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T7 DNA polymerase
|T7 DNA polymerase
Figure 1. Crystal structure of T7 DNA replication complex. Rendered from PDB 1T7P.
|EC number
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|IntEnz view
|BRENDA entry
|NiceZyme view
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|metabolic pathway
|PDB structures
|RCSB PDB PDBe PDBsum
T7 DNA polymerase is an enzyme used during the DNA replication of the T7 bacteriophage. During this process, the DNA polymerase "reads" existing DNA strands and creates two new strands that match the existing ones. The T7 DNA polymerase requires a host factor, E. coli thioredoxin,[1] in order to carry out its function. This helps stabilize the binding of the necessary protein to the primer-template to improve processivity by more than 100-fold, which is a feature unique to this enzyme.[2] It is a member of the Family A DNA polymerases, which include E. coli DNA polymerase I and Taq DNA polymerase.
This polymerase has various applications in site-directed mutagenesis [3] as well as a high-fidelity enzyme suitable for PCR.[4] It has also served as the precursor to Sequenase,[5] an engineered-enzyme optimized for DNA sequencing.[6]
- 1 Mechanism
- 2 Accessory proteins
- 3 Properties
- 4 Applications
- 5 References
Phosphoryl transfer[edit]
Figure 2. Nucleotidyl transfer by DNA polymerase.
T7 DNA polymerase catalyzes the phosphoryl transfer [7] during DNA replication of the T7 phage. As shown in Figure 2, the 3' hydroxyl group of a primer acts as a nucleophile and attacks the phosphodiester bond of nucleoside 5'-triphosphate (dTMP-PP). This reaction adds a nucleoside monophosphate into DNA and releases a pyrophosphate (PPi). Generally, the reaction is metal-dependent and cations such as Mg2+ are often present in the enzyme active site.[7]
For T7 DNA polymerase, the fingers, palm and thumb (Figure 1) position the primer-template so that the 3'-end of the primer strand is positioned next to the nucleotide-binding site (located at the intersection of the fingers and thumb).[8] The base pair formed between the nucleotide and the template base fits nicely into a groove between the fingers and the 3'-end of the primer.[8] Two Mg2+ ions form an octahedral coordinate network with oxygen ligand and also bring the reactive primer hydroxyl and the nucleotide α-phosphate close together, thereby lowering the entropic cost of nucleophilic addition.[8] The rate-limiting step in the catalytic cycle occurs after the nucleoside triphosphate binds and before it is incorporated into the DNA (corresponding to the closure of the fingers subdomain around the DNA and nucleotide).[8]
Role of Mg2+ ions and amino acid residues in the active site[edit]
The amino acids present in the active site assist in creating a stabilizing environment for the reaction to proceed. Amino acids such as Lys522, Tyr526, His506 and Arg518 act as hydrogen bond donors. The backbone carbonyl of Ala476, Asp475 and Asp654 form coordinate bonds with the Mg2+ ions.
Asp475 and Asp654 form a bridge with the Mg2+ cations to orient them properly. The Mg2+ ion on the right (Figure 3) interacts with negatively charged oxygens of the alpha(α), beta(β) and gamma(γ) phosphates to align the scissile bond for the primer to attack.[8] Even if there is no general base within the active site to deprotonate the primer hydroxyl, the lowered pka of the metal-bound hydroxyl favors the formation of the 3'-hydroxide nucleophile.[8] Metal ions and Lys522 contact non-bridging oxygens on the α-phosphate to stabilize the negative charge developing on the α-phosphorus during bond formation with the nucleophile.
Moreover, the Lys522 sidechain also moves to neutralize the negatively charged pyrophosphate group. Tyr526, His506, Arg518 side chains and the oxygen from the backbone carbonyl group of Ala476 take part in the hydrogen bond network and assist in aligning the substrate for phosphoryl transfer.[8]
Accessory proteins[edit]
While phage T7 mediates DNA replication in very similar manner to higher organisms, T7 system is generally simpler compared to other replication systems. In addition to T7 DNA polymerase (also known as gp5), T7 replisome requires only four accessory proteins for proper function: host thioredoxin, gp4, gp2.5, and gp1.7.
Host thioredoxin[edit]
T7 polymerase by itself has a very low processivity. It dissociates from the primer-template after incorporating about 15 nucleotides. Upon infection of the host, T7 polymerase binds to host thioredoxin in 1:1 ratio. The hydrophobic interaction between thioredoxin and T7 polymerase helps to stabilize the binding of T7 polymerase to primer-template. In addition, the binding of thioredoxin increases T7 polymerase processivity to nearly 80-fold.[9] The precise mechanism for how the thioredoxin-T7 polymerase complex is able to achieve such increase in processivity is still unknown. Binding of thioredoxin exposes a large number of basic amino acid residues in the thumb region of T7 polymerase. Several studies suggest that the electrostatic interaction between these positively charged basic residues with the negatively charged phosphate backbone of DNA and other accessory proteins is responsible for increased processivity in gp5/thioredoxin complex.[9][10][11]
gp4 is a hexameric protein containing two functional domains: helicase domain and primase domain. The helicase domain unwinds double-stranded DNA to provide template for replication. The C-terminal tail of helicase domain contains several negatively charged acidic residues which make contact with the exposed basic residue of T7 polymerase/thioredoxin. These interactions help to load T7 polymerase/thioredoxin complex onto replication fork. The primase domain catalyzes the synthesis of short oligoribonucleotides. These oligoribonucleotides, called primers, are complementary to the template strand and used to initiate DNA replication. In T7 system, primase domain of one subunit interacts with primase domain of adjacent subunit. This interaction between primase domains acts as a brake to stop helicase when needed, which ensure the leading stand synthesis in-pace with lagging stand synthesis.[11]
gp2.5 has similar function to single-stranded DNA binding protein. gp2.5 protects single-stranded DNA produced during replication and coordinates synthesis of leading and lagging strands through interaction between its acidic C-terminal tail and gp5/thioredoxin.[11]
gp1.7 is a nucleoside monophosphate kinase, which catalyzes the conversion of deoxynucleoside 5'-monophosphates to di and triphosphate nucleotides, which accounts for the sensitivity of T7 polymerase to dideoxynucleotides (see Sequenase below).[11]
The primary gp5 subunit of T7 DNA Polymerase by itself has low processivity and dissociates from DNA after the incorporation of just a few nucleotides. In order to become efficiently processive, T7 DNA polymerase recruits host thioredoxin to form a thioredoxin-gp5 complex. Thioredoxin binds the thioredoxin binding domain of gp5 thereby stabilizes a flexible DNA binding region of gp5. The stabilization of this region of gp5 alosterically increases the amount of protein surface interaction with the duplex portion of the primer-template. The resulting thioredoxin-gp5 complex increases the affinity of T7 polymerase for the primer terminus by ~80-fold and acts processively around 800 nucleotide incorporation steps.[12]
The mechanism adopted by T7 polymerase to achieve its processivity differs from many other polymerases in that it does not rely on a DNA clamp or a clamp loader. Instead, the T7 DNA polymerase complex requires only three proteins for processive DNA polymerization: T7 polymerase (gp5), Escherichia coli thioredoxin, and single-stranded DNA-binding protein gp2.5.[13] Although these three proteins are the only ones required for template single-stranded DNA polymerization, in a native biological setting the thioredoxin-gp5 interacts with gp4 helicase, which provides single-stranded DNA template (figure 4). During leading strand synthesis thioredoxin-gp5 and gp4 form a high affinity complex increasing overall polymerase processivity to around 5 kb.[14][15]
Exonuclease activity[edit]
T7 DNA polymerase possesses a 3'-5' single and double stranded DNA exonuclease activity. This exonuclease activity is activated when a newly synthesized base does not correctly base-pair with the template strand. Excision of incorrectly incorporated bases acts as a proofreading mechanism thereby increasing the fidelity of T7 polymerase.[4] During early characterization of exonuclease activity, it was discovered that iron-catalyzed oxidation of T7 polymerase produced a modified enzyme with greatly reduced exonuclease activity. This discovery lead to the development and use of T7 Polymerase as a sequenase in early DNA sequencing methods.[16]
The mechanism by which T7 DNA polymerase senses that a mismatched base has been incorporated is still a topic of study. However, some studies have provided evidence to suggesting that changes in tension of the template DNA strand caused by base-pair mismatch may induce exonuclease activation. Wuite et al. observed that applying tension of above 40 pN to the template DNA resulted in 100-fold increase in exonuclease activity.[17]
Strand extensions in site directed mutagenesis[edit]
Site-directed mutagenesis is a molecular biology method that is used to make specific and intentional changes to the DNA sequence of a gene and any gene products. The technique was developed at a time when the highest quality commercially available DNA polymerase for converting an oligonucleotide into a complete complementary DNA strand was the large (Klenow) fragment of E. coli DNA polymerase 1. However, ligation step can become an issue with oligonucleotide mutagenesis. That is when the DNA ligase operates inefficiently relative to the DNA polymerase, strand displacement of the oligonucleotide can reduce the mutant frequency. In the other hand, T7 DNA polymerase does not perform strand displacement synthesis; and thus, can be utilized to obtain high mutant frequencies for point mutants independent of ligation.[18]
Second strand synthesis of cDNA[edit]
cDNA cloning is a major technology for analysis of the expression of genomes. The full-length first-strand can be synthesized through the commercially available reverse transcriptases. Synthesis of the second-strand was once a major limitation to cDNA cloning. Two groups of methods differing by the mechanism of initiation were developed to synthesize the second-strand. In a first group of methods, initiation of second-strand synthesis takes place within the sequence of the first strand. However, the digestion of the 3' end of the first strand is required and therefore results in the loss of the sequences corresponding to the 5'end of the mRNA. In a second group of methods, initiation of second-strand synthesis takes place outside the sequence of the first strand. This group of methods does not require digestion of the 3' end of the first strand. However, the limitation of this group of method lies upon the elongation. Cloning with T7 DNA polymerase helps overcome this limitation by allowing digestion of the poly(dT) tract during the second-strand synthesis reaction. Therefore, the size of the tract synthesized with terminal transferase is not required to be within a given size range and the resulting clones contain a tract of a limited size. Moreover, due to high 3' exonuclease activity of T7 DNA polymerase, high yield of the full-length second-strand can be obtained.[19]
Sequenase (DNA sequencing)[edit]
In Sanger sequencing, one of the major problem regarding DNA polymerases is the discrimination against dideoxynucleotides, the chain-terminating nucleotides. Most of known DNA polymerases strongly discriminate against ddNTP; and thus, a high ratio of ddNTP to dNTP must be used for efficient chain-termination. T7 DNA polymerase discriminates against ddNTP only several fold; and thereby, requires much lower concentration of ddNTP to provide high uniformity of DNA bands on the gel. However, its strong 3'-5' exonuclease activity can disrupt the sequencing since when the concentration of dNTP falls, the exonuclease activity increases resulting in no net DNA synthesis or degradation of DNA. In order to use for DNA sequencing, T7 DNA polymerase has been modified to remove its exonuclease activity. This modified T7 DNA polymerase is also known as Sequenase Version 2.0.[4]
- ^ Mark, DF; Richardson, CC (March 1976). "Escherichia coli thioredoxin: a subunit of bacteriophage T7 DNA polymerase". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 73 (3): 780–4. doi:10.1073/pnas.73.3.780. PMC 336002 . PMID 768986.
- ^ Tabor, S; Huber, HE; Richardson, CC (25 November 1987). "Escherichia coli thioredoxin confers processivity on the DNA polymerase activity of the gene 5 protein of bacteriophage T7". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 262 (33): 16212–23. PMID 3316214.
- ^ Venkitaraman, A R (25 April 1989). "Use of modified T7 DNA polymerase (sequenase version 2.0) for oligonucleotide site-directed mutagenesis". Nucleic Acids Research. 17 (8): 3314. doi:10.1093/nar/17.8.3314.
- ^ a b c Zhu, Bin (16 April 2014). "Bacteriophage T7 DNA polymerase-Sequenase". Frontiers in Microbiology. 5. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2014.00181.
- ^ "Thermo Sequenase DNA Polymerase".
- ^ Voet, Donald Voet, Judith G. (2011). Biochemistry (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780470917459.
- ^ a b Fersht, Alan (1985). Enzyme structure and mechanism (2nd ed.). New York: W.H. Freeman. ISBN 9780716716143.
- ^ a b c d e f g Doublie, Sylvie; Ellenberger, Tom (December 1998). "The mechanism of action of T7 DNA polymerase". Current Opinion in Structural Biology. 8 (6): 704–712. doi:10.1016/s0959-440x(98)80089-4.
- ^ a b Bedford, Ella; Stanley, Tabor; Richardson, Charles C. (21 Jan 1997). "The thioredoxin binding domain of bacteriophage T7 DNA polymerase confers processivity on Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 94 (2): 479–484. doi:10.1073/pnas.94.2.479. PMC 19538 . PMID 9012809.
- ^ Ghosh, S.; Hamdan, S. M.; Cook, T. E.; Richardson, C. C. (30 August 2008). "Interactions of Escherichia coli Thioredoxin, the Processivity Factor, with Bacteriophage T7 DNA Polymerase and Helicase". Journal of Biological Chemistry. 283 (46): 32077–32084. doi:10.1074/jbc.M805062200. PMC 2581581 . PMID 18757858.
- ^ a b c d Lee, Seung-Joo; Richardson, Charles C (October 2011). "Choreography of bacteriophage T7 DNA replication". Current Opinion in Chemical Biology. 15 (5): 580–586. doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2011.07.024.
- ^ Richardson, CC (1983). "Bacteriophage T7: minimal requirements for the replication of a duplex DNA molecule". Cell. 33 (2): 315–317. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(83)90411-7.
- ^ Kelman, Z,; Hurwitz, J.; O'Donnell, M. (1998). "Processivity of DNA polymerases: two mechanisms, one goal". Structure. 6 (2): 121–125. doi:10.1016/s0969-2126(98)00014-8.
- ^ Akabayov, B.; Akabayov, S.R.; Lee, S.J. (2010). "Conformational dynamics of bacteriophage T7 DNA polymerase and its processivity factor, Escherichia coli thioredoxin". PNAS. 107 (34): 15033–15038. doi:10.1073/pnas.1010141107. PMC 2930546 . PMID 20696935.
- ^ Hamdan, S.M.; Johnson, D.E.; Tanner, N.A. (2007). "Dynamic DNA helicase-DNA polymerase interactions assure processive replication fork movement". Molecular Cell. 27 (4): 539–549. doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2007.06.020. PMID 17707227.
- ^ Tabor, S.; Richardson, C.C. "Selective oxidation of the exonuclease domain of bacteriophage T7 DNA polymerase". J. Biol. Chem.date=1987. 262: 15330–15333.
- ^ Wuite, G.J.; Smith, S.B.; Young, M.; Keller, D.; Bustamante, C. (2000). "Single-molecule studies of the effect of template tension on T7 DNA polymerase activity". Nature. 404 (6773): 103–106. doi:10.1038/35003614. PMID 10716452.
- ^ Bebenek, K; Kunkel, TA (1989). "The use of native T7 DNA polymerase for site-directed mutagenesis". Nucleic Acids Res. 17: 5408. doi:10.1093/nar/17.13.5408.
- ^ Bodescot, M; Brison, O (1994). "Efficient second-strand cDNA synthesis using T7 DNA polymerase". DNA and Cell Biology. 13: 977–985. doi:10.1089/dna.1994.13.977.


text: To learn more, click on the FAQ tab. The Products tab has more detailed purchase information. If you still have questions, you can click on the Contact Us tab above or call us toll free at 1-800-890-5113 and we'll be happy to help or get you connected to a Safer Automatic Wheelchair Wheel Lock representative for your area.

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text: ScoreLogue Web Magazine launches a new composer chat series with Christopher Young LIVE! On Wednesday, October 21st at 10pm Eastern (7pm Pacific) ScoreLogue's October composer of the month, Christopher Young, will be online to answer questions about his career and latest projects, live in real time chat. Chris Young is best known for his earlier horror scores, Hellraiser and Flowers in the Attic, and is equally known for his accomplished dramatic and thrilling scores for Murder in the First, Jennifer 8 and Copycat, to name a few. Chris has made the jump to experimenting with different genres of film music and has excelled in all areas. His latest scores for both Rounders and Urban Legend have already won him critical and public acclaim. Chris will be available to talk and answer questions about his two most recent scores and more on October 21st! On Tuesday, October 20th at 9pm Eastern (6pm Pacific), director George Romero will be appearing on the TCM Website to talk about his work as horror film director and writer. Romero has directed the super cult horror favorite, Night of the Living Dead, and much, much more. George has also worked with Christopher Young on the film The Dark Half, based on Stephen King's horrifying novel. Spend a night chatting with George Romero @ TCM.turner.com Tues., Oct. 20th at 9pm. and bring your questions to Christopher Young @ www.scorelogue.com Wed., Oct. 21st at 10pm. ScoreLogue Web Magazine in association with Turner Classic Movies Website (TCM. Turner.com) is launching this new series to bring today's most talented composers directly to the thousands of film music fans to answer questions and talk about their careers and inspirations. All chat participants need to do is head on over to ScoreLogue @ www.scorelogue.com and go to the Composer Chat banner and begin talking, no downloads necessary.


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1) Pac-Manhunt
2) Super Mario World of Warcraft
3) Brutal Legend of Zelda
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5) Devil May Crysis
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9) Alone in the Dark Void
10) Missile Command and Conquer


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Volkswagen Jetta owners don't change your battery before reading this first
Volkswagen Jetta owners from 1996 and up are in danger of extra costs just for changing the battery.
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Not pictured:
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Shop the entire Blogger Picks collection!


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Holdsworth seals Reds' victory
Daniel Holdsworth booted a last-minute penalty to secure Salford's first win at their new £26million stadium as they enjoyed a last-gasp 24-22 victory over Hull.
The home side, buoyed by their 38-18 victory at Widnes, started the game full of confidence and extended their lead with Sean Gleeson's superb flick pass sending Gibson in for his second touchdown midway through the first half. Hull hit back with Brett Seymour dummying over from close range despite a hugely controversial obstruction in the build-up.
Chris Nero, on his 200th Super League appearance, came to Salford's rescue moments later after beating Danny Tickle to the ball following Danny Houghton's short kick through. The black and whites were level though after half an hour with Wade McKinnon squeezing in at the corner despite the best efforts of Jodie Broughton.
Hull, looking to maintain their unbeaten start to the season, then went ahead just before the interval with the lively Seymour crashing over for his second try and the home side were on the ropes. But Salford rallied after the break and hit back with a great move involving Luke Patten to send Matty Ashurst crashing over and the scores were level.
The Airlie Birds, who handed a debut to Josh Bowden on the bench with Sam Moa suspended and Joe Westerman injured, had a lucky escape with Gibson denied a hat-trick on 55 minutes.
Gibson then came to Salford's rescue to tap the ball clear with Kirk Yeaman ready to pounce. The home side withstood more pressure with Shannon McPherson producing a magnificent try-saving tackle on the rampaging Danny Tickle.
Salford's resistance finally cracked 15 minutes from time with quick hands from Willie Manu and Yeaman sending Tom Briscoe in at the corner. Tickle booted the touchline conversion and the visitors led 22-16.
But the Reds, who had Ryan Boyle making his first appearance of the season, hit back with Aussie duo Holdsworth and Patten engineering the space for Gleeson to power over. Holdsworth added the conversion to set-up a tense finale.
Richard Horne, on his 300th Super League appearance for Hull, failed with a drop goal attempt five minutes from time. Then, with less than two minutes remaining, Hull hooker Danny Houghton was penalised and it was left to the ice-cool Holdsworth to land a 45-metre penalty and send the home fans delirious.


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Written on: 08/07/2013
I chose 4 stars Hotel in Costa Brava, paid my money, got confimation. Then the letter came, that "due to a system error, all bookings made to this hotel (Caleta Palace) have been confirmed in the Hotel Caleta. We have checked and unfortunately we are unable to confirm the Caleta Palace".
The thing was, that the hotel agency really booked was 1 star, prices of other hotels after a month increased.
After I waited for their answer more than 48 hours, called at their office and talked to them for an hour, no one could help me. They promised to call back, but never did.
I chose other alternatives of the hotels and agency said that they only will cover £50, and I shoud pay extra £175.99... One more thing - the prices which they wrote in a letter of my alternative hotel was higher than shown in official site.
It's not my fault that there was a system error, I think at least they could do - is provide me with similar hotel, but all I get is £50 cover.


text:
I'll just stick to my usual exercise regime I 'spect..
Chat Forum
how will you be staving off the extra pounds this feasting season..?
I won't, I'll just get even fatter.
Swimming! (sorry, boring answer)
Why eat more?
Staving it off?
I dont think so.
I shall be embracing my inner binners.
Will be indulging in gluttony till Jan then living like a monk until Feb. S'all about balance innit?
Just ridin bikes like innit... Lots of times, lots of peddlin..
Holiday for 10 days, so more opportunities to get out running and cycling. Sorry..
Cool vid, he even has a porn face.
I'll be eating my bodyweight in shit that's bad for me. Am going for a 20 mile on Boxing day with the run club though (starts at 8am!! O.M.G.)
Wait... Putting on weight isn't what I'm supposed to do?
So that's where I have been going wrong
Turbo, road bike, maybe a mountain bike ride lots of walking the dog and I might even break into a jog.
I might go for a swim too.
Also, I'll try to not over do the food thing, but beer, that's another matter!
Nothing extra, just more racing, got to love cross season, the best excuse for dodging christmas ever, what the hell lets just call it Crossmas, so Muddy Crossmas everyone
Having lost 10kg in the last 7 weeks im not about to ruin it by binging over xmas.Will be out xmas morning for 20 to 30 miles because its the dullest day of the year !
I've eaten 46 mince pies so far this December, which is about 10000 extra calories. I'm still 69kg, just like I was 17 days ago.
You know growth hormone abuse gives you killer abs. Not that Im levelling that claim against the linked vid..
Even Arnie caned roids whilst denying at the time??
I intend to reinstate my mid-afternoon poo to purge me of excess calories.
Mild lactose/gluten intolerance works for me.
slimline tonic
Eat half size portions of everything .
Then I can eat twice as much.
im having a week of only raw fruit and veg this week. mostly juiced or smoothies. and no beer. should set me up nicely for a week of binging
since I'm working most of christmas, I'll be riding into work.
At least there will be less idiots on the road. Apart from me.
The usual: not overeating in the first place and doing lots of riding. Plus a few days out on Lakeland fells in the bit between Xmas and New Year. Very much looking forward to it
mrs_d ensures I don't eat more than about 1200 calories per day. if I didn't drink I'd waste away
Christmas food? what's that
You know growth hormone abuse gives you killer abs.
Cool. I'm in....
I spend the rest of the year watching what I eat so I plan to go nuts at Christmas (pun intended). Hopefully some running and riding will help stop me expanding from 70.5kg to 71kg
Trying not to go batpoop crazy on the shopping or the cooking, although i have a feeling I will be eating left over gammon until February based on the joint I think we've ordered.
I will probably be drinking twice as much as usual (so that'll be maybe as much as 10 pints of beer/cider in the month of December).
Mostly though we'll be staying as active as we can over Christmas, lots of family walks, chasing my two under 4's on their scooters and hopefully some cycling too.
Kayaking in Scotland for a week over new year. I burn so many calories just trying to stay warm I've always lost a bit of weight doing it.
A daily dose of amphetamine sulphate should help to keep the weight off, and add a bit of poke if I get chance to head out on the bike. It may also help if I have to do any rocking around the Christmas tree.
40 miles used to be a good day out on the bike, but now I just don't care that much... Getting fat!
winter vomiting bug
I'll probably cut a leg off.
Extra pounds?
Yeah like that's going to happen.
I'd recommend the manflu diet. It has a lot of toast and water in it. It doesn't have a lot of anything very nice or indulgent in it tho.
by working 15 out of the next 16 days, including Xmas day, boxing day and new years eve and as samuri, pedalling to work as per normal. Thursday sounds interesting (storm force southerly winds), might be gruelling going to work but setting a PB home
A winter road racing training plan - Turbo intervals must continue over xmas.....
Topic Closed
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thanks do you know any reliable tutorial for savemiifrii
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thanks do you know any reliable tutorial for savemiifrii
Before you go any further with it, you need to see if it will even help you. The directions are in the earlier linked post. Get a generic gamecube controller. push all 4 directional buttons & start the wii while holding them. If you're lucky you'll see a system menu version on the screen. Get to that point first, & if you can do that we'll discuss your options.
thanks i going to try and tell my results
Sorry i'm late
Savemiifrii success
"4.3(USA)" appears on the bottom of the screeen thats all
What do you have to do after this
Burn this disc good and proper
Auto-Boot BLIND v2.0 USA.zip
Turn the wii on and do savemiifrii, then stick the disc into the wii.
Unfortunately it will not work since your wii is red. Only way to fix it is to replace the wii's dvd drive with one compatible with a modchip, and buy a compatible modchip, or buy a WODE. New wii's do not load burned dvd's.
is there a software that i could put on my sd or usb?
This weird stuff happened
I putted my new super mario wii after I used savemiifrii (hoping for an update)
And after a couple of minutes of waiting the drive flashed
What does that mean?
How'd you brick your wii?Quote:
Originally Posted by help please
i used mymenufy


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Average Joes and Janes will get to pursue their shot at love with the launch of the new dating-competition series developed by FOX called "More to Love."
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"This show is going to get a lot of people talking," Darnell said. "It may be a little controversial, but I think it will mostly be positive. This is so simple and so obvious, yet it has never been done."
LINK: Click here for more from the Hollywood Reporter.


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British supermarket group Tesco is one of the world's leading grocery and general merchandising retailers. The company is the UK's largest retailer by both sales and domestic market share, with profits in excess of £2 billion.
Tesco currently holds a 30% share of the UK grocery market, accounting for 14.3% of all retail sales in Britain, or £1 in every £7 spent in UK stores.
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Tesco was founded in 1919 by Jack Cohen as a grocery stall in the east end of London . The Tesco brand first appeared in 1924, but it wasn't until 1929 when the first Tesco store opened for business in Edgware, Middlesex. Fast forward 70 years and there are more than 2,100 outlets in the UK alone.
UK Operations
In the UK, Tesco operates six different store formats, each distinguished by size and the range of products sold.
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Every £1 spent in a Tesco store, online at Tesco.com or through Tesco Petrol, earns customers one Clubcard point. Shoppers can also collect points by paying with a Tesco Credit Card, or by using Tesco Mobile, Tesco Broadband, selected Tesco Personal Finance products or through Clubcard partners, Avis and E.ON.
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Father: William M. HEATH b: 11 MAY 1815 in Washington Co., NY
Mother: Lucinda M. FIELD b: 16 JUN 1819 in Cornwall, Addison Co., VT
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My Nonprofit Reviews
Review for Meds & Food For Kids, St. Louis, MO, USA
I was a student intern with Meds & Foods for Kids. My role involved working on the MFK's supply chain, helping the organization to develop its end to end supply chain strategy as MFK began scaling up with a new factory in Haiti. The work was very rewarding, and I had a chance to interact with the staff at the national office, as well as work closely with the Director of Operations who is currently located in Haiti. My experience with MFK was well spent as I learned a great deal about how this social enterprise is supporting a worthy social cause while utilizing sound business principles. It was truly fascinating to work with MFK's Global Supply Chain, and to learn that the challenges MFK faces are the same faced by any global business.
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Would you volunteer for this group again?
For the time you spent, how much of an impact did you feel your work or activity had?
A lot
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eMedicineHealth Medical Reference from Healthwise
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We plan to do the launch on April 1st 2013, Thats also my birthday, Its a tenative date because there are alot of variables to be calculated. If were ready before then then we will wait till that day.
Let me know the date of Camp P. We will definately be there and hopefully more prepared.
Before you launch the plane, you should just launch the balloon with the equipment - kind of a test launch.
Have you seen this video:
One of the best to-space videos I have ever seen.
Cant wait for this to take off
Last edited by cobraflyer; Nov 04, 2014 at 12:44 PM.
They go up tidi up up, they go down tidi down down
The above line is from a movie and while the movie was a farce the fact is that what goes up must come down.
The point I'm trying to make is not to discourage, but to applaud the steps you are taking to do your project successfully. While you see a few videos with lamps, toy trains, and other things attached to balloons, most of the time you don't see the countless ones that have failed, (lamp one excluded).
Just one of the problems is the jet stream and high altitude winds. We all saw what happened to the lamp and then the package as they got blown around by the wind and then torn off. only the light weight of the payload and it's non- aerodynamic shape saved that one. This is about the most dangerous part of a ballon flight in both directions, passing through the high wind areas.
Having a aerodynamic plane helps to some degree but only to a degree.
Lets think about a hypothetical situation. As the balloon enters the jet stream the plane actually starts to fly, how are you going to prevent it flying into the balloon. Having LRRC and FPV equipment on board will be a grest assets but will your plane survive being buffeted by 100 to 300 mph winds at -70C. Believe it or not, the answer is in most cases yes. If you have done you homework and designed the system correctly. The big question is on the way down can you regain stability and unless you plane is natualy stable the answer depends on the amount of effort you have put into the project to make it that way.
My group was started in 2003 and started launching balloons in 2007. We have worked on this project weekly for 5 years and never been above 35,000 feet with a plane and 80,000 with a dumb payload. Gaben experienced the same problem that we came up against in his last flight and that was regaining control once the plane is away. While he stayed with the FPV method (much cheaper) we went with an autopilot with IMU. This has taken a long time to develop and even a longer time to prove. The right plane design with the right control system
is the key.
We also experienced the above mentioned problem, the plane flying in high winds, and we were not into the jet stream yet. For planes hanging and dropping from balloons, this is a very important area of concern.
Another note of concern, while it is not illegal as far as I know, launching any rocket over a certain power and above certain altitudes requires a licence and /or a waiver in the USA. Be very careful about what and why you are doing something.
I have by fortune and good luck not been bothered by regulations and government interference in our project because we researched as to what could and could not be done, and then advised and worked with the appropriate authorities. In the past we have launched as many as 3 balloon's a month with little to no interference because we follow the rules and do not push the limits. Take you plane to the stratosphere but be very careful about launching anything from it, it then becomes a completely different project.
With a HAM on the team you will now be able to use high power video to see what's going on but you run into FAA regulations about FPV. That's one for you to figure out as I, being Canadian don't have to worry about the FAA. And yes, I do follow the Canadian regulations which are simular but with one important difference. I do mine under the watchful eye and in comunication with the local ATC. Therefore, not only I know where the balloon and plane are at all times I know what other air traffic is in the vicinity and the ATC knows where my plane/payloads and balloons are. This is the only way that I could get past the following regulations.
Canadian Air Regulations
Large Unoccupied Free Balloons
602.42 No person shall release an unoccupied free balloon having a gas-carrying capacity of more than 115 cubic feet (3.256 m3) except in accordance with an authorization issued by the Minister pursuant to section 602.44.
602.43 No person shall launch a rocket, other than a model rocket or a rocket of a type used in a fireworks display, except in accordance with an authorization issued by the Minister pursuant to section 602.44.
Authorization by the Minister
602.44 The Minister may issue an authorization referred to in section 602.42 or 602.43 where the release of the balloon or the launch of the rocket is in the public interest and is not likely to affect aviation safety.
Model Aircraft, Kites and Model Rockets
602.45 No person shall fly a model aircraft or a kite or launch a model rocket or a rocket of a type used in a fireworks display into cloud or in a manner that is or is likely to be hazardous to aviation safety.
It's the last line in 602.45 is the catch all. It's no problem to launch the balloon. but how do you fly a model airplane that you can't see and prove that it's not a hazard to avation safety. Get real cozzy with the local ATC. It don't matter if you are 45 miles away ATC still needs to know what's going on at a minimum and perferably should be actively involved.
Keep up the positive attitude and progress, and I'm around if ya need help/advice.
Last edited by qbert55ca; Oct 25, 2012 at 04:35 PM.
Thank you Robert, I know your knowledge is going to be very valuble to this mission and I appreciate your commitment.
I have been blessed with such a good response from vendors in the RC, Fpv community, There are three new sponsors going up on our list this week. They
have offered to help me out with of differnt aspects of this build.
One of our vendors, is developing something that I feel will be a VERY BIG breakthroug in the RC world and the FPV Community. We will be working very closely to impliment his device into our build, He has also offered to design a custom osd with our specification.
As far as the aircraft goes, I chose the www.crashtesthobbies.com aircraft becuase of its durability and resiliant design. We did decide to Ditch the motor as it will cut down on wieght and addition parts. We are going to Keep it Simple
I will be directly communicating with the nearest ATC office. I have already contacted them from now.
I set the launch date so far back to give us the ability to take our time and thoroughyl test things before the launch. but with our new "secret weapon" I think it could be sooner. Even then I will maintain the launch date. (its my birthday so id like to have something to celebrate).
Again thanks for being around Robert to help us out.
Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast
This should have been brought up earlier but I missed it. Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS B) are small devices usually used by operators for tracking of specific opjects. your balloon and plane is the perfect example. They do not send out or reflect radar and are not a substitute foe a small radar reflector.
With an ADS - B attached to the balloon you should have constant undated GPS location via the internet
{Added the address: http://www.juniorflyer.com/plane-finder-ads-b-tracking/}
Last edited by qbert55ca; Oct 27, 2012 at 05:12 PM.
Or you can track ADBS equipped aircrafts using a simple USB stick for your computer:
That device is a receiver. How is that useful on the model if you want others to know where your model is? You need a transponder.
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Blade MCPx V2 just fly it to fix it.
Posted by
| Jun 05, 2012 @ 04:44 PM | 7,489 Views
Part 1:
Well I just started trying inverted flight for the first time and crashed in the grass
& popped one link off & simply snapped it back on.
Killed the throttle on during crash so it crashed hard in the grass under power but did not sit there under power after crashing.
Ever since the crash I now have very little tail motor power.
This is NOT what I expected from crashing!
I thought I'd be replacing broken links blades shafts etc.. once I started trying
things & crashing in the grass, not losing my tail motor or 3-in-1 board ($70)
on my FIRST real crash in the grass!
Is this normal? How long do these motors usually last? and how do they handle
thumping into the grass?
I've got about 7 hours of good flight time on my MCPX V2.
Anyone else lose your tail motor or have it suddenly become weak?
How many flight hours should you get out of he stock motor?
And what kind of crashing or impact usually destroys it for you?
I'm not ready to go brushless, so far I've been very happy with the stock performance for now it will be awhile before I outgrow it.
I'll be extrememely upset if the problem is a blown part on the 3-in-1 board..
They're really expensive.
Motor seems to have just suddenly dropped in power at around 1/4th it's original
torque level..
I can still hover but have to give the tail lots of of right stick to keep it from spinning.
It will not climb out withot spinning violently due to lack of motor power.
blade is NOT
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Flying the mCPx V2 in 20+ mph wind.
Posted by
| Jun 03, 2012 @ 07:52 PM | 6,754 Views
The usual around here.
Always windy.
MCPX V2 in 20+ Mph gusts.
(1 min 25 sec)
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Servos at 7.4V YUCK! STOP THAT!
Posted by
| May 30, 2012 @ 08:48 PM | 7,498 Views
Okay I feel like an idiot.
I am building up a custom 450 helicopter from parts, mostly Esky Belt CP V2.
I've decided to use an Orange RX (very inexpensive) I've already range tested it
and it is excellent for the need and have studied how well others have done with these on helicopters and non- long range applications.
What I didn't realize is that even though the RX (either Orange) or the actual Spektrum receivers are rated to run on up to 9.6Volts, the servos you generally hook up to them ARE NOT!
I also assumed that even if you were running an RX at 9.6V that it would properly
power the servos at their required voltage range *WRONG*!
I'm not really sure why these recievers are rated to run at 9.6V if you can't practically hook up the servos to them.. unless maybe they make servos designed to work at higher voltages, all the ones I've encountered and used are ~5V.
I had been previously testing binding and range testing the receivers both the Orange knock-offs and actual Spektrum parkflyers right off of a 2cell (2s) *not sure what "s" means I'll have to look it up later.. 2 section vs. 2 cell?
And they have been working fine at 7.4V for testing purposes which is quite lower
than the rated 9.6V.
What I found out today while testing some Esky EK2-0508 Digital servos is that
They chatter terribly as if getting some kind of analog feedback to themselves
and get very warm quickly while plugged into an RX that is being powered directly from a 7.4V
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mCPX V2 I got one!!!
Posted by
| May 22, 2012 @ 07:48 PM | 6,530 Views
Got my MCPx V2 last night!
Got over an hour of flight time on it already today with most of it in 10-15Mph gusty wind.
It's pretty awesome I can fly it without crashing (unlike the CB180d) nose in, all the usual stuff except inverted.. not tried that yet and I'm not all that good at it on the sims.
I can do it on the sims but it's rough and all orientations/recoveries are not automatic for me yet. Inverted flight (all orientations) is yet another new language I need to learn.
There's a lot more to it than just flipping the heli over and then back upright :-)
MCPX is really really cool though, not perfect but really really cool.
I notice the power dropping at about 2 minutes and then you get another 2 minutes at 75%
power with the stock 200mAh cells that came with it (3).
We all know already you can't climb out at full power without tail failing to keep up.
I'm a little iffy about that computer doing so much work.. it's a little easier to fly that I expected.. the computer does a TON work automatically that makes flying in the wind easier. ( I know I'm not this awesome at flying).
I kind of would like to be a little more hands on with that with a switch or something to tone it's correction down a smidge.
But it beats crashing and having to wait WEEKS for calm days to fly the CB180D or coaxial out there.
I think the charger LED indications are humourous..
1. Charge rate selected
2. Single light blinking (
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LOST :-( That was Stupid/Sad .. It SUCKS!
Posted by
| May 21, 2012 @ 12:06 PM | 5,367 Views
Okay that was dumb..
Lately I've been flying my modified Esky Hunter Coaxial 100-200FT ABOVE our office!
This nice calm morning today I pushed it between 200-300 and caught
some wind up there and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get it back.
It was nearly out of view at this point and for awhile I was confident I could get it back but just kept getting further & furhter away and I couldn't keep the nose (with a very bright white twin LED array) pointed back at me.
Finally went completely out of view between 1/4 to 1/2 mile away.
Estimated it came down over a very thick forest, and 1 hour on foot and twitching the cyclic hoping I'd hear it somwhere or spot the very bright LED array laying in the brush.
It's just a $70 Esky Hunter but it was my first helicopter ever and was a gift..
I've been flying it now&then for over 3 years.
So Sad!
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It Flys!!
Posted by
| May 14, 2012 @ 06:30 PM | 4,566 Views
Yep it does indeed fly..
Works well too..
Not happy with my idle-up (it's not working as needed yet)..
But I did put my own basic curves in that *work* just that I'm not going to fly it there yet.
Started off with WAY too much head speed (normal mode) but I sorta programmed that back to give me more pitch at normal throttle.
I's really cool to have this kind of control.. I'll eventually figure out what's right for me, the weather and the helicopter granted I don't destroy it first!
Had to reverse the rudder and the aileron servos in propgramming but it was so incredibly obvious what was needed and easy to program.
I'll get back to that idle-up programing curve soon.. .. or later..
Flew it in normal mdoe but at super high head speed ealrier today..
Very uncomfortable! and jumps around quickly.
I programmed the pitch to give me some blades at lower RPM sorta like the stock ESKY TX was set for in normal mode.
Has a nice close-in flight as usual once I got that setup.
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AR6100e for $19 on my Belt CP V2.
Posted by
| May 12, 2012 @ 10:44 PM | 4,186 Views
I bought a little $19 AR6100e reciever just so I'd have -something- to test my new DX6i with.
A little somthing to play with and get used to playing around with the menus in the DX6i.
Original plans were to eventually throw the AR6100e into another cheap 450 helicopter.
Couldn't help myself.. tore the completely working Belt CP V2 RX out of it and
installed the AR6100e and set it all up with my helicopter and DX6i.
All set!! BeltCP V2 is now all stock except for the RX and TX :-)
It now throttles up at 1/4 stick instead of 1/2 stick in normal mode I like that.
Idle-up is set so I can switch between idle-up and normal without the
Helicopter jumping up 30 FT in the air! Or 'saving it from falling when turned on.
Maybe this new setup will get me a little more flying time before I crash it.
The rates & expos may come in handy form my intro to nose-in wind surfing with it.
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I must be doing something right as well as wrong!
Posted by
| May 11, 2012 @ 08:08 PM | 4,258 Views
Today was my second day of trying a little 'open field' flying..
Well not really all that open but much more open than what I'm used to.
These are the first two times I've tried other than very close hovering
and side to side flights up close.
I've got pretty confident with the close in stuff but need to be able to do
all of the close in stuff nose-in in the wind as well.
A project I am avoiding as it will surely bring me some crashes.
I've been opting to keep it in the air versus having nothing to fly.
Anyhow this new test field isn't huge but it's big.
Big enough for me to quickly get my Belt CP V2 uncomfortably far away from me.
Very quickly as soon as I start messing with idle-up. :-)
I almost lost my Heli twice in today's flight.
On the bright side it got so far away it looked hopeless and I actually had
no other option but to point the nose back at me and fly it back.
The good news is I got it back just fine but when I turned it back around I was way up in the air again :-) URGH!
But it was closer and I was able to get it back safely.
Shaking the whole time... (how embarassing) I had a buddy with me to watch,
maybe just a little added pressure to succeed but I don't think so, I think losing the helicopter is pressure enough.
The nose-in flight seemed to go just fine and came natural although I had to force myself to execute the manuever only once I had to.
The bad was my nerves.. I was so far out of my comfort zone it was obvious
I shouldn't be flying.
Set it down nicely and called it a day.
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Belt CP V2 nose in flying.
Posted by
| May 09, 2012 @ 06:31 PM | 4,153 Views
Well I'm at the point where I'm being forced to fly it nose-in.
I've avoided it for awhile because I don't want to crash of course.
I can do it just fine in the sim and on my 'stabler' Coaxial and 45° flybar'd fixed pitch
But.. I'm quickly discovering it's just not practical (or safe) to fly it out any distance and then freaking 'reel' it back in tail first.
It really needs to be turned around and flown back period.
Flew it nose-in today for a bit and got hit with a 25MPh gust..
I spun it around to deal with the gust..
Call it wussy but I didn't crash and at least I seem to have a bailout mode when things are'nt feeling right :-) and I didn't crash it.
I've been taking this pretty slow (but not nearly as slow as the RADD) stuff and so far no crashes.
Doing a lot of practice on the simulators.
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HH Gyro, You're Doing it WRONG!!!
Posted by
| Apr 19, 2012 @ 04:28 PM | 3,932 Views
Okay so I've been totally white knuckling it with my Esky Belt CP V2 out in the parking lot
now for the past 4 days doing about 20-30 minutes of flight time per day all in
average 7-10 Mph winds with gusts up to 15-17.
A lot of basic hovering and 'wind surfing' keeping it steady or as steady as possible as
The wind comes & goes, sometimes a bit violently.
Also 'walking the dog' as I call it as I walk the perimeter of the very large parking lot keeping it steady
in front of me as I walk in large clockwise and then counter clockwise patterns just getting used to slow
turns also making sure I get to catch the wind gusts from all sides while still comfy and tail in… easy peasy.
Also taking it up 10 feet off the ground often to make sure I'm getting the full experience and not always doing everything in ground effect or partial ground effect circumstances.
The wind surfing seems a *little* more difficult at 10FT than down next to the ground but it may just be
p(y)ucker factor, as there's considerably less safety margin @10 ft. off the deck.
I took some time today to read all about head-holding and yaw rate gyros, (something I've had on my list to do for weeks.
Armed with new head spices I did an investigation and some checking into my own gyro settings.
Over these past 4 days I've continuously noticed that I've had to work the heck out of the tail and manually fight lots of
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Hi! :-) from Steve Ann Arbor, MI
Posted by
| Apr 16, 2012 @ 08:31 PM | 3,537 Views
Just wanted to say hi and thanks for ALL of the great help I've recieved from
fellow members on RCG in the very short time I've been here.
I got a coaxial (Esky Hunter), that I requested as a gift 3 years ago for helping a family member completely redo and fix their computer.
At the time I was not willing to accept the usual $300 cash that I charge to do such an awesome job, but I was willing to accept an RC Helicopter as a gift.
Found the Hunter for $75 US out the door and pointed this out to my sister.
I also included the USB training kit with FMS and the bright orange ping-pong balls training gear extension set (which I still use on my Belt CP V2).
I found the Hunter really interesting before getting it because..
1. NightFlyer on Youtube had a nice 10 minute intro video to it
(this was the first time I ever heard of NF).
2. I am a digital spread spectrum radio specialist and was very interested in
playing with/hacking the Esky Hunter 2.4GHz radio system as well.
I've busted up the Hunter and completely rebuilt it 3 times now..
The first time I put it away for almost two years as I was very discouraged
by a BAD experience with XHeli and after investing 16 hours of my time trying to
get them to ship me the correct replacement parts that I paid for I finally gave up and put the whole thing away.
2 years later I decided to contact xheli again and tell them my story from 2 years previous..
Guess I got lucky, someone there (Danny)
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text:
All quotes by Gary Hudson
(8 quotes found)
"The investigation is continuing to determine whether Mortensen played any role whatsoever in the fire,"
"We're sort of like the Tracy-and-Hepburn of cable TV. Well, maybe the James Garner and Mariette Hartley."
"She's just a very dedicated employee. She works hard at trying to learn new things [about] banking."
"I don't know what happened when he was down, but if you're getting beat on with nightsticks, the only thing you can do is try to bring your feet up."


text:
There seems to be a difference between the way the EXIF data is beeing read.
If i choose the detail-view of the picture an switch to the Exif-tab, i can see date date and time the picture was taken.
If i want to rename the pictures based on that Exif-field or want to have it as a picture description i always get 00/01/3912 00:00.
I use this setting for tooltips:
<Filename With Ext>, <Size> Byte
<Width>x<Height>, <BPP> bpp
<Date Taken [Y-m-d_H:M:S]>
Where is the problem?
Here you have a sample pic:


text:
This product is no longer available.
You can try these similar gifts instead.
Beloved Godparent Photo Frame
A Godparent has duties to the child, and this frame will be a reminder that it isn't just a touching title. This stone textured frame will hold an image of their charge and is decorated with a Baptism seashell and cross.


text:
NBA Free Agency: Why Chicago Bulls Should Target Michael ReddOctober 31, 2011
The Chicago Bulls lack a starting quality shooting guard, and I think Michael Redd might be the answer.
Last season, Keith Bogans started all 82 regular season games as well as the 15 playoffs games with Ronnie Brewer and Kyle Korver splitting time backing him up. Shooting guard was the biggest weakness for the team with the best record in the league last season.
Whenever this lockout ends, it is expected that general manager Gar Forman is expected to target an upgrade at the shooting guard spot. While many names have been mentioned including OJ Mayo, Nick Young, Marcus Thornton and Rip Hamilton, many are ignoring Redd.
Redd, 32, is a 6'6" shooting guard who has averaged 20 points per game while shooting just under 45 percent from the field including shooting over 38 percent from the three-point line. He was a second-round pick out by Ohio State in 2000 by the Milwaukee Bucks. He was named to the 2004 NBA All-Star team and helped Team USA win the gold during the 2008 Olympics as part of the "Redeem" team.
Sounds like a perfect fit right?
Well, with all those good things, there are some negatives as well.
Over the last three seasons, Redd has only appeared in 61 games. In January of 2009, he tore his MCL and ACL in his left knee. A year later, he re-tore both ligaments and didn't return to the court till March of 2011.
Redd will be an unrestricted free agent after completing a six-year, $91 million deal he signed with the Bucks during the summer of 2005.
With the Bulls deep roster, it might be an ideal landing spot for Redd. He will not be asked to play heavy minutes with Keith Bogans and Ronnie Brewer available to back him up. Also with Kyle Korver and Redd's shooting, it would help space the floor for Derrick Rose to drive and then kick it out to whoever is open.
Another bonus is at this point of his career and given his injury history, he might be willing to sign for much less than Rip Hamilton or Jason Richardson.
A starting five of Rose, Redd, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah would rival any in the league and might be enough to push the Bulls past the Miami Heat.
This is all dependent on if Redd is in fact healthy, and being that he will be about two years removed from injury, chances could be good that he is. Given that no one has any idea what the salary-cap situation will be once this lockout ends, it might be very smart for the Bulls to go for the low-risk, high-reward signings.


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The citations were "very significant," said Jim Frederick, assistant director of health, safety and environment at the United Steelworkers. But Republic Steel reached out to the union from the start of the inspections, and the two worked together to create a plan that looks at health and safety in a holistic way across the company, he said.
While Republic Steel's settlement may be a bit wider in scope than most, lots of companies across Northeast Ohio are familiar with the work that goes into resolving violation citations from OSHA and moving their companies forward.
In OSHA's Cleveland region, there were 661 inspections in fiscal year 2013, with an average of 3.2 citations per inspection. When a company receives a citation, its management can choose to either contest the citations, pay the penalties or schedule an informal conference.
After the conference, companies can still choose to contest the citations. An expedited formal settlement can also be offered to companies without serious, willful or repeat violations, according to an OSHA official.
Paying the price
The company agreed to abate all the citations in an extensive settlement, which also included an agreement to pay $2.4 million.
But the company's troubles were not over with the investigations in 2013. In February, an employee was killed in a rail yard accident.
On May 19, the company was issued a "serious" citation with a $7,000 proposed penalty for conditions at the Lorain plant leading to the fatality. The citation said the tracks were covered with ice and snow, which led to cars derailing and the fatality. A digital copy of the citation was provided to Crain's by OSHA. A call to the company was not returned as of press time.
"It was beyond disappointing to see an additional fatality at Republic during this time frame; it is another reminder of the safety problems that have been seen at Republic over the years," said Kim Nelson, OSHA area director in Toledo. "It is our sincere hope that Republic's willingness to institute an effective comprehensive safety and management system will result in a significantly improved safety culture and the end unsafe work place conditions."
Republic Steel also declined to comment on the $2.4 million settlement beyond a press release, but Frederick said the union members' reaction to the new health and safety program that was part of the agreement has been one of "positive skepticism."
The company has some real issues to deal with, Frederick said, and members want to see it succeed. "It won't be easy," Frederick said.
The new program will take on challenges in a holistic way. Instead of just fixing a piece of broken equipment, it will call for the company to look at why the equipment is failing and determine if there is a problem upstream that needs to be corrected, Frederick said.
The next two years will be critical, Frederick said, as the settlement agreement with OSHA outlines what needs to be done in that timeframe. But the health and safety plan could have an even further reach. While plenty of companies with which the United Steelworkers work have some sort of plan, this comprehensive one serves as a good example, he said.
"This raises the bar," Frederick said.
A learning process
Mike Hanna, a partner at Squire Sanders' Cleveland firm, recommends that companies take advantage of OSHA's informal conference, because there's a "give and take" that he thinks is valuable.
"It doesn't have to be confrontational," he said.
It's important for companies to look at whether the abatement is appropriate, Hanna said, because employers often get sucked in by low penalties, but the cost to abate problems can be significant.
Vincent Norwillo, a partner at Gonzalez, Saggio & Harlan LLP in Cleveland, said he thinks OSHA has been more "punitive" under the current administration, but also willing to offer compromises to resolve less serious violations at a lesser penalty.
But penalties aren't usually that expensive to begin with, and it's important for companies to keep a "clean safety record," he said. OSHA logs can affect a company's ability to qualify for big projects, Norwillo said. And previous violations could reflect poorly on a company if the company were to get another citation in the future.
Victor Geraci, a partner at Fisher & Phillips LLP in Cleveland, said while abatement is the costly part of citations, it's necessary in terms of employee relations and liability control.
Even if a company wants to dispute the legality of the citation, it's important to fix the underlying issue as soon as possible, Geraci said. The potential for liability issues for failing to correct an identified problem are great.
New Wave Plastics LLC said it got right to work when OSHA visited its Cleveland plant last fall. OSHA cited the company for 13 safety violations in March.
But CEO T.R. Mitchell said he thought the company was already about 90% compliant — they just didn't have their paperwork up to OSHA's standards. The citations focused heavily on training and communication, including failing to train employees on personal protective equipment, forklift safety or use of chemicals in the plant. The case is pending as New Wave Plastics waits on test results related to a citation for combustibility with dust.
But OSHA's been very helpful as the company works to update its documentation, Mitchell said.
"You kind of learn as you go," Mitchell said of starting a plant.


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Independence is a 4 year old out of an Arab mare that we used as a lesson horse and a Mammoth Jack and lives up to her name as she doesn't mind going off…SOLD
7 year old gelding. Rambler was born on our ranch out of a registered Tennessee Walker mare and a Mammoth Jack. We have recently acquired him back because…SOLD
Red has packed and been ridden in the bush hunting and along roads. He loves people and loves to please. He will meet you at the gate. He is good for the…SOLD
High Country Fawn is a 6 year old 14.2HH mare out of Okie Leo Deck and Bobbys Leo Jack breeding. She stands for the ferrier, loads, ties, hobbles, high…SOLD
Nugget is a very gentle registered Mammoth jack. Nugget is registered with the American donkey Association and the Canadian registry. He has sired many…SOLD
5 year old molly mules are out of Dash For Cash mare and Mammoth jack. They are bred for performance and approx. 15.2 hh. Easy Cash has an easy going nature…SOLD
Johnny Cash is a quiet strong gelding. He comes to meet you in the pasture and has been packed, saddled, hobbled ,front foot picketed, high lined, trailered…SOLD
Lotsa Cash is out of a Dash For Cash mare with breeding back to "Go Man Go", "Top Deck" and "Three Bars". She has terrific breeding and it shows. Lotsa…SOLD
Tazewell, VA


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John's Description: Life's dependancey on chemicals to exist.
2008-04-30 02:49
Absolutely one of my favorites. You have a very unique style and probably a unique way of opening up that inner eye as this piece is titled. What ever works... for the sake of art... you'd be surprised at the number of GOOD artists throughout history who have used herbs etc. to open up that inner eye to creativity. I love this piece.
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text:
News Analysis
Dialing for dollars: Budget emphasizes competition
Education is considered one of the big winners in President Obama's new budget, but as Congress begins work on the vast spending plan amid spiraling deficits, school officials are casting a somewhat wary eye at the federal government's increased focus on competition.
The $49.7 billion education budget, unveiled Feb. 1, represents a $3.5 million increase in discretionary funds. All but $500 million of those increases would go to programs covered under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, currently known as the No Child Left Behind Act. The remainder would be used for the Investing in Innovation, or i3, fund.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan, addressing a crowd of representatives at NSBA's Federal Relations Network Conference the day the budget was released, said the spending plan reflects Obama's commitment to "two things: closing the achievement gap and raising the bar for all children."
"At a time when other government expenditures are frozen, the president is increasing aid to education, because the president sees that education is the path to economic security," Duncan told a crowd of almost 900 school board members on Feb. 1.
Duncan's speech capped a hectic week of activity that included the president's State of the Union address, the release of the budget, and the announcement of a roadmap for NCLB's reauthorization. Educators generally embraced the moves, but raised concerns about the administration's focus on performance pay, turnaround grants, and the Race to the Top program.
Anne L. Bryant, NSBA's executive director, said the proposal is "a good start" for districts that have been forced to use stimulus funds to avoid even deeper cuts to staff and programs. She also praised the administration for "some true innovation and creative thinking" in the budget plan.
However, like others, Bryant said not including increases to Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) as part of the department's regular funding could hurt low-wealth districts that have been hardest hit by the economic downturn.
"It does concern us that the administration is placing such a large focus on competitive grants. This emphasis on competitiveness could mean that rural districts and children in the poorest parts of the country will be left behind," she said. "Those districts do not have the capacity to compete for grants unless you want to shift money from teachers to grant writers."
Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy, said moving to a competition model is an attempt to make federal funding "conditional on districts' taking action to improve schools."
"Right now most federal money goes out in formulas, so schools know how much they'll get, and then use it to provide services for poor children," Jennings told the New York Times. "The department thinks that's become too much of an entitlement. They want to upend that scheme by making states and districts pledge to take actions the administration considers reform, before they get the money."
Duncan was quick to note in his speech that the Race to the Top funds are "new money" that will not take away from IDEA or Title I programs. "We're not taking money from anybody to give to someone else," he said during a question-and-answer session that followed with board members.
In a conference call with reporters before Duncan's speech, the education secretary said states have created a "race to the bottom" in response to NCLB's accountability requirements. The department's proposal for the law's reauthorization calls for eliminating the provision that all children must be "proficient" by 2014, and instead pledges to add $1 billion in competitive incentives.
"Race to the Top taught us that competition and incentives drive reform," Duncan said during the conference call. "So even as we continue funding important formula programs like Title I and IDEA, we are adding money to competitive programs that are changing the landscape of our education system."
Barbara Leak, a member of the Gary, Ind., school board, is concerned that Bryant is right on target. Moving money away from Title I and other programs and into "success" initiatives such as Race to the Top means her district will have to divert precious resources of its own as it chases the new funding.
For example, Leak said, her board is struggling to deal with a low-performing high school that it has been unable to turn around. Without additional federal dollars, that makes the job that much harder.
"We're not going to be able to fully address the needs of that school without more money and help," she said.
The lingering question is whether the Education Department's budget request will remain intact once it maneuvers through Congress. Eduwonk blogger Andy Rotherham, who worked as an education advisor to President Bill Clinton, noted that the request could easily be rewritten.
"It's a little unclear," Rotherham wrote, "how this proposed $1 billion incentive fund for ESEA [Elementary and Secondary Education Act] reauthorization works since Congress, you know, controls the purse strings? They call it a budget 'request' for a reason."
Glenn Cook, Editor-in-Chief
On The Hill
Another lap in the 'Race'
Michael A. Resnick
On Jan. 19, 40 states submitted applications to the U.S. Department of Education in the first of two competitions for a share of the $4.35 billion Race to the Top school reform program. On the same day, President Obama announced that he will ask Congress for an additional $1.35 billion to fund a third round this fall.
Details for round three still need to be developed, but Obama's plan would include an opportunity for direct grants to local school districts that have attractive plans for raising student achievement and closing the achievement gap. These grants would be available even if the district's state is not seeking or is not awarded Race to the Top funds.
Overall, the plan would stay on course with the administration's four reform principles to:
• Upgrade standards and assessments to college and career-ready levels.
• Ensure that districts have effective teachers and principals, with an equitable distribution to schools in low- income areas.
• Utilize longitudinal data systems to mark student growth from year to year.
• Commit to turning around low-performing schools.
Critical policy questions from the first round of Race to the Top must be answered if it becomes a permanent program. And there are lessons to be learned.
Several states have changed their laws in significant ways, such as by lifting caps on the number of charter schools that can be authorized, in an effort to receive funds. This raises the question of how aggressively the U.S. Department of Education should pursue changes in state law to meet its reform goals. While not a direct mandate, the department's approach significantly raises the federal government's leverage to drive education policy, depending on how it is utilized in other programs to award formula or competitive grants.
We hope the department will clarify the selection process as it awards grants in the current round. Because competitive grants will be given to states that can serve as true models to the nation, the department likely will look more favorably on those that have made a larger commitment to education in the past and that can do so in the future. Therefore, as states use Race to the Top funds to accelerate student achievement, what will the department do to support those without the capacity to compete now?
As significant and hopefully beneficial as Race to the Top can be, it's important to note that Congress has not weighed in yet. Normally, a federal education program with this policy impact and financial size would have much more detailed legislative guidance than was provided through last year's enactment of the economic stimulus program.
In this regard, Congress has an important role to play in terms of its policy function and providing checks and balances on the executive branch, including representing the constituents who elected them. At the very least, Congress should conduct oversight hearings to determine the program's effectiveness -- including identifying how school districts would like to see it improved. This will be especially important if the department wants to extend Race to the Top or include specific features in other major legislation such as the forthcoming reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Some locally based problems that arose with round one may not repeat themselves, but they underscore the need for federal programs to respect the realities local school districts face in building and supporting successful initiatives. In this first phase, many school districts were heavily pressured by their state to sign letters of commitment without ample time to think through the ramifications.
As a result, questions were left unanswered. Among them: What will it take to meet the requirements of the state's plan? What are the long-term financial and operational impacts on the district? And, what union objections will we need to address?
We expect that some of these rough spots will be worked out down the road, but these kinds of problems could be avoided with adequate recognition of the local role. After all, it is where all education takes place.
Since the first lap of Race to the Top will fund only a handful of states, officials at the federal, state, and local levels should take the opportunity over the coming weeks to "go to school" on their own experiences. Everyone can learn from the "winner" states the best ways to address the application process for laps two and three. n
Michael A. Resnick (email@example.com) is associate executive director of advocacy and issues management for the National School Boards Association. His column, "On the Hill," appears monthly in ASBJ.
Talk About It
Our monthly list of topics worth discussing
Special education PTAs
Parents in Oldham County, Ky., have formed a special education PTA. The organization is the first in Kentucky; the number of such groups, designed to help address the needs of children with disabilities, is still small but growing nationally. The Oldham County parents joined together when the school board announced a redistricting plan that they felt would have hurt their children, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal. A special education PTA can offer parents of special-needs students more information and support than can regular PTA groups, Sandy Rutledge, president of Kentucky's PTA, told the Courier-Journal. "When you have a child with special needs, you have to look at everything altogether differently, and it means a lot to know you're not the first to go through it."
Ohio pension changes
Districts across Ohio are dealing with increasing pension costs and want state officials to change the way the plans are funded. Like other states, Ohio has seen a significant downturn in its investments. One proposal by the state's pension administrators would have both individuals and school districts contributing more to the plans. While teachers pay 10 cents into their retirement fund for every dollar they earn, the school district pays 14 cents. Under the plan, both teachers and their districts increase their pension contributions by 5 percentage points -- 2.5 more from teachers by 2016 and 2.5 more from the district by 2021, according to the Dayton Daily News. The proposal also calls for raising the retirement age for teachers.
New policy handbook upsets teachers
When Pasco County, Fla., school board members began work to revise their policy handbook -- which was more than three decades old and had many provisions that conflicted with current laws and technologies -- they set off a spirited debate between board members and teachers, according to the Tampa Tribune. Two major issues were provisions on running for political office and the section on "outside activities of staff." In the end, the board approved a policy that says that "instructional staff members should avoid situations in which their personal interests, activities and associations conflict with the interests of the board," according to the Tribune. While the language had been weakened from a previous version, some teachers objected because they were concerned it could interfere with their free speech rights. The board included a provision that requires employees who run for political office to give the superintendent "a written summary of their plans to conduct a campaign that will not interfere with fulfilling their obligations to the board." Some employees were concerned that it meant having to detail their campaign strategies, but board members said it did not, according to the Tribune.
Hackers raid N.Y. district's bank account
Computer hackers stole about $3 million from a rural New York school district's bank account in December and deposited funds in overseas accounts. The FBI and state police recovered about $2.5 million of the funds belonging to the Duanesburg Central School District by January, according to the Albany Times-Union. The crime was discovered when the hackers sought to make a large electronic withdrawal. Cybersecurity experts told the Times-Union that schools must stay vigilant about checking accounts every day and put limits on wire transfers. Other cases have arisen because employees accidently downloaded malware or viruses onto district computers, which allowed cyberthieves access to passwords. "Sometimes we think it's all about the technology, but it's human controls not in place that would have found the exploits faster," Doug Johnson, vice president of risk management policy at the Washington D.C.-based American Bankers Association, told the Times-Union.
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