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Eagles excel at LLHS Invitational
The Belen Eagles boys took second while a trio of county runners finished 1-2-3 on the girls side at the Los Lunas David Allen Invitational at Los Lunas High School Saturday.
The Eagles managed to get four runners in the top 20 to claim second place with 66 points behind District 6-4A rivals Gallup High who won the 10-team boys race with 47 points. Espanola Valley claimed third with 87 points. Host Los Lunas finished eighth with 187 points, and Valencia placed 10th with 210 points.
Belen juniors Jared Garcia and Aaron Valenzuela finished first and second with times of 16:43.48 and 16:44.28 after overtaking the race's early leader, Gallup's Alexander Taylor, who finished third with a time of 16:57.29.
"Usually he (Taylor) dies off within the first 800 meters, but today we'd get close to him and he'd throw a surge," said Garcia. "The last 600 to 700 meters, we just closed in on him and we just took off from there."
Belen senior Manuel Guererro claimed 19th place with a time of 18:44. 95, holding off Valencia's Carlos Caro and Los Lunas' Nate Candelaria, who were their respective schools' top runners. Caro finished 20th with a time of 18:46.23, narrowly edging Candelaria, who finished with a time of 18:46.87.
Valenzuela said the development of the team's bottom three runners is key to doing well as district and the upcoming state meet
"I think it helps us " said Valenzuela. "At practice, we've been working to bring the other guys closer to us."
On the girls side, Belen's Arena Lewis got out to a quick start and led wire-to-wire, winning the race with a time of 19:22.87. Valencia High's Camila Orozco and Carisma Lovato finished second and third behind Lewis, finishing with times of 19:47.50 and 20:17.61 to pace the Jaguar girls, who finished fifth in the eight-team race.
"I was expecting Carisma and Camila to try to stay with me for the first part of it but I just kept running my race and tried to build as much of a lead as I could," Lewis said. "It's rough when you don't have someone there next to you. You have to keep pushing."
Albuquerque's Sandia Prep claimed first place with 57 points while Valencia and Belen's district rivals, Gallup High and Grants, took second and third with scores of 71 and 107. Los Lunas finished sixth with 127 points, their best times coming from freshmen Keilee Kinghorn (21:48.09) and Gloria Zuni (22:50.07), who finished 13th and 25th, respectively.
"I'm so proud of Camila," said Lovato. "Our times were not our best but I felt as a team she kept us going."
Belen, Los Lunas and Valencia will all take part in the Rio Rancho Jamboree Saturday morning at Rio Rancho High School in Rio Rancho. The race is a benchmark race for the state's cross country teams because it is essentially the same course they all will run for the NMAA State Cross Country Championship meet on Saturday, Nov. 9.


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Sense Of An Ending
written by Julian Barnes
Jonathan Cape | ISBN 9780224094153
Hardback – 160 pages
Member's price: $26.96
Usually ships within 2–11 business days.
Tony Webster and his clique first met Adrian Finn at school. Sex-hungry and book-hungry, they would navigate the girl-less sixth form together, trading in affectations, in-jokes, rumour and wit. Maybe Adrian was a little more serious than the others, certainly more intelligent, but they all swore to stay friends for life. Now Tony is in middle age. He's had a career and a single marriage, a calm divorce. He's certainly never tried to hurt anybody. Memory, though, is imperfect. It can always throw up surprises, as a lawyer's letter is about to prove. The Sense of an Ending is the story of one man coming to terms with the mutable past. Laced with trademark precision, dexterity and insight, it is the work of one of the world's most distinguished writers.

subset: commoncrawl


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1-year limited warranty
List Price $165.96 Save $35.97 (21%)
Bundle & Save $10.00!
Average Customer Review4.5 (130 reviews)
Create an online reviewand share your thoughts with other customers
Things I liked:I love the side lever action with magazine. The pull is light and it makes the gun very pleasant to shoot. the adjustable stock is very nice as well. the trigger pull is very light and has a clean break.
Things I would have changed:I thought that the globe sights were awful. I couldn't even adjust the rear sight enough to get a shot that wasn't a little below the sight. I think there may be a flaw with this Particular gun . I have worked with the gun throughout the last year trying to make it more accurate; using various lines and styles of pellets, mounting a nice scope, and cleaning regularly. I shot this from a rest and the very best groups i could get with a 5 shot magazine at 10 yards was with RWS supermags field line wad-cutters (9.3g), and these were slightly larger than an inch! I can shoot better groups standing with my sons Daisy Buck with open sights. Seriously.
What others should know:I don't recommend this gun for first time springer shooters because it seems to be very sensitive to hold and to have any real success with it you will have to upgrade the sights. It was my first "springer" apart from Daisy BB guns, and because i was unfamiliar with the gun i allowed myself to think that I just needed to work on my hold and position with it. after a couple thousand rounds i know better now and the gun was just a dud. If you're not 100% satisfied with it out of the box, save yourself the trouble and send it back. I gave one star overall because if you don't have accuracy, I have a cool looking prop.
Things I liked:quality and workmanship is first class, works and shoots flawlessly, very accurate with wadcutters of almost any weight, installed Hawke big dollar scope, and have good groupings at even 50 yards, very decent for a 10 yard gun
Things I would have changed:nothing, quite pleased with it
What others should know:mine was not lubed very well, at least for me, took it down, and re lubed spring and polished all moving parts, took bout an hour, didn't need to do this, but i am just kinda picky, great gun tho.
Hi: Just wondering what pellet you are using in your rifle? Have you found one that will reliably stay in the magazines without falling out? Thanks...
Things I liked:What I like that's easy to cock the arm to load a pellets and fire light weigh! I got a great plinker shot a ton of cans and targets I got a good group at 60 feet I thpink it's a good bang for the buck! Also I purchases the daisy laser (red dot) but I haven't used it yet I like iron sights but I'll probably put on one of one of my other guns maybe my vigilante
Things I would have changed:The pellet clip tricky but I watched the video from AGR and Paul suggested tip the gun forward and place the clip and presto your in the game. The rear sight is cool but you need a small screw driver to adjust not hard it took a min.to adjust but for the money and shooting cans no complaints!
What others should know:I takes a little getting use to but when you dial it in have a lot of pellets my IZH likes crosman wadcutter and I shoot it as much as I can practice makes perfect ADDICTED hope to see you guys at competion this up coming weekend just as spectator still learning!!!!!!!!! I also read about people Worried about dry firing when clip has 3 holes showing you have one shot left or if in doubt just pull the clip and reload also purchase extra pellet clips
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Model Assistant IZH 61 multi shot air rifle
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Hi! I'm a student studying in a Dutch university who's been quite into bread baking for a few years now. I used to keep a sourdough culture a few year ago since my undergrad days in Canada and lugged it back home to my home country of Malaysia. Now I'm furthering my studies here in the Netherlands and had to leave my culture at home. Kinda bummed about it, but my family's helping out to feed it every two weeks. Hopefully. Anyhow, I started one here a few months ago and it sorta reawakened my passion for bread baking.
Jeremy's bakers interviews on his site sorta directed me here and I just thought it's such a great site. So just want to join in the fun and also share some ideas and experiences hopefully.
Just posted some pictures in my personal album of the wind-powered flour mill smack in the middle of town. They sell the greatest selection of flours I've ever seen. It's the most amazing thing ever and favourite thing in this little sleepy hollow!
Hope you guys will enjoy them!
Login or Signup to add your comment.
Maedi forgot to mention that he has spent nearly every night of the last 2 months getting this site to look so good and is still going!
Gul I absolutely love your photos, and want to point you towards a flour mill that is being restored in Oatlands, Australia, in Tasmania. I will let the Oatland's Mill people know about your photos. The mill you describe sounds ideal.
Excellent! Graham
haha I suppose so. See the world and everything while I can!
Gong xi fa cai to you too! Those look good! mmm... what I really miss is kuih kapit/loveletters though....mmmm...haven't had those in a long time.
Hello bianchifan! Well I'm doing food safety. Sorta specializing in food microbiology since I really like microbes and the stuff they do.
Wageningen's not too bad. When was long long ago? I think it's not too bad here. Kinda quiet but I like how there's a lot of outdoor-sy stuff you can do here. Only downside is that Dutch bread isn't very good (sorry Dutch pple!), but at least that's more incentive for me to bake!
Whereabouts in Germany are you from?


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|Editor's Pick
7.4 | Good
Eaton Chelsea
Downtown Toronto hotel with adults-only pool, family pool with waterslide and Kids Centre
- Free Wi-Fi
- Many guests found their rooms to be clean and comfortable
- Many guests liked this hotel's downtown location for its convenience to shopping, dining and transit
- Some guests enjoyed meals at on site eateries and lounges
- Staff friendly and helpful, according to many guests
- Many guests liked the renovations to lobby and restaurants
- Hotel caters to families with Teen Lounge and Kids Centre (supervised child care with activities)
- Guests can request mini-fridge and bathrobes at front desk
- Self-parking costs $16 for 12 hours, $29/ 24 hrs and $39 for valet parking
- Many guest complaints about tired rooms, bathrooms and hallways
- A few guests encountered not overly pleasant staff
- There were mixed reviews about value
Updated Mar 16, 2015
Show Sources
9 out of 10 | Scott stayed December 10, 2014
"despite the beggers surrounding the hotel, it is great!"
"Friendly staff, good food and located close to Toronto General Hospital. they have wonderful Christmas decorations"
9 out of 10 | Linda stayed October 29, 2014
"I had to take my son to the hospital, and the hotel was only 2 blocks away it was very easy to walk to the hospital. Saved me money on parking. They were very helpful and because I had appointments at the hospital parking was cheaper.I will definitely use that hotel again. The rooms were clean and the service was good."
8 out of 10 | Verified Guest stayed October 03, 2014
"Pleasant Atmosphere"
"I enjoyed staying at the Eaton Chelsea. The staff was pleasant and courteous. The room was very spacious and clean. We slept very well in the King size bed. I liked the fact that there was a lot of nearby stores, I like to shop"
9 out of 10 | Francine stayed September 06, 2014
"incredible service"
"I never saw staff that are so eager to help. From the moment we walked in, all our questions were answered. From where is this, where can I go from here. We were even helped when our car didn't start because a light was left on. After talking with the concierge someone came to the parking to help and we were leaving in time and without much delay. Thanks to all. You made our stay very enjoyable and stress free. Denise from Hawkesbury"
4 out of 10 | Mhairi stayed February 27, 2014
"Not going back!!"
"The hotel is under construction which had we KNOWN about, we wouldn't have stayed there. Our room was not as nice at all compared to the first time we stayed there. The cold water in the sink in bathroom didn't even work. There was a HUGE flood in the lobby that night...holes in ceilings...a mess."
9 out of 10 | Sylvia stayed February 14, 2014
"Close to Princess Margaret Hotel, shuttle back to the airpor"
"Very nice and friendly"
10 out of 10 | Lynne stayed January 30, 2014
"Proximity to hospitals."
"The Eaton Chelsea is positioned perfectly for easy access to the major medical facilities is downtown Toronto, most within walking distance. The reduced rate for medical patients is appreciated when most needed. Customer service very kind and informed and the rooms were comfortable and had everything we needed."
10 out of 10 | Verified Guest stayed December 21, 2013
"Excellent hotel"
"I was there for my boyfriend birthday and everything was excellent. The services, how clean the hotel was, how friendly the staff was. I am going to go back again soon."
6 out of 10 | Verified Guest stayed August 10, 2010
"OK hotel with dumb staff to keep you on edge"
"We received a noise complaint literally upon entering our room. I had to ask the guy who came to our room if he even worked here, because how could we have a noise complaint upon arrival? I think the Indian man who came up to tell us about our noise complaint came on the same elevator as us after check in. Also, he told me about the noise complaint as if I was a small child. My son is 15. He is too old for the little children's pool on 2/F. I tried to take him to the pool on 27/F and swim with only me, no other 15 year olds, and he was kicked out. This is dumb."
9 out of 10 | Verified Guest stayed February 26, 2010
"The room was very welcoming - fresh white duvets, pleasing decorations and lovely bathroom. My only complaint was that there was no way to lower the temperature in the room other than opening the balcony door. This is not safe while sleeping so I was too warm for sleeping comfortably."
4 out of 10 | Melissa stayed February 26, 2010
"To go to the family pool you have to walk through a conference area and there were tons of people all dressed up!!! Quite embarrassing!!! The rooms bathroom wasn't very clean - alot of hair on the floor!!!The shower head was not adjustable and shot water all over the floor - tried to adjust the shower curtain a few times but it didn't help!!! The hot tub was not functioning and was being regrouted...over mouldy old grout!!GROSS!!! My 7 year old child was given a welcome gift that she was excited to get and was handed a baby book of ABCs and a floating boat - she left it in the room!! People were friendly and polite but work needs to be done in the rooms!!!"
8 out of 10 | Edward stayed January 31, 2010
"we have been coming to this hotel for more than 30 years, which clearly means it is good enough and comfortable enough to keep coming back to. The location is excellent, we like the pool, staff are responsive, and it makes a difference at check in/out time that we are Delta Privilege members."
8 out of 10 | Gary stayed November 12, 2006
"parking is limited had use alternate parking apparently did it wrong got a $40.00 ticket(may be factor when staying in TO). Fan in bathroom didnt work and heat lamp was also not usable."
8 out of 10 | Andrew stayed September 28, 2006
"Generally a good hotel. A slight quirk - the Guest Laundry is well hidden in the childrens changing rooms in the "Family Fun Area". Go figure!"
7 out of 10 | Elaine stayed September 08, 2006
"To begin with we were put in the wrong room but this was rectified and put into the room we requested. There were not coffee cups for coffee the next morning but we were in a rush to get to the airport so we didn't ask for more. The next morning the hotel was buzzing because a triple murder happened on floor 19. The charge for the hotel room was $279.00 and the rate for this room was $214.00 because we are frequent customers so I will need to speak with the manager regarding this matter."
8 out of 10 | Garry stayed May 26, 2006
"I stay at Delta Hotels as often as possible, despite the fact that they are slightly pricier than some competitors. Delta has really mastered customer service and that makes the price difference worthwhile."
4 out of 10 | Dean stayed April 30, 2006
"When we checked in we were immediately told that our "internet" rate was for the rooms that were not remodeled. Then I mentioned that I wanted to make sure i had a high speed connection. I was told no that my floor didn't have it. After a brief argument, it was rectified but we weren't thrilled."
8 out of 10 | Owen stayed February 19, 2006
"After reading several (poor) reviews, I was a little aprehensive about stay in this hotel. However, I was quite happy with everything. I parked at Yorkdale and took the Subway (thus avoiding the $23 parking fee). The room was clean, but sort of small, and the bath tub was a little stained. The adult pool on the 27th floor was great with no children running around, and there was lots to do in the hotel if we didn't feel like going out. It was located close to everything right downtown, and when I called the front desk at 4 in the morning with a migrane, they informed me that the Shoppers Drug Mart around the corner was open 24 hours a day. Overall, I had an enjoyable experience and would recommend this hotel to other...except for the expensive parking."
8 out of 10 | Joanne stayed November 17, 2005
"The room I was in cost $250/night - at some point it must have been a sitting room with adjoining rooms as there were doors on either side. The bed consisted of a pull-out couch which I thought rather odd for the price - it was comfortable though. I really did not think it was worth the price paid as the room was quite a bit smaller than I anticipated."
8 out of 10 | Valerie stayed November 12, 2005
"There were some minor glitches such as clocks and hair-dryers that didn't work, but staff attended to these promptly and politely. It's 5 minutes from the Easton center for shopping and very near to theatres. Beware if you are here for a conference: the bars do not serve food after 10pm and the food at the Market Garden, whilst edible, is not exactly what you want after a long hard day; of the stuff on offer here, go for the sandwiches (which were freshly made and very tasty) rather than the cardboard-like pizza."
8 out of 10 | Duane stayed September 11, 2005
"The staff were very friendly and highly efficient. Very accomodating."
10 out of 10 | Tom stayed August 07, 2005
"This year we notice that a few restaurants were gone in the area and that we enjoyed eating at (Pickel Barrel, JJ Muggs). A bit harder to find nicer restaurants in area to visit. We did eat breakfast at Delta Chelsa and enjoyed(twice). The Delta Chelsa's sports & fitness accomodations were excellent. We also appreciated getting our GST refund very conveniently in hotel lobby. All in all, good deal and will come back for our 4th year in 2006."
5 out of 10 | Verified Guest stayed August 07, 2005
"Lobby is consistently crowded & the wait for check in or out is far too long a wait. Perhaps they could add more "frontline" help. Elevator service is poor. The last 2 years have been the worst. This year the wait was quite long because just as in the past one was out of service. Last year we also got stuck between floors. Fortunately, it was only for a few minutes but nonetheless unsettling. "
9 out of 10 | Mary stayed July 27, 2005
"This was my second stay within a month on business. I will reiterate my earlier comments. The satff - each one I came into contact with - went above and beyond. Helpful, pleasant and more. Head and shoulders above what I have encountered at many other hotels. The front desk staff, the room service staff, the cashier in your market garden, the business office staff. And it is the staff who make the difference. Mary Hart"
6 out of 10 | John stayed July 21, 2005
"Staff are either exceptionally helpful and courteous or efficient distant. The hallways leading to the room and the room itself is old and tired. For example, the hallway carpeting in places was disgusting and dirty. In my room it was worn and tired. In the bathroom the water taps did not turn off completely and the unit itself was loose. For a Delta Hotel I rate it "poor"."
9 out of 10 | Lionel stayed July 09, 2005
"Nice Hotel. Attentive Customer Representatives, Good Service."
8 out of 10 | Mary stayed July 08, 2005
"The hotel is clean - comfortable and very convenient. Every interaction that I had with your staff was positive - from the front desk, porter, room service - everyone. They were all friendly, helpful and polite. So cheers to all of them. It is the people who make the difference. Mary Hart"
7 out of 10 | Maureen stayed April 19, 2005
"I like the Delta Chelsea. However, cleanliness and the bathrooms could vastly improve. I dropped an item behind the bed, and I don't even want to tell you what I found back there. It's still there. Also, the bathroom is very old, and in terrible shape, ie: tub and wallpaper is falling off. It wasn't very clean, either."
8 out of 10 | Linda stayed January 23, 2005
"We were in your hotel on Sunday morning when the hydro was out. I was very disappointed in the information shared by the people on the PA system. Every 1/2 they would say the same generic lines composed of basicly useless information. We felt that the area affected should have been shared with us, as well as the cause of the power failure. They didn't mention the elevators working until after 11am. We felt that if we had had more information , we could have made better decisions about evacuating the hotel."
9 out of 10 | Tanya stayed December 23, 2004
"Was not my choice to stay at the delta on Dec.23/04, but had to spend 2 nights there due to airline complications. It was the first christmas I missed with family, and me and a friend of mine werent in the best of spirits. On the night of the 23rd the clerk at the front desk (whom i cant remember her name) was soo very nice to us. She felt bad for us after hearing our story. So she gave us a $24 food vouture for the restaurant there and upgraded our room for the same price, to help make our stay more enjoyable. I thank the hotel for this especially, the lady at the front desk. Even though we were late to get to our family for christmas, our stay was more enjoyable then expected. Thank-you. And I'll be sure to recommend the hotel to friends. Its also the only hotel I've ever stayed at in Toronto and I'll be sure to go back, especially after this trip."
10 out of 10 | Michael e. stayed December 03, 2004
"just felt really looked after...and attended too, quite impressive."
10 out of 10 | Monique stayed November 22, 2004
"Overall experience was great. My only complaint was the bathroom. It had ground in dirt in the bathtub that comes from years of use. They may want to consider updating that room. Other than that everything was great. Staff was very helpful and friendly. Great location."
6 out of 10 | Mike stayed October 17, 2004
"The reception was very busy and crowded. They could use more people at reception. It took a while to check in."
6 out of 10 | Verified Guest stayed October 11, 2004
5 out of 10 | David stayed August 28, 2004
"The hotel was overbooked, we had to wait 2 hours to get our rooms & then we were not given the room type booked. We reserved 2 rooms with 2 beds each. This was after standing in the que to check in for 45 minutes, 9:30PM in the evening. It has been 3 or 4 years since I have stayed at the Delta Chelsea. No matter the time of the day, there was always a large que for the front desk. Even the cocktail lounge in the hotel was full & understaffed. The Night Manager, was however, very apologetic & reduced our room rate from $149.00 per night to $99.00 per night. This made the stay palatable. Howver, the Delta Chelsea will not be my first choice next time @ $149.00 per night. I would however, consider the hotel @ $99.00 per night. The lobby is always hectic, the front desk staff look stressed, too many people & not enough staff or perhaps their system/lobby layout is not designed for the volume."
9 out of 10 | Joan stayed August 26, 2004
"Lots of activities for the kids. Awesome central Toronto location."
7 out of 10 | Oris c. stayed August 21, 2004
"We got a good price, and considering the location of the hotel I might consider staying there again. Still, I would only recommend this hotel with several qualifications. First of all, it really wasn't a comfortable experience, and there is no way it deserves its four star rating. The rooms are smallish, the beds fairly cheap, and the decor a bit run down in places (e.g, in our room). The service staff were professional and pleasant, but too few in numbers and overworked - I checked out of the hotel at 4:00 a.m. just to avoid the minimum 30-45 minute wait at the front desk! (Well, I was up anyway.) The family aspect of this hotel is greatly oversold in my opinion, as the pool isn't that great and the plethora of adult bookstores, etc. in the immediate area can make for some challanging explinations to a 7 year old. On the plus side, the internet cafe at the Yonge street access was inexpensive and very handy, and the location was very good in many respects."
9 out of 10 | Don stayed August 19, 2004
"The Delta is a fantastic hotel - kid friendly, adult friendly and has all the amemnities you need. Also quite convenient if you are into shopping."
7 out of 10 | Robert stayed August 17, 2004
"The kids (and I) loved the slide! Above all, that one thing made the stay in the hotel really enjoyable and made us all want to stay at there the next time we're in the area."
9 out of 10 | Nancy stayed July 27, 2004
"The hotel staff was very helpful except one time we had asked the concierge for a recommendation for a restaurant. The comment was "all are good down Elm St" and we found it difficult to find this so, in our price range. So we walked for quite a long time to find another...."
9 out of 10 | Susan stayed July 19, 2004
"The staff were very accomodating, even after we checked out. The bellhop kept our bags until our flight and when we came to get the bags they were loaded into the airport taxi. Extra requests for pillows and towels were addressed within 5-10 minutes and help was provided to courier shopping packages home. The Sunday brunch and menu were excellent, the ham and cheese omlette was very yummy. Check in staff offered an excellent choice of rooms and the beds were very comfortable."
7 out of 10 | Diane stayed July 18, 2004
"I was upset that once I got into the hotel that my room was not ready. When it was it seemed like a quick clean and the bed was done quickly. There was dip in our king size bed, need new mattresses! Had to call twice to get hotel to cancel the in room movie that was charged to our account. Other than that it was a great hotel but too pricy especially the parking and the the dissatisfaction of the SMALL and tiny room with the balcony that had bird droppings everywhere."
5 out of 10 | Ian stayed May 16, 2004
"It is sold as a 'family-friendly hotel'. Little did I realise that would mean the presence of 'Camp Chelsea' - swarms of young teenagers all over the place. I don't hate kids, but..."
7 out of 10 | Verified Guest stayed January 28, 2004
"The room was very very cold, an extra blanket did not help at all."
9 out of 10 | Bernice stayed November 26, 2003
"It is a one hour bus ride from the airport, but it is from the door of the arrivals area to the front door of the hotel. The staff at this hotel are very well trained and always went the extra mile to address any concerns that I had. I have stayed often at this hotel largely due to its great location and the great staff they have working there. Our room was small and had a torn curtain and torn bedskirt. As well the rug could use a good shampoo. The area in the hotel we were in is the older section but I still enjoy staying there. I have yet to be disappointed in the way they treat their guests."
9 out of 10 | Cheryl stayed November 13, 2003
"I found the length of time to check-in and check-out was far too long. I feel that there should have been more terminals open. I found that the food area (buffet) restaurant staff quite friendly. The buffet appeared to be quite clean."
8 out of 10 | Dana stayed November 09, 2003
"Terrific place to stay for a family. They have children's activities and a wonderful indoor pool with waterslide."
9 out of 10 | Mark stayed October 27, 2003
"Overall great stay - my only 2 niggles were the reception area seemed very disorganised when I arrived - and it took me about 30 minutes to find out where to park and check in - which was a pain as it was me and my 2 kids (6 & 8). The pool was great - except it did tend to get overcrowded - maybe some kind of limit should be put in place. Apart from that GREAT will be back in the summer!"
8 out of 10 | Greg stayed October 26, 2003
"This hotel is very children friendly. They have a great children's program at a great price."
- Women's College Hospital (0.4 km)
- Sick Kids Hospital Toronto (0.5 km)
- Ryerson University (0.5 km)
- Toronto General Hospital (0.5 km)
- Princess Margaret Hospital (0.5 km)
- Toronto Eaton Centre (0.6 km)
- Mount Sinai Hospital (0.6 km)
- Massey Hall (0.7 km)
- St. Michael's Hospital (0.7 km)
- Nathan Phillips Square (0.8 km)


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Health & Medicine
The Master of Arts in Sport Management (MSM) program is offered fully online and prepares graduates to understand the growing sport management industry.
Responsiveto the needs of today's students.Relevantto the skills employers seek.Realpreparation for thoughtful living and service.
Schedule a visit today!
Transfer to CSP
Apply Now
Tuition & Financial Aid


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Hotels/Motels close to Jello Museum are provided in the list below ordered by distance (closest at the top). Search for cheap and discount hotel rates near Jello Museum (Mumford NY) for your leisure or groups trips.
Jello Museum is located at 23 E Main St.
We show the best motels and hotels close to Jello Museum so you can review the available Mumford NY lodging below and find the perfect hotel. Need a room block for a group? Save with a Mumford NY group hotel deal
Lodging & Accommodations close by Jello Museum
Next 20 Hotels > [1 - 20 of 25]
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M.D. to be
Medical students dispensing med school stories
Monthly Archive for June, 2011
Should med students be required to watch an abortion?
My first day of Obstetrics/Gynecology was as amazing as I hoped it would be. If the other 30 days of the rotation are just as thrilling, I think I've found myself a specialty! As much as I think I'm going to like it, I have heard OB/GYN is one of the harder blocks because of […] [Read More]
Answer to Medical Mystery Monday #42 (SFW)
The answer to yesterday's mystery is … gonorrhea! Great job O'B1, Myra, bunny, Patti Ann, CAD, jrcasmir, ColorMaven, D2, George de Piro, Rich S, Jjowett, Cihan, hellomolly, Meredith, Erin, DG, and M.L. Cullen. Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae. It is the second most common STI, following chlamydia. […] [Read More]
I'm the blogger of the week!
In case you missed it, check out my interview with Mike Huber in today's Times Union, on page 2 of the Capital Region section. An online version can also be found here on Mike Huber's blog. Thanks, Mr. Huber! [Read More]
Medical Mystery Monday #42: the case of the burning urine (NSFW)
Welcome back to Medical Mystery Monday, where you get to be the medical student. There is a patient case described below – try to diagnose them by leaving a comment. I'll post the answer tomorrow. Today's mystery is another one sent in by a reader – thank you! One of the pictures is explicit, so […] [Read More]
Is working full-time a moral obligation?
Since it seems like everyone in the medical community is talking about the Op-Ed in the New York Times last week, "Don't Quit This Day Job," I would be remiss if I didn't weigh in here on M.D. to be. The author, Karen S. Sibert, is an anesthesiologist and mother of four who argues doctors […] [Read More]
Medical Mystery Monday #41: the case of the ring around the neck
It's Monday – that means another medical mystery for you to solve. Read the case below and post your guesses in the comments. I'll reveal the answer tomorrow. A 45 year old man goes to his primary care physician because he has developed a ring around his neck over the past month. He says the […] [Read More]
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Keep the Faith
A reader blog about liberal religion with Rev. Beth Ellen Cooper
Monthly Archive for October, 2008
Palin's hanging effigy unacceptable!
By now most of you have seen the news story about the guys who hung, via a noose, an effigy of Republican vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, as part of their Halloween decorations. They defended their actions as in keeping with the dark humor that is part of Halloween. This morning, the news was reporting that, […] [Read More]
Why you should vote!
This week, each of us who is at least 18 years old has the OPPORTUNITY to exercise the greatest RIGHT that our young nation affords us. This week, each of us who is at least 18 years old has the OBLIGATION to exercise the greatest RESPONSIBILITY that our young nation assigns to its citizens. This […] [Read More]
The indefinite article
Simon Peter asked him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus replied, "Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later." Peter asked, "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." Then Jesus answered, "Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell […] [Read More]
"Lives of quiet desperation"
Some of you, we all know, are poor, find it hard to live, are sometimes, as it were, gasping for breath. I have no doubt that some of you who read this book are unable to pay for all the dinners which you have actually eaten, or for the coat and shoes which are fast […] [Read More]
Happy birthday, Keep the Faith!
October 24th will be the 2nd birthday of this blog. It has been quite a journey and has become something of a spiritual practice for me. "Keep the Faith" is the longest standing religion blog at chron.com (Ruth Nasrullah's, "The Straight Path," has its 2nd b-day in a couple of weeks). The greatest success of […] [Read More]
Atheists prohibited from holding public office in Texas
Did you know that atheists, and even Buddhists, Taoists, and others who do not believe in a "Supreme Being," cannot hold public office in Texas? This is one right that even gays and lesbians even have (as long as they are of an appropriate faith)! Section 4 of the The Texas Constitution's Bill of Rights […] [Read More]
What is marriage?
Joe Biden, John McCain, Barak Obama, and Sarah Palin agree on at least one thing. All of them are against same-sex marriage. All have also said they support equal rights for gay couples. Didn't we already learn that "separate but equal" doesn't work? One irony here is that none of them support a federal marriage […] [Read More]


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Learn to build responsive websites with Foundation—the clean, simple design framework that uses integrated CSS and JavaScript.
Introduces this web design framework and provides a quick overview of all of the goodies in Foundation.
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Singapore and Malaysia open new chapter with high-speed rail link
admin | Feb 19, 2013 | Comments 0
On the 19th of February, leaders of two Southeast Asian countries informed that a new high-speed rail link would be build between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, the federal capital of Malaysia. The news on the new high-speed rail link between two cities opens a new chapter in the bilateral relations which suffered from several setbacks in the past. The Southeast Asian neighbors certainly will benefit from this new rail link not only on simply human and political levels, but mainly on the economic one. Economic ties between Singapore and Malaysia will be even stronger than these days. The high-speed rail link is expected to deliver a quality change in relations between both countries.
New rail road, new bridges
At the joined press conference held on the 19th of February, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak informed that the two countries decided to launch a high-speed rail link between Kuala Lumpur and the city-state which is one of the best places to do business. According to their plans, the journey will take only 90 minutes between the two points.
But what is more important is the fact that the new high-speed rail link between Singapore and Malaysia will have an immense impact on the way of doing business, not to mention that it will transform the interaction between two nations as well. Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reposes hope in the new high-speed rail line and believes that it could play the similar role to the Eurostar link between Paris and London. One of the main aims of the new rail link is to transform Singapore and Malaysia into a kind of unified urban community which will be competitive and attractive for investors.
As it was underlined in a joint statement, "This is a strategic development that will dramatically improve the connectivity between Malaysia and Singapore. It will usher in a new era of strong growth, prosperity and opportunities for both countries." The agreement on the high-speed rail link between Singapore and Malaysia was inked in a meeting between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Prime Minister Najib Razak who noted that new customs and immigration procedures would be introduced in 2013. Moreover, both prime ministers believe that the new high-speed rail link will boost and ease relations so that new "bridges" will be built between Singapore's and Malaysia's nations.
Two countries aim to complete the rail link in 2020. To complete the project, a joint ministerial committee will be created. The price of the high-speed rail project, which is to be built by private companies, was not disclosed.
Stronger relations and position
Without a doubt, the high-speed rail link between Singapore and Malaysia is groundbreaking and it will change relations between two countries – not to sneeze at. Singapore and Malaysia, which are member states of the Associations of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), hope to improve their competitiveness both in the region and worldwide.
What is more, the high-speed rail link will not only improve the connectivity between two countries, but it will enable common people to have eased relations with its neighbors. Undoubtedly, the project has many advantages on the economic, political and cultural levels. What is more is important is the fact that Singapore, which is one of the best place to do business and the better business destination, and Malaysia will strengthen their individual positions on the economic map, but also their joint strength and competitiveness will be much more significant especially in the region.
Filed Under: Construction news • Featured • Infrastructure News • NEWS • Rail Freight News • Supply Chain news
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Definitions for =$word?>
Overview of verb dramatize
The verb dramatize has 3 senses? (first 3 from tagged texts)
1. (1) dramatize, dramatise, adopt
(put into dramatic form; "adopt a book for a screenplay")
2. (1) dramatize, dramatise
(represent something in a dramatic manner; "These events dramatize the lack of social responsibility among today's youth")
3. (1) embroider, pad, lard, embellish, aggrandize, aggrandise, blow up, dramatize, dramatise
(add details to)


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|Find A PhysicianHome | Library | myDownstate | Newsroom | A-Z Guide | E-mail | Contact Us | Directions
Department of Anesthesiology - Residents Section
Anesthesia Knowledge - Malignant Hyperthermia
Pathophysiology, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Dantrolene
Malignant hyperthermia is a myopathy, usually subclinical, that features an acute loss of control of intracellular calcium (Ca2+ ). Normally, the wave of depolarization from end plate to transverse tubule (T tubule) is transferred to the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), resulting in release of Ca2+. The dihydropyridine receptor (DHPR), which is located in the wall of the transverse tubule, functionally couples the T tubule membrane to the SR membrane. A physical link between DHPR and Ry1 is thought to transmit a signal across the triadic junction to promote the release of Ca2+ necessary to activate the contractile apparatus. The free ionized unbound intracellular Ca2+ concentration within the muscle cell increases from the relaxed level of 10-7 M to about 5 - 10-5 M. This increase in Ca2+ removes the troponin inhibition from the contractile proteins, resulting in muscle contraction. The intracellular Ca2+ pumps rapidly transfer Ca2+ back into the SR, and relaxation occurs when the concentration is restored to less than mechanical threshold. Both contraction and relaxation require adenosine triphosphate (ATP) (i.e., both are energy-related processes that consume ATP)
The clinical and laboratory data in swine and humans indicate decreased control of intracellular Ca2+, resulting in a release of free unbound ionized Ca2+ from storage sites that normally maintain muscle relaxation. Aerobic and anaerobic metabolism increases to provide more ATP to drive the Ca2+ pumps that maintain Ca2+ homeostasis across the sarcolemma into extracellular fluid and into the SR and mitochondria. Virtually all of these reactions are exothermic, that is, they produce heat. Rigidity occurs when unbound myofibrillar Ca2+ approaches the contractile threshold. Dantrolene is therapeutic because it reduces Ca2+ release from the SR without altering Ca2+ reuptake.
Figure 27-1 The key ion channels involved in neuromuscular transmission and excitation contraction coupling. Nerve impulses arriving at the nerve terminal activate voltage-gated Ca2+ channels (1). The resulting increase in cytoplasmic Ca2+ is essential in exocytosis of acetylcholine. Binding of acetylcholine to postsynaptic nicotinic cholinergic receptors activates an integral nonselective cation channel, which depolarizes the sarcolemmal membrane (2). Depolarizing the sarcolemma to threshold activates voltage-gated Na+ channels (3), which propagate action potential impulses deep into the muscle via the transverse tubule system. Within the transverse tubule system, L-type voltage-gated Ca2+ channels sense membrane depolarization and undergo a conformational change (4). A physical link between the a1-subunit and the ryanodine receptor is thought to transfer the signal to sarcoplasmic reticulum to induce the release of stored Ca2+ (5).
Clinical Syndrome
The onset of MH can be acute and rapid, particularly during induction of anesthesia with an inhaled anesthetic or with the use of SCh. On rare occasions, the onset can be delayed for some hours and may not become overt until the patient is in the recovery room. Regardless of the time of onset, once initiated, the course of MH can be extraordinarily rapid. When clinical signs, such as increased expired carbon dioxide, muscle rigidity, tachycardia, and fever, suggest the presence of MH, the association is not strong unless more than one abnormal sign is noted. When there is but a single suggestive adverse sign, the diagnosis is usually not MH.
The volatile anesthetics and SCh cause affected subjects to undergo a striking increase in metabolism, both aerobic and anaerobic, resulting in intense production of heat, carbon dioxide, and lactate and an associated respiratory and metabolic acidosis. [11], [31] These reactions markedly alter whole-body acid-base balance and temperature because of the large proportion of skeletal muscle to body weight (40-50%) and are magnified as temperature increases. Whole-body rigidity occurs in almost all pigs and in most humans. Temperature may exceed 43°C (109.4°F), PaCO2 may exceed 100 mm Hg, and pHa may be less than 7.00. Associated with this is increased permeability of muscle with increased serum levels of potassium, ionized calcium, CK (although MH-related changes do not differ overall from CK changes observed during surgery [69] ), myoglobin, and serum sodium. [31] Later, serum potassium and calcium levels decrease; muscle edema may occur. Sympathetic hyperactivity occurs early as a sign of increased metabolism (tachycardia, sweating, hypertension). With metabolic exhaustion, cellular permeability in general may increase, with whole-body edema, including acute cerebral edema. As MH progresses, disseminated intravascular coagulation and cardiac or renal failure may develop. MH is a disorder of increased metabolism — it need not involve increased temperature, for example, if heat loss is greater than production, or if cardiac output plummets early.
The clinical MH syndrome can occur as a "final common path" in situations that may not involve susceptibility to MH. This is somewhat analogous to observing Raynaud's phenomenon in the absence of Raynaud syndrome. Examples include exaggerated heat stroke, the neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS), thyroid storm, [70] diabetic coma, [71] alcohol therapy for limb arteriovenous malformation, [72] free blood in cerebrospinal fluid, [73], [74] hypokalemic periodic paralysis, [75] and various myopathies involving constantly and precariously altered permeability of cellular membranes and intracellular organelles, such as Duchenne's muscular dystrophy. [76]
Anesthetic Triggering
Anesthetic drugs that trigger MH include halothane, enflurane, isoflurane, desflurane, and sevoflurane, as well as SCh. The onset may be explosive if SCh is used. Inbred susceptible swine are identified predictably during an inhalation induction with a potent volatile anesthetic; they develop pronounced hindlimb rigidity within 5 minutes. Prior exercise even an hour before induction of anesthesia - increases the severity and hastens the onset of these attacks in swine. Mild hypothermia, depressants such as barbiturates and tranquilizers, and nondepolarizing relaxants delay the onset of MH. [15], [87], [88]
Susceptible humans respond less predictably than swine to these triggers. Many affected humans have previously tolerated potent triggers without visible difficulty. [14] This unpredictability might in part be related to the delaying effects described earlier, as well as to the brevity of short-duration anesthetics. Some patients have experienced MH episodes during anesthesia that did not involve recognized triggering agents [16] ; fortunately, all have responded appropriately to dantrolene. Obviously, the mechanism of anesthetic triggering in humans is unsolved.
Succinylcholine has several variant responses that can occur singly or in combination: (1) a muscle contracture, also noted in muscle that is myotonic or denervated 81 ; (2) a change in muscle membrane permeability without contracture, resulting in the release of CK and myoglobin from muscle (even in normal patients, SCh releases CK and myoglobin from muscle in small amounts; this is exaggerated in the presence of halothane and attenuated by curare, [31] and myoglobin release can be fairly marked even in the absence of obviously discolored urine [86] ); and (3) an increase in metabolism, as in MH, usually associated with both muscle contracture and increased membrane permeability. [31]
Nitrous oxide has been proposed as a weak trigger of human MH. [31] This is most unlikely because it has been used repeatedly as the basic anesthetic in MH-susceptible humans and swine without triggering MH. Hyperbaric nitrous oxide does not produce MH in susceptible swine, even in concentrations causing apnea. 89
Nondepolarizing muscle relaxants block the effects of SCh in triggering MH. They attenuate the effects of the volatile anesthetics. [15], [87] d-Tubocurarine has been incriminated as an MH trigger because it produced fever in two susceptible children. [31] d-Tubocurarine has been associated with greater lactate production in susceptible pigs exposed to environmental stress, [31] but it has not been shown to be a trigger of MH in susceptible swine; it does produce a contracture in denervated muscle, suggesting that it may have a mild depolarizing action that is not apparent under usual conditions. [90] Reversal of a nondepolarizing neuromuscular blockade has been performed without untoward events in humans with MH susceptibility.
Episodes of MH have been reported during various operative procedures, with general or regional anesthesia, and in extremes of ages. Although rare, prolonged and recurrent MH can still occur despite the absence of triggering agents. [16] Prior fever or SCh-induced trismus should not be ignored, even if the patient survived without obvious mishap. [91] The youngest probable case of MH involved an episode of SCh-related muscle rigidity occurring in utero just before birth. [92] Presumably, the fetus inherited susceptibility from his father that was triggered by anesthetic agents given to his mother.
Volatile agents reportedly stimulate MH Ca2+ release in site-specific channel gating actions that occur at lower concentrations than in normal muscle, and perhaps even at subclinical concentrations (see Pathophysiology). It was previously believed that amide local anesthetics, such as lidocaine, could trigger MH. However, the evidence for this effect is weak. Animal data demonstrating Ca2+ release from the SR by amide anesthetics involve millimolar concentrations, which can only be achieved clinically by doses of about 2 g. [31] MH is not triggered in the most susceptible species, inbred swine, even if enormous doses of lidocaine are administered intravenously. It is ironic that Kalow et al 6 first commented about the possible efficacy of intravenous local anesthetics in treating MH, when one of the two cases the investigators were referring to involved treatment with intravenous lidocaine. Finally, amide anesthetics are now routinely used without untoward events for nerve block anesthesia in susceptible patients undergoing muscle biopsy.
It has been suggested that long-term propofol infusions in pediatric intensive care may induce MH-type reactions. [93] However, propofol has been demonstrated as safe in patients with MH syndrome, [94] and its effects on membranes of MH-affected skeletal muscle are stabilizing and opposite to those of volatile triggers. [95]


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March 31, 2010
PODCAST: Pedro Costa
One of the most important artists on the international film scene today, Portuguese director Pedro Costa has been steadily building an impressive body of work since the late eighties. And these are the three films that put him on the map: spare, painterly portraits of battered, largely immigrant lives in the slums of Fontainhas, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Lisbon. Hypnotic, controlled works, Ossos, In Vanda's Room, and Colossal Youth confirm Costa as a provocative new cinematic poet, one who locates beauty in the most unlikely of places.From Lisbon, Costa spoke with me about gaining the "strange password, or key to open" the films in this lost-souls trilogy, choosing to lose time as a filmmaker, the peculiarities of screenwriting in a Portuguese creole, and what he's learned from Vanda—the former heroin junkie who has featured in all three films. To listen to the podcast, click here. (23:15) Podcast Music
INTRO: Young Marble Giants: "Colossal Youth"
OUTRO: Cesária Évora: "Cabo Verde Manda Mantenha"
Posted by ahillis at March 31, 2010 10:57 PM
Fantastic podcast interview, Aaron! What I found really interesting today is that I tried to find more info on Fontainhas, and barely any information exists about the area besides what is documented in these films. Even the wikipedia article only yields a small blurb. Loved OSSOS and can't wait to watch the rest of the set.
What is the author's name mentioned in this podcast? Vollman?Posted by: maian at April 13, 2010 11:11 AM
Thanks! Yeah, William T. Vollman. He's a novelist and essayist, probably best known in recent years for his McSweeney's-published, mammoth multi-volume treatise on violence called "Rising Up and Rising Down." It's over 3,000 pages, or something like that. I've only ever read some of his contributions to the New Yorker, Spin and maybe the NY Times (?), but trusted friends have told me his books are worth delving into.Posted by: Aaron Hillis at April 13, 2010 11:31 AM


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nForce (one) drivers, what's available ?
Hi group, first post here.
I have got an old MSI "K7N 420 Pro" motherboard, with the "nForce" (one) chipset.
Windows XP loads and executes programs at the speed of light, but under Linux (I use Ubuntu), many applications are "sluggish". I thought "oh well, Linux is slower than Windows". But, I have been told by many, that they actually have the opposite experience : Linuw runs faster than Windows !
The only reason I can see for that, is the driver for the chipset. Motherboard came with a CD with driver just for Windows XP, whereas my Linux distro came with a nForce driver that I don't know anything about (where it comes from, if it's OSS or Binaries...).
1) is anyone running this motherboard (or at least this chipset) and has LINUX runnig faster than Windows ?
2) if so, what driver are you using ??
3) Are there several dirvers available for this chipset ? Does Nvidia offer one, or is there only an Open Source one ?
4) Are there options to "tweak" this driver, to optimize it for a given motherboard/system, or is it "all or nothing" thing ?
Thanks much in advance for any help/info....
Re: nForce (one) drivers, what's available ?
nForce has native (opensource) support in the kernel(sound, chipset, network), weather in Ubuntu kernel I dont know. It's worth saying that Windows is fast largly by preloading apps, is scandalus how Windows uses memory.
Linux doesn't need the tweaking like Windows because it's not falsely fast, compiling your own kernel and enabling options can speed thing up.
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But one thing's for sure: It's one of three men — Willard police Officer Ryan Slone, Detective Jeremy Draper, or part-time Greenwhich police Officer Sean Nolen.
All three officers admitted to firing off shots at "charging" pit bulls during the drug raid gone wrong Dec. 19. After one of the three tripped over a stump with his pistol drawn, Erica Devlin, 19, of Toledo took a bullet to the foot.
Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation spokeswoman Jill Del Greco said investigators were still hard at it Wednesday. Meanwhile, Willard police Chief Mark Holden said he hadn't heard a word from BCI agents in about three weeks.
Holden has reports the three officers wrote after the shooting, but thus far he has refused to release them. Holden said he doesn't know who the shooter is.


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Click to expand
What do you think? Give us your opinion. Anonymous comments allowed.
Reply+1#13 - trolololing (12/01/2012) [-]
I have a problem with 300, it's not that it isn't a bad idea, it's just, y'know, it's based on a historical event, yes, if it was just a film that was thought up then that's reasonable enough, but this actually happened so I don't think you can point out flaws in plotlines with that sort of thing
#45 to #13 - IloveWAFFLES (12/01/2012) [-]
Only thing fake about 300 was that it was just the spartans it was many other greek city state soldiers. (Like Lacedaemonians) all though the spartans number was 300 (who all died)
It was truly the first war were greek banded together
It was truly the first war were greek banded together
Reply-1#33 to #13 - muchosgustaman (12/01/2012) [-]
Ephialtes wasn't actually a mutant. He was a greek farmer whom Xerxes approached, he lived near Thermopylae, and was bribed to tell them anyhting he knew. The reason they made him a mutant in the film was to show how brutal the spartans were, even towards their own children. I studied it in Classical studies this year.
+2#20 to #13 - italianplumberz **User deleted account** has deleted their comment [-]
#21 to #20 - trolololing (12/01/2012) [-]
on your last point fair enough, but the thing is is that's just not real spartan psychology, they were simply very judgmental people and he had an unnatural disability, and a Spartan wouldn't have been very compassionate to him and said 'Well ok, how about you just stand at the back and throw spears like a good spartan' he would've been very honest since Spartans just weren't very nice compassionate people
#56 to #21 - awesomanium (12/01/2012) [-]
Also 301 would be quite a ****** title.


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Pamela Miller's Blog
Environmental Injustice in the Arctic: Toxic Flame Retardants Threaten Human Health
"How could the Arctic, seemingly untouched by contemporary ills, so innocent, so primitive, so natural, be home to the most contaminated people on the planet? I had stumbled upon what is perhaps the greatest environmental injustice on earth."—Marla Cone, author of Silent Snow: the Slow Poisoning of the Arctic
More than 25 years ago, scientists made the unexpected discovery that levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the breast milk of Nunavik Inuit women in Arctic Canada were seven times higher than in the breast milk of women of southern Quebec. This discovery prompted international action to address POPs contamination as a global issue because it demonstrated the capacity of these chemicals to harm people who live in a region of the world that is far distant from areas of production and use.
Updates on POPRC from Rome, Italy
Rome, Italy, October 2013 –
We have some big news from Rome:
We were successful in advancing several chemicals her at the POPs Review Committee:
- Hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD) recommended for global elimination by the Committee and will now be considered by the full Conference of the Parties of 179 nations (this means it passed the difficult 3-stage reviews in Annexes D, E, and F of the Convention.
- Chlorinated naphthalenes recommended for global elimination as with HCBD.
- Pentachlorophenol advances to Annex F of the Convention from Annex E of the Convention (the toughest hurdle)
- Decabromodiphenyl ether (a brominated flame retardant)—advances from Annex D to Annex E of the Convention, meaning that the Committee agrees that it meets all (of the scientific criteria of persistence, bioaccumulation, long-range transport and adverse effects.
- Dicofol—a pesticide related to DDT will be held for one year (our biggest disappointment.
News Release from IPEN – International PoPs Elimination Network
UN Expert Committee: Pentachlorophenol is one of the world's worst chemicals
Agrees to incorporate climate change impacts in toxic chemical evaluation
(Rome, Italy) A UN expert committee recommended global action on pentachlorophenol – a pesticide used for wood treatment including utility poles. The Committee justified its recommendation for the Stockholm Convention due to pentachlorophenol's persistence, bioaccumulation, long-range transport, and its toxic impacts. Governments around the world will decide on the recommendation in 2015.
"This is the beginning of the end of pentachlorophenol," said Pam Miller, Alaska Community Action on Toxics. "Pentachlorophenol has global health implications since it is found in the bodies of people throughout the world including Indigenous Peoples of the Arctic. Now governments and the private sector need to get to work to eliminate this toxic chemical." Read more.
Pamela Miller's testimony to POPRC, October 2013, in Rome, Italy.
Thank you, Mr. Arndt, Chairperson of the POPRC, for the opportunity to present an intervention of Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Inuit Circumpolar Council, Pesticide Action Network, and IPEN. My name is Pamela Miller, Executive Director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics.
We observe that there is sufficient, definitive evidence that PCP-PCA warrant global action, that the substances, especially considered together, meet Annex E requirements. Therefore, we urge you to move these forward to Annex F consideration.
Studies have demonstrated toxic effects at environmental levels in aquatic species. In wildlife and people, concentrations are well within the range of observed in vivo and in vitro developmental, endocrine, and neurological effects. Particular the most compelling evidence of PCP in breast milk, blood, amniotic fluid, and other human tissues throughout the world, including peoples of the Arctic—warrants swift global action. Read more.
Fall Newsletter articles on work at the Stockholm Convention meeting in Geneva May 2013.
- Like A Dream, St. Lawrence Island Youth reflects on Stockholm Convention meeting in Geneva
- Success at the International Stockholm Convention on Persistent Pollutants
A Dispatch from Geneva—
Why are the Deliberations of the Scientific Review Committee of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Important?
Geneva, Switzerland, 2012 – Chlorinated naphthalenes, hexabromocyclododecane, hexachlorobutadiene, pentachlorophenol, short-chained chlorinated paraffins—these are not household words that come tripping off the tongue. However, they are among the chemicals under consideration this week in Geneva at the international meeting of POPs Review Committee of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). Decisions are being made this week that have important implications for global environmental health—the health of all of us and particularly the health of people living in the Arctic. Since this is a very technical meeting and this is my first blog post, I have struggled with how to write this. Here it goes…
I am part of a small group of NGOs (non-governmental organizations), collaborating organizations of the International POPs Elimination Network (www.ipen.org), who participate in these week-long meetings each year. We participate in plenary and work group sessions throughout the day and evening, offering scientific evidence to advance consideration of the chemicals. We also provide the perspective of civil society to ensure the application of the precautionary principle and the scientific integrity of the work of the Committee. We are up against a large contingent of representatives of international chemical corporations, including the major manufacturers of pesticides and other industrial chemicals.
The Stockholm Convention is a living treaty that includes provisions to add new chemicals that meet scientific criteria for persistence, long-range transport, adverse effects, and bioaccumulation. The POPs Review Committee makes determinations about whether chemicals meet these criteria. I came prepared for this meeting with over 50 scientific papers, focusing on the chemicals that I was the designated "lead" for within our IPEN team—these included pentachlorophenol and hexachlorobutadiene. Pentachlorophenol (PCP), is a widely used wood preservative and historically as an agricultural pesticide. Due to its widespread use and disposal, PCP is now detected in air, water, and soil throughout the world, as well as in the blood, urine, seminal fluid, and breast milk of people. Hexachlorobutadiene is mainly a by-product produced in the manufacturing of certain chlorinated solvents such as perchloroethylene, an industrial solvent used for dry cleaning.
When the Committee made favorable (!) decisions on pentachlorophenol and hexachlorobutadiene, advancing them to the next stage of evaluation, I ended up focusing on another substance, short-chained chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs). Short-chained chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) are industrial chemicals used in metalworking, paints, adhesives and sealants, plastics and rubber, flame retardants and in fracking fluids. Exposure to SCCPS has been linked with cancer. These chemicals are found in Arctic marine mammals such as beluga whale, seals, and walrus. SCCPs have also been found in the breast milk of Arctic Indigenous women. I have a personal interest in this matter because I grew up in the small town in Dover, Ohio that bears the dubious distinction of having the largest manufacturer of SCCPs in the United States, Dover Chemical—now among the most severely contaminated sites in the country. My brother Jerry died at a young age of cancer and there seems to be a cluster of cancers and illnesses in our neighborhood—so it is personal to my family and to me. In February of this year, Dover Chemical was charged $1.4 million in an enforcement action by the EPA and Department of Justice for violations of the Toxics Substances Control Act. And now, I find myself in this international scientific meeting and deeply concerned as well about the fact that SCCPs contaminate a place and people that I also care about in the Arctic.
In prior meetings, the Committee had already determined that SCCPs met the required scientific criteria and yet, they decided at this meeting to take no action on this substance. This is after delaying action for the past 6 years. For me, this was the most disappointing decision of the Committee meeting. As my colleague Mariann Lloyd-Smith of IPEN said:
"This raises concerns about scientific integrity and whether commercial considerations are a higher priority than the Stockholm Convention's goal of protecting human health and the environment." – IPEN POPRC8 Press Release October 19, 2012
We are not giving up! After this meeting, we will continue our work to ensure the global elimination of SCCPs. In the meantime, we celebrate the significant progress on the other nominated chemicals.
The Stockholm Convention is particularly significant as a means to protect the health of the Arctic environment and people because it addresses persistent, toxic chemicals that can migrate long distances on wind and ocean currents. POPs tend to accumulate in the fat-rich food webs of northern environments. Arctic Indigenous Peoples have among the highest levels of POPs contamination in blood and breast milk of any population on earth, even though most of these chemicals have never been produced in the Arctic. Exposure to low levels of POPs can harm human health, including interference with learning and development, diseases of the immune system, reproductive disorders, and cancers. The Convention is strongly based on the precautionary principle.
"Arctic ecosystems and indigenous communities are particularly at risk because of the biomagnification of persistent organic pollutants and that contamination of their traditional foods is a public health issue." —from the Preamble of the Stockholm Convention
The Stockholm Convention was adopted by governments from around the world in 2001 and entered into force in 2004 when 50 nations had ratified the treaty. Currently, the Convention includes more than 180 nations or "Parties" that agree to work together toward global elimination of the world's most dangerous chemicals. The Stockholm Convention is a living treaty that includes provisions to add new chemicals that meet scientific criteria for persistence, long-range transport, adverse effects, and bioaccumulation. In addition to the initial list of twelve chemicals included in the Convention, the "dirty dozen" (aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex, toxaphene, hexachlorobenzene, PCBs, dioxins, and furans), the Parties agreed (in 2009) to add 9 new substances and an additional pesticide, endosulfan, was added in 2011. The U.S. has not yet ratified this important treaty and does not participate constructively in its implementation. The scientific committee of the Stockholm Convention, the POPs Review Committee (POPRC), works to determine whether chemicals that are nominated for inclusion under the Convention meet the scientific criteria and warrant global action.
Follow the link to the October 19th, 2012 press release of the International POPs Elimination Network here.
Additional Resources:
- Stockholm Convention website
- Text of the Stockholm Convention
- International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) website
At their 2009 Conference of Parties signatories to the treaty agreed to phase out nine additional highly dangerous chemicals, the first time new chemicals have been added to the original twelve. In 2011, nations agreed to phase out the antiquated insecticide endosulfan.
Alaska Community Action on Toxics and other organizations belonging to the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) were instrumental in ensuring the addition of the nine new chemicals in 2009 and endosulfan in 2011.


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Net Native
Internet life reporter Mónica Guzmán explores online culture in Seattle and beyond with a wireless sensibility and a byte of wit.
Posts filtered on Category
Thoughtsam: A blogger's clearinghouse of creativity
Ian Gilman doesn't have time to write the Great American Novel — yet. So for now he writes "thoughtsams" — dense nuggets of thought he posts daily on a blog he hopes to turn into a shared database of inspiration. [Read More]
Itchmo.com: Blogging goes to the dogs
Looking for something to do with your dog? Ben and Emily Huh's new dog blog, Itchmo, wants to be your go-to site. [Read More]
Scootin Old Skool: The story of a man and his Vespa
Orin O'Neill chronicles the life and times of a man and his Vespa PX 150 in Scootin Old Skool. [Read More]


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Posted at: 05/14/2013 7:30 PM
Updated at: 05/15/2013 12:36 AM
By: Jessica Layton
ALBANY - Mayor Jerry Jennings has finally answered the question that reporters and the people of Albany have been asking for months.
And after twenty years, the 64-year-old has decided it's time to walk away from the job of mayor.
He's not discussing his decision with reporters in person yet, but in a statement, he said:
"After countless hours of deliberation and evaluation, I have decided not to seek re-election as your mayor. Albany's future is bright, and, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank each of you for the trust you have placed in me. I will always be your friend and the biggest supporter of our 'All America City!'"
In the past several weeks, Jennings has been careful not to show his political hand in whether he'd be running.
Wednesday night the Albany County Democratic Committee meets to endorse candidates, so those who've worked with the mayor, say the timing of his announcement makes sense - but was still a bit of a surprise.
At any city event over the past twenty years, you would have been hard pressed not to spot a smiling Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings - often cracking a joke, always surrounded by an entourage of supporters.
He's about to have more time to spend surrounded by his biggest fans - his family.
"I don't know how he did everything that he did," says Dominick Calsolaro of the Albany Common Council.
Jennings' colleagues call him one of the hardest working public servants they've met - acknowledging the decision against running for a 6th term must have been difficult.
"Deciding to run for office or even to decide to run for re election it's never an easy decision – it's a very personal decision. You have to take into consideration your family, friends, impact on personal life," said Albany Common Council member, Richard Conti.
Jennings referenced the countless hours of deliberation in the statement he released to media and city leaders Tuesday evening. Common Council members admitted the email announcement caught them a bit off guard.
On Saturday the mayor went before the Albany Democratic Party to seek approval to run for re-election. But it was clear - he wasn't convinced running for another four years was the right move.
"I'm vetting it, looking at it, making some decisions," the mayor said at the time. "I just want to make sure I do the right things for my family and myself and basically the city."
Jennings will be known as a mayor who pushed to revitalize the city, attract businesses along the water front, and take care of children through youth programs.
"I think he will leave behind a record he can be proud of," said Conti.
A political legacy Common Council colleagues say they Albany won't forget.
"Nobody worked harder than him. We had our differences but..I don't think there was anyone who put in more hours than he put in," said Calsolaro.
Kathy Sheehan announced her candidacy for the mayor's job back in November. While she expected she would be challenging the mayor, she had nothing but praise for the job he's done.
"I certainly didn't know it was going to go this way tonight, but we have a mayor who has served our city for 20 years. He is an incredible public servant, and he has created a legacy that will be long remembered," said Sheehan.
We also reached out to mayoral candidate Corey Ellis. He says he was surprised by the announcement but thinks Mayor Jennings is doing what's best for him and his family.
Marlon Anderson - yet another mayoral candidate - says Jennings has given his life to this city and his presence will be sorely missed.


text:
More New and Used
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A Poor Player: The Story of a Failureby Child, Harold
Cambridge Univ Pr
Questions About This Book?
Why should I rent this book?
Renting is easy, fast, and cheap! Renting from eCampus.com can save you hundreds of dollars compared to the cost of new or used books each semester. At the end of the semester, simply ship the book back to us with a free UPS shipping label! No need to worry about selling it back.
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Returning books is as easy as possible. As your rental due date approaches, we will email you several courtesy reminders. When you are ready to return, you can print a free UPS shipping label from our website at any time. Then, just return the book to your UPS driver or any staffed UPS location. You can even use the same box we shipped it in!
What version or edition is this?
This is the edition with a publication date of 3/28/2013.
What is included with this book?
- The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any CDs, lab manuals, study guides, etc.
- The Rental copy of this book is not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. You may receive a brand new copy, but typically, only the book itself.
Harold Child (1869-1945) was a literary critic and writer who was prominent in the development of dramatic criticism, notably in his work on the history of Shakespearean production. Originally published in 1939, this book presents a humorous and self-deprecating account of Child's early experiences as an actor in various theatrical companies, prior to his decision to leave the stage and concentrate on writing. Illustrative figures are also included. This is a fascinating and highly readable book that will be of value to anyone with an interest in Child's writings and British theatre in general.


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11:24 am
Fri June 11, 2004
Former AG Pryor Has Political Victory
By Alabama Public Radio
Atlanta, GA – Bill Pryor has a victory over political opponents. U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy lost a bid to block the former Alabama Attorney General's appointment to the federal appeals court in Atlanta. Pryor's fellow judges actually turned down the Massachusetts Democrat's motion to argue that the appointment was unconstitutional, saying the motion was untimely. President Bush installed Pryor on the bench in February, stopping a Democratic filibuster in the Senate and using the power of a recess appointment. But in his motion, Kennedy claimed Bush did not use a true recess appointment.


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Servo offset config with mobile
Normally this task is very boring but finally I found the most comfortable way to do it. With a simple Android application I could config all the 12 servos (big white value is the uSec control value, yellow shows the controlled servo). Using bluetooth connection this was almost funny! :)
This video shows only the capabilities of the application. The real task is to find the absolute precise servo control value when it's in 90 degrees middle position. Then this value can be used for real positioning. Remember, 1500 uSec is very far from real center position…
New robot with new servo
In all the previous cases I wanted to have 5V used globally by any unit (Arduino, servos, sensors, etc.) Unfortunately I don't remember the reason (simplicity maybe?) but in our new model (cellbot) almost every unit has its own supply voltage. Arduino powered by a simple 9V battery, normal mobile/cell phone with built-in Li-Ion 2370 mAh battery, servos require 7.2V.
For prototype development I use my good old Chieftech PSU and its 12V output. Question: How do you connect ATX terminal to a servo via an UBEC? With a little luck I found the magic part :) This was born to do the job! You can easily connect the servo cable without soldering and it's simply compatible with the ATX terminal in terms of size.
Corona DS339HV Digital Metal Gear Servo 5.1kg/ 32g/ 0.13sec
Now I have 7.2V and I can start the servo offset project… most boring task ever! :D
Good News! We're back with a new robot!
This time we selected black base color and developed a middle size body. I hope the below pictures can give you some sort of "sight". I know the black background was not the best choice but soon tons of pictures will be uploaded. Giving name to this black monster is the real task :)
Arduino + Bluetooth + Android + Servo
Just to have a complete test in terms of communication I would have liked to know more about Arduino and its compatible bluetooth module. The one I found:
Documentation I used to start:
Having all these details I started soldering the minimum required 4 legs only :) TX/RX/Vcc/GND:
I did not know anything about these type of castellated holes so I just added a bit more solder and prepared the wires:
I could solder the wires to the edge of the board with a simple touch (1-2 secs) of soldering iron:
and connect to Arduino: Bluetooth board Vcc to Arduino 3.3V, GND to GND, RX to Serial 1 TX and TX to Serial 1 RX.
This was the hardware part. When it was turned on my PC could discover as a "HC-06" device. This little amount of info went immediately to Google search. HC-06 specification found in few mins. Let me summarize what I really needed to complete the test:
- This little board starts in 9600 baud rate mode
- and it is in AT command mode before paired state
- wait minimum 1 sec after each AT command
- password for pairing is 1234
Based on it I simply sent two AT commands (using Serial1.print()) to change baud rate from 9600 to 115200:
"AT" to test if the answer is OK and we are really talking :) and
"AT+BAUD8″ to change baud rate.
(Not used commands: change the password with AT+PINxxxx or the device name with AT+NAMExxxx but these are not important now.)
This is a one time action and could be implemented in Arduino setup() function (the loop() can be empty this time):
while(Serial1.peek() != -1)
while(Serial1.peek() != -1)
In serial monitor I got these answers from the device as it is specified in the docs:
When this was completed I could change Serial1.begin(9600); to Serial1.begin(115200); and upload the new sketch leaving the same AT command related code :) Now I could pair the device and add real serial communication in Arduino loop().
Let's check the result!
This could work as an alternative Arduino – Android connection replacing the USB cable and of course I should add a 9V battery too but I am still hesitating. Comparing them on mass level:
USB cable = 43g vs 9V battery + cable + bluetooth device = 50g
Developing connections – BlueTooth, USB Serial, WiFi
According to our plans an Android mobile could help a lot in our next robot providing tons of sensors and communication channels. Let's see where we are now with the connections!
1. BlueTooth OK
We have tested successfully the Android – PC connection (actually Blender as target) using BlueTooth. You can see the result in the previous post. This way we could have a much better (visual) feedback.
2. WiFi OK
I also could use WiFi in order to upload the main robot java application pack from PC to Android. This wireless mode is very useful because the built-in mobile could be programmed remotely. USB cable is required only one time when you initiate this connection. Of course you can see all debug info too from the phone in Eclipse. More info here: http://developer.android.com/tools/help/adb.html Actually you need to type only two lines and you can use it!
Quick summary:
- plug USB and check if you can see debug info in Eclipse LogCat
- locate your ADT install dir and go to …\sdk\platform-tools
- type adb tcpip 5555 and
- type adb connect your.mobile.ip.address:5555
- unplug your USB cable and you will still have running debug info in LogCat and you still be able to upload your app via WiFi :) This is very cool! Thanks to Google!
3. USB cable (WT?)
Android Arduino connection. The simplest solution I found was the good old USB cable where simple(?) serial library solves everything on Arduino side and on the top of this it has a perfect 5V power supply! No need to use any additional battery, I think my Sony Xperia SP could provide enough energy for Arduino in this project. I have been testing this for 2 weeks now and it's absolutely OK. The data communication is still under development because it is not as stable as I expected. Let me try to describe it with more details.
When I developed the walking function on Arduino Mega 2560 only using its C/C++ like language I could expect all the functions to work with a given speed and based on the given specifications. And when I write speed I mean microsecond level! The most important timing requirement is take into account the servo control signal's frequency which is 50Hz. Briefly you have to be able to do all walking related calculations in 20 milliseconds. I felt this was not a big challenge and Little Johnny could move the legs as I expected.
Developing the same on Android a bit more needs to be implemented:
- walking related calculations where I do not expected any issue with timing
- communication with Arduino via USB. After two weeks I am still fighting with this!
3.1 Mobile to MCU via serial: first of all you need to have some useful java code to start with. I found few of them but finally I decided to write my own class for this. These libs can do much more than I really need but you could give a try! :)
https://github.com/ksksue/PhysicaloidLibrary (this lib could even upload firmware to Arduino!)
I have seen many forums about this type of communication where a simple byte was transferred properly. In our case I want to send 50 bytes with 50Hz and receive few bytes back (result of sensor stuff like Ultrasonic range finders, etc.)
Pack size was calculated based on:
- the number of servos: 12*2bytes (2 byte is required to send 1500+-500 integer values)
- +2 control bytes (in position 0 and 1 with values 170 and 204 -> 10101010 and 11001100)
- +24 bytes for future development (walking mode control, request feedback, etc.)
My idea was to use a simple timer and call my serial transfer function. It was not working :) Any time the previous call could not be completed the new call was blocked for 19 seconds! Arduino's RX/TX leds were continuously on in these phases. So I simply added a boolean flag which indicated if the previous timer request can be handled or not and the actual request needs to be skipped (similar to frame drop in video games). Later I could use this as a quality indicator. Few drops could mean a better implementation. I played a lot with the timer's period in order to reduce this but of course I had to speed up the request handling itself.
Secondly I tried to understand how baud rate can have effect on the whole communication. I understand that 1 byte = 10 bits when we talk about data transfer instead of simple data store situation: 1 start bit + 8 data bits + 1 stop bit could be 10. So the transfer speed per sec is about baud rate / 10. For the standard 9600 it is 960 bytes / sec and 19 bytes / frame for 50 Hz. 19 bytes are too few for my planned 50 bytes so I moved to 115200 baud rate on both Arduino and Android side. (with 9600 you would need 52 mS anyway for a 50 byte pack) Arduino can solve this with a very short code line: Serial.begin(115200); :) Let's calculate again the necessary time to transfer 50 bytes with 115200 baud: 50*10/115200 = 4.34 mS. In the planned 20 mS frame it fits perfectly.
So Android sends the 50 bytes to Arduino using bulkTransfer. How can you receive the stuff? My first attempt was to use the well-known(?) Serial.read() function. My problem was that the given example did not work! :| After many days testing I understood that serial reading has its own ceremony. I would like to share this with you.
3.2 Receiving serial data on Arduino side:
a. Fast read from serial buffer: Here you can use the example code (while available then read in a loop)
b. After this when Serial.available() of loop1 shows no more data, it does not mean there is no more incoming data! Only the buffer is empty so the second loop has to read bytes following the communication speed. You need to add some delay after every and each read byte. Necessary delay can be calculated easily: for 9600 baud it is 1.042 mS so you could use delay(1) but much better to use delayMicroseconds. For 115200 you should use 86.8uS ( delayMicroseconds(87); exactly) in the loop2.
c. And the most important third loop. When you think you have all the data (using counters, etc,) you still have to continue the reading in order to fully clear the buffer. If you forget this step your next serial action can easily fail…
So again a small summary:
- Loop1: Fast read (from buffer)
- Loop2: Baud rate synchronized read to have all the bytes of your packet
- Loop3: Baud rate synchronized read blindly to empty the serial buffer.
3.3 Android timer task: I wanted to have this communication task in another thread separately from the UI because this was proposed on many forums. In my case there is a small difference: the robot can not be blocked, the Android UI is not important and can be blocked. Of course this is against how Android was designed. I followed all the official instructions and implemented an AsyncTask. This was very comfortable and easy. But two things you have to take into account and it came out only after 2-3 days during my tests:
- you need to start an AsyncTask using new operator like new DownloadImageTask().execute("http://example.com/image.png"); This meant that every timer event I created a new object/thread etc. This async task was closed after a single sending and receiving cycle. It did not seem to be too elegant… creating tons of objects will result a GC call and GC will kill the party.
- this AsyncTask creates a background thread which is not the best choice for a time critical task! I think the UI thread can overrule it anytime running useless redraw operations, etc. This is why I changed the thread handling a bit: I use only one thread where start and stop flags can control the processing in an "endless" loop (you know for(;;)). The result of the test was a much smoother servo movement comparing to the AsyncTask version. Open item: can I change my thread priority to beat UI thread priority level? OR can I change UI thread priority level to a very low value? :)
3.4 Android lagging: on the top of serial buffer related blocks and frame drops I saw many GC activity suddenly blocked my application for 20-40 mS. This "small" GC activity can cause a serious problem for a time critical or real-time application. In my case 2-3 frame drops. Not too funny because this is absolutely visible during even simple slow walking.
You will see something like this in LogCat: 08-06 20:34:56.725: D/dalvikvm(12230): GC_FOR_ALLOC freed 2048K, 44% free 6203K/10932K, paused 20ms, total 20ms
I am still working on this part and try to implement the communication and UI tasks avoiding any new operator in loops and/or try to call the GC from my code more times than system default period to reduce garbage collection run time. We will see in 3.4.1 and 3.4.2
3.4.1 Avoid GC call at all: (working!)
In Eclipse you have a memory allocation tracking tool called DDMS where you can see your process memory map on object level. (to start this tool you need to use Open Perspective from Eclipse) Using this tool I could locate two unnecessary allocations in my code: one was in the timer handler and one in the thread loop. After I moved them to class level GC activity almost totally disappeared! It came in every 30 seconds before and now I can not see anything after 15 mins watching! DDMS shows now only one dynamically allocated object for the System.out.println result where java.lang.AbstractStringBuilder is working to show the simple LogCat debug info… Hopefully this will not occur in production mode.
3.4.2 Totally different approach: Call GC frequently to reduce GC runtime: (bad very bad idea)
I also tested periodic GC calls (System.gc();) but this was not a good idea :) It is running but always with minimum ~16mS and maximum ~270mS independently if this garbage collection has just been done right before the calls… So I choose 3.4.1 solution to reduce lagging.
Other opinions: I have seen and read many comments on Android UI lagging like http://www.phonearena.com/news/Here-is-why-Android-is-laggy-and-why-its-going-to-remain-like-that-in-the-near-future_id24434 But I can not change my Android phone now… :D
3.5 USB bulk transfer: Another time critical issue is that on Android side I use bulkTransfer. One comment attracted my attention:
" Bulk transfers will use spare un-allocated bandwidth on the bus after all other transactions have been allocated. If the bus is busy with isochronous and/or interrupt then bulk data may slowly trickle over the bus. As a result Bulk transfers should only be used for time insensitive communication as there is no guarantee of latency. " Would mean to me that Android OS can interrupt/disturb my bulk transfer if it wants to check this USB device…
Let me summarize the situation: I need to complete real-time operations from a low priority thread using low priority transfer method. What a winner position! I did not fight all these stuff on Arduino but I think Android definitely has brutal advantages where I
- can use a higher level programming language (java instead of C/C++)
- have a much better IDE. You can compare Eclipse to Arduino IDE any time…
- have much more resources in one single unit (memory, CPU, SD card, sensors, display, cameras, mic, speaker, lipo battery, etc.)
- do not need IOIO devices just an USB cable.
The only and real Android disadvantage is the lack of Arduino's very precise timing which is essential for PWM and servo control. This is why I believe in hybrid solutions and Arduino is still the winner of servo management.
Should I use NDK?
I also saw a proposal I have never tested (native coding and use C/C++ instead of Java): https://developer.android.com/tools/sdk/ndk/index.html
Interesting part: " Typical good candidates for the NDK are CPU-intensive workloads such as game engines, signal processing, physics simulation, and so on. "
Now I can transfer data with 30Hz (from 20mS I changed the timer period to 33mS) and there are not too many frame drops and this still could result continuous leg movement. Plus as a bonus performance I would expect a bit better speed still using normal Java SDK when I change from debug mode to release build. Last time when I measured the speed of a Flash application it was 15 times! faster in release version so I hope Java could do something similar… Worst case scenario is that 30Hz will not be enough and I start a totally new Android NDK project…
Android Blender Connector
In our next robot we would like to add a mobile (Sony Xperia SP) as a sensor pack. This small post was dedicated to understand:
– Android Java coding
– Sensor handling (mainly accelerometer and compass)
– Possible communication between Android and PC and Arduino (Bluetooth and USB cable and WiFi)
– Possible feedback from the robot about leg positions and body orientation
– The necessity of buying IOIO OTG devices (here you can find more about this item)
All this was tested with a very funny task: rotate a Blender object with Android phone. I know that this was implemented many times before but all these need to be application specific for the robot and need to be customized in terms of energy consumption, speed, cost, etc.
If you plan to connect your phone with Blender as an external/wireless controller you could easily add few useful functions like coloring, movement on top of rotation, change different modes (edit mode, wire frame, etc.) My only problem was with using mouse and mobile at a time that my brain was not able to handle this two-handed coordination so I should practice more :) The other direction I can imagine: use two Android phones and implement a gesture based interface where you can reach all Blender functions! That would be cool!
One comment on (re)implementing the same which has been done before: any time I reread even one of our posts I can see that new devices are available, new programming libraries can be used, new versions coming, etc. Sometimes it is much much easier using newer stuff but you always need to start from scratch :)
Better servo positioning
In the "Little Johnny careful steps" post I have mentioned a better way of servo positioning. So let's try this writeMicroseconds() stuff!
Arduino code for the test using two modes (write and writeMicroseconds for the same movement range and speed):
#include <Servo.h>
// R = 18.5 cm
// 1 degree step = R*Pi/180 = 0.323 cm = 3.23 mm!
Servo myservo;
void setup()
myservo.write(90); // set servo to mid-point
int spos = 90;
int mode = 1;
int upos = 1500;
void loop()
Testing with analog and digital servos: simple straw is used to have big enough end point movement.
In the case of analog servo I saw 2 sometimes 3 movements / sec and in the case of digital it was 3 almost in all the cases. After viewing the writeMicroseconds based positioning I experienced
– a much smoother positioning
– quieter servo
– less trembling
– only 3 times better than write function (originally I expected 5 times) but this could be caused by inertial mass…
All these could lead us to a better and smoother walking with less oscillation.
If you would like to know more about the implementation see some code used behind the scenes (located in your Arduino IDE install /libraries/Servo/Servo.cpp). Based on it you can use write in any code and it is able to detect if you want to use degrees or microsecs for controlling. A simple if is used: if the position you specify is less than 544 (0-180 normally) you got degree based control and finally all calls ends in writeMicroseconds lib function. When you send degrees it converts using Arduino map command: usec_value = map(degree_value, 0, 180, 544, 2400); You can check if 90 degrees lead you to 1500 usec as a middle position. I got 1472 as result… It seems the library is prepared to handle all the extreme minimum and maximum positioning values BUT it has cost. Let's see what we got if we have a very normal servo which is prepared to handle 1000 uS to 2000 uS (1500 middle => 1 degree = 5,555 uSec ):
Degrees / result micro seconds to control (comment about real position):
0 : 544 (under 1000 nothing happens or the servo goes to zero)
10 : 647 (same but you lost 10 degrees!)
20 : 750 (lost 20)
30 : 853 (lost 30)
40 : 956 (almost but still lost 40 degrees!)
50 : 1059 (finally got acceptable value which will position the servo to 10 degree position instead of 50!)
60 : 1162 (29 instead of 60)
70 : 1265 (47.7…)
80 : 1368 (66.24)
90 : 1472 (85 almost 90)
100 : 1575 (103.5)
110 : 1678 (122!)
120 : 1781 (140.6)
130 : 1884 (159)
140 : 1987 (177)
150 : 2090 (nothing happens or your servo goes to end position)
160 : 2193 (same and you lost another 10 degrees)
170 : 2296 (lost 20)
180 : 2400 (lost 30)
Testing code:
void setup() {
int comp=0;
void loop()
int val = 0;
int deg = 0;
Serial.print(" : ");
val = map(deg, 0, 180, 544, 2400);
It seems to be a bit shocking. If we use 544-2400 instead of the servo specific values (1000-2000uSec) we can easily loose about 70 degrees out of 180 and have absolutely invalid physical position plus a much bigger servo step length! My servo step should be 5.555 uSec/degree but using write function I have 10.311! Almost two times bigger than I want to have…
Conclusion: If you know your servo parameters you definitely have to use writeMicroseconds function and a simple map like
usec_value = map(degree_value, 0, 180, your_servo_min, your_servo_max);
(Or you just overwrite 544 and 2400 in Servo.h after reading the license and change conditions)
I must have been blinded by my very limited brain capacity to realize this conclusion only after 3 years testing… Luckily I can eliminate this small frustration with 3 beers :D