text:
As a result of the financial crisis and its fallout, I lost my job. Like many Americans, my wife and I did the best we could with our finances but we decided she had to declare bankruptcy. We jointly shared a Visa credit card through GTE Financial Credit Union here in Tampa Bay area that Continue Reading
Credit Reports
Consumers living throughout the U.S. now have the right to order a free copy of their credit report thanks to a federal law, known as the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), adopted by Congress in 2003. Because credit reports are free, consumers have better access to this important document and can take steps to make sure it offers a fair picture of their credit history.
Your credit is one of your most important assets. Having good credit means you should have more options to borrow money at the lowest cost and from the best lenders. It also means that others who look at your credit — such as landlords, insurance companies, or even prospective employers — are less likely to turn you away or penalize you because you have poor credit.
Take the first step to find out where you stand in the credit world. Get a copy of your consumer credit report and credit score.
Your consumer credit report should contain accurate and up-to-date information about your credit history and behavior. Having your consumer credit report and credit score in hand lets you see what your creditors or those who base decisions on your credit will see. If you discover mistakes, you can have them corrected. Reviewing your consumer credit report can also alert you if someone has stolen your identity.
Be sure to get a free copy of your consumer credit report to stay up to date with your credit profile and to protect yourself from identity theft.
The information on this site is provided as a guide and is not meant to be legal advice. Be sure to consult an attorney for legal advice.
- Free Credit Score Fact Sheet
Know Your Score Fact Sheet Consumers Union is fighting to give consumers access to an annual free, reliable credit score when a free credit report is obtained. Your credit score can determine your eligibility for credit cards, home, car and student loans, and apartment rentals. It can mean the difference between a high interest rate Continue Reading
- How to Get Your Free Credit Report
Every consumer in the U.S. has the right to a free credit report. The law says you can request a free report once every 12 months from each of the three national credit reporting companies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. However, there are a lot of web sites out there that offer you a free Continue Reading
- Credit Scores: Issues In a Changing Environment
This is a PowerPoint presentation given by Gail Hillebrand for a workshop titled "The Growing Influence of Credit Scores" at the Consumer Assembly 2010.
- New Rip-offs
Have you been ripped off by unfair lending or financial practices?
- Consumer group letter to prevent deceptive marketing of free credit reports
Comments of the National Consumer Law Center (On behalf of its Low-Income Clients) Consumer Action Consumers Union Consumer Federation of America National Association of Consumer Advocates National Community Reinvestment Coalition Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law U.S. Public Interest Research Group Regarding Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Free Annual File Disclosures, Rule No. R411005 Amendments Continue Reading
- Consumers Union supports reform to remove paid medical debts from credit
CU supports the Medical Debt Relief Act of 2009, H.R. 3421
- Credit Reports and Scoring
- Credit and Your Consumer Rights
- California: Credit Repair Services
- What is Credit Monitoring?
What is Credit Monitoring? Consumer credit reporting agencies offer to "monitor" your credit for a fee. Credit monitoring services can be costly. These services cost anywhere between $43.80 per year to nearly $150.00 per year depending upon the provider. Typically, these services say they will notify you if anything unusual or suspicious appears on your Continue Reading
Press Releases
- Senators Schatz & Brown introduce bill to improve credit report accuracy and give consumers right to free credit score every year
Senators Brian Schatz (HI) and Sherrod Brown (OH) introduced legislation today that would require credit bureaus to follow tighter rules for ensuring credit reports are accurate and give consumers free access to reliable credit scores every year.
- CFPB calls on credit card companies to provide consumers free access to credit scores
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced an increased focus on credit reporting as it called for the nation's largest credit card companies to provide consumers with free access to credit scores used by lenders.
- CU backs bills providing free credit scores
The bills introduced in Congress will require credit scores to be included in your free, annual credit reports
- FTC study shows importance of checking credit reports
The findings reinforce call for access to free, reliable credit score
- CFPB: Check your credit report every year
CU offers credit report resources and calls for free annual credit scores for consumers
- CFPB Announces New Oversight for Big Credit Reporting Companies
In the fall, The CFPB will take a closer look to ensure accuracy and compliance with the law
- CFPB Seeks Oversight of Debt Collectors, Credit Bureaus
The CFPB announced plans to bring oversight to debt collectors & credit bureaus under its roof
- Consumers Union: Get your free credit report
New web page helps consumers get free credit reports, avoid imposter sites
- CU says Social Security numbers need protection
Widespread use and availability of Social Security numbers puts Americans at risk of ID theft
- TransUnion offering security freeze nationwide
Wednesday, September 19, 2007 TransUnion to Offer Powerful Identity Theft Tool to Consumers in All 50 States Consumer groups call on Experian and Equifax to meet or exceed TransUnion's plan. SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Starting on October 15, TransUnion will begin offering consumers in all 50 states the ability to freeze access to their credit Continue Reading
Blog Posts
- CFPB Raises Red Flags on Mortgage Lending and Servicing, Credit Reporting
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is working to make sure that financial services providers – like debt collectors and mortgage lenders – follow the law. They keep a close watch to keep you from getting treated unfairly. This week, the CFPB released a report on their supervision work in several areas, including mortgage lending, mortgage servicing, debt Continue Reading
- CFPB Is Helping Consumers Check Their Specialty Credit Reports
Most consumers know that they can check their credit reports with the "big three" credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, once a year, for free, at annualcreditreport.com. But, there are dozens more companies that may collect and report important information about you – and it's important to check those reports, too. (Note that these specialty agencies aren't Continue Reading
- "Big 3" Credit Bureaus Settle With 31 States Over Credit Reporting Mistakes
The top credit reporting agencies are going to have to pay up for their credit reporting mistakes! On Wednesday, 31 state attorneys general announced a settlement with Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion over credit reporting errors. Not only will they have to pay $6 million to the states, they will also have to take important steps to reduce errors. The Continue Reading
- FICO's Plan to Extend Credit Access Could Harm Those it Claims to Aid
We received some concerning news from the credit-scoring company FICO last week. FICO announced the start of a pilot program to introduce a new credit score based on "alternative" data, such as utilities and phone bills. These types of bills typically have been included in consumers' three major credit reports only when they have been written off or Continue Reading
- Have You Received Your Free FICO Score?
Consumers are finally seeing substantial progress in the credit score market. They've long faced real challenges in getting the same credit score that their banks and lenders purchased when making lending decisions about them. But over the past year, millions of Americans have gained access to free, reliable credit scores. Recently, President Obama announced that more Continue Reading
- New Offerings from Credit Karma and Experian Not as Helpful as they Appear
Many consumers make a New Year's resolution to check their credit reports and scores. We're all in favor of that, especially as Consumer Reports recently found that just under half of Americans have never checked one of their credit reports from the credit bureaus Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion. This year, two companies say they will Continue Reading
- Thirty-Five Things in 12 Months: CFPB Working for You–2014 in Review
As this year comes to a close, we wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the many actions the CFPB has taken to defend your rights as a consumer of financial services and products. The CFPB has a tough job, as we all know, and they've done it well. They are an indispensable Continue Reading
- CFPB Says Medical Debt Scars One in Every Five Credit Reports
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has unveiled some surprising new numbers in its latest report on medical debt: one out of every five credit reports is harmed by medical debt that's considered past due, and medical debt accounts for about half of all debt in collections. Making matters worse, there are no uniform standards for Continue Reading
- $22 Million Refund for Victims of Credit Score "Gotchas"
Some much-needed relief is in store for consumers who have fallen for "free" credit score come-ons. On Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it, along with the Ohio and Illinois Attorneys General, would require three companies to give $22 million back to consumers for allegedly misleading them into signing up for credit monitoring services Continue Reading
- Free FICO scores on the way for Citi cardholders
Great news for those of you with Citi credit cards: starting in January, Citigroup will begin giving its credit card customers a free FICO score – the very same one Citi uses to set interest rates. This will give consumers free access to an important tool to better manage their credit. Keeping a good credit Continue Reading
News Articles
- Montanans locking credit reports Source: Helena Independent Record (Tuesday November 6, 2007)
More and more consumers are taking advantage of security freeze protection
- Montana bill to deter identity theft advances Source: Billings Gazette (Thursday January 26, 2006)
A bill giving Montanans the right to freeze access to their credit reports to block criminals from stealing their identity will go before the state Senate.
- ID theft law to take effect in Vermont Source: Times Argus (Sunday July 10, 2005)
Vermonters who become the victims of identity theft can stop the financial bleeding by putting a freeze on their credit reports, under a new state law.


text:
CobraNet logo
|Manufacturer Info
|Cirrus Logic
|Development date
|Network Compatibility
|Ethernet data rates
|Fast Ethernet
|Audio Specifications
|Minimum latency
|1 1⁄3 ms[1]
|Maximum channels per link
|Maximum sampling rate
|96 kHz[1]
|Maximum bit depth
|24 bits
CobraNet is a combination of software, hardware, and network protocols designed to deliver uncompressed, multi-channel, low-latency digital audio over a standard Ethernet network. Developed in the 1990s, CobraNet is widely regarded as the first commercially successful implementation of audio over Ethernet.[2][3]
CobraNet was designed for and is primarily used in large commercial audio installations such as convention centers, stadiums, airports, theme parks, and concert halls. It is most useful in applications where a large number of audio channels must be transmitted over long distances or to multiple locations.
CobraNet is an alternative to analog audio, which suffers from signal degradation over long cable runs due to electromagnetic interference, high-frequency attenuation, and voltage drop. Additionally, the use of digital multiplexing allows audio to be transmitted using much less cabling than analog audio.
CobraNet was developed in 1996 by Boulder, Colorado-based Peak Audio. Initial demonstrations were of a 10 Mbit/s point-to-point system with limited channel capacity. The first permanent installation of CobraNet in this early form was to provide background music throughout the Animal Kingdom theme park.[4] The first commercial use of CobraNet as an interoperable standard was during the half-time show at Super Bowl XXXI in 1997.[5]
CobraNet was first introduced as an interoperable standard in collaboration with manufacturer QSC Audio Products. QSC was the first to license the technology from Peak Audio and marketed it under the RAVE brand. At this point CobraNet had graduated to fast Ethernet and used a unique collision avoidance technique[6] to carry up to 64 channels per Ethernet collision domain.
CobraNet was subsequently enhanced to support and eventually require a switched Ethernet network. An SNMP agent was added for remote control and monitoring. Support for higher sample rates, increased bit resolutions and lowered latency capabilities were later introduced in an incremental and backwards-compatible manner.
In May 2001, Cirrus Logic announced that it had acquired the assets of Peak Audio.[7] Leveraging Cirrus DSP technology, a low-cost SoC implementation of CobraNet was developed and marketed. CobraNet has been widely adopted by commercial audio equipment manufacturers and is used in many facilities.
Advantages and disadvantages[edit]
- Cabling cost – using CobraNet and fast Ethernet, 64 channels of uncompressed digital audio are carried through a single, inexpensive category 5 cable. In the analog world, this would have required 64 separate analog audio cables, each of which cost the same or more than the cat-5 cable. Using gigabit and/or fiber optic Ethernet variants, the cost of cabling per audio channel is further reduced compared to the fast Ethernet connections. Also, since CobraNet data can coexist with data traffic over existing Ethernet networks, a single network infrastructure can serve audio distribution and other networking needs.[8][9]
- Flexibility – the network provides flexibility for future changes to the system. For instance, audio routing can be changed on the fly with network commands, and do not require any rewiring.[10]
- Reliability – use of Ethernet by CobraNet offers many high availability features such as Spanning Tree Protocol, link aggregation, and network management. For critical applications, CobraNet devices can be wired with redundant connections to the network. In this configuration, if one CobraNet device, cable, or Ethernet switch fails, the other takes over almost immediately.[11][12]
- Audio quality – audio is transmitted in digital form, and therefore provides reduced susceptibility to electromagnetic interference, crosstalk, coloration, and attenuation owing to cable impedance.[13][14]
- Latency – delays over the CobraNet transmission medium itself are at least 1 1⁄3 milliseconds[note 1] per network traversal. For some applications, these delays can be unacceptable especially when combined with further delays resulting from propagation time, digital signal processing and the conversions between analog and digital.
- Hardware cost – although significant money is usually saved in cabling, at least part of that money is spent on the required CobraNet interfaces which encode and decode the CobraNet signal.
CobraNet is transmitted using standard Ethernet packets. Instead of using TCP/IP packets, CobraNet transfers data using data link layer packets, which travel quickly through hubs, bridges and switches, and are not as susceptible to the latency and QoS problems commonly found in streaming protocols using a higher transport layer. However, since CobraNet does not use IP protocol, its packets cannot travel through routers, and therefore it is limited to use on a LAN; CobraNet cannot be used over the Internet. The network over which CobraNet is transmitted must be able to operate at a minimum of 100 Mbit/s. All CobraNet packets are identified with a unique Ethernet protocol identifier (0x8819) assigned to Cirrus Logic.[10]
CobraNet is not designed to work over wireless networks. Bandwidth and reliability issues associated with typical 802.11 wireless networks tend to cause frequent dropouts and errors.[15] However, wireless communication of CobraNet data can be reliably accomplished using lasers.[16]
Channels and bundles[edit]
CobraNet data is organized into channels and bundles. A typical CobraNet signal can contain up to 4 bundles of audio travelling in each direction, for a total of 8 bundles per device. Each bundle houses up to 8 channels of 48 kHz, 20-bit audio, for a total capacity of 64 channels. CobraNet is somewhat scalable, in that channel capacity increases when 16-bit audio is used, and channel capacity decreases when 24-bit audio is used. The number of channels allowed per bundle is limited by the 1,500-byte Ethernet MTU.[10]
There are three types of bundles: multicast, unicast, and private:[10]
- Multicast bundles are sent from one CobraNet device to all other CobraNet devices in the network using Ethernet multicast addressing. Each CobraNet device individually determines if it will use the bundle or discard it. Therefore, multicast bundles are more bandwidth-intensive than other bundle types. Bundle numbers 1–255 are reserved for multicast bundles.
- Unicast bundles are sent from one CobraNet device to any other device or devices configured to receive the bundle number. Unicast bundles are much more efficient because network switches route them only to devices which actually want to receive them. Despite their name, unicast bundles may still be sent to multiple devices, either by transmitting multiple copies of the audio data or using multicast addressing. Bundle numbers 256–65279 are reserved for unicast bundles.
- Private bundles may be sent with unicast or multicast addressing. Bundle numbers 65280–65535 are reserved for private bundles. Private bundle numbers are paired with the MAC address of the device that transmits them. To receive a private bundle, both the bundle number and the MAC address of the transmitter must be specified. Because 256 private bundles available to each transmitter, there is no limit on the total number private bundles on a network.
As long as multicast bundles are used sparingly, it is virtually impossible to exceed the bandwidth of a 100 Mbit network with CobraNet data. However, there are limitations to the maximum number of bundles that can be sent on a network, since the conductor must include data in its beat packets for every bundle on the network, and the beat packet is limited to 1,500 bytes. If each device is transmitting one bundle, there may be up to 184 transmitters active simultaneously (for a total of 184 bundles). If each device is transmitting four bundles, then only 105 transmitters can be active, although they would be producing a total of 421 active bundles. The use of private bundles does not require any additional data in the beat packet, so these network limitations can be sidestepped by using private bundles.[17]
The CobraNet network is synchronized to a single CobraNet device known as the conductor. A conductor priority can be configured to influence selection of the conductor. Among devices with the same conductor priority, the first to establish itself on the network becomes is elected conductor. All other devices are known as performers. In the event that the conductor fails, another CobraNet device will be chosen to become the conductor within milliseconds. CobraNet cannot function without a conductor.[18]
Four main types of packet are used in the transmission and synchronization of CobraNet:[10]
- Beat packets – the conductor outputs a beat packet to all other CobraNet devices on the network at a rate of 750 packets per second. All other CobraNet devices on the network synchronize their audio clock and their data transmissions to the beat packet. The beat packet contains network operating parameters, clock data and transmission permissions for multicast and unicast bundles.
- Audio packets – also known as isochronous data packets, these packets are sent out by all CobraNet devices after they receive a beat packet. At standard latency settings, one audio packet is sent for each beat packet received, and each audio packet includes 64 samples of audio data per channel. At lower latency settings, audio packets may be sent twice or four times for each beat packet received. Bundles do not share packets; separate packets are sent in sequence for each bundle transmitted from the same device.
- Reservation packets – these packets are transmitted as needed or typically once per second at minimum. Their function is to control bandwidth allocation, initiate connections between CobraNet devices, and monitor the status of CobraNet devices.
- Serial bridge packets – asynchronous serial data may be sent between CobraNet devices on the same network. Many standard asynchronous serial formats are supported, including RS-232, RS-422, RS-485 and MIDI.
The buffering and transmission of audio data in Ethernet packets typically incurs a delay of 256 samples or 5 1⁄3 milliseconds. Additional delays are introduced through A-D and D-A conversion. Latency can be reduced by sending smaller packets more often. In most cases, the programmer can choose the desired CobraNet latency for a particular CobraNet device (5 1⁄3, 2 2⁄3, or 1 1⁄3 milliseconds).[10] However, reducing audio latency has consequences:
- Reducing latency requires more processing by the CobraNet interface and may reduce channel capacity.
- Reducing latency places additional demands on network performance, and may not be possible in some network configurations if the forwarding delay is too great.
- Since reducing latency means sending smaller packets more often, more high resolution (i.e. 96 kHz, 24-bit) audio channels can be sent per bundle without exceeding the 1,500-byte payload limit for Ethernet packets. See the table below for bundle capacity limits:[10]
|Channels per bundle
|16-bit, 48 kHz
|20-bit, 48 kHz
|24-bit, 48 kHz
|16-bit, 96 kHz
|20-bit, 96 kHz
|24-bit, 96 kHz
|5 1⁄3 ms
|2 2⁄3 ms
|1 1⁄3 ms
It may seem from the table above that more information can be sent at a lower latency. However, that is not the case. More channels can be sent per bundle, but fewer bundles can be processed simultaneously by one device. So, while eight 24-bit, 96 kHz channels can be sent in one bundle at 1 1⁄3 ms latency, due to processing constraints, the CobraNet device may only be able to send and receive one bundle instead of the usual four. The bundle capacity of CobraNet devices are unique to the particular device, and are not always the same. However, below is a table illustrating the bundle capacity for a Biamp AudiaFLEX-CM DSP device. The Rx and Tx columns indicate the absolute maximum number of channels that can be received or transmitted. The Rx/Tx column represents the maximum number of channels that can be received and transmitted simultaneously.[19]
|Channels per bundle
|5 1⁄3 ms latency
|2 2⁄3 ms latency
|1 1⁄3 ms latency
Hardware and software[edit]
CobraNet network cards[edit]
CobraNet interfaces come in several varieties, some of which can support more channels than others. Additionally, CobraNet interfaces have two Ethernet ports labelled "primary" and "secondary". Only the primary Ethernet port needs to be connected, but if both ports are connected they become a redundant failsafe. That is, if the primary port loses communication, the secondary port quickly takes over. Careful network design and topology which takes advantage of this feature can provide extremely high reliability in critical applications.[11][12]
The typical CobraNet interfaces provided by Cirrus Logic are the CM-1 and the CM-2:[20]
- CM-1 – the standard CobraNet card, provides 32 in and 32 out audio channels.
- CM-2 – compact, low-power, lower cost design provides 8 or 16 audio channels.
Both cards are designed to be added to audio products by the manufacturer.
Cirrus Logic provides a software application known as CobraCAD, which assists in the design of the network on which the CobraNet system will run. It helps to identify if there are too many routers between two CobraNet devices, if a certain latency is possible given the network configuration, and other tasks. However, Cirrus Logic does not provide software to manipulate their hardware. In fact, in the simplest of cases, no software is required by the end user. For instance, a simple breakout box which converts a CobraNet signal to eight analog audio signals would require little or no configuration by the end user apart from possibly selecting the bundle number.[21] If configuration is required (for example, in a DSP box with integrated CobraNet I/O), then the manufacturer of the device typically supplies proprietary software for that purpose.
See also[edit]
- ^ a b "Best Practices in Network Audio" (PDF). Audio Engineering Society. 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
- ^ Karagosian, Michael (2004), Following the Digital Audio Chain, retrieved 2007-03-19
- ^ The back of the net, ProAudio-Central, 2 August 2010, retrieved 2010-08-17
- ^ Karagosian, Michael (2006), How Theme Parks Work (Part 3:Networks), retrieved 2007-03-19
- ^ Audio Networking (2009), AARC-NET, Audio Networking Made Simple, archived from the original on 2011-07-11
- ^ US patent 5761430, "Media access control for isochronous data packets in carrier sensing multiple access systems"
- ^ Doering, Christian (2001), Fiber in the Whole (House): Cirrus Logic Buys Peak Audio, retrieved 2009-11-30
- ^ Cirrus Logic, Ethernet Overview, retrieved 2009-12-01
- ^ Cirrus Logic, CobraNet FAQ, Question 12, retrieved 2009-12-01
- ^ a b c d e f g Cirrus Logic, Inc. (February 2006). "CobraNet Programmer's Reference" (PDF). 2.5. pp. 7–27. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
- ^ a b Yamaha System Solutions (2006). "An introduction to networked audio" (PDF). p. 7. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ^ a b Yamaha System Solutions (2006). "Networked audio system design with CobraNet" (PDF). p. 4. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ^ Gross, Kevin. "Digital Audio Distribution Systems". Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ^ Renkus Heinz, Inc. "Renkus-Heinz ST Series" (PDF). p. 4. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ^ Cirrus Logic, CobraNet FAQ, Question 13, retrieved 2009-11-30
- ^ "Whirlwind E-Beam Laser". Retrieved 2010-09-18.
- ^ Cirrus Logic, CobraNet FAQ, Question 28, retrieved 2009-11-30
- ^ Cirrus Logic, CobraNet FAQ, Question 24, retrieved 2009-11-30
- ^ Biamp Systems (2007-02-14). "Audia Operation Manual" (PDF). p. 128. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
- ^ Cirrus Logic, CobraNet Networked Digital Audio, retrieved 2007-03-19
- ^ Whirlwind. "CI8M user manual" (PDF). p. 1. Retrieved 2010-09-18.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
See the changes of weight loss
Slide through the body of a person before and after a regimented 20 week lifestyle of exercise and sensible eating. Week 20, on the right, shows this person loosing 30 pounds, taking 9" off their waist, dropping 20 points off their cholesterol stats, and gaining 20% more lean muscle.
The material on this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any medical condition. Consult a licensed medical professional for the diagnosis and treatment of all medical conditions and before starting a new diet or exercise program. If you have a medical emergency, call 911 immediately.


text:
Teacher cited in marriage-wrecking complaintComment on this story
Johannesburg - A traditional court near Malamulele in Limpopo may take action against a teacher who failed to appear before it for allegedly breaking up a marriage, the Sowetan reported on Wednesday.
"We will write to the department of education as well as the police, and he cannot defy us like that," the court's officer Hosi Xikundu was quoted as saying..
Freddy Maluleke, who is also the secretary of the SA National Civic Organisation was cited in a marriage-wrecking complaint brought by Derrick Mashaba.
Mashaba accused his wife Nelly of being involved in an affair with several men, including Maluleke.
The traditional court summoned Maluleke on two occasions to appear, but he did not. On Monday, he failed to appear again.
Despite this, the proceedings continued as throngs of residents showed up to hear the details.
The court's officials phoned the school where he works, but were told he was sick and not at work.
Nelly admitted to having an affair with Maluleke and was forced to apologise. She was also fined R250 for undermining the court's authority.
Maluleke reportedly told the newspaper he did not know he was supposed to appear, and declined to talk about the alleged affair. - Sapa
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text:
Jan Markvart
Soloist of the National Theatre Opera. Jan Markvart graduated from the Faculty of Engineering in Brno but had favoured singing since childhood. His first performance in Olomouc was as Jeník (Smetana: The Bartered Bride) in 1983 and the following year he became a soloist of the Janacek Opera in Brno. It was again the role of Jeník which had brought him significant successes shortly and it allowed him to perform in other hinge roles of the Czech and world repertoire. With Jeník he has given guest performances in Germany and due to Jeník he was accepted to the National Theatre in Prague in 1986. Since then he has created many roles mainly from Czech operatic repertoire – Smetana, Dvořák, and Janáček. In 1986 he gave guest performances in Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires) as Albert Gregor in Janáček's The Makropulos Case, from 1987 to 1991 in Holland in Enschede as Jeník in The Bartered Bride, Janáček's Števa in Jenůfa, Boris in Káťa Kabanová and Rector in The Cunning Little Vixen. As a well known Janacek's singer he was invited to Maggio Fiorentino where he sang in the season 1993 "The Diary of Disappeared". Besides of these Czech opera parts he was very successful as a Florestan (Fidelio), Don José (Carmen), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Cavaradossi (Tosca) and Boito's Nerone. He has sung in Teatro Regio (Torino). Opera Comique (Paris), Wiesbaden (May Festspiele) and several times in Luxembourg. At the National Theatre he has performed as First Priest (Mozart: Die Zauberflöte), Smetana's Skřivánek (The Secret) and Janáček's Solicitor Vítek (The Makropulos Case) etc. His concert activities are also rich. He cooperated with many well known conductors as a O. Dohnanyi, Z. Košler, B. Gregor, S. Baudo, J. Bělohlávek, J. Pinkas, G. Albrecht, Kazushi Ono, Sir C. Mackeras etc. He co-operates with radio, television and recording companies (Decca, Orfeo, Supraphon etc.). In 2008 he was invited to newly founded Janáček's festival in Brno where he participated in a new production of the opera From the House of the Dead. In 2009 he has sung Vítek in opera The Macropulos Case in Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf. The same role he has sung in Strassbourg. Update: August 2011


text:
This documentation is for a previous version. For the current released version, see the
ASP.NET Ajax
documentation on MSDN.
Gets a value that indicates whether the debug versions of client script libraries will be rendered.
public bool IsDebuggingEnabled { get; }
<BrowsableAttribute(False)> _
Public ReadOnly Property IsDebuggingEnabled As Boolean
bool IsDebuggingEnabled {
bool get ();
/** @property */
true if the current request is executing in debug mode; otherwise, false.
The IsDebuggingEnabled property returns false when any one of the following conditions is true:
In the deployment Element (ASP.NET Settings Schema) element of the configuration file, the retail attribute is set to true. This overrides all other settings.
The ScriptMode property is set to Auto or to Inherit, and debugging is not enabled in the <compilation> section of the application-root Web.config file.
The ScriptMode property is set to Release.
The debug attribute of the @ Page directive does not affect ASP.NET AJAX applications. The ScriptManager control uses only the settings in the Web.config file and in its IsDebuggingEnabled and ScriptMode properties to determine whether to render debug scripts.
For more information, see ASP.NET AJAX Debugging and Tracing Overview.
Assembly: System.Web.Extensions (Module: System.Web.Extensions)
Copyright © 2005 - 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


text:
7:20 a.m. update: Interstate-10 is now open. Extreme caution is still advised.
LAS CRUCES - Icy roads and freezing temperatures have prompted the New Mexico Department of Transportation to keep the following road closures in place as of 5:30 a.m. Friday:
Interstate 10 near Deming, from mile markers 82 to 132.
U.S. 70 in both directions from the Nasa exit to the White Sands Missile Range exit.
Interstate 10 at the Anthony exit.
Cold morning temperatures in the Las Cruces area are hovering around 26 degrees at 5:30 a.m. Overnight accumulation of snow has frozen on roads creating dangerous driving conditions. Some snow flurries could be expected in the Las Cruces area this morning, predominantly to the east and west of the city.
The National Weather Service reports a severe weather warning for the area expiring at 8 a.m.


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There she is!! step 2 Rated 4.4297 Stars 2nd story of "There she is!!" Drama There she is!!! Rated 4.3808 Stars I wish you to enjoy this movie. Music Video The Ultimate Showdown Rated 4.3087 Stars Everyone is fighting for ultimate superiority. Yes, even batman. Comedy - Parody Villager Comes to Town Rated 3.9003 Stars The villager can't be that evil. It's all a matter of perspective. Comedy - Parody
Favorite Games
Madness: Project Nexus Rated 4.4645 Stars Blaze through the Madness Universe in this sidescrolling Shoot 'Em Up! Action - Shooter - Run 'n Gun Fate Machine 1.0 Rated 3.4063 Stars Dare you witness thy fate? Gadgets - Other Tentacle Wars Rated 4.4369 Stars Attack your enemy with tentacles. Strategy - Other Virus Wars Rated 3.7350 Stars You got the chance to control the viruse, which can inject his DNA-code into a living cell Strategy - Other


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The FILM 5 Trainee Program is a hands-on training program for aspiring technical crew. Paralleling the Creative Team component the Trainee program provides participants with high quality classroom training, practical on-set instruction and networking opportunities.
To become a Trainee crew member, you must take the required workshops for your desired position, pay the application fee, which includes the mandatory Set Etiquette Course, come to the Trainee/Team Meet and Greet and submitt a resume and application form.
On the FILM 5 sets, trainees work under key crew-members from the local film industry. Keys are industry professionals responsible for running their department, and for providing guidance and leadership to the trainees. Trainees leave the production having networked with industry crew, with practical experience and resume references.
Each FILM 5 production is required to have a minimum of seven trainees on set. FILM 5 productions take place on a weekend in March and/or April.
Creative Team Producers are responsible for reviewing resumes and hiring trainees. The Project Manager oversees this process and works to ensure that all trainees receive a successful placement.
Trainee Program:
- Training from industry professionals through workshops
- Hands-on learning experience working on a industry standard film set
- Make connections with industry professionals and local filmmakers
Becoming a FILM 5 Trainee:
- Attend the required workshops for your position
- Attend the Set Etiquette Workshop
- Trainee Meet and Greet – meet and network with FILM 5 teams
- Pay Application Fee of 60.00 (includes Set Etiquette Workshop)
- Submit your Trainee Application Form + resume
Trainee Info Session
Cost: FREE
Date: January 15th, 2015 6:00pm
This information session will cover everything you need to know about becoming a FILM 5 Trainee. We will provide an overview of the various Trainee departments and workshop requirements.
Trainee/Team Meet and Greet
Cost: FREE
Date: March 19th, 2015 6:00PM CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER – rescheduled to March 27th, 6pm
This informal gathering will allow FILM 5 Teams and potential Trainees to get to know each other. Teams will present a brief summary of their project to the group and then there will be time to mingle and meet each other.
Required ALL FILM 5 Trainees
ALL TRAINEES must take Set Etiquette:
Set Etiquette
Date: March 12th, 2015 from 6pm- 9pm
Ever wonder who does what on a film set? How the set is run? This IATSE certified workshop will prepare beginners for what to expect when they arrive on a film set.
Required ALL FILM 5 Trainees
Trainee positions and required workshops:
Production Coordinator
Production Managers Intensive
Set Etiquette
Production Assistant
Set Etiquette
Continuity Assistant
Continuity and Script Supervision
Set Etiquette
Camera Assistant
Cinematography: A visual primer
Camera Assistants' Intensive
Set Etiquette
Assistant Director
Assistant Directing
Set Etiquette
Sound Department
Location Sound Recording Intensive
Set Etiquette
Art Department
Art Department Intensive
Set Etiquette
Lighting & Grip Intensive
Set Etiquette
Assistant Editor
Post-Production Intensive
Picture Editing Intensive or Sound Editing Intensive (Protools)
(New) DMT Trainee
Post-Production Intensive
Set Etiquette
—- Questions? Call 902.405.4474 x 2 Email email@example.com
FILM 5 is presented with the participation of Telefilm Canada.


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Planning Committees
New York City FIRST is a Volunteer-driven Organization
Each year over 1,000 wonderfully dedicated individuals give of their time, energy, and creativity to make FIRST possible in New York City.
FIRST activities in the metro region are planned and executed through the efforts of planning committees made up of volunteers from all walks of life.
Below is a list of our planning committee chairpersons for 2014-2015:
New York City FIRST Robotics Competition Planning Committee
- Cherrie Fleisher-Strauss
- Kemi Oluwanifise
New York City FIRST Tech Challenge Planning Committee
- Alicia Brown
- Dominick Dennisur
- Rob Quatrone
New York City FIRST LEGO League Planning Committee
- Mark Sharfshteyn
- Peter Xanthus
New York City Jr.FIRST LEGO League Planning Committee
- Elizabeth Vilchis


text:
got it to work last time, but this time, it found something again, just no "cure", i only see "skip" "copy to quarantine" and "restore", any idea?
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TDSSKiller.exe no "cure" option
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text:
love watching her come!!!!!
Thanks for helping us associate the correct Pornstars to this video!
Aiutaci: queste pornostar appaiono in questo video?
Pornstar Name:
Thanks for helping us sort this video!
Tutti i commenti (96)
love watching her come!!!!!
she looks so innocent it makes you just want fuck her on sight .
Sexy pussy
I want to be licking her pussy when she squirts. Just like I lick my sisters pussy, very tasty. Maura is fucking beautiful.
would love to let her due that to my dick and love to fuck so bad
hey baby, why don't you stick your finger in your ass, too. your feelings would be even better. I LOVE YOU, BABE!!!
rdytfvgjhbnuihkbmn sprry had to wipe the cum off my keyboard well done
I love it!!!!!! I could jerk off for you while you come in my mouth! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It looks likeyou could use some help I would love to help
OMG I love this video, it makes me melt every time I watch it
hey lilly i will stick my finger in your ass, will u allow me to fuck u? i love ur comment. I LOVE U LILLI.
how does it done
Cum in my moyh babe while my tongue is in your ass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
wish that pink toy was my dick sliding into her wet pussy like that. I would love to fill her cum on my dick and slow going down on my balls. I love when my ex girl cum my dick like this
or even her name?
very wonderful.I love this so much
I would stick my tongue so far up your sexy ass and jerk off just for you. I love you babe !!!!!!
I love squirting vids....I haven't squirted in such a long time.
want my cock
Aww so sweet
I'd lick her juicy wet pussy any day and let her squirt all over my face , i'd lick every drop of it ...so hot
Maura an d Ashlynn Brooke are the hottest women ever!!! Who's the same opinion?
fuck id fuck her so hard
I wish that discharge wiz in my mouth
It has beautiful heels
wow, she is wicked... love to make her squirt!
I want to suck that out of there
would love to lick that clit while shes fukin her pussy hard with that dildo. would ove her squirting all over my face. want to lck deep in that gorgeous puss while i finger her tight ass
i can watch you over and over. you make me cum.
shot spunk at this
i love this girl... i just keep cumming back to her... wow she's hot.
ths vidoe aint that good iv seen better but good job though :D
whew! i love this clips!!!
wow she is so soft im thirsty squit in my mouth1
i wish i knew the link
I squirt better after I sneze.
she is sweet love to eat her when shes done fucking herself
i'm so horny waching this video
wish my wife go like this and maybe i should use more toys in bet and going try this on her tonight and it be the best birthday gife i can give her
que du bonheur
so geil
O.M.G this is the very best video i ever seen...now i had a new fantasy i wish to know this MILF
fucking me
How the hell do women do this? I just don't get it! And they can do it themselves! I don't think I can do this :P
oohhh babyy everytime i watch this i masturbate myselff
I love her pounding, would love to be thrusting that dildo into her pussy. Wish she'd let the squirt fly though!
this vid is so good
very very hott...who is she? I want to hire her for the weekend!!
This could be the hottest video on the internet.
Just love watching ladies squirting like her. I love it when my wife does all over my face
would love to be there when she cum. I would love to put my face down there and have her cum all my face. I love doing that when i get my wife off.
i can put my dick in her pussy if she wants !!!!!!!!!
Wish this was Dawn and i was watching her doing herself like this and let me her cum
Want to Wank Off together with her !
I could drink her squirts
she looks like my ex and dam wish I could fuck her and cum in her wet pussy
love to taste ur juicessss
lovely and amazing porn
First porn i ever saw and i fapped hard to this any ne got the link to the full video it was the full one i watched so if anyone could let me go down memory lane ;)
Odlicna je devojka. Uvek mi nadigne ovaj moj veliki kurac, kako bih svrsavao po njoj samo.
So tasty, yummm I would like to lick her moist pussy !
so hot. this video makes me cum everytime.
She's so fucking hot!
I Like It Shit
everytime i watch this i squirt everywhere
me too i watch it every time
the best video on youporn i love you babe
i'd fuck her from head to toe...
see that pwedy feet of hers, wud love to nibble on em
Love watching you due your pussy like this and wishing i was there to put my dick in that and fill you on me. I so hard wish you were here so i can cum in your pussy
Fabulous. I want to marry her.
there is an extended version of this somewhere
Her name is just "Maura", She is from FTV Girls...
Very nice girl
i can watch you over and over wish i could find more videos of you you are the best
http://www.youporn.com/watch/42724/maura-masturbating/?from=search_full&pos=1 another one of her.
i wanna fuck u............
i love her mouths and eye when she squirts to orgasm
Luv to see a slut masturbating her cunt like this.
Holy fuck I jerked off watching you again. Please cum in my mouth you hot babe!!!!!!!!!
Absolute Dream Girl, she has everything, small, but perfect tits, bushy pussy, nice firm ass, and likes to shove a vibrator on that hot pussy and then she squirts, and licks her own juices off. Iwould love for her to squat over my face and shoot her hot juice in my mouth and all over my face.
dont waste your time masturbating there heres my dick fit to your pussy
you know what tastes good? bacon pizza. bacon pizza is delicious.
I love this chick; would love to see her get fucked!
nice feet!
Thighs spread in the air, plump juicy pussy pulsating and soft soft squirts! everythig i need to get a nut that drains my balls.


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Vampire Apocalypse Contest WinnerMeh
Derek Gunn, world famous Horror Author, and MUCH MORE importantly a member of our community of horror nuts came forward to offer up an autographed copy of his latest book Vampire Apocalpyse. We have now chosen the winner of this great contest and it is JasperFett. Thanks to all who entered!
The war is over and the Vampires have won. The drying up of the world's oil resources leads to the fabled End of Days. Technology stagnates and communities grow ever more insular. With communication between cities lost and attention turned inward, the vampires rise from the shadows where they have survived for centuries and sweep across the globe. By the time word spreads it is far too late and Vampires enslave humanity and keep them in walled cities to breed.
The Vampires are masters of the darkness but maintain control by day through the use of Thralls--humans who have been bitten but have not yet crossed over, and whose inhuman lusts make daylight as terrifying as night. In the midst of chaos, a small band of rebels lead a terrified existence, but their survival is threatened by the Vampire's new scanning procedures.
Peter Harris is an ordinary man. Young and reckless, he is frustrated with the group's stagnation and pushes for one more daring mission. His recklessness has exposed the group--but it has also increased the size of their community. Now, as circumstances force them to take the offensive, and accompanied by a small group of professional Vampire assassins, Peter will make one last stand for humanity's survival in the Vampire Apocalypse


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ACE name lifetime honourees
The American Cinema Editors (ACE) will present Richard Halsey and Robert C Jones with lifetime career achievement awards at the 64th Annual ACE Eddie Awards in February.
Continue reading – simply subscribe below
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I was thinking about this idea tonight, and I suppose it is missing, so I am gonna ask for it.
Many of us look at dual audio stream movies (with more languages). Is there a way to switch audio streams in CF? If there isn't cant you put a button on the interface so it is easy to use?
Thanks in advance


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- Filed Under
Some moms are care free, some dwell. But all have a few basic worries. WNC Parent contributor James Shea asked students at Asheville Christian Academy in Swannanoa what their moms worry about. Heres what they told him:
My mom is worried about my brother and my puppy because he is taking things.
Alex Carver, 8
My mom worries about me and my sister, because there is a bear in our neighborhood.
Chloe Gilbert, 8
My mom worries about my puppy because we have a coyote near us. It walked up behind me once.
Robby McAlister, 8
My mom worries about my dog when she is in heat.
Caroline Condra, 9
My mom worries about me and my sister in school. She wants us to do good on our spelling test.
Eva Hetzel, 8
My mom worries about my dog because he wanders around the neighborhood and there is an angry farmer.
Evan Delp


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Cartilage Grafts for Damaged Knees
Nanofiber scaffolds seeded with patient-derived stem cells could repair ravaged joints.
Our joints are one of the first body parts to suffer the inevitable ravages of aging: cartilage may be torn in overzealous basketball games or slowly worn away over years of use. Scientists are now experimenting with a combination of stem cells and novel scaffold materials designed to mimic real tissue, in hopes of permanently vanquishing the pain that accompanies this damage and perhaps preventing the onset of arthritis. In animal models, these transplants appear to spur regeneration of cartilage that better resembles native tissue.
Cartilage damage accrues from both trauma and normal wear and tear, often culminating in osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease that affects about half of the population by age 65. Existing treatment for small cartilage defects typically involves inflicting additional damage on the injured joint, to encourage cell-rich blood and bone marrow to clot in the area. Or treatment involves transplants of cartilage cells, called chondrocytes, collected from a healthy joint, then grown in culture and injected into the damaged area. Both procedures trigger growth of new tissue, a scarlike version of cartilage that is more fibrous than regular cartilage and doesn't seem to have the same durability.
"It's like a pothole filler," says Rocky Tuan, chief of the Cartilage Biology and Orthopedics Branch at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, in Baltimore. "It's not the same as resurfacing, but if the stuff hangs in there, it will last a couple of winters and it's fine."
In an effort to truly regenerate cartilage rather than simply patch it, Tuan and his colleagues have developed a nanofiber scaffold that's structurally similar to the extracellular matrix, a fibrous material that provides support to connective tissue in the body.The scaffold is generated via electrospinning, a process adopted from the textiles industry. The researchers apply a strong electric field to a liquid polymer, which forms into long fibers in an attempt to dissipate the charge. The fibers are collected in a tangled ball, much like cotton candy.
The nanoscale structure of the material is key: experiments have shown that cells grow better on a nanoscale fiber scaffold than on a millimeter-scale one made of the same material. "These scaffolds are more on the scale of what a cell would normally see," says Farshid Guilak, director of the Orthopaedic Bioengineering Laboratory, at Duke University, in Durham, NC, who was not involved in the research.
The scaffolds are seeded with mesenchymal stem cells–adult stem cells derived from bone marrow, fatty tissue, and other sources, and which can be differentiated into muscle, bone, fat, and cartilage. "The advantage is that you don't have to damage other tissue to get the cells," says Tuan.


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When IBM's Deep Blue supercomputer edged out world chess champion Garry Kasparov during their celebrated match in 1997, it did so by means of sheer brute force. The machine evaluated some 200 million potential board moves a second, whereas its flesh-and-blood opponent considered only three each second, at most. But despite Deep Blue's victory, computers are no real competition for the human brain in areas such as vision, hearing, pattern recognition, and learning. Computers, for instance, cannot match our ability to recognize a friend from a distance merely by the way he walks. And when it comes to operational efficiency, there is no contest at all. A typical room-size supercomputer weighs roughly 1,000 times more, occupies 10,000 times more space and consumes a millionfold more power than does the cantaloupe-size lump of neural tissue that makes up the brain.
How does the brain--which transmits chemical signals between neurons in a relatively sluggish thousandth of a second--end up performing some tasks faster and more efficiently than the most powerful digital processors? The secret appears to reside in how the brain organizes its slow-acting electrical components.


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Book your room at Park Hotel
Double RoomMax Occupancy: 2 guests (up to 1 child, 1 infant)
Twin roomMax Occupancy: 2 guests (up to 1 child, 1 infant)
Triple RoomMax Occupancy: 3 guests (up to 2 children, 2 infants)
Quadruple Room, 2 Double BedsMax Occupancy: 4 guests (up to 3 children, 3 infants)
Single RoomMax Occupancy: 1 guest
Get an overview of this hotelSuburban hotel with free breakfast and 24-hour front desk
Situated near the airport, this hotel is steps from Valentines Park and Ilford Cricket Club. Ilford Golf Club and Wanstead Park are also within 3 mi (5 km).
Hotel Features
Along with 24-hour room service, this hotel has a 24-hour front desk and a TV in the lobby. Free full breakfast, free WiFi in public areas, and free self parking are also provided.
Room Amenities
All 60 rooms feature modern comforts like TVs with satellite channels, along with free WiFi. 24-hour room service, coffee makers, and phones are among the other amenities available to guests.Information missing or incorrect? Tell us!
Hotel Amenities
Hotel Amenities
A complimentary breakfast is offered each morning. High-speed wireless Internet access is complimentary. This Victorian hotel also offers 24-hour room service and a television in the lobby. Complimentary self parking is available on site.
Park Hotel has designated areas for smoking.
- 24-hour front desk
- Designated smoking areas
- Free breakfast
- Free self parking
- Free WiFi
- Number of floors - 3
- Television in common areas
- Total number of rooms - 60
- Year Built 1970
Family Friendly Amenities
- Cribs/infant beds (complimentary)
- Free Wi-Fi
- Rollaway/extra beds available
Available in all rooms: Free WiFi
Available in some public areas: Free WiFi
Free self parking
Room Amenities
- Bathtub or shower
- Coffee/tea maker
- Free cribs/infant beds
- Daily housekeeping
- Free WiFi
- Hair dryer (on request)
- Iron/ironing board (on request)
- Phone
- Private bathroom
- Rollaway/extra beds available
- Room service (24 hours)
- Satellite TV service
- Television
Where to Eat
A complimentary full breakfast is served each morning between 8 AM and 9 AM.
24-hour room service is available.
Nearby Things to Do
- Golfing nearby
To make requests for specific accessibility needs, complete the "Special or Accessibility Requests" section of "Trip Preferences" when you book your hotel.
- Accessible path of travel
- In-room accessibility
Hotel Policies
Check-in time starts at 1 PM
Minimum check-in age is 18
Check-in time ends at midnight
Special check-in instructions:
Check-out time is 11 AM
Payment types
Children and extra beds
- Children are welcome.
- Kids stay free! Children under 2 years old stay free when using existing bedding.
- Rollaway/extra beds are available.
- Free cribs (infant beds)!
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on hotel policy.
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges.
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed.
No pets or service animals allowed
Hotel Name
We should mention
Children 2 years old and younger stay free when occupying the parent or guardian's room, using existing bedding. No pets and no service animals are allowed at this property.


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Cochin Metro Rail Update
If things go well, Kochites might soon be travelling in world class metro rail. EMRC (Ernakulam Metro Rail Corporation) is all set to open office in the much controversial space in the IInd Floor of Eastern Building of Ernakulam South Railway Station.
Around 50 Lakh rupees have been alloted by the government and the new office of Cochin Metro Rail is expected to house technical and civil staff of the EMRC. With the delay on the project being more than 3 years now, that too just to start office, it seems the Cochinites will have to wait a tad longer to wiz around in the metro rail They will have to spend a bit longer travelling by other means back home after a hard day at the office, so they can relax and play PartyPoker.fr
What do you think about this ambitious project by the Cochin Corporation (GCDA)? Let us know in the comments!
- Recent Posts
Leave a Reply
30 Comments
I hope the politicians and trade unions don't 'de-rail' it.on January 27th, 2009
i dont think so the metro rail project come soon to cochin because there will be always union problems because of union problem cochin is not going to improve in such activites for examples no improvement in (IT) field in cochin due to lot hartals and banth the mnc company are not will to start any of their project in the city and they start thier project in ohter states it is all due to union problem in kerala the govt has to stop this to improve our stateon April 1st, 2009
Lets keep the fingers crossed……..on August 26th, 2009
Anil Nair
I am a Delhi ite and believe that if an icon like E Sreedharan is a consultatnt to this project then nothing is impossible. Also, people in Kerala have to realise that for a Government to implement its long term policies 5 years is not enough. Whicever be the Government – Left or Congress people have to give either of these a 10 year term….. Look at Delhi – Gujaraton September 5th, 2009
Now it's all about coordination of different departments of the Government for the timely implementation of the Project and also the sanctioning from the Central Government for the funds required.
Why is PPP always ignored by this Government.? This would have made things a bit more quicker.on September 13th, 2009
It is a wonderful project . Looking forward to travel in that train . But who knows when will it see the lights 😛on September 27th, 2009
Its a good project…But who knows when it comes to light????on October 24th, 2009
The government seems to be lagging the project!!!!!
It is really good news… let all our dream come true!on November 14th, 2009
Kerala thil oru pinnakkum nadakkila…agapade ullathu oru nedumbaserry,oru technopark & infopark.. vere enthundu kerala thil smartcity evide poyi ?on November 17th, 2009
….addhyam vrithiketta union kaare thalli oodikkanam..pinne kore politicians ne…
enittu ee sambhavam okke kondu varanam.. tamil nadine kandu padikku..metro rail evidem vare aayi ennu..IT parks evidem vare aayi..industries..airport kidilam orennam varan pogunnu…
Facts said by Mr. Tito is the truth….on November 17th, 2009
Government can raise funds but, wat use if they falls into the pockets of politicians…
Atleast they should c & learn the politicians of tamilnadu & b'lore…..
"Avanmar cashu mukkiyallum enthagillumokkey undakkum….Pakshe evudey mukkal mathramey ullu"
I support Mr CM .. tamilnadu and most other states are more corrupted than Kerala..but avanmar 80% mukkiyalum 20% use cheyyum..athu kondanu ethrayum engilum development. Kerala onnumgil 100% mukkum..ellengil angottum engottum aareyum mukkanum sammadhikilla..Karunakaran mukki..pakshe nedumbaserry undayi .. Am I correct ?on November 17th, 2009
Absolutely rite Mr.Tito…He is the only politician tht i still like….on November 18th, 2009
Even though he b a little curious abt his son(which any dad would b), he has still the capacity to take us to a much good standard….but 4 our bad he's too old nw 8(
Not only the nedumbaserry….much more was done by him….i still rembr tht, durin his governin we nevr or had the very less powercuts…or things like tht…& also good standard of livin…8)
I am not being polar or bi polar .. but I like achumaman too..But chila pezhacha perum kallanmar aa nalla manushante fuse oori eduthu..eniku athu orkumbol eetho oru cinema ile..murali neyum mohanlalineyum aanu orma varunathu…The Don and CPon November 18th, 2009
Cochin metro is not going to come, b'coz politicians & union people r not only the suspects. Trivandrum People also gives us jack for the project, B'coz they say they want it, been the capital of the state no big projects are comming there. Every one is eying on cochin. That's the typical tiruvanatapuram nature. Patty poollu thinnum illa theetikeyum illa.on January 28th, 2010
Well Said Bro!!!:)on January 29th, 2010
Drop the metro….build atleast som flyovers…..complete the other unfinished projects…..on January 29th, 2010
The Traffic is jus a horrible!!!!
Malkinson, CM,
I dont think any Trivandrumite has demanded Metro to be taken away from Kochi. Of course, some had demanded Metro in Tvm too. But that was found unviable by DMRC and dropped since. Moreover, KV Thomas recently stated that Metro will clear the final hurdle soon – Central Cabinet sanction after the financial participation issue was sorted out. So there is a good probability that Metro gets green signal when it comes before Union cabinet next time.on February 2nd, 2010
Sanjay nair
This is the only place on earth where things are difficult to execute. We keralites behave as if we are allergic to modernization . Whether it's smart city or any infrastructure development project we always tried to express our agitation. Ages back it was computerization now smart city, metro, express highway. Folks i think we need a long way to go to set our mind set on track to keep par with other states. Forget about metro.on March 8th, 2010
last day some mp's from kerala had a meeting with prime minister ,and pm said that he would take personal interest in having kochi metro,good luck city loverson March 16th, 2010
ya dan you're correct but ,tvm's who have political influence is trying to slow down Cochin ,cant blame them as they just want their city on top ,(even though thats never going to happen),they'l do whatever they can its just city maniac-ism no-thin else.on March 16th, 2010
rahul J
i suspect calicut also -2 creepy towns.on March 16th, 2010
today 18th of march 2010 ,the state govt of kerala gave instruction to the dmrc to start work on road widening and pillar works,not waiting for central approval ,and beliving to get it soon , 6 % of the project money will be given to dmrc as consultation fees.on March 18th, 2010
i think that cochin square should work more on updating news ,so that ur readers dont need to do it,try better,!:-\on March 18th, 2010
If there was some discipline and the law was upheld by the citizens of kochi , I think the traffic wouldn't be chaotic, the city traffic police should do more—–some suggestionson March 22nd, 2010
heavy vehicles should not be allowed to ply during j heavy traffic hours, transport buses should be allowed to ply only on the outer lanes of the road.people. no parking of cars on the side roads every thing seems to be concentrated in the center of the city, cant the city co-operation seem to do any thing —- they are the voted representatives , its time they raked their brains or be prepared to be voted out next time .
first upon i would like to say something about our great cochi. Its a great place with lot of historic backgrounds n business firm as well.So everyone is expecting the metro rail and obviously it will be useful.The government must take consolidate decisions regarding this. When we comapre the development of kanataka and tamil nadu; it is very shameful for us . And the last decision lies on the political parties as well.Hope for the best.on March 25th, 2010
Adv.Abdul Haque
Hmm…V can dream.!!!.If things go well V can travel in that world class metro after 15 years..U people are not living in kerala? Even a textiles lady can stop the whole land acquiring process here!! Have a sound sleep over realities…Then v can have our metro ride in wild dreamson April 3rd, 2010
Masood Khan
You are right Mr.Haque. The laid back attitude of the Kerala govt will reflect in each and every mega project coming here. Cochiners should stop dreaming.on April 20th, 2010
The difference between Kerala and other states like Tamil Nadu is that the politicians here only look at their own good and can't care less about the state or the people. We don't need a metro in Cochin to use up whatever little space the narrow roads have. We just need wide roads and effective policing of traffic rules.on April 24th, 2010
What we lack is accountability on the part of the Govt and Ministers, which should be set on a priority basis. In addition an amendment in constitution to protect infrastructure development etc. will benefit projects like Cochin Metro or any ambitious project of national interest.on April 28th, 2010
What we need is a stable govt with educated Ministers & literate CM ambitious to growth& this team should be in power for atleast 10 years. Then see where we stand after 10 years (even less). The common public should keep a close watch on all growth projects and its progress just like what some media do right now, and offenders / frauds should be brought to public. Can we prepare ourselves for the forthcoming election with this motive in mind. No need to mention which Front is anti-growth and pro, which we all know. Remember IT IS NOT THE PROSPERITY THAT BRINGS GOOD ROADS TO US, RATHER ITS THE GOOD ROADS THAT BRING PROSPERITY TO US. So let us start from that level, rails and roads. Together WE CAN DO IT.on May 1st, 2010


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Last October, we noted that NASA had announced plans to run an International Space Apps Challenge in early 2012, bringing together officials from international space agencies, scientists, and citizens in an effort to use publicly-released scientific data to create, build, and invent new solutions that address challenges of global importance, from the impact of weather upon the global economy to the depletion of ocean resources. The effort culminated this past weekend in a 48-hour global event in which over 2,000 participants developed more than 100 unique solutions addressing 71 challenges.
According to the International Space Apps Challenge Blog (following the link):
» Read more: NASA Holds International Space Apps Challenge;
Preliminary Results Posted


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Posts Tagged 'Public Library'
Berthoud Community Library January events
January 1 – Library Closed January 2- Sweet P's Story Time, 10:30 am. Sweet P's story time is designed for preschool children. Come interact with songs, finger plays, stories and activities we will build pre-reading skills and have fun doing it. January 4 – Family Story Time, 10:30 am, library. We will interact with fun books, songs, and finger plays. January 7 – Move it Monday, 4 pm in the meeting room. This after school club will meet the first Monday of the month to get ... Full Story


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Miriam Nylander-Hamilton, widow of Captain Nathan Nylander, looks at his picture during the dedication ceremony.
- Filed Under
Members of an Air Force advisor program snapped to attention in formation, ready for roll call.
Sgt. Jessica Mohney began calling names. "Lt. Col. Bryant," she shouted and paused for a response that never came. "Lt. Col Bryant... Lt. Col. Frank Bryant," she repeated, saying his name three times but still no answer.
"Maj. David Brodeur?.Maj. Jeffrey Ausborn?Maj. Raymond Estelle?Maj. Phil Ambard?Maj. Charles Ransom?Capt. Nathan Nylander? Master Sgt. Tara Brown?.Mr. James McLaughlin," she called from her list, repeating each of those eight names three times, but there was only ...


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lol. we were top 10 on faceoffs in 2008-09. trolling does take some knowledge.
That was 1 season, and just looking at the other 4 seasons since the lockout we have been either just ok or in the bottom 10.
lol troll? You seem to call everyone who doesn't agree with you or remotely criticize the devils that on this board constantly. I bet you would look great on the Devils Dancers with all of your team spirit. Also that way you can hit people here with your purse instead of calling people trolls on here.


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what? u lost me sorry
Ok, well at least 1 NHL team thinks Marty should start over Schwab and every other team in the league passed on signing Schwab to start for them so the NHL seems to think Marty is better than Schwab. And I like Schwab even.
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Spider veins appear as red or purple sunbursts on the skin surface, and can occur on the face, legs or ankles. They can itch, and can be found alone or in combination with varicose veins. They are not a health risk alone, but are often a cosmetic concern. Most spider veins are treated with a combination of sclerotherapy and laser ablation. These combined treatments offer the best long term results.
Veins normally function to return blood to the heart. Valves in the veins close after blood travels up the vein, preventing blood from backing up (refluxing) down the vein. Valves can become abnormal, or incompetent for a variety of reasons, including trauma, pregnancy, or hereditary factors. Once a valve becomes incompetent, the vein below the valve is exposed to higher pressure, and can become larger (dilate). Other valves and veins nearby are exposed to the higher pressure and can also dilate. Varicose veins commonly appear on the legs as raised, often ropy, enlarged veins. They can cause the legs to swell, throb, and in severe cases, can lead to inflammation, ulcers and blood clots.


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I want Okami so bad since I saw it's on the PSN store...
Printable View
I'm also playing through Okami HD atm. Not that I think it's a very "little-known game" since pretty much all my gaming friends have recommended it since it was released on PS2, but maybe it's not as well known as I've thought.. But man, is this game gorgeous. I can't believe I haven't played it before, since it's my favorite kind of game and one of the best of its genre. So much to doooooo!
And yeah, Journey... I bought it on the day it was released and it was just a joy to go through the game along with someone else, discovering everything for the first time. And what's more, it's still very enjoyable the second playthrough, and the tenth. The first play-through of Journey stays in my top 5 gaming experiences and I don't see it ever falling off that list.
i'm a huge soccer fan and one of my all-time favorite soccer games was Fever Pitch soccer (aka head-on soccer) on the super nintendo:
extremely addictive game and the special abilities of the star players added depth to the gameplay. i spent many sleepless nights playing this game!
speaking of star players with special abilities, Captain Tsubasa on the Super famicom, might be one of the most amazing soccer games ever, it played more like an RPG than a normal soccer game. this is hands down my favorite soccer game of all time. Fifa and winning eleven don't even come close!
Terranigma, Ogre Battle, Seiken Densetsu 3, Radiant Historia, Super ghouls n ghosts, Vampire Savior, Guilty Gear AC, Ikaruga, Dragon Spirits, Dragon Force, Fire emblem Seisen no Kiefu, sure there are others.
Tomba! and Tomba 2! .
Up to this day...I could still hum the fisherman's village song :D
I still remember how I was scared shitless by the last boss in the game, not because that last evil boss pig was tough like hell
but because he made everything seem like a horror movie for a kids game.
And I was a kid. He froze the time and everyone was standing still in black and white, the creepy ost didn't help either.
Tomba 2 came with my PS1 (I was 5 at the time), and as it was in English, I only really played/enjoyed/finished the game when I was like 11. I played Tomba 1 after that, and I have to admit that it's way better (imo at least, but 2 was a lot more creepier and had a lot of secrets, and that made the game interesting, but it's voice actors + that annoying song that played every time someone talked to you kinda killed the game :XD). The ending in Tomba 2 was also bad, just because...
And yes, I know this song too, some of the best in the PS1:
Apparently no one really cared about Sheep Raider nor God Hand, so I'm giving some gameplays :XD
Also, someone remembers MediEvil? Cause I thought it was a well known game (one of the best in the PS1) but apparently not to many really know it, It also had a sequel, that was almost as good.
Speaking of PS1 platformers, the Klonoa games (yeah 2 is for the PS2 but whatever :p) are very underrated. They really capture that dreamlike quality. And now that I think about that, why haven't I bought the remake for the Wii yet!?
And I know about sheep raider! I think it's one of my first stealth/puzzle game ever. Disguising as a sheep and pissing the dog off was so much fun!.
Legend of dragoon, highly rated by its fans, but not well known, it was released late into the ps1 life so not many people played it :(
LoD was a very good game but had some flows: graphics were average (FF8 was miles ahead) , voices during cinematics were catastrophic & the battle system was not for everyone.
But I still remember that game very well. It's one of the games that had the most impact in my gaming life. It came out at the time were I enjoyed games the most. I had the ps1 very late & my previous console was a master system. So I went from Alex Kidd to Metal Gear solid in one week ...
LOD is my nostalgia game, its one I miss even though its not perfect and so many better games exist, LOD will always be special.
Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons
One stick to control each character, one interaction button each
Mendel Palace - Game Freak's first title


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Everything you always wanted to know about the social behavior of wasps
Wasps are among the most fascinating creatures in the insect world. Their nests are incredible architectural achievements, which they often make by manufacturing their own paper out of leaves. Many of them live in vast hives, sometimes with multiple queens, while others are loner parasites who implant their eggs… »


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Free Bow Ornament Print-Out
Source: Babycenter Community
Mom Rating
Ages: 4-8+ years
In: Arts & Crafts
Instructions:Use this pattern to make Christmas tree ornaments using felt, craft foam, cardboard, and anything else you can think of. Make it along with all the other ornaments in the True Meaning of Christmas set.
The Gift Bow: Tied as we should all be tied together in bonds of goodwill forever.
Similar activities:Free Bell Ornament Print-out, Free Candle Ornament Print Out, Free Wreath Ornament Print Out, Free Start Ornament Print Out, Free Red Ball Ornament Print Out, Free Fir Tree Ornament Print Out, Free Candy Cane Ornament Print Out, Patriotic Ornaments, Holiday Window Decor, The Puff Bow, Egg Ornament, Joyful Ornaments, Stick Reindeer Ornament, Popcorn Wreath Ornament, Ornament Tree
Tags: christmas bow , crafts , tree decorations
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General Science—Elementary, BAEd
What is the study of General Science—Elementary?
The Science, Mathematics and Technology Education Program (SMATE) is a visionary and practical program designed to enrich the training and education of K-12 pre-service teachers and, through them, their students. From a collaboration of the disciplines, Chemistry, Geology, Biology, Physics/ Astronomy, Mathematics and Engineering Technology, the Science, Mathematics and Technology Education Program offers an opportunity for teachers and future teachers to gain specific skills and broaden talents within their chosen discipline.
This program is designed to prepare future teachers at the elementary and middle school level with an emphasis in Science. This major satisfies the academic major requirement for teacher certification with an endorsement in elementary education and must be accompanied by the professional preparation program in Elementary Education offered through Woodring College of Education.
Why Should I Consider this Major?
If you want a broad base of knowledge in the field of science to prepare you for teaching at the elementary level, this major will provide it. You will take a range of introductory courses from different areas of science, including Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Geology. Other Science majors focus on a single subject such as Biology or Chemistry (see WWU Catalog).
Completion of this program results in a highly qualified status for elementary or middle school science under the federal NCLB guidelines.
To see more detailed information about this program, please visit our University Catalog:
Sample Careers
- Elementary Teacher


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REO Speedwagon drummer opens up about SeaWorld cancellation
REO SPEEDWAGON rocker BRYAN HITT has opened up about the band's decision to pull out of a show at SeaWorld, Florida over the themepark's killer whale treatment scandal, insisting there are "two sides to every story".
The group joined the likes of Trisha Yearwood, Barenaked Ladies and Willie Nelson in cancelling 2014 performances at the venue after 2013 documentary Blackfish exposed questionable behind-the-scenes actions at the tourist attraction.
On Thursday (16Jan14), the Beach Boys and Pat Benatar became the latest celebrities to withdraw from shows at Florida's Busch Gardens - another venue owned by SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment bosses - and now Hitt has spoken in detail about his stance on the controversy.
The drummer reveals the arguments laid out in Blackfish played a big part in the band's decision to pull out of their February (14) gig, but he insists the case against the park bosses isn't clear cut, and admits REO Speedwagon simply didn't want to get caught up in the politics of the situation.
He tells TMZ.com, "It was a great film. There's always two sides to every story. Nobody is a hundred per cent correct on either side, we just felt like that's SeaWorld's fight, not our fight.
"We politely bowed out. I think they do a lot of good in some instances. I don't, personally, like having big animals captive in small places."


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Modern design in furniture was made possible through the Industrial Revolution when new technology became available. Built primarily for function, modern furniture is comprised of plastic (pvc), glass, stainless steel, metal, and chrome. Some of the natural materials are wood, leather, teak, and linen.
The colors used in modern design are neutrals, black, white, accentuated by bold statement colors such as blue, red, and yellows. The walls are often white. Embedded within the design is the use of geometric shapes, circles, ovals, squares, rectangles, smooth even curves.
"The modern art movement preceded the trends of modern design. In painting, modernism began with the impressionists and others who used abstraction in their work. Modern interior design grew out of the decorative arts, notably Art Deco, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It reached its peak in the 1950's and 60's."[1]
Here at EZMODFURNITURE.COM, we carry many representations of the original designs produced during the 50's and 60's. We have the Tribeca table initially designed by Isamu Noguchi, Eileen Gray's side table, the Tulip chair and Tulip table and womb chair originally designed by Eero Saarinen, Bertoia chair originally designed by Harry Bertoia, our Eaze Lounge Chair & Ottoman originally designed by Charles and Ray Eames, Nelson style furniture, Le Corbusier Chaise Lounge, etc. We carry so many reproductions from these talented and innovative designers.
I thought perhaps you may like to see some of the same types of furniture we carry in pictures. I have collected a collage of photos featuring Eiffel Chairs, Tulip chairs, Eames Style Lounge Chair, Nelson Style bench, Bertoia Style chairs, etc.You can see photos of some of the same furniture designs that we carry at:
[1] Hartman, Dennis. "About Modern Interior Design." SFGate Online. April 9, 2013. Hearst Communications Inc. http://homeguides.sfgate.com/modern-interior-design-8659.html.


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Kathy Torgerson nominated for Inspire Positive Aging Award
July 22, 2014
By Staff
Kathy Torgerson, of Issaquah, was one of 15 King County residents nominated for Senior Services' Inspire Positive Aging Award.
While the award went to McCoy Khammany Sengsi, of West Seattle, Torgerson was honored for her nearly 30 years as volunteer Meals on Wheels coordinator at the Issaquah Senior Center.
Torgerson 63, ensured that every senior who needs home-delivered meals receives them in a friendly, timely manner. She volunteers in the community, making home visits and taking supplies to people in need. During power outages and emergencies, Torgerson provides help to homebound seniors. She recently suffered a severe, life-threatening issue.
"Because of her positive attitude, she came through with flying colors," nominator Courtney Jaren wrote. "She truly inspires others. She is a classic example of someone who has learned that service is one of the most rewarding ways to spend free time as we age."
Senior Services created the Inspire Positive Aging Award in 2006 to recognize older adults, whose lives inspire others about how to age with grace, enthusiasm, creativity, hope and energy while quietly making life better for others even as their years advance.
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Shaky early, Matt Jones steadied himself down the stretch to nip Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott by one shot in the Australian Open.
Opinion & Analysis
Jordan Spieth lost out on a bid to repeat as Aussie Open champion and lost his Australian Golf Club course record.
Last December we presented a list of 10 players to watch during 2015. Ever wonder how they did? Wonder no more.
A burgeoning rivalry at the top. The emergence of young talent. An unforgettable Solheim Cup. It was a season to remember.
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Rural Safety News is an electronic newsletter of the Center for Excellence in Rural Safety (CERS) at the University of Minnesota. Rural Safety News brings you the latest research and resources concerning rural safety.
Minnesota's primary seat belt law resulted in 68 fewer deaths and 320 fewer severe injuries from 2009 to 2011, according to a new CERS study.
The study, conducted on behalf of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) Office of Traffic Safety, also found that the reduction in deaths and injuries has saved $45 million in hospital charges, including nearly $10 million in taxpayer dollars that would have paid for Medicare and Medicaid charges.
"The primary seat belt law has advanced traffic safety in Minnesota by saving lives and preventing serious injuries," Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner Mona Dohman said. "The findings of this study remind us again how vital it is for Minnesotans to buckle up—every seat, every ride."
Minnesota's primary seat belt law went into effect in June 2009. Prior to that, not wearing a seat belt was a secondary offense, which allowed law enforcement officers to ticket for failure to wear seat belts, but only when there was another moving violation. Under the primary seat belt law, officers can ticket drivers for not wearing a seat belt without any other law being broken. Currently, 32 states have primary seat belt laws.
CERS researchers Frank Douma and Nebiyou Tilahun, authors of the report, analyzed the impacts of the new law, examining the changes in roadway crash fatalities through June 2011. The researchers also examined seat belt use data and survey results that measured support for the law and found more Minnesotans are buckling up since the primary law went into effect. Observed seat belt use in the state also has increased from 87 percent in 2008 to 93 percent in 2011. In addition, a survey of Minnesotans shows the support of the law increased from 62 percent just before the law was passed to over 70 percent since it was passed.
"The stronger seat belt law is keeping a lot of Minnesotans out of hospitals and morgues, and it will continue to do so for years to come," CERS director Lee Munnich said. "But we still have too many Minnesotans injured or killed every year because they are not wearing seat belts, so we have more work to do."
Related resources:
Minnesota TZD program provides model for success
Though the number of roadway fatalities has trended downward in recent years, fatal traffic crashes remain one of the nation's most serious preventable health problems. In 2010, 32,885 people died on U.S. roadways. Most of these crash fatalities occur on rural roads. More children and young adults, ages 15-34, die in roadway crashes than for any other health-related reason.
To address the problem, many organizations that own, operate, enforce, and maintain our nations roadways have joined together to create a national strategy on highway safety—Toward Zero Deaths. As of 2011, 30 states had implemented TZD-type programs to comprehensively reduce traffic crash fatalities.
The Toward Zero Deaths program uses a four "E" collaborative approach, integrating education, emergency medical and trauma services, engineering, and enforcement. Data are used to identify the most critical problems causing traffic fatalities, and multiple state and local government agencies as well as private sector partners are engaged to address those problems. There is no single solution, but together this targeted approach has proven highly successful.
Since most of the costs of the TZD program are borne by reprioritizing and targeting existing federal, state, and local safety funds, the return on investment is very high. State budgets benefit from reduced medical costs, fewer fatalities and serious injuries, and lower unemployment, social security, and welfare costs associated with crash victims' families. The delay costs imposed on motorists from crashes—many billions of dollars per year—also are reduced.
Improving traffic safety and reducing fatalities and serious injuries on roadways cuts across many agencies within government, including transportation, public safety, health, and education. Minnesota's TZD model shows that interagency cooperation is essential to achieving success in a shorter amount of time.
In 2003, the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, in collaboration with Minnesota safety stakeholders and advocates, initiated the Toward Zero Deaths program to systematically reduce road fatalities. Several Minnesota agencies, along with CERS, have joined the effort to expand this TZD approach nationwide.
Since TZD was introduced in Minnesota, traffic fatalities on the state's roadways have dropped from 655 deaths in 2003 to 365 deaths in 2011, a drop of 44 percent. If Minnesota had followed the U.S. pattern of traffic fatalities—a 23 percent drop from 2003 to 2010—the state would have experienced 91 more fatalities in 2010.
What would 91 more deaths a year mean in Minnesota? Most important, 91 more families and communities each year would have suffered the tragic and unnecessary loss of a family member, friend, or colleague. There also would have been economic and health care costs to the state. A Center for Disease Control (CDC) study has estimated $41 billion in medical and work-loss costs nationwide in 2005 due to motor vehicle crash deaths. In 2005, Minnesota crash deaths cost the state $527 million in medical expenses and lost work according to the CDC, or about $943,000 per crash death. Thus, the 91 fewer crash deaths are saving the state about $86 million per year in medical and work-loss costs.
Related resources:
In an ongoing effort to facilitate communication and improve patient care following traffic crashes, researchers with CERS and the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Institute have completed a pilot study of the prototype CrashHelp system. Overall results were positive, indicating that CrashHelp allowed for the efficient collection of usable information.
CrashHelp is a smartphone-based system that enables emergency responders to collect multimedia data about crash victims on-scene and send it directly into emergency rooms, providing hospitals with advance notification of crash severity and related information that can be used to best prepare for a patient's arrival.
Tom Horan, CERS research director, reviewed the results of the pilot study in a recent CERS webinar. The study—conducted from July through October 2011 in Boise, Idaho—included six hospitals and two ambulance providers.
During the pilot, ambulance crew paramedics and emergency medical technicians used a CrashHelp-equipped smartphone to securely capture pictures, digital audio recordings, video, and basic patient and incident information. The information was then sent to the participating hospital, where an automated phone call informed hospital personnel that new incident information was available for viewing on CrashHelp's web-based interface. An acknowledgement was sent to the medic after the file had been accessed, and the medic could then send any additional information via text message.
A total of 801 incident transmittals were completed during the study period, including more than 400 images and nearly 450 audio recordings. Horan said the researchers had anticipated images being used most frequently and were surprised by the popularity of the audio recordings. The consistent use of audio could be because emergency responders are most comfortable with this type of reporting since they provide similar verbal reports to emergency departments over the radio.
The researchers also found that use of the system varied widely between more technically savvy personnel and those who didn't know how to make the best use of the system. "Moving forward, we see the need to do more training in order to get a full range of proficiency," Horan said.
The researchers also conducted follow-up focus groups with personnel from participating hospitals and ambulance providers, state EMS agencies, and the Idaho Department of Transportation. Medics reported that seeing the information being used in hospitals drove them to make more use of the system, and hospital personnel said the information they received helped them prepare for a patient's arrival—especially for those coming from further away.
The study also helped the researchers identify future needs, such as protocol on how many and what types of pictures would provide the most value to emergency room personnel. There is also interest in additional notification types, such as an automated phone call that plays the available audio message automatically for hospital personnel.
Idaho has expressed interest in extending the pilot and expanding coverage to a rural area, Horan said. The researchers are also planning a pilot effort in St. Cloud, Minnesota, where they will investigate how CrashHelp could be used as part of a hospital-to-hospital referral system.
Related resources:
More than a thousand miles of sylvan, two-lane country roads run through Marion County in north-central Florida. But the peaceful rural landscape had been marred by a serious crash problem, many involving pavement edge drop-offs.
From 2005 to 2008, for example, 120 fatal crashes as well as 800 injury crashes occurred on those roads, according to former deputy Marion County engineer John C. Goodknight. That all changed for the better, however, when the rural county took a new approach to rural road safety. The rural county has since become a leader in stabilizing road shoulders to prevent fatal crashes.
Along one stretch of road with three closely spaced curves near the edge of a forest, two fatal crashes and five serious injury crashes plus a few others occurred over three years. During his CERS webinar presentation in January, Goodknight recounted how authorities eventually discovered that traffic from ATVs and trails connected to the road had caused shoulder erosion to the point where vehicles drifting off the pavement were unable to recover and many overturned.
To correct the problem, the county paved the shoulders along the curves, refreshed markings, and enhanced signs. Two years later, no crashes had been reported. "Without this data," Goodknight observed, "we wouldn't have known there was a problem at all."
Goodknight determined that shifting emphasis from the miles of shoulders paved to the number of drop-offs eliminated would help reduce the number of crashes on rural county roads. Marion County defines a pavement edge drop-off as a "differential more than 3-inches deep for a continuous 25 inches."
Goodnight started to record the location and severity of drop-offs while geocoding the crash data. Then, combined with an emphasis on reporting and feedback as well as revised standards and procedures, the new approach began to produce results. The Marion County data helped prioritize the most serious pavement drop-offs to solve the most urgent problems first. The county put together a cost-effective data collection system and database using GPS, free software from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for tabulating data, and free custom mapping software from Esri.
"This kind of data helps us identify a serious crash problem on county roads," Goodknight explained. "Once we put it on a picture, we then begin to see clusters of crashes that suddenly bring a new perspective to some of our problems."
Comprehensive treatment of shoulders now includes installation of safety edges so vehicles can easily re-enter the road. Semiannual surveys of pavement edge drop-offs continue to help evaluate the effectiveness of the county's efforts as well as to identify new trouble spots involving pavement edge drop-offs and other dangers, such as pooling rainwater and debris build-up on the shoulders.
Goodknight said that the data systems have gone a long way toward improving the effectiveness of the road safety program in Marion County. "What gets watched," he concluded, "is what gets done."
Related resources:
CERS Best Practices for Rural Traffic Safety Webinar Series: Watch recent webinar
CERS cited in new GHSA report about speeding and aggressive driving
A new report published by the Governors Highway Safety Association, Survey of the States: Speeding and Aggressive Driving (3.1 MB PDF), aims to reduce the loss associated with speed-related crashes. It recommends several strategies to be implemented in states across the country in collaboration with and supported by federal partners. Among the strategies: aggressive driving enforcement, targeted enforcement in school and work zones, and a national high visibility enforcement campaign. CERS research about U.S. automated enforcement strategies is cited in the report (page 12).
Rural Highway Safety Clearinghouse: Selected recent additions
We would like to hear what you think of CERS Rural Safety News. Please e-mail us at email@example.com.
Any product mentioned within Rural Safety News should not be considered a product endorsement.
Center for Excellence in Rural Safety
Director: Lee Munnich
Research Director: Thomas Horan
Program Delivery Director: Gina Baas
Policy Director: Barb Rohde
Administration Director: Frank Douma
Coordinators: Stephanie Malinoff, Kaydee Kirk
Editor: Michael McCarthy
Information Manager: Arlene Mathison
Graphic Designer: Cadie Wright Adhikary
Contributing Writers: Christine Anderson, Nicola Losik
Contributing Writer: Christine Anderson
Center for Excellence in Rural Safety
State and Local Policy Program
Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
University of Minnesota
301–19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
Center for Excellence in Rural Safety | University of Minnesota | Minneapolis, MN 55455 | Location & Contact Information