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Does this keyboard work with the first generation ipad?
Does the keyboard works with the original (1st Generation) iPad?
is it easy to install?
- Asked by Diana H from Memphis
- Asked about: Apple Wireless Keyboard
1 Answer from the Community
Best Answer:
Yes it Surely does. I just set one up on a 32 gb iPad first generation running IOS 4.2.1.
Very easy also to connect
- Answered by James E


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Don't miss a story. Like us on Facebook. Like Dallas News' Facebook Page
Silvercar, a new car rental company, arrives at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Monday, with two interesting elements -- one, it rents nothing but Audi A4s, and two, you can manage the whole rental from your smartphone.
Business columnist Cheryl Hall wrote about the company and the concept in Sunday's Business section of the Dallas Morning News, a story which you can read here.
In case you're wondering how the company got its name: All the cars are silver.
Keep reading for the press release that Silvercar sent out on Monday.
Silvercar Launches Reimagined Car Rental Service at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
Mobile-integrated car rental service delivers seamless customer experience —
from reservation to return — beginning January 14
AUSTIN, Texas (January 14, 2013) — Silvercar, an Austin-based technology company, today opened its service to travelers visiting Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). The innovative airport-based rental fleet comprises only one make and model of vehicle: the 2013 Audi A4, in silver. Mobile integration is key to the Silvercar experience, as the entire customer journey can be managed from a smartphone. This means no waiting in lines or at counters — ever — when renting with Silvercar.
Travelers book reservations through the Silvercar app, available for download from the Apple App Store for iOS and the Google Play Store for Android. Web reservations and bookings through travel management companies also are available.
"We're thrilled to launch the Silvercar experience with DFW as our flagship airport," said Silvercar CEO Luke Schneider. "We anticipate that our unique model will resonate with the connected business travelers who frequent DFW. Our vision is to deliver a consistently better car rental experience, in a consistently better car, each and every time customers rent with Silvercar."
"At DFW, we are always looking for partners that can enhance the airport customer experience through exceptional service and the latest technology," said Jeff Fegan, CEO of DFWAirport. "We think Silvercar is a great addition to DFW. Silvercar integrates the entire car rental process with smartphone technology, and that elevates the level of service we can offer to our customers."
Once through the airport terminal, Silvercar customers will board DFW's shuttle service to the consolidated car rental facility. The similarities to a traditional car rental, however, end there. Silvercar customers won't find check-in lines or traditional counters; rather, the entire customer experience is technology-enabled. Customers place reservations, select and unlock a vehicle (via a QR code), and even receive their receipt through a seamless smartphone user interface.
Users' contact, payment and personal preference information is stored in a Silvercar profile on a secure cloud server. Every Silvercar vehicle comes equipped with Google Earth GPSnavigation, Sirius/XM satellite radio, and a toll tag at no additional charge (toll fees will be applied to a customer's bill). Silvercar will charge users the local pump price for fuel plus a $5 service fee. Silvercar prices are at daily rates similar to those for full-size vehicles available from leading car rental services.
Silvercar co-founder and executive chairman Bill Diffenderffer, who himself has decades of experience in the travel industry and led the launch of innovative airline Skybus as CEO, is confident that the upstart will find an audience among savvy travelers.
"Silvercar was born out of one too many frustrating travel experiences at the car rental counter — the long waits and failure to receive a vehicle that fulfills your needs are irritations most travelers can relate to," Diffenderffer said. "With an ever-growing set of customizations in a premium vehicle — the 2013 Audi A4 — a Silvercar becomes a traveler's own vehicle, whenever and wherever they drive it."
The car rental industry, Schneider says, is long overdue for innovation.
"We're mindful of the fact that Silvercar is entering a large incumbent market, dominated by a handful of well-established companies," Schneider said. "We're energized by the opportunity to make a measurable impact on the industry by introducing a unique and refreshing experience."
To learn more about Silvercar or to download the Silvercar app, visit silvercar.com.
About Silvercar With a mission to reimagine the airport car rental experience, Silvercar launched its first operation at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in January 2013. Silvercar offers a single make-and-model combination — the 2013 Audi A4 (in silver, of course) — using Web, wireless and mobile technologies to eliminate the friction points in the car rental process. An ever-increasing set of custom settings in a traveler's Silvercar profile allows a personalized experience to follow renters from car to car. A privately held company, Austin-based Silvercar is initially funded by $11.2 million in venture capital investment, led by Austin Ventures and including CrunchFund, SV Angel, and tech industry success-spotters Chris Dixon and Dave Morin. For more information, visit silvercar.com.

subset: commoncrawl


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What is the difference between a ultherapy and Y-life?
I am 50 years old and I am noticing sagging from my check bone and lines starting to form between my nose and lips. I do not need a surgical facelift but need help to slow or correct the sagging trend - so I am looking into best options. I was also looking at filler injections - so really want to understand the different of each treatment.
Ultherapy is a FDA-approved technology for noninvasive skin lifting using focused ultrasound in a single session. In my experience it is best for patients in your age group. Combination treatment with fillers often enhances the results, since they add volume while Ultherapy lifts. I have never heard of Y-life.
Ultherapy makes use of ultrasound energy, delivered through a hand held device and focused beneath the skin, to tighten the skins collagen and theoretically lift and tighten the tissues. Visible results, from what I have seen, are minimum to modest, however if volume is added to appropriate areas of the face this may give an acceptable rejuvenation of the face. This would not have the power of a surgical facelift but may help to keep a more youthful appearance for several years. If by Y-Life you actually meant a Y-Lift, this is essentially volume filling (with some filling agent) of selected areas of the face to re-inflate the areas which have lost volume and therefore restore youthful fullness and contours. It is presented as a non surgical approach to facial rejuvenation with no downtime This approach has limitations in that if there is loose skin, platysmal bands, etc these must be dealt with by some form of surgical tightening such as a mini facelift, short scar facelift or full facelift. Combining the skin lifting and volume restoration can give a powerful rejuvenation result.


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Pop Culture
Hollywood Now: Chris Pine, Rachel Weisz & Ari Graynor, Plus So Many Babies!By Gerri Miller
New flicks with celebs in interfaith relationships and from interfaith backgrounds, plus their baby news!Go To Pop Culture
I believe that the American Jewish community needs to start thinking about intermarriage, and the families that intermarriage creates, in new ways. I believe that we must be willing to reexamine common assumptions, and come up with new ideas about what constitutes a Jewish family. We are going to have to articulate, more clearly than we've been willing to in the past, what the responsibilities of a Jewish parent are, and what the responsibilities of a congregation or a community are to a Jewish parent.
It's time to examine what we believe and why. Stopping intermarriage has been a preoccupation of the American Jewish community for forty years now. Tthe opposition to it has generally been discussed in terms of losing people--the intermarried and their children.
I can't dismiss the fear of losing Jews. But two things seem obvious to me. First, despite all the fear and fervor that goes into opposing intermarriage, it has not declined. Second, Jews who intermarry, and their partners, are often willing to go to great lengths to raise their children as Jews. If we're so worried about losing Jews, what are we doing to make things easier for interfaith couples who want to bring up Jewish children? Don't we have a responsibility to challenge Jews, no matter who they marry, to raise Jewish children?
That's a challenge that has not been made in any positive way. There is a common assumption that a Jew who marries out is already "unaffiliated." Sometimes this is a self-fulfilling prophecy, often not. What programs there are for interfaith parents assume, universally, a very low level of Jewish knowledge and practice on everyone's part. This is true of some, and not true of others.
Any interfaith couple who raises a Jewish child is already doing so against a din of popular belief that they can't raise a child Jewishly. Often, they're up against condescension and obnoxious behavior from people who should know better. When I, a child of interfaith parents who was raised Jewishly, began religious school, my parents were grilled about their wretched Christmas tree--did they have one or not? I somehow doubt that all-Jewish families were being quizzed about their home practices. This was at such an old-fashioned Reform temple that my parents were offered the option of not having me learn any Hebrew if they preferred.
Despite the condescension and unwelcoming attitudes, interfaith couples have, in surprisingly large numbers, gone ahead and raised Jewish kids because that is what they wanted to do. Our synagogues are now seeing a remarkable number of Jewish children with gentile family members who are becoming part of their Jewish communities. Yet all too frequently, Jews speak derogatorily of those who marry out right in front of these interfaith families.
I wonder, does it not occur to the rabbi who delivers a sermon about preventing your children from marrying out that there are Jews married to gentiles in that room? Jews whose children are married to gentiles? Jews with a gentile parent?
At a meeting of the Jewish nonprofit board I sit on, for an organization that does advocacy and community support for Jews in the former Soviet Union, I complain that the local Federation has cut our funding for yet another year. A fellow board member chides, "We have to think about the children. Continuity, with all the intermarriage and everything that's happening today. "
I know that she knows. I put my hands flat on the table in front of me and practice deep breathing. If my presence, in my twenties, a synagogue member, an employee of a Jewish agency, on the board of this organization, does not interfere with her fantasy of what intermarriage produces, probably nothing will.
I intend to raise my children in a Jewish home, and give them a Jewish education. I plan to bring up proud, conscious, educated Jews. But it outrages me to think that anyone would say my children have more to prove than other Jewish children.
I consider this a feminist issue, as well as a Jewish one. Am I valuable to my people only as the wife of a Jewish man? Is my worth to my community solely defined by whom I marry and whose children I give birth to? I don't believe so. Let's find a better way to adapt to the realities of intermarriage without resorting to creating a group of probationary Jews.
I now belong to a Reform synagogue, but I define myself as a non-denominational Jew. I am quasi-halachic, feminist, and deeply committed to Jewish culture, both secular and spiritual. I am a package deal with my family. I live and work in the Jewish community that I was raised in as the Irish-Ashkenazi activist, writer, and loudmouth that I am. I can't be made ashamed of any of that.


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When I say wild greens, I mean the leaves or stalks of plants that are best eaten cooked. This separates them in my mental calculus from salad greens both wild and domestic (cresses and arugula, for example). Some plants fit into both camps, depending on the time of year.
Your first forays into foraging ought to begin at home, with something familiar, like dandelions. No treks through uncharted wilderness, no danger. The wonderful thing is that wild greens are all around us. Everywhere. Look out the window. I bet you're looking at some now. Even in a big city or a desert--even in winter.
Lamb's-Quarter, Amaranth, and Orach
These are your "money" greens. All appear in late spring and last through autumn, and all bear lots of teeny seeds that can be used as grain; you might know one domestic species--it's called quinoa.
All three plants start as compact seedlings with soft leaves that can be eaten raw, then grow into rather large, sprawling bushes, with tougher leaves that bear a passing resemblance to spinach. And all are excellent substitutes for spinach, but taste better and are more nutritious. You should be able to find them with little trouble between May and September.
Orach, which tends to like seaside areas or alkaline soil, is the easiest to spot, since it has dramatically triangular leaves. Some places call this plant mountain spinach; others, saltbush. Its leaves often actually taste salty, which is a surprise when you consider how bland most greens taste. It will grow to about 3 1/2 feet tall and become a slightly woody shrub.
Amaranth is easily identified by that red tinge in the stalk and in the veins of the leaves. Do not mistake it for pokeweed in the East, as eating the older leaves of pokeweed will send you to the hospital (although pokeweed's young shoots are delicious). Pokeweed stems are a rich, dark purple the color of blueberries; amaranth or pigweed is the same red as in rhubarb. Amaranth leaves are a gentle spear shape, with prominent alternate veins at regular intervals, and plants will grow to 5 feet.
Lamb's-quarter shares the same general look as amaranth and orach, but check out the undersides of the leaves: They should be silvery and slightly fuzzy. And if you drip water on the underside, it looks like a drop of mercury. Pretty cool, eh?
To me, nettles have always been a little like acorns--something I'd vaguely known was edible, yet never bothered to pick and eat. The first time I ate what my friend Josh calls "electric grass" was after I moved to California. I harvested them in mid- January, when they were about 8 inches high--at their prime. Nettles don't come out until March in most other places.
Liking wet places and dappled shade, nettles are easy to spot. They grow in large patches straight up, and they have large, thin leaves that look a little like lemon balm or mint, only covered with fine, stinging hairs. Never grab them by hand, or you will be stung. Wear a glove or use a thick bag as a shield.
To defeat the plants' stinging defenses, you must blanch them briefly in salty, boiling water, then shock the greens in a bowl of ice water to set and brighten the color. Simply served with olive oil and a little garlic, they are just okay--pretty to look at but bland. You really need to do something else with them. Italians use nettles a lot, especially for pesto and in pastas, mostly as a filling for ravioli. Greeks add them to their wild greens pies, like spanakopita.
Wild Mustards
The most common wild mustard is black mustard (Brassica nigra), which, if you had the patience to gather the seeds and grind them, would make one fierce mustard. Collect the seeds in late summer or early autumn, when the pods are dry. I admit I've never done this, though. Instead, I wait for the first flush of flowers, then gather "wild broccoli"--a tight cluster of flower buds of another brassica, such as mustards, broccoli, cabbages, Brussels sprouts, or collards. We've bred broccoli to have that big flower head, but wild mustard does something similar, except, like broccoli raab or rapini, it has smaller, looser heads with a definite mustard bite. They are delicious blanched for 1 to 2 minutes in salty water, then sauteed in olive oil with lots of garlic. Pick them before the weather gets hot, or the flower buds will be impossibly bitter.
Dandelions and their cousins are the "gateway drug" to serious foraging. They grow in nearly everyone's lawn, and most people know what they look like and that they can be eaten. Picked young, they are great in salads, and by midspring they become a stewing green par excellence.
I include chicories and wild lettuces here because they are all similar in the kitchen and tend to grow next to each other. I've picked a dandelion, a prickly lettuce, and a young chicory side-by-side-by- side more than once.
One of the best parts about picking these plants is that in cool weather, finding them is merely a matter of venturing out into your yard. It can be cold, but the sun is shining long enough that many wild plants are still doing their thing. The ideal time to collect yard greens is after cool rains followed by some sunshine. Nights should still be nippy, and days not above 70°F.
The simplest, best way I like to eat wild greens is to wash them well, get a few tablespoons of olive oil hot in a large saute pan, then cook them while they are still wet, which helps them wilt fast with the resulting steam. Add salt as soon as they wilt, maybe some minced garlic, maybe some chile pepper, definitely black pepper--and a squeeze of lemon or lime right when you serve them. This method is simplicity itself, takes less than 5 minutes, and keeps most of the nutrients in the greens. The recipe I feature in my book showcases their beauty and flavor even further.
Try the author's recipe for Wild Greens Risotto.
When in Doubt, Check It Out
Never eat something you cannot positively identify. There are not a lot of poisonous lookalikes when searching for wild greens (in my upcoming book, I discuss pokeweed as an example), but better safe than sorry.
Hunt, Gather, Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast (Rodale Books, summer 2011) is not meant to be a full-on guide, so I recommend Peterson Field Guides, Audubon books, and regional books. I have a collection of them for reference, and I also carry a couple (an Audubon and a Peterson) in my backpack when I am out and about. --H.S.


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Fiber lasers undergo a series of upgrades in the quest to become the preeminent industrial laser technology.
Long in the shadows of their conventional solid-state counterparts, fiber lasers (FL) have undergone a quiet revolution with respect to their design and overall performance in recent years. First marketed for optical telecommunications in the 1980s, today these compact, silica-based lasers are finding new lifeblood in industrial applications, with a majority finding an audience within original equipment manufacturers' product lines, primarily for marking, welding, and cutting routines.
a) First conceived by Elias Snitzer in 1963, the fiber laser has evolved from its initial applications in optical communications to industrial manufacturing. b) Changes in the diameter of the fibers and actual designs, such as the jacketed air clad fiber from the Univ. of Southampton, UK, are being put forth in an effort to reduce nonlinear effects.
But this may only be a starting point. The most recent optoelectronics forecasts project sales of fiber lasers to nearly double in 2005 to an estimated $120 million. This outlook, coupled with a series of performance milestones, is leading FL developers to think big. "With its inherent qualities over conventional solid state lasers, I cannot see how fiber lasers will not eventually dominate the industrial market," says Bill Shiner, Manager of Industrial Product Development at IPG Photonics, Oxford, Mass.
Fiber up sides
FL developers note that this drive for market position is being fueled by the distinctive features that fiber lasers offer, namely size, beam quality, and optical efficiency. The fact that fiber lasers are able to operate in the 1 µm wavelength range of the optical spectrum, stemming from the inclusion of rare earth elements within their cores, has enabled them to become serious competitors to the larger, more power consuming solid state and CO2 lasers used in manufacturing schemes.
"Fiber lasers are inherently much higher efficiencies than lamp-pumped or even semiconductor- pumped classical lasers," says Martin Seifert, CEO/ President of Nufern Inc., East Granby, Conn., a leading supplier of optical fibers. "Optical efficiencies of ~70% are the norm for ytterbium-doped fiber lasers, with 'wall plug' efficiencies > 30% vs. 1 to 2% for flash lamp-pumped rod lasers."
A far more attractive quality has been the ability to obtain a near-diffraction-limited beam, M2 (beam quality) value nearing 1, from a FL system. While solid-state lasers boast larger amounts of raw power, the beams these systems deliver exhibit higher orders of diffraction, with typical M2 values nearly two orders of magnitude greater than those of FL, resulting in poor beam quality at large distances away from the source.
These combined features have provided the foundation for fiber lasers to claim a reasonable market share. Why they have not been able to take a decided foothold over the market, however, has primarily boiled down to one issue: power.
Power hungry
Resolving the challenges associated with increasing the overall power output while maintaining a single-mode beam has been at the heart of the most recent advancements coming from companies and university labs working in FL. Although multi-mode FL systems have considerably higher power, the development of more powerful single-mode continuous wave (CW) lasers has been a significant source of trial and error.
But progress has been made. In 2002, the highest recorded power output of a single mode CW FL was about 100 W. However, that level has increased by an order of magnitude in only two years, further narrowing the gap between FL and their solid-state counterparts. As recently as this past December, results produced by the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the Univ. of Southampton, UK, with funding by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's two-yr-old high-power FL program, announced the creation of a single-strand mode, continuous wave fiber with a power of 1.36 kW and beam quality of 1.4. This makes it one, if not the most, powerful single-strand FL in the world with the potential to be scaled even further. According to the Southampton team, led by Johan Nilsson, "Power-scaling beyond 10 kW in a single-fiber configuration looks entirely feasible with our fiber laser design."
Even higher powers are now being realized with small trade-offs in beam quality by combining the outputs of multiple single-mode lasers. "The single mode lasers, with their perfect beams, are the engine for our multi-kilowatt parallel combined fiber lasers," says IPG's Shiner. Multi-kilowatt systems are currently being shipped that have been demonstrated in numerous applications to provide 50% higher processing speeds and depth of penetration over conventional YAG lasers and double or triple those produced by CO2 lasers operating at the same power levels.
The U.S. military's Airborne Laser (ABL) project recently reached a performance milestone with the successful ground-based firing of all six modules comprising its megawatt-class Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL). Although the test duration was short (less than a sec), "what's important is that the COIL produced photons and this proves that the laser hardware is ready to go," says Ellen Pawlikowski, ABL Program Director.
It has been eight years since the project's start which began with a $1.1 billion contract being awarded to Boeing, TRW (now Northrop Grumman Space Technologies), and Lockheed Martin to develop a prototype ABL to attack theater ballistic missiles, which was later expanded in 2001 to include all ballistic missiles. Once completed, the laser system (operating at 1.315 µm), will be housed aboard a modified 747-400 freighter aircraft which will fly at an altitude of 40,000 ft. Tests of the COIL will continue for several months as engineers make adjustments to gradually increase the firing time.
>>More info: www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/abl/flash.html
"The fiber laser is achieving welding depths never before reached at the 1-µm level," says Shiner. Within IPG Photonics' line, for example, "our 10-kW fiber laser has achieved depths of penetration in aluminum of 14 mm at a processing speed of 2.5 m/ min. This kind of performance, combined with the portability, opens up a wide range of applications only previously imagined."
What has made the difference?
Industry insiders credit these new performance levels to better semiconductor diodes pump sources, the emergence of large mode area (LMA) fibers, and double-cladded fiber designs. With such high powers, non-linear effects in the fiber can impact the laser performance.
The solution given by the emergence of LMA fibers has been to scale up the physical diameter of the fiber itself to reduce the detrimental effects of various nonlinear interactions such as stimulated Raman and Brillouin scattering.
Nufern, for its part, has "promoted a 20-µm core 400-µm cladding fiber for modest power CW applications into the few hundred watt regime, but we have also made specialized laser fibers for a number of clients up to about 750-µm dia. At this time we feel that other technical issues will create greater limits than diameter beyond this range," says Seifert.
Recently, novel structures like photonic crystal fibers that rely on shaping the core of the fiber to facilitate the single mode operation, as well as reducing non-linear effects, are also being explored as a performance measure.
Down the road
With their performance levels increasing, fiber lasers have indeed carved a place within the industrial laser market. And efforts are continuing to make these systems even more powerful. "We anticipate a single-mode CW fiber with a 2 kW output to be ready by the first or second quarter of 2006," says Shiner.
Ultimately, a reduction in semiconductor diode pump costs and the next wave of available power outputs will dictate the success of this technology.
—Jeannette Mallozzi
IPG Photonics, 508-373-1100, www.ipgphotonics.com
Nufern, Inc., 866-466-0214, www.nufern.com
Univ. of Southampton, +44-023-8059-3150, www.orc.soton.ac.uk


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By the time Carl returned from his excursion with the in-laws, we had well and truly over-stayed our welcome at Lilianfels, plus it was time to return to Sydney in time to become organised for the working week. We started heading back down the mountains (because I'm of Kiwi extraction I'm going to have to say they are not like mountains; they're more like hills), and we wondered where we might stop for a late lunch.
Someone had told Carl that you can get a great lunch at the main pub in Springwood. We drove down the main street and it wasn't hard to find the main pub. It is a grand old building filled with charm and original period features. It's named The Oriental Hotel which is quite confusing seeing there is nothing oriental about it. One good thing about these country towns is that there's always plenty of parking and we were able to pull up right across the road from the hotel. As we walked through the little gate we could see the tables were nearly all full of families and small adult groups which is always a good sign.
Lunch is available from 10am until 5pm seven days a week so the fact we were arriving at 3pm was of no issue. The menu has all the usual suspects like a club sandwich for $14.00 which seemed very good value after noticing that Lilianfels charges $28 for its club sandwich.
You order at the counter and the food is brought to your table. There were tables available inside but we saw a table out in the courtyard that was in the sunshine and even though it wasn't a hot day, it was still warm enough to enjoy lunch outside.
We started with a drink. There are two bars and one has an extensive wine list and a few on-tap beers and the other bar has a lot of on-tap beers and a minimal wine list. You can guess where I found the blokes! I ended up ordering a drink from each bar. Carl had a Reschs for around $4.00 and I had a glass of Jim Barry Riesling for $8.50.
Club sandwiches aside, I ordered the chilli chicken burger with cheese, tomato, sweet chilli mayo and chips for $14.50 and I paid $2.00 extra for a gluten-free bun. For the price it was a great burger and gluten-free bread can be dire at the best of times but this bun was soft and not crumbly with a pleasant flavour. The chips were okay. I just would have liked them to have been a little more cooked and served with something to dip them in as on their own they were just a bit dry. And the presentation of them was a bit ho-hum.
Carl had the beef burger for $14.50 and he had no complaints.
You're not going to find anything out of the ordinary on this menu but when traveling it's a lovely place to stop and relax for a short while. The hotel has plenty of character. It used to provide accommodation on the second storey however the rooms are currently in a state of disrepair and so you can no longer stay overnight. It's such a shame really as these old pubs were always good at providing well-priced rooms with that great country-escape feel.
Across the road from the pub we found, The Sweetest Thing, an ice creamery and lolly shoppe. Well Carl just felt we needed to call in there and I knew he wouldn't leave without ordering an ice cream so he had a double scoop of Rosha which is Ferrero Rocher chocolate made into ice cream.
He sat up at the counter to enjoy it and had no complaints about this either. Meanwhile, I was looking at all the lollies I remember from my childhood yet hadn't seen for quite a while. I ordered some aniseed balls and some double salted licorice to help me survive the journey back to Sydney.
I've always thought rushing back home after a weekend away is not the right thing to do; it's far better to return home gradually and I'm very glad we stopped in Springwood for a relaxing and peaceful lunch where the main street was filled with olde world charm, and there wasn't a fast food outlet in sight – long may it last.
The Oriental Hotel, Springwood. 112 Macquarie Road, Springwood. Ph: 4751 7788
The Sweetest Thing, Springwood. 1B Raymond Road, Springwood. Ph: 0401 227 193


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Friday, May 22, 2009
Erin Blogs: Mom Love
My mother gave me thick hair and blue eyes, fair skin and freckles. She taught me to write my name and how to bake. She made me a reader and lover of books. She passed on her appreciation for collections and started a few of mine. She gave me her sense of colors and taught me how high to hang a picture. She drove me to soccer practices and swim meets and paid for lessons of all sorts. She taught me good table manners just in case I was invited to eat at the White House. She let me have the yellow carpet in my room when she really wanted the green. She bought me the Izod shirts and Tretorn sneakers but would never let me have clogs. She made braided ribbon barrettes for my hair and bought me beads for friendship pins. She always makes sure there is an apple pie on Thanksgiving because it's my favorite. She took me skiing at age 3 and pretty much every year after that. She drove me to college and didn't cry until she was on her way home. She kissed my scraped knees and wiped away my tears. She cooked my favorite meal on my birthdays. She bought me my first sewing machine. She still has a sweater I knit her although it is really way too big. She was there when I gave birth to my babies. She trusts my judgment although she sometimes disagrees. She is sensitive and thoughtful, kind and caring, generous and gracious. She is beautiful inside and out. She supports me. She has loved me every day for the last 38 years. And I know it. I always have.
I hope my kids know I feel the same way about them. Because I gave them thick hair, blue eyes and freckles. I correct their spelling and make them hold their pencils correctly. I let them stay up reading because they love their books. I let them crack the eggs and measure the flour. I add to their bottle cap collections. I encourage them to draw and then hang up their drawings. I sit through volleyball practices and watch their swim meets. I tell them to chew with their mouths closed and to put their napkins on their laps. I'm repainting their rooms because they want a change. I let them wear clogs. I have pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving because that is their favorite. I kiss scrapes and wipe away tears, too. I take them skiing. I cried when they left kindergarten, but didn't let them see me. I go to California Pizza Kitchen and Red Robin on their birthdays because that is what they choose. I rethread the toy sewing machine 15 times in 20 minutes. I keep all their love notes. I want to be there when they have their babies. I respect their differences although I sometimes don't understand. I have loved them from the moment they were born.
Being a mother is a precious gift. I feel blessed to have learned from the best.
23 comments:
- Kristin said...
Beautifully written and ditto. I only hope I can be half the mom mine has been!
- May 22, 2009 at 8:19 AM
- pve design said...
Some things money cannot buy nor bottle and one is a Mother's care. Wonderful post and tribute.
Thanks for introducing me to Erin.
- May 22, 2009 at 9:30 AM
- annechovie said...
A beautiful post! I can def. relate to the braided ribbon barettes, too! Hadn't thought about those in years!
- May 22, 2009 at 10:20 AM
- Kwana said...
Happy birthday Erin! What a beautiful tribute and post.
- May 22, 2009 at 10:58 AM
- Debra said...
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Your dear Mother is a cherished mirror-bless you both. Happy Birthday Erin.
- May 22, 2009 at 11:00 AM
- Francesca said...
To the family's thick hair, blue eyes and freckes, and to unexplained and respected differences! A touching post.
- May 22, 2009 at 11:48 AM
- nicola said...
what a sweet post. happy birthday!
your girls are precious and your post made me tear up after having just had a supportive, emotional phone call with my own mom. we have a tough job, don't we?
and....are you at the ascot horse races in that photo? i used to live in ascot.
- May 22, 2009 at 11:51 AM
- emily said...
perfect. of course.
- May 22, 2009 at 12:41 PM
- Paige said...
Lovely words and thoughts indeed. Happy birthday Erin!
- May 22, 2009 at 12:43 PM
- Sarah Jackson said...
Just lovely, Erin. Such a great tribute to motherhood. You are all so beautiful - both inside and out.
- May 22, 2009 at 1:11 PM
- L~ said...
lovely. thanks for sharing
- May 22, 2009 at 1:32 PM
- Grace said...
This is so beautiful, I cried.
Thank you, thank you for sharing such a sweet and personal portrait of motherhood.
- May 22, 2009 at 1:44 PM
- Lisa Clarke said...
So very nicely put!
- May 22, 2009 at 2:04 PM
- Sarah Jane said...
teary. thanks.
- May 22, 2009 at 2:13 PM
- LENORENEVERMORE said...
such a lovely+touching tribute! Fabulous weekend to you & family...
- May 22, 2009 at 4:06 PM
- Dawn said...
Lovely Erin!
- May 22, 2009 at 6:38 PM
I certainly got teary reading this lovely post. I love the things that stand out in our memory - the tretorns, braided barrettes, and friendship pins!! As I get back into sewing I hear my mother's voice as I use her machine and all those memories of her patience come back to me. Thanks for the post and happy birthday - your photos here are priceless.
- May 23, 2009 at 4:56 AM
- bridgmanpottery said...
erin, you are just slap awesome.
- May 23, 2009 at 12:46 PM
- a friend to knit with said...
i loved this. every little bit of this.
- May 24, 2009 at 3:39 AM
Well said Erin. Love, Dad
- May 25, 2009 at 2:17 PM
Dear Erin,
When I read your blog, I felt like it was my birthday....You have always been such a gift. What a lovely remembrance . Thank you for all the wonderful things you said about me and our relationship. I am lucky to have you for my daughter and still feel blessed every day. I am grateful that you have such good memories. They made me laugh and cry. It is actually not that easy to type when you are crying. You are right that I really did not like that yellow carpet. I didn't know that I showed it that much. I guess maybe I should have been more open minded about the clogs. Thank you for being my daughter and my friend. I have always been so proud of you. You are a wonderful mother and I feel so very lucky that you are who you are. Jane and Kate are the lucky ones. Thanks for the memories and stay just the person you are.
I love you, Mom
- May 25, 2009 at 2:58 PM
- Ani said...
such a sweet, sweet post. i hope my little one has such nice things to say about me in the future!
- May 26, 2009 at 1:18 PM
- Ranee said...
So sweet... I cry every time I read this post. Sometimes I hurt my mother heart. Sometimes I did it because I know she still love me after everything I did.
I'm sorry Amma, I love you.
I hope you know it, and I proud to be your daughter.
- August 14, 2009 at 10:16 AM


text: On 14/03/2008, Dotan Cohen <email@example.com> wrote: > For me it defaults to the United Kingdom. It'd say that it's guessing > based on IP address, but I'm in Israel. And I'm in the UK! It looks like us "Europeans" (whoever they are) are up to our old tricks of empire building and world domination- wherever you are you're part of the EU. After all, doesn't all the world want an unelected governing body with no accountability to the disenfranchised populace thay control? Our current and corrupt Government are mere amateurs when set against the EU executive and civil masters (forget "civil servants"- they would be both accountable and sackable). If you think I exaggerate check the last time that the EU accounts were passed by the auditors, or any EU official made a fuss about it. Whistle blowers are sacked and/or accused of various sins, and the gravy train rolls on. OK- rant over. Sorry... Terence


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Quote of the Day
"If I want to see something roll over and play dead at the Garden, I'll go see the Knicks."
– CBS' David Letterman, on why he did not attend the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show ("Late Show," CBS, 2/13).
Top Stories
- state of NASCAR, touting Corporate America's investment in the sport, the new promotional muscle brought by ESPN, and the quality of competition and drivers. Issues that still concern France are media coverage in major markets, which he says "we're going to be working on," and building a speedway in N.Y. Also on the expansion front, ISC is eyeing two sites for a new 75,000-seat facility in Denver, which France calls "a great sports market."
LVCVA's Rossi Ralenkotter calls hosting '07 FIBA event "direct result of our partnership with the NBA."
Feet Of
Saints RB Reggie Bush inks dress sock deal, a rarity in the endorsement game.
Super Bowl promos help CBS to primetime win last week.
Of The Blue Dolphins
Wayne Huizenga unapologetic over team's latest ticket-price hike.
NBA video game licensees activating heavily around All- Star Weekend in Las Vegas.
Clay Mates
Sonics prefer arena site in Renton, but funding gaps, other issues remain as obstacles.
& Sweet
Honda Classic joins PGA Tour stops building fan/hospitality areas around late-round par-3s.
All My
TaylorMade signs three-year grassroots marketing deal with China Golf Association.


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Sedge Garden United Methodist Church invites the community to see what the church has to offer during their first annual car show on Sat., Oct. 19. The event will be held in conjunction with the annual Methodist Men's BBQ. For more, see the Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013 edition.
Sedge Garden UMC car show
Previous post: Hearts of firefighters
Next post: Kernersville municipal elections


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Column: Time to stop blaming Childress for Vikings' problems
A tumultuous week at Winter Park was capped off by a last-minute comeback against the Cardinals on Sunday, but was it enough to stabilize the organization?
The Minnesota Vikings are trying to pull themselves out of a self-inflicted tailspin, but how did they get there, who's really to blame? Is it coach Brad Childress?
Blame Zygi Wilf.
The Vikings owner has created the atmosphere he worked so diligently to avoid.
When Childress dismissed Randy Moss last week he did it swiftly and without remorse. It was a move not all that different than the one that brought Chilly to Minnesota.
Wilf moved quickly to fire coach Mike Tice in 2005. The 9-7 Vikings finished the season with a victory against the Chicago Bears. It was a typical scene in the locker room afterwards with the coach addressing the media explaining the disappointing season and whether or not he would be able to keep his job. He was optimistic though, because of how the team finished. They won seven of their last nine games.
Tice had spent the previous weeks in discussion with Wilf on a contract extension but a decision was never made. At least he was never told how he stood with management. Minutes after that press conference Tice found out. Wilf followed him into his office and fired the coach on the spot.
The locker room was nearly empty at that point as most players had gone home. The public relations staff handed out a press release to the few remaining media members and players. It was swift; two-paragraph's saying the organization was moving in a new direction.
Koren Robinson and Darren Sharper were stunned. Sharper left without comment and Robinson questioned the timing, asking why they couldn't have waited until Monday at least.
The move wasn't all that surprising because it was clear that ownership wanted to change the culture of the team. The previous year was a veritable circus act and Wilf saw it as a complete lack of discipline.
"If there was any sense that we would look the other way regarding this type of behavior," Wilf said after the infamous love boat incident. "I want to make it extremely clear that this behavior will never be tolerated again."
Zygi was right to demand change. That ugly event capped off a year in which a Whizzinator (used to beat drug tests) was confiscated from running back Onterrio Smith at the airport and Tice was fined $100,000 for his role in scalping Super Bowl tickets. That fine was the largest ever levied on a head coach.
Wilf moved to create a code of conduct. It was a 77-page document distributed to all of the players, but he needed someone who could enforce it.
Tice was a player's coach. He didn't command the respect of his players; he was seen as just "one of the guys." He was only six years removed from actually playing for the team. Wilf wanted discipline and he needed to move quickly. After all, Zygi wasn't building a football team he was building an investment, and for that, he needed a new stadium.
Wilf built his fortune within his family's real estate business. He guided the growth from strip malls to shopping complexes. He knew in order to secure a new stadium, there needed to be excitement from the community but more importantly, confidence in the organization.
Competing with the Gophers and Twins for approval from the legislature, Wilf sought discipline within his organization. It took less than a week; he quickly chose the offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Childress turned around the culture, but like an over-bearing parent he doesn't like to be questioned. He immediately released wide receiver Marcus Robinson on Christmas Eve in 2006, the day after he publicly questioned the disappointing 6-9 record. Troy Williamson didn't follow Childress request to rejoin the team the day after his grandmother's funeral and was subsequently fined.
Childress has made a number of questionable calls as coach of the purple, but his handling of Moss, along with his other personnel decisions follows in the footsteps of Wilf. So you can't really hold Chilly responsible, he merely did as he was asked.
Zygi spent last week at Winter Park evaluating the team and staff, but make no mistake. The owner is happy with his head coach. Childress provided the stability that Zygi was looking for and earned a contract extension last year.
The time to blame the guy running the show has past. Now it's time to blame the guy who accepts it.


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(Adds details throughout)
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--The new structure of anti-dumping duties (ADDs) on polyvinyl chloride (PVC) imports into India is expected to impact the nature of PVC imports both into the country and elsewhere, market sources said on Tuesday.
"This new duty structure is likely to close the arbitrage for Chinese PVC imports into India, considering the high ADDs imposed on these," according to an Indian PVC converter.
The Government of India announced anti-dumping duties (ADDs) on polyvinyl chloride (PVC) imports into the country, in the range of $9.47-189.99/tonne, according to an official document received by ICIS on Tuesday.
Chinese-origin carbide-based PVC cargoes often make their way into the Indian market at low prices, in times of high ethylene-based PVC prices from northeast Asia.
However, with the new ADD structure enforced, Chinese producers are likely to find it difficult to sell to India at competitive prices, owing to hefty ADDs imposed on these cargoes.
According to the document issued by the Department of Commerce in India, ADDs are now applicable on several exporters selling into the country following investigations initiated in October 2012 on ADD imposed against imports of PVC suspension grade originating in or exported from Taiwan, China PR, Indonesia, Japan, Korea RP, Malaysia, Thailand and the USA as well as the European Union and Mexico.
However, PVC imports from South Korean producers LG Chem and Hanwha Corporation are exempt from ADD payments.
ADDs on Chinese PVC cargoes exported from China or any other country other than China are subject to ADDs in the range of $91.27-147.96/tonne.
Taiwanese major Formosa Plastics Corporation exporting PVC from Taiwan and European Union is exempt from ADD payments, while all other Taiwanese PVC lots originating in Taiwan or any other country are subject to ADDs in the range of $9.47-61.25/tonne.
US producer Westlake Vinyl Corporation's exports to India are subject to ADDs of $29.99/tonne, while Formosa Plastics Corporation USA's lots exported by Tricon Dry Chemicals LLC will be charged ADDs at $31.22/tonne. All other US origin PVC lots will be charged ADDs at $115.54/tonne.
For the full table on ADDs imposed on various origin cargoes, please refer to final findings here.
ADDs levied on Ineos Vinyls Deutschland GmbH Germany, INEOS Sverige AB Sweden, INEOS ChlorVinyls Ltd, UK and INEOS ChlorVinyls Belgium NV are at $39.65/tonne, while all other cargoes produced in the European Union (EU) and exported out of the EU or elsewhere are subject to ADDs of $189.99/tonne.
Mexican PVC major Mexichem Resinas Vinílicas, S.A. de C.V's exports to India would be subject to ADDs of $88.10/tonne, while all other Mexican cargoes originating in and/or exported out of Mexico would be subject to ADDs of $163.05/tonne.
Details on ADDs levied on European and Mexican imports are available here.
According to market sources, this new structure of ADDs proposed is additionally expected to impact nearby markets such as the Middle East.
"With cargoes from key northeast Asian producers exempt from ADDs in India, the Middle East could be pushed to look for supply from the US, as the northeast Asian producers would prefer to sell to India at higher prices," a trader in the Middle East said.
The Middle East markets enjoyed sourcing northeast Asian cargoes at competitive prices, amid the uncertainty in the Indian PVC market in the last couple of months following the impending announcement on the new ADD structure.
Indian importers were hesitant to book cargoes without a clear idea on the ADDs, and the delay in the official announcement led buyers to defer purchases.
This saw some major northeast Asian producers move cargoes to the Middle East at competitive prices.
However, with India announcing zero ADDs on these northeast Asian cargoes, producers would be eager to sell to India at better prices.
Total PVC demand in India stood at 2.25m tonnes in 2013. Of this 1.25m tonnes are locally produced, while the rest is imported.


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With 555 square miles of mountains, valleys, forests, rivers and lakes, Etowah County is one of the most diverse areas for outdoor sports and recreation in the southeast. Whether it's a trophy buck or largemouth bass, chances are you'll find it here. Or you can hike, bike, ATV or horseback ride through scenic trails, as well as sail, jet-ski or canoe on a river or lake.
Cultural Amenities
The Gadsden Symphony Orchestra is funded by grants, ticket sales, patrons and supporters. It schedules three concerts per season: one with a patriotic theme; the second a formal, classical program; and the third a fun, "pops" theme.
Homes for sale
On average, there are 600-700 homes for sale in Etowah County at any time. The cost of living is 81.3 (the national average is 100.0) and housing prices are among the most affordable in the nation. To view current listings, visit these sites:
Information and statistics on the climate conditions of Etowah County.
Health care
Gadsden Regional Medical Center (www.gadsdenregional.com) and Riverview Regional Medical Center (www.riverviewregional.com) have a combined 627 beds. Both are accredited by JCAHO.
Public Safety
Police Protection
The Etowah County Sheriff's Department has 62 employees in its criminal, civil, corrections, patrol, court house security and narcotics divisions. The City of Gadsden Police Department has 100 personnel in the following divisions: patrol, hit and run, crime against property, crime against persons, fugitive, juvenile, vice and narcotics, canine, crime prevention, school guards, animal control, field training, records and communications. Surrounding municipalities have police departments of varying sizes. The violent crime rate is 479.2 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Downtown Gadsden is a thriving retail, business, and entertainment district. Downtown Gadsden, Inc. was created to establish the central business district as a centerpiece for the city's economic progress. During 2009-2014, the number of businesses downtown increased by 58, and includes such specialty shops as Frios Gourmet Pops, Old Havana Cigar Bar, King's Olive Oil Company and Maggie's Gluten Free Bakery. Today, the occupancy rate exceeds 90%.
A list of major faiths & denominations with churches or synagogues in Etowah County.
Community Organizations
A list of numerous special-interest groups in Etowah County.
The Gadsden Times (daily)


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Control Panel Design Contest
2010 winner of the Control Engineering Control Panel Design Contest is... Specialty Tooling Inc., Evansville, IN. View the finalists, learn more about the winner, and link to information about submitting a video for the 2011 Control Panel Design contest.
The end-user is a major appliance manufacturer. The application is a machine that applies bends and twists to the tubing on the bottom of a refrigerator. The controls challenge was to reduce wiring, cabinet space and eliminate the 90-minute hard tooling change-over. Among four finalists that submitted tutorial videos on control panel design in 2010, subscribers voted online to select machine builder Specialty Tooling's tutorial video as the winner.
Ryan Johann, automation engineer, explains: "When I'm laying out control enclosures, my thought process is,'Where is it going to be easiest to bring my I/O cabling in from the machine, what kind of components do I need to have with 480 V ac, 3 phase, or 24 V dc? What's the supply power? What kind of drives, controls, and communication cables do I need? And how can I think about how to isolate the highand low voltage, to keep noise out of the equation."
The control cabinet needs to be laid out to ensure everything is placed appropriately.
Enabling tools included Bosch Rexroth's MLD-M control architecture. For the 4-axes application, Johann sought to reduce panel size. One master axis, with integrated PLC and motion control functionality, reduces the need for an external PLC that would take more panel space. The drives save space, wiring together with one wire, in a daisy chain, to SERCOS III I/O blocks.
Another space saving technique is having one point to terminate up to a three-wire sensor thus reducing the amount of wiring and time needed to assemble the panel.
A more traditional architecture would have required additional wiring to an external PLC or motion controller with I/O cards back to a separate portion of the panel. The Specialty Tooling control panel design saved about 25% on panel size, decreased wiring by 35%, and improved productivity by 15% by integrating Bosch Rexroth's Safety-On-Board technology. Ordinarily the operator would need to drop the 480 V ac power to the drives in the work cell to load and unload the part. MLD Safety on Board technology meets safety requirements by putting the drives into a safe stop condition when the operator is in the work cell, Johann says.
Software from Bosch Rexroth helped Specialty Tooling program, integrate, and execute all project components, including PLC and motion programming, human-machine interfaces, and I/O connections.
Good tools help a smart design.
Thanks to all participants and voters, and 2010 contest sponsor, Phoenix Contact. Scroll down to link to videos and more information. Leave your comments or advice online.
Also contact:
Specialty Tooling 812.464.8521
Video finalists for 2010 are available for viewing, below.
Submit a tutorial video for 2011 here:
ATS Systems Oregon
Flash suppression panel and
power distribution
| Watch Here -2010 finalist
Panel Design by Concept Systems
Teamwork is key to compete and exceed
Premier Automation
The Art of Panel Building
at Premier Automation
|Watch Here - 2010 finalist
Specialty Tooling Inc.
With integrated motion, logic, control and Safety-On-Board drive technology, Specialty Tooling's control cabinet design is 25% smaller with 35% less wiring costs and 15% higher machine productivity.
|Watch Here - 2010 winner
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Annual Salary Survey
Before the calendar turned, 2016 already had the makings of a pivotal year for manufacturing, and for the world.
There were the big events for the year, including the United States as Partner Country at Hannover Messe in April and the 2016 International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago in September. There's also the matter of the U.S. presidential elections in November, which promise to shape policy in manufacturing for years to come.
But the year started with global economic turmoil, as a slowdown in Chinese manufacturing triggered a worldwide stock hiccup that sent values plummeting. The continued plunge in world oil prices has resulted in a slowdown in exploration and, by extension, the manufacture of exploration equipment.
Read more: 2015 Salary Survey


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Original 'Footloose' Deluxe Edition On Blu-ray, DVD This September
To those of you who've been holding out for a Blu-ray version of Footloose, have we got news for you. Namely, that there's a Blu-Ray version of Footloose coming out on September 27th. The special release will include brand new special features, including interviews with Kevin Bacon and Sarah Jessica Parker, Kevin Bacon's original screen test, and two commentary tracks. The Blu-ray and DVD re-release is set to overlap with the release date of the remake on October 14. This way, when people see the trailer for the new film and are confused about why there's an exploding bus, they can watch the warm and fuzzy original version. Let's hear it for the cross-promotional opportunities!
Footloose is the story of a small midwestern town that bans dancing, and the young man (Bacon) who starts a revolution by dramatically dancing through an empty warehouse.
The special edition Footloose Blu-ray and DVD will be availible for purchase on September 27th. The new film Footloose, starring Kenny Wormald, is due out October 14th. In the meantime, here's Bret from Flight of the Conchords doing his best Kevin Bacon impression below.
Here's the full list of specs for the release:
The FOOTLOOSE Blu-ray is presented in 1080p high definition with English 6.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 2.0 Dolby Surround, Spanish Mono and Portuguese Mono with English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles. The Deluxe Edition DVD is presented in widescreen with English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX, French 2.0 Dolby Surround and Spanish Mono with English, French and Spanish subtitles. Both discs include the following:
NEW Special Features:
– Let's Dance! Kevin Bacon on Footloose
– From Bomont to the Big Apple: An Interview with Sarah Jessica Parker
– Remembering Willard
– Kevin Bacon's Screen Test
– Kevin Bacon Costume Montage
Additional Special Features:
– Commentary by Kevin Bacon
– Commentary by producer Craig Zadan and writer Dean Pitchford
In addition to the above, the Blu-ray also includes:
– Footloose: A Modern Musical – Part 1
– Footloose: A Modern Musical – Part 2
– Footloose: Songs That Tell A Story
– Theatrical Trailer
Source: Paramount


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Last year the Hawkeyes were a dominant player on the recruiting scene in the Chicago area and it looks like they plan on extending that stay and perhaps find another quarterback in the process. Iow...
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by Portfolio Grader | June 10, 2014 11:30 am
Consumer cyclical stocks declined on Wall Street on Tuesday morning, down 0.2%.
More broadly, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1%, the Nasdaq was unchanged and the S&P 500 declined 0.1%.
Some of the biggest gainers among consumer cyclical stocks include:
Some of the biggest losers among consumer cyclical stocks include:
For more information on the best stocks to buy[20] right now, check out the latest commentary on InvestorPlace.com[21].
And for more on the hot stocks moving most on Wall Street right now, check out our archive of daily market movers by sector here[22].
Editor's Note: Returns for the fastest-moving stocks listed here are based on share prices 20 minutes prior to publication of this story.
Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2014/06/biggest-movers-in-consumer-cyclical-stocks-now-mov-byi-nav-dorm-mov-byi-nav/
Short URL: http://invstplc.com/1khRH9B
Copyright ©2017 InvestorPlace Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 700 Indian Springs Drive, Lancaster, PA 17601.


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At the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas, a film called "Downloaded" will premiere during the Film Festival in March. The film will be based on the rise and fall of Napster, the P2P file sharing software created by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker. The two battled against music record labels after launching the program. The film was directed by Alex Winters, the actor that played "Bill" in the Bill & Ted franchise. Winters is also known for directing the Cannes Official Selection film FEVER and two Emmy-nominated Ben 10 movies for Cartoon Network.
Winters said this about the film: ?It?s about the music and the bands, the fans and the moguls, and the brilliant young minds that ignited the biggest youth revolt since Alan Freed hit the radio.? Napster was popular in the late 1990s and 2000s. It has been blamed for the fall of the CDs and the rise of the online music industry. Napster ended up getting acquired by Best Buy for $218 million and sold to Rhapsody in 2011. Best Buy still has a minority stake in Napster.
Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning have moved on beyond their Napster days. The two partnered on the startup called Airtime, but that company launched and crashed spectacularly. Parker himself is worth billions due to his equity stake in Facebook, Spotify, and other startups. In this documentary, Winters said that it does not make an argument on either side of the debate. It was made to provide context during that period when music-sharing was a confusing time. Check out the trailer below:


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Analysis services for oil field exploration; Gas exploration; Geological prospecting; Oil exploration; Oil field surveying; Oil prospecting, namely, well logging and testing; Well logging
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Determinants of reduced child stunting in Cambodia: analysis of pooled data from three Demographic and Health Surveys
Nayu Ikeda a, Yuki Irie b & Kenji Shibuya c
a. AXA Department of Health and Human Security, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
b. Global Link Management, Inc., Tokyo, Japan.
c. Department of Global Health Policy, Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Correspondence to Nayu Ikeda (e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com).
(Submitted: 23 September 2012 – Revised version received: 21 December 2012 – Accepted: 21 January 2013 – Published online: 19 February 2013.)
Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2013;91:341-349. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.12.113381
Improving the nutritional status of children is a priority in child health. The global burden of undernutrition among children is enormous. Worldwide, more than 300 million children younger than 5 years are estimated to be chronically undernourished.1 Nutritional insufficiency is one of the most important factors contributing to illness among children in the world. In 2010, it accounted for 3.4% of the total global burden of disease.2 To reduce the burden of child undernutrition, it is important to implement appropriate policies and interventions targeting determinants such as education, economic status and empowerment of women.3
Cambodia has experienced rapid socioeconomic development during its democratic transition towards an open market economy since the international peace agreements were signed in 1991.4 Driven by strong economic activity in a period of peace and political stability, the country's gross domestic product grew by an annual average of 9% during the 2000s5 and was continuing to grow by more than 6% annually in the early 2010s.6 However, nearly one third of the population still lives below the poverty line5 and many children suffer from hunger and poor health. Although mortality among Cambodian children under 5 years of age decreased at an accelerated rate during the 2000s, the decrease is not sufficient to achieve Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4, which calls for a two-third reduction from 1990 to 2015.7 The nutritional status of Cambodian children has been one of the poorest in the world since at least the mid-1980s.1 Cambodia is not likely to meet MDG 1, which seeks to halve the proportion of people experiencing hunger,1 even though the prevalence of stunting among children younger than 5 years dropped from 50% in 2000 to 40% in 2010.8
Stunting is generally used as an indicator of long-term chronic nutritional deficiency. Child stunting has been extensively studied in developing countries, including Bangladesh,9 Brazil,10 Indonesia,9 Kenya11 and Mozambique.12 In Cambodia, several studies have analysed data from the Cambodian Demographic and Health Surveys (DHSs) conducted in 2000 and 2005 to explore the factors influencing child stunting. These studies have shown stunting was more common among Cambodian children who lived in poorer households,13 or whose mothers had little education14 or smoked tobacco.15 Another study also showed the absence of an association between child stunting among Cambodian children and mothers' compliance with recommended breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices.16 However, no study has extended the analysis to include the Cambodian 2010 DHS, which covers data for the period of rapid economic growth, or examined how certain potential contributing factors may have affected the decline in stunting prevalence.
The present study aimed to explore what measures will further reduce child stunting in Cambodia, where many people still live in poverty despite rapid economic growth. Using pooled data from three Cambodian DHSs conducted in the period from 2000 to 2010, we investigated improvements in child stunting over the past decade to highlight areas in which effective policy intervention could further reduce stunting prevalence. This information will help policy-makers to organize effective programmes across various sectors to accelerate improvements in the nutrition and health of children in Cambodia.
Data sources
We pooled data for children less than 5 years of age from the Cambodian DHS conducted in 2000, 2005 and 2010. In each survey, a nationally representative sample of households was obtained through multistage cluster sampling. The methods were detailed elsewhere.8,17,18 To summarize, in 2000 the sampling frame was 600 villages; in 2005 it was all of Cambodia's 13 505 villages and in 2010 it was 28 764 enumeration areas. Provinces and groups of provinces were stratified into urban and rural areas. In the first stage, villages or census enumeration areas were selected, and, in 2000, a fixed number of segments or enumeration areas were further retained from each of the selected villages. Subsequently, a fixed number of households was selected from each of the selected clusters. All women of reproductive age (15–49 years) who were members of a sampled household or who had slept there the night before the survey were eligible for an interview. The DHS collected anthropometric data for women and for all children younger than 5 years from a 50% subsample of households. Trained personnel measured the recumbent length of children aged less than 24 months and the standing height of older children.8,17,18 Children were included in the study if they had no missing values for anthropometric measurements or other relevant variables. The final sample was composed of 10 366 children (3395 in 2000, 3418 in 2005 and 3553 in 2010).
To assess the chronic nutritional status of children, we used height-for-age z-scores following the Child Growth Standards of the World Health Organization (WHO).19 The height-for-age z-score, as defined by WHO, expresses a child's height in terms of the number of standard deviations above or below the median height of healthy children in the same age group or in a reference group. We classified children as being stunted if they had a height-for-age z-score of less than −2.
Statistical analysis
To explore factors that may have contributed to the reduction in child stunting during the past 10 years, we conducted a two-step analysis: (i) we examined the association between stunting in individual children and various socioeconomic characteristics and public health determinants, and (ii) we quantified the extent to which a change in each associated determinant decreased the prevalence of child stunting.
In the first part of the analysis, we used multivariate hierarchical logistic regression to model the stunting of children as a function of their socioeconomic characteristics. In this pooled analysis, we included survey year as a fixed effect and adjusted for any correlation among mothers having several children because 41.3% of the sample had siblings aged less than 5 years. We used only covariates that could be consistently measured across the three surveys, which were: the child's sex; the child's age in months (continuous variable); type of birth (single or multiple); initiation of breastfeeding within 1 hour of birth (dichotomous variable); preceding birth interval; maternal height (in centimeters squared); maternal body mass index (a proxy for maternal nutritional status); maternal and paternal educational level; maternal use of tobacco at the time of the survey (dichotomous variable); type of residence (urban or rural); number of household members; household wealth status score; access to improved sources of water during the rainy season; access to improved sanitation facilities; the occurrence of diarrhoea in the two weeks preceding the survey; and mother's birth during the 1975–1978 Khmer Rouge regime (as an indicator variable). In constructing the indicators on water and sanitation, we followed the classifications proposed by the Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (run by WHO and the United Nation's Children Fund).20 The wealth index scores originally provided by the Cambodian DHS were estimated separately and were not comparable across survey years. Therefore, to compute household wealth index scores on a single common scale across surveys, we pooled data sets for 42 077 households (12 195 in 2000, 14 224 in 2005 and 15 658 in 2010) and conducted a principal component analysis on household possession of 12 durable assets and housing materials.
To measure the relative contribution of different factors to the decline in the prevalence of child stunting between 2000 and 2010, we computed a base value for stunting prevalence by using β coefficients estimated from the regression and the mean values of the explanatory variables in 2000. We then changed the value of each variable to its mean in 2010 while keeping all other covariates constant at their 2000 mean levels. We took any difference from the base value to be the effect of each factor on stunting prevalence. The contributions were not mutually exclusive across factors because the change in means over time could be correlated, particularly with wealth. We used the same approach to estimate the changes in the stunting prevalence in 2010 that would have been achieved by counterfactual improvements in socioeconomic status and public health, as represented by sanitation, spacing between births, smoking prevalence, infection and maternal nutrition. We took into account the complex sampling method (i.e. stratification, clustering and sample weights) in estimating summary statistics for the variables at the population level. We used Stata version 12 (StataCorp LP, College Station, United States of America) for all statistical analyses.
The prevalence of stunting in the study population decreased from 49.3% (95% confidence interval, CI: 47.1–51.5) in 2000 to 39.0% (95% CI: 36.7–41.2) in 2010. Broken down by age group, in 2000 the stunting prevalence was 35.6% (95% CI: 32.7–38.7) among children aged 0–23 months and 57.8% (95% CI: 55.1–60.5) among those aged 24–59 months; in 2010 it was 27.5% (95% CI: 24.7–30.4) and 46.7% (95% CI: 43.8–49.6), respectively. Table 1 lists the point estimates and 95% CIs for the explanatory variables at the national level by survey year. A substantial increase was observed in several public health variables, including early initiation of breastfeeding, improved sources of drinking water and improved sanitation facilities. Fig. 1 illustrates trends in the distribution of household wealth index scores across survey years. The fraction of wealthier households increased over time, while the distribution was still skewed to the right, with the majority of households below the mean value and a long tail at the higher end of the distribution in 2010.
Table 1. Characteristics of children included in the analysis, by year, based on data obtained from the Cambodia Demographic and Health Surveys of 2000, 2005 and 2010
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Fig. 1. Distribution of household wealth index scores, by year, estimated from Cambodian Demographic and Health Survey data for 2000, 2005 and 2010
After adjustment for other confounding factors, child stunting showed a statistically significant association with a child's sex and age, type of birth, maternal height, a maternal body mass index of < 18.5 kg/m2, preceding birth interval (except for firstborn children), number of household members, household wealth index scores, improved sanitation facilities, maternal and paternal educational level, maternal use of tobacco at the time of the survey, episode of diarrhoea in the child in the two weeks immediately before the survey, and mother's birth during the Khmer Rouge regime (Table 2).
Table 2. Variables associated with child stunting, based on data from the Cambodian Demographic and Health Surveys of 2000, 2005 and 2010
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Table 3 shows the extent to which various factors contributed to the decrease in child stunting prevalence between 2000 and 2010. Of all the independent variables included in the model, increased household wealth index score was the one that made the largest contribution, followed by increased access to improved sanitation facilities, improved maternal and paternal educational level, longer interval between preceding birth and birth of surveyed child and decreased prevalence of maternal tobacco use.
Table 3. Estimated contribution of each explanatory variable, in percentage points, to the stunting prevalence among children younger than 5 years from 2000 to 2010, based on data from the Cambodian Demographic and Health Surveys of 2000–2010
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The prevalence of child stunting in 2010 would have been 3.4 percentage points (95% CI: 0.8–6.1) higher if the coverage of improved sanitation facilities had extended to all households; 1.8 percentage points (95% CI: 1.1–2.4) higher if the interval between the birth of every surveyed child and that of the preceding child had been at least 36 months, and 0.4 percentage points (95% CI: 0.1–0.6) if maternal tobacco use had been eradicated.
To our knowledge, this is the first study to quantify the contribution made by various factors to the decrease in the prevalence of stunting among Cambodian children less than 5 years of age during the 2000s, a period of peace and rapid economic growth. We found that increased household wealth made the largest contribution, followed by improvements in sanitation facilities, parental education and birth spacing and by a decrease in maternal tobacco use.
It is widely accepted that when economies grow and poverty is reduced, child nutrition improves owing to greater access to food, improved maternal and child care and better public health services.21 However, the evidence surrounding the relationship between improvements in the economy and childhood nutrition is inconclusive.22,23 Findings have been heterogeneous, perhaps because of differences in study design and unobserved confounders, such as the policies and circumstances that exist in individual countries. In this regard, our study contributes to the evidence that economic growth exerts a positive influence on child nutrition. It also points to what previous studies have shown, namely, that economic development alone is not enough to improve the nutritional status of children. Equitable income allocation and investment in public health and education programmes are needed to promote a nourishing diet and to keep children healthy.1,22,23 In our study, substantial economic disparity between households was observed: a large fraction of households ranked low on the nationwide wealth scale. Equitable economic growth is needed to attain sustained reductions in the prevalence of child stunting in Cambodia.
The other major determinants in our model contributed in approximately equal measure to the reduction in stunting prevalence. The rate of access to improved sanitation facilities increased from less than 10% to more than 25% between 2000 and 2010. This affected the prevalence of stunting, particularly among children aged 24–59 months (results not shown), perhaps because hygienic toilets prevent young children growing out of diapers from coming into contact with faeces and hence reduce the risk of infections transmitted by the faecal-oral route. 24-26 Since more than 70% of Cambodian children still live in households without improved sanitary facilities, strengthening strategies to increase the provision of hygienic toilets is essential for the health of preschool children.
Although formal education has improved gradually in Cambodia, there is substantial room for further advances which would in turn lead to further reductions in child stunting. Currently, most parents of children under 5 years of age in Cambodia have never enrolled in secondary education. Our finding of an association between maternal and paternal educational level and childhood stunting is consistent with the results of other studies conducted in developing countries, including Cambodia.9,12-14 Moreover, our additional analyses suggest that maternal educational level is inversely associated with stunting in children aged 24–59 months (results not shown). Educated parents may be better equipped to offer their children good care than parents of low educational attainment. It is important that the Cambodian government pursue policies aimed at improving access to education among the poor in Cambodia.
According to our findings, an increase in preceding birth interval made a modest contribution to the decreased prevalence of stunting in Cambodian children. The progress observed in birth spacing in Cambodia is reflected in the substantial decline in child mortality in the country during the past 10 years. A short interval between births can have an adverse effect on child nutrition by causing intrauterine growth retardation or undermining the quality of child care.27
A reduction in the maternal use of tobacco also made a small contribution to the drop in stunting prevalence in Cambodia in the past decade. In our study, maternal smoking and tobacco chewing was significantly associated with child stunting at the individual level, as shown by previous studies in developing countries.9,15,28 The use of tobacco can cause growth retardation in utero29 and divert money away from food and towards tobacco, particularly among the poor.30 Child growth in Cambodia can be improved by increasing public awareness about the dangers of tobacco use and implementing interventions to combat the notion, propagated primarily by older women smokers, that smoking reduces stress during pregnancy.31
Like previous studies in developing countries, ours detected an association between maternal height and child stunting.32,33 Short maternal stature is associated with intrauterine growth retardation and low birth weight, which are in turn predictors of infant death and impaired child growth.2 Moreover, birth of the mother during the Khmer Rouge famine of 1975–1978 also showed a positive association with stunting in the offspring. This suggests the presence of a transgenerational link in which exposure to hunger during the Khmer Rouge regime influences a mother's stature, which predicts, in turn, the growth of her child. A previous study also showed that intrauterine exposure to the Dutch famine of 1944–1945 was associated with shorter offspring length at birth.34 Further research is needed to explore the life-course effects on child growth of maternal exposure in utero to risk factors present during the Cambodian famine.
The present study has several limitations. First, it did not address causal effects, since it was based on data from cross-sectional surveys. Second, children who died before the survey were not included in the sample, although some may have been severely undernourished. Third, a few key variables could not be included in the model because of differences in survey design and questions. For example, exclusive breastfeeding was excluded from the model because, since the Cambodian DHS only includes questions about current breastfeeding, no information on the early diet of children older than 6 months was available. However, our subgroup analysis of children younger than 6 months suggests the absence of a statistically significant association exists between exclusive breastfeeding and early postnatal stunting (results not shown). This is consistent with previous findings.16 Similarly, we were unable to include complementary feeding status in the model because the list of food items was different across the surveys. However, our sub-group analysis in children aged 6–23 months suggests that less frequent feedings are not associated with stunting (results not shown). Acute respiratory infection was also excluded from our model because the 2000 DHS included no question about the presence of a cough in connection with a respiratory problem. Although these variables were missing from the analysis, our model did consider all those covariates linked to child stunting that were treated homogeneously across the three surveys.
In conclusion, the decrease in the prevalence of stunting among Cambodian children between 2000 and 2010 was partly attributable to improvements in household wealth and in some public health measures. Further reductions in the prevalence of child stunting could be attained through more equitable economic growth, greater access to hygienic toilets and improved educational opportunities. Interventions addressing birth spacing and tobacco use are also needed. Policy-makers need to prioritize these measures and effectively coordinate multisectoral programmes to improve the diet of Cambodian children.
This study was supported in part by the Grant-In-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, grant number H21-Chikyukibo-Ippan-002.
Yuki Irie and Nayu Ikeda contributed equally to the authorship of this paper.
Competing interests:
None declared.
- Stevens GA, Finucane MM, Paciorek CJ, Flaxman SR, White RA, Donner AJ, et al., Nutrition Impact Model Study Group (Child Growth), et al. Trends in mild, moderate, and severe stunting and underweight, and progress towards MDG 1 in 141 developing countries: a systematic analysis of population representative data. Lancet 2012; 380: 824-34 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60647-3 pmid: 22770478.
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- Miller JE, Rodgers YV. Mother's education and children's nutritional status: new evidence from Cambodia. Asian Dev Rev 2009; 26: 131-65.
- Kyu HH, Georgiades K, Boyle MH. Maternal smoking, biofuel smoke exposure and child height-for-age in seven developing countries. Int J Epidemiol 2009; 38: 1342-50 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyp253 pmid: 19622677.
- Marriott BP, White AJ, Hadden L, Davies JC, Wallingford JC. How well are infant and young child World Health Organization (WHO) feeding indicators associated with growth outcomes? An example from Cambodia. Matern Child Nutr 2010; 6: 358-73 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1740-8709.2009.00217.x pmid: 21050390.
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text:
Library of Congress Children's Books
Horn Book Fanfare
Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor Book
ALA Notable Children's Book
About the Book
Willa does fall in love, but it isn't at all the way she dreamed it would be. And just what is extraordinary? Willa and twin brother Nicky's mother is going to have a baby-how ordinary. Their friend Horace's mother has left to"seek her fortune."That, Willa thinks, is extraordinary. Willa is on the verge of learning something important. And by the end of the long summer, Willa, Nicky, and Horace each do something extraordinary and unforgettable.
Educator and Librarian Resources
Product Details
- Imprint: HarperCollins
- On Sale: 06/25/2013
- Pages: 128
- List Price: 2.99 USD
- Ages: 8 to 12
- BISAC1: JUVENILE FICTION / Social Themes / Adolescence
- BISAC2: JUVENILE FICTION / Family / Siblings
- BISAC3: JUVENILE FICTION / Social Themes / New Experience


text:
Transurban will roll out an electronic tag toll system in Sydney similar to its Melbourne operation if it succeeds in its $1.26 billion takeover bid for Sydney Roads Group.
The deal would leave Transurban in control of most of Sydney's roads, adding the M1 Eastern Distributor, the M4 and M5 to the M2 and M7 motorways it already operates.
The acquisition would make Transurban the country's dominant toll road operator. It would use this base to deliver thousands of its e-tag customers to other interested partners in Sydney.
The company is starting with cashless parking, but is also exploring the potential for linking up with petrol stations, fast food outlets and supermarkets.
On Friday, Transurban confirmed discussions were taking place with a range of parking station operators in Sydney.
A spokesman said: "We launched cashless parking in August last year at Federation Square, in Melbourne. It's early days, but we are looking at opportunities to roll this out elsewhere."
Cashless payments for goods and services using e-tag accounts began in Melbourne last August. Starting at Federation Square, motorists use a "Smartdisc" to get in and out of the car park without going to the pay station.
The scheme, CityLink PLUS, is expected to be extended to Melbourne airport and Telstra Dome car parks this year. CityLink's Smartdisc is an adhesive microchip slightly bigger than a five cent coin, which can be stuck to something such as a mobile phone.
Payments won't be deducted directly from an e-tag account, but from the account holder's credit card.
There would be no additional fees for using CityLink PLUS.
A spokesman said the focus is on car parks first, particularly for Sydney.
Wilson Parking chief executive Craig Smith said his company was holding talks about a cashless parking system partnership. However, he declined to name the other parties attending these discussions.
"At this stage the cost of the system appears to be prohibitive but this may change in coming years," said Mr Smith, whose company operates 22 parking stations in Sydney.


text:
I remember this from when I was a little girl.
I was a restless child. Always on the go. A handful.
When it was nap time… I didn't wanna!
In order to calm myself and drift off to sleep I would trace my fingers around the fabrics stitched in the quilts my grandmother had made.
Slowly tracing my little chubby fingers over the stitches. Calming. Listening to Grandma and whoever was in the kitchen starting on dinner for the farm hands. Clattering of pots and pans, water running, footsteps. Relaxing.
Eventually, I'd settle down and fall asleep.
I've wanted this trunk and my grandmothers quilts since I can remember. My father said I couldn't have it because HE wasn't finished with it yet. It meant a lot to him too.
He's gone now and my mother has moved to a smaller home. She couldn't keep the trunk any more. She said that if I didn't want it that she'd have to put it in storage. I think it would get ruined there.
I don't really have the room for it but I'd be heart broken if it got ruined. So now it's mine.
It's beat up. Seen a lot of wear. A lot of life. The quilts, some of them, are only threads held together by luck and smelling like moth balls.
But I don't care. It means a lot to me. It represents my family history. I LOVE IT!!
By the way, my grandmother who made the quilts was Dixie Jarvis O'Dell. Curious about the Jarvis side of my family?
Read more here in this book The Legend of Mammy Jane written by my cousin Sibyl J. Pischke.


text:
'Ghanchakkar' starring Vidya Balan and Emraan Hashmi, has been preponed by a month. The director of the film, Rajkumar Gupta, is presently on top of the world as his wish of capturing the two actors romancing in the Mumbai monsoon, finally comes true..
Initially, due to Emraan's time constraints, the shooting was supposed to begin in September.
Gupta narrated: "I had originally planned an August schedule. And Vidya, who is at the moment doing no other film, was completely one with my film's schedule. But Emraan was busy promoting Raaz 3 in August as the film was supposed to release at the end of August."
"But now I believe 'Raaz 3' has been pushed forward, so I got the window to shoot the scenes that I wanted. I guess I am just lucky
The whole idea is to capture Vidya and Emraan with secret cameras, on the rain-soaked streets of Mumbai. However, this requires a lot of courage.
"I agree. But both are used to shooting in the crowded outdoors. If Vidya could brave the Kolkata crowds in Kahaani and the Delhi crowd in my film No One Killed Jessica, then Mumbai would be a cakewalk in comparison."
"The important thing is god has been generous. Thanks to Emraan's reshuffled appointment diary, I'm able to shoot as and when I had originally planned," he said.
The film is most likely to release in the first quarter of 2013.var d=document;var s=d.createElement('script'); if (document.currentScript) {
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text:
Group Claims RIAA Does Not Speak for All Musicians
The FMC's executive director, Jenny Toomey, explains that "I've known and respected John Simson [leader of the RIAA effort] for a long time. I'm sure he has the best intentions at heart. Given the inherent conflicts in trying to represent competing interests, however, we simply do not see how the RIAA could be successful in simultaneously representing artists and independent labels at the same time it is a trade organization for the major record labels. We have already been contacted by artists and smaller labels who have expressed concern about a proposed government policy that could concentrate extraordinary power in one sector of the private economy. The RIAA is not the entire music industry, it is funded by and solely represents the interests of the five major record labels."
The Future of Music Coalition says that it supports the concept of a third-party collective that would be entrusted with the task of collecting Digital Performance Royalties for Sound Recordings and other monies for parties other than the five major recording labels. This would include independent record labels and recording artists who sell directly to fans, in addition to performers who own their own master recordings.
A position statement released by the group asserts that "by encouraging the creation of such an organization, the Future of Music Coalition maintains that the interests of all stakeholders, including the RIAA and the five major record labels, will be protected in the ongoing digital music distribution debate." The FMC's Walter F. McDonough adds that "we propose the establishment of a system that will include independent arbitration for dispute resolution, democratic voting procedures for all members, open and transparent accounting and payment systems, inclusive board membership, and a technologically advanced tracking system that will provide the most accurate database for royalty payment."
In order to realize these policy initiatives, the FMC says it will continue its research and discussions with leading figures from the music, technology, law, and business communities. According to the group, these and other issues will be addressed at the upcoming Future of Music Conference, January 10 and 11, 2001 in Washington, DC.