorithm renders the video and synchronizes the music to the images, so we replicate what real producers of TV and video would do," says Brad Jefferson, a co-founder and CEO of Animoto. "We loved our idea … but we knew it would be storage and server intensive. With Amazon Web Services, we are able to keep our prices low."
Animoto charges $3 to do a single video with 10 photos or $30 per year for unlimited videos. One well-known customer, Republican presidential candidate John McCain, has an Animoto video on his MySpace page.
From the get-go, Animoto found itself hampered by EC2's inability to run Windows-based applications. "We had a Windows dependency as part of an infrastructure stack, so we had to get rid of that to use Amazon Web Services," Jefferson says. "You can't have Windows machines within EC2."
Animoto uses not only EC2 and S3, but also Amazon's Simple Queueing Service, which acts as a sort of bus stop, readying Animoto videos until they can be distributed to an available server in EC2 for rendering into a video and finally being stored on S3. "That entire process is done using Amazon Web Services," Jefferson says. "In fact, our entire infrastructure is on AWS."
Instant Scalability
One of the biggest advantages of Amazon's Web services is its scalability. "We make it easier for self-funding, self-scaling businesses to succeed, because there are no gigantic technology investments they're liable for," Amazon's Barr says.
Start-up CEOs and other entrepreneurs like the idea of being able to launch a new product or service for which the real-world demand is largely unknown, and still have the confidence that their support systems will handle whatever gets thrown their way—whether that's 100 customers a day or 10,000 per hour.
"You have to plan for success," Animoto's Jefferson says. "Do we make it so only a hundred users can log in per week? It's silly to prevent growth. We wanted a way we could scale to the world on day one."
Jefferson and his partners looked at a number of other options, such as buying a batch of servers. "But a lot of those servers would have been dormant after the initial launch," he says, "and it would have meant a huge capital expenditure."
Amazon even tailors its offering according to the size of the computing job. Amazon charges 10 cents per compute hour per instance on a machine with a single processor. For a four-processor instance, for example, the cost is 40 cents per compute hour, or 80 cents per hour for an eight-processor machine. Similarly, data storage costs 15 cents per gigabyte per month. And there is no charge for moving data from EC2 to S3.
By contrast, the Sun Grid Compute Utility charges users $1 per CPU per hour. Sun aggregates each customer's job usage and then rounds it up to the nearest whole hour. For instance, a job that uses 1,000 CPUs for one minute would be billed as 1,000 CPU minutes or 16.67 CPU hours, with the latter figure rounded up to 17 hours, for a total of $17.
As of January, Amazon customers had stored 14 billion objects on S3. Amazon won't say what its data storage capacity or computing capacity limits are, nor whether the company has had to purchase additional hardware to handle AWS growth.
For startups—and even for large companies looking to do specific computing projects—this incredibly minuscule price tag for mojo-size computing tasks is a big draw, because it means they can forgo investing in yet another server farm with all of the associated operating and maintenance costs. Microsoft is using the storage service to help speed software downloads, for example, and Linden Lab is using it to deal with the blizzard of software downloads for its popular virtual world Second Life.
For some large companies, such as SanDisk and The New York Times, Amazon made it possible to launch new products or additional services.
SanDisk, the $4 billion maker of flash drives, uses Amazon's data storage as an automatic backup for its new Cruzer Titanium Plus. SanDisk adapted BeInSync's application for automatic backup of the Cruzer, allowing the company to promise customers automatic backup of their data even if the device is lost or stolen. "Amazon Web Services made it possible for us to pursue this very innovative new idea," says Mike Langberg, a SanDisk spokesman.
For The New York Times, Amazon's low cost was the main selling point. "The cost structure is so minimal that we didn't have to make the traditional budget requests to get our project done," says Derek Gottfrid, the newspaper's senior software architect.
The project was massive and complex. America's "newspaper of record" wanted a way to archive 11 million articles published from 1851 to 1980 as PDF files and make them available on the Web.
"We wanted a system that would be scalable, could handle a lot of traffic and could generate PDFs," Gottfrid says. "We also needed a place to store these files. We weren't really sure it would work using EC2 and S3, but we thought it was worth a chance to test it and see."
Gottfrid was able to do the whole job in a few days. Each article that was to be put into PDF format consisted of a series of TIFF file images that had to be assembled and put together in a particular geometric arrangement, including photos, captions, headlines and columns of text.
One of the biggest challenges was managing the large number of computer instances simultaneously, because running computations on large data sets is difficult to set up and manage. For that, Gottfrid took advantage of Apache's Hadoop, an open-source implementation of the MapReduce idea developed at Google.
Hadoop, which provides a framework for running large data processing applications on clusters of commodity hardware, enabled Gottfrid to use EC2 to test-generate a few thousand articles using only four EC2 instances.
Upon successful completion of the test, Gottfrid calculated he could run through all 11 million articles in just under 24 hours by harnessing 100 EC2 instances. The project generated another 1.5 terabytes of data to store in S3. He even ran it a second time to fix an error in the PDFs.
"Honestly, I had a couple of moments of panic," he wrote in his blog. "I was using some very new and not totally proven pieces of technology on a project that was very high profile and on an inflexible deadline. But clearly it worked out, since I am still blogging from open.nytimes.com."
Don't Try This at Home
Gottfrid's experience demonstrates a key aspect of cloud computing via Amazon Web Services: Don't bet your entire business on it—at least not yet. "You have to be pretty knowledgeable to use the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud," says Forrester's Staton. "You have to set up your application. And it doesn't automatically scale or provide backup—you have to do those things."
After an outage on EC2 last fall, says Forrester's Staton, customers who hadn't backed up their applications by copying them to S3 lost them. Staton likens this experience to what happens when an Amazon.com retail customer loses connectivity while shopping online.
"You've put stuff in your shopping cart, but you've lost connectivity," he says. "Afterward, you have to put everything back in again. It's the same thing with EC2 unless you back it up."
Customers sure noticed last fall's outage. "We were affected," says Animoto's Jefferson. "We had several instances that went down. Luckily for us, it wasn't a complete outage, because we had multiple instances of the servers."
The bottom line for Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud? "At this stage," Forrester's Staton says, "it's still very much a do-it-yourself service."
As a result, there are a lot of companies trying it out, but not many are betting their businesses on it. "We see a lot of enterprises tipping their toes in and trying it out," Staton adds, "but not a lot running things that they count on."
Although Amazon claims it essentially can scale to the stars, even its most stalwart customers aren't so sure. Says Animoto's Jefferson, "I think it will be very interesting to see if we could ever outgrow them."


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Tulare County, California — March 31, 2011
Police say three people were killed Thursday when a police pursuit in southwest Visalia ended in a multiple-vehicle crash.
Shortly after 9:30 p.m., the Tulare County Sheriff's Department reports, an officer observed 32-year-old Visalia resident Erick Joel Head commit multiple violations in a Mercury Mountaineer sport-utility vehicle along Pearl Harbor Survivors Memorial Freeway (California State Route 99) and initiated a traffic stop. But the suspect driver sped away, at which time the officer gave chase.
Tthe Mountaineer exited the highway at Avenue 280 (Caldwell Avenue), striking two vehicles near the intersection with South Akers Road, including a Chevrolet Impala sedan. Police say 54-year-old Visalia resident Gloria Mendoza, 52-year-old Ruben Mendoza and 17-year-old Ruben Mendoza Jr., were all passengers in the Impala and were killed in the crash.
Mr. Head bailed out of the Mountaineer and tried to escape officers on foot. He was arrested on suspicion of violating parole, as well as evading law enforcement after being treated at Kaweah Delta Hospital.
The crash remains under investigation.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that a pedestrian dies in a U.S. traffic accident every 110 minutes and one is injured every nine minutes.
If you would like an official copy of the police report, request a copy with this form.

subset: commoncrawl


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The third installment of NY1's series on the Affordable Care Act focuses on small businesses, and how New York State's small business health exchange can help small companies insure their workers. NY1's Health reporter Erin Billups filed the following report.
All has not gone according to plan when it comes to Affordable Care Act's employer mandate. The provision requiring businesses with 50 or more employees provide insurance or face a penalty was postponed a year, earlier this month.
Still, in New York, the marketplace roll-out for businesses with less than 50 employees is on track.
One of those companies that could benefit from New York's marketplace is Brooklyn's IceStone, a recycled glass and cement counter manufacturer. In 2012, IceStone restructured its business. Employees became part owners, but 15 of its 35 employees at the business remained uninsured.
"It was 320 total, and the company was paying half of it, but some employees couldn't afford it and elected not to take it," says Dal LaMagna the CEO of IceStone.
So the staff got together to try and cut down on insurance costs. First, those making more offered to contribute more, then they all decided to give back their cellphones.
"That saved the company $18,000, which we then put into the employee side of the health care cost," LaMagna says.
Now most of IceStone's employees have health insurance except for a couple that opted out, for rates as low as $40 a month.
Still, LaMagna says providing health care remains a daunting task.
"You'll go to a health care provider that gives you good rates and as soon as they've got you, they'll raise the next year," LaMagna says.
He's hoping to take advantage of the state's Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) for businesses with less than 50 employees.
"It's the administrative simplicity, the ability to go online so you can do it at your own convenience," says Kelly Smith, the state Health Exchange SHOP director.
Because New York is running its own exchange, businesses will have access to several different plan options from 10 different insurers. States with federally run exchanges will not.
New York employers could see premiums 32 percent lower than originally estimated for silver plans.
They can either decide to offer employees plans within that silver tier -- bronze, gold or platinum.
"Or they may say you know I'm only going to pick one carrier, but I'm going to open up all medal tiers for that carrier. So there is going to be a lot of flexibility," Smith says.
Employers simply pay SHOP, and SHOP then pays each insurer accordingly. Businesses with 25 or fewer employees, with an average salary of less than $50,000, are also eligible for federal tax credits.
While IceStone isn't eligible for credits, LaMagna still hopes with the help of the exchange they will eventually be able to cover 100 percent of insurance costs.
"Empowered, health-secure and job-secure employees are better workers and are more productive," LaMagna says.
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Doc (#1) and Shawn (#2) face each other in a rematch for the Crown of Oklahoma's fastest street car. Derek calls out Farmtruck (#10) and tries to get back on the list, but during a late night testing session, Derek gets a visit from some familiar cops.
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India's Ministry of Railways has formulated its final draft policy on "Rail Terminals at Private Ports," which is now open for suggestions and comments until Feb. 10.
The draft document is available on the Ministry of Railways Web site.
The objective of the policy, as mentioned in the draft document, is to provide a framework of guidelines for the development of rail terminals and associated logistics facilities for cargo handling and other services at privately developed ports.
Comments and suggestions may be sent via fax at 011-23385222 or email at firstname.lastname@example.com. They may also be mailed to Adviser Freight Marketing, Room No. 471; Ministry of Railways, Rail Bhawan; New Delhi, India 110001.


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From the Public Justice Website – How Federal Preemption is Hurting and Killing People:
Michelle Nemphos wanted to protect her child. What she found herself in was a little-understood legal fight for her right to a day in court. The Nemphos ...
Attorney Stuart Eppsteiner interviewed by NBC Miami's "Team 6 Investigation" – discussing Frontload Washer Mold and Odors. He describes their inherent design problems, and how it affects consumers nationwide.
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Interest Groups Dominate Spending in Judicial Elections, New Report Shows
Nearly 40 Percent of All Campaign Cash in 2009-10 Came From 10 Organizations
OCT. 27, 2011 – Non-candidate spending in state high court elections nearly doubled as a share of total costs in 2009-10, compared to the previous off-year election, a new report shows.
This spending fueled a flood of non-candidate TV advertising, making this the costliest non-presidential election cycle ever for TV spending in judicial elections.
Among the report's key findings:
"The New Politics of Judicial Elections 2009-10," by the Justice at Stake Campaign, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, and the National Institute on Money in State Politics, is released as the presidential race is heating up — with millions in hidden outside spending pouring in through Super PACs and other outside groups — and shows that million-dollar judicial races are increasingly the norm across the country. The report is available at www.newpoliticsreport.org.
"Too many judges owe their jobs to campaign money hidden from public view," said Bert Brandenburg, executive director of Justice at Stake. "Americans expect courts to be fair and impartial. They don't want campaign cash to influence courtroom decisions."
"The rise in spending by non-candidate groups means that many judicial candidates have become bystanders in their own campaigns, watching the action from the sidelines," said report co-author Adam Skaggs, of the Brennan Center for Justice. "We expect judges to be impartial and fair. Now with campaign laws weakening, citizens understandably worry that justice is for sale."
A new poll released today underscored widespread public concern that special-interest money may be undermining the impartiality of elected courts. In a poll of 1,000 voters, 83 percent said that campaign contributions have a "great deal" or "some" influence on a judge's decisions; 93 percent believe judges should not hear cases involving major financial supporters; and 84 percent believe that all contributions to a judicial candidate should be "quickly disclosed and posted to a web site."
The New Politics reports have monitored soaring election spending and other threats to the impartiality of state courts since 2000, showing that spending on state high court elections has more than doubled, from $83.3 million in 1990-1999 to $206.9 million in 2000-2009.
The latest report noted that spending in retention elections for judges exploded in 2010, representing 12.7 percent of overall spending, compared to only 1 percent over the entire previous decade. In Iowa's retention election, three state Supreme Court justices were swept out of office over the court's same-sex marriage decision. Due to Iowa's disclosure laws, voters could track the nearly $1 million spent to unseat the justices, but this is not the case in many states. In Wisconsin's 2011 Supreme Court race, for example, outside groups spent a record amount on TV ads. This surge in secret spending has fundamentally transformed state Supreme Court elections.
The report also concluded that the 2010 elections were followed by dual threats to state courts. These included a "ferocious" attack in legislatures around the country against reforms designed to protect courts from special interests, and a widespread fiscal crisis in many states. The attacks included challenges to merit selection systems, assaults on public financing of judicial elections, and an unprecedented number of legislative threats to impeach state judges.
"As the second decade of the twenty-first century begins, state judiciaries are caught in a vise, squeezed on one hand by interest groups waging an unrelenting war to impose partisan political agendas on the bench and on the other by devastating fiscal pressures," the report said.
# # #
The Justice at Stake Campaign is a nonpartisan, nonprofit campaign working to keep America's courts fair and impartial. Justice at Stake and its 50-plus state and national partners educate the public, and work for reforms to keep politics and special interests out of the courtroom—so judges can protect our Constitution, our rights and the Rule of law. For more about Justice at Stake, go to www.justiceatstake.org, or www.gavelgrab.org.
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law is a nonpartisan public policy and law institute that focuses on fundamental issues of democracy and justice. The Center works on issues including judicial independence, voting rights, campaign finance reform, racial justice in criminal law to Constitutional protection in the fight against terrorism. Part think tank, part public interest law firm, part advocacy group, the Brennan Center combines scholarship, legislative and legal advocacy, and communications to win meaningful, measurable change in the public sector. For more information, visit www.brennancenter.org.
The National Institute on Money in State Politics collects, publishes, and analyzes data on campaign money in state elections. The database dates back to the 1990 election cycle for some states and is comprehensive for all 50 states since the 1999–2000 election cycle. The Institute has compiled a 50-state summary of state supreme court contribution data from 1989 through the present, as well as complete, detailed databases of campaign contributions for all state high-court judicial races beginning with the 2000 elections.
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Ensuring proper journal bearing selection and design is crucial to the overall reliability of pumps – especially when it comes to journal bearings in boiler feed service. These bearings incorporate a "pressure dam" that provides a dampening force to insure stable operation of the rotor. This dam has a unique taper geometry whose proper characteristics and design are difficult to assess with the naked eye. That's what one power gen operation learned over the course of a routine pump element overhaul.
During the facility's spring 2002 outage, the #51 boiler feed pump underwent a rotor change-out. Upon start-up, the pump's vibration readings had improved, but they still weren't acceptable. A review of the unit's vibration spectrum showed vibration amplitude in excess of 0.42 ips (prior to repair the reading was in excess of 0.9 ips) and bearing temperatures at or above 185° F. Large vibration amplitude at running speed can be induced by many factors; imbalance, misalignment, component looseness, internal rubbing, loose bearings, and/or improper bearing design, to name a few. Even after new bearings and gaskets were assembled into the feed pump element, the unit still operated unsatisfactorily.
Further research into the situation by HydroAire Engineering, a division of Hydro, Inc., concluded that the root cause of the destructive vibration was improper bearing design. The problems with the design were: 1) excessive taper length across the bore; 2) improperly machined oil relief chamfers at the bearing split line to circulate and remove the lubricating oil.
HydroAire re-designed the bearing and after re-installation, the pump's vibration amplitudes were at the desired safe levels.
Radial Bearing Design Specifics
It is essential that radial bearings be designed to provide a large centering force. The minimal design to provide acceptable performance incorporates a taper in the bearing bore that is 0.015" deep and 120° in length.
Radial bearings in boiler feed pumps are lightly loaded as a result of two factors:
- The components that change velocity head into pressure head (diffuser dual-volutes) are geometrically configured to balance out the majority of the radial force developed in this region (pressure x area), and Radial bearings in boiler feed pumps are lightly loaded.
- A significant amount of the residual radial force is dampened through the wear ring and stuffing box component stiffness.
Another crucial factor in bearing design is the capability to provide continuous lubricity and heat transfer via force-feed lubrication. This requires the proper flow avenues to effectively introduce and remove oil from the bearing cavity. When these design elements are missing, rotor instability along with high bearing temperatures can lead to accelerated pump degradation.
This bearing design upgrade increased the unit's meantime between repairs (MTBR) from 4 to 7 years. In conjunction with HydroAire's best-in-class repair processes and stringent acceptance standards, this will ensure that internal clearances are maintained for extended periods of time. The net impact is significant energy savings stemming from lower internal leakage and vibration levels for the element's operating life. When compared to historical efficiency losses experienced through "normal" repair practices, the annual operating savings for this application are calculated to be $44,500, based on a $0.6/hour average retail energy rate.
For More Information
Hydro, Inc.
E-mail: email@example.com


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Mixgrotto 17 may be the best album the mixtape collective has put together. Regardless, there's a great, varied mix of songs on the recent release.
There are new songs in the form of demos from Astro Cowboy (the wild, hard driving "White Shoes") and Free Clinic (the punchy and lovely "Off My Rocker") and a new tune recorded just for this release from Deadly Lo-Fi ("Lucy") that's more restrained than usual. It sounds like a ferocious love song.
Sidewalk Babes and Deep Ecology have tracks on too, both from new or upcoming releases.
TOW3RS and Life of Saturdays may have the album's most endearing songs.
TOW3RS' "The Situation" is a song textured with '80s flavored synth, staccato percussion and low key, melancholy vocals. Life of Saturdays' "Dallas Forth Worth" gently pulls at the heart strings, from its spare sounding guitar strumming to the razor-scarred vocals or the refrain of "under Texas skies" that feels bittersweet and beautifully desperate.
Dirty Art Club has a curious creation with "Neon Dreams," an apropos title for a song adrift in wandering keys, faint but sultry vocals and limelight atmosphere. Unicorn Domination does too with the spooky, dreamy "Creatures for Rest" that comes off like a mélange of electronic trickery, horror film sound bites and ethereal vocals.
Teeth of England turn in the fun, '60s flavored rave-up "Rat in Your Pocket," which comes off manic and fevered. Trevor Old Brown closes out the album with the warm, surprising "An Apology." It's a sad but fulfilling close to a completely solid collection of local and N.C. based musicians.
Listen and download the album here at the generous "name your price" point of purchase.
1 Comment


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|Offshore Concepts of the World - 9th Edition
This new 9th edition of Offshore Concepts of the World, formerly Offshore Drilling & Production Concepts of the World, is now available and incorporates even more information on the fast moving offshore drilling and production technology scene.
ISBN: 978-1-907060-19-9Pages: 296 This guide is an exceptional point of reference for anyone interested in the engineering directions the offshore industry is likely to take over the years ahead. Data presented in this new edition has been sourced from oil companies, engineering contractors and the world's foremost design engineering consultancies who, between them, have been responsible for over 250 imaginative and cost effective concepts. Some of the most exciting conceptual designs for the exploration, field development and production of oil and gas offshore are included here. As usual, we have combined drawings, photographs and clearly presented text to bring each one of these concepts to life. It will provide engineers from field development and production disciplines with a glance into the future. Offshore Concepts of the World is also available in database and online database format.


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Lyman® A-Zoom Snap Caps
- Durable aluminum construction
- Hard anodized finish
- Durable "Dead Cap" design
- Protects firearm's firing pin during practice, training, maintenance, or storage
- Great for tuning trigger pull, cycling practice, gun safety training, and releasing mainspring tension during storage
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what model is closest to the 7.62x54r?
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Paul Melendez
Assistant Dean, Executive Education
Founder, Center for Leadership Ethics
Professor of Practice
Ed.D., The University of Arizona
Current Courses
- MGMT 202 Ethical Issues in Business
- MGMT 435 International Management
Areas of Expertise
- Organizational Ethics
- International Business
- Public Management
- Affiliated Faculty, Center for Latin American Studies
- University of Arizona Ombudsman
- Faculty Advisor, Eller Board of Honor and Integrity
- Faculty Advisor, Net Impact
- Department of Management and Organizations, Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award, 2012
- Dean's Undergraduate Course Innovation Grant, 2010
- Undergraduate Faculty Member of the Year, 2009
- Team Award for Excellence, The University of Arizona, 2005
- Eller College Student Council Teacher Appreciation Commendation, 2002-2012
Dr. Paul Melendez has been with the Eller College of Management since 1996. He earned his doctorate from The University of Arizona with a specialization in "privatization." As a faculty member he serves as a Professor of Practice, Assistant Dean for Executive Education, and Founder of the Center for Leadership Ethics in the Department of Management and Organizations.As a faculty, he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in business ethics and international management, writes a variety of cases on personal and professional ethics, consults, and leads academic programs to emerging economies. As the Assistant Dean for Executive Education, he develops various customized executive education programs for the business, government, and non-profit sectors. As Founder of the Center for Leadership Ethics he strives to improve organizational ethics through research, education, and outreach programs.


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Queen Mary 2's dramatic dawn entrance into Auckland
The Herald has pictures of the Queen Mary 2's dramatic dawn entrance into Auckland harbour this morning.
. . . promoting capitalist acts between consenting adults.
posted by Peter Cresswell at 12:45 pm
That photo doesn't even come close to doing it justice - it's nice to see a few people can still appreciate the marriage of technology and industry dedicated to pleasure (all at a healthy profit to the filthy capitalist Cunard Line). :)
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Torrington forum planned to respond to sex assaults, media backlash
TORRINGTON -- The school district has unveiled its lineup for a May 21 forum planned in response to the arrest of four football players on sexual assault charges, and the social media backlash the victims suffered after those arrests.
The forum's lineup followed weeks of meetings between Superintendent Cheryl F. Kloczko, Mayor Ryan J. Bingham, Kenneth P. Traub, chairman of the Board of Education; Barbara Spiegel, executive director of the Susan B. Anthony Project; Chief Michael Maniago of Torrington Police Department; and Maria Gonzalez of New Opportunities.
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Let's not beat around the bush: Exporting more liquefied natural gas has become as hot a domestic political issue as the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline. . . .
Archive for 'May 2014'
Politicizing LNG exportsMay 30, 2014 4:03 PM by NickS
Teapot Dome transitionsMay 23, 2014 11:40 AM by NickS
DOE retained Meagher Energy Advisors to sell Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 3 in Wyoming – better known as Teapot Dome. But the bigger impact may come . . .
Reporting offshore near-missesMay 15, 2014 11:38 AM by NickS
Creating a more effective offshore oil and gas safety culture was on many people's minds as the fourth anniversary of the Macondo deepwater well accident came and went . . .
Marcellus Shale impact surprisesMay 9, 2014 9:47 AM by NickS
Impacts of oil and gas development on nearby communities are getting more attention. Some are obvious, such as demand for more services from a suddenly bigger population . . .


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THV 11 on Vikon Farms Re-Opening Arkadelphia's Poultry Plant
by Lance Turner
Posted 8/13/2013 09:58 am
Updated 1 year ago
In this video, THV 11 News' Dustin Wilson talks to Jimmy Malcom, a former employ of Petit Jean Poultry, which closed its Arkadephia plant in 2011 after the company lost a contract with Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale. Wilson, who's been doing odd jobs since the plant closed, is hoping to join up with Vikon Farms.
The California company announced Monday that it is purchasing the plant and will re-start operations there, looking to employ 172 people.


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Going on holiday? Traveling with work? Just came home? We buy and sell all the top currencies* from around the world at competitive rates.
Rates change regularly as international money markets fluctuate, so call a MONEY MART® branch near you for the latest quote.
* Ask a CSR for details.


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The University of Liverpool Computing Services Department has made significant progress in making almost all of its user service systems use a single directory for user authentication. With the recent introduction of Athens DA our main computing services now authenticate using our Novell Netware e-directory (using LDAP). The contents of the e-directory itself is controlled by locally developed software that manages the user community, using the University's Personnel and Student systems as the source for the required user information.
Our e-directory also contains identity information for a number of users who have rights to use some (or all) of our systems but who for a variety of reasons have no entry in either the Personnel or Student systems. The number of these entries is increasing as the University diversifies and broadens it activities. We now provide services to individuals, who whilst being registered as students, are following distance learning programmes offered jointly with and managed by external partners. We also provide services to a considerable number of individuals on short programmes and particularly to programmes that support practicing health care professionals. The University is working in partnership with The University of Lancaster for the provision of some medical education and training and we need to provide access to our systems to some medical students from Lancaster. The management of these devolved authentication realms is of some concern.
Shibboleth has been identified as the leading candidate for the next generation of user access control systems and will clearly be of importance to the University in the medium term. As Shibboleth provides an architecture for supporting federated access control with the potential for trusted independent organisations controlling the access of their 'members', Shibboleth potentially offers a more effective way in which we could manage the devolved user control that is become a more pressing problem.
Our present use of Novell's e-directory (other than for Netware Services) is to provide only user authentication; we presently rely on information held in each individual system to hold the rights of the authenticated user on that system. This leads to duplication of information between our systems and requires systems management effort on each of these systems to maintain it. We are interested in making use of additional common attributes in our e-directory that can be used by many of our systems. We believe that Shibboleth can provide support for this mode of working provided that there is agreement between the systems on a common set of user attributes. We would be interested in working with others on evaluating the applicability of the EduPerson specification within the UK academic community.
The University of Liverpool is therefore very enthusiastic to take part in this JISC programme since the JISC's desire to have institutions deploy Shibboleth coincide with the University's desire to continue to provide a common access control mechanisms across its systems in an environment where users management is becoming increasingly more devolved. The University's contribution to the project indicates its enthusiasm and engagement with this programme.


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There are 130 results - Show results on a map Print this page
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Sebastians is an intrinsic part of the leisure scene in Oswestry and has built up a loyal local following. Meals feature French influences, with a multi-choice set menu as well as a simpler Market men...More about Sebastians
Located in a stunning seafront position adjacent to Venue Cymru, this tastefully renovated Victorian hotel provides a range of thoughtfully furnished bedrooms in minimalist style with smart modern bat...More about Cae Mor Hotel
A splendid hotel created from authentic farm buildings, set in the tranquil countryside near Snowdonia; the River Seiont flows through the 150-acre grounds. The bedrooms, including junior suites, are ...More about Seiont Manor Hotel
A warm welcome is assured at this delightful and peaceful farm cottage situated on a hillside with panoramic views of the Berwyn Mountains. The comfortable, individually styled bedrooms have a range o...More about Erw Feurig Guest House
The Trevone is in a splendid location right on the seafront. Bedrooms and bathrooms come in a range of shapes and sizes; some have excellent sea views. Guests are welcome to use the lounge and the bar...More about The Trevone
This delightful property is located in wonderful gardens in a residential part of town, within easy walking distance of the seafront and shopping area. Bedrooms are attractively decorated and thoughtf...More about Epperstone
This large, impressive, privately owned hotel is situated in the town centre. It provides attractively appointed accommodation, which includes family rooms and bedrooms for less able guests. The spaci...More about Celtic Royal Hotel
Located in the centre with easy walking to all shops, caf�s and inns this welcoming B&B provides plenty of character and quality. Rooms are named after previous residents and offer a range of shapes a...More about Plas Gwyn B&B and Holiday Cottage
Located in a peaceful area with stunning views of the surrounding countryside, this 500-year-old, late medieval hall house retains many original features including exposed beams and open fireplaces. T...More about Dolgun Uchaf Guesthouse
Overlooking the Rhos-on-Sea promenade, this popular, family-run establishment is convenient for the shops and local amenities. Attractively appointed bedrooms include family rooms and a room on the gr...More about Whitehall Guest House


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Honaker native Heath Miller catches historic Pittsburgh pass
Published On: Oct 11 2012 10:45:18 PM CDT
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The views expressed are not those of this site, this station or its affiliated companies. By posting your comments you agree to accept our terms of use.


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What we especially liked was the fact that they are "real" books. Some of the other online books are fine, but you can tell they were just created for that purpose. Kids are familiar with these titles and authors.
We have just recently put in Smart Boards in some of our classrooms and it is like going to the movies.
My children are visual/auditory learners and love this site. It is easy to navigate and find stories you need. I have recommended to lots of Moms, too.
One of our teachers used the Tumblebooks as an enrichment activity at noon for a group of grade one and twos. They loved it. Then she did an activity with the book she showed them. They felt very special and said it was the best day of their lives.
My staff and I really enjoyed our trial program with TumbleBook. The students found the stories easy to read and the questions were directly related to the text of the story.


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This process can take a few minutes, please bear with us
I represent many of Curtis Brown's eminent authors and great literary estates. I'm the director of Curtis Brown Creative, the first and only creative writing school to be run by a literary agency. I'm also the Book Department's Head of Book Contracts, negotiating the broad basis of our authors' publishing agreements and overseeing individual deals.
Outside Curtis Brown, I'm the author of five published novels, which have been published around the world in over twenty languages. I'm passionate about good writing and preserving our literary heritage. I served on the management committee for the Association of Authors' Agents from 2008-2011.
I'm currently building a list with a focus on literary estates but am not taking on debut writers.
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October 31, 2014
ITV This Morning Novel Writing Competition
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Ku Tiki Mug
- 13 oz. Capacity (385ml)
- Tribute to the Tiki God: Ku
- 7" tall Collins Style Tiki
Ku Tiki Mug pays tribute to the Hawaiian Tiki God Ku. Ku measures 7" in height, holds a big 13 oz. capacity and is a very clean and sexy glazed mug. Aside from the glossy glaze and beautiful detail, the side profile of the Ku Mug accents just how much time was paid to the craftsmanship and detail for the god.
The smooth backing marks the god's name "Ku" with a leaf.


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Bolton Landing John H. Michaels, 57, passed away on Friday, May 23, 2014 at Glens Falls Hospital. Born on April 9th, 1957 in Albany, NY he was the son of the late James W. Michaels and Marion (Fisher) Michaels. On June 17, 1982 he married... View Obituary & Service Information
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Share and view memories of John...View Photos & Videos
Flowers & Gifts
Send comfort and support when it's needed most.Send Flowers


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Very Good Recipes of Roasted from Few Minute Wonders
There are 7 Roasted recipes on the blog Few Minute Wonders. (1830 on all the blogs)
Click on the title of a recipe or the photo of a dish to read the full recipe on its author's blog.
Recipes by date | Most popular recipes
Roasted Potato and Eggplant With Swiss Chard By Few Minute Wonders 05/05/14 07:16 Sometimes, we plan on making certain things for dinner and then our plans go through the roof. So the vegetables that we plan on using for that dinner remains unused. Such was the case last week. I had the eggplant, swiss chard and some potatoes that needed... Add to my recipe book
Roasted Mini Pepper Thogayal / Spread By Few Minute Wonders 05/08/13 07:06 I happened to buy an extra bag of mini peppers at Costco and I had to use it up this week before they start to shrivel and spoil. So, for dinner I made a thogayal out of it. Thogayal is mostly served with rice, but I serve it with roti, idli, dosai or toast.... Add to my recipe book
Roasted Box Potatoes By Few Minute Wonders 04/29/13 23:29 This version of roasted potatoes is a favorite in my household. It is highly relished because, potatoes are cut into small cubes and roasted so that each mini box gets toasted well. It is awesome with some rice and any gravy like sambar, thogayal, vathal... Add to my recipe book
Sutta Kathirikkai Thogayal / Roasted Eggplant Chutney By Few Minute Wonders 04/07/13 21:35 There are two groups of people whom we encounter. One who enjoys dishes made with eggplant and the other who does not like the looks of it. Most people think that it resembles a fish and if you are a vegetarian, with that kind of imagination you are not... Add to my recipe book
Curly Roasted Potatoes : Using The Potato Spiral By Few Minute Wonders 08/14/12 22:28 When I visited the Schloss Burg castle near Wuppertal, Germany, I was at a souvenir store and instead of looking at the regular stuff, I was checking out all the little tools they had. The curly potato maker caught my eye. It came in a box that was as small... Add to my recipe book
Roasted Potatoes By Few Minute Wonders 06/25/12 23:46 For dinner last night, roasted potatoes was on the menu. I have a tough time when it comes to cooking with potatoes for my family. Not that I cannot make decent potato curry, but rather that my mother-in-law makes the best potato fry or curry ever. I don't... Add to my recipe book
Swiss Chard With Roasted Besan/ Swiss Chard With Kadala Mavu Paruppu Usili In 20 Minutes By Few Minute Wonders 04/09/12 23:39 Making mor kozhambu (vegetables in yogurt sauce) is really simple and gets done super fast, but when it comes to making paruppu usili, it is time consuming. The lentils have to be soaked, blended into a course paste, steamed and them cooked with the veggies.... Add to my recipe book


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SLIDESHOW AND VIDEO: See winning samples from the Holiday Lights Contest and what their creators say about them.
Video: Neighbors light up entire street for Christmas
Related article
|Neighbors light up entire street for Christmas
Residents on Eider Court decided to not only light up their 12 houses for Christmas, but the street too. They strung lights over the street and programmed the lights to pulse with pre-recorded music. Video by Mark Eades, ocregister.com. (12/12/12)
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Average customer review: Average customer review 8 out of 10 (28 reviews) Add your review
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This is the largest dildo I have purchased to date so was a little weary but my god I had nothing to worry about! It was incredible and has livened up my sex life as my other half also finds it a turn-on.
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Great product
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My OH just loves this toy and can't get enough of it. ever known her cum so much. Such a turn-on seeing her enjoy herself so much with this beauty, and it leads to mind-blowing sex after she has cum.
Fantastic vibe at a good price. Might have to buy another as she will wear this one out lol.
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A residency of the former Dutch East Indies--now Indonesia. It was located in eastern Java.
(ScStr: dp. 8,414; l. 358'; b. 44.5'; dr. 24'4" (mean); dph. 28.5'; s. 9 k.; cpl. 56; a. 1 5", 1 3")
The steel-hulled, single-screw steamer Besoeki--built in 1901 at Hamburg, Germany, by Blohm & Voss and owned by the Dutch firm of Rotterdam Lloyd--was taken over by the United States government on 7 March 1918; inspected and taken over by the Navy on 1 April 1918; designated Id. No. 2534; and commissioned on 2 April 1918 at New York, Lt. Comdr. Thomas Hillgrove, USNRF, in command. .
Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS) as a depot collier, Besoeki took on cargo and sailed for Hampton Roads on 28 April to join a Britain-bound convoy. Detached from the convoy on 20 May, Besoeki, shepherded by two destroyers, reached Queenstown on the 21st. Assisted by a working party from Melville (Destroyer Tender No. 2), she unloaded depth charges and 5 inch ammunition and lingered until mid-June. Sailing on the 13th under the protection of Stockton (Destroyer No. 73), Besoeki headed for Holyhead Island, Wales. Joined en route by Ammen (Destroyer No. 35), she reached her destination the next morning. From there, she continued on to Glasgow, Scotland, on the 15th to take on coal and ballast. After the Glasgow stop, she stood down the Clyde on the 21st, picked up a convoy at Lamlash Harbor, and sailed for the United States on 28 June.
After reaching New York on 13 July, Besoeki remained there for almost two weeks before sailing to Philadelphia. Taking on a partial cargo at that port, the ship proceeded to Hampton Roads and reached the Norfolk Navy Yard on 5 August. While there, Besoeki received her armament. Besoeki got underway on 22 August and joined a convoy bound for Europe.
The ship reached the coast of France on 11 September and, after two days at anchor in Quiberon Bay, ascended the Gironde River to Verdon-sur-Mer, where she anchored on the 14th. Five days later, she moved to Paulliac and remained there, discharging her cargo until 3 October.
Finally clearing Paulliac on the 6th, Besoeki tarried briefly at Verdon-sur-Mer before leaving the French coast on the 8th. She reached New York shortly before midnight on 24 October and loaded a cargo of Army stores and "aeroplane" parts. Sailing for Norfolk on 5 November, the ship entered Hampton Roads late the next day and joined another outward bound convoy. She put to sea with that convoy on the 10th; but, at 1248 on 11 November 1918, Besoeki received a signal from her ocean escort announcing the Armistice.
Beset by bad weather throughout the passage, the steamer made port at Plymouth on the 26th, shifted to Devonport on the 30th, and unloaded material consigned to the Naval Aviation Repair Base, Eastleigh. After taking on board a return cargo, she departed Southampton on 30 December, dumping drums of mustard gas at sea before arriving at Hampton Roads on 2Z January 1919. After discharging her cargo at Norfolk, the ship headed north, arriving at New York on 31 January.
There, Besoeki unloaded her remaining cargo before moving to Jersey City where she took on board a cargo of foodstuffs. On 26 February, the cargoman set sail for Denmark. She reached Copenhagen on 18 March and discharged her cargo. Underway again on the 29th, she sailed via the Kiel Canal to Plymouth, England. Coaling there for the voyage to the United States, she sailed for New York.
Besoeki anchored off Tompkinsville on 26 April and received voyage repairs before taking on her last cargo as a NOTS vessel. She sailed for European waters on 15 May, reached Rotterdam in Holland on 1 June, and discharged cargo. She was decommissioned at Rotterdam on 14 June 1919 and returned to her owner. Her name was struck from the Navy list simultaneously.
The ship saw merchant service under the Dutch and Italian flags until 1930.
Robert J. Cressman
15 February 2006


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Phone (937) 371-0428
Price 20
Age Suitability None Specified
Partner Yoga and Thai Yoga Massage Workshop for Valentines Day!
Saturday, Feb 16, 2013 1:00p to 4:00p
Purpose Yoga Studio Fairborn, OH
Celebrate Valentine's Day in a unique way with your partner, a friend or come on your own & meet a new friend to learn the basics of partner yoga and Thai Yoga Massage, stretches you can perform with a partner. A Thai yoga session involves a series of rhythmic compressions using the feet, palms, elbows, and fingers. You will leave with a simple sequence you can practice at home!
No prior yoga or massage experience is necessary!
Cost (per person)
$20 (paid by Feb 7)
$25 (paid after Feb 7)
Created by PurposeYoga
Location & Nearby Info
Purpose Yoga Studio
One S. Central Ave.
Fairborn, OH 45324
937-750-9704 or 937-371-0428
One S. Central Ave.
Fairborn, OH 45324
937-750-9704 or 937-371-0428
Show nearby:
0.2 mi 1 Top Dog Saloon
0.4 mi 2 Dizzy Jims
0.4 mi 3 JC's Lounge
0.6 mi 4 Mulvaney's Sports Pub
0.6 mi 5 Rum Runners
0.7 mi 6 Cadillac Jack's Sports Bar
1.0 mi 7 Hangar 18
2.1 mi 8 Chapter II
2.2 mi 9 Mr. Hipps
2.2 mi 10 Melissa's Pub
Reviews & Comments
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September 13, 2009 at 1pm to September 16, 2009 at 7pm – Kortrijk Xpo It's not my event but as I work with Valrhona we received some invitations for a Belgium trade fair in the city Kortrijk. Have look if you are interested: http://www.broodway.be/ It has the latest… Created by D Avid | Type: specialty, fair, for, bakeries, with, large, chocolate, touch
October 22, 2011 from 4pm to 6pm – Comtesse Thérèse Bistro Comtesse Thérèse's distinct red wines paired with award-winning artisanal dark chocolates for a palate pleasing adventure.Your passport to the exotic lands of Madagascar, the Amazon and tropical Isla… Created by Roxanne Browning | Type: chocolate, pairing, with, wine, tasting, event, winery, vineyard
December 3, 2011 from 6pm to 8pm – Palazzo Ducale, Piazza Matteotti 9, 16123 Genoa, Italy Spend a gourmet week end on the Italian Riviera and attend this lecture about the best wine - chocolate pairings, putting your taste buds to the test during the tastings guided by enogastronomy exper… Created by Luisa Puppo | Type: lecture, with, tasting
June 1, 2013 from 10am to 7pm – Top of Strawberry Hill start (and then throughout Golden Gate Park) Ever wanted to rob a bank… that's full of chocolate? Run or walk 5k, 10k, or any k you want through Golden Gate Park. Text with the criminal mastermind as your set your course & plan your break-i… Created by Julie Price | Type: scavenger, hunt, race, with, chocolate
© 2014 Created by Clay Gordon.


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Classic Rabbit Corkscrew:
10 year warranty5% of Metrokane's proceeds will be donated to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Center in New York City
Material: Metal
Care: Wipe with a damp cloth
Brand: Metrokane
Origin: Imported
This New York-based kitchenware brand is best known for its wine accessories, including its popular Rabbit corkscrew, whose easy-grip handles and hardened-metal teeth help you pull out a cork in three seconds flat. Bottle sealers, drip-stop rings, chillers, funnels, pourers, and racks round out the comprehensive offerings. Beyond the vino, the company also manufactures scales and a line of retro-inspired, hand-operated citrus juicers.


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APL and Port of Salalah Announce Joint Venture Agreement
Enhanced facility will be capable of handling latest generation of container vessels
, Salalah 4 February 2009: Container shipping leader APL and Port of Salalah have today announced the creation of a 50:50 joint venture to operate a new two-berth container terminal.
The JV will start operations in 2011, after completion of the planned expansion of the container terminal at the Port of Salalah, which is both the facility owner/operator and port authority.
The JV covers a 28-hectare deepsea facility that will have a total quay length of 700 metres and an annual capacity of 1.6 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit). It will be capable of servicing container vessels of more than 10,000 TEU.
Commenting on the deal, Ron Widdows the Group CEO of APL's parent company Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), said: "The partnership with Port of Salalah is part of our long-term commitment to enhance our service to customers. Salalah's location on the southwest coast of Oman makes it one of the most ideal transshipment hubs connecting the East-West container routes to the fast-growing Middle East and South Asia regions."
The CEO of Port of Salalah, Martijn van de Linde said: "Having partnered with APL since 2003, we are pleased to announce a strengthening of our relationship and the execution of this joint venture agreement. This agreement ensures guaranteed access to capacity for APL in one of the world's most desirable locations for transshipment. For Port of Salalah it secures the customer base and related organic growth for the long term. Having a partner such as APL that shares our enthusiasm for the future of the port of Salalah is a positive thing for both companies as well as for the Dhofar region and the Sultanate of Oman as a whole."
APL Terminals President, Steve Schollaert, said: "This positive conclusion is the result of a real team effort between Port of Salalah and APL. Salalah will be a crucial addition to our global terminals network, which is key to ensuring we can provide high-quality container shipping services to our customers into the future."
Mr Widdows added: "This deal will enable us to acquire new business and complements the network of other arrangements we have in the Middle East region that are vital to our service capability, including into the Arabian Gulf where it will enhance what we already do."
The Port of Salalah began operations in 1998 and currently has six container berths, with a capacity of 4.5 million TEU.
Port of Salalah has a 30-year concession to operate the port and also acts as the Port Authority. APM Terminals owns 30% of Port of Salalah, with public and private Omani interests owning the balance.
The JV will invest in super post panamax cranes and other container handling equipment and systems.
The Salalah investment will be an important addition to APL's extensive global portfolio of terminals, which includes wholly owned terminals on the US West Coast (Los Angeles, Seattle, Oakland and Dutch Harbor), Japan (Kobe and Yokohama) and Taiwan (Kaohsiung), as well as joint venture interests in Thailand (Laem Chabang) and Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City). APL is also part of the consortium that won in 2007 the concession to operate the first container terminal of Maasvlakte 2 in Rotterdam.
About APL
APL is a global container shipping business offering more than 60 weekly services and nearly 300 calls at more than 90 ports in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. It combines world-class intermodal operations with leading-edge IT and e-commerce. APL is a unit of Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), a global shipping, logistics and marine terminals company. APL Web site: www.apl.com
About Port of Salalah
The Port of Salalah is located in Southern Oman, on the Indian Ocean rim and right on the main shipping route between Asia and Europe. In 2008, the Port of Salalah handled more than 3 million TEU and in excess of 2.8 million tons bulk and general cargo at its terminals.
Port of Salalah offers its customer state of the art facilities including the latest crane and mooring technologies. Coupled with a highly motivated and service minded team, this world class port is ready to handle tomorrow's customer requirements.
The port is a joint venture between the Government of Oman, A.P. Moller-Maersk Group and other Omani investors. The port is managed and operated by APM Terminals. Port of Salalah website: www.salalahport.com
Media Enquiries:
Paul Barrett
Telephone: (65) 6371 7959
of Salalah
Jakob Tarnok Larsen
Telephone: +968 92 888 435


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Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Winter Rains
9 comments:
Looking at your animals all cozy makes me want to crawl back into bed!ReplyDelete
Same dreary weather here... no heatlamps set up though :-)ReplyDelete
Good morning over there. Dreary and dark here too. Looks like no snow for our holidays. I will miss the look but not the driving!ReplyDelete
Dreary for sure..but Christmas weekend promises to be dry....Yay!!ReplyDelete
Raining here today.... I'm with the piggies, just give me a heat lamp and let me snooze for the day.ReplyDelete
Yep, dreary and gray here also. It looks like the Mid West is getting the real icky weather. No snow predicted for us on Christmas. I think I need a new bed and a heat lamp, Sophia want to share? Enjoy being inside, stay warm and dry. Have a cup of tea and pet Sadie for me!ReplyDelete
And who does not spoil their animals!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.ReplyDelete
Hello Bev!ReplyDelete
The snow storm missed us..we only received a skiff of snow and that's nearly all gone now. I feel for those who got hit full force...it will probably be a White Christmas for them. Oh goodness...your animals have got it made at your place...if I was a fur baby I'd want to live there too!! Hope the rains quit for you and you have a very Merry Christmas my blogging friend.
Maura :)
Your goats are adorable!ReplyDelete
If you'd like to leave a comment...I assure you I appreciate it! I read and answer comments by email whenever possible. Thanks for stopping by for a chat with me!!


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Dear postal service: More public notice
Son caught with marijuana, now what?
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Nebraska extension schedules crop production clinics in January
Bull Buyer's clinic rescheduled
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Click Here for theHOTTEST SHEETS!
To see a rare double knockdown in the Kerwin Sherrill v. Derek Thompson fight during the St. Patty's Beatdown Saturday night, click on the video at lower right of the Bulletin's front page.
Both fighters landed heavy blows and went down at the same time in the mixed martial arts battle in North Platte.
Their 185-pound fight is shown in entirety. North Platte's Derek Thompson claimed the victory.
From the outset, both fighters started quickly and fought hard.
The crowd got to see a rare double knockdown when both fighters simultaneously landed hard right hands and hit the canvas.
Thompson recovered first and dominated until the referee stopped the fight.
Thompson is 1-0 and Sherrill is 0-1.
Film production by MMA the Zone.
Flatrock Publishing, Inc.
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The U.S. Energy Department's natural-gas inventory report, scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. in Washington, will show that supplies rose 1.2 percent last week, according to a survey of Bloomberg users.
The government's report will show that inventories gained 39 billion cubic feet in the week ended Aug. 17 to 3.3 trillion cubic feet, according to the survey.
Natural gas for September delivery fell 4.6 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $2.78 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:22 a.m.
Bloomberg compiles the anonymous survey based on estimates by at least 100 users each week.
To contact the reporter on this story: Christine Buurma in New York at firstname.lastname@example.com;
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at firstname.lastname@example.com


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BP Amoco signed a production sharing agreement (PSA)
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West Coast drilling could start back up this year.
There are 40 offshore leases along Californias coast belonging to eager oil
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The Iraqi government has renewed the oil-for-food deal with the UN that allows Iraq to
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NOM has long been a favorite among expecting celebrities. Check out the celebrities that have worn NOM over the years. From Julia Roberts to Naomi Watts they all look fashionable and comfortable in NOM maternity. Also, check out our Belly Dance bag featured in Sex & The City Movie during the scene where Charlotte runs into Big and goes into labor!
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NOM & Belly Dance - A Favorite of Celebs
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This entry was posted in Celebrity Pregnancies, Celebrity Styles, Press on May 3, 2013 by admin. ← Previous Post Next Post →


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For handcrafted selmerstyle guitars, boutique steelstrings , handmade classical guitars and much more, this will be your site.
Why invest in a handmade guitar? One of my customers, Tim Drackert from the USA, answered:
Model Popy Basily. Custom made Oval Gipsy for Popy Basily.
About the model Kasha
This year I was inspired by the playing of Izhar Elias , a very fine Dutch guitar player. He uses the historical Romantic Guitar. I decided to build an instrument in that style. Many thanks to Makoto Tsuruta for all his information. http://www.crane.gr.jp/
This guitar is made in the style from the French luthier R.F.Lacote about 1839.
Visit "les tours jumelles"
Robin Nolan called me to install a K&K pure pickup in his guitar.
Robin played on my model Vienna: "A real killer" was his reaction. " Great sound, very loud, rich bass. An inspirations for every player"
More Vienna
Robin Nolan playing the Killer model Vienna
Janos Koolen with my model Kasha. Janos is a very talented player from Holland playing in a several acoustic bands as Spoor, Kas Lux & Hotsch potsch etc.
Janos loves the sound of the Kasha model because it is very loud and very useful on stage in all kind of acoustic bands. This instrument is easy to use with only a microphone.
Visit: www.janoskoolen.nl
Guitarmaker Gerrit van Bergeijk


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MPA Hires New Head of Research
Anthony Sarcone tasked with evolving the association's market research efforts.
The Association of Magazine Media has hired a new market research head. Anthony Sarcone will be the association's senior vice president of marketing initiatives and insight, reporting directly to president and CEO Mary Berner.
Sarcone will be leading MPA's research initiatives as they relate to showing how magazine media can influence branding and culture.
Also under Sarcone's watch will be PIB, of which he'll be president.
Sarcone was most recently owner and partner of Solveris Marketing Communications. He's also held marketing director positions at Bon Appétit and Condé Nast's bridal group.
Sarcone joins just as Berner has been touting magazine brands as a cross-platform media opportunity for marketers, simultaneously pushing the power of print, but also the overall impact magazines can have digitally as well.
Accordingly, the MPA is looking for new ways to report market information—print is only one part of a larger story, after all.
In April, Berner told FOLIO: that PIB reporting is evolving and the MPA is examining ways to broaden its traditional print advertising metrics to digital. "We're very focused on trying to expand PIB measurement to include all of the digital advertising as well. We should have that in the next several months," she said.
Berner didn't offer any more details in light of Sarcone's appointment, but the intention is clear. "I hired Tony because he is a very experienced research and marketing executive, and we look to his considerable talents to help lead our efforts in establishing and communicating metrics that more accurately represent the reach and effectiveness of Magazine Media," she says.


text:
In article <[email protected]>,
zxcvbob <[email protected]> wrote:
> Ladies and gentlemen, the "cherpumple":
> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...406169718.html
One word: disgusting. The recipe calls for three whole frozen pies! I
kept looking for Sandra Lee's name in the article, but they didn't give
her credit for the idea of cooking a dish using frozen pies as an
ingredient. Think she'll sue?
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA
[email protected]


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During the early twentieth century, the neighborhood known today as the East Village was once an area filled with tenements and buildings in disrepair. In the 1930s, public housing was built, bringing residents to this newly developed area. In 1939, when the East River Park was constructed, the neighborhood first began to draw in a new type of resident – the kind that saw the appeal of nature and of the attractive landscape of the East River waterfront.1 It was not until the 1960s though that the physical and social structure of the neighborhood changed and the Village was transformed into the youth-filled center of the New York counterculture. The counterculture scene has begun to decline, but the name "East Village" still conjures up an image of punk music, adolescence, and groups of people that, in any other area, would be made pariahs. The ground-breaking nature of the culture in this waterfront neighborhood on Manhattan's lower east side can be assessed through studying the riots in Tompkins Square Park, the beginnings of the 1960s punk music movement, the decay of the art scene, and the movement towards gentrification.
          In the present day, the boundaries of the East Village stretch from the Bowery and Third Avenue to the west, Avenue D across FDR Drive and the East River Park to the River on the east, north to East 14th Street and south to E. Houston Street.
          Pre-1800s Manhattan, though, had its East River shoreline at Avenue C. It was not until later that landfill was used to extend the island outward into the river.2 At the time Tompkins Square was developed, in 1834, Manhattan land still stopped at Avenue C; Tompkins Square Park extends north to East 10th Street, south to East 7th Street, west to Avenue A, and Avenue B, making it only one block away from the river at the time.
          The Park itself did not open until 1850, but even when it was just Tompkins Square, it still attracted the "poor immigrant families" of its neighborhood because of the interaction with nature and "fresh air" from the River that it provided, although it was a run-down area filled with "dilapidated shanties" and later crowded tenements.3
          The population of the East Village came from all over; it provided homes for "Irish, German, Jewish, Ukrainian, Puerto Rican" and other ethnic groups, as well as became a "magnet for artists, bohemians, radicals and reformers." 4 These types of people would continue to reside in the Village well into the twentieth century.
          During the second half of the twentieth century Tompkins Square Park became famous for the countless riots that took place there over several decades. In the later decades of the 1900s, the "rock musicians, poets, hippies, and political activists" that inhabited the Village made it "a center for counter-cultural activities and political protest," which included the Tompkins Square Park riots.5 The park provided a central, public location near the River for the radicals to voice their opinions in what they thought was a place that allowed freedom of speech and expression. However, public officials were not pleased with the "'hippies' and Vietnam war protestors" that chose to frequent the park during the 1960s and 1970s, and, thus, riots began to occur. They continued into the 1980s when the city government tried clean up the city and to remove the people they saw as degenerates and delinquents from the open space of Tompkins Square.6 The park was meant to serve as a public space for the community to convene, so it would seem that the Village residents who spent time in the park would have been allowed to use the space in whichever ways they saw fit, but that was not the case. In August 1988, the issue of a park curfew arose, which police wanted to instate because they believed people were staying at the park too late into the night.
          New York citizens fought back though, and the curfew was never put into place. This, however, caused more problems in Tompkins Square Park. Between 1987 and 1991, a large amount of homeless people, mainly men, began to reside in the park itself. The issue of people living in the park led to even more conflict between the people of the East Village and city officials. Since there was no curfew, it was technically not illegal for the homeless to set up camp there, but they were impeding park access from other visitors. In late 1989, the Park Department attempted to remove the homeless people from the park, but to no avail. In June 1991, the police brutally "evicted the homeless from their camp, destroyed their shelters, and proceeded to close off the park for more than a year."7 This, along with previous police interference, angered the liberal East Village residents; they loved the Tompkins Square Park and the open, natural space it provided, thus it is no surprise that riots ensued whenever restrictions were placed upon their use of the park.
          The East Village and Tompkins Square Park were not just the locations of riots; the Park was also one of the first places that embraced the East Village music culture. In 1966, a bandshell was created in the Park.8
          Here, demonstrations "against American involvement in Vietnam and in favor of women's and third world liberation" took place, as did many concerts by punk bands, kicking off a new musical genre.9 Music was a way for the frustrated and progressive East Village residents to express their views and their emotions toward mid-twentieth century society. Even before the implantation of the bandshell in Tompkins Square Park, starting in the 1950s, the Village "was home to Beats, then hippies, punk and post-punks" through the 1980s; "performance spaces and music clubs boomed on every street."10 Artists have always been attracted to water, an element associated with freedom and progression; it makes sense, then, that the East Village, as a waterfront neighborhood, would be the ideal location for so many musicians during a time of political unrest in the United States. The people of the East Village wanted changes and a new society; the East village was even named so to set it apart from and disassociate itself with the "older Greenwich, or West, Village."11 In March 1974, the most influential and remembered East Village club opened; it was called CBGB & OMFUG, but would be referred to simply as CBGB.12 Located on 315 Bowery between 1st and 2nd Ave, it was the "birthplace of punk rock in the '70s" and continued to be a large part of the New York City music scene until it closed down October 2006.13
          The opening and the success of CBGB led to an expansion of musical culture in the East Village. During the 1980s, "new clubs opened and closed with alarming regularity," but started to lose their popularity during the 1990s.14
          The East Village experienced a wide range of cultural changes across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Around the mid-1800s, the Village was home to "ethnic immigrant and working class groups," but progressed into an area with "a more diversified and vibrant popular culture" in the mid-1900s.15 It transformed from a poor, tenement neighborhood into a New York City hotspot for radicals and musicians. There were people from all walks of life that lived in the Village, in terms of social, ethnic, and political associations; "in the East Village, to be different [was] to fit right in."16 It was not until the music scene started to decline in the 1990s that gentrification started to occur; the young, liberal culture that once found its place on the Manhattan side of the East River began to shift to new neighborhoods in Brooklyn, like Williamsburg, located also on the River, demonstrating the appeal of the water to people who ground their beliefs in freedom and emotional expression.
Abu-Lughod, Janet L. From Urban Village to East Village: The Battle for New York's Lower
East Side. Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1994.
Natural History
Art & Literature
Ballon, Hilary, and Kenneth T. Jackson. Robert Moses and the Modern City: the Transformation of New York. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2007.
Henry, Tricia. Break All Rules!: Punk Rock and the Making of a Style. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research, 1989.
Schoemer, Karen. "In Rocking East Village, The Beat Never Stops." The New York Times 8 June 1990. The New York Times. Web. 23 Oct. 2011.
Strausbaugh, John. "Paths of Resistance in the East Village." The New York Times 14 Sept. 2007. The New York Times. Web. 23 Oct. 2011.
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