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Early Childhood Programs
Get your child off to a wild start in one of our
Early Childhood Education programs!
For children ages 3 – 5
Preschool Safari
Each 13-week session is offered on Fridays from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. The spring session runs from Feb. 15 through May 17.
Preschool Safari offers children truly wild experiences during our full-day program held from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Fridays. Our student-centered learning features opportunities to explore a Zoo with over 2,000 animals to discover. Weekly topics and themes will change to explore animals from all over the globe and child interests.
Preschool Safari participants will experience:
- Nature Play and Exploration
- Zoo-Themed Dramatic Play
- Animal Inspired Stories
- Nature and Animal Art
- Music and Movement
- Up-Close Animal Encounters
- Animal Enrichment Projects for the Dallas Zoo Animals
Cost Per 13-Week Session:
Zoo Member: $390/child
Non Member: $490/child
- No class during the week of Spring Break (March 22).
Stroller Buddies Presented by Kimberly-Clark Corporation
For 10 months to 2 year olds (with parent)
Each 6-week session is offered on Wednesdays or Thursdays from 9 – 10:30 a.m.
Spring Session 1: Feb. 20 or 21 through April 3 or 4 (No class March 13 or 14 for Spring Break)
Spring Session 2: April 10 or 11 through May 15 or 16.
During playtime, children use a variety of natural materials to connect to nature and explore with their senses, cultivate their imagination, problem solve, and develop language and motor skills in the process. Children will have the freedom to choose from a variety of activities and let their creativity soar! The playtime portion of the program is a great opportunity to spend some quality time with your child and mingle with other adults. Healthy snacks will be provided.
This class is designed for one child per adult. A maximum of two children may be enrolled per adult. Only registered participants may attend this class.
Cost Per 6-Week Session:
Zoo Member: $48/child; $48/adult
Non Member: $60/child; $60/adult
|Spring Session 1:
|Spring Session 2:
Wild About Art
Drop-Off program for children ages 5 to 8
Calling all creative animal lovers! Your blossoming artist, ages 5-8 years, will explore their creative side using a variety of materials and art techniques while being led in an animal-inspired project by a Dallas Zoo instructor. Participants will also experience a different Zoo tour and enjoy an up-close animal encounter with each session. Sign up for one class or sign up for all to experience a truly WILD time!
Sessions are offered on select Sundays from 1-3 p.m.
Online registration required. Registration closes 24 hours prior to the session date. The cost of the program includes the child's admission into the Zoo and covers all art supplies.
- February 3 – Sculpture
- March 3 – Mosaic
- April 28 – Wassily Kandinksy
- May 19 – Edgar Degas
Cost Per Session:
Child Zoo Member: $15/child
Child Non Member: $20/child
About Our Early Childhood Programs
Weekly themes correlating to areas of the Zoo and Aquarium are student-centered and designed to focus on students' expressed interests when possible. Parents will receive updates regarding weekly topics throughout the duration of the program.
Walk-up registrations will not be accepted. Registration closes one week prior to the first day of the session.
Toilet Training: All Early Childhood Learning participants, in classes without parents, must be completely toilet trained (requiring no assistance in the bathroom). Our definition of toilet trained means that the child is not wearing pull-ups and is able to manage his or her own clothing by him or herself. We highly suggest sending your child to Pre-K in elastic-waisted pants or shorts.
Animal Handling and Safety: To ensure the safety of our animals, we cannot guarantee any individual animal or class of animals. Just like people, animals sometimes have a bad day or are sick and not available. There may be opportunities for children to safely touch selected educational animals in the classroom. Please note, however, the final decision will be at the sole discretion of the animal handler and based on many factors including animal safety, group size, and behavior.
Cancellation Policy: This is a non-refundable final sale. Enrollment fees are not pro-rated and are due in full at registration. Credit will not be issued within two weeks of start date of program. The Dallas Zoo and Children's Aquarium at Fair Park reserves the right to cancel or change any program for reasons we deem appropriate. Programs will take place rain or shine. Programs that have not met the minimum number of participants within two weeks of the scheduled program date may be cancelled. In the event that we cancel your program, a full refund will be issued and individuals will be contacted directly. Credit may be used for any education program or camp at the Dallas Zoo or Children's Aquarium at Fair Park. All changes or cancellations must be submitted in writing to email@example.com.
The Education Office is open Monday-Friday during regular Zoo hours. Contact us at email@example.com or 469.554.7300


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Inland Transportation and Traffic Management
Alexander Hamilton Institute, 1948 - Freight and freightage - 441 pages
From inside the book
54 pages matching express service in this book
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agencies agreed charge Airways applicable bills of lading Board of Transport bureaus Canadian Freight Classification Canadian National Railways canals carload cars cent class rates Commissioners for Canada committee commodity rates common carriers competitive consignees contract cost delivery demurrage Dominion equipment Express Company express rates express service factors filed freight rates freight traffic functions grain Grand Trunk Railway handling haul highway industrial traffic Interstate Commerce Act Interstate Commerce Commission jurisdiction Lakes less-than-carload matters ment mileage miles motor carriers motor trucks motor vehicles National operation organization Pacific packing passenger performed plant points portation ports provinces published rail regulations regulatory routes rules serve shipments shippers steamship storage tariffs terminal territory tion traffic department traffic manager trans Trans-Canada Air Lines Transport Commissioners transportation and traffic transportation facilities transportation in Canada transportation services types United vessels warehouses waterway Western

subset: commoncrawl


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I know that Final Fantasy IV is among the first JRPGs to incorporate a character driven story, but even considering that, the cast has a distinct "feel" that I don't think has been replicated in the games that followed. The majority of the characters are technically guest characters, with Cecil being the only constant (and Edge, but he shows up pretty late). The game always feels like Cecil's story; while many RPGs take care to give the other characters the spotlight, they are footnotes in Cecil's struggles against Golbez (significant footnotes, but Cecil is always center stage).
Do you like FFIV's cast? Hell, let's broaden the question. Do you like this approach to characters? I can think of some other RPGs that do this (typically games with large casts a la Fire Emblem or Suikoden), but they feel more like soldiers in an army rather than characters with their own agency who enter and leave as your story dictates.


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- List your car for FREE - Advertise your car in both Unique Cars magazine and online
- Manage unlimited online ads with TraderAds - Call us today to discuss how we can help you sell more stock
With a Marauder name-tag you'd want this Mercury to have a bit of grunt - trust us, it's right on the money+MORE
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Factory fitted Honda CBR 250 RR 4 cylinder 16 valve engine 45 BHP 6 speed unrestricted engine, many vq grades
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Mount Mercy University will present the 1952 play by American playwright Arthur Miller, The Crucible, November 16 - 17 at 7:30 p.m., and November 18 at 1:30 p.m. in Mount Mercy's McAuley Theater. Seating will be arranged in the round, providing a unique vantage point for the audience, and will be limited. Reserving tickets in advance is strongly recommended. Those with handicapped needs are encouraged to notify the university in advance so appropriate accommodations can be made.
The Crucible is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693, in a time when suspicion, hysteria, and fear gripped the Puritan towns of New England.
A timeless drama, Miller weaves a heart breaking story about society's assumptive actions in the face of ignorance, a universal theme that still rings true today. A master storyteller, Miller uses a strong cast of characters to show audiences the strength and power of the human spirit, its ability to light the way through the darkness when we are the only ones holding a candle.
The plot follows a group of teen girls, caught innocently dancing and conjuring "love potions" in the forest. Forced to tell lies about their actions and to name others involved, the play dramatically unfolds as other characters grapple with lies, suspicion and greed.
The play is directed by Mount Mercy's new Drama Coordinator, Nich Radcliffe.
Tickets are $8 for the general public, $6 for students and senior citizens, and $2 for children ages 12 and under. Group rates are available at the student price for parties of 10 or more. For more information, or to order tickets, call 319-363-8213 ext. 1229.
The McAuley Theater is located on the terrace level of McAuley Hall on the Mount Mercy University campus.


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The legalization of marijuana in Modesto have brought forth exciting innovations that occur with this emerging industry. While smoking cannabis or baking pot brownies have long been the preferred method for most, the current options for both recreational and medical marijuana are endless.
The Range Of Edibles Is Never-Ending
For those who don't like the smell of smoke, or simply don't like to smoke. Snack edibles are one of the best options. From an endless variety of gourmet white and dark chocolate blends to caramels, hard candy, chips, and more. Be sure to try a few different brands and flavors, as some seem more potent, and some have an herbal taste that is less distinct. Just keep your dosage in mind, because in most cases you only eat one or two pieces of candy or one small snack serving.
Beverages Are Expanding Too
Another excellent option is single-serve THC drinks, liquid drops, oils, and tinctures that you add to your food or drink of choice. Liquid blends are often designed for specific purposes such as relaxation or energy. Some have a citrus flavor designed to complement water or tea, while others are designed to have a less distinctive taste. Many companies also offer non-alcoholic beverage or food recipes for each of their products. An alternative to adding liquid drops to your food or drinks is to simply take the serving size of the liquid on its own—with a bit of water to wash it down.
Lotion, Cream, Gel and Bath Products
Another option your physician may suggest are lotions, creams or gels designed to spot- treat areas of pain or inflammation. These fast-acting blends are ideal because they don't enter your bloodstream and therefore don't make you high—and will not show on a drug test. However, you must be mindful not to allow the topical to come in contact with your mouth or eyes, otherwise trace amounts will enter your bloodstream. Washing your hands after application will help with this—that is, unless you are using it spot treat your hands. Also, avoid taking a warm bath or sauna within an hour of use. If you use a bath product such as THC bath salts for a whole-body relaxation, it is likely that the THC will enter your bloodstream.
Make Your Own Smoke-Free Alternatives
The challenge with the options above is that you may have already found a Modesto marijuana blend that you prefer—but that doesn't mean your only option is to smoke it. You can start experimenting with your own recipes. The easiest way is to make your own cannabis oil or butter. You must first de-carb your weed, then find a go-to recipe for your cannabutter or canna-oil. The challenging part is determining how much oil or butter equals one serving. Also, the foods you cook or bake with your canna-oil or butter will take longer to kick in.
You may still prefer to smoke, vape or dab your medicinal marijuana, but be sure to explore all the options available in your Modesto dispensaries.


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Lubna necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 141 diseños de 20 diseñadores freelance.
Butterflies and Bees
Butterflies and Bees will have a primary emphasis on hands-on discovery learning through free spontaneous play, but can also incorporate some elements of pure entertainment. Most adults don't fully understand and appreciate the value of spontaneous play to the social, physical, mental, and emotional development of their children, so this center will be marketed as children's discovery or edutainment center. This communicates to the parents that their children will learn by visiting us. Therefore, the parents show up with their children because it's good for them, and the children show up because it's just plain fun.
Our Center will provide high-level Play Care, Edutainment and Customer Service in the following categories:
• Play care
• Educational play with learning
• Children's activities
• Birthday parties
• Special events
• Staffing that adds that "personal touch"
• Photography available for birthday parties and other events
• Souvenirs (T-shirts, hats etc.)
• Special requests
• Convenient hours of operation
What will set our center apart from the competition is the commitment to provide all these services in one convenient location.
Families and parents with children, who are looking for a safe and creative place, full of fun and excitement where birthday parties and other special events can be shared with friends and family
- I'm looking for a logo that represents the name and concept of the center.
- Creative, eye catching and out of the box
- Going to use it on everything (business cards, stationary, caps, t-shirts and banners etc…)
The files we will require are:
Print file format - .ai (CMYK)
Web file format - .jpg and layered .psd (RGB)
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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AYER - Downed trees? Trash on the side of the road? Abandoned vehicles?
There's an app for that.
Ayer DPW Superintendent Mark Wetzel and IT Systems Administrator Cindy Knox have jointly filed for a grant that would provide for a customized smartphone application that would allow users to report issues to the town -- in live time - from their mobile devices.
Wetzel said the concept to expand the use of the SeeClickFix web tool grew out of a state Community Innovation grant awarded to the City of Boston. "Boston developed this technology for the city," said Wetzel. "Then they applied for the grant to push this out to the communities."
Ayer has been notified that it will receive a three years' subscription to SeeClickFix, worth $4,600 a year or just under $15,000 in all. Residents can download the app now with links available on the SeeClickFix.com website.
Users of the app can report issues to any communities using the web tool as they pass through it. Boston, Lowell, Worcester and Chelsea are among the communities using the same technology.
Wetzel said the powerful tool can be used in varying degrees. In Boston, Wetzel said the tool can pinpoint streets that need resurfacing by recording turbulence recorded by the phone, map and record the trouble location using the phones GPS abilities, and transmit that data to Boston City Hall's 12-man command center for SeeClickFix reporting. "That's how they track trouble streets," said Wetzel.
Ayer's plans are not as fancy.
With the SeeClickFix app, Wetzel said an entire DPW division could be alerted.
Wetzel said the application can help with long-term capital planning for his department, too. With pot hole complaints, plugged storm drains, and dirty water complaints, troubled streets can be identified and prioritized, ensuring that roads rebuilds are done once and done correctly. "Any complaints we get through the eyes and ears of the public will help with that," said Wetzel. "The last thing we want to do is pave a road and in five years need to dig it up to install a water main."
Depending on how Ayer chooses to expand use of the app, other departments could be notified, too. Wetzel said he's talked with Ayer Police Chief William Murray about ways that non-emergency matters could be reported to the police, like areas with issues with speeding cars. Other ideas are to tie in the Building Inspector or Board of Health with regard to troubled properties.
"We're still working to define what categories we're interested in," said Wetzel. In addition to giving immediate feedback, Wetzel said the application increases accountability to the public.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, citizens complained to the selectmen that there were concerns over information flow during the storm. Wetzel said the SeeClickFix tool may help in emergency situations, too.
"Information can be posted in a newspaper story or TV, but the issue is 'How many people can we reach?" said Wetzel. "And how fast?" With SeeClickFix, information can likewise flow into the DPW for speedier response times.
Currently the town uses several mechanisms to push information out in the case of an emergency including reverse 911 calls. The Ayer Police also use Nixle.com text and email messages in emergencies and for road closures. The town maintains its website, an active Facebook account and has newly-launched a Twitter account (@TownOfAyer).
"Increasingly, those in the public works business are starting to use social media for emergencies," said Wetzel.
Wetzel acknowledged a gap remains. "The problem is trying to reach folks my parents' age who turn on their cell phones once a week."
Wetzel hoped the Ayer-specific SeeClickFix application could be created by the end of January, followed by public education later in the winter and a launch thereafter.
"As soon as it's up and running, we'll put it on the town's webpage and promote it on Facebook," said Wetzel. "Just in time for spring potholes."
Follow Mary Arata at twitter.com/maryearata.


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UCLA vs. Washington State
Tipoff: 8 p.m. Saturday, Beasley Coliseum
TV/Radio: FS1 / 570-AM
Matchup: UCLA (23-7, 12-5) already clinched the Pac-12 Tournament's No. 2 seed before playing any games this week, so there isn't much at stake for its regular-season finale. Pride, perhaps. The Bruins, after all, have not yet managed a road sweep in conference play, dropping the tail end of its trips through the Rockies, along the Willamette, and around the Bay Area. Surely the Palouse offers some hope. Waiting there is Washington State (9-19, 2-15), mired in the worst season of coach Ken Bone's lackluster five-year tenure. The Cougars have lost eight straight games and remain the only Pac-12 team not to have double-digit wins. In league play, they hold conference-worst marks in scoring average (55.1), scoring margin (-14.1) and field goal percentage (36.8). Though leading scorer DaVonte Lacy averages 19.6 points — erupting for 39 a month ago — he is only shooting 35.2 percent over his last five outings. The junior guard launches nearly two-thirds of his shots from beyond the 3-point line, so any cold stretch threatens to sink his team.


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Newsflash #1: Your team lies to you sometimes. Maybe a lot of the time.
Newsflash #2: It's at least partly your fault.
Newsflash #3: If you deny the possibility of #2 above, you may as well stop reading now.
If you're still reading, I'm going to assume (yes, I know what they say about assuming) that you're at least tentatively OK with the above assumptions. So what are those reasons? Why do folks sometimes lie to their managers and/or executives? Why might they lie to you?
1. They don't trust you.
At least not really.
2. They feel like you're always talking to them, not with them.
When you talk to your team rather than with them, it's pretty clear to them that you're not really all that interested in their feedback. So when you ask if they agree with what you've said to them, don't be surprised when they all nod and smile. And further still, don't for a moment believe that that means they're actually agreeing with what you've said.
3. They've learned — somehow, some way — that being candid, especially with difficult truths, can lead to them (1) being the targets of your passive-aggressive behavior, (2) being labeled or (3) maybe even something worse.
People pick up on this crap really quickly. You may think your passive-aggressive nonsense is so subtle they won't notice it. But you'd be wrong. You may think they don't know they've been labeled. But they probably do. People are going to talk about the experiences they've had with you, and you can be sure that word will get around if people don't feel like talking candidly with you is beneficial.
4. You say you're "open to candid feedback," and yet they can tell that you'd like to strangle the messenger who delivers the aforementioned candid feedback.
We've all got triggers, right? Things that really burn your bacon [or insert your preferred colloquialism for being annoyed here]. It's important to have enough self-awareness to understand what sorts of things set you off. At the same time, just because someone presents information in such a way that you'd dump cayenne pepper in your eyes if you thought it'd make them stop talking; that doesn't mean that the actual content of what they're saying isn't legit. And if people providing feedback get the sense that you're considering the cayenne pepper, do you really feel like they're going to tell you the hard truth?
5. They have reason to suspect you won't do anything with the information you get.
This happens all the time with those organizational surveys. Some organizations do a great job with the info they get. They use it as just one of many ways they get feedback from their team, and they act on the information they receive. That, in turn, makes employees more apt to provide it. See how that works?
So what do we do? Well, we realize that if our teams feel compelled to be less than entirely forthcoming with us, we have an opportunity to build trust within the team. We must embrace humility, fight for greater self-awareness, and find ways to continue using our leadership as a vehicle to serve our teams.


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Reillys - Clare Valley and Adelaide Hills
Created using fruit from our Clare Valley estate vineyards, our Reillys range offer exceptional quality and variety.
From sparkling to still, red to white, sweet to dry, there is something for everyone to enjoy.
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LBJ: A Life
John Wiley & Sons, Dec 8, 2000 - Biography & Autobiography - 592 pages
Critical Praise for Irwin Unge
"A careful, comprehensive portrait of a complex figure, a man both eminently practical and deeply principled, who looms large over the middle of our century."–Kirkus Review
"Few authors have attempted a one-volume life of the idealistic but controversial Lyndon B. Johnson, and none has succeeded like Irwin Unger.. . . Highly recommended. "–Library Journa
Pulitzer Prize—winning author Irwin Unger and Debi Unger explore the enigmatic and complex Lyndon B. Johnson, as both a public and a private figure–examining his monumental achievements as well as his conflicted and turbulent relationships with his family, friends, and colleagues. LBJ reveals Johnson's demons as well as his dreams, providing a compelling portrait of this larger-than-life figure. From the hardscrabble life of the Texas hill country to the colorful Lone Star state elections that provided his entrée into national politics to power politics in Washington, this compassionate, insightful biography traces the life, influences, and motivations of the unpredictable, charismatic, and difficult man who occupied the Oval Office during one of the nation's most tumultuous periods
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LBJ: a lifeUser Review - Not Available - Book Verdict
Few authors have attempted a one-volume life of the idealistic but controversial Lyndon B. Johnson, and none has succeeded like Irwin Unger (The Best of Intentions, LJ 4/1/96) and Debi Unger. This ... Read full review


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COOKEVILLE – Senior forward Adnan Hodzic scored 23 points, all in the second half, to become Lipscomb's NCAA-era leading scorer as the Bisons put on an offensive clinic Saturday evening in a 98-94 win against Tennessee Tech in the Eblen Center.
Hodzic has 1,635 points after passing Brian Fisk (1,633) and Eddie Ard (1,624) tonight. He was 0-of-3 for in the first half before hitting all nine of his second half attempts.
Senior guard Josh Slater, junior wing Jordan Burgason, and Hodzic combined to score 72 points.
The Bisons were nearly perfect on the offensive end with the exception of turnovers. Lipscomb shot 67.3 percent (35-of-52) from the field for the game and 79.2 percent in the second half (19-of-24).
The Bisons committed 24 turnovers, their most since committing 27 in an overtime game at ETSU on Jan. 17, 2009.
"Right now we are playing with fire," Lipscomb coach Scott Sanderson said. "We had to shoot that high percentage to win. If we don't cut down on our turnovers we are going to get burned soon."
Burgason came off the bench on fire from downtown hitting six-of-nine first half attempts and scoring 21 first half points as the Bisons took a 43-37 lead into the locker room. Burgason finished with 28 point, three shy of his career high, connecting on seven threes.
Slater shot 7-of-9 from the field and hit all five of his free throw attempts on his way to 21 points. He had four rebounds, four assists, and three rebounds.
Tennessee Tech took an early seven-point lead before the Bisons battled back to take as much as an eight-point first half lead. Hodzic was dominant to start the second half scoring eight of Lipscomb's first ten points.
"We did a better job of getting him the ball in the second half and he stepped up and made some big baskets for us," Sanderson said.
Junior Justin Glenn had his most solid game as a Bison scoring 11 points on perfect five-of-five shooting while bringing down six boards.
"Justin had a breakout game for us," Sanderson said. "He made some good jump shots and had vital rebounds. He was big for us."
Lipscomb expanded its lead to 15 points, 67-52, at the 13:13 mark. Tennessee Tech called a timeout and then scored eight unanswered points.
The Bisons went back up by 14 with 9:12 left after Hodzic converted two layups. Once again Tennessee Tech made things interesting going on a 9-0 run to cut the Bisons lead to five, 76-71.
Hodzic hit two free throws to ice the run. Lipscomb maintained at least a seven-point advantage until the final minute. Tech outscored Lipscomb 10-2 in the final 42.5 seconds of the contest.
Tech had five players score in double figures led by Zach Bailey and Jud Dillard with 15 points each.
The squads pulled down 28 rebounds each. Tennessee Tech had 17 offensive rebounds which they converted into 22 second chance points.
The Bisons host Kennesaw State Saturday at 8:15 p.m. Jonathan Seamon and Benjamin Seamon will be on the call for the Lipscomb Sports Network and ASun.TV.


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Dinner Tonight: Korean Japchae (Noodles with Spinach, Carrot, and Beef) Recipe
Your source for quick recipe every single week day.
I've been living for the past four years with a jar of kimchi in the fridge, and have explored Korean barbecue for the past two. But for some reason I had never sat down to japchae until a few weeks ago. Instead of aggressive and spicy, it was comforting and calming—the kind of home-style dish that I could imagine needing during a hectic week. This version from The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook is a good recreation, even if I did have to bump up the soy sauce factor.
Japchae is really about the combination of Korean noodles and thinly sliced vegetables, like carrots and onions. The mushrooms and spinach help to bulk it out and the beef adds some protein. The sauce is just a mixture of soy sauce and brown sugar, but you can definitely add chili flakes if you're feeling up to it.
- Yield:4 people
- Active time: 45 minutes
- Total time:45 minutes
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 8 ounces dried Korean glass noodles
- 3 ounces fresh shitake mushrooms, stems removed, thinly sliced
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- ½ cup thinly sliced onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 scallions, ends trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 6 ounces flank steak, very thinly sliced against the grain
- 1 carrot, peeled, end trimmed, cut into matchsticks
- ¼ pound spinach leaves
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Combine the soy sauce and brown sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the noodles and cook for five minutes. Drain noodles in a colander and then rinse under cold water. Drain noodles again. Cut noodles into 8-inch lengths with a pair of kitchen shears, and toss in a large bowl with the sesame oil. Set aside.
Place a large wok over high heat. Add the oil, and when smoking, add the onion, garlic, scallion, and the beef. Stir-fry until beef is just slightly pink in the middle, 30 seconds to one minute. Add the carrots, spinach, and mushrooms. Stir-fry until carrots and tender and spinach has wilted, about one minute.
Pour the soy sauce mixture into the wok and add the noodles. Toss mixture well, and cook until noodles are warmed through, about two minutes. Divide mixture between four plates, and garnish with a sprinkling of the sesame seeds.
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When a sycamore tree had to come down in the childhood garden of writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, what better tribute than to make a violin from it in honour of the fictional character Sherlock Holmes. Holmes – the inspiration for modern forensic detective work – was said to play his violin to free up his subconscious mind when working on a difficult case. So it was an inspired decision to have a luthier – Steve Burnett – make a violin from the sycamore. Sycamore is related closely to maple – the more usual wood for a violin – and has similar resonant qualities.
The violin has been made to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Conan-Doyle's birth. The author was born on 22 May 1859 and lived during the 1860s at Liberton Bank House, Dunedin, which was a school at that time.
Luthier Steve Burnett hopes to carve a quartet of two violins, a viola and a cello from the tree so that music may be commissioned to honour the writer and creator of the Sherlock Holmes character.
Thanks to BBC News Scotland for the story.
Come to think of it, I have a nice large pure white board of sycamore that has been curing in my own shed for the last three years…


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AwakeMUD Core Development
Team runs.
Topic: Team runs.
: Neophyte
Posts: 11
Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Date Posted:
Fri Mar 02, 2007 3:49 pm
Team runs.
I haven exactly done all the runs in the game, and from what people tell me they are quite a lot of them.
I just thought it would be a good idea to have runs exclusively for a group of people. (This is not the same as asking people to help with a difficult single run).
The team run would go something like this :
A single shadowrunner comes to Johnny.
"Got any work that needs doing?"
"I got something, but I need you to assemble a team. Why don't you come back when you have a few choombas with you"?
So the sammi goes into the local shadowrunner hang out, talks to a few runners and gets another sammmi and a mage to team up for the run.
The team goes up to Johnny and tries to get the run again. (Leader has to ask).
Johny says "Ok, here's the deal choombah. I need a certain prototype for a bio-virus that Aztechnology has been working on. Now this is top-secret stuff so it will be well guarded. I have arranged for a hover transport to get you team near their research bunker. Talk to Jimmy in Penumbra night club and mention "toxin". He will clue you in on the rest of the mission.
The team meets the contact. The contact arranges a AV jet (special taxi) to land near the club, the jet will take the team to the mission zone. He also tells them. "There are two ways into the compound. The front will be heavily guarded, and assaulting the front will sound the alarm. There is also the side entrance. Its less guarded and you can take out the guards without sounding the alarm. You can get a decker to bypass the security and get an entrance in, or you may send a drone through the ventilation system to activate the switch from the inside. Once inside the compound, you should disable the security systems which are located somewhere in the top floor of the compound. Once the security is down, find the key to the vault undeground. You will need a decker to unlock the elevator from the matrix. He has to find a jack inside the compound since the host controlling the elevator is located to the internal matrix. Expect heavy ICE. The research labs are below the compound. The prototype you are looking for is inside the vault. Bring it back to Johny and you will be greatly rewarded."
So the team hires two deckers and gets inside the hover jet. They let the pilot know they are ready for transport and fly. The sammmies decide they are good enough to assault the front. They manage with the help of mage to kill one guard. But the other guards being top trained soldiers take one of the sammies down. The team decides to retreat to the landing zone and wait for the alarm to die down.
The remaining team decides not to rush the front any more since all the guards have respawned there and there is no way two deckers, one sammi and a mage can take them down. They assault the side entrance instead. The deckers try to snipe out the guards while the magic enchanced sammi tries to keep the guards in close combat. Eventually the guards are killed. The deckers, hack the side door and get inside... etc etc etc.
I tried to make this into a small story, to show what kind of a feel the team run should have. The goal of team runs would be to make runners work as team combining deckers/mages/sammies/riggers skills instead of pure combat. There should be some puzzles and there should be cooperation. I.e. in order for sammie to get inside, the decker has to hack the system to open the door. For the decker to hack the security, mage has to make them invisible or get sammi to protect them. etc etc etc.
Some notes on the technical features that need to be done to make this work:
The team has to actually "group" to become a team. Also there has to be an option that the members can wonder around the world but still be a part of the same team. Not the same as a group of people following each other from room to room.
Logging out / quitting inside a run zone should get players jailed in a Lone Star cell and make them lose a portion of nuyen. Same as them being caught during the run. They would also have to wait one real life day or bust of the jail cell to continue playing.
There should be a new features called security cameras and alarms. A security camera will have a timer and a message will be shown to player "you are being detected by security camera". After 3 attempts (3 sec each attempt) if the player has not retreated, the alarm will sound.
Alarm will cause all the mobs inside the area to respawn faster. Such as security guards, turrets etc.
Alarm can be turned off either by pressing a switch in the security room, hacking the alarm using electronics kit (must be done in the security room) or simply turning it off in the matrix.
Alarm will have a flag beside the room name ie
East Corridor
Doors and maglocks should be opened from matrix, this has to be coded in. If it is possible, make the passcodes, room connections be dynamic so there is some difference between the runs.
Let me know what you think.
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: Fixer
Posts: 206
Joined: 21 May 2006
Date Posted:
Fri Mar 02, 2007 5:03 pm
Very cool concept, V. I did runs like that all the time on table top and they were awesome cause my players learned how to work as a team. I think if it's all possible code-wise it should be imped. Granted that will take a massive build effort to make the areas for those runs as they would have to be enclosed from the rest of the MUD.
Insanity is a state of mind, I'm merely the governer.
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: Neophyte
Posts: 37
Joined: 10 Apr 2005
Date Posted:
Tue Mar 06, 2007 8:15 am
I think the true difficulty here is not building the areas. Simple areas can be churned out like clock work (hold your comments please) but the real difficulty lies in the shear amount of coding required to make something like this work. The autoruns are sort of designed to be quick and dirty. With Imm Runs filling in the space of more in depth adventures. Though its an interesting concept and if nothing else I'd be tickled pink to see the security features go in. Nothing says happy day like a squad of Knight-Errant chasing after you...
"There's a fine line between Genius and Insanity, but in your case it's perforated."
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This is a game made from scratch for telling the history from the Portuguese Colonial War with the powerfull Unreal Engine 4
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.
Alouette III Chopper


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We're still growing accustomed to seeing Jeff Saturday in a Green Bay Packers uniform. He'll return home when the Cheeseheads visit the Colts on Sunday, but this might not be the final noise the veteran center makes in Indianapolis.
» Beisner: Falcons are a 'special' team
» Beisner: RG3 makes life easy for 'Skins
» Breer: Brady and Manning are different
» Jones: Giants to ride hot hand at RB
» Rapoport: Irsay offered Saturday a job
Saturday told NFL.com and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport that Colts owner Jim Irsay offered him a front-office job before he signed with the Packers in the offseason. The offer still stands.
"I know Jim has made it very clear that the opportunity would be there," Saturday said. "I'll look at it. I strongly considered it this time. He made it an option before I even came back and played football."
This one feels imminent, and we already know Saturday's a wise one based on the work he did during the lockout. He spent 13 seasons with Peyton Manning and currently snaps the ball to Aaron Rodgers, so we'd also trust his ability to scout and zero in on a quality quarterback.
Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.


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Sioux Falls, SDSU Move Up in Polls
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - The University of Sioux Falls football team has moved up four spots to No. 17 in this week's AFCA Division II poll after a 54-41 win over Upper Iowa.
No other team from the Dakotas is ranked in either that poll or this week's NAIA poll. Dakota Wesleyan dropped out of the NAIA poll after a 41-13 loss to Northwestern over the weekend.
North Dakota State University has moved up in both Football Championship Subdivision polls after a 23-17 weekend win over Southern Illinois.
The defending national champion Bison have moved from No. 3 to No. 2 in the coaches' poll and have reclaimed the top spot in The Sports Network poll. Georgia Southern is No. 1 in the coaches' poll and No. 2 in the TSN poll.
South Dakota State is No. 25 in the coaches' poll and No. 21 in the TSN poll after not being ranked in either poll last week. The Jackrabbits beat Youngstown State 41-28 on Saturday.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Material may not be redistributed.


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Christchurch promises an eclectic mix of historic elegance and contemporary culture.
Christchurch is thriving with innovative new attractions, art and public spaces, as well as some old favourites.
Visit the Re Start container mall, the transitional Cardboard Cathedral, and some of the many pop up restaurants and bars. Contemporary art galleries, boutique shops and open-air markets add to Christchurch's creative vibe.
Need some inspiration on what to do? Here are some of the top attractions in and around the city.
- Take in the city sights by joining a guided bike tour.
- Feed giraffes and lemur, ride into a lion enclosure or get up close with a rhino at Orana Wildlife Park.
- Take a stroll around the vast green space of Hagley Park, or wander the blooms at The Botanic Gardens.
- Discover the history of Christchurch and the surrounding regions at the Canterbury Museum.
It's a crazy time to visit one of New Zealand's most exciting and changeable cities. You'll find a colourful mix and a city full of surprises.
Following the 2011 earthquakes, many buildings beyond repair were sadly pulled down. However, the resilience and creativity of the locals has shone through. Makeshift infrastructure - combining art with function - is all part of an ongoing crusade to rebuild a sustainable Christchurch. By involving local community groups and inspired individuals, organisations like Gap Filler are creating temporary amenities and installations throughout the city.
When it comes to getting around, Christchurch is a compact city and its lack of hills makes it ideal for cycling and exploring on foot. Take a walk through Cathedral Square to Canterbury Museum, you'll notice a lot of street art as you go, a successful attempt by the locals to invigorate their surroundings with hope, colour and positivity.
On the food front, be sure to track down Mamacita's taco truck for delicious, authentic Mexican street food. And for drinks, check out Smash Palace, a popular watering hole where you can meet locals and participate in the New Christchurch. For somewhere more intimate, have a nightcap at The Last Word - a whisky and cocktail lounge decked out with a multifarious collection of vintage furniture.
Arthur's Pass & Selwyn
Arthur's Pass National park is a must for nature lovers, hikers and mountain climbers with it's magnificent flora, fauna and vistas of the Southern Alps.
Arthur's Pass Village is New Zealand's highest township and is the gateway to discovering this charming mountainous area on foot.
The snow-capped great divide running through the national park has differing landscapes on either side. To the West, thanks to high rainfall, are dense podocarp rainforests. Whereas the geography to the east features wide riverbeds and varying types of beech trees.
During the winter months, skiers and snowboarders are drawn to the 'Selwyn Six' ski fields - often referred to as Canterbury's best kept secret. As well as the skiing and snowboarding, each area has its own unique culture, making a day on the slopes a unique experience.
New Zealand Dollar (NZ$)
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There are highlights to every seaon in Christchurch. Winter is cold so beanies and boots are necessary. Summer offers highs of 22C and dry weather. Autumn has its brilliant colours as the leaves change from green to red and spring brings the blossoms, festivals and new beginnings, including lambs in the fields and ducklings on the Avon.
From the airport
Once you've arrived at Christchurch Aiport, travel into the city centre via taxi or the Metro Bus service. If you want to get straight to your hotel, you can pre-purchase an arrival transfer shuttle.
In and around the city
Christchurch is easy to get around on foot so you can take in the city at your own pace. If you're feeling active then the flat landscape is great to explore by bike. There's a good bus service connecting the city and the local area.
Other great ways to see the city are by the Hop-on Hop-off tram or with the Christchurch Sightseeing Pass. For great views of the city, take to the skies with the Christchurch Gondola Ride, or for a more relaxing and gentler pace, take a tour on the River Avon by punt - as they do in Cambridge, England.
Your flight with Qantas
Interested in Christchurch or want to see other destinations in New Zealand? Find out more about flights to New Zealand (NZ).
Pack more into your trip with complimentary checked baggage allowance on every flight.
Enjoy our on-demand inflight entertainment in every seat, with the latest movie releases, TV shows, music and more.
Important Information
Disclaimer: ^ You must be a member of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program to earn and redeem Qantas Points. A joining fee may apply. Membership and Qantas Points are subject to the Qantas Frequent Flyer program terms and conditions.
Disclaimer: ** Prices are per room, per night and vary depending on date of check in, length of stay and room type. Conditions apply.
Disclaimer: ~ Qantas activities are provided by Viator. Conditions apply.


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An overview of a school of nursing in Haiti and the status of health care in Haiti since the January 2010 earthquake will be the focus of a guest lecture at Hope College on Wednesday, Sept. 21, at 4 p.m. in Room 1000 of the A. Paul Schaap Science Center.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
The presentation will be by Shirley Dieuveille, who is assistant dean of the Faculty of Nursing Science of the Episcopal University of Haiti (FSIL), and Marah Armand, who is a member of the FSIL faculty. Dieuveille and Armand are visiting Hope from Sunday, Sept. 11, through Thursday, Sept. 22, to learn about how the college's nursing program is structured and administered.
FSIL (Faculte des Sciences Infirmieres de l'Universite Episcopale d'Haiti in Leogane) is a four-year school of nursing that began in 2005 and graduated its first class with baccalaureate degrees in 2009. Since it started, the program has graduated 50 nurses, all working in Haiti
Leogane, where the school is located, was near the epicenter of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010.
The Hope nursing program's ties with FSIL have developed through the Ann Arbor-based Haiti Nursing Foundation, which supports the advancement of nursing in Haiti with a primary focus on FSIL. Hope faculty member Dr. Susan Dunn, associate professor of nursing and chairperson of the department, was among those invited to attend a U.S./Haiti nursing summit in Florida in September 2010, where she participated in developing plans for future collaborations between U.S. and Haiti nursing schools.
During their two-weeks in Holland, Dieuveille and Armand are meeting with Hope faculty, students and administrators, observing a variety of nursing classes and visiting health care agencies in the community.
The A. Paul Schaap Science Center is located at 35 E. 12th St., at 12th Street and College Avenue.


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Have Passport, Will Travel
August 3, 2009 Leave a comment
And now from the "If only this had happened just a bit sooner" file….
MPOW will officially become a Passport Office on Monday August 10th. Ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate will take place at our East Columbia Branch at 11:00 am that Monday.
Oh, how I wish either my trip to Spain had been a bit later this year or that the Passport Office had been ready a bit earlier. Having to take the MARC train and Metro to the Regional Passport Office in Washington D.C. was not fun. I had to go there once myself and my husband went the next day for me to actually pickup the passport (name change and it had expired).
The residents of Columbia, Howard County and Central Maryland don't know how lucky they are. They won't have to fight commuter traffic to go to D.C. or stand in line at the post office bored out of their mind. Instead if they do have to wait they have the whole library at their disposal to keep them occupied – books galore, plenty of computers with access to the Internet, periodicals, newspapers, books on CD, Playaways and lots more.
This is just another in a great line of services that we offer our community. Makes me proud.


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A man we'll call Robert has a profile on the employment website Monster.com, and earlier today he received a message from a recruiter about a job in "beautiful Northwest Arkansas."
Robert's Monster.com profile clearly states that he is only interested in jobs in the Columbus, Ohio, area.
"I'm not sure where you are in your job search currently, but knowing your skillset I thought you would be interested in hearing about this challenging position," the recruiter wrote. This set off a wonderful, completely out-of-line exchange, detailed for your enjoyment below.
...You will be Located at the global HQ, in beautiful Northwest Arkansas, home to about 450,000 people. Enjoy all the amenities of a metro-area, with the feel of a laid-back college town. Live near the gorgeous Ozark Mountains, you'll have 4 seasons, beautiful lakes, streams, Direct Jet Service to every major city in the country, No crime, great schools and fantastic low cost of living!!!
Thank you,Joe Goddard
Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2012 3:18 PMTo: [Joe Goddard]Subject: Re: .Net Programmer/Developer career Opp - fortune 500!!!
Since you got my resume off of Monster, I'm sure you saw in my profile that I'm only interested in jobs in Columbus, Ohio, because you surely check these things before firing off e-mails.
On Thu, Apr 12, 2012 at 4:24 PM, Joe Goddard wrote:
A lot of people are open to other options, outside of what they put on Monster. Now I know why you're looking for a job - because you're a smartass LOL, you dick.
From: [Robert]Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2012 3:26 PMTo: Joe GoddardSubject: Re: .Net Programmer/Developer career Opp - fortune 500!!!
And I know why you're shotgunning jobs - you're an unprofessional hack.
On Thu, Apr 12, 2012 at 4:26 PM, Joe Goddard wrote:
Maybe, but I'll make 250k this year, while you're unemployed lol
From: [Robert]Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2012 3:29 PMTo: Joe GoddardSubject: Re: .Net Programmer/Developer career Opp - fortune 500!!!
Actually, I'm not. But then again, to know that, you would have to read my resume. Something real recruiters do, by the way.
You're quite amusing, really.
On Apr 12, 2012 4:34 PM, Joe Goddard wrote:
I'm amused as well, this is fun. You must really love your job, considering you're looking for a new one. By the way, does you current employer know you're looking? J
From: [Robert]Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2012 3:55 PMTo: Joe GoddardSubject: RE: .Net Programmer/Developer career Opp - fortune 500!!!
And you must love yours, too, leaving an email trail like this one.
From: Joe GoddardDate: Apr 12, 2012 5:00 PMSubject: RE: .Net Programmer/Developer career Opp - fortune 500!!!To: [Robert]
Ummm, since I own the company, I'd yes, I do like my job. Regarding theis email, you can rest assured I'm not a damn bit worried about this. You smartoff to me, you're not gonna like the response. Also, I will make sure all 247 IT staffing firms in my network see this email, so they can redflag you, just as I have. Good luck in your job search hahahahahah
"I keep getting shotgunned these jobs, most of which I'm either unqualified for, because they took one key word off my resume rather than take the time to read it, or are from all over the country," Robert wrote in an email today. "I snapped a little, I admit. But should someone who's job it is to connect with talented people include in his answer that I'm a dick?"


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A Unique Hanukkah Celebration
We just had to share this idea!
Today one of our clients in Los Angeles ordered 3 bags of blue and white cookies for Hanukkah. They are for her annual "Vodka and Latkes" party.
This is her 4th year and it has grown from a handful of people to more than 60! For the first time this year, she is having waitstaff who will be carrying trays of different flavors of shots; peach, marshmallow, etc. After you drink the shot, you eat a latke.
She serves her latkes with caviar and crème fraiche. The party is "all about having fun and celebration." Festive attire is requested on the invitation. Her 23 year old daughter came up with the idea. Good thing she was already "legal" to drink!
Throw your own version of Vodka and Latkes! We've got the best potato latkes right here to get your party started!


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Bluetooth Handset Gloves
Call me!
- Warm and comfortable capacitive-touch gloves with a Bluetooth headset built in!
- Talk on the phone by extending your thumb and pinky-finger.
- Talk to the hand! (Ugh, really?)
There are a few fairly universal pantomimes that everybody in the civilized world understands, regardless of culture. Shake your head for 'no,' scribbling in mid-air for 'check-please,' thumb-and-pinky held up to the ear for 'call-me.' While we're not sure exactly when it was that the 'call-me' pantomime appeared in our collective cultural jargonplex, we have it on good authority Bell's assistant Watson would surreptitiously make the gesture to Mrs. Bell, much to her husband's consternation.
It is embarrassing, then, to admit that it took 136 years for us to turn a universally recognized gesture into an actual working way to talk on the phone. Behold the telephone of the future, built right into your winter gloves! Warm gloves with conductive fibers let you operate your touch-screen phones and other devices - but with extra added Bluetooth capabilities!
In the left glove's thumb is a tiny speaker, and in the pinky is a wee microphone. By extending them both in the usual hand-gesture, you can chat with your friends for up to 20 hours on a charge! Gone are the days where talking into thin air will brand you a crazy-person! Now you can show the world that you can actually talk to the hand, and with excellent sound-quality!
Features and Specifications
- Bluetooth handset built into the left glove
- Compatible with all devices that are Bluetooth-compatible
- Conductive-fiber allows capacitive touch operation
- Operating range: 40 feet
- Battery life: Standby 10 days, 20 hours of conversation
- Sizes: Choose men's or women's sizes in knit, specific size in leather
- Colors: Black and grey knit, black leather
- Composition: Knit - 95% polyacrylonitrile, 3% cotton, 2% polyester; leather - 100% genuine leather
- Charges over micro USB (~ 30 minutes, cable included)
- Tested and works with iOS, Android, Windowsphone, Blackberry
- Dry clean only
- Read all instructions before use


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Ok, let me begin by explaining i have two very timid rescues that have been a work in progress since puppies. One has a screw loose and despite the rest of the litter being 'fine' she seems almost autistic, but has turned into an over acheiver! The other has environmental fears, inanimate objects and other random fears. Luckily not people. This was Ryders second trial in APBT Rally and we threw Panzer in for fun, we have only been practicing while Ryder is on break. To my surprise Panzer thought it was the best game in the world b/c I can feed her after signs, and her heel has turned into a left bounce, which is quite cute!
Luckily for me, Ryder has turned into a lovely working dog with little people contact can handle crowds and I feel the more sports and classes we attend the better she becomes! She is by no means a stable girl, and I manage her life pretty strictly, nonetheless she has become my heart dog!
Here is a video of Panzer's first run, (we seem to have control despite her energy level, and she doesn't even see the audience watching!) Panzer got the Award of Excellence, b/c all her trial scores were above 190 and she titled in three great runs, and Ryder whizzed right thru level two to earn her RL2 title and on her way to the ArchX. Shortly after retiring Panzer from Weight Pull due to another knee injury, we seem to have stumbled onto her next sport! My only regret is there weren't professional photographers there so no really great pics!
And some pics of their ribbons!


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I originally intended to write this article for Ziggy's XNA Article Contest. Unfortunately, real life got in the way in the form of a few weeks of crunch-time at work followed by a much-needed (and fabulous) vacation in Paris. Between those things and spending the little free time I had last month on my Dream-Build-Play entry (and not as much time on that as I'd have liked), I didn't get the article finished in time for his deadline. He received some great entries, though, so if you haven't already, head over there to read them. My favorites are the two HLSL articles by Jamezilla, one on Bloom/Blur Post-Processing and the other on Shockwave Distortion; and the article on Bezier Curves by Cubed2D. But all of the entries are worth a read.
EDIT: It looks like just as I was posting this entry, Ziggy was announcing the contest winner. Congrats to KrisC for his article on Graphic User Interfaces in XNA!
Resource Pools
Games need to be able to maintain collections of various types of resources, including such things as projectiles, particles, enemies, etc. Most non-game .NET applications would simply allocate such resources dynamically and then let the garbage collector dispose of them when they are no longer needed. Unfortunately, dynamic memory allocation and deallocation can, and will, cause slowdowns at indeterminable times. For games, or any real-time software, this is obviously unacceptable. As a game programmer, you need to be in control of when resource allocation and deallocation occurs and how long it takes.
The solution to this is to create resource pools where all of the memory for each resource type is allocated up-front during the game's initialization. When a resource is needed, an available item can be removed from that resource type's pool. When the resource is no longer needed, it can be returned to the pool.
Because a resource pool is a group of objects of the same type that has a fixed size, they are almost always implemented as an array. However a resource pool also has to keep track of which objects are currently being used, and there are multiple ways to do that. One way is to simply add a field in the resource class that specifies whether that particular object is active. The problem with that approach is that you have to rewrite code to manage each particular resource's pool. That is, you'll need separate code to manage your projectile pool and your particle pool, even though the code is doing basically the same thing. You could get around this "block copy" approach by having a parent class that maintains the active flag and contains the methods used to get a free object from the pool, update the active objects in the pool, reset the pool, etc. But that requires that all of your resource classes inherit from that parent, which isn't always desirable (and sometimes may not even be possible).
The most flexible approach is to have a generic Pool class, similar to the other .NET generic collections, that handles the maintenance of resource pools and can hold any type of object. In this article, we'll look at an efficient implementation of a Pool class and how to use it for a variety of different resource types.
Along the way, I'll describe some of the design decisions and trade-offs that go into writing generic classes. However, this is not intended to be a tutorial on writing C# generics. If that's what you are looking for, I recommend first reading a good book or online tutorial that covers the topic.
Desired Features of a Generic Pool
The following features are required for our Pool class to be useful.
Get — Takes a free item from the pool and marks it as active.
Return — Returns an active item to the pool and marks it as available.
Clear — Returns all active items to the pool and makes them all available.
Capacity — Gets the total number of items in the pool, both available and active.
AvailableCount — Gets the total number of available items in the pool. This is necessary to ensure the user doesn't attempt to Get more than the available number of objects. Therefore any call to Get should be preceeded by a test to ensure there are objects available.
ActiveCount — Gets the total number of active items in the pool.
CopyTo — Copies all of the active objects in the pool to a one-dimensional array. This is needed so that a resource pool can hold vertex data which can be easily copied to an array for passing to the GPU.
GetEnumerator — Gets an enumerator that can iterate over the pool's active items.
AllNodes — Gets an enumerator that can iterate over all of the items in the pool, active and inactive. This can be useful if there is one-time initialization that needs to be performed on all of the resource objects in a pool before they are ever used. Generally, however, after initialization, users should only be accessing active objects.
efficiency — Because resources such as particles and projectiles are generally being allocated and returned many times per frame, the pool class must be as efficient as possible. Where possible, all methods should be constant time — O(1) — and none should be worse than linear — O(n).
encapsulation — The implementation details should be hidden from the user as much as possible. In particular, the user should not have direct access to the active flag which should be modified only by the Pool class itself.
ease-of-use — The class should put as few restrictions on the user as possible so that it can be used as easily as other collection classes. In particular, it should have very little restriction on the types of objects that it can hold.
To meet the efficiency requirements, the Pool class is implemented as an array along with a Queue containing the available (non-active) objects. By maintaining the list of available objects as a queue, the Get and Return methods can be O(1).
To meet the encapsulation requirements, the pool array is not an array of the objects being held by the pool, but an array of a Node struct. Each node contains the item being stored in the Pool along with the index of that item in the array. Because the node has to be given to the user so that it can be returned to the pool when the user is finished with it, the active flag is not stored in the node itself. If it were, the user would have direct access to it and could change it themselves, which we want to avoid. Instead, there is a separate array of booleans whose elements correspond to the elements in the pool array. Thus the NodeIndex field in the Node struct provides the index into both the pool array and the active array.
Finally, the ease-of-use requirements are mostly met by virtue of the class being implemented as a generic. As mentioned earlier, this removes the limitation of having a parent class for all resources that are to be stored in pools. However, since we are storing the actual resource objects inside Node structs, we need to be able to allocate each one when we create the nodes in the array. This means we have to limit resources to types that have a public, parameterless constructor. In other words, you can't store basic data types such as ints, floats, etc., inside a Pool. Since this Pool class is intended for holding resources that are more complicated than the basic data types, that restriction shouldn't be a problem.
The use of nodes when getting and returning pool elements is another design trade-off that slightly limits ease-of-use, in that the user has to deal with another data structure besides the one they want to store in the pool. To remove the slight burden this presents, the iterator returned by the GetEnumerator method provides direct access to the resource objects rather than nodes. Another enumerator is provided by the ActiveNodes property which can be used to iterate through nodes. This gives the user the flexibility to access active resource objects directly, or to access nodes for times when they may need to return an item to the pool. In general, I'd recommend using the ActiveNodes property inside an Update method, where the update may cause the resource to be finished and need to be returned to the pool; and the GetEnumerator property inside a Draw method, where you just want to go through all of the active resources and draw them.
The other disadvantage of storing the resource objects inside Node structs in this way, is that for value types (structs) stored in a pool, the user will only ever get a copy of the object instead of having direct access to it. That means that when using a Pool of a struct type, setting the node's Item field doesn't change the value of the item in the pool. To get around this problem, the SetItemValue method is provided to update the value of a given node in the pool.
Using the Pool Collection
Hopefully the comments provided with the class are fairly self-explanatory. The following subsections provide an overview of how to use the class.
To use a Pool collection, all you have to do is construct it with the number of elements to be stored, generally at program initialization. This number of elements in the pool should be more than you will likely need, but not many more. It may require some tweaking to get that number just right for each specific use but generally you should have a pretty good idea of how many elements you need based on the design of your game and how many of each projectile, particle, etc. are likely to be active.
class Missile
private Vector2 position;
private Vector2 velocity;
private int configValue;
public Missile()
public void Init(int configValue)
this.configValue = configValue;
public void Fire(Vector2 position, Vector2 heading)
this.position = position;
this.heading = heading;
public bool Update()
// Move missile, etc.
// See if missile is finished
if (reachedMaxDistance)
return false;
return true;
public bool Collided(Rectangle otherObject)
if (otherObject.Intersect(position))
return true;
return false;
public void Draw()
// Draw missile
public Pool
During the update portion of each frame, you will get items from the pool if needed, update all active items, and return items that are no longer needed.
public void Update() { // See if the user has fired a missile // (and verify there are some left in the pool) if (MissileFired && missilePool.AvailableCount > 0) { // Get a missile from the pool. Missile missile = missilePool.Get().Item; // Initialize the missile's position and velocity. missile.Fire(player.Position, player.Heading); } foreach (Pool<Missile>.Node node in missilePool.ActiveNodes) { if (!node.Item.Update()) { // If something happened during its Update to // make the missile no longer active, return // it to the pool. missilePool.Return(node); } else { // Note that if Missile was a struct instead // of a class, you would have to do the // following here: // missilePool.SetItemValue(node); // Loop through objects it might hit. foreach (GameObject item in ActiveObjects) { if (node.Item.Collided( item.BoundingRectangle)) { missilePool.Return(node); } } } } }
During the draw portion of each frame, you will get items from the pool if needed, update all active items, and return items that are no longer needed.
public void Draw() { // Draw each active missile foreach (Missile missile in missilePool) { missile.Draw(); } }
XNA Creator's Club Particle Sample
To provide a more complete example of using the Pool collection, I've modified Microsoft's XNA Creator's Club Particle Sample. The only changes from the original are the inclusion of the Pool class itself, in Pool.cs; and modifications to the ParticleSystem class, in ParticleSystem.cs. All changes have been marked with conditional compilation instructions (#if USE_POOL_CLASS) to make it easy to compare the original code with the new code.
Pool Collection Class
You can download the source file here.


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Man, all my budgies do is sit there. These budgies on the other hand, they know how to shred,* and they know how to shred hard. Look at them go in their tiny skateboards.
Old video, sure. Cute though, so thought it was worth sharing. Maybe it'll cheer some of you up.
Well, here we are. End of the day. How are you guys, are you doing okay? Feel free to talk about birds, skateboarding, Tony Hawk, or just about anything else here in this open thread/post or in the Talk Amongst Yourselves forum.
See you tomorrow!
*And by shred I mean occasionally nibble on their skateboard.
More of Trieste Visier skatebirds wingin it [Sk8birds via Buzzfeed]


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Robotics Industry News
SAS Automation Introduces Robotic EOAT for Handling Commercial Bakery Products
Piab, Robotic Gripping Posted 07/31/2013
SAS Automation, a leader in the design and manufacture of Robotic End-of-Arm Tooling (EOAT), recently introduced the latest in tools for handling different types of baked goods more efficiently. Commercial bakery products are can be challenging to depan as they are fragile and often topped with fruits, nuts or candies.
"The SAS depanner accommodates a wide range of bakery products and is flexible enough to handle different shapes and sizes making it perfect for handling cakes, brownies, and cupcakes in addition to muffins," said Rob Dalton, General Manager for SAS Automation.
Designed for high volume and low maintenance depanning, the SAS Muffin Depanner has custom stainless steel needle grippers, each using 4 curved needles to depan 144 muffins from 2 moving baking pans on an oven conveyor. The small diameter needles leave limited evidence of penetration. A welded tubular stainless steel frame supports the mounting of stroking cylinders, bushing rails, needle grippers and actuating cylinders.
In addition to depanning, the tool is designed to compress the muffin spacing in two directions for direct deposit into retail and wholesale trays on an adjoining conveyor. The tool is made of stainless steel, is wash down capable and ideal for very high-volume, continuous commercial operations. This tool provides the speed and repeatability critical for the depanning of baked goods with both needle grippers and food grade vacuum cups.
"Automating this process has revolutionized the handling and depanning of bakery products. We are proud of the innovations we have brought to the industry by reducing labor and increasing productivity," said Dalton.


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R Meyyappan is a SQL Server specialist with expertise in Performance Tuning. Ramesh worked at Microsoft Corporation from 1994 to 2004. Nearly half of that time he worked in Redmond in the development teams - specifically as Program Manager in the SQL Server Development Team responsible for optimizing SQL Server product for SAP.
Ramesh now offers onsite and offsite consulting and workshops independently as well as by partnering with various Microsoft Subsidiaries.
Ramesh has delivered the "3 Day Level 400 Microsoft SQL Server 2008 / 2005 Performance Monitoring & Tuning" Workshop in various countries in Europe including for Microsoft Austria / Microsoft Austria TechNet, Microsoft Belgium, Microsoft Czech Republic, Microsoft Denmark, Finland / Microsoft Finland TechNet, Microsoft Germany, Microsoft Netherlands, Microsoft Norway, Microsoft Poland, Microsoft Russia, Microsoft Slovakia, Microsoft Slovenia, Microsoft Sweden, Microsoft Switzerland and United Kingdom / Microsoft UK TechNet.
SQL Bits was started by a group of individuals that are passionate about the SQL Server product suite.
There is a breadth of knowledge in the SQL Community that will benefit everyone in the community.
We want to spread that knowledge.
We all work with the SQL community, some of us for many years. We have a range of skills and experiences from being given the MVP award by Microsoft, organising user groups and speaking at events around the world.
Copyright © 2019 SQLBits Limited. All Rights Reserved.


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Everyone's favorite house and techno festival is back in full action in the coastal town of Portimão, Portugal! The first array of artist lineup has been released and MAN are we excited at this legit stacked lineup. This is the festivals third edition on the A...[more]
Released today is a dazzling new single from Flamingo Recordings co-founder and artist Funkerman. Once more the producer and DJ has collaborated with esteemed vocalist I-Fan, this time releasing "Silence."
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I'm trying to perform a restriction digest on single fibers. I'm using 2 enzymes BanII and Cviki-1. What I do is I cut 1 fiber out of muscle tissue on a slide (LCM) and perform than a dna extraction. Then i do a PCR with a fam labbeled primer. In the next step I do the restriction digest. The problem I experience is that not the whole sample is digested. about 10% stays undigested. I tried already using different restriction buffers, adding more enzyme, longer incubation times, adding BSA but nothing seems to help.
If I start with 200 ng DNA in a pcr reaction and perform than the restriction digest everything is digested. So I assume it has something to do with the small amount of DNA.
Does anybody have experience with restrction digest starting from small amounts of DNA?
Submit your paper to J Biol Methods today!
Problem restriction digest on single fibers
Started by KimV, May 23 2012 10:59 AMrestriction digest
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Tickets now limited for Jan. 11 event
Tickets now are limited for �Stars Dance for the Arts� on Jan. 11 at the Kinston Arts Council.
Nine local couples will showcase their dancing skills as they compete for three awards to be presented at the end of the evening. Tickets may be purchased online or at the Arts Center. Each ticket is $50 and includes heavy hors d�oeuvres, cash bar and one vote during the event. Voting online is in full swing until midnight January 10, 2014. Go online at www.dancekcca.com to cast your vote and to monitor the votes for each couple. Sponsorships ranging from $2,500 to $100 are available now and include a variety of amenities based on the level. Refer to the website for more information.
Dancers will be competing for three trophies. The Mirror Ball trophy will be awarded to the couple with the highest combined popular vote and judges� scores. The Popular Vote trophy will go to the couple with the highest number of votes tallied from online and night of the event voting. The couple with the highest combined judges� score will receive the Judges� Trophy.
Brantley Briley and Sarah Crowe are a couple competing for the trophies and plan to dance the tango.
Crowe is a native of Kinston and a 1999 graduate of Kinston High School. She and her husband Bob are the parents of two children, Bert, 6, and Charlie, 4. Crowe is a Zumba instructor, pianist and photographer. Her parents, Bob and Bonnie Gaddis, along with grandmother, Anne, also reside in Kinston.
She is a member of Spilman Baptist Church where she serves as church pianist and plays in the bell choir. Crowe took lessons in ballet, tap and jazz since childhood and it is her dream to compete on the (yet uncreated) version of �Dancing with the Housewives.�
Briley is a native of Kinston and a graduate of Kinston High School. He earned an Associate�s degree from Lenoir Community College, a B.S.B.A. and a Master�s in Education � Counseling from East Carolina University, and his Ed.D. in Adult and Community College Education from NC State University.
In 1976, Briley began his professional career at LCC. During his tenure, he was an instructor, counselor, dean of two program areas and an executive vice president. In 2000, he left LCC to become the president of Southeastern Community College in Whiteville. During his tenure there, he was chosen to participate in a Fulbright Summer Institute Program in Germany. Briley returned to LCC in 2004 to serve as college president, his current position. Married to Kinston native Eugenia Casey Briley, they are the parents of two children, Jay and Caroline, and grandparents to grandson, Miller. They are anxiously awaiting the birth of their second grandchild due at any time.
Briley is actively involved in various state and community organizations and is currently a member of the NC Eastern Region Workforce Development Board. He formerly chaired the Kinston-Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce, and served on the boards of the local Red Cross, United Way, and Committee of 100.


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There will be a big name appearing at The Forum, Just The Tonic's Nottingham club, for a New Year's Eve Special there on Wednesday.
On the bill will be Johnny Vegas, the comedian, actor and writer who is one of the most recognisable comedians around.
Also on the bill at the Forum will be Ivan Brackenbury, Carey Marx and Lloyd Griffith.
Call 0115 9100009 for more details on the show.


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Customer experience management (CEM) is how companies think about, respond to and shape their organizations around the customer experience in order to create greater loyalty. Getting it right means using the voice of customer (VOC) to identify gaps between what you hope your customer is experiencing and what they actually experience. You use that information to determine changes to operations that more align with your vision of the experience you intended. Then you repeat—over and over and over again. Perhaps CEM really should be called managing for customer experience.
I work with a fun technology company in Palo Alto, CA, that is an innovator in CEM software. The company specializes in turning VOC into useful data, allowing enterprises to make daily decisions aligned with customer expectations.
Learning how world-class companies do this in order to build a culture—the way people in an organization instinctively respond to customer needs, team needs and company needs—to affect customer loyalty has been an area of intense focus for me.
How companies outside the fitness industry do this is eye-opening. The best share several common denominators:
- They never see themselves as a finished product. They recognize that the world is changing, and they should, too.
- They know who they are at their core. Change will happen, but these companies stay true to their core. For instance, "elegant design" might be part of one company's core and will not change.
- They take as much customer feedback as possible and use it to make life better for customers. They use the feedback for change, but they do not change their essence.
- They change their operations, a little bit at a time.
- They tend to become part of their customers' habits.
- Their internal human systems (employee development, compensation, etc.) support a culture of loyalty.
How can we benefit from observing the high performers in retail, hospitality and financial services? We can learn to apply what they have discovered about customer loyalty. Companies experience big performance improvements when customers move from being satisfied or happy to being big fans of the brand.
Moreover, when the company relies more on face-to-face interaction than on product performance, software services or a call center, loyalty is dependent on the level of rapport needed for customers to make you a habit. Many of you have members that have made you a habit even if it is with only three or four visits per month. For some, their habit is five to six visits per week while others may make you a habit by joining, quitting, rejoining, quitting again and rejoining again. Regardless of which category these members fall in, they all could be huge fans and could be quite willing to recommend you to everyone they know.
My point is that, even in the naturally transactional environment of retail or a call center, world-class companies recognize the need to build relationships. I don't call American Express often, but when I do, I always am reminded why I like the company: because they treat me well.
The fitness business is just the opposite. We are in a relationship-oriented environment. People come frequently (we hope) and stay a long time. How many other businesses do people go to five times each week and stay for one to two hours? Yet our industry has not widely embraced the practices of relationship building that even more transactional businesses find to be highly profitable.
Our industry has a number of bright spots in which we get it right. My hope is that we learn how to leverage those bright spots as well as the lessons from world-class companies outside our industry in an effort to engage more and more people in activities that make life more worth living, daily operations more fun and our businesses more profitable.
Our industry seems to have a stalling point between "good" and "world-class." Those adventurous enough to make the journey will reap big rewards. The journey starts with the understanding that discipline, accountability, fun and engaging are not mutually exclusive cultural elements. Instead, these are the requirements of top performers.
Blair McHaney is CEO of Confluence Fitness Partners Inc., which does business as Gold's Gym of the Wenatchee Valley in Wenatchee, WA. He also previously served as president of the Gold's Gym Franchisee Association.


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To: Mr. & Mrs. O.D. Anderson
Dallas, Texas
Sat Eve:
Hello Folks: These are Oklahoma Mosquitos. I took my first ride in No. 28; you should
see me in my flying suit, I look like an Eskimo- they're all wool lined, for winter. We hit the
flying line at 8:15 am this week, next week it will be the evening shift. When we start
ground school Mon., we'll really have to study hard - won't have much spare time, they say. Popped Too.


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Monday, June 13, 2011
The Road Ahead
(FORT NELSON, BC – June 13, 2011) I watched the Belmont Stakes on my laptop at 11:30 pm Saturday. It was a replay on twinspires.com. My three buddies, one of whom is dead, were sitting in lawn chairs underneath the roll-out canopy of an RV in the parking lot of a motel in Chetwynd, British Columbia, Canada.
From what I can tell, very few people in Chetwynd knew that the Belmont Stakes was being run. There's no OTB, not even a casino, in Chetwynd. Horses here are for pleasure riding and pulling wagons around town as a tourist attraction. There is horse racing in BC, but the horse racing's far away in Vancouver and, for the moment, all attention on Vancouver has to do with the Canucks.
You may be interested in learning about what I was doing in Chetwynd. The town was the seventh stop of a 16-day journey by RV that is taking me to play golf above the Arctic Circle. I chose the spot randomly. It's about halfway between Prince George and Fort Nelson. In addition, the seventh annual International Chainsaw Carving Championships, a kind of Breeders Cup for guys who turn logs into art, was being held in a park.
What took place is a good example of how anticipation supersedes accomplishment every time. After the two minutes and nearly 31 seconds that it took Ruler on Ice to run 1-1/2 miles, there was let-down. None of us had picked the longshot winner; no money exchanged hands. This Belmont proved nothing, set nothing up for future – will be one of those Classics that recede in the background like the highway we're driving. I'll be posting this column, God permitting there's Internet, from who knows where tonight.
The marketing people at Belmont have to figure out how to make horse racing's third Triple Crown jewel the beginning of something instead of the end. Until that occurs, NYRA will always be dependent on what has happened in the Preakness and Kentucky Derby. NYRA's marketing department, as usual, did a terrific job to lure warm bodies out on a wet day for a race that was meaningless and, perhaps, out of sync with the times. But reaction is never better than action. Taking matters into their own hands with a plan that makes the commercial success of the Belmont less susceptible to the past would be smart.
As for horse racing in general, what has longshots in three Triple Crown races wrought? Well, the answer is a division of three-year-olds that nobody really cares about. Ruler on Ice might win another big stakes, but it's likely to be in mud. He was second in the Tesio (ho-hum) and ran at Sunland Park. The 5-2 favorite Animal Kingdom took a beating at the break, dropped way back of a slow pace and made a run like a freight train before running out of steam. He's a turf horse.
Shackleford, incorrectly identified as The Derby winner's rival, is a miler, no matter what Dale Romans says. So, too, is the reigning Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Uncle Mo, provided he races again. Dialed In is the Travers winner. Nehro, a chronic also-ran. Are there any others of note on the murky horizon?
It would be fun to be a bug on the wall in the Breeders' Cup offices. Having a star to promote your event provides you a leg up. But, right now, at least, there doesn't seem to be any available. If you think the three-year-old division, the main source of Breeders' Cup promotional currency, is weak, then you probably believe the handicap division is bankrupt. If the Breeders' Cup was smart it would send representatives to England today to talk the owners and trainers of Royal Ascot runners to plan ahead for Louisville this November .The unbeaten Frankel, of course, would serve ideally to sub for Zenyatta as publicity fodder. As of now, nonetheless, what the Breeders' Cup has is Goldikova – that's it.
This journey I'm taking, called "Our Longest Drive" has its end in Inuvik, 100 miles north of The Arctic Circle where we'll play golf at midnight of the summer solstice – June 21. At first, I was leery about scheduling the trip at a time when the Belmont as run. Although I can see now, it shouldn't have been a worry. This is not to downplay the efforts made by the winner, participants and presenters – they all acted admirably, considering the circumstances. But the circumstances were such that isn't much to get excited about when the ranks of good horses are thinned and there's scant evidence those who remain have a future worth following. It's a down year.
On the other hand, the wood carvers in Chetwynd are living proof that it's possible to make something from nothing. There's still time, I suppose, for something exciting to develop. I just don't see it.
Vic Zast is on Our Longest Drive. He's making a documentary about a road trip by four men, one of whom is dead, who drive by RV to the Arctic Circle to play golf at midnight of the summer solstice. Go to http://www.ourlongestdrive.com to follow their adventures.
Written by Vic Zast


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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. generated 175,000 jobs in February despite harsh winter weather, suggesting the economy has not slowed as much as a recent spate of indicators appear to show.
The unemployment rate, meanwhile, edged up to 6.7% from 6.6% to mark the first increase in 14 months. Yet the rate rose because more people entered the labor force in search of jobs, which is usually a sign that they think more work is available.
What's more, employment likely would have been stronger if not for the weather. The number of people who said they could not make it to work surged above 600,000 last month, twice as many as is normally the case in February.
The better-than-expected headline number on jobs lifted U.S. stocks in early action and paves the way for the Federal Reserve to continue to withdraw stimulus from the economy. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected an increase of 140,000 nonfarms.
"Today's report should provide some relief for those concerned that a more sustained slowdown might be underway," said Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors.
Yet the latest jobs report also contained some worrisome signs. Hiring in the health-care industry has sharply tapered off and the number of hours that people work each week fell again and touched the lowest level in three years. The decline in hours worked in February was largely because of poor weather, but the workweek is still several ticks below the post-recession peak last achieved in November.
Both of these trends raise questions as to whether the advent of the law commonly known as Obamacare has spurred companies to cut hours or hire more part-time workers. Read: Jury is still out on Obamacare's impact on jobs market.
The pace of hiring is also a lot softer compared to last fall. The economy has added an average of 131,000 jobs in the past three months, compared to an average of 225,000 from September through November. And the number of people who have been out of work at least six months rose by the largest amount in almost two years.
Why job hunters should cheer the end of winter
Economists say it may take another month or two to get a better read on the economy's health because of unusually cold and snowy weather in the early part of 2014.
Inside the report
In February, hiring was strongest in professional services, education and bars and restaurants, the Labor Department said.
The professional ranks — engineers, executives, lawyers and the like — swelled by 79,000 in February after two straight months of soft hiring. That category of workers has grown the fastest since the Great Recession ended in mid-2009.
About one-third of the professional jobs were temporary, however.
Bars and restaurants added 21,000 jobs in February and that was something of a surprise because of the poor weather. Governments at all levels also increased employment by 13,000 after a 16,000 drop in January.
The construction industry boosted hiring by 15,000, but that was down sharply from 50,000 in January. Builders have indicated they expect to hire more people in the spring once they get back to work unimpeded by the weather.
Manufacturing gained a modest 6,000 jobs for the second-straight month.
Several sectors reduced employment, including retail, information services, and transportation-related industries.
Retailers cut 4,000 jobs after shedding nearly 23,000 in January. The number of workers in information services sank by 16,000 and has fallen three-straight months. And transportation jobs edged down by 3,600.
Average hourly wages, meanwhile, increased a healthy 9 cents to $24.31, and they have risen 2.2% over the past 12 months. Some economists point to an uptick in wages recently as evidence that companies have to pay more to attract good workers, typically an early sign that the labor market is getting stronger.
"Conditions aren't great, but they're continuing to improve," said Neil Dutta, head of economics at Renaissance Macro Research.
Yet the average workweek fell by 0.1 hour to 34.2 hours in a negative sign. While bad weather clearly kept people from their job, the numbers of hours worked has been on the decline since late last year.
The civilian participation rate held steady at 63%. The size of the labor force — people who have jobs or are looking for work — rose by 264,000 last month.
Employment gains for January and December were revised up by a combined 25,000. The number of new jobs created in January was raised to 129,000 from 113,000, while December's figure was upped to 84,000 from 75,000.
More news from MarketWatch:
U.S. stock futures rally after jobs data
Reactions: 'Way better than expected'
Rex Nutting: The collapse of high tech is killing the economy
U.S. trade gap rises to $39.1 billion


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At Bed Bug Removal Bedford , a part of Pest Control Bedfordshire have been providing all Ampthill customers with a 1st class service in all aspects of Bedbugs. We are all fully qualified and we are able to undertake all bed Bug problems for both Domestic and Commercial properties throughout Ampthill.
We also work weekends and have a 24 hour call out service available for emergencies
Bed Bug Removal Ampthill carry out our services on a job work basis or by way of an annual service agreement
Our Bed Bug Control technicians are certified, fully insured and prompt and professional at all times
After every visit or treatment carried out a fully detailed report will be left with you including recommendations on how the problem can be prevented from happening again
For a free survey and quotation please call our Pest Control team today Call now
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About Bed Bugs:
Adult bedbugs are reddish-brown, flattened, oval, and wingless. Bedbugs have microscopic hairs that give them a banded appearance. Adults grow to approximately 4 – 5 mm in length and 1.5 – 3 mm wide. Newly hatched nymphs are translucent, lighter in color and become browner as they mouth and reach maturity.
Bedbugs use pheromones to communicate regarding nesting locations, attacks, and reproduction.
The life span of bedbugs varies by species and is also dependent on feeding.
Bedbugs are (bloodsucking) insects. Most species feed on humans only when other prey is unavailable. Bedbugs are attracted to their hosts primarily by carbon dioxide, secondarily by warmth, and also by certain chemicals.
A bedbug pierces the skin of its host with two hollow feeding tubes. With one tube it injects its saliva, which contains anesthetics, while with the other it withdraws the blood of its host. After feeding for about five minutes, the bug returns to its hiding place.
Bedbugs are (bloodsucking) insects. Most species feed on humans only when other prey is unavailable. Bedbugs are attracted to their hosts primarily by carbon dioxide, secondarily by warmth, and also by certain chemicals.
Although bedbugs can live for up to a year without feeding, they normally try to feed every five to ten days. In cold weather, bedbugs can live for about a year; at temperatures more conducive to activity and feeding, about 5 months.
Please leave a review about our service


text:
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's Lynas Corp Ltd said on Tuesday its operating license for its controversial rare earth plant in Malaysia remains issued and valid, responding to recent media reports on processing of radioactive residue.
Lynas must export by-product created by operations at the Malaysian plant or risk having its operating license revoked, four Malaysian ministers said on Monday.
The license remains issued and valid, and there is no legal impediment to Lynas carrying out its operations at the plant, the company said in a stock exchange filing.
Lynas will ensure all residue material is converted into co-products and exported from Malaysia if the co-products are not approved for use in Malaysia as per the terms of its operating license, the company said.
Lynas' Executive Chairman Nick Curtis told reporters the company had received "significant commercial interest" from potential buyers of the by-product or residue, which emits naturally occurring, low-level radiation.
"But we need to produce it before we can commercialize it," Curtis said.
Lynas has been embroiled in lengthy environmental and safety disputes with local residents since construction began two years ago. Its $800 million plant, which opponents say is environmentally hazardous, began operations late last month after long delays caused by legal challenges and safety disputes.
Located in the east coast city of Kuantan, it had been ready to fire up since May.
The Malaysian high court will hear an application for judicial reviews to block operations of the plant on February 5 next year.
Lynas shares, which last traded at A$0.605, were placed in a trading halt on Tuesday, having traded as high as A$1.63 in February.
(Reporting by Maggie Lu Yueyang; Editing by Chris Gallagher)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lynas-says-malaysia-operating-license-remains-valid-062705119--finance.html
the misfits hook troy miracle andy whitfield kennedy demi moore


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'14 Ford Focus ST on ADV.1's
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