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As the weather heats up, so does action on car dealer lots and showroom floors. Many American consumers will be trying to reconcile their bank account balances with that delightful new-car smell, asking, "How much car can I afford?"
Vehicle purchases are vitally important money decisions. Not only are autos expensive - the average price of new cars is more than $31,000, according to Kelley Blue Book - the buying decision could hamstring your cash flow for years into the future. Vehicle choice often involves not only how much you'll be shelling out in loan payments for an asset that is plummeting in value but how much you'll spend on gas, insurance and auto repairs.
So before you dive in and research which next vehicle you should buy, answer the most important question first: "How much car can I afford?"
Here are a few rules of thumb.
BORROW FOR FOUR YEARS OR LESS. As vehicles become more expensive, loan terms have lengthened. Loans can go to six or even eight years - that's 96 months. Nearly one-third of loans are for 72 months or longer, according to a recent J.D. Power and Associates report.
While some consumers are buying larger and more expensive vehicle because they need them, others have a case of the "wants."
A general rule of thumb is to take an auto loan for no longer than four years.
Money guru Clark Howard, who doles out advice on radio and television, has long advocated not taking out a loan longer than 42 months, or 3.5 years. "If your payment is too much at 42 months, that means you're buying too much car," he has said.
So, instead of financing for a longer period to reduce monthly payments, get a smaller payment by purchasing a less-expensive car. That might mean buying your favored vehicle as a 2- or 3-year-old used car instead of new.
KEEP PAYMENTS TO 20 PERCENT OF TAKE-HOME PAY. A focus on car payments is dangerous because simply lengthening the financing term lowers the monthly payments but makes the vehicle more expensive.
To determine how much car debt you can absorb, ideally you would do in-depth analysis of your finances. But as a rule of thumb, keep the total of all vehicle payments to less than 20 percent of take-home pay, not gross pay.
The National Foundation for Credit Counseling advice is stricter - suggesting that no more than 20 percent of take-home pay should go to all non-housing debt, including credit card debt. The idea is that the 20 percent for debt plus the 30 percent that often goes toward housing leaves you half your take-home pay to eat, pay utilities, put gas in the car and pay for the rest of life's necessities, said National Foundation for Credit Counseling spokeswoman Gail Cunningham.
DON'T BUY A NEW CAR. Depreciation is the issue here. A new car can depreciate 30 percent in the first year. That's losing $9,000 in value on a $30,000 car during the first year. Is $9,000 a big deal in your life?
That's why financial author and talk-radio host Dave Ramsey often says, "You can't afford a new car unless you are a millionaire" and, thus, able to absorb such a financial hit.
If you instead buy a 1- to 3-year-old vehicle, you let somebody else "pay" that depreciation.
If you're uncomfortable buying used, perhaps it would ease your mind to buy a used vehicle that is certified by the manufacturer.
DON'T LEASE. If you leased a car because you couldn't afford payments, your automotive tastes might be outpacing your wallet. Generally, financial experts frown on serial leasing for most people because they are continually paying for only the most expensive part of a car's life, the first few years.
Vehicle values should be less than half your income. The total current value of all your cars - plus boats, motorcycles and snowmobiles, etc. - should be less than half of your gross annual household income, according to another Ramsey rule of thumb. That's regardless of whether you own the vehicle or continue to make payments. Find the current value of vehicles at such websites as Kelley Blue Book (kbb.com).
DRIVE UNTIL THE WHEELS FALL OFF. Not to be taken literally, this hints at the wisdom of keeping a vehicle a long time, say, more than 10 years. Indeed, even the depreciation hit you absorb in buying a new car softens if you keep a vehicle a long time.
Remember that car repairs are typically cheaper than car payments, Cunningham said. Another rule of thumb: If an auto repair costs less than half of the trade-in value, repair it. Otherwise, considering selling your vehicle and buying another.


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Milwaukee Talks: Summerfest's Vic Thomas
Bob Babisch is the name most associated with talent buying at Summerfest. He's been the head honcho there for years and books all the prominent positions at the Big Gig.
But no one man can book 11 days of music on roughly a dozen stages alone. That's where the likes of Vic Thomas, Scott Ziel and others come in. As the whole city gears up for the 41st edition of the event that bills itself, "The World's Biggest Music Festival," we talked to Thomas, who is himself nearly a 35-year veteran of Summerfest.
We asked Thomas about himself and his work helping to create the one week every year when there's more music in Milwaukee than at any other time. Enjoy this Milwaukee Talks.
OMC: Let's start by talking about you. Did you grow up in Milwaukee?
VT: Yes, I did. Born and raised here in Milwaukee. I first attended Summerfest in when I was in the 9th grade, 1971. Later had my first "date" at Summerfest. I was attracted to Summerfest from the start. I started working at the Fest in 1974, as a nice summer job. Attended College at Oberlin, from '74 to'78, was in the USAF from 1979 to 1983, a salesman with Abbott Labs in California from '83 to '85 and then returned to Milwaukee in 1986. During this time I continued to work at Summerfest as much as I could, on military leaves, summer vacations, etc. Whatever it took to continue my relationship with Summerfest.
OMC: A job as talent buyer at Summerfest is presumably not an easy job to get.
VT: I worked my way up the food chain at Summerfest. (I) started on the grounds crew in 1974. A lucky break occurred and I started working backstage as an aide / go-fer. In those days, everybody did everything -- security, ticket-taking, grounds crew, food and beverage, etc.
For years I handled the backstage -- Main Stage -- hospitality. As matter a fact, I always thought that I should be a stage manager, not the food dog. What I realize now is that I could never have gotten all the experience that I have now if I was only a stage manager.
OMC: What makes buying for the festival different than, say, a theater or club?
VT: I think the difference with a festival buyer versus other buyers is that you have to be aware of the all the things that make up a festival. From port-a-potties to crowd control, beer per caps, weather, grounds layouts, design, great soft ticket bands, what's happening at other festivals, etc.
OMC: How long have you been doing it?
VT: I have been buying acts, since the late '80s. I started on the full-time staff as of 1990.
OMC: Are you a musician, too?
VT: I went to Oberlin College and had hopes of becoming a studio / symphonic percussionist. Alas, my ambition was greater than my talent. After college I didn't play at all for 20 years. Then someone invited me to sit in and I realized that I loved being on stage and performing. So, I try to play for fun now in the off season, October to February.
OMC: Let's talk Big Gig. What's the best part of the job?
VT: Number one, the people that I work with. No. 2, the fact that I can say that I work at the World's Largest Music Festival year-round. No. 3, that I get paid to do this!
OMC: The next question is obvious: what's the worst part of the job?
VT: Saying NO to some great bands and artists! Most people don't understand that it is not personal, but usually due to financial and / or schedule constraints that we can't book your band. Also, the fact that most bands don't understand that playing at Summerfest once is not a lifetime pass to play at Summerfest.
OMC: What do you say to those that love to criticize the talent buying at Summerfest?
VT: Prove me wrong! If I don't book your band / act then show me that I was wrong. Have the numbers, critical acclaim or the press to show me (and) Summerfest that we should book your act or style of music.
OMC: Is there anything to the criticisms in your mind? That is, is there something that people complain about that you also wish could change?
VT: Well, I wish that funds were unlimited and that we ran year-round. And that we could book all of the deserving bands, all of the new and up and comers, all of the great classic bands that are out there. I wish we could do it all. But we can't and we only have 11 days, x amount of stages and only x amount of money.
OMC: What did you book this year that your most excited to see?
VT: Among the nationals, Stevie Wonder, They Might Be Giants, Marcia Ball / Terrance Simien, Michael Franti, A Tribute to James Brown, Otis Taylor, Zappa Plays Zappa, Willie Colon, Javier Garcia, Rodrigo and Gabriella, and EWF, The New Orleans day on June 29 -- Bryan Lee, Trombone Shorty, Bonerama, Galactic. Of the early headliners, Drive By Truckers, Paul Thorn, Alejandro Escovedo, Lucinda Williams, Derek Trucks and Susan Tesdechi, Matisyahu.
Of non-nationals, Soul Food, T-Man and the Young Guns, Freddie Lee, Rumbrava f/ Mrs. Fun, De La Buena, Spanglish, Madisalsa, Growing Nation, Chick Singer Night, Lucky Diop Kassumai Project.
OMC: Did anything you really wanted to bring to Summerfest this year just not happen?
VT: Citizen Cope, Frankie Beverly & Maze, Anthony Hamilton, George Clinton.
OMC: Why is it that things you want sometimes don't come through?
VT: The question can be taken a few different levels. If you're asking why things that I want personally don't happen, well I have a boss like everyone else and the Entertainment Director (Bob Babisch) is the final say on all bookings that happen at Summerfest.
If you're asking in the collective, regarding Summerfest booking, then we have to deal with a whole bunch of factors. Summerfest is 11 days, the last Thursday in June until the second Sunday in July. So if a particular artist is not touring this time, then we are SOL. Our time frame, is an extremely popular time for booking / festivals across the U.S. and in Europe. So, many of the signature artists that we may be looking for are being courted by many festivals.
Then we have to deal with budgets. We have a budget for each stage area. Bottom line, we have to provide 11 days of headliners on each stage and we have to make hard decisions like anyone else who has a budget and provide the best line-up that we can within the budget provided. Finally, we have to look at the diversity of our line-up. Rock and all of its permutations are important to us, along with R&B / urban / hip-hop, Latin, country, world beat / reggae, blues / roots, etc.
CoolerKing | June 24, 2008 at 7:51 a.m. (report)
For myself, less and less bands have been appealing to me on their schedule. Yes, it's a tough responsibility to try and please everyone. There's also the problem of tour schedules aligning properly for a stop in Milwaukee. However, there's plenty of NEWER bands that appeal to a variety of people and both new and established bands willing to "dogleg" from their itinerary if the price is right. Anyway, I attend a little more this year than I did last. I get the feeling there's going to be lots of elbow room this year.
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Johnnychops | June 23, 2008 at 9:56 a.m. (report)
Vic has a tough job. There are many bands competing for a spot on a limited roster. Some years I've looked at the line-up and couldn't see all the bands I wanted to, other years no one interested me. Can't please everybody all the time. I will say this...original music artists should always be there. I can here cover bands ANYWHERE! Vic...you're doing a great job.
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rnzh102 | June 23, 2008 at 9:20 a.m. (report)
I think Vic's done a great job of keeping the music diverse and always bringing in good local talent to compliment the national acts. Do I like every band that comes? Not even close, but then again, Summerfest is catering to over 1,000,000 visitors and I always find my 5-10 bands that I really want to see. Thanks Vic.
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subset: commoncrawl


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|Claim this listing
BayLink Voicemail provides a wide variety of virtual telecommunications services for individuals, small business and non profits. BayLink services all area codes in the greater San Francisco Bay area and all area codes throughout the state of California.
Please visit our web site for more information:
(800) 909-8439


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Indian Oil Corporation Ltd and KMPL Ltd CP deal:India Money
By Dec 11, 2012-
Following is a table showing commercial paper dealt by Indian companies. The data has been provided by LKP Securities Limited.
Date Security Mty Date Qnty(Cr.) Rate Buyer Seller CTRB 11-Dec-12 KMPL 13-Dec-12 100 8.25 LKPS 11-Dec-12 IOC 20-Dec-12 50 8.20 LKPS
Contributed via: Bloomberg Publisher WEB Service
Provider ID: 611b989b00914d55b315157ac969f43a


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Schedule announced for 2014 season
Season begins Thursday, April 3 with seven-game homestand
By Jason Schwartz / Lancaster JetHawks | July 19, 2013 2:57 PM ET
LANCASTER, Calif. - The Lancaster JetHawks have announced the team's schedule for the 2014 season. The 140-game season begins at The Hangar on Thursday, April 3 against the Lake Elsinore Storm.
The Hangar will host games on Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day.
The 2013 North Division first half champion San Jose Giants will visit Lancaster for the final three games of the season's opening homestand and will return for a three-game weekend series in early May.
The JetHawks host the Inland Empire 66ers, affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels, for the first time in a four-game series over Memorial Day Weekend (May 23-36), including a game on Memorial Day.
The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, will come to town for the first time to kick off the following homestand with a four-game weekend series (May 30-June 2).
The All-Star Break will begin on Sunday, June 15 and the California-Carolina League All-Star Game will be played on Tuesday, June 17 and will be hosted by the Wilmington Blue Rocks in Wilmington, Del. The second half begins on June 19 with a four-game road series in Lake Elsinore.
Rancho Cucamonga will return to The Hangar for the Friday, July 4 Fireworks Extravaganza.
Lancaster will make trips to each North Division city including Bakersfield and Stockton twice. They play at Bakersfield from May 20-22 and August 15-18; at Visalia from June 6-9; at Stockton from July 1-3 and July 24-27; at Modesto from August 4-6; and at San Jose from August 7-10.
The season, and home schedule, concludes with a four-game series against Inland Empire over Labor Day weekend (August 29-Setember 1). The season finale is Monday, September 1.
Season tickets and mini-plans for the 2014 season are available now. Fans who purchase or renew season tickets or mini plans by August 23 will receive free tickets to all 2013 California League Playoff games at The Hangar. Single game tickets for the 2014 season will go on sale in March 2014.
Don't miss a moment of the 2013 season as the JetHawks look to repeat as Cal League Champions. 2013 Cal League postseason tickets and other great ticket packages are on sale now. To order, call (661) 726-5400 or visit jethawks.com.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.View More


text: Does anyone know how the base station works for recieving packets from another mote through radio ? What gets changed in the packet bytes after they are sent or recieved by the base station? They somehow got corrupted for my program. I did not use TOSBase but used XMTS310M instead and sent a specific packet but when i used the "listen" program i saw that this specific packet got corrupted when mote 2 or 1 is sending them back to the base station. They do the other tasks fine but just for this "command" the packet that is being sent back to the base station has a problem. How can I recieve packets (to the base station) from other motes ? Thank you Merve Evran Merve Evran Rochester Institute Of Technology Computer Engineering (585)309 2119 --------------------------------- Yahoo! for Good Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.millennium.berkeley.edu/pipermail/tinyos-help/attachments/20050929/6312a3b2/attachment-0001.htm


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ITD is recognized as a leading operator in the mining industry with more than 30 years experience. ITD's mining operations began with rock mining works for the construction of dams. The Company continued its mining works to supply material to the crushing plants of the Company. These crushed rock aggregates are used in many of the Company's projects.
In 1998 ITD expanded its mining business with the award of a coal mining project in Myanmar, and with good management and performance, the Company is looking forward to winning more projects in Myanmar.
In 2000 ITD was awarded the 38 million tons coal mining project by Electrical Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) for the Mae Moh Lignite Mine Phase 5 in Thailand. This was followed in 2002 with a 10 years contract for overburden removal and coal extraction.
In addition, ITD has expanded its mining operations into Indonesia where the Company has been awarded an open-cast coal mining project.
ITD has set very high standards for mining works and is actively pursuing opportunities to participate in mining projects both within Thailand and the neighboring countries, such as India, Indonesia, Cambodia
and Laos.
Mae Moh Lignite Mine Phase 5 (October 2000 - September 2009)


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A PROJECT to replace flooring in a 56-bed hostel for the homeless has received a boost from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Somerset.
A cheque for £1,000 has been handed to Taunton Association for the Homeless towards the work at Lindley House, in East Reach.
Pictured presenting the cheque to TAH chief executive Justin Roxburgh, left, is Andrew Hadley, of the Somerset Masonic Charities Committee.


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Terrified screams rip through a dark forest. Ghostly eyes leer and skeletal branches attack an innocent girl as she runs from a close encounter with death — and she soon falls to the ground sobbing. Later, when several strange "little men" offer her refuge in exchange for cooking and cleaning services, a twisted old woman tricks her into eating poison and she enters a death-like state. In revenge, the men chase the old woman off a cliff and hold a wake for the poor girl. While they mourn her, a c … [Read more...]
"Snow White: An Islamic Tale" Reviewed
October 8, 2013 by


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Anissa Davis and Lisa Petrey-Kirk have caused quite a stir in front of the Anderson County Courthouse over the last decade.
Both eighth grade teachers at Anderson County Middle school have been teaching their students the importance of standing up for their civil rights.
At the end of each school year the students make their voices heard and take a trip to the courthouse dressed in their best impressions of 1960s social activists, to protest for a cause they believe in.
Students named to Harding University Dean's List
Erin Paden, a junior vocal music education major; Ashlyn Paden, a junior psychology major; and Laura Paden, a senior web design and interact media, all of Lawrenceburg, were among more than 1,000 Harding University students included on the dean's list for grades achieved during the spring 2013 semester.
The GED test will be offered for free in Kentucky starting May 15 through July 31, according to a press release.
Starting Jan. 1, 2014, the cost of the GED test is expected to double from $60 to $120, according to Adult Education and Literacy Director Jerry Shaw. Anyone who has started the GED process needs to finish by Dec. 31, 2013, or students will lose all their previous test scores.
The new computer-based test, set to be instituted in January 2014, will include higher degrees of math and more short essays, according to Shaw.
Student named to National Society of Collegiate Scholars
Braden Peyton of Lawrenceburg has accepted a membership in The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS), according to a news release.
The National Society of Collegiate Scholars is an honors organization that recognizes and elevates high achievers.
NSCS provides career and graduate school connections, leadership and service experiences, access to discounts and savings as well as nearly half a million dollars in scholarship annually, according to a press release from NSCS.
Western Kentucky University student Jessica Brumley of Lawrenceburg was recently awarded a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study Chinese in China during the summer of 2013, according to a press release.
Brumley is one of approximately 610 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students who received a scholarship from the U.S. Department of State's CLS Program in 2013.
Scholarship grants for academic year 2013-14 have been made to 35 students, 32 of whom were selected by the selection committee of the Anderson County Scholarship Fund, it was announced in a news release.
The United Methodist Church Scholarship Committee of Lawrenceburg selected the remaining three students.
High school senior Katherine Green said she's only cried of joy twice in her life.
The first time was when she found out the marching band was going to finals.
The second was when she got into the architecture program at the College of Design at the University of Kentucky.
As most of the Anderson County Marching Bearcats seniors gathered in a hallway outside the band room last month to discuss the last four years (for some the last five years, not every senior chose the same memory from the 2012 season.
The Anderson County Conservation District held its annual banquet April 23 to honor students for participating in the Jim Claypool Art and Writing contest.
"The Art and Writing contest was made possible through the hard work and dedication of the Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation, Kentucky Association of Conservation Districts and the Anderson County Conservation District," according to the Conservation District's press release.
Copyright © 2017
The Anderson News is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Lawrenceburg, KY and the surrounding area.


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Chevrolet Repair Questions? Ask a Chevy Mechanic for Answers ASAP
Did he shut the car off when he filled up?
How far did he get before the check engine light came on after refueling?
About 20 minutes
He is telling me that he had a Garmin and an AC adaptor plugged in at the time. Has unplugged it now.
That is about how long the computer would need to detect a leak in the evap system. It is very posible that he did not get the cap on tight and the evap system could not maintain a vacuum on the fuel tank. if this is what has happened then the check engine light will not go back off till after the problme has been corrected " the cap put on tightly" and the codes are reset, or the evap system has passed its test 5 times. this woudl mean that he woudl hjave to drive the car for about 20minutes, shut the car off and restart the car 5 times. this will let the computer rest the light but the code will still be stored in the computer til it is cleared out.
If the cap is not sealing correctly due to a nick, or a crack in the rubber seal then the check engine light will not go off till the cap is replaced and the codes are reset.
If the engine is ruuning well, he shoudl be safe to drive it till he gets to where he is going.
As long as no other warning lights come on such as the temp light, alternator light.
So, if I am understanding, this should go away after he has started the car up 5 times?
Should he do anything to the gas cap now?
As long as it is nothing but the gas cap. and he ahs to drive it through 5 drive cycles, that woudl be one drive cycle shut the car off, restart the car and then drive another drive cycle.
Should he pull over, shut it off, and restart it 5 times?
He shoudl still have the code read in the morning to make sure what has happened but 99% of the time it is nothing more then a gas cap problem.
No he shoudl go ahead and drive th car to his destination, then he can go to his local auto parts store and they will read the trouble codes for him to see for sure what set the code off.
He has at least 3 hours left on the journey...you feel fairly confident that he is okay?
yes i do.
Thank you so much...maybe now I'll get some sleep!!
you are very welcome


text: Richard Mushet June 30, 2010 2:04 PM Don't be a pr1ck Dave. Martin may be on the edge when he rides, but so is Farquhar, Hutch, Archibald, Dunlop, McGuinness et al. If you can't say anything sensible, don't bother making a comment, you numpty. Reply Report abuse 33 agree 2 disagree


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"If the church would just stay away from the issue of civil marriage, that would be something," he said.
It was made by Lanvin in 1966 for the ceremony after her civil marriage.
civil marriage: Yesh Atid's success reflects, in part, public pushback against the power of clerical parties.
But as far as civil marriage is concerned, there is no need to pander to the objections of a faithful minority.
Currently, there's no such thing as civil marriage in Israel.
The civil marriage takes place either the day before or early on the same day as the religious ceremony.
In England, possibly, a civil marriage might have been proposed to the poor girl.
civil marriage, where the church is supreme, is followed by excommunication and odious insults.
In Paris a civil marriage before the mayor of the district is necessary.
Clergymen and qualified public officials were swamped with requests for religious and civil marriage ceremonies.


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X5d or 35i Premium
Trading in my '08 535xi (like an old Fiat, great when it runs, but . . . ) for an X5, most likely 35i Premium. Why are the diesels so popular on this board? I wonder if I should rethink. I thought no diesel because:
Against those, the pluses for the diesel seem to be:
Am I missing something? Thanks for any insight.
I had the same dilema, in the end I went for the diesel. I'm leasing so one factor for me was that the diesel had a lower residual, but monthly payment was the same due to all the credits. This will help me at the end of my lease if I either want to buy the car, or trade it in. I nearly always prefer to trade it in to get the sales tax credits (we have to pay sales tax on the full amount of the car in Texas, not just the payment).
Also, I liked the idea of the torque (makes the car feel faster than it is), plus I do mostly highway driving, so fuel economy will be better.
I was tempted by the 35si with the new eight speed transmission, but the six speed transmission in the dielsel is bulletproof. I had a 535i before this car (very similar to you) and also had HPFP issues. I thought that engine was great in the 535i, but the X5 is MUCH heavier, so I figured the extra torque would give the car more pep. You can also buy a chip for the diesel for under $300 that will give you another 60hp. Not bad.
Finally, it's just something different. I've been wanting to get a diesel car forever just to try it. Worst case, if I don't like it, I just have to get through 3 years (or 2.5 years with pull ahead programs) so no big deal.
I supposed to take delivery of my 35D soon, so I can't speak to the reliability issue, but the other two pros (economy and environment) outweigh most everything else for me (diesel fuel seems to be sold everywhere around here, too). With the rebates currently available, that made the diesel all that more attractive.
Since you are in remote areas a lot, the added range of a tank of fuel in the diesel should probably be listed as a pro as well.
And even though you don't tow anything, the added torque should give you quite a bit of value in mountain driving.
Just my 2 cents....
For about the same price, it's hard to not go with the diesel unless you have a problem with the engine sound or really can't find a diesel gas station.
Slower: 35d is 0.3-0.4s slower 0-60, but likely faster 30-80mph.
Reliability: I'd personally take my chances with the M57 diesel engine and 6sp transmission over the 35i adn 8sp. Hard to make a convincing argument either way.
Fuel Economy/Eco Friendly: No arguing here and this was a big factor for me. Significantly better fuel economy with very very little sacrifice in performance (if any, see above). That in itself is amazing.
It's a personal decision and in the end you have to make YOU happy, not us. Either is a great choice.
Good luck!
You should keep the diesel as an option IMHO (no need to limit your options). As far as personal feedback, we passed on the diesel for two reasons:
1) It's a bit tougher to find diesel and I wanted my wife to have the convenience of gas. The mpg in the 35i is not stellar but it's better than I expected. Our 35i will get up to 24 mpg highway if I keep it at around 70 mph. Keep in mind that diesels tend to get great mpg on the highway but less so if you do mostly city driving.
2) If I choose to keep the vehicle passed the warranty period, I would rather not have to worry about all the extra components BMW has to add to make this vehicle a clean diesel (heaters, pumps, sensors etc). Checkout the technology, it's not rocket science but it's not simple either.
I terms overall reliability, if you actually keep either long enough, the electronics and other components will have problems far sooner than the engine will so that is a non-issue in my opinion. In the end, they are both great cars. Definitely test drive both back to back and see which you like better. Some people have complained about the noisier diesel engine so that's something to pay attention to during the test drive.
Are you buying or leasing? If leasing, you can actually get the 50i on lease right now for less than the 35i and 35d, because the residual is much higher.
I recently purchased a 2012 X5 35i Premium. I traded a 2011 335xi that was as temperamental as a mid 80's Peugeot. I considered the diesel very carefully as well. I certainly recommend you test drive then both. I have owned a few diesels in the past. A 1978 300D MB, 1984 Peugeot 505s TurboDiesel, a 1988 6.2 litre Suburban and a 2005 VW Jetta TDI. So, I'm a huge fan of diesels. The X5 diesel was a strong contender for me, but with the modest fuel economy gain, more pronounced turbo lag, a urea injection system that has been known to act up on occasion, less than stellar cold weather performance (I live in Denver), I opted for the 35i. The 35i is a very refined smooth engine and the 8sd is great in the mountains. I average 17.2mpg in all city driving and 24mpg on highway (road trip to Moab,UT).
Hope this helps!
Heavy Steering Wheel - no active steering for diesels
1 Attachment(s)
One more thing to keep in mind . . . gas version come with the "active steering" option, diesels do not. If steering load is critical, active steering is a must.
Yes the steering is heavy on the non-active-steering version I have (2011 diesel).
I always liked slightly heavy steering versus the "Cadillac feel", so this was a non-issue for me.
Not sure why diesels cannot have active-steering, here is one of my other posts talking a bit more about why diesel does not have active steering - Steering Wheel. Note - this info is a bit dated!
I'm also with RP. I don't like the wonky "Active" steering. I love the heavy planted feel of regular BMW steering.
I too find it hard to believe lack of space is the reason BMW is not offering active steering on U.S. diesels.
You should scout out the gas stations in your area to see who has diesel gas. When you see how convenient it will be to fill up...then you can cross that concern off your list. I love my x5d. Test drive one before you buy because it is a stiffer ride. It is louder on idle, but I have driven other non-diesel BMWs and I don't think my d is any louder then the regular gas in drive. Go for it! You will love it!
I always thought we couldn't get a diesel passenger vehicle in New York City unless it is registered under a business with commercial plate, so I never even looked at a Diesel model.
Another reason I always passed on diesel was because there was no benefit at the pump. $3.69/gal vs $4.29/gal in the city when comparing to regular unleaded. But since X5 uses premium, the difference becomes minimal at pump, but beneficial at mpg.
Also the choices will be limited, you won't be able to easily get diesel fuel in the city, and if you do, you might have to wait for the truck to fill up before it is your turn since they almost always have single pumps. Out of city is a different story, though.. If you are in Boston, I am not sure how this will affect you.
As I understand it (I have not actually done this comparison), the active part only kicks in at lower/parking lot speeds . . . at hwy speeds, both (with and without active steering) should feel about the same. i.e. the "spirited" driving you can do with a heavy steering is still doable with active steering installed.
Why I picked the diesel over the 35i:
1. better, more usable power in every day life
2. significantly better MPG
3. better range (that "Diesel stations are hard to find" excuse is just pure ****)
4. higher residuals (diesels are holding value much more than the 35i)
5. costs about the same
6. rarer
7. better on the highway than the 35i
8. more reliable. it's a proven powertrain that's been in use overseas for a long time.
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Sitting in a shack behind a table are five members (two men and three women) of Tsakane's Community Police Forum (CPF), a voluntary unit set up to deal with minor crimes. Their purpose is to make the local area a safe place, to gain the trust of the community, to support vulnerable people and to reduce crime.
The two men talk about a problem: teenage boys stealing metal from neighbours' houses and selling it to a nearby scrapyard in exchange for the drug, nyaope.
"We have had problems with guys drinking, smoking and being angry," says Conny Moretsele, the forum's chair. "We encourage them to come forward but some never do, and when we carry out a door-to-door follow-up, we find out they have moved."
Despite the struggle they are facing, the CPF see themselves as role models who can make a difference in the community and educate the younger generation. They are also aware of the danger of violent reactions as they challenge people's behaviours.
"Our choice, our risk" says Sydney Mkabane, the CPF secretary. Moretsele adds: "We take this as a calling from God. We are not scared of helping anyone."


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Pres. Week Cruise: Carnival Fantasy Cruise Review by LynneL
Overall Member Rating
Pres. Week Cruise
Destination: Western Caribbean
Embarkation: New Orleans
Embarkation: Unbelievably fast & easy. Arrived at the pier shortly after 11:00 a.m. Both my husband & I are Carnival Platinum cruisers (10+ cruises); my sister, who also came More with us, is not but they let her stay with us throughout check-in. No lines for security for any guests, then on to a private room for those with VIP boarding passes (Platinum & Suite guests). After a minimal wait, we were checked in, escorted to a seating area & by 11:30 a.m. we were on the ship & finding our way around. Rooms were not ready this early & doors to the cabin areas were closed but I only carried on a tote bag containing my purse & a few items so no problem there.
Cabin: We had booked a 1A guarantee with hopes of being upgraded to an inside room with 2 lower beds. Really didn't care if we were on lowest desk. This was just a little get-a-way for us. The Carnival PVP had stated we would probably be upgraded, especially since we were frequent Carnival travelers. Documents arrived and we were assigned the 1A (upper & lower bunks). Although I do understand that is what we paid for so always a chance that's what you get, the ship was not sold out so very surprised not even a minimal upgrade. What's the purpose of booking a guarantee if there are open rooms (that are interior, we certainly weren't expecting OV) but they aren't upgrading people? Prior to sailing, we paid to upgrade ourselves to a 4A and I believe we were charged a higher rate than if we had done so at the time of booking our original discounted rate. Live & learn. My sister did keep the 1A since she was traveling solo and it actually was a nice somewhat roomy cabin, located in a nice quiet corridor between the corridors on the port and starboard sides. The 4A was fine, though the bathroom was smaller on this older ship than on we have found on the newer ones we usually sail on. Our cabin steward, Sunshine, was so sweet and so efficient...beyond belief. Best we've ever had.
Ship: For an older ship it is kept in wonderful condition. I believe it did have a refurbishment, but not the total one with the water play area yet. Always appeared clean. Since it was a smaller ship, we found limited to no lines for various places. It felt similar to some of the larger ships in terms of lounges and space since there were the same general areas, just smaller in size to be proportionate to ship's size.
Food: One area where I felt a bit disappointed. I am not a very picky eater, but the beef dishes were the worst quality beef I have ever had. Extremely tough. Other dining room food good and our waiters were terrific. Also found the food, except for dinner, was generally lukewarm. Although this is a common complaint for the buffet, at breakfast everyone at our table found their food to be cold. At the Lido grill area, the cook would do about 12 plates with burgers, then pass them out one by one as guests on line requested them. In the past, they always kept the burgers on the side of the grill, keeping them warm until each person stated if they wanted grilled chicken, cheeseburger, etc. This time if you wanted a cheeseburger, a cold slice of cheese was place on the burger sitting on the plate & that was it. I certainly didn't go hungry this week but, as said, was disappointed generally in the food. That's a first for a Carnival cruise.
Entertainment: I thought the cruise director, Butch, was very good. The highlight show, "Ticket to Ride," was a Beatles tribute and excellent.. There was a passenger talent show, some with more talent than others, but I always give credit for people just getting up. One was an elderly gentleman who basically shook his butt around on stage, but you couldn't help but smile. The other Carnival show wasn't as glitzy as shows on the newer ships, as I'm guessing space for costumes and sets is limited. The comedian & entertainers who were not Carnival singers & dancers were not so great.
Disembarking: Extremely well organized and quick. We didn't take advantage of the Platinum early disembarkation since we had a later flight, but even waiting for our assigned number to be called was easy and painless.
All in all it was a fun cruise. This was our first time sailing from NOLA, usually out of NY or Florida. Crowd on this sailing generally middle aged to senior aged. At dinner we were seated next to 2 large tables of women aged 70+. I thought it was nice to see these ladies living it up! It was also a treat to meet so many people from the mid-section of the US, since cruises we generally take have a large eastern seaboard population. Now we're looking forward to our sailing on the Freedom for New Year's Eve! Less
Published 03/24/08
Cabin review: 4aU40
Read Cruise Critic's Carnival Fantasy Review >>
Lots of winners and few losers...
Great first cruise !
Don't have overly high expecta...
Lots of Shenanigans
Lots of winners and few losers...
Not bad for what it is
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Flames NewsFlames Home > Softball Home > News
UCF Posts 3-0 Win Over Liberty
The Liberty softball team held UCF to just four hits on Wednesday, but a two-run homer keyed a three-run second inning for the host Knights, who downed the Lady Flames, 3-0, at UCF Softball Complex.
The Knights end their four-game winless streak, advancing their record to 15-12. The Lady Flames, coming off of a doubleheader sweep of North Carolina Central on Sunday, fall to 8-9 on the campaign.
Katie Zavodny went 1-for-3, extending her hitting streak to a career-best nine games, while also stealing her 18th base. Sammi Shivock batted 1-for-3 with a double, and Amber Donovan added a single.
Samantha McCloskey slugged a two-run home run for UCF, while Shelby Turnier doubled and scored and Kalyn Cenal recorded an RBI single.
Turnier (8-4) pitched the first six innings of the game, allowing three hits and striking out four. Mackenzie Audas worked a hitless seventh for her second save of the season.
Chandler Ball fell to 3-3 on the campaign, yielding three runs on three hits in two innings pitched. Kenzie Friesen pitched 2 1/3 innings of one-hit relief, while Annah Jo Brittingham allowed no hits over the final 1 2/3 innings of the contest.
Shivock led off the second inning with a double to the gap in left center, but was left on second as Turnier retired the next three batters in order.
The Knights gained the lead with three runs during the bottom of the second. Turnier began by doubling to right center, and then scored on a single by Cenal. McCloskey made it 3-0, UCF, with a two-run homer to left center.
Friesen entered the circle for the Lady Flames in the third inning. She worked around a hit by Novak, keeping the Knights off the scoreboard for the frame.
With runners on first and second in the bottom of the fifth, relief pitcher Brittingham worked through the jam. She got the next batters to record outs, with a fielder's choice and a strikeout.
The Lady Flames threatened to score during the top of the sixth. Donovan hit a one-out single, and Kassidy McCoy followed with a walk. Turnier then recorded the final two outs via fielder's choice.
After a 1-2-3 UCF sixth, Audas came on in relief of Turnier during the Liberty half of the seventh inning. The sophomore pitcher then retired Liberty in order to pick up the save.
Liberty will next play five games in Clearwater, Fla., over the weekend, participating in the USF Spring Invitational. The Lady Flames will open play on Friday at 11:45 a.m., taking on Iowa State, before facing the host USF Bulls at 6:15 p.m., Friday. Liberty will also play against Temple, Maine and Dartmouth, while in Clearwater.


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Home video games are an integral part of our high-tech culture. Take a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 away from a kid or teen and they won't make it through the day. The same holds true for many adults who get hooked on escaping reality.
The evolution and history of these modern-day gizmos was celebrated Oct. 1 at Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria. "Beginnings of Video Games" featured a live video chat with the inventor of the home video game, Ralph Baer, whose unique Brown Box prototype (built 1968-69) was demonstrated. William A. Higginbotham's 1958 analog computer game, Tennis for Two, was also a hit with visitors.
"For those who think their creativity is the key to success, consider this: Inventing is easy — if that's the way your brain is wired — doing the necessary product development work successfully is achievable if you have paid your dues and spent years becoming proficient in some area (like consumer electronics development), and if you've been putting in the time and effort required to keep learning," Baer has said. "How do you convert a good idea into a real product that will actually … show up on store shelves? Then comes the big one: How to market your product. That's the really hard part.
"All of these elements need to be in place for success in the marketplace."
Baer pioneered microprocessor-controlled, VCR-based interactive video game methods, inventing various systems for nesting data in video signal for real-time interaction between player, VCR-delivered pictorials, and microprocessor-generated action characters on-screen.
Here's a look back at how the technology Baer created developed over the years:
Summer 1966: Ralph Baer, a German-American engineer, came up with the concept of using a television for playing games, writing a four-page paper describing his plans for simple video games and drawing a block-diagram for a two-player game.
May 1967: Baer played first two-player video game — and lost.
1967-68: Developed first-generation home video games.
Jan. 1968: First patent application filed for video game; demonstrated complete switch-programmable video game unit, capable of playing Ping-Pong, volleyball, football, gun games — using colored, transparent overlays as backgrounds.
1972: Magnavox presented first Odyssey video game to Magnavox dealers in several U.S. locations. Home video games are launched nationwide. Magnavox sold nearly 100,000 Odyssey video games in the United States. First Pong game shows up.
1974-87: Developed advanced video game technology for licensing to industry.
1975-76: Worked on interactive video games for Cable TV with Warner Communications.
1975-82: Invented, developed single-chip, micro-processor-controlled handheld games: SIMON, MANIAC and others. SIMON is still selling, after more than 30 years, since its introduction in 1978.
1978 and on: Developed many novel interactive hardware and software concepts for video games (Instant Replay; drawing of interactive screen-characters; Interactive CD-ROM game, training and simulation technology).
2004-2006: Produced an entire line of functional replicas of experimental video game models, built in the 1960s, and donated to MOMI, one of the first museums in the nation to collect and exhibit video games. The Museum's core exhibition, "Behind the Screen," includes a section devoted to arcade- and home-game history. Museum educators conduct demonstrations of the Brown Box twice daily.
2005: Donated all original video game units to the Smithsonian Institution, along with 500-plus pages of related data.
Baer's inventions spanned 40-plus years and most resulted in products that were put into production. Electronic consumer products, like talking greeting cards (Hallmark) are his idea, as well.
©2011 Community News Group
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NHL: Realignment plan put on hold
The NHL announced Friday that it won't go ahead with realignment in 2012-13 because it says the players association won't agree to the new format.
The change to a four-conference setup was approved 26-4 in December by the NHL's board of governors. Under the plan, the top four teams in each conference would make the playoffs and the first two rounds of the playoffs would be played within the conference.
The league said it will stick to its current format — six divisions, with the top eight teams in the Eastern and Western conferences making the playoffs — for next season.
STORY: Reaction to postponement
NHLPA executive director Don Fehr said in a statement that the association was unable to give its consent because its concerns weren't adequately addressed before the league's imposed deadline of Jan. 6.
"We continue to be ready and willing to have further discussions should the league be willing to do so," he said.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly issued the following statement:
"It is unfortunate that the NHLPA has unreasonably refused to approve a plan that an overwhelming majority of our clubs voted to support, and that has received such widespread support from our fans and other members of the hockey community, including players.
"We have now spent the better part of four weeks attempting to satisfy the NHLPA's purported concerns with the plan with no success. Because we have already been forced to delay and, as a result, are already late in beginning the process of preparing next season's schedule, we have no choice but to abandon our intention to implement the realignment plan and modified playoff format for next season.
"We believe the union acted unreasonably in violation of the league's rights. We intend to evaluate all of our available legal options and to pursue adequate remedies, as appropriate."
The NHL was forced to realign because the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg and were temporarily kept in the Southeast Division. The league needed to move the Jets to the Western Conference. A one-for-one swap was possible, but a four-conference setup was also pitched.
Jets chairman Mark Chipman plans to address the postponed realignment at a news conference on Saturday morning.
The realignment plan was viewed as more helpful to Western Conference teams because it set up conferences based on time zones, thus cutting back on travel.
Because it required that every team play a home-and-home with at least every other team in the league, that meant more travel and wear-and-tear for teams in the Eastern Conference.
Also, under the setup, the westernmost conferences had eight teams and the easternmost conference had seven. That meant there was less of a chance to make the playoffs in the West.
Fehr said the NHLPA had raised questions about the unbalanced conferences and travel.
"In order to evaluate the effect on travel of the proposed new structure, we requested a draft or sample 2012-13 schedule, showing travel per team," Fehr said. "We were advised it was not possible for the league to do that. We also suggested reaching an agreement on scheduling conditions to somewhat alleviate player travel concerns (e.g., the scheduling of more back-to-back games, more difficult and lengthier road trips, number of border crossings, etc.), but the league did not want to enter into such a dialogue.
"The travel estimation data we received from the league indicates that many of the current Pacific and Central teams, that have demanding travel schedules under the current format, could see their travel become even more difficult. On the playoff qualification matter, we suggested discussing ways to eliminate the inherent differences in the proposed realignment, but the league was not willing to do so."
The league and NHLPA will being negotiating a collective-bargaining agreement around the All-Star break later this month. The current agreement runs out on Sept. 15.
NHL's realignment plan
|Conference A
|Conference B
|Conference C
|Conference D
|New Jersey
|N.Y. Islanders
|N.Y. Rangers
|Los Angeles
|Tampa Bay
|San Jose
|St. Louis
Posted | Updated


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Peace talks on the status of three disputed regions of Sudan have begun between the government and Sudan People's Liberation Army rebels.
The discussions focus on the central Sudanese regions of Blue Nile, Abyei and Nuba Mountains, which the government maintains are all part of northern Sudan.
The three areas were not covered by a deal agreed last July to give autonomy to rebel-held parts of southern Sudan for six years ahead of a referendum on independence.
The government says they control 90% of the three regions, but the SPLA says that local people regard them as their representatives at the talks.
'Justice and equality'
Any deal reached at the talks near the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, will be incorporated into the main peace process, the fourth round of which is set to resume later this month.
The talks are expected to last about two weeks.
"The negotiations are aimed at reaching peace based on justice and equality and on determining the best system of governance that ensures a fair distribution of power and resources," Mr Atabani said.
Some two million people have died in the 20-year civil war between the Muslim and Arabic-speaking north and the Christian and Animist southern rebels.


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Daisies earn all three "Between Earth and Sky" Journey badges -- Firefly Badge, Bucket Badge, and Clover Badge -- in one fun-filled day!
Date: Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Time: 10 A.M. — 2 P.M.
Location: Bethel Church, 4550 Amboy Road, Staten Island, NY 10312
Fee: $25 per girl (Girls can bring a friend! Non-member fee is $40.) The fee includes lunch, all three Journey badges, the Journey book, and program materials.
Click HERE to register by June 30, 2014.
For more information, click HERE to download a flyer. For other questions or to make a payment, contact Kailey at firstname.lastname@example.com or 212.645.4000 x216.


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This activity encourages students to think positively about their classmates.
Learning aims
Introduce the word 'compliment' and mention how nice it can be to receive one from another person.
Ask the class to think of examples of good qualities that could be complimented. Try to get lots of examples so that no-one is left stuck for ideas in the main activity.
Examples could include:
Main activity
Give every student a blank piece of paper and get them to write their name in large letters at the bottom.
Each student then passes their piece of paper to the person on their right.
At the top, each student writes an anonymous compliment for the person whose name is written at the bottom.
They should then fold over the top of the sheet to cover up the compliment before passing the sheet on.
When every student has written on everybody else's sheet they are passed back to the children whose names are written on the bottom.
Each then reads out a few of the compliments that have been written about them.
Extension activity
Discuss the following:
What does it feel like to receive compliments?
How would you feel if you were never praised?
Why is it important to praise people?
Recap on the main skills that the students have been using.
Final questions:
Should everyone be valued?
Did the activity make you think of something good about someone that you hadn't thought of before?
Teachers' Background
Click this link to view our


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|BPR adds 2,102 miles to the Interstate System, including the 1,000-mile extension from the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 and the 1,102 miles made available from the 40,000 miles authorized in 1944 (by adoption of more direct alignments than the existing highways). State proposals had totalled 13,775 miles. Proposals were considered on a national basis, taking into account national defense needs, system integration, transportation requirements of industry and agriculture, and population service.
|President Dwight D. Eisenhower is the principal guest and speaker at the opening of the Hiawatha Bridge across the Missouri River between Minnesota and Wisconsin at Red Wing. Minnesota Division Engineer and Mrs. W. W. Fryhofer as well as Wisconsin Division Engineer R. H. Paddock represent BPR. The bridge replaces a substandard, load-limited structure.
"The dedication of this fine new bridge across the Mississippi is another effective example of Federal-state partnership in meeting both local and national needs..."
|President Lyndon Johnson issues a directive establishing an Interagency Department of Transportation Task Force to provide for establishment of the USDOT with a minimum of disruption. Chief Engineer Frank Turner represents BPR/FHWA on the task force, but other BPR officials participate in the activities (S. K. Booth, Laurence S. Casazza, W. D. Dillan, James D. Lacy, Thomas F. McGarry, E. J. Martin, S. E. Ridge, and C. H. Smith).


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Welcome to Sauers Ford Lincoln Dealership in Michigan City, Indiana, part of the Sauers Auto Group of Dealerships where we place the highest emphasis on our customers. We are the newest Indiana Ford and Lincoln Dealer offering high quality, personal service with the best pricing. We offer new and used Ford and Lincoln vehicles, parts, service and used cars including Focus, Fiesta, Fusion, Taurus, Mustang, Truck, F150, Explorer, Escape, MKS, MKT, Lincoln MKX, MKZ, Navigator and all other Ford Lincoln vehicles.
If you are in Northwest Indiana or near Michigan City, La Porte, Hobart, Burns Harbor, Valparaiso, Chesterton, South Bend or Portage there is no comparison to the other dealers around town. We are out to earn your business with top quality service and the most competitive pricing in Indiana!
Get your best price on Ford Trucks Focus, F150, Explorer, Escape and Lincoln MKS, MKT, Lincoln MKX, MKZ, as well as Fiesta, Fusion, Taurus, Mustang, Navigator and all other new Ford Lincoln vehicles at the All new Sauers ford Lincoln!


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Bobby Brown almost pees on Dee Snider
Bobby Brown and Dee Snider share a room on the CMT reality show Gone Country. Bobby Brown is a chronic sleepwalker that tends to pee where the wind takes him – which almost ends up being Dee Snider's face. Fortunately the Twisted Sister frontman wakes up in time before getting hosed down. More »


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Father: Nathaniel Lovell Edgeworth b: MAY 1789 in Chesterfield District, South Carolina USA
Mother: Naomi Blakeney
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The fact isn't lost on many people, least of all the man himself, that Gov. Jerry Brown's controversial proposal to do away with local redevelopment agencies is rich with small ironies.
First, there's the governor's new loft: an award-winning example of infill development in downtown Sacramento that was funded in part by the same type of redevelopment agency Brown wants to eliminate. After meeting with Brown earlier this week to discuss the proposed cuts, Yuba City Mayor John Dukes wasn't shy about telling the Sacramento Bee that he found the choice of digs to be "a little hypocritical."
Then there are his eight years as mayor of Oakland – a time marked by arguably one of the most ambitious urban restorations in modern California history. A centerpiece of the restoration, the iconic Fox Theater, received millions in redevelopment funds and now houses one of Brown's prized charter schools.
And when Gov. Gray Davis threatened to scale back funding for redevelopment agencies in 2003, it was Brown who reportedly argued (according to the paid archives of the Alameda Times-Star) that such cuts would only compound the Oakland's financial problems.
But perhaps the most striking irony is that Brown, who has such a keen understanding of gestures and symbols that he once refused to mend a hole in the governor's office carpet so visiting officials would feel bad asking for money, is perceived as having such a symbolic disconnect between his public persona and his proposed policy.
Redevelopment funds provide much-needed fuel for exactly the kind of development Brown personally seems to prefer: industrial downtown lofts, restored historic buildings and urban infill. He has lived, at different points, in a restored firehouse, an urban commune and a loft in the old Sears Roebuck building in downtown Oakland.
Just last month, he was described (somewhat facetiously) in one blog post as a trend-setting urban hipster. The day of his inauguration, Michael Shaw of Sacramento Business Journal even mused about whether Brown's election would be good for infill development. At the time, the opinion of the California Infill Builders Association – which was formed, of all places, at the same loft complex that Brown now calls home – seemed to be "yes."
It hasn't taken development groups long to temper their enthusiasm.
"This budget proposal to eliminate redevelopment is more budget smoke and mirrors that will bring little financial gain for the state but will cause widespread and significant economic pain in communities throughout California," John Shirey, head of the California Redevelopment Association said in a statement.
Confronted with some of these questions earlier this week at a meeting with local government leaders, Brown's response was pragmatic. When he was mayor, Brown said, the state had money for redevelopment. It simply doesn't anymore.
"I like redevelopment," Brown said, according to the LA Times. "I didn't quite understand it, seemed kind of magical. I put a lot into the Fox Theater, got this beautiful theater. Tens of millions of dollars ... I'm sure glad I got it built before this damn budget came out."
Brown has made clear that he sees cutting redevelopment agencies as more a matter of fiscal prudence than a philosophical objection to redevelopment in general, but cities have still worried that the cuts will hamper exactly the type of smart-growth development that they, and Brown, have long supported.
What remains to be seen is how Brown's proposed cuts will eventually come together with his environmental platform, which places heavy emphasis on projects that would reduce sprawl and encourage people to live closer to their workplaces. In the words of his campaign:
5. Build Livable Communities.
California's population is expected to increase to 60 million by 2050, which – in the absence of sound policies – will increase congestion, vehicle miles driven, and air pollution; it will also result in paving over more than a million acres of the State's most productive farmland. Improving the quality of life in California communities requires that jobs be located closer to where people live, thereby allowing people to spend less time commuting and more time with their families and friends.
- Ensure that the Strategic Growth Council provides resources for more sustainable local development.
- Provide incentives for development near transportation and business hubs.
- Link state transportation funding to projects that avoid sprawl, reduce vehicle miles traveled and encourage livable communities.
- Encourage businesses to adopt programs that reduce dependency on solo automobile trips.
- Promote safe routes to school that encourage kids to walk and bike instead of being driven.


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Skip navigation.
April 14, 2010
Students have been selling t-shirts with the design of a child's handprint with the phrase "Stop the Abuse: It's Your Turn to Make a Difference." Social work students are encouraging others to wear blue on Fridays in April to raise awareness of the issue of child abuse and neglect in the state of Oklahoma.
Students have sold more than 200 t-shirts, and all proceeds will be donated to the Western Plains Youth Shelter in Woodward.
"This social work service learning project has really opened my eyes to how much a community comes together for a good cause," Jason Thompson, Buffalo freshman, said.
According to the Oklahoma Department of Human Services Report on Child Abuse and Neglect Statistics there were 8,605 confirmed victims of child abuse and neglect in the state of Oklahoma in 2009.
"Service learning is an excellent opportunity for students to gain hands on experience in the social work field," Sarah Thompson, Enid senior, said. "Students are then able to apply what they learn to the classroom."
To report suspected child abuse and neglect, please call the statewide Oklahoma Department of Human Services hotline at 1-800-522-3511.
"We all have a responsibility in learning how to recognize and report child abuse and neglect," Kylene Rehder, chair of the Social Work Department and assistant professor of Social Work Field Observation, said.
"The prevention of child abuse begins with public awareness and education, and I am so proud of students engaged in this service learning project. They have really learned how to put professional social work skills into practice."
MISSION STATEMENT: Northwestern Oklahoma State University provides quality educational and cultural opportunities to learners with diverse needs by cultivating ethical leadership and service, critical thinking and fiscal responsibility.


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Dartmouth College, Thayer School of Engineering, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755
Kitware Inc., 28 Corporate Park Drive, Clifton Park, New York 12065
University of Birmingham, School of Computer Science, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom
Multimodal approaches that combine near-infrared (NIR) and conventional imaging modalities have been shown to improve optical parameter estimation dramatically and thus represent a prevailing trend in NIR imaging. These approaches typically involve applying anatomical templates from magnetic resonance imaging/computed tomography/ultrasound images to guide the recovery of optical parameters. However, merging these data sets using current technology requires multiple software packages, substantial expertise, significant time-commitment, and often results in unacceptably poor mesh quality for optical image reconstruction, a reality that represents a significant roadblock for translational research of multimodal NIR imaging. This work addresses these challenges directly by introducing automated digital imaging and communications in medicine image stack segmentation and a new one-click three-dimensional mesh generator optimized for multimodal NIR imaging, and combining these capabilities into a single software package (available for free download) with a streamlined workflow. Image processing time and mesh quality benchmarks were examined for four common multimodal NIR use-cases (breast, brain, pancreas, and small animal) and were compared to a commercial image processing package. Applying these tools resulted in a fivefold decrease in image processing time and 62% improvement in minimum mesh quality, in the absence of extra mesh postprocessing. These capabilities represent a significant step toward enabling translational multimodal NIR research for both expert and nonexpert users in an open-source platform.
Diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is a volumetric optical imaging technique that relies on modeling light transport in tissue using the diffusion approximation, which is generally applicable in scatter dominated systems. The spectral measure of the diffuse transport of near-infrared light through soft tissue can provide the ability to image functional tissue information such as hemoglobin oxygenation and water fraction, which can be useful as a noninvasive means of identifying cancer.1–3 This method has also been proven successful by the use of luminescence probes using, for example, fluorescence markers to allow quantitative molecular imaging of functional exogenous reporters.4,5 Light modeling can be done analytically,6 providing high accuracy and computational speed, but only on simple and dominantly homogeneous geometries. Numerical approaches allow solutions to be computed for more complex geometries, but require more computational time as well as a discrete representation (volume mesh) of the domain.7,8 Due to the generally poor spatial resolution of DOT, the prevailing trend in the field is toward combining it with other imaging modalities and incorporating high-resolution tissue structural information in the image recovery algorithm. Notable examples of this include computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided DOT, and these techniques provide the potential for increased accuracy.9–12 Although the details of finite-element-based methods for modeling light transport in tissue are well covered in literature,13–21 the computational packages available for such modeling have until now included quite limited mesh creation tools or no mesh creation tools at all. In this work, an integrated and freely available software package is outlined and tested, which allows users to go all the way from import of standard digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) images (and other related formats) to segmentation and meshing, and through to light simulation and property recovery. Image-guided DOT is very dependent on the ability to easily produce high-quality three-dimensional (3-D) volume meshes from medical images, and the process of mesh creation is a significantly underappreciated but complex issue, which is directly solved in many cases by software such as this.
The software tool developed at Dartmouth College and University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, called Nirfast, is a finite-element-based package for modeling near-infrared light transport in tissue for medical applications.22,23 It is open source, free, and cross platform as developed under MATLAB (Mathworks Inc.), which also allows user-friendly understanding and modifications. Applications of Nirfast are diverse, including optical modeling for small animal imaging,24–27 breast imaging,3 brain imaging,28,29 and light dose verification in photodynamic therapy of the pancreas.
Accurate diffusion modeling in optical tomography requires a 3-D geometry since the photon scattering is in all directions.20 Since the core finite element method (FEM) code of Nirfast is based on MATLAB,22 this has in the past hindered its ability to allow for easy coupling to highly complex 3-D meshing tools. One issue stems from the inability of MATLAB to efficiently visualize large 3-D meshes, while another issue is the necessity for custom image processing tools when dealing with an assortment of different medical image types and formats. Using a visualization toolkit/insight segmentation and registration toolkit-based platform, which itself is an open-source application, for segmentation and meshing has helped to address these issues by providing a seamless coupling within Nirfast. Providing the tools and workflow needed to create an FEM mesh from a variety of different types of medical images and seamlessly using this mesh for light transport modeling are essential to making DOT accessible and useful.
The current version of Nirfast includes full-featured segmentation and mesh creation tools for quickly and easily creating high-quality 3-D finite-element meshes from medical images.23 The segmentation tools have been developed in collaboration with Kitware Inc. (Clifton Park, NY). Creating suitable volumetric meshes of complex tissue geometries is a particular challenge for multimodal DOT, due to the variety of contrast characteristics present in different imaging modalities and tissue types/models. Manual manipulation of the segmentation and mesh creation process often requires an overwhelming time investment, and high mesh element quality is notoriously difficult to ensure. It is also very important to retain both the outer and inner region surfaces (internal boundaries) in a mesh to allow the application of prior knowledge for both the forward and inverse models. Segmentation is rarely fully automated because some manual manipulation or input is standard for many complex problems, but by providing a customized collection of semiautomated routines, it is possible to substantially reduce the amount of manual touch-up required. There are various mesh creation tools available either commercially or freely, but each has its own limitations in application to optical tomography. For example, MeshLab is an open-source tool for creating unstructured 3-D triangular meshes, but has no semiautomated segmentation routines30 and is also lacking some workflow features such as the ability to undo the last action. Mimics is a commonly used commercial package designed for medical image processing, but mesh creation requires a great deal of manual input, and it has difficulty with multiple-region problems.31 Netgen is a freely available 3-D tetrahedral mesh generator, but has limitations with multiple-region problems.32 Some other mesh creation tools include DistMesh,33 iso2mesh,34 and quality mesh generation,35 but these are not linked to segmentation tools per se. There is no freely available tool that incorporates all of the workflow elements needed for segmentation and mesh creation in optical tomography in a seamless manner. The new tools in Nirfast help to address these issues, and in this study, their capabilities are tested and quantified in a series of cases which are representative of key application areas.
The segmentation and mesh creation tools in Nirfast allow for a variety of different inputs, including standard DICOM formats for medical images, general image formats (stacks of bmp, jpg, png, etc.), and structured geometry formats (vtk, mha, etc.). It can be used for a variety of different medical imaging modalities, such as CT, MR, ultrasound, and microCT. Both automatic and manual means of segmenting these images have been provided, and mesh creation is fully automated with customizable parameters.
The capability of these tools is demonstrated on four different cases that are relevant to the modeling of light propagation in tissue and optical tomography: small animal imaging, breast imaging, brain imaging, and light dose modeling in photodynamic therapy of the pancreas. The small animal example used a stack of CT images of the front portion of a mouse, consisting of 30 axial slices of 256 by 256 pixels, with a slice thickness of 0.35 mm. The images were taken on a Phillips MR Achieva medical system, in the form of a DICOM stack. The breast example used a stack of T1-weighted MR images, consisting of 149 coronal slices of 360 by 360 pixels, with a slice thickness of 0.64 mm. The images were taken on a Phillips MR Achieva medical system, in the form of a DICOM stack. The brain example used a stack of T1-weighted MR images, consisting of 256 axial slices of 256 by 256 pixels, with a slice thickness of 1 mm. The images were taken on a Siemens Trio 3T scanner and are stored in .hdr and .img files. The pancreas example used a stack of arterial phase CT images, consisting of 90 axial slices of 512 by 512 pixels, with a slice thickness of 1 mm. The images were taken on a Seimens Sensation 64 CT system, in the form of a DICOM stack. In each case, the appropriate modules were used to maximize the quality of the resulting mesh and increase the speed of the entire process.
The general procedure for processing the images follows: First, the medical images are imported into the segmentation interface, shown in Fig. 1. Next, automatic segmentation modules are used to identify different tissue types and regions as accurately as possible. See Table 1 for the steps used in each case, as well as parameter values. The modules and their respective parameters are detailed in Table 2. Explanations of the major segmentation modules are described below.
The interface for segmentation of tissue types in medical images is shown, with 3-D orthogonal views at right and histogram information at left.
The iterative hole-filling algorithm classifies small volumes within a larger region as part of the outer region. In each iteration, a voting algorithm determines whether each pixel is filled based on the percentage of surrounding pixels that are filled, a ratio defined as the majority threshold.36 The number of iterations controls the maximum size of holes and cavities filled. This is useful as a final step for any segmentation, to ensure that each tissue type region is homogeneous and lacking unintended holes. The K-means and Markov random field module performs a classification using a K-means algorithm to cluster grayscale values and then further refines the classification by taking spatial coherence into account.37 The refinement is done with a Markov random field algorithm. The essential minimization function governing this module is given below, where x is the set of grayscale values, S is the k sets of classification groups, and u is the set of mean values in each S. Display Formula
After automatic segmentation, the regions are manually touched up using a paintbrush in order to fix any remaining issues with the segmentation such as stray pixels or holes. Finally, the segmentation is provided as an input to the meshing routine, which creates a 3-D tetrahedral mesh from the stack of two-dimensional (2-D) masks in a single run. This eliminates intermediate steps such as creating 3-D surfaces and thus requires less mesh preprocessing. The resulting mesh is multiregional and can preserve the structural boundaries of segmented tissues. The user has control over element size, quality, and approximation error. For ease of use, these values are set automatically based on the segmentation and medical image information, and no prior knowledge of mesh generation is required to use the tool.
The volume meshing algorithm is unique and based on the computational geometry algorithms library (CGAL)42 and consists of several new features and implementations that are briefly outlined. The CGAL mesh generation libraries are based on a meshing engine utilizing the method of Delaunay refinement.43 It uses the method of restricted Delaunay triangulation to approximate one-dimensional curved features and curved surface patches from a finite set of point samples on a surface44,45 to achieve accurate representation of boundary and subdividing surfaces in the mesh. One very important feature that is of importance is that the domain to be meshed is a region of 3-D space that has to be bounded and the region may be connected or composed of multiple components and/or subdivided in several subdomains. The flexibility of this volume meshing algorithm allows the creation of 3-D volumes consisting of several nonoverlapping regions, allowing the utilization of structural prior information in diffuse optical imaging. The output mesh includes subcomplexes that approximate each input domain feature as defined in the segmented mask described above. During the meshing phase, several parameters can be defined to allow optimization of 3-D meshing, consisting of surface facet settings and tetrahedron size, which are detailed in Table 3.
Once the volumetric mesh has been created, a new feature has been added to allow the users to further optimize the 3-D mesh utilizing the Stellar mesh improvement algorithm.46 This optimization routine improves tetrahedral meshes so that their worst tetrahedra have high quality, making them more suitable for finite element analysis. Stellar employs a broad selection of improvement operations, including vertex smoothing by nonsmooth optimization, stellar flips and other topological transformations, vertex insertion, and edge contraction. If the domain shape has no small angles, Stellar routinely improves meshes so that the smallest dihedral angle is >30 deg and the largest dihedral angle is <140 deg.
Reconstructions were performed for the small animal case with meshes created from segmentations in Mimics and Nirfast, using the optimization tools in each. The nude mouse was implanted with tumor cells in the animal's brain, injected with Licor IRDye-800CW EGF, and imaged at Dartmouth College with an MRI-fluorescence molecular tomography system using a protocol described in a previous publication.47 Fluorescence optical data from eight source and detector locations positioned evenly around the mouse head were calibrated in Nirfast and used in reconstruction.
The time of each step in segmentation and meshing was recorded for all cases, and the results are shown in Table 1. A visualization of a mesh for each case is shown in Figs. 234–5 for illustration. Using the case of the pancreas, the time taken for segmenting and creating a mesh using the tools in Nirfast was compared with that of the commercial package Mimics, designed for medical image processing.31 As seen in Fig. 6, Nirfast shows drastic improvements in the speed of both segmentation and meshing. It is worth noting that postprocessing mesh improvements have not been applied to the Mimics mesh, other than tools available in Mimics.
Original MRI axial slice of the brain (a), segmentation of different tissue types (b), and the 3-D tetrahedral mesh for the brain (c), showing the regions as different colors: red is the skin, yellow is the cerebral spinal fluid, green is the skull, blue is the white matter, and orange is the gray matter.
Original CT slice of the pancreas and surrounding tissue (a), segmentation of different tissue types (b), and the 3-D tetrahedral mesh for the pancreas (c), showing the regions as different colors: green indicates the blood vessels and red is pancreas and surrounding tissue.
Original MRI slice of the breast (a), segmentation of different tissue types (b), and the 3-D tetrahedral mesh for the breast (c), showing the regions as different colors: red is the glandular tissue and green is other breast tissue.
Original CT slice of the mouse (a), segmentation of different tissue types (b), and the 3-D tetrahedral mesh for the mouse (c), showing the regions as different colors: red is general tissue, green indicates the brain, and yellow is the tumor.
Time comparison of segmentation and mesh creation from pancreas CT between Nirfast and the commercial package Mimics.
The resulting 3-D tetrahedral meshes from both programs were then analyzed to assess element quality. Also analyzed was a new mesh optimization feature in Nirfast. This is an optional procedure that searches the mesh for poor-quality elements and attempts to fix them to improve quality, as defined below. It can take a significant amount of time for large mesh sizes, but can vastly increase the quality. In this case, optimization took 15 min. The meshes were made to have a similar number of nodes: 224,049 for the Mimics mesh, 224,445 for the Nirfast mesh, and 224,989 for the optimized Nirfast mesh. The metric used for quality criterion is the sine of minimum dihedral angle of each tetrahedron. Values close to zero would indicate an almost flat element. Such elements can cause loss of numerical accuracy as well as make the stiffness matrix in the FEM formulation ill-conditioned. The optimal value of this quality would be sin(70.52 deg)=0.942 for an equilateral tetrahedron; however the upper bound is 1.0. Figure 7 shows the quality histograms using Mimics, Nirfast, and mesh optimization in Nirfast. The minimum quality for each case respectively was 0.06, 0.12, and 0.65, with average quality values of 0.71, 0.73, and 0.77.
Histograms comparing mesh element quality between the commercial package Mimics and the tools developed in Nirfast. Also shown is the quality histogram when using the mesh optimization feature in Nirfast. No subsequent postprocessing improvements were applied to the Mimics mesh (but are available in the 3-matic package).
Figure 8 shows the reconstruction results in the mouse head using the Mimics mesh and the Nirfast mesh, displaying fluorescence yield overlaid on the MR images. The recovered fluorescence yield for each region in both cases is reported in Table 4.
Reconstructed fluorescence yield overlaid on sagittal MR images of the mouse head, based on reconstructions on a mesh created in Mimics (a) and in Nirfast (b). The fluorescence tomographic reconstructions are based on the segmentation of tissue types and region-based reconstruction on the resulting tetrahedral meshes.
New segmentation and mesh creation tools have been implemented in Nirfast, with the ability to work from the variety of medical images encountered in optical tomography. The efficacy of these tools has been compared with the commercial package Mimics in a case study. The minimum and average tetrahedron element quality values are better using Nirfast (especially when using mesh optimization). In particular, the minimum quality is 62% higher relative to the optimal value using Nirfast. Low-quality elements can produce erroneous numerical solutions by several orders of magnitude, or even prevent a solution from being computed, so this improvement in the minimum quality threshold is essential for DOT. There is a large difference in the amount of time spent, with Nirfast being far more efficient by approximately fivefold. In segmentation, this is partly affected by the efficiency of the automatic segmentation methods, and also by the availability of many advanced segmentation tools that are particularly useful for the typical contrast profiles seen in MR/CT. A good example is breast imaging using MR guidance, where low-frequency gradients are often seen in the images. In the past, this has often hindered the ability to segment these images, as grayscale values of the same tissue type will no longer be in the same range.48 These gradients can be easily removed using MR bias removal, thus greatly reducing the amount of manual touch-up needed after automatic segmentation. In meshing, the improved computational time is in part due to the fact that the new meshing tools are completely automatic and do not require any fixing after mesh creation. The metrics used for speed and quality in comparison with Mimics account for all pre- and post-processing done using tools available in Mimics to improve mesh quality, but not any external tools that may be used separate from Mimics. For example, 3-matic is also a tool marketed by Materialise, capable of postprocessing mesh quality improvement, which could significantly improve the quality of meshes produced by Mimics.
An advantage of the Nirfast package that is not evident from the time benchmarks is the ease of use in the workflow. Since the entire package has been designed around seamlessly segmenting, creating a mesh, modeling light transport, and then visualizing the result, it is much easier to use than a combination of packages that are not optimized for optical tomography. In reconstruction results, as seen in Fig. 8, the recovered fluorescence yield is very similar between Mimics and Nirfast. In fact, there is a small improvement in the tumor and tumor boundary to background tissue fluorescence yield contrast recovered. This indicates that the new tools do not adversely affect reconstruction, despite saving significant time during segmentation and mesh creation. Furthermore, the higher minimum element qualities ensure that numerical issues do not arise with generating forward data on a poor-quality mesh, which can often cause a reconstruction to fail entirely and terminate before converging upon a solution.
The tools have been presented with a focus on optical tomography and the types of medical images often encountered in image-guided optical tomography. However, these tools could certainly be used for other applications in which it is useful to have a 3-D tetrahedral mesh created from 2-D image slices, such as electrical impedance tomography. One of the advantages of the meshing tools presented is the fact that interior region surfaces are maintained in the mesh, as opposed to simply labeling interior elements based on region proximity. This is very important in FEM modeling for optical tomography, as having the boundary of a surface inaccurately represented can lead to poor quantification.49
Tools have been created to allow for segmentation and 3-D tetrahedral mesh creation from a variety of medical images and systems used in optical tomography applications. These tools show promising computational time and element quality benchmarks. The ease and speed of segmentation and meshing is very useful in promoting the use of optical tomography, which has long suffered from long, difficult, and nonrobust meshing procedures. Furthermore, the available automatic segmentation modules provide essential tools for many different types of medical images, particularly in regard to artifacts often seen in MR images. The tools are provided as part of a complete package designed for modeling diffuse light transport in tissue, allowing for a seamless workflow that has never before been available.
This work has been funded by RO1 CA132750 (M.J., H.G., B.W.P., H.D.), P01 CA84203 (B.W.P., M.J.), Department of Defense award W81XWH-09-1-0661 (S.C.D.), and a Neukom Graduate Fellowship (M.J.). The segmentation tools in Nirfast have been developed in collaboration with Kitware Inc. (Clifton Park, NY) under subcontract. Joseph Culver and Adam Eggebrecht of Washington University made available MRI data for the human head. Stephen Pereira and Matthew Huggett of University College London made available CT data for the human pancreas.
Michael Jermyn ; Hamid Ghadyani ; Michael A. Mastanduno ; Wes Turner ; Scott C. Davis, et al."Fast segmentation and high-quality three-dimensional volume mesh creation from medical images for diffuse optical tomography", J. Biomed. Opt. 18(8), 086007 (Aug 12, 2013). ; http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.18.8.086007
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