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" Address: Costanilla de San Vicente 4 / Madrid / Spain 28004 "
The Living Roof Hostel, Madrid.
For our summer holidays this year we decided to embark upon a 2 and a half week trip around Spain. Obviously we wanted to do this in the most economic way possible with regards to places to sleep so we decided that hostels were going to be our best option.
Why The Living Roof?
After searching the hostelbookers.com website The Living Roof hostel came up as one of the cheapest and after reading a few reviews from previous guests everything seemed pretty positive and the location also looked quite good too.
The Living Roof is located on Costanilla de San Vicente 4 in Madrid, Spain. The hostel is about a 20 minute walk from the main city centre area and it is located directly between 2 of the city's Metro stations which is a bit of a pain if you don't want to walk far in the heat. We arrived in Madrid at about 10pm and we decided to follow the directions from the airport which were given by the hostel on the Hostelbookers website. The directions were perfect and we arrived at the hostel within about 40 minutes of leaving the airport by Metro, the Metro ticket to get to the hostel was around 4 Euros.
Making the Booking.
As I mentioned earlier we used the hostelbookers.com website to make the booking with The Living Roof hostel. Making the booking was really easy, we simply selected the date we wanted to stay and which room we wanted to be in. We chose the 10 bed dorm with private bathroom at a cost of £10.44 per person per night including breakfast! I then entered my card details on a secure page to pay a 10% deposit. There was no booking charge for using my card and hostelbookers.com didn't charge any fees for making the booking on my behalf. The remaining amount payable needs to be paid upon arrival in the local currency, which in Spain is Euros.
Car Parking.
The Living Roof doesn't have a car park so if you arrive by car you will need to be prepared to park on the streets. These did seem quite full though so I think you may struggle to find a space nearby.
Check In
We arrived at The Living Roof just before 11pm after following the directions given by the hostel on Hostelbookers website. The entrance to the hostel is quite easy to find as there is a large banner hanging near the door. Upon entering the hostel we were greeted by a really friendly guy who took our name and asked for our passports so he could prepare the paperwork. While he was doing this he told us to take a seat and help ourselves to tea or coffee if we wanted.
The reception area was quite large and had around 4 sofas, a couple of coffee tables and a small set of tables and chairs to sit on. There was also 2 drinks and snacks vending machines and a small selection of books on a window ledge which you were welcome to read or swap with. While we were waiting we sat reading the guestbook which was on one of the coffee tables, it was quite interesting and almost all of the comments were positive, well, the ones which were written in English were at least!
After about 5 minutes we were called back over to the desk where we had to read a small agreement which basically said that we agreed to treat the hostel and other guests with respect, that we would be quiet after 11pm and that we wouldn't drink in the rooms. I presume this part meant alcohol though as almost everyone had a bottle of water in the room. We were also told about the free Wi-fi and the code to use it on our own laptops and phones or we could borrow the guest laptops for use in the common areas if we wanted.
We were then given our bed linen, locker keys and key cards for the room and told we were in room number 5 which is just through the courtyard area and next to the kitchen.
Room Number 5
For our 4 nights at The Living Roof we were staying in room number 5. This room is located next to the kitchen on the ground floor which is the communal area in the form of a courtyard with a few tables and soft fake grass as the floor, kind of like astro turf but not as spikey. The room itself was quite large and laid out reasonably well. There were 5 sets of metal bunk beds around the edge of the room. There were 2 sets of lockers in the room, one set by the bathroom door and the other in the middle between 2 sets of bunk beds. The room appeared to be clean with tiled flooring in both the room and the bathroom.
The room has quite a few small windows which look out onto the communal area and as there was no air conditioning in the room the windows were open all of the time. They do have ceiling fans and these helped quite a lot and thankfully they were quiet so we could leave them on while we slept.
The bunk beds were rather scary and I noticed a lot of them had screws or bolts missing! As I had chosen a top bunk I had to climb up the ladder which, rather alarmingly, wobbled and made some rather scary noises! Once I had reached the top bunk I found it to be very unstable and at first I was a little worried that if I moved too much then the whole thing would collapse! Thankfully it didn't though and I managed to get used to the wobbliness but the squeaky noise it made every time I moved was very annoying and often woke me up in the night. We discovered all of the beds in the room were like this and from what I heard people saying, I think it was actually all of the beds in the hostel!
We were given bed linen when we checked in and this consisted of a bottom sheet, a pillowcase and a top sheet, obviously we had to make the bed up ourselves, but this was fine and once I was used to the wobbly bed it didn't take me long to make. The bed linen provided was nice and clean.
Our room had a private bathroom containing a bath with shower, toilet and sink. It wasn't too big and upon first glance it appeared to be very clean. Upon closer inspection and having a shower though, I could see that the floor could have done with a good scrub and so could the walls, especially between the tiles where mould and mildew was beginning to form. Also the shower curtain was very tatty and quite torn at the top although it did seem to be the cleanest part of the bathroom.
The shower was easy to use and the temperature was very easy to adjust. The water was nice and hot and I can honestly say I did enjoy my showers here but I would have preferred the bathroom to be a little cleaner.
There was a medium sized bin in the bathroom which was half full upon our arrival and during our whole stay it was only emptied once which I think is a bit ridiculous when up to 10 people are sharing the room and the bin was overflowing!
The Common Area and Kitchen
There are two common area's at The Living Roof. The first is the reception area with its many sofas, books and the vending machines and the second is like a large open courtyard in the centre of the hostel. This area is open air and has no roof at all. To get to the rooms you will need to pass through this area so it is a little hard to miss. The floor in this area is similar to astro turf and there are around 5 or 6 tables with chairs where you can sit and eat your breakfast or simply chill out in the fresh air.
Breakfast is served in the kitchen area from about 7am until 10am. The kitchen is next to the courtyard common area. It is quite large and contains a couple of tables as well as 2 or 3 large fridge freezers, a sink area, dishwasher and many cupboards and draws containing various kitchen items. On the work surface there is a rather dodgy looking microwave along with an equally dodgy looking plastic toaster which is melted in places. There is also only one kettle and this is so fantastic that has no lid so it never stops boiling unless you remember to switch it off!
Overall I found the common area to be pretty average. If I had taken my own food I wouldn't have wanted to use the appliances in the kitchen through fear of safety. The atmosphere was alright, people didn't seem that sociable and during the day time it was very quiet.
Sleeping in a Sauna!
As I mentioned earlier, the rooms at The Living Roof had no air conditioning, on the first night this wasn't too much of a problem as there was only 5 of us in the room and we kept the ceiling fans on and the windows open. For these two nights I slept pretty well and only woke when I turned over and the bed made a noise like it was about to collapse! However, on the 3rd night our room was suddenly to the full capacity and even with both ceiling fans on and all of the windows open it was still really hot and very hard to sleep even with no covers, this combined with 10 people moving on their noisy bunk beds made for a very disturbed sleep and a very tired Louise the following day! The 4th night was a little cooler as we were back down to 6 people, however this was only because the other 4 had gone out on the pub crawl which the hostel organises every night. The pub crawl begins in the hostel with some very noisy pre-pub crawl Sangria's in the common area, it then leaves the hostel at 10:45pm and returns at 3am, so while I was able to fall asleep quite easily I didn't manage to stay asleep as when the slightly drunk party animals returned they woke us up with the noise and the temperature in the room started to creep up again.
Fill Up with Breakfast
Breakfast is included in the price of your stay and is available each morning from around 7am until 10am. The options for breakfast are laid out on the tables in the kitchen where you will find a choice of bread, cornflakes, Frosties and Coco pops. There is butter and milk available too and a selection of jams. There are a selection of flavoured teas available as well as coffee.
So, over the four days I had a variety of mixtures for breakfast, mainly due to the fact that everything was kind of gross and I couldn't decide which was the most bearable thing to eat! I was looking forward to a nice bowl of Coco pops as I hadn't had them for ages, however when I poured the milk onto them it turned out that the milk was warm as it had been left out on the table, I thought this may have just been another guest being lazy however as it happened every morning I think it was more a case of the milk never got put in the fridge!
The other item which never entered the fridge was the butter. I discovered this after deciding that I didn't like warm milk on my cereal so I would make some toast instead, usually soft butter doesn't bother me, but this was warm soft butter which had a very nasty aftertaste to it. I don't know if it was because it was kept at room temperature or if it was simply the butter brand itself, but either way it was so disgusting that I felt rather ill after eating it. In the end I could just about stomach eating toast with no butter and a light helping of strawberry jam, it still wasn't what I would describe as tasty but it was bearable. On the forth morning I couldn't handle the breakfast anymore and opted for a simple cup of coffee which was also on the bearable side of yuk!
Walking Tour
The hostel offers a few organised events such as the pub crawl which I mentioned earlier. We didn't go on the pub crawl, but we did take advantage of the free walking tour which was on offer. The walking tour leaves every morning and covers all of the "must see" buildings in Madrid city centre. Our tour guide was a very nice girl from Columbia named Erica. She was very funny and showed us all of the sights and buildings with some history included. She may not have been from Spain but she really knew her stuff when it came to Madrid and Spanish history.
The tour lasted around 2 and a half hours and it was advertised as being totally free. However, we were told that we could give tips if we wanted to. I have been on a walking tour before where the guides are paid only by their tips and I have given tips when I thought it was deserved. On this tour though our lovely Erica was practically begging for tips and mentioned a few times during the tour about tips, we thought nothing of it until the end of the tour when she said it was time for the tips and then came to each of us individually for her tip. Personally I felt this was not only very rude but it also made me feel uncomfortable and pressured into giving her a larger tip, although I managed to resist this pressure and stuck to my 3 Euro tip... not much I know but it is a free tour and we were told the tips were optional, even though the awkward situation made it virtually impossible not to give anything!
Check Out
Check out from the hostel is by 11am and to check out we simply returned our bed linen, locker keys and room key cards to reception. Nothing more was needed and the lady on reception was happy to give us directions to the bus station where we would continue on our way to our next stop in Valencia.
My overall opinion of The Living Roof Hostel is a mixed one. For the price we paid I would say we got what we paid for, however there are a lot of improvements which could be made, for instance it wouldn't break the bank for them to buy a new kettle with a lid!
The location was good and it took us around 30 minutes to walk into the city centre. I think it would usually be about 20 minutes but in 44 degrees of sunshine I wasn't exactly walking fast! There are two Metro stations nearby and the hostel is really easy to find with the directions provided at the time of booking.
The staff are friendly and happy to help you and on the couple of occasions when my room key card wouldn't work they popped it in a machine and fixed it straight away for me.
I would just about recommend staying at The Living Roof Hostel, but only for one or two nights, we found that four nights here was too much and four breakfasts here was even worse!
3 out of 5 Stars from me.
Thanks for reading :)


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Discussion in 'Racquets' started by hyperwarrior, Nov 13, 2006.
Is it true that flexible racquets are easiers to crack than racquets with higher stiffness?
Is it true that you can throw a POG on the ground and not break it but you can throw a PD and break it?
Surely less flexible racquets would be more brittle, right?
Bust my nCode 6.1 by throwing it on the ground, but this never happened to my old 200gs, bith of which I still own and are in perfect condition. Probably gave them much more stick aswell.
Separate names with a comma.

subset: commoncrawl


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Legendary actress Diahann Carroll will be honored at the 2013 San Diego Black Film Festival with a lifetime achievement award for television and motion pictures. A pioneering actress whose career spans decades, she starred opposite Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Bellefonte and Pearl Bailey in the classic film Carmen Jones.
When she was cast as the lead in Julia, she became the first African American woman to star in her own TV series. She won a Golden Globe Award in 1968 and was eventually nominated for an Emmy Award for the series in 1969.
In the 1970s she took on what many believed was a risky role with her portrayal of welfare mother Claudine opposite James Earl Jones. It turned out to be a great move as she was nominated for an Academy Award in 1974 for her portrayal of Claudine. ??The glamorous star made television history again for her role in Dynasty as Dominique Deveraux opposite Joan Collins making her the first "black bitch," in prime time television. In fact, Dynasty creator Aaron Spelling once remarked, "when Diahnn came in, Esther Shapiro and I looked at her, looked at each other and said, My God, she is Dynasty." ??"We're honored to bestow our Millennium Award for Lifetime Achievement in Television & Motion Pictures on her because she's a classic pioneering star. And when it comes to television and motion pictures, they don't come much bigger than Diahann Carroll," said Karen Willis, director of the San Diego Black Film Festival. ??The award will be presented to Ms Carroll during the festival's Awards Dinner & Gala, February 2, 2013, 7pm at the Westin Gaslamp Quarter in downtown San Diego. ?
Can You Smell What The Rock is Cookin?
Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson has got a busy 2013. 'Snitch' is his first film of the year, which will be followed by 'G.I. Joe: Retaliation,' then 'Pain and Gain,' and finally this summer's 'Fast Six.' And though 'Snitch' might be the least interesting of the four, it's got a good hook, as the latest trailer emphasizes.
And that's that Johnson must take down criminals to get his son out of jail. That's a solid B-movie premise, and can be used for good tense action scenes as Johnson tries not to get caught. Also, the film features 'The Wire's Michael K. Williams, and it's always worth checking out what Omar's up to.
Here's the synopsis:
Action superstar Dwayne Johnson headlines this fast-paced thriller as a father whose teenage son is wrongly accused of a crime and is sentenced to 10 years in jail. In order to clear his son's name, he dangerously goes undercover and risks everything, including his own life, to reduce his son's sentence.
The ensemble cast includes Academy Awards Winner Susan Sarandon, Emmy Nominee Benjamin Bratt, and Golden Globe Nominee Barry Pepper.
Inspired by a true story, the screenplay was written by Justin Haythe (THE LONE RANGER, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, THE CLEARING) and adapted by the film's director Ric Roman Waugh.


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Thread: Access query
06-04-02, 18:25 #1Registered User
- Join Date
- Jun 2002
- Posts
- 3
Unanswered: Access query
I am trying to insert a record into an Access database.
In a table called "schedule" I have a field called "user" which is an integer corresponding to an index of another table called "users". The primary index of the table "users" is this integer and also has another text field called "name". I would like to be able to execute an INSERT statement on the "schedule" table and instead of passing an integer into the "user" field, insert a name from the "user" table and have Access look up the corresponding ID integer. (Hope that makes sense)
How can I do this? Through some type of JOIN statement?
06-05-02, 07:45 #2Registered User
- Join Date
- Feb 2002
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- 403
Place your User table in the query grid. Join the UserID from your other table to the User table. Insert the User Name from User table into the query and replace the User from the originating table.


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Benny and the Jets
Kane terrific in Twin Cities, Jets down Wild 4-3
by BMS on 02/17/12 at 01:35 PM ET
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It took 65+ minutes of play to do it, but the Winnipeg Jets got a much-needed road win last night in Minnesota, downing the Wild 4-3 in a shootout in a game that saw a key player return to form. Evander Kane had seven shots, scored twice, added a helper and potted the shootout winner last night, and for the first time since being sidelined by a concussion in late 2011 was a truly dynamic presence on the ice.
Kane got loose in front of the Wild net and got the Jets on the board with a great pass from Blake Wheeler, who played an equally spirited game in his home state last night. Kane then beat Niklas Backstrom in a foot race to a bouncing puck, pushing the rubber past the Wild goalie for the Jets' second goal. After the Wild regained the lead, Alexander Burmistrov roofed an errant puck to tie the game with 17 minutes left in the third period.
Both teams went for long periods without a shot on net – each team had only two through the first period, and the Wild had none through the first half of the second period. Chris Mason was at his shakiest when he hadn't seen any pucks for a while – the Wild scored on their first shot eight minutes into the first, and then again on the first of only three Minnesota shots in the second period.
This was a game between two teams that have had trouble finding the back of the net – perhaps as good a chance as any for a guy like Evander Kane to find his form. It didn't hurt that the Xcel Energy Center had its fair share of Jets fans that had made the eight-hour drive down from Winnipeg to catch the game – given the difficulty of getting games to see the Jets at the MTS Centre, it's hard to blame 'em.
The Jets' power play continues to suffer; teams seem to know to play aggressive on the man and Winnipeg won't be able to even set anything up. Tim Stapleton was once again on the blue line for the power play, for reasons that continue to escape me. The Jets' penalty kill, meanwhile, is just plain wimpy – there seems to be some sort of fear of attacking the player and getting caught out of position. As a result, the Jets just seem content to stand there and let the other team pass the puck around at will, hoping to either block a shot or allow their goalie a clear look at the shot so he can make the save. Not a good game plan.
Now four points out of a playoff spot, the Jets go again tonight back at the MTS Centre against the Boston Bruins – given that Winnipeg has yet to win the second of back-to-back games and are in tough against an opponent that brings a lot more grit and firepower than the Wild, things could get ugly.
Factor in that the game is televised nationally and Murphy's Law tells you the Jets are going to get spanked. Hopefully I'm wrong on this one. Much could hang on whether Zach Bogosian is back in the lineup after not making the trip to Minnesota; he was suffering an upper-body injury following the game against the Islanders.
Oh, and for all your Winnipeg Jets trade deadline speculation, see the piece in today's Winnipeg Free Press by Tim Campbell.
Filed in: Winnipeg Jets, | Benny and the Jets | Permalink
Tags: boston+bruins, minnesota+wild, new+york+islanders
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About Benny and the Jets
Fifteen years ago, Ben's beloved Winnipeg Jets left town. He begrudgingly turned to the Montreal Canadiens for comfort and found none, and is now struggling to find a place in his heart for the Winnipeg Jets v2.0.
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Participants must be able to crawl stroke with breathing for 25 yards and back crawl for 25 yards. Flipper would be jealous! Begin with an introduction of scissors & butterfly kicks at an outdoor pool. Cardiovascular endurance increases as you swim further & longer. Develop personal safety with a medley of heads up crawl, object recovery & treading water. Dive in! Next level is Park Shark 1.
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|07 Dec 2009
CD/DVD-ROM not detected in Windows 7
PLEASE HELP. I am using Lenovo 3000 N200. I upgraded from Vista to Win 7 but my CD/DVD-ROM has not been detected. I tried installing the latest Win Updates and removing Upperfilters/Lowerfilters in the registry but still to no avail. HOPE SOMEONE CAN HELP.
|My System Specs
|07 Dec 2009
Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Hello haynataro & welcome to SF
When did this start to happen? Just after installing W7 i presume.
Are there any relevant entries in the Event Viewer?
Maybe try reseating the cable connecting it to the PC?
What's the exact make/model of your DVD drive?
|My System Specs
|07 Dec 2009
Yes immediately after installing rebooting Win 7. Forgot to mention that I could not find Upperfilters/Lowerfilters in the registry. I tried downgrading to WIN XP and the CDROM was there. Dont think there is sth to do with the cables. I forgot to note down the model last time and I cant find it now on the laptop as it does not appears. Hope you can help. Regards.
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I'm just not going to sugarcoat this:
That vast army of mutual fund managers who for some reason believe their funds can outperform the Standard & Poor's 500 index, or one of the other major indexes, has failed us miserably.
These so-called active fund managers again threw a rod in 2011, with the majority of them underperforming whatever index they were trying to beat.
Unfortunately, they drain 1 or 2 percentage points annually out of our portfolios for managing our money or allowing us to invest in their funds.
We deserve better.
Average investors should be able to count on at least two things when they buy an actively managed mutual fund.
First, if they invest in a large-cap fund, it should outperform say, the Russell 1000 Growth index. Similarly, if it is a small-cap fund, it should perform better than the Russell 2000, which is an index of smaller stocks.
If the managed funds can't do that, then investors would be better off to just buy a broad-based index fund such as the Vanguard 500 Index Fund or the Vanguard Small-cap Index Fund and be done. The annual expenses of these types of index funds are minuscule — less than 0.3 percent.
Second, if I'm going to trust my money to active managers, I want them to protect me on the downside. By that, I mean I don't want my portfolio collapsing in tandem with the overall market.
High failure rates
Active managers don't actually promise either of those things, but I would submit that those are implied promises, or why else would we pay them?
Consider this: Morningstar tracks 1,584 large-cap growth funds, one of the most popular mutual fund categories. Guess how many of those funds last year beat their benchmark index, in this case the Russell 1000. Only 134, while 1,450 fell short. That's a 90 percent failure rate.
To make matters worse, the average large-cap growth fund posted a negative return of 2.47 percent, while the index returned a positive 2.6 percent.
Active fund managers performed somewhat better in some of the other fund categories, but the failure rate was still 60 percent to 70 percent.
Active managers fail more often than they succeed for three reasons — and some readers may have already guessed two of them.
First, their management fees are too high and that erodes returns. Second, they must somehow outwit a very powerful force called the efficient market theory. That theory suggests that at any given moment, all the relevant information is reflected in a stock price.
In other words, a stock can neither be underpriced nor overpriced. It is what it is, so it's impossible to beat an "efficient market" by purchasing cheap stocks.
Many investors and fund managers dispute that theory, which is why they spend so much time buying undervalued stocks and selling overvalued stocks. They believe they can beat the market or its proxy, the S&P 500.
While I'm an agnostic on the efficient market theory, I will concede that it is difficult for anyone to know more than the market knows. In any case, if the efficient market theory is even partly true, it's a significant obstacle for fund managers.
Reason three
A third factor is rarely mentioned when active management performance is discussed, but I think it is every bit as important. It involves how closely the majority of individual stocks have moved in tandem either up or down in recent years. This is called market correlation, and it was high in 2011.
John West, a director at Research Affiliates in Newport Beach, Calif., explained that in 2011, broad economic forces such as the European debt crisis whipsawed the entire market either up or down depending on the day. Fundamentals, such as earnings, revenue and debt, didn't seem to matter.
"These macroeconomic forces caused investors to sell or buy entire baskets of stocks," West said. "Such a lack of differentiation created a difficult environment for stock pickers."
The average correlation hit its all-time peak in October, when 86 percent of the stocks in the S&P 500 moved in the same direction on a 50-day moving average. Until then, the highest correlation had come on Black Monday in October 1987, when 82 percent of the S&P stocks moved in lockstep.
This meant that even if an active manager was right about a stock being mispriced, that didn't help performance because the overall market had other ideas.
As a Bianco Research report said: "It's as if every S&P 500 company has the same chairman of the board that only knows one strategy."


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Bieber behaving badly
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May 2011: CSI star Marg Helgenberger hints at Bieber's bad behavior after the singer films a two-episode arc. "I shouldn't be saying this, but he was kind of a brat," Helgenberger says. "He was very nice to me, but he locked one of the producers in a closet, and he put his fist through a cake that was on the actors' table." Bieber is shown here accepting the Digital Artist of the Year award at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards May 22, 2011, in Las Vegas.
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May 2012: Bieber is involved in a scuffle with a paparazzo while leaving a mall with then-girlfriend Selena Gomez. The photographer files a police report, saying Bieber kicked and punched him, but because there is not sufficient evidence, including any apparent sign of injury, no criminal charges are filed.
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January and February 2013: Bieber moons fans on Instagram and shortly after, pictures surface of him and two friends surrounded by sizzurp and blunts. Sizzurp -- also known as purple drank, syrup and lean -- is a mix of codeine-based prescription cough syrup, soda and, often, Jolly Ranchers candy. He is shown here with Jimmy Kimmel on Kimmel's TV show Feb. 5, 2013.
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For most Europeans, Switzerland is a conservative place of bank secrecy, chocolates and luxury watches. Now another product, cannabis, is on its way to becoming as quintessentially Swiss as the multifunction penknife. Berhard Machler is one man who appreciates the new trend in diversification. Machler is a manager and founding member of the Enetbrugg cooperative, a business north of Zurich that employs 200 people and racked up revenues of $5.5 million in 1999 by growing pot and selling it to the country's burgeoning network of legal hemp shops. The cooperative's revenues were lower last year, in part because the risks of...
Going Up In Smoke
Switzerland, land of chocolate, luxury watches and bank secrecy, has a new growth industry: the cultivation and sale of marijuana
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November 22, 2011 - This has been the "Year of the Motorcycle Helmet", with manufacturers pumping out new designs seemingly by the hour.
We hadn't heard much from Nexx since our review of the Nexx XR1R Carbon (review) back in August of 2010.
I did see a revised Nexx X30 (review) at the 2011 Dealer Expo back in February of this year; that helmet now has a revised rotating visor and face shield system that allows each piece to be raised separately.
The face shield and eye port was also redesigned for better visibility. There are a couple of photos of the revisions in my 2012 Nexx Helmets report from the 2011 EICMA show.
We never did get a revised X30 for a review, so I can't comment on the changes. But there's plenty more news from Nexx for 2012!
For example, how about the new Nexx X40? It's what we call a true "modular" helmet, because it can be converted from one form to another.
Sometimes called a "MaxiJet" in Europe, this is a popular design with general street riders, touring bike owners, commuters and scooterists.
Nexx had a prototype X40 at the EICMA show and it's a very interesting-looking helmet, with a modern, angular design.
It has several innovations, including very large rocker-type intake and exhaust vents and an extremely large face shield that should provide outstanding visibility; potentially perfect for everything from touring the Rockies to slashing the streets of Bensonhurst.
I took a few photos and a video but quality suffered a bit due to the black helmet on a white table. Lesson learned -- the Nikon P7000 is handy for toting around a motorcycle show but pretty bad at dealing with high-contrast scenes.
Anyway, I did my best in post-processing and I'm sure you'll get the idea.
Here's an edited version of the Nexx X40 press release and we hope to have one of these cool-looking helmets for a review as soon as they're released (scheduled for Q1 of 2012) to production.
► More: 2012 Nexx Helmets Overview
The X40: Multi-combinations, from city to adventure, the new X40 MaxiJet from Nexx Helmets is an urban concept about what to expect from motorcycle helmets of the future.
The X40 has the potential to set the trend for an all-new type of design, engineering comfort. It was designed with assistance from the Link-innova Engineering design firm, with their experience in automobile and aeronautics technology and with the creativity of Rufo Design.
The X40 features a lightweight carbon-fiber shell, along with an aero-tuned design for quiet comfort and improved stability.
Engineering includes the new minimal design "One-Touch" ergonomic mechanism for the integrated sun visor and One-Touch ventilation system with "glove-friendly" rubber sliders.
The X40 liner is made from CoolMax advanced performance fabrics to keep the interior cool and dry. It is fully removable and washable and antibacterial and antiallergenic.
The X40 was conceived for function, not form. The helmet quickly converts from full-face to open-face configurations by removing or replacing the chin bar sections.
The design was conceived with the help of tips and comments from experienced motorcyclists.
Publication Date: November 22, 2011
► More: 2012 Nexx Helmets Overview
From "B.Z." (January 2014): "I was looking at this helmet there this weekend, and I mean REALLY looking at it.
This helmet has sooooo much flex in it, I am shocked. It had a DOT and a ECE 2205 certification on the back of it, but man was this thing sketchy at best.
Comparing it to my Nolan N43E Trilogy (review), I just don't think I'd feel comfortable with this as a "safe" helmet. Unique though in how light it is and some of the features like the flip open chin vent on the face shield.
Certainly looks like more ventilation that my Nolan overall too. I just couldn't get over how flexy it was, especially when you push on the chin bar when installed.
The whole shell bowed out, and the guy in the booth was saying that was a deliberate portion of the design."
Rick's Reply: Flex isn't necessarily bad per se actually; some flexibility is necessary to absorb impact and if correctly designed, it's better than stiffness generally speaking, e.g. the famous (infamous?) Motorcyclist mag article that rated the cheesy Z1R as better than Schuberth et al...
From "M.J." (June 2013): "When I first found out about this helmet I thought it was just what I was looking for but as it's not a main dealer stocked helmet in the UK, trying it might have been a problem.
Fortunately, there is a home based distributor not far from me.
When I saw it in the "carbon" I was impressed but looks mean nothing. Arai, Schuberth and Shoei (helmets) are rubbish to me because they're not comfortable. Trying on is always the acid test for a helmet.
The Nexx fit me, probably as well as the Nolans I've had but it's lighter. The field of view seemed enormous and the dropdown sun visor seemed better than the Nolan.
The more I examined it the more I was impressed with the engineering, the little vent in the visor, the easy to open top vents, everything seemed to be well thought out.
In day-glo yellow it was also the best colour for road safety, better than a hi viz vest. However, as with any helmet you only find out how good it is by riding in it.
Now 2 months including a 1000 mile tour in southern England, later I've found there's good and bad. The field of view is superb both at the sides and up and down. The top vents are easy to open and actually work.
Wearing it all day was no problem. Removing the chin piece is easy but I'm not sure it makes much difference.
Similarly the visor vent doesn't make much difference but I've never found the chin piece vents in other helmets were much good.
The little slot in the base surround of the helmet for a Bluetooth receiver, seemed to be a good idea but the air flow across it makes so much noise that I've had to tape over it.
This brings me to the bad. In the past I've worn ear plugs for long runs but for short commutes haven't needed them. With the Nexx X40 they are essential, it is the worst helmet for wind noise I've ever had.
I assume it's the little "aerodynamic tabs" towards the back of the base trim but whatever, it spoils what could be an excellent helmet. Why helmet manufactures don't supply pelmets that slot onto the base of their helmets I will never know. It's not rocket science but would solve the noise problem.
As with any helmet once you've got it, you're stuck with it for at least a few years because of the cost Although I've never been that keen on putting things in my ears I'll just have to find the best earplugs."


text:
A body was found Tuesday inside a burnt outhouse in the backyard of a Riverside home, authorities said.
The grisly discovery was made about 4:15 p.m., according Lt. Julian Hutzler, with the Riverside Police Department.
First responders received a report of a structure fire in the 6000 block of Stover Avenue, Hutzler said. They arrived to find a burning outhouse. When the flames were extinguished, they discovered a body, believed to be that of a man.
Police believe the body may be that of a male transient, said Riverside Police Officer Bryan Galbreath.
Homicide and arson investigators were still investigating.
Further details were not immediately available.
Refresh this page for updates.
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Published at 5:44 PM PST on Nov 12, 2013 | Updated at 7:10 PM PST on Nov 12, 2013