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Convenient location in the Vienna Museum District and access to public transportation were great attributes. Hotel breakfasts were of superb quality and eating arrangements were flexible, indoor or alfresco. Nothing to dislike. Everything was perfect for a leisure or business traveler.
The staff, breakfasts, location and cost.
Location central to all major sites Transportation to any part of the city and locations outside of Vienna within 100 meters of the hotel. Breakfast was a buffet with many hot and cold dishes Wifi worked great
The Regina's location is very convenient to most Vienna attractions and public transportation. Very friendly and helpful hotel staff made our stay comfortable and enjoyable. Breakfast was a very excellent amenity. Rooms were very comfortable and quiet.
Location and staff No. But some may not like few tv channels in English
The location was great- on the border of the centre, easy walking to all sites. Nice restaurant attached. The standard double room was pretty small- I'm a small person and there wasn't room to pass my partner at the foot if the bed, and I had to side-shuffle into my side. Sound transmitted darn easily fr adjacent rooms as well.
A small hotel in a quiet corner, very close to the city center, spacious rooms, varied breakfast buffet, strong Wi-Fi signal in the rooms, and very nice and friendly staff . We booked Triple adults room and the sofa-bed not comfortable for sleeping. You should replace
location (a quiet area near centre), breakfast, room too minor to be mentioned (the steam bath in overhauling, the Sunday change of towels in the afternoon)
Comfort and cleanness of the room. Small loby.
High standard of rooms, High quality in all aspects of hotel
location, garden nearby, free wi-fi facility
I liked the big selection of food for breakfast and natural juices. Room was big and spacious. Bath in bathroom. It was near a venue I attended.
Breakfast was very good Parking was not free
The staff were helpful and very friendly. Gave great suggestions for a resturant. None
friendly personnel, easy access to the city center via tram, nice breakfast
Great hotel, very, very quiet. We had a massive room which was very clean and tidy. Fairly close to the city, about 15 mins walk Nothing, was perfect
New clean hotel with good breakfast included in the price and helpful staff. 1/ The extra charge for Friday night was too high considering the hotel was almost empty. 2/ No WiFi in the rooms for internet access (needed cable) and Internet access charge was too high. 3/ Too far from city centre to be a comfortable walk
It was clean In the discripition of the hotel : parking with no surcharge but charged $16 for parking.
The hotel is great and the staff is very frendly. Very close to city center.
The room quality was even better than we had expected. Breakfast buffet could have wider choice.
The efficiency of the staff. The constructions & noise outside.
The area where the hotel is situated is calm and not too far from the subway. The staff is quite friendly. There is no air conditioning and the room was too hot and too small. The bath room was smelling bad. The breakfast poor. It really does not deserve the four stars grade. In addition we couldn't sleep the night because of drank neighbors who were making too much noise. Nothing was done to stop it.
location, rather big room lack of air conditioning, no window or fan in the bathroom
location was great. Room was up to the standards. I would ask for a room that is not directly beside the elevator as that makes quite a lot of noise.
Large, bright room. Comfortable bed, pillows, and linens. Great breakfast. (And I mean "great.") Large bathroom. Nice wine selection. I would stay here again. Hard to shower without getting water all over floor. Only 1 towel per person. Not a lot of closet space (for two for a week including business attire...)
close to centre noisy place
Nothing! Ok, maybe only free internet... I chose it simply because all hotels in the area were full with no rooms available. Tiny room with unclean toilets. Light switch right next to the bed on the wall, for which I waked up at least 10 times during the night when I unintentionally switched it on.
Helpful, friendly reception staff made one feel at home. Nice size rooms.
I could not find a good part. sorry. Reception insisted that they have to charge the hotel fee on my friend's credit card used for the booking process because it is a special rate by booking.com while it was not so special price. Hotel staff was not friendly at all and no welcome atomosphere when we check in. I will not come back here again.
The Staff were very friendly and helpfull 3 stars is more than enough for this hotel. room size is small.
Great location No air conditioning. Had to sleep with the windows open, and there was a little street noise. Overall, noise was not too bad.
Room was clean, comfortable, silent and rather big. Nice balcony. Free wi-fi. Breakfast was exelent but very expensive! Expensive minibar.
Cleanliness,helpful and responsive staff, excellent breakfast No negitive comments
Nice, clean modern hotel with good location. Was very noisy in our room at night with street noise
very nice breakfast it was very windy day, whole room was whistling through the night, so it was hard to fall a sleep
location, staff hotel is nice but it is not 4*, breakfast is expensive, no TV channels in English, no AC in the room.
Staff were very friendly and helpful, rooms very clean. No noise from other rooms.
cleanliness of the room and the breakfast the smell of the carpets in the public areas
The location was good. Good connection with tram. Breakfast was good. Light in room was bad, the crystal to be was not so good. No reading lamp on the other side. Small tv with no english channels. Small (narrow) double bed. Toilet seat was old fashion, well if you like to look, ok. Luggade left open for easy steal if you stay later. Breakfast man didn't even offer us the free sparkling wine at newyear, no english newspaper at all. I call it 3 star hotel not even near 4. The price was almost the same as list price,
Cleanliness, cosy atmosphere, nice and helpfull personnel, nice breakfast. No.
considering the price it was reasonable value for money. Their W-LAN is very bad. They would rather charge a few Euros more for the room and include this W-LAN. Who does not need his computer now a days
Very kind staff. A very nice place to stay in Wienna.
The hotel staff was very kind and helpfull. the beds were not so comfortable.
position of the hotel, rooms equipment, hotel staff no
The locaton: at a walking distance from my daugter's University and home; very nice and quiet neigbourhood; exquisite buffet breakfast; kind staff. Everything was perfect, and the price.
Quiet and relaxing
Breakfast is quite good, the stuff is nice, the hotel is close to public transportation. The noise the ventilation makes in the bathroom. It is not a 4-star hotel.It is a rather good 3-star.
Staff and good customer service Price and its not a real 4 stars hotel i will value it as 3 stars hotel.
close to Metro/ trams The rooms did not have air Conditioning. This ws not a good thing especially as we were there in the height of summer.
near trams and cheap foodshop and silent room Breakfast not good, too small plates for yoghurt etc.
large clean air conditiones room, very good connected transportation to city center friendly staff, good breakfast none
Quiet room,no noice there.Luxurious buffet breakfest. Tea at the breakfast table is not available. Small parking lot.Not bedside table in the room,only hair shampoo, no shower gel in the bathroom.
The hotel was comfortable without being too formal. The buffet breakfast was excellent and was included in the price of the room.
The hotel is very close to the city, a short 10/15 minute tram ride to the main train station and plenty of attractions in walking distance too. The room was lovely, a bit small but that is common in Europe.
Lovely room
Breakfast was excellent - Good start to the day
They not say that my credit card will be block even I payed with an other credit card that I book the rooms.
everything was wonderful at this hotel, we liked it very much, the rooms were big and very clean, the breakfast was just wonderful so I am looking forward to staying here again. In a word, excellent
The room was big, always clean and nicely decorated, very warm and quiet. The early breakfast and late bar were very convinient. The staff friendly and helpful. And the location - 2 minute walk to the underground! I will certainly recommend the hotel to my friends. The breakfast was very good. Everything was tasty, but I would add sausages or bacon.
The hotel was in a good location, close to transport, easy access to city centre. Very clean.
Location 50m from Rossauer Land underground station (line 4). We checked in about 8.00pm and were given an apartment as the hotel seemed very busy. So even though the apartment was on the 4th floor (there was a lift) we had more than enough space for the two of us (kitchen with microwave, hob, sink, dining table and chairs, TV, Hi fi, settee, writing desk etc). Plentiful buffet breakfast (hot and cold). Restaurants and bars along the canal next to the underground station were very handy. Walk to city centre aprox 20-30 minutes. AC not working.
Spacious room in good condition with spacious bathroom. Great location next to the tube station in a silent quarter, thus it only takes few minutes to the city center by tube. Many of the attractions within walking distance too. Isolation is not the best sounds tend to travel.
A very large room for the price (I had a cheap weekly rate). Included kitchen.
room was clean, hotel staff friendly - just in line with my expectations about it.
Customer-friendly service, we had a nice time there. Air - condition was missing
breakfast was good roomsafe didn't work. bathroom was really small
excellent location and staff,big double room (sofa included in standard price),good breakfast. room doors are not very sound proof
Large appartament, with a big closet, living room and kitchen. Nice neighborhood next to the Danube canal where one can walk between the gardens, plenty of little restaurants and with a Ubahn station that permit you reach every part of Vienna within minutes.The buffet breakfast is excellent. Painting the doors of the closet would be nice.
The staff at the reception was great. Genuinely friendly, what you do not find too often these days. Rooms tidy and unusually decorated (in a positive sense). Just something different. Overall superior service on a 4* level for a 2* price. The Augasse is probably not the most beautiful surrounding but very central to get around (U4, U6, D). So very please with my stay. Felt like home despite being away. The extra effort was much appreciated. nothing to be fair!!!!!!!!! Keep up the great service.
It is a good place for young couples. Good value for money. Perfect location.
its very comfortably located, and quiet the cell phone provided is outrageously expensive you might want to buy some cheap sim card for your stay if you plan on using the phone.
Non-expensive, good location. Could be good for big student company - it was 6 places their. Rather old furniture, There is good place for little kitchen but kitchen is absent.
good location
The location is perfect. WiFi. Calm street. When taking shower, it is nearly impossible not splash the water around bathroom. If your neighbours are noisy, you will hear them. We were in two, but had one key only.
Excellent location in the city cente, budget price, kitchen.
It's easy to get food and shopping around.
Room very clean, big, quiet and very well furnished. Central location. Very good price. There is no reception, and check-in can be complicated.
It's a modest accommodation, located very close to Votivkirche ( a great location). It is self-service, so you may never see any staff the whole time you're there. This is a budget-conscious facility.
Quiet street in the center of Vienna, large and clean room with privet WC, shower, hairdryer, free of charge mobile phone (local calls) which can be used out of the pension and even something like a road set with threads, needles, etc.
Very good location only 10 min to Wiena center, good breakfast, very nice staff, clean rooms.
location near to old city
Very good location, hotel staff was very kind. The room was not very big but clean and comfortable, OK for one person.
Good position near the city center Pension is situated on a very busy street
As I arrived —really— late in the evening (I called in the afternoon the hostel to inform about that), I really appreciated that someone was waiting for me to give me the keys of my room.
Hotel staff
Good location in the center of Vienna, near University and underground station, and very helpful staff.
The location is good. The Underground station is very close to the Pension( the owners of the hotel dislike calling their acomodation a hotel) The other neans of transport (bus 40A. trams) are also at your disposal. Breakfast was rather poor. They didn't cnange the sheets at all during a week and the towels smelled.
People were friendly and honest and did there best to please us! I would give them "A" for effort! The signage on the hotel is so small it can not be seen from across the street. the sign for the hotel is 12" X 6" posted only at the door. The internet access is the hotels reception computer and is needed for booking people in and out. Using it was inconvienent for all, with plenty of interuption so they can make transations
The hotel has a good location, and you can easily walk to the center. The room was very spacious and clean. The staff was very friendly and helpfu in any way they canl, and spoke good English. Moreover, the hotel is just a few minutes walk from Schottentor metrostation (U2). I had a very pleasant stay here. --
Easy access to the town via tram or walking. The staff were very friendly, bilingual and helpful which was appreciated for a foreigner, finding the place can be difficult as not many of the locals seemed to know that this hotel existed
I would have prefered that the Hotel offers internet access in the room (there was a kind of access available only in the dining room)
Good location, kind stuff, spacious room, good breakfast, efforts to help with dietary needs. Value for money, overall. A bit more noise from neighbouring rooms and corridor than pleasant.
Everything was quiet good and I liked it, Next time will definitely use the same hotel. The only thing was the absence of hair drier
The hotel is very well situated, only a few minutes away from the U-bahn and also within walking distance of the Neues Rathaus and Hofburf complex. The staff is very friendly and helpful. The breakfast is nice, but when staying for more than a few days it becomes very boring since it's exactly (to every detail!) the same day after day. The hotspots within the hotel for your own wireless internet are not working that well, although you don't find out until after you paid and there's no refunding.
Staff attitude. Lack of air conditioning.
Location; very close to the old town.
The room is located near the center of towm, so I enjoyed going around the town. The hotel staff is very nice. And the price is good. I stayed this hotel in the middle of August. There was no air conditioner. I wanted to open the windows, but I could not.
the hotel staff,servicesand and facilities don,t change daily the bathroon things like soap,shampo....
The hotel is in a quite good location within a 10min walk from the centre of vienna. There are a few bars and kebab shops nearby for a nightcap before bed. It is however once in the room quite OK. The hotel itself is in an old apartment building, so don't expect a fancy reception on arrival, it's more like staying in a student friends apartment. I think €55 too much for a single, €40 a night would be more resonable.
The rooms were very clear The breakfast was disappointing and the location isn't the best
the room was very clean, the staff was friendly the breakfast is disappointing and the location isn't the best to sightsee by walk
I like because is a cross the street from metro station :)
Good location and the wireless internet Breakfast was too poor; plus, there were not a hair dryer and minibar;
preaty close to the visiting area of the city no smoking room with smoke smell; noisy rooms on the side with the heavy traffic


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Federation Art Gallery
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Blackhawk .223 chest rig
5.56 Chest Rig
Color : Tan
Weight : 800g
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Size : Free
By buying this product you can collect up to 3 loyalty points. Your cart will total 3 points that can be converted into a voucher of 0,60 €.
King Arms (Hong Kong)
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text:
Popular web sites and social networks are scaling up for huge web traffic for today's inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president. But there's debate over whether today's traffic will challenge election night 2008 as the record peak for Internet traffic.
While many Americans will watch the event on television, a large number of Internet services are offering streaming video for those who need to be at their desk. The biggest impact may be seen at photo sharing and microblogging services, which can expect a blizzard of focused traffic around Obama's swearing-in at noon.
Kakul Srivastava, general manager of Flickr, told USA Today that he expects a healthy jump from its daily average of 3 million photos and videos uploaded to the service. Slide, the largest maker of widgets for social networks, said it expects a 60 percent spike in the use of its SuperPoke application. It's also likely to be a huge day for Facebook, which has become the web's largest photo sharing site, hosting with more than 10 billion photos.
Twitter is doubling its capacity to manage an expected surge in activity. But co-founder Biz Stone said he is not expecting the same kind of traffic spikes as on Election Night, when the site was flooded with 10 times the normal traffic.
"We're always working to increase reliability but yes, the inauguration puts a finer point on it," Stone told ZDNet. "During massively shared events we normally see an increase in timeline views and tweets per second. Last week we significantly boosted performance with both hardware and software optimization."
Rory Cellan-Jones, who blogs about technology for the BBC, is skeptical of projections that the Inauguration will drive historic web traffic. "One of my colleagues, who analyses our web traffic, isn't convinced that the inauguration will be a big online event, pointing out that it doesn't play to the strengths of the internet," Cellan-Jones writes. "Big web events involve a lot of data, like an election, or a lot of conflict, with people coming online to argue. With Barack Obama already elected and the sole focus of the event, there is not much information to digest – and not a lot to argue about. What this feels like is a classic television event. "
If there's a capacity bottleneck, it may be seen most acutely in the wireless networks, particularly in the Washington area. VeriSign estimates that a record of more than 1.4 billion mobile messages will be delivered nationwide today.
On Sunday, local cell networks suffered scattered outages during the pre-Inauguration concert at the Lincoln Memorial, as the volume of wireless calls, text messages, pictures and videos surged to 10 times normal volume. About 400,000 attended that event. City officials expect a crowd of at least 2 million for today's events.
Will Internet traffic reach record levels? The best metric will be Akamai's Net Usage Index, which recorded an all-time high of more than 8.5 million visitors per minute on Election Night 2008.
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text: Who'll make a PBI? :) -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: License question Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:13:59 +0100 From: Christian Ghisler <support at ghisler.com> Reply-To: Christian Ghisler <support at ghisler.com> To: yerenkow at uct.ua Hi! You wrote: > Hello, my name's Alexander Yerenkow, i'm taking part of developing > PC-BSD (it's OS based on FreeBSD). > Currently we have trchnology make redistributable packages of some > software, even for windows one. > As example - here is Windows Firefox, packaged for use on PC-BSD: > http://pbidir.com/bt/pbi/134/firefox3__win_ > So, the goal of this letter is make clear, can we take total commander > and make installer for PC-BSD, > is there some license (or just personal maybe) restriction exists, which > didn't allow us to do this? > The total commander itself will be untouched and unmodified, so user > still need to buy it. > Except that we are planning add all languages and maybe some plugins in > base installation. > So, if you you do not mind, simply answer "yes" :) With this e-mail, we give you the permission to distribute the shareware version of our program "Total Commander" in your special packaging, under the following conditions: 1. The program and help file are not modified 2. You do not advertise it as the registered version of the program Best regards Christian Ghisler -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.pcbsd.org/pipermail/testing/attachments/20090225/4c08a466/attachment.html>


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Building intelligence Q2 2008: A mixed picture
The downturn sent most graphs south in the second quarter of the year, but a closer look at the data shows wide variations between regions and sectors, according to Experian Business Strategies
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Many of you buy Lottery Tickets, go to Casinos, play some "Texas Hold'em" with friends or attend Church and VFW Bingo nights.
Who doesn't like a little "friendly" gambling from time to time-BUT, that's you gambling with your own money exercising your own choice.
What's been going on in the Derivatives Markets for likely decades, if not actually Centuries or longer, has been big Banks atop Investment Houses gambling with YOUR money.
Like a betting window they have ponying up trillions and likely quadrillions of dollars betting on Bank Rates, Credit Performance, War Outcomes, even weather events. For most of this time, with few exceptions, that Market has been insulated from the "sturm und drang" of the "regular" Economic issues the rest of us have to wrestle with-you know, like Recession, Depression, Investment losses.
However, the "insulation" must be wearing out, as the Derivatives Market is not only in chaos, but is looking likely to be headed for complete meltdown-and SOON.
So...how does that effect the rest of us?
The picture isn't pretty. Do more than scan the headline and comment. This is a really serious development. Bring some knowledge to the party, as most of us really need to know as much as we can about all this BEFORE the "defecation hits the ventilator."
The article concludes this way:
How would you respond if your investment account suddenly went to "zero" because the firm you were investing with "diverted" customer funds for company use and now you have no way of recovering your money?
Keep an eye on the large Wall Street banks. In a previous article, I quoted a New York Times article entitled "A Secretive Banking Elite Rules Trading in Derivatives" which described how these banks dominate the trading of derivatives...
On the third Wednesday of every month, the nine members of an elite Wall Street society gather in Midtown Manhattan.
The men share a common goal: to protect the interests of big banks in the vast market for derivatives, one of the most profitable — and controversial — fields in finance. They also share a common secret: The details of their meetings, even their identities, have been strictly confidential.
According to the article, the following large banks are represented at these meetings: JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Citigroup.
When the casino finally goes "bust", you will know who to blame.
Without a doubt, a derivatives panic is coming.
It will cause the financial markets to crash.
Several of the "too big to fail" banks will likely crash and burn and require bailouts.
As a result of all this, credit markets will become paralyzed by fear and freeze up.
Once again, we will see the U.S. economy go into cardiac arrest, only this time it will not be so easy to fix.


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The following Minority Health Project programs are available from the Public Health Foundation Program Item Number Price Community Organizing and Community Building: Public Health Watchwords for the 21st Century DVD-017 $25.00 AIDS at 25: It's Time to Deliver (lecture title: AIDS at 25: Emerging from the Matrix) VT-104 $15.00 Collaborative Research with Communities:… Read more »
19th National Health Equity Research Webcast (6/4/2013) Early Childhood Development: Investing in Our Children and Our Future Sarah L. Kastelic, Portia R. Kennel, Yvette Sanchez Fuentes Moderator: Khari M. Garvin More about this broadcast Webcast Research seminar at Oregon State University College of Public Health and Human Sciences, 5/24/2013 Translating epidemiologic findings into action to… Read more »
The UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, Office Of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, and American Indian Center come together for the 20th annual National Health Equity Research Webcast. The broadcast is an interactive, live-streamed symposium that explores the intersection of health, policy, and diversity through expert panel… Read more »
Save the (New) Date! The National Health Equity Research Webcast is on the move…to the fall! In order to provide an opportunity for students to participate in the webcast, the 23rd National Health Equity Research Webcast, The Courage to Lead: Scholar-Activism and Health Equity in Turbulent Times, will take place on Friday, September 29, 2017,… Read more »
Featured alumni: On September 1, 2008, David McCoy, MEd, MPH, JD became the fifth Controller in North Carolina history following unanimous approval of his nomination by the North Carolina General Assembly. [full story] Alumni news: On August 21, 2010, Tamera Coyne-Beasley received a physicians award at the 17th Annual Legacy Charity Luncheon held by the… Read more »
"Translational Research: The Road from Efficacy to Equity"Ana Diez-Roux, MD, PhD, MPH Professor, Epidemiology, University of Michigan, School of Public Health Director, Center for Integrative Approaches to Health Disparities & Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health Nina Wallerstein, DrPH, MPH Professor, Family and Community Medicine, University of New Mexico Director, Center for Participatory… Read more »
Nurse Leader interviews UNC School of Nursing Director of Multicultural Affairs Rumay Alexander Congratulations to Dr. Rumay Alexander and to Nurse Leader on an engaging, insightful, and beautifully illustrated interview. "There were many times I was the first or the only female, first with an earned doctorate in the workplace, youngest, only nurse or only… Read more »
Please visit minorityhealth.web.unc.edu for the most up-to-date information. The Annual Minority Health Conference was launched by the Minority Student Caucus in 1977 and has been conducted nearly every year since then. Major objectives are to highlight health issues of concern to people of color and to attract students interested in minority health to the School…. Read more »
Breaking the Cycle: Investigating the Intersection of Educational Inequities and Health Disparities 15th Annual Summer Public Health Research Institute and Videoconference on Minority Health June 9, 2009 Click image to view entire webcast. Reginald Weaver, DIP (hon), DHL (hon), DPS (hon) When Education and Health Intersect Vice President, Education International Past… Read more »
12th Annual Summer Public Health Research Institute and Videoconference on Minority Health Sharon Fryar Height Sharon Fryar Height was born in Sampson County, North Carolina, a region whose rich soil is known for its private and commercial tobacco farms that make up North Carolina's historic "Tobacco Road." Sharon received her Bachelor of Arts degree from… Read more »


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This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
A novel self-referencing fiber optic intensity sensor based on bending losses of a partially polished polymer optical fiber (POF) coupler is presented. The coupling ratio (K) depends on the external liquid in which the sensor is immersed. It is possible to distinguish between different liquids and to detect their presence. Experimental results for the most usual liquids found in industry, like water and oil, are given. K value increases up to 10% from the nominal value depending on the liquid. Sensor temperature dependence has also been studied for a range from 25 °C (environmental condition) to 50 °C. Any sector requiring liquid level measurements in flammable atmospheres can benefit from this intrinsically safe technology.
Recently, Polymer Optical Fibers (POFs) have been widely used in industry and automotive networks. New technologies and applications like Very high bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL), Fiber-to-the Home (FTTH) and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) require reliable high-speed but low cost networks with simple installation, high security and low space consumption [
Furthermore, the increasing in-home networking feasibility can enhance the automation and integration of sensor applications and systems. Recently, it is shown that one seventh of all fabricated sensors are used for home appliances [
For home sensing, there are three different categories of sensors that could be required:
Environment sensors: air pressure, temperature, wind, humidity, Monitoring sensors: health care, movement, lighting/illumination, Building sensors: statics, burglary/hold-up alarm, fire, gas and liquid detection, etc.
Environment sensors: air pressure, temperature, wind, humidity,
Monitoring sensors: health care, movement, lighting/illumination,
Building sensors: statics, burglary/hold-up alarm, fire, gas and liquid detection, etc.
In the optical sensing field, POFs are also experiencing a big growth because they present numerous advantages such as easier handling (more flexibility) and lower cost compared to glass optical fibers. These are some reasons why new POF sensors have appeared and are still appearing, most of them based on optical power intensity detection.
On the other hand, optical fibers have been used for measuring liquid levels in many forms, some are non-intrusive sensors based on light attenuation while passing tank walls as in [
In this paper a novel self-referencing intensity-based polymer optical fiber sensor for liquid detection is presented. This sensor itself is a coupler that changes its coupling ratio (
This paper shows a representative example that demonstrates the capabilities of sensors based on polymer optical fibers in home networks for measuring liquid levels in harsh environments such as oil/petrol tanks or bio-mass boilers to be used in condominiums and buildings. The work includes novel device, theoretical study and experimental results.
A scheme of the sensor is shown in
By introducing a bend on a multimode fiber, the higher order propagating modes in the fiber are refracted because the angle of incidence increases in the interface core-cladding. This refracted light produces an increase of the power losses in the receiver. If the core refractive index,
Optical power is transferred and guided in the fiber cladding due not only to the curvature, but also to the polished core (see
If the surrounding liquid is oil, its refractive index (
Use of a coupler as a sensor device intrinsically means a self-referencing sensor. The advantage of this technique is based on the fact that undesirable variations of the optical power at any point of the link between the emitter and the receiver do not change the value of
Ray tracing method can be used for calculating
For manufacturing the sensor device two standard Step-Index PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate) POFs (
The set-up scheme for the measurements is shown in
Coupling ratio values for Carthamus tinctorius oil (n = 1.466) and water besides air surrounding the sensor have been experimentally measured having taken five measurements for each sensor configuration (each configuration is determined by the bending radius applied to the sensor and the type of liquid as external media). If we define repeatability as the percentage of the output parameter variation for a determined number of measurement cycles (under the same conditions), the worst case was found to be 1.02% (with R = 25 mm and air as external medium), which was a very good result. All these measurements were taken for an environmental temperature of T = 28.6 °C (average value) with a maximum deviation of ΔT = ±3 °C. Additionally, different bending radii (
A self-referencing test was also done to prove the inherent self-referencing property of the proposed liquid level sensor.
In order to make a comparison between measured and simulated results an arbitrary point was selected; obtaining a simulated value of K = 0.75, for ε = 0.23 mm,
The independence of the sensor against hypothetical link losses due to its self-referencing characteristic was also tested as can be seen in
The temperature dependence of the sensor device was tested inside a climatic chamber over a 25 °C temperature range, from T = 25 °C to T = 50 °C.
A novel self-made POF self-referencing intensity-based sensor device for liquid detection has been manufactured and characterized. The sensing area has been obtained by a 3 step process: introducing bending losses, eliminating the fiber cladding and polishing a defined fraction of the fiber core. This technique increases the external media refractive index sensitivity of the sensor (highest sensitivity was obtained for a bending radius of R = 25 mm). Experimental results for the most usual liquids found in industry, like water and oil, were measured. The coupling ratio
The self-referencing technique was also validated by showing the robustness of the sensor against undesirable losses at any point of the link, because the power ratio as well as the coupling ratio between both output ports of the sensor remains constant.
This work was supported by BONE-project ("Building the Future Optical Network in Europe"), a Network of Excellence funded by the European Commission through the 7th ICT-Framework Programme, and Spanish CICYT (TEC2006-13273-C03-03-MIC).
(a) Longitudinal section of the coupling (and sensing) area of the POF liquid sensor. (b) POF liquid sensor. (c) One arm sensor fiber after polishing.
(a) Photograph of the manufactured sensor device and zoom of the sensing area (left side); (b) Schematic of cross section of the fiber core before and after polishing.
POF sensor set-up for determination of liquid level in tanks.
Measurements of the sensor coupling ratio
Measurements of coupling ratio of the sensor, for different link losses (up to 4dB from set-up A to set-up D).
Temperature dependence of the coupling ratio of the sensor (from T = 25 °C to T = 50 °C).
Temperature dependence for different fiber status from T = 25 °C to T = 50 °C.


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Colleen Wheeler |
Monday, March 26, 2012
Did you know lynda.com unlocks a number of videos from each course we publish, so that even if you're not a member you can watch a sampling to find out whether a course is right for your learning needs? The result is a trove of free video tutorials in our library just waiting to be discovered. To help you make your way through these free movies, each Monday I'll post a themed round-up of five of my favorite videos here.
In this week's theme we'll be looking at videos that help you recognize value—either in your work, in your tools, or in yourself. Check out this selection of free videos pulled from the lynda.com library, and let us know in the comments section which videos your featured five list would include this week.
1. From our Invaluable series with Dave Crenshaw comes this third installment, Invaluable: Making Yourself Irreplaceable. In this movie titled Understanding Irreplaceablity and focus, from chapter one of the course, Dave explains how you can make yourself irreplaceable by identifying your most valuable activities, thus ensuring your position in your company. Once you've identified what makes you valuable, you can then focus on making sure you're concentrating on what protects your personal value at work.
For more episodes from the Invaluable series, check out our Business segment.
2. Although our new course Budgeting Video Projectsfocuses on strategies for those in the video business, this free video, Determining Rates for Services, from chapter two of the course, has salient advice that is valuable for anyone working on creative business endeavors. Pricing your services is often a balancing act between determining your value and staying competitive. To help with that task, Rich Harrington gives you an objective list of all the things you should be considering when setting your rates.
3. If you're trying to get the most value out of your tools, you may not feel like you're quite ready to make a full-fledged financial commitment to Photoshop or the professional version of Adobe Premeire. This week we have two new courses that discuss the Elements version of Photoshop and Adobe Premiere, which come at a fraction of their professional counterparts cost, but still provide solid photo- or video-editing power.
With our new Photoshop Elements 10 Essential Trainingcourse, you can get started with organized and sophisticated photo editing. In this free video, Cropping photos, from chapter 14 of the course, Jan Kabili will show you how to use one of the most straightforward photo techniques—cropping your photo—to remove distracting elements and fine-tune your composition.
4. If you're interested in getting started with video editing, our new course on Creating a Mini Documentary with Premiere Elements, will show beginning filmmakers how to create a simple mini-documentary from start to finish. In this free movie, Marking shots and adding clips to the Timeline, from chapter two of the course, you'll see how to bring your clips into your first assembly edit.
When you're ready to upgrade, or if your expertise requires more sophisticated tools from the get-go, you may find what you need in our library of Photoshop and Premiere Pro courses.
5. Finally, if you're interested in using the Facebook timeline to promote your business, or just keep your personal relationships going, we've updated chapter two of our Facebook Essential Training course to include this free tutorial, Understanding and managing your timeline.
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text:
There are several areas of his game he is keying on improving.
"I still need to work on my mid-range game, taking more control of the team near the end of the game," said Brice.
MBA Hoops coach Omhar Carter, who has helped coach Brice for several years, is impressed with his overall skill level and talent.
"Brice Rowe is a 6-3 guard who is strong, solid, runs your team and gets everyone in the spots they need to be in," said Carter. "He is a big enough guard that he poses a problem for smaller guards and he shoots the three well enough so that he stretches the defense."
Although he can play either point or the two, Brice feels most comfortable at the point.
"I was born and raised a point guard and have the point guard mentality," said the 6-3, 165-pounder. "I feel comfortable with the ball in my hands and feel I can make things happen."
As for as recruiting is concerned, Brice is receiving some attention.
"I have received interest from Southeastern Louisiana, Arkansas and Middle Tennessee but I feel I have blossomed late," said Brice, who is just 15-years-old. "That's part of the reason I didn't start getting recruiting attention until near the end of my 9th grade summer. I was younger than everybody (in my class) and didn't start catching up until the end of my 9th grade year when I started getting taller and bigger, more athletic."
With the AAU summer tournament circuit about to be in full swing, Brice is hoping his recruitment will rev up.
"Right now, I just want my ability to show and then see who shows interest in me," said Brice. "I'll then narrow it down to the schools that are recruiting me."
When he does start narrowing it down, he has a great idea what he'll be looking for in a school.
"I'll look for an environment where I can feel like I'm at home and where I like the coaching staff," said Brice. "I'll also look at their offense - I like a pick and roll offense, a free type offense - how productive they are, how many productive people they put out, what type facility they have. ."
Keep it on Scout.com for the latest news on Brice Rowe.
Gene Swindoll is the publisher of the GenesPage.com website, the source for Mississippi State sports on Scout.com sports network. You can contact him by emailing firstname.lastname@example.com.


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According to The International Cat Association, there are 55 breeds of cat that are allowed to compete on a championship level. The number of officially recognized breeds changes between organizations. TICA also points out that the number of breeds grows as new breeds are developed.Continue Reading
Catster says that there are some breeds that are more sought after than others. This site lists the top 10 cat breeds in the United States as the Persian, Maine Coon, Exotic, Siamese, Abyssinian, Ragdoll, Birman, American Shorthair, Oriental and Sphynx, respectively. The Persian has been at the top of the list since the Cat Fanciers Association started keeping records in 1871. Pet owners love the Persian breed due to its loyal and affectionate nature.
In 1992, the Maine Coon took second place on the Top 10 cat breeds list. Despite the large size of these cats, which often weigh between 15 and 25 pounds, they are extremely loving and gentle. Although Maine Coons have long fur like a Persian, these cats do not require as much grooming.
The Siamese breed fits well with pet owners who want more vocal cats. The cry of the Siamese is one of the easiest to recognize of any cat breed. These cats cry not only for attention but also to communicate with their owners. They often "talk" with their owners when they know they are being addressed.Learn more about Cats


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Eleven years of EPIRA-induced ever increasing power rates
Mendiola, Manila
June 8 2012
Protesting power privatization in Davao
|Photos courtesy of Kalikasan Partylist
News Release
Aquino cronies taking advantage of power
privatization at the people's expense
Press statement
As President Benigno Aquino III boasts of the
supposedly inclusive growth of the economy, the policies he implements
have been excluding the poor while further enriching the rich, including
his relatives and cronies. This is clearly illustrated in the case of the
Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira), which today marks its 11th
year of implementation.
Enacted on June 8, 2001 in compliance to
conditions set by foreign creditors Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the
World Bank, Epira, or the privatization and deregulation of the power
industry, is one of the most oppressive programs started by the Arroyo
administration. Aquino has faithfully embraced this flawed policy that has
been harming the people and the economy with exorbitant power rates and
energy insecurity. It is further proof that while promising reforms,
Aquino in reality is no different from his predecessor especially in terms
of economic programs and policies.
Today, the country is being saddled with the
most expensive power rates in Asia due to the privatization and
deregulation of electricity under Epira. From an average residential rate
of P4.87 per kWh in 2000, the rate of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco)
has ballooned to as much as P12.97 today – or an increase of more than 166
percent. There is no end in sight for the surge in power costs. This
month, Meralco is again hiking its rates by more than 54 centavos per kWh
to supposedly cover for increases in the generation charge. This is on top
of Meralco's separate petition to also hike its distribution, metering and
supply charges of 3.21 centavos per kWh, which will take effect in July
when approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
Instead of reconsidering Epira due to its
harmful effects on the people and the economy, the administration is
intent to complete its implementation. In Mindanao, where Epira is not yet
fully applied, Aquino has been pushing for the privatization of the
Agus-Pulangi hydropower complex despite resistance from various sectors
including local government units (LGUs). The President even said that
Mindanao has to accept higher power rates to supposedly address its
serious supply insecurity, unmindful of the fact that the region is
already paying for electricity rates which are much higher than those in
richer cities in Asia.
Who benefits from the privatization of the
power industry? Under Epira, only three groups now control about 52% of
the country's total generating capacity – San Miguel Corporation (SMC) of
Aquino's uncle, Danding Cojuangco (20%); and First Gen. Corp. of the
Lopezes (17%) and energy firms held by the Aboitizes (15%) – both
long-time and close allies of the Aquino family. These families also own
the biggest distribution utilities (DUs) in the country. SMC and the
Lopezes control Meralco, together with Manny Pangilinan, who is Aquino's
point person in clinching business deals with American companies, being
the founding co-chairman of the newly-formed US-Philippines Society. The
Aboitiz family, meanwhile, controls the dominant DUs in the Visayas and
Mindanao – the Visayan Electric Co. (Veco) and Davao Light and Power Co.
By promoting the Epira, Aquino is creating an
even more favorable condition for these families to further milk the
people dry through ever increasing electricity rates. This belies Aquino's
oft-repeated claim that his government is pushing for political and
economic reforms that will benefit the people under his much-hyped "daang
matuwid". In reality, it is business as usual for the rich and powerful
under Aquino, at the great expense of the people, especially the poor.
We reiterate our demand for policy makers to junk Epira and reverse the privatization and deregulation of the power sector. In the immediate, the Agus-Pulangi complex in Mindanao and the remaining power plants of the National Power Corporation should not be sold to profit-seeking private investors. Rate increases should also be stopped pending the legislation of a new law that will scrap the Epira and will effectively regulate the power industry, including the setting of reasonable rates. #
Ever increasing rates from the EPIRA
A closer look at the electric power industry in the Philippines
Electric power is a basic need for households and industry. But despite being rich in potential energy sources such as geothermal, hydropower, coal, oil, and natural gas, the country was plunged into darkness because of 8 to 10 hr blackouts in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The government's solution is to privatize the power industry. But far from benefiting power consumers, this has led to exorbitant increases in power rates. Worse, consumers are now hostages of IPPs shouldering even the losses of these companies.
By Dr. Giovanni Tapang, Engr. Ramon Ramirez, Kim Gargar
(This was published online by the Inquirer, January 29, 2005 and published also in Bulatlat in its Febaruary 2005 issue.)
Electric power is a basic service that is needed by households in everyday activities and is equally important for industries to operate. The failure of the government to provide electric power was evident when the country faced massive blackouts in the late 1980s and early 1990s due to a shortage of power supply.
The response of the government to this power crisis was not to build the necessary infrastructure to meet the demand but to contract out power generation to independent power producers or IPPs. Furthermore, it has made steps to privatize the whole power industry effectively abandoning its role in providing electric power services and opening up the power industry to private companies.
The EPIRA and the privatization of power
Historical background
During the late 18th century, the hacienda system had expanded the control of land by Spain and this spurred massive plantations of export crops like tobacco, sugarcane, abaca, etc. In order to hasten the exchange of goods and extraction of raw materials, transportation and communication facilities were developed. They constructed steamships, roads, more efficient seaports, railroads, and so on.
During the later part of 19th century, due to the urgent need of Spain, the first power corporation was born in the Philippines, the La Electricista that had 10 60-KW AC steam generators.
When the United States (US) replaced Spain in colonizing the Philippines in 1898 through the Treaty of Paris, it did not change our economic orientation but increased the amount of commercial crops and raw materials for export. Manufacturing and processing industries like sugar centrals, coconut oil refineries, rope factories, and other industries necessary for extracting and exporting raw materials from the Philippines were maintained.
In 1903, the Manila Electric Railroad and Light Company (MERALCO) was established to provide rail transportation and electric services in Manila. In 1905, after being awarded a 50-year franchise, MERALCO took over La Electricista's business and its first 2,250-KW power plant was commissioned.
A year after the establishment of Philippine Commonwealth Government in 1935, the Commonwealth Act No. 120 creating the National Power Corporation or NPC as a non-stock, government-owned corporation was passed. After two decades, NPC became a stock corporation through RA 2641.
In 1972, two months after Martial Law was declared, PD 40 was enacted. This mandated NPC to construct generation and transmission facilities in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Moreover, NPC was tasked to own and operate a single integrated network for all power-generating facilities nationwide.
When NPC bought MERALCO's thermal power plants in 1979 and this plant was integrated in the Luzon power grid, the total generation capacity of NPC increased by 90% and this made NPC the country's dominant producer and supplier of electricity.
In 1987, EO 215 signed by President Corazon Aquino effectively deregulated the power generation sector. This was to fulfill the government's commitment to prepare the groundwork for the eventual privatization of the NPC as pushed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The first build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract allowed by the EO was signed in 1988 with Hopewell, a Hong Kong-based firm, to construct and operate a 210-MW power plant (Navotas I).
The issues surrounding the privatization of NPC are mostly related to the power crisis and due to the government's failure to address this critical shortfall in power supply. By 1991, the 6- to 10-hour daily blackouts were costing the Philippine economy an estimated $1 billion in lost output annually. To stave off the crisis, RA 7638 or the Department of Energy Act of 1992 was enacted to create the Department of Energy (DOE). DOE was tasked to develop and update the existing Philippine Energy Program (PEP) which shall provide for an integrated and comprehensive exploration, development, utilization, distribution and conservation of energy resources. As its policy response to the power crisis, RA 7648 or the Electric Power Crisis Act was enacted in the same year that the DOE was created. This further opened the door for the entry of private power corporations. DOE was tasked to boost the entry of these private firms in construction and operation of power plants.
The Electric Power Industry Reform Act or the EPIRA
Due to the pressure of creditors on the Philippine government to fast track the privatization of the power sector before the release of power reform program loans to finance the country's power development program, the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, or the EPIRA, was railroaded by Congress and signed into law by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2001. The law was passed despite opposition from the people. EPIRA was the first major piece of legislation passed by the Arroyo regime, five months after EDSA 2. Power sector reforms and the sale of NPC to private business were long standing recommendations of the IMF. These recommendations were part of the structural reform program the country has to implement as a pre-condition for more loans. At that time, the country was trying to avail of loans from the Japan Export-Import Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the World Bank (WB).
The EPIRA seeks to restructure the electricity industry and privatize the National Power Corporation or the NAPOCOR. The government's objective in privatizing NAPOCOR is to cut losses from loans and pass on the burden of power infrastructure investment to the private sector, while earning revenues from the sale.
Contrary to what has been promised during the passage of the law, the EPIRA has not caused any real decrease in power rates. Aside from the initial and fleeting 30 centavo Power Act reduction, there has been no decrease in power rates due to the EPIRA. Instead, the EPIRA has legitimized the onerous Purchased Power Adjustments from contracts entered into by the NAPOCOR. Even with the anticipated establishment of the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM) which would purportedly be the mechanism to identify and set the prices between sellers and buyers of electricity, the onerous bilateral contracts between distribution utilities and power suppliers would still be honored.
Cross subsidy removal would translate to an increase in power rates to residential consumers which by numbers would dominate the end-users of electricity. Even with discount schemes within customer classes, the removal of subsidies would at the least translate to a 71 centavo increase within 3 years. Note that this increase would already render useless the 30 centavo rate reduction.
The EPIRA was designed to reform the power industry not for the benefit of end users but for foreign transnational corporations. The various highlights of the EPIRA ranging from the creation of the National Transmission Company (TRANSCO), the Power Sector Asset and Liabilities Management corporation (PSALM), the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM), the unbundling of power rates and the various codes and rules implemented under the EPIRA are designed to segregate each saleable part of NAPOCOR, make it attractive to investors and create structures and offices to facilitate these transactions.
Furthermore, the EPIRA makes the national government assume P 200 B worth of NAPOCOR debts to make it viable for sale. This P200 B however would be recovered as stranded debts in future bills to end users. NPC debts will appear as part of the universal charge to be passed on to consumers.
EPIRA integrates the independent power producers (IPP) and their onerous contracts into the whole power industry. These IPPs and the contracts entered into by the government and distribution utilities are the source of the PPA or the purchased power adjustment. The PPA remains to be a large part of electric power rates of end-users albeit under different names. With the unbundling scheme ordered by the ERC, the PPA was hidden and distributed in the various line items in the new electric bill such as the generation charge, the transmission charge, system loss charges, subsidies and franchise taxes.
These IPPs are mostly owned by foreign transnational corporations in partnership with big local power tycoons. At least twenty two out of the 41 IPPs are largely foreign owned. Five are partly or wholly owned by the Lopez family which also owns Meralco, and some others by regional distribution utilities. In the findings of an inter-agency committee tasked to review IPP contracts, only six out of 35 contracts were found to be without any legal or financial issues. The rest were supposed to be renegotiated by the government. Privatization actually facilitates the entry and control of national economies by foreign TNCs who, at present, are the dominant players among the IPPs. Only these foreign TNCs alongside a number of local power tycoons (Lopez, Aboitiz, Alcantara, etc) have the financial capacity to operate and maintain power generation, transmission and distribution, and even buy out the Napocor.
Excluding the US, Philippine IPP capacity exceeds that put up over the rest of the world combined, in terms of installed capacity. This would continue to increase with the full implementation of the EPIRA and the privatization of power generation.
The EPIRA brings about the exploitation and plunder of our natural resources for the benefit of these foreign companies. Far from improving our electric power independence by promoting indigenous energy sources, EPIRA has reduced taxes and royalties for those exploiting our resources. The EPIRA provides for the equalization of taxes and royalties on the exploitation of natural energy sources, which simply means the removal of taxes for the IPPs. Lost revenues due to the removal of royalties will be passed on to the consuming public via the universal charge. Under the bill to increase VAT rates to 12% being discussed in Congress, IPPs are already being exempted despite the fact that these companies are paying only 3% of their revenues as taxes.
In addition, the power of eminent domain, as provided for in the act (Sections 6 and 12), grants transmission and distribution companies prior rights over the country's land resources and thus may evict the occupants or owners of the land in question. The dislocation of the indigenous peoples (IPs) from their ancestral domain and of other peasant settlers with the construction of power plants and other development projects over their claimed territories has been well documented
The EPIRA favors power industry players over consumer interests. It legitimizes the passing on of costs of power generation to end users. For example, the system loss charges appearing on electricity bills, passes on the inefficiency of distribution utilities to end users. Other line items in the unbundled bill such as the missionary electrification and environmental charges pass on the costs of installing new electric power lines and the environmental maintenance of power utilities to the general public. Stranded costs and debts by both the NAPOCOR and power utilities are also to be recovered from the general public under the item universal charge.
The EPIRA has put as policy the full recovery of "prudent and reasonable" economic costs of a distribution utility. As a result, distribution utilities now recover and pass on currency fluctuations, fuel cost fluctuations as well as contract obligations (PPA) to the end-users. The mechanisms approved by the ERC such as the Generation Rate Adjustment Mechanism (GRAM) and the Incremental Currency Exchange Rate Adjustment (ICERA) are concrete examples of these. The power industry will be a risk-free business because of all these pass-on charges.
The unbundled rates, even with the discounts, hit the smallest end users hardest. Small end users, even with the 50% discounted rates, still pay 159% more than their real electricity costs. Higher users of electricity would pay from 120% (100 kWh) to double (more than 500 kWh) their real electric costs.
The EPIRA has not brought about and will not bring about a stable electricity supply to the whole country. In 2003, the total installed capacity in the country was 13,380 megawatts, of which 11,191 megawatts is the actual dependable capacity. Current peak demand is 67% of dependable capacity or 7,497 megawatts. The Philippines has an excess capacity of around 11% factoring buffer requirements. This has changed in 2004, where the country's total installed generation capacity stood at 15,763 MW and its dependable capacity at 14,008 MW. Our peak demand is 9,069 MW and thus overall, we have the capacity to provide for our electricity needs. However, interconnections of major islands are needed to distribute this power capacity throughout the country.
It is indeed true that the construction of power plants will still have to continue but the government, through the EPIRA, makes sure that the IPPs will play a key role in providing electricity. However, there is no guarantee that IPPs would maintain a power plant in the long run. As soon as the location becomes a liability to the private company's profit margins, they can and will shut down operations. This can be seen in the threats some years ago of the Cebu based Cebu Private Power Corp (CPPC) that it will shut down operations of its 65 MW plant due to financial constraints further aggravating the projected shortage in the Visayas. Such moves make the development and industrialization of our country hostage to the whims and profit margins of the private industry players.
Why are power rates so high?
Energy is a necessary factor for industrialization and the Philippines is rich in a variety of fossil and renewable energy sources. Despite this, no significant industrialization activity has taken place in the country. If we look at the distribution of energy sales (1999), 90.8% of the total energy sales go to households and small businesses (residential and commercial) while only 8.2% come from sales to industries.
This implies two things: that the country lacks industries to utilize the production of energy and it is the relatively smaller consumers of electric power (mostly households and commercial buildings) that are most affected by rate increases.
In December 2004, a consumer will pay at least 28% more in electricity bills compared to December 2003. A household consuming 150 kWh per month will effectively be paying P7.20 per kWh in December 2004 compared to P5.61/kWh in December 2003. The 28% increase is mainly due to the provisional authority granted by the Energy Regulatory Commission to the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR), for increases in transmission rates, previous adjustments in generation rates due to the Generation Rate Adjustment Mechanism or GRAM as well as adjustments in the currency exchange rates. Those with 70 and 100 kWh monthly usage are going to pay 23 % and 22% more, respectively.
The EPIRA mandates the unbundling of rates for generation and distribution utilities. The unbundling of rates is consistent with the privatization thrust of the EPIRA wherein the power sector is segregated into generation, transmission and distribution sectors in order to determine the profitability of each. The unbundling of rates also aims to show the "true cost of power" and has thus been used as a vehicle for increases in power rates. When Meralco unbundled its rates in 2003, this resulted in an increase of 17 centavos/kWh.
With the unbundling of rates, customers now see the different components of the electric bill, such as generation charges, transmission charges, systems losses, distribution charges, meter charge, franchise taxes and other add-ons under the universal charge. Notice that the PPA no longer appears in the monthly bills. Still, power rates remain at a record high.
Comparative Rates for December 2003 and 2004
The so-called discounts for users with monthly consumption of less than 100 kWh are deceptive to say the least. Those using 50 kWh will be paying 36% more this year. These discounts are in reality paid for by other consumers and not by the government or Meralco.
Compared to1990, when the average cost of power was P1.83/kWh, the cost of electricity now amounts to at least P5.58, a 300% increase.
Source: 5th status report on EPIRA Implementation, May 2004-October 2004, Department of Energy
The Purchased Power Adjustment (PPA) and IPPs
With the mothballing of the 650-megawatt US$2.2-billion Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in the mid-1980s, no buffer for increased power demand by industries and households was constructed nor planned. By the early 1990s, this resulted in daily 8 to 12-hour blackouts. Citing lack of sufficient funds to construct power generation facilities to adequately meet present and future demands, the Ramos administration enticed foreign and private-sector investors into the country's electric power industry using such measures as the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) program.
By 1998, an estimated US$6 billion was spent by IPPs to construct and operate power generation facilities with a total capacity of 4,800 MW. A year after, half of total energy sales in the country were already sourced from IPPs. As of December 2001, Napocor's IPPs accounted for 31%, or 3,667 MW, of the total generating capacity and non-Napocor IPPs (such as those owned by the Lopezes, First Gas and Quezon power) provided the remaining 1,168MW or 10% of the total generation capacity.
This generation capacity was not obtained cheaply. With the onerous take-or-pay provisions, Napocor has to pay the IPPs the capacity for generation whether or not power was actually generated. Higher rates resulted from the NPC's recovery of these losses through the controversial Purchased Power Adjustment (PPA). By June 2002, the PPA constituted more than half of the electricity charges paid by consumers.
Additional costs are incurred when Napocor has to deliver fuel on-site to provide tax-exemptions for the IPPs. Furthermore, contracts are dollar-denominated, making Napocor obligations vulnerable to foreign exchange fluctuations.
Due to massive protests and public outrage over the PPA, President Arroyo ordered in May 2002 the suspension of NPC's PPA collections, limiting it to only 40 cents/kWh from the previous P1.25/kwh. NAPOCOR sustained losses amounting to P29B per year since 2002 because of its failure to collect its PPA. The President's actions resulted in an artificial lowering of rates which would later be negated by NPC's rate increase.
Many of the losses incurred by the NPC were due to obligations to IPPs. Firms such as KEPCO, Edison Global, Mirant and others billed us for 27.27 billion kWh while only delivering 19.15 Billion kWh in 2002. We paid around 30% more of what we actually consumed.
The Generation Rate Adjustment Mechanism (GRAM)
The GRAM was designed essentially as a replacement for the recovery of the PPA. Like the PPA, it is also a monthly automatic cost recovery mechanism but this time without the notoriety that the PPA has earned.
The ERC in its approval of the unbundling of Meralco rates has acknowledged that
"The current PPA is allocated between the generation and transmission rates. The generation component shall be periodically updated through the Generation Rate Adjustment Mechanism (GRAM)."
-ERC Order dated 30 May 2003, page 9
For example, Meralco's generation charge continues to increase because of GRAM recoveries. Meralco merely has to submit records of purchases from their IPPs and they are allowed to recover extra costs, without need of hearings and verification from the ERC. Consumers can be automatically billed for electricity that was not delivered, so long as the onerous contracts remain.
Thus with the unbundling of rates, the PPA is now being paid for under five new line items in the electricity bill as diagrammed below:
Recovery of foreign currency exchange losses through the ICERA
Automatic recovery of losses, designed and approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission, such as the ICERA or the incremental currency exchange rate adjustment, is another burden on the people. The ICERA is a risk-free formula for power monopolies because it insulates them from any foreign exchange fluctuations.
Reduction of cross-subsidies
Residential consumers paid an additional 28.52 centavos/kWh starting October 2004 because of the 40% reduction of the interclass cross subsidy. The EPIRA mandates that all subsidies will have to be removed within 3 to 10 years, with the lifeline rate subsidy for consumers using less than 100 kWh being the last to go. By October 2005, residential consumers will have to pay an additional 42.78 centavos/kWh and lifeline consumers will lose their discounts around 2010. The total removal of inter-class subsidies will result in an increase of 71.30 centavos/kWh.
The mathematics of power rate discounts: The poor subsidizing the poorer
Malacanang's attempt to cushion the blow of the hefty power rate increases on the poor is through the so-called 50-percent lifeline rate discount. This subsidy is taken from 65% of the customer base and is not due to any concern or interest of our government to alleviate the burden of rate hikes on consumers. It is more of a case of the poor subsidizing the poorer. Commercial and industrial electricity users pass on the costs of these subsidies as price increases to consumers.
For example, given a test month in 2003, Meralco lost P134,923,561 due to discounts for consumers using 100kWh or less. However, Meralco was able to collects 7.61 centavos/kWh from the residential consumers using 101 kWh and above and from commercial and industrial consumers. Given the total kWh consumption of these consumers in one month multiplied by 7.61 cents/kWh and we get P152,474,582. This is P17,551,021 more than what they lost from the discounts.
Presently, consumers using 100 kWh and below get the following discounts:
These discounts apply to the generation, system loss, distribution, metering and supply charges. The above is called by its technical term, lifeline rate subsidy. Those using above 100 kWh presently pay an additional 7.61 centavos per kWh that is used to subsidize the lifeline consumers who are using less than 100 KWh (which is really a case of one section of consumers subsidizing another section of the consumers).
In this discount scheme, Meralco, NPC and President Arroyo are happy since they earn brownie points while hiding the reality that none of them shelled out any centavo to alleviate the burden of high electricity rates.
Other recovery mechanisms
In summary, the PPA has not been removed. It has been hidden within the generation charge, the transmission charge, the system loss charge, franchise tax and other charges. If the PPA were truly gone, electric bills should have gone down by 50%.
Power consumers would have to prepare for the eventual imposition of the Transmission Rate Adjustment Mechanism (TRAM) which would pass off the costs of transmission companies to the people, similar to the function of GRAM. Any changes in the cost of the transmission of electricity through the transmission towers will be shouldered by the people.
The other "pass-through" charges are also really pass-on costs to consumers. Generation charges are computed with a 60-40 mix of National Power Corp. (Napocor) and Meralco power plants. About 53 percent of this cost is remitted to Meralco's independent power producers (IPPs), most of which charge nearly twice as much per kilowatt-hour as Napocor plants.
The systems loss, including pilfered power and the electricity used by Meralco offices and facilities, is passed on to us at a rate of 69.65 centavos per kWh. Because of this, Meralco's technical system loss (i.e. excluding pilferage) has not been reduced for the past years. This means Meralco has not seriously tried to become more efficient. But it goes after pilferers since they can recover twice of their losses, once from the pass-on cost as part of the systems loss charge, and another courtesy of the Anti-Pilferage act which allows them to charge the households the estimated cost of their pilferage.
More pass-on charges include the metering charge and franchise and local taxes. Other pass-on costs are under universal charges, which include many other components such as the missionary and environmental charge. The missionary charge is a compulsory contribution to a fund to be used for electrifying remote barangays because no businessmen would like to invest in those areas where there are only a few customers. But why are we charged for a job the government should be doing?
This is also true of environmental charges. Why are we charged for the havoc that the generation plants of Napocor or these IPPs do to the environment?
Unbundling has increased power rates and it will continue to increase because of the new charges, the passing on of the P200-billion stranded cost and debt recoveries of the NPC and the eventual removal of subsidies. All these mean higher electric rates for all.
Electric cooperatives
An electric coop (or REC, or rural electric
cooperative, the legal nomenclature used) is owned and
An REC can be either a non-profit
non-stock or a stock coop. In a stock coop, the member/consumers own
stocks and can be paid out dividends when a profit is made. Sorsogon
Electric Cooperative II is an example of a stock coop where the member
consumers buy stocks on monthly installments, many at P5.00 per month up
to a certain maximum.
Since distribution is still regulated
under the EPIRA, a coop must file for its power rates with the ERC (Energy
Regulatory Commission) before it can bill its customers. In its
application for power rates (or tariff) the coop factors in its O&M
(operation and maintenance) expenses, a reinvestment fund (for upgrades
and expansion), other expenses that may be allowed by the ERC, and the
desired RORB (Return on Rate Base) which is the provision for profit so
that members can have dividends. If the coop is non-profit, non-stock
there is no such provision so that the power rate would be lower. Normally
though member/consumers of stock coops would not mind a higher electricity
rate because they would share in the profit.
The role of foreign interests in the privatization of the power industry
It was not a secret that President Arroyo railroaded the signing of the EPIRA due to pressure by creditors on the Philippine government before they release the power reform program loans to finance the country's power development program. The recent NPC application for rate increase was also clearly due to a pressure from the creditors of the NPC.
Interestingly, the training of staff, the website as well as some of the consultants of the ERC are provided for or have links with AGILE, a USAID program that seeks to facilitate liberalization of our economy.
According to US Department of Energy, "the Philippines is important to world energy markets because it is a growing consumer of energy, particularly electric power, and a major potential market for foreign energy firms."
Energy sources of the Philippines
The Energy Information Administration of the Department of Energy of the US has enumerated the following main sources of energy in the Philippines: geothermal, hydropower, coal, oil, and natural gas. All of these contribute to the country's energy production, which is concentrated in the electricity sector.
Oil production in the country remains flat and far below oil consumption. Oil consumption on the other hand has been increasing since 1986 up to the present. Despite small proven oil reserves, companies, like Australia-based Nido Petroleum (formerly Sydney Oil Company Drilling and Exploration), that are into oil explorations in the northwest and southwest Palawan Basin, the Cagayan Basin, and other small concessions elsewhere in the country believes that significant quantities of oil may be recoverable.
The Philippines has 2.8 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves. In the largest natural gas development project in the country and one of the largest-ever foreign investments in the country, Shell Philippines Exploration (operator, with a 45% stake), Texaco (45%), and the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC, 10%) has tapped the Malampaya natural gas field's estimated 2.5 trillion-cubic-feet reserves. Gas from Malampaya will fire three power plants with a combined 2,700-MW capacity for the next twenty years, and could replace as much as 50% of the oil that the Philippines currently imports for power generation.
Coal is the Philippines' largest source of fossil energy production but 82% (1998) of total coal consumption is imported.
Geothermal power accounts for the country's largest share of indigenous energy production, followed by hydropower, coal, and oil and gas. The Philippines is the world's second largest producer of geothermal power, after the United States. The country is located in the volcanically active "Ring of Fire". As of April 2000, Geothermal power makes up around 17% of the Philippines' installed generation capacity, most of which has been developed by the Philippine National Oil Company-Energy Development Corporation (PNOC-EDC).
The Philippines does have significant amounts of hydroelectric potential. The most notable development, the Agus units, has been built at the Maria Cristina Falls on northern Mindanao, which makes for 32% of the country's total hydroelectric power as of December 1999. Hydroelectric power on Luzon accounts for the largest share to the total hydroelectric power generation (1,280 MW, 56%).
According to EIA, electricity demand is expected to grow almost 9% per year until 2009, necessitating almost 10,000 MW of newly-installed electric capacity. As of 1999, the total electric power generation is 12,050 MW. The National Power Corporation (Napocor) provides a total of 5,400 MW (45%) of electricity while various independent power producers (IPPs) provide the remaining 6,650 MW.
Southern Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Electric Power Asia Ltd. (CEPA) of Great Britain, is the Philippines' largest IPP and operates five power plants in the country. Southern's new coal-fired Sual plant began commercial operation in late 1999. The 1,218-MW plant is about 130 miles north of Manila and reportedly is the nation's largest electricity producer. Napocor is the sole purchaser of Sual electricity.
Texas-based El Paso Energy International and Hawaiian Electric Industries in February 2000 formed a 50-50 joint venture to own and operate five power plants now owned by East Asia Power Resources Corporation, a public Philippine company. The total generation capacity of the venture's holdings will be 390 MW. The plants are located in Manila and Cebu.
Actually, there is an oversupply of power generated by the Napocor power plants and those of the IPPs combined. Honoring its Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with the IPPs, the NPC had to retire the operations of its power generating plants to accommodate the higher priced power generated by the IPPs.
Indeed, the Philippines is rich in energy sources and it seems that explorations for such resources is endless. In late 1999, the Philippine and Spanish governments agreed to a plan whereby Spain would assist in bringing solar power to some of the Philippines' rural areas. Finland plans to help fund a project to electrify 10,000 homes in the rural Antipolo area with methane generated by the San Mateo landfill, following the landfill's December 2000 closure. In cooperation with the Netherlands, the Philippine government is planning to expand its wind energy capacity. DOST estimates that wind resources could generate 70,000 MW of power.
Power to the people
The Philippines' rich energy sources did not result to economic prosperity for the Filipino people. The EPIRA has only resulted into ever increasing power rates, the plunder of our natural resources, the intensifying control of foreign TNCs over our power industry and our economic development as a whole. Furthermore, it has shown the vulnerability of the government to pressure and dictates of huge foreign banks and financial institutions
In the case of power, water and fuel, the role of a public utility is to generate or procure these resources, deliver and distribute it to the public. In the case of transportation and telecommunications services, the public utility provides the infrastructure and means that enable people to take advantage of the goods and services inherent to the utility. Power, water and fuel utilities provide access to electricity, water and fuel to households and industry. These utilities should be accessible and affordable to the people. Limiting access by increasing the costs of these services would make, in general, daily activities more difficult for the people.
Nationalization of public utilities is important since these public utilities are strategic in nature to the development of the country. It provides the necessary infrastructure and support to the people's daily activities and industrial growth. If these industries are left to foreign monopoly control, whose interest is to recoup their investment and rake in profits--- we would lose quality of service. The people will be faced with an unending increase in utility costs and our national interest would be compromised.
In particular, electric power is a basic service that should be provided to the people and is an indispensable factor required in genuine industrialization. The government's excuse of having no funds to build the requirements of the power industry is a false claim because it can shell out hundreds of billions of pesos to debt servicing and military spending. Furthermore, it gives numerous incentives and sweetheart deals to foreign investors.
The privatization and deregulation of electric power by the EPIRA runs counter to the interests of the Filipino people. Government should invest in and develop the power sector to serve national industrialization and development. It has been argued that government is inefficient and corrupt and thus makes it incapable of running the power industry. The call for nationalization must also go hand in hand with the struggle for good governance, whereby the government truly represents and upholds the interests of the people. Furthermore, alternative sources of power that are low-cost and environment friendly should be promoted and developed.
The government should pursue genuine nationalization of the power industry instead of neoliberal power reform if it is truly serious about bringing down the electric power rates. Posted by Bulatlat
1. Energy Information Administration, US Department of Energy, http://www.eia.doe.gov
2. PNOC-Energy Development Corporation, http://www.energy.com.ph
3. Compton's Encyclopedia Online 1998
4. FAQ Sheet on House Bill No. 8457, Committee on Energy, House of Representatives
5. Complete privatization of Napocor: private power, IBON Special Release 38, October 1998
6. Power reform or privatization, IBON Special Release 52, April 2000
7. Ang Panganib ng Pribatisasyon, prepared by ACT, AHW, COURAGE, CONTEND, and HEAD for the People's Summit, July 19, 2001
8. Meralco Employees and Workers Association Press Release, May 26, 2001
9. Power play causes delay, article by Marcelo E. de la Cruz and Pablo C. Villasenor
10. 5th status report on EPIRA Implementation, May 2004-October 2004, Department of Energy
11. AGHAM files and press releases
About the authors:
Dr. Giovanni Tapang is the chairperson of the scientist group Agham and is one of the convenors of the People Opposed to Warrantless Electricity Rates (POWER). He teaches at the National Institute of Physics in UP Diliman.
Engr. Ramon Ramirez has been an activist for three decades now and was a former political detainee. He too is a member of Agham and a convenor of POWER. Ramirez topped the electrical engineering board exams in 1967.
Kim Gargar is a member of Agham who graduated magna cum laude from the UP National Institute of Physics, He is currently the chair of the Department of Physics at the Mindanao Polytechnic State College.
Download article in Word format
Protesting power privatization in Davao
Video and photos by Karlos Manlupig
Davao residents protest privatization of power; urge scrapping of EPIRA
By VERA
Files | The
Inbox – 12
hours ago
He said the power rate in Mindanao is relatively cheaper compared to Visayas and Luzon because of the affordable power generation of these hydropower plants.
Mindanao Development Authority Chairwoman Luwalhati Antonino said that the cheap energy being generated by the existing hydroelectric power plants in Mindanao is a comparative advantage to other regions on the country.
The protesters criticized the implementation of EPIRA as a signal of the total sell-out of the energy resources in the country to private corporations.
He added that when the law was enacted, it was presented as a safety mechanism that would ensure that power rates in the country are reasonable. However, Morales said that the country, most particularly the people of Mindanao, have witnessed successive power rate increases.
"Scrap EPIRA and nationalize our power industry. This industry must serve the interest of the people and not the interest of big companies," he said.


text:
Our inn features:
Four Private Cottages, each with two bedrooms, 2 baths, living room, woodburning fireplace, refrigerator, microwave and TV/VCR.
Eighteen rooms or suites in the Inn
Legendary dining and fully licensed pub with extensive wine list
Red clay tennis court (summers)
Olympic sized pool ( in season)
Game room and Pool table
Couples, families, children, pets are all welcome at Seesaw's!
The Legend
Johnny Seesaw's was built in 1920 by Russian logger, Ivan Sesow. Sesow called his enterprise "The Wonderview Log Pavilion" and began the legend with his wild Saturday night dances, homemade moonshine and rumored sin cabins out back. Throughout the roaring 20's, thanks to
Prohibition, few lawmen and many loggers, "the Legend of Johnny Seesaw's" continued to grow. Around 1930, Sesow apparently bet the dance hall in one of his famous poker games, and lost. The buildings were sold and remained unused for some eight years.
In 1938 Bill and Mary Parrish bought the run-down property, constructed bunkrooms, installed plumbing, electricity, a kitchen and central furnace, and renamed one of the first ski lodges in the United States "Johnny Seesaw's." For the next four decades Johnny Seesaw's catered to thousands of skiers including a President of the United States, the first aviator to cross the Atlantic, Charles Lindbergh, and a bevy of famous and infamous personalities. At the beginning of World War II the concept of army ski troops originated at Johnny Seesaw's and eventually became the 10th Mountain Division. For forty years, Seesaw's, a renowned Ivy League hangout, offered lodging by referral only. If you didn't know someone who had stayed here, you didn't stay here.
In 1980 the lodge was purchased by Gary Okun. Now open to almost everyone, Johnny Seesaw's still offers the ambiance and magic of a twenties roadhouse. Join us and become part of the Legend.
For reservation information please contact:
Johnny Seesaw's, A Country Inn
3574 Vermont Route 11
P.O. Box 68
Peru, Vermont 05152
802-824-5533 or 800-424-CSAW
email email@example.com


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Fire Emblem - Monshou no Nazo (Japan) [En by RPGuy96 v0.98] (~Fire Emblem - Mystery of the Emblem) ROM
Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) ROMsGenre: StrategyRole-Playing
Rating: CERO: A
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Fire Emblem: Monshou no Nazo(otherwise known as Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem)is a Japanese tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on January 21, 1994. It was the first Fire Emblem title for the Nintendo Super Famicom and the first twenty-four-megabit cartridge for the system. The game is divided into two distinct parts, or books. Book One is a remake of the original Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Ken, and Book Two is a continuation of events, following the same characters. In 1996 KSS released an anime OVA, Fire Emblem, based on Monshou no Nazo. Fire Emblem: Monshou no Nazo was released in Japan on the Wii's Virtual Console service on December 26, 2006. A remake of Book 2 titled as Fire Emblem: Shin Monsh� no Nazo(Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem) ~Hikari to Kage no Eiyuu~ was released in Japan on July 15, 2010, for the Nintendo DS.
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Junior Trey Thompkins, who scored 25 points in the Bulldogs 77-70 win over Kentucky Saturday, does the best job breaking down the level of emotion Mark Fox expected his team to play at against the Wildcats.
"Everybody was geeked up and ready to go, but we're also at even keel because we don't want to be too high and burn out when we get out on the court," Thompkins said. "We don't want to be too low and get down and have to fight back. I think we did a great job with emotion."
"We told ourselves we had to get to the magical level," Thompkins continued. "Coach tells us that all the time. Don't want to be too high, don't want to be too low because these are the types of games we need if we're going to make a run into the tournament."
The win over the Wildcats was arguably the biggest of Fox' tenure. And the victory helped vault the Bulldogs into the Associated Press Top 25. Georgia, making it's season debut at No. 24, hasn't been ranked in over eight years.
But Fox and his players aren't surprised about the ranking. They expected to be highly thought of by now. The, "magical level," isn't just about the way Georgia plays in each game. The level is about how the team is perceived. It's about how the players carry themselves.
"I think what's different is last year we had to play a little bit out of character," Fox said. "We talked about this year if we just play well we're going to be good enough to have a chance to win. I got to give our kids credit, they played with maturity."
Words like maturity, experience and even keeled help construct Fox' magical level of approach and play.
Heading into Saturday's game, Kentucky was ranked 10th in the nation. The Wildcats were a 5-point favorite. And they've got one of the most known coaches in the nation.
Despite all the tradition and headlines, Georgia outplayed Kentucky most of the game. And the biggest note: The Bulldogs expected to.
"We feel like we should be in the same talk as these other teams because we work hard every day," Thompkins said. "Every day we come in and lay it on the line."
After building a double-digit lead in the first half, Fox told his team they were ready to start playing with teams like Kentucky.
"We talked a lot at the half about the fact that we're mature enough to play two halves," he said. "We're mature enough to withstand a run that we know they're going to make. And that we're an older team now, and we should be able to finish this game if we play the game right."
There was a moment of adversity in the triumph. Kentucky did make the run Fox told his team they were going to make. Georgia, after blowing an 11-point halftime lead, trailed 56-55 with nine minutes to play.
"We got a little emotional, but then we were able to settle down and were able to get some rebounds and some stops," Fox said.
After settling back into the "magical level," Georgia outscored Kentucky 22-14 over down the stretch. Even recruits in attendance could feel Georgia's mental fortitude.
"I like how when they get in a tough situation nobody panics," 2012 Southwest DeKalb prospect Shaq Goodwin said.
Sure, Georgia got a couple of wins over ranked opponents last season. But those wins were surprising. Those wins were a statement from an upstart program trying to get noticed.
"Yeah, last year we didn't quite have what it took to win these types of games," Thompkins said. "This year we're a year older. We got guys who have been through wars and who know how to handle the emotions of these types of games."
Saturday's win should not have come as a surprise to many. Granted, the Bulldogs were an underdog according to the line. But with six experienced upperclassmen leading the way, the team's goals are bigger than single victories.
"I think it might make a statement," said junior guard Gerald Robinson. "It should make a statement. But I don't feel like people should overlook us too much anyway, especially after the foundation that we set last year. I feel like we have good players and a good conference. I feel like people will pay a lot more attention now."
This Georgia team has it's sights set on winning the East, winning the conference and playing well into March.
And considering what the program did—or did not do—the past eight years, that would be a magical level of success to achieve.


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A PIECE of the town's sporting heritage is up for grabs this Saturday.
And the Warrington Guardian's own historic building The Academy was among the first to get a piece of the Wilderspool pitch planted in its grounds.
The Wolves Foundation has dug up 1935 pieces of Wilderspool turf representing the numbers of games played and plan to plant around the town, remembering and reviving memories.
This Saturday 500 pieces will be available as part of the One Community Day being held at The Halliwell Jones Stadium for supporters to collect.
The Jack Fish corner will be open to the public from 11am to view the timeline and collect a piece of history and certificate of authenticity.
The day will see the Rugby League Management Board launch its vision for the future, while youngsters from ages seven to 10 take part in rugby festival on the pitch.
For more information contact Foundation offices on 48894.


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Squaw Valley's village will burst with color, taste, and sound as fine artists, crafts makers, performers and musicians come to participate in this fun, two-day annual event. The Art, Wine & Music Festival features wine tasting, two performance stages, restaurants, shops, and walkways lined with fine art booths and exhibits.
Contact: Steve Addison
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E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: 5305846266
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1960 Squaw Valley Road Olympic Valley, CA 96146