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~ Michael Brant DeMaria
Product Notes
2010 Grammy Nominated Album #1 New Age album February 2009 Native American Music Award Winning Album 2009 for Native Heart Best Native American Music Album of 2009 Zone Music Awards Siyotanka is his third follow-up CD to the popular 'Healing Sound Series' which includes 'The River' and 'Ocean'. It was also used as the soundtrack to the world premiere of the original play he co-wrote with Stephen C. Lott, 'Siyotanka: The Legend of the Flute'. The world of 'Siyotanka' takes the listener on a musical odyssey of mystery and imagination into the very heart of life. Share Takoda's journey into the wild to fulfill his destiny of bringing the flute, Siyotanka, back to his people. Relive his unforgettable musical encounters with Nuka, the woodpecker, Hinhan, the sagely owl, and Hexaka, the great elk. REVIEWS: 'Siyotanka...has deeply affected me with it's energy and sincerity." - MainlyPiano.com 'Michael Brant DeMaria has created a precious work." - A Ultima Fronteira 'Intimate, introspective and revealing are the best words I can use to describe what he does through his flute on Siyotanka! I give this one a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.' - Improvijazzation Nation 'DeMaria doesn't just string together notes or progressions; he grabs hold of the listener and tells a story in phrases and notes that speak to more than just the ears. Siyotanka is a thing of beauty.' - Wildy's World "Michael Brant DeMaria...has managed to create a masterpiece with his effort Siyotanka. The final verdict is in this is a wonderful CD full of magic and surprises. I give Siyotanka a perfect A+." - New Music Spotlight "DeMaria never missteps throughout the entirety of Siyotanka - every track is worthwhile and presents another mesmerizing step in the musical interpretation of Takoda's quest." - Bill Binkelman, New Age Reporter/Zone Music.
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Mrs. Crystal Hefner-Not! [Video]
Call it whatever you like, but I call it sanity! According to Crystal Harris, ditching fiancé, Hugh Hefner nearly at the altar was the 'right thing to do.'
"It was mutual between Hef and I," Harris said there was no fight, we sat down and we talked about it."
With the Playboy Mansion backyard wedding just days away, Harris, 25, credits the intense media pressure as a contributing factor. That's probably part of it. But how about the 60 year age difference!

subset: commoncrawl


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Most vintage sprint cars on the market these days have either seen full restorations – including gold-leaf lettering and plenty of chrome chassis parts – or remain track warriors with selected upgrades mixed in with beat up body panels. Not many are like this Hudson-powered 1949 Hillega ... Read more
Even though many old sprint cars tend to look like they were all cut whole cloth from the same pattern after a while, they can actually vary greatly in the details. Take, for instance, this 1930 Hillegass sprint car for sale on Hemmings.com, which features subtle streamlining and other tweaks to ge ... Read more


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I'm 32 years old, 5'8, 135 lbs, and I have considered having breast reduction and breast lift surgery for more than 10 years.
I developed large breasts pretty early on, but also near that same time I gained a lot of weight. It took a while for the "baby fat' (as my mom called it) to come came off, but at 15 when I should have been feeling confident over my smaller figure, I was plagued with insecurity over the droopy DD sized breasts that stayed behind. Aside from insecurity, the list of frustrations just grew as time went on; shoulder pain from always wearing bras, constantly being uncomfortable, bras never fitting right, clothes never fitting right (don't even get me started on swim suits), hindered exercise, etc. etc. In my early 20's, I began to reassure myself that after I got married and had children I would get a reduction.
So here I am today, I have no children, and although I'm currently in a committed relationship with someone I love very much –children are not in the immediate future plan. Getting older, gaining weight, and losing weight has all taken further tolls on my breasts and on my self-confidence. Very recently I decided I didn't want to put it off any longer and although the results may be better lasting should I wait until after I have children, I just don't know that I will have the opportunity to do this later on.
Today is the morning of my surgery, I'll be having a breast lift and slight reduction. While naturally I'm nervous, overall I'm thrilled with anticipation that for the first time since being very young, I have a chance to be comfortable in my own body.
Reading about other experiences with breast reduction and breast lift has sincerely helped me to decide to take this step towards a better quality of life. I'll make sure to post before and after photos, and let you all know how surgery went as soon as possible.
Best of luck to you in your own journey!
Todays the Day! - San Diego, CA
I'm 32 years old, 5'8, 135 lbs, and I have...
I'm 32 years old, 5'8, 135 lbs, and I have considered having breast reduction and breast lift surgery for more than 10 years.
It's now been 2 weeks since I've had my surgery. ...
They tell you to keep your arms at your side for 1 or 2 weeks after surgery. Not being able to reach for things, or being able to put your arms above your head is pretty restrictive, so it's good to have the things you'll need put within easy reach (like glasses, snacks, medicine, books, etc). The original dressings they put on after surgery are quite bulky, it sort of felt like they had taped a pillow to my chest - but for the most part I was happy to feel supported by the padding. I do wish I had more over-sized button up or zip up shirts though. Loose fitting and light fabric is definitely key to comfort, especially while the drains are in.
I had a followup appointment on day 5, but it took about 10 days before the Dr. could remove the original dressings for me to see the results. Although I fully trust Dr. P - I was nervous to see how they would look - I was worried with what he had to work with - one of my breasts was a lot larger than the other, and I had significant sagging (as you can see by the photos).
At the appointment, the doctor's assistant helped me remove all of my surgical dressings and put a gown on. As she left the room, she said "It'll be a few minutes for the Dr. to see you – you can enjoy this time without a bra on". While she was referring to the 6 weeks post-surgery that is spent with surgical dressings on, it meant so much more than that to me. Sitting there bra-less under the gown, I can't even describe accurately what the feeling was; literally and figuratively it felt like a weight lifted off my chest. This was the first time since puberty that I was comfortable with the physical feeling of just being me - nude, without the support of a bra. The Dr. came in and showed me my result, and still days later I don't have the words to express how I feel, the closest I can find is 'Liberated'. The surgical tape is still in place, and there's swelling and bruising, that's normal at this phase – but wow, I'm absolutely thrilled with the result.
I was taken aback by the significantly smaller size, but not in a negative way -I've just always identified myself with my large breasts. While I'm not normally a sensitive person, this process has been very personal and emotional for me. The whole experience feels like so much more than just a physical transformation. I've never had much of a mind-body connection, and actually with weight struggles and insecurities towards my breasts - it's always felt I've had more of a mind vs. body connection. This feels like the relationship between the two are being mended – I only wish I had taken these steps sooner.
I'll make sure to keep the updates coming – best of luck to all of you!
I researched tons of surgeons in San Diego County and determined Dr. Tom Pousti to be the best qualified by far. I based my decision on research of his board certifications, experience with this type of surgery, his activity in the plastic surgery community, his openness to show real photos of patients and offer recommendations, the location of his surgical facility, and of course upon my consultation with him personally. During consultation and pre-surgery he was not at all pushy - he took the time to listen to my concerns, and made me feel comfortable. Post-surgery, my results so far are better than I ever could have imagined. I couldn't be happier with the level of service I've received from the doctor himself, his office staff, and his nursing staff. I would highly recommend Dr. Pousti for breast reduction / breast lift surgery.


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Management CommentsJ. Mike Stice, Access Midstream Partners' Chief Executive Officer, commented, "While the Partnership's name and ownership structure have changed, our commitment to executing on our best-in-class business model while maintaining a conservative balance sheet and investment grade credit metrics remains unchanged. The strong operating and financial results in the 2012 second quarter are further evidence of the Partnership's ability to produce consistent results for our investors. This quarter continued to show the strong organic growth within our existing footprint. This sustained exposure to the most prolific unconventional plays in North America will be an important competitive advantage for many years to come." Conference Call Information A conference call to discuss this release of financial results has been scheduled for Wednesday, August 8, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. EDT. The telephone number to access the conference call is 719-325-4813 or toll-free 877-681-3377. The passcode for the call is 4772466. We encourage those who would like to participate in the call to dial the access number between 8:50 and 9:00 a.m. EDT. For those unable to participate in the conference call, a replay will be available for audio playback from 12:00 p.m. EDT on August 8, 2012 through 12:00 p.m. EDT on August 22, 2012. The number to access the conference call replay is 719-457-0820 or toll-free 888-203-1112. The passcode for the replay is 4772466. The conference call will also be webcast live on the Internet and can be accessed by going to the Partnership's website at www.accessmidstream.com in the "Events" subsection of the "Investors" section of the website. An archive of the conference call webcast will also be available on the website. Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures This press release and accompanying schedules include the non-GAAP financial measures of adjusted ebitda, DCF and adjusted DCF. The accompanying schedules provide reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. Non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered as an alternative to GAAP measures such as net income, net cash provided by operating activities or any other measure of liquidity or financial performance calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. Investors should not consider adjusted ebitda, DCF or adjusted DCF in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of the Partnership's results as reported under GAAP. Because these non-GAAP financial measures may be defined differently by other companies in our industry, the Partnership's definition of adjusted ebitda, DCF and adjusted DCF may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies, thereby diminishing their utility.
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text: Hi When I connect via bluetooth to my car, calls ring via the car speakers and I can make and receive calls fine. But when I get a txt I get no audio alert via the car and nothing via the phones speaker. It still vibrates. I've tried various apps that are meant to help with alerts via bluetooth and nothing has worked. In the car I can access the Desire as a phone or a music device. If I set it as a music device and I am listening to music from the Desire via the car, then I get txt alerts via the car. But if I'm listening to the radio, no alerts come through the car. The phone rings via the car fine.. If I can't get alerts via the car, is there anyway I keep the calls coming to the car, but have the text alerts via the phone ? Thanks


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Here at Axtone, we occasionally like to delve back in time and rummage around our vast vault full of great tracks to be reminded of timeless classics released on Axtone Records. Enjoy this one from TV Rock ft. Rudy – Been A Long Time (Laidback Luke Remix).
Listen on Soundcloud HERE


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One month after Brittany Murphy's death, her husband Simon Monjack said Hollywood contributed to the actress' death.
In a new interview with Larry King, Monjack and the actress' mother – Sharon Murphy – opened up about their loss.
"You want to know what broke Brittany Murphy's heart? Hollywood broke Brittany Murphy's heart," Monjack told King.
The full interview with Monjack and Murphy's mother will air on CNN's "Larry King Live" on January 20.
Not surprisingly, Monjack said he's still having a hard time coping with the loss of his wife, who died on December 20 at age 32.
"How are you holding up?" King asked.
"I don't think I am. I don't think either of us are," Monjack replied.
"No," Sharon Murphy added.
"You wake up in the morning and it's like a rebirth. It's… there's not enough time to… your dreams, be they good or bad, when you wake up and I reach out to touch or hold my wife and she isn't there," Monjack continued.
As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, Murphy was found unresponsive in the shower of her Hollywood home in the early hours of December 20. She was pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in LA later that day.
But the actress' mother said she knew she had lost her daughter before emergency personnel broke the sad news.
"Were you there when they said she didn't make it?" King asked.
"Three people came in. Sharon and I were holding each other. And they let us know at the same time that they — that she hadn't made it," Monjack revealed.
"But we knew before that," her mother said. "It was just — you know, you felt her life go out of her."
While an autopsy was completed in the days following Murphy's death, the Los Angeles County Coroner's office previously released a statement to Access Hollywood noting that the exact cause of the actress' death was being "deferred pending the receipt of additional toxicological tests and tissue studies."
Those results were expected to take at least four to six weeks.
At the time, Los Angles County Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter told Access Hollywood outside of Murphy's home that the actress died of natural causes and no foul play was suspected.
The day after her death, Monjack reached out to Access Hollywood to speak about the loss of his wife.
"My world was destroyed yesterday," he told Access at the time.
Murphy and Monjack, a screenwriter, wed in 2007.
Murphy rose to fame after a memorable role in 1995's "Clueless." Her other film credits include "8 Mile," "Just Married," "Girl, Interrupted," "Sin City" and "Riding In Cars With Boys."


text: Job Title: Software Engineer - Java - SQL - 2 open positions! Company: Chase Technology Consultants Type of Job: Full Time Location: Andover, MA Salary: Competitive View all our job openings Not ready to apply? Join our Talent Network Company Profile: Chase Technology Consultants Connect With Us: Job Description: A medical device company that creates high tech medical applications for mobile devices is seeking to hire 2 mid-level Software Engineers for their site in Salem, NH. ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS: *Develop cutting edge blood glucose level monitor and other mobile applications for Andorid, Blackberry, and iPhone platforms *Develop web and cloud applications *Engage in building automated test systems and processes *20% front-end vs. 80% back-end web development in a full life cycle environment, with minimal design and maintenance functions SUMMARY OF TECHNOLOGIES TO BE USED (but not limited to): *Java, SQL, .NET(C#, VB.NET), CSS, HTML, JavaScript, Objective-C, Brew, Blackberry, Android ESSENTIAL SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE: *3 - 8 years of overall software development experience *3+ years of Java experience *Java (web, enterprise, and/or desktop) *SQL Server *Excellent communication skills *Ability to work well in a team environment as well as individually BONUS SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE: *.NET (C#, VB.NET) *CSS *HTML *JavaScript *Objective-C *Brew *Blackberry *Android BENEFITS: *Competitive salary *Excellent medical benefits package *Dental insurance *401K + match *Life insurance *Paid time off *Great opportunity to work with a cutting-edge life altering product for diabetics NOTE: All applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship of any kind; no H1-B Visa corp-corp sponsorship or transfers offered. Share this job with a friend:


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SAN DIEGO: Worshippers of different faiths met under the blue-tiled dome of the Immaculata Church at the University of San Diego yesterday for the 16th annual All Faith Service.
The service is a yearly effort to bring religious leaders and students together in prayer. For this year's event, themed "Celebrating Religious Diversity," organizers arranged for a Hindu dance, a Buddhist chant, a Christian hymn, a Jewish blessing and a reflection by a local imam.
The service also marked the start of the university's yearlong 60th anniversary celebration.
Other events are planned throughout the year, culminating with a black-tie gala in November.
USD is a Catholic university in Linda Vista that serves about 7,500 undergraduate and graduate students. –A.C.
Once-segregated firehouse will be remodeled, painted
SAN DIEGO: Historic Old Fire Station 19, once the segregated home to San Diego's black firefighters, will be restored, Councilman Tony Young announced this week.
Last week, a city board granted the station landmark status, at the behest of Brothers United, an organization for minority firefighters.
The Mountain View firehouse closed in 1986, nearly 60 years after it was built. The city only assigned African-American firefighters to the station until 1951, when the department integrated the facilities.
Jimmie Slack, Young's chief of staff, said federal block grants will be used to remodel and paint the station's interior. Supporters also want to replace a modern door on the bay where fire trucks are housed with doors that are more historically accurate.
Private donations will be sought as well. –J.V.
Old instruments sought for school music program
SAN DIEGO: That dusty old flute in the closet could soon be in the hands of a budding young musician.
KSDS Jazz 88.3 FM has launched its annual Music Matters instrument donation program to support music education in the San Diego Unified School District. The program enables children who cannot afford to rent or buy instruments the chance to take lessons at their public school.
Donations of any instrument will be accepted through February at any Coles Fine Flooring store in San Diego County or at the KSDS business office, on the City College campus next to Lot 7 at 15th and C streets.
All instruments will be refurbished by the Community Council for Music in the Schools and then distributed to schools throughout the district.
For more information, call (619)-388-3037 or go to jazz88.org. –M.M.
Lecture series to focus on gang violence, prevention
SAN DIEGO: The Good Samaritan Episcopal Church in University City will host a Sunday morning lecture series on gang violence and prevention during the month of February.
The first seminar will begin at 9:05 a.m. Sunday at the church, 4321 Eastgate Mall. Topics through the month will include prison gangs, prison ministries and girl gangs. The last session on Feb. 22 will address how the community and faith-based organizations can make an impact.
Guest speakers will include a prison chaplain and National City youth pastor.
Child care will be available. For more information, call (858) 458-1501. –K.D.
Extension courses see increase in enrollment
LA JOLLA: UCSD Extension reports a sharp increase in the number of students going into accounting, paralegal studies and other certificate programs.
University officials say extension enrollment rose 28 percent last year, compared to 2007. The program offers continuing education classes geared toward working adults.
A campus official said many of those seeking certificates are college graduates who are trying to broaden their job prospects in the face of a weak economy.
Most certificates offered by the University of California San Diego can be earned in one to two years, at a cost ranging from $1,875 to $3,200. –S.S.
La Jolla architect Oncina nominated to CCDC board
SAN DIEGO: La Jolla architect Manuel Oncina has been nominated for the board of San Diego's downtown redevelopment agency.
Tapped by Mayor Jerry Sanders, Oncina would replace University of California San Diego visual arts professor Teddy Cruz on the board of the Centre City Development Corp.
Cruz's term was supposed to end in May 2010, but he took leave of the agency last week, citing time commitments elsewhere. The City Council is expected to vote on Oncina's nomination on Feb. 17.
The job is high-profile and high-powered, despite being unpaid. CCDC's seven board members largely direct the downtown agency's $235 million budget, though the City Council technically has the last word.
Oncina is known around San Diego County for his public library designs, including those in Encinitas, Cardiff, Pacific Beach and Valencia Park. –J.S.
Staff writers Alexa Capeloto, Jennifer Vigil, Maureen Magee, Kristina Davis, Steve Schmidt and Jeanette Steele contributed to this report.


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Corporate Loyalty Card
General Description
A clean and corporate loyalty card that is suitable for most businesses. The use of photo on the front view makes the card looks more vibrant. This design is a must have if you wish to stands out from the rest of the loyalty card.
This loyalty card comes with 4 different colors which caters to different preferences.
Images used in the preview are not included in the file. However, download links are available inside the file.
- Fully Layered PSD files
- Fully Customizable and Editable
- CMYK Setting
- 300 DPI High Resolution
- 3.5" x 2"(3.75" x 2.25" with bleed setting)
- Print Ready Format
- Font Used: Helvetica Neue
Files Included:
- 1 PSD file for each colors(black, green, orange and red)
- 1 Readme text file
- 1 Reference Image
Images Used in the Preview
- http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1320254
- http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1338793
- http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1289296
- http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1207083


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Member since 3/24/2012
- 2 total posts
- 2 comments
Recent comments from Ruby123
I am so glad to see some positive reviews I was getting worried about going forward in the office but you look great. Thank you for sharing . READ COMMENT
I was going to have sx, wow can you post current photos. I want to follow your recovery....thank you READ COMMENT


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Players must complete 3 treasure hunts in order to enter the Land of Great Discovery. Each treasure hunt is comprised of the following:
There are also 3 Blue Skidoo locations (one in each pathway) that take Blue and Steve to Recycle Town, an art museum, and a nursery rhyme book.
In addition to the hunts themselves, there are 11 activities found throughout the game:
One of the many wonderful features of this program is Personalized Game Play – kids are asked their name, age, and favorite things (treat, color, farm animal, fruit) at sign-in, and these items will automatically appear throughout the adventure (for example, the fridge magnets in Steve's kitchen will spell out the child's name). This personal touch was well-received by kid testers they were delighted.
Plenty of fun clickables and surprises are found throughout the adventure, as well as gorgeous screens and charming details.
There is a tremendous amount of content to this program. However the difficulty of the adventure is perhaps slightly mismatched to the age group that responds most to the Blue's Clues TV show. Younger kids in the suggested age group may not have the follow-through or the know-how for embarking on all the adventures. In this case, parents will need to step in or, better yet, older siblings can lend a hand (they may pretend they don't want to, but the treasure hunts are hard to pass up!). Also, there are some relatively lengthy screen transitions, which keep the game somewhat slow-moving, much like the quiet nature of the television show! If needed, show children, show them the "Esc" key trick to stop short some of the cutscenes.
Technically Speaking
Minimum requirements are Windows 95/98, a Pentium 166 processor, 32 Mb RAM, and 4X CD ROM. Mac users require a 132 MHz Power PC with 32 Mb RAM, System 7.5.3, and at least 4X CD ROM. It requires 80MB of hard drive space.
Humongous games are generally very easy to install, and this game was no exception. With Windows 95/98 AutoPlay, it is a breeze. No glitches have been encountered, and graphics and audio are superb. Some "printables" are included, and printing can be turned on or off at the parent's discretion.
Humongous games are generally very easy to install, and this game was no exception. With Windows 95/98 AutoPlay, it is a breeze. No glitches have been encountered, and graphics and audio are superb. Some "printables" are included, and printing can be turned on or off at the parent's discretion.
Skills Covered
problem solving, thinking, logic, planning, strategy, number recognition, memory, creativity, story order, music, colors, counting, spatial skills, context clues
Educational Value
There is quite a range of skills covered in this program from thinking and problem-solving skills to more traditional academic learning.
Entertainment Value
This program is extremely charming and entertaining for Blue's Clues fans.
Difficulty levels are automatically adjusted as kids play the game, but parents can easily adjust them by pressing "S" on the keyboard – they can select Beginning, Intermediate, or Advanced levels for either all the activities or individual ones. Pressing F1 will pull up a very detailed help screen, which includes general game hints as well as specific ones for the truly "stuck". Use the Esc key to skip through the cutscene.
Nobody can complain that there is not enough content in fact, some parents of younger children might think there is too much. This program is packed with things to do multiple treasure hunts, lots of learning activities, an arcade-style game with 100 levels, and creativity games.
Dollar Value
This program is certainly worth the suggested retail price of $30 US.


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While Americans were getting ready for the holiday season, the United States Chamber of Commerce delivered what might have been the most coveted gift of all: a report that claims that 2011 was ending on an economic high note. In fact, many analysts say the economy may have grown by as much as 3 percent from October to December, which the chamber said would represent the largest growth since spring of 2010.
Part of this sudden economic boom came from record holiday sales. According to a recent survey by digital tracker comScore, online sales hit $36.3 billion during the first 56 days of November and December, a 15 percent increase from the same period a year earlier. And just 10 days before Christmas, the National Retail Federation revised its projection of holiday sales to $469.1 billion, up from its own October estimates of $465.6 billion.
Strong holiday sales were not the only factor, however, in 2011's strong finish. While holiday shopping reached an all-time high in 2011, the Chamber of Commerce says many other economic indicators ended the year unexpectedly healthy.
- Unemployment decrease. During the week before the Chamber's Dec. 22 report, unemployment dipped four-tenths of a percentage point to 8.6 percent, its lowest level since March 2009.
- Job creation. Employers have added at least 100,000 jobs a month for the past five months, the longest streak since 2006. In November 2011 there were 120,000 jobs added, according to the December 2011 jobs report. Small businesses may be the driving force behind continued success in 2012, according to a report released this week (Jan. 3) by payroll company SurePayroll. It found that 50 percent of small-business owners plan to hire in 2012 and 56 percent intend to raise wages for employees.
- Consumer confidence. The Conference Board, a business group that tracks the mood of consumers, reported that the 15-point jump in consumer confidence from October to November represented the biggest one-month jump since April 2003. The index stood at 56 for November.
- Falling gas prices. Gasoline prices approached $4 a gallon in May before settling at an average of $3.21 in recent months, allowing people to focus on spending elsewhere instead of at the gas pump, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge, the chamber report said.
- Increase in inventories. With an increase in sales seen in recent months, businesses are restocking their shelves. October saw an 8.7 percent increase in inventories at businesses from a year ago. According to the Chamber of Commerce, this growth of inventories could represent a third of economic growth this quarter.
- Strides in housing. Construction of new homes rose by 9 percent in November from the previous month. Additionally, the National Association of Realtors recently stated that sales of previously occupied homes rose by 4 percent in November. The numbers, however, remain below the rate that would be considered healthy for the housing market.
Reach BusinessNewsDaily staff writer David Mielach at firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @D_M89.


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New Diamond Options
Synthetic monocrystalline diamond (SMD) is used to machine and finish a variety of surfaces, including ceramics, optics, semiconductor materials and media storage components. In most cases, SMD is more than adequate to meet the required specifications for surface roughness and removal rate. However, the inherent crystal structure of SMD will eventually limit its use for next-generation finishing.
Recently, abrasive manufacturers have made some morphology refinements to the base crystalline structure of diamond. Microcrystallites, graphitic shells and nanotechnology are significantly improving modern finishing operations and are offering new options for companies seeking to optimize their products.
Monocrystalline DiamondTo understand the advantages offered by the newest generations of diamond abrasives, it is helpful to review the features of conventional monocrystalline diamond. Monocrystalline diamond is a highly ordered crystalline solid. The carbon atoms are linked together in a regular structure; each atom shares one of its outer shell electrons with four other carbon atoms in an equally spaced tetrahedral environment.
To meet industry volume demands and emulate the production conditions of diamonds found in nature, artificial synthesis requires the use of high temperatures and
pressures-typically around 2000 K and 60 kilobars (kbar), respectively, using modern diamond presses and nickel catalysts. Mechanically, presses differ slightly throughout the world; however, all SMD production falls within the shaded region of the phase diagram shown in Figure 1. SMD production factories often use hundreds of presses since the reaction chamber is quite small; one synthesis might produce fewer than 100 carats to specification per run. The raw diamond must then be crushed, milled, cleaned and graded.1
In finishing operations, SMD provides a good material removal rate (MRR), which increases with increased particle size distribution. However, workpieces finished with SMD are rough in comparison to workpieces finished with more advanced forms of diamond. SMD cutting edges are large in comparison to the total crystal size. They are also sharp and not friable. It is this toughness that enables micron and submicron SMD to retain some of the shape characteristics (such as pyramids and trigons) of the parent crystals after the crushing and milling process. SMD is resistant to acids and hot caustic solution, so the surface can be cleaned to very low impurity levels. Batch-to-batch quality from SMD suppliers is very consistent, and the cost per carat of SMD is the lowest of all synthetic diamond types. (Prices are currently $0.25-0.75 per carat, depending on purity and standard deviation.)
Reducing excessive high-aspect-ratio pieces in a SMD feed batch presents a considerable challenge to diamond suppliers because these structures are hydrodynamically equivalent to smaller, more regularly shaped pieces. During elutriation, elongated pieces gather momentum from the added frictional component and carry over into the graded batch. This phenomenon is similar to dropping two pieces of paper, one crumpled and one flat, from shoulder height to the ground. The crumpled paper will hit the ground faster since the frictional force of air will cause the flat paper to float. Elongated pieces can be separated in milling if the energy selected is above the cracking energy of the thin pieces and below the cleaving energy of regular-shaped pieces. The smaller fragments can then be removed in the grading process. However, extra-tight distributions add significant time and cost to SMD powders.
Polycrystalline DiamondUnlike SMD, synthetic polycrystalline diamond (SPD) is produced through explosive shock synthesis. Several tons of explosives are used to generate about 250 kbar (equivalent to about 3 million psi) of pressure on the graphite feed. Each SPD piece contains smaller diamond "microcrystallites." The microcrystallites are oriented in different crystallographic directions every 10-50 nm, regardless of the particle size distribution of the parent pieces. The hardness of an individual microcrystallite is comparable to that of SMD. While the difference between SPD and SMD is discernable through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), a transmission electron microscope (TEM) is required to visualize the microcrystal structure (see Figure 3).
The MRR of SPD is up to 10 times higher than SMD because SPD has more cutting edges and a higher surface area (see Figure 2c). Multiple edges and corners are in contact with the workpiece simultaneously, thus reducing the probability of subsurface damage from excessive pressures. SPD also costs an average of 10 times more than SMD ($2.10-8.00 per carat). However, the upfront costs can be easily recovered in the finishing operation because less diamond is required to achieve equivalent or better results, and less labor is needed due to the shorter material removal times required.
Compared to SMD, SPD has greater source variability. Slight variations in explosion energy and geometry can produce a transitional-type polycrystalline diamond with microcrystallites oriented in one direction. Milling variability can also affect the edge sharpness. Less aggressively milled SPD produces a sharper crystal for higher removal rate, while more aggressive milling dulls edges for a smoother finish. Most end users finish with a single source of polycrystalline diamond to eliminate structure-source variability.
Heat-Treated Synthetic Monocrystalline DiamondHeat-treated synthetic monocrystalline diamond (HTSMD) is manufactured by heating well graded and cleaned SMD in an inert atmosphere to about 1200°C. Under these conditions, the powder darkens from light gray to black (see Figure 4), which represents a reorganization of the surface into a more disordered, graphite-like layer. The particle size distribution of HTSMD is often tighter than SMD and SPD, since unwanted pieces on the fine end tend to fuse into larger clusters or disappear completely in the heat-treating process.
The graphite sheets provide a lubricating region between a sharp diamond edge and the workpiece (see Figure 2d). This shell coating lowers the scratch and defect rate compared to SMD. As noted previously, elongated pieces in SMD are very difficult to remove completely from a batch since they are hydrodynamically equivalent to well-shaped pieces. However, since the entire HTSMD batch is engulfed in a high-temperature oven during processing, all elongated pieces that would otherwise scratch or damage a surface are shaped and lubricated. The MRR of HTSMD is comparable to SPD, but one distinct advantage of HTSMD is reduced diamond embedding in the workpiece. Machining operators have indicated that workpieces have up to 33% less embedding when using HTSMD, compared to SMD and SPD.
Ultra Dispersed DiamondIn recent years, researchers have discovered that the functional utility of diamond increases with decreasing particle size. Nanodiamond (defined as diamond having an average diameter of 0.100 micron or less) has more pieces per carat than traditional micron diamond used in finishing (see Table 1). In fact, just one carat (200 mg) of 100 nanometer (nm) diamond abrasive contains slightly over 100 trillion pieces. Since the number of pieces per carat is proportional to the cube of the radius, the quantity of 3-micron diamond equivalent to the number of pieces in 100 nm diamond jumps to 100,000 carats, or roughly 44 lbs. The equivalent mass of 30-micron diamond, a size typically used in cutting wheels, is 22 tons.
The newest type of nanodiamond, ultra dispersed diamond (UDD), contains about 100,000 trillion primary particles per carat. If we compare this number to 300-micron Bermuda beach sand at 4000 pieces per 200 mg, the equivalent mass now becomes 22 million tons (see Figure 5)-enough to fill a 50-yard beach 1 ft deep with dry-packed sand 550 miles long, or roughly 14 times around the entire Bermuda perimeter.
Another term related to UDD that is gaining popularity is "cluster diamond." This description is unique to UDD, as long as the terminology reflects a clustered nanodiamond and not a nanocluster diamond. The reason for the distinction is that UDD is composed of primary and secondary particles. The primary particle is the smallest identifiable unit of UDD. The surface energy of such small pieces prevents complete dispersion of UDD into a suspension or powder of primary particles. Average secondary cluster sizes used in the finishing industry currently range from 100-800 nm.
UDD is produced in the diamond stability region at temperatures above 3000 K and pressures above 100 kbar. However, one critical process difference distinguishes UDD from other diamond types-the feed, explosives and UDD product are contained within the explosion chamber. Both the chamber and explosives must be oxygen-deficient (<6%) to reduce unwanted byproducts and the conversion of diamond back to the more thermodynamically stable graphite. Unlike other diamond types, UDD contains many surface-functional groups, such as methyl, nitrile, COH, COOH, CO and C6H6, and it is composed primarily of carbon (87%), oxygen (10%), nitrogen (2%) and hydrogen (1%). The surface groups reduce UDD density to about 2.8, although the core retains the hardness of monocrystalline diamond.
The characteristic advantage of UDD particles is that the edges are not subject to the attrition variability inherent in all other diamond types. Unlike micron SMD, which must be milled from parent pieces, UDD particles are produced directly in the explosion process and do not contain any rogue elongated pieces. As a result, finishes obtained from UDD are relatively scratch-free. Initial results indicate that the MRR is relatively low, but this is expected when finishing to angstrom or sub-angstrom roughness with nanoparticles. Since UDD is relatively new on the open market, performance data compared to other diamond types are still being collected. However, UDD is expected to be the most tested diamond type in 2005, so the data gap will quickly close.
Selecting the Right TypeAll diamond types offer advantages and challenges, and a fine line often exists between optimum performance and cost effectiveness. Diamond performance can also be controlled with the slurry chemistry; often a slight change in dispersion or slurry viscosity can reduce the scratch rate and/or increase MRR. Whether a company is considering process improvements or new state-of-the-art finishing applications, it is best to gauge the performance comparison by assuming that all other conditions-including machine, work pressures and slurry-are constant. The performance summary in Table 2 can be used as a guide when selecting diamond for current or next-generation finishing processes.
About the AuthorNicholas Tumavitch, Ph.D., has been the manufacturing and development chemist at Warren/Amplex Superabrasives in Olyphant, Pa., for the past eight years. He received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from the University of Scranton and earned a doctorate in physical chemistry, specializing in interfacial thermodynamics, from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He can be reached by e-mail at email@example.com.
For more information, contact Warren/Amplex Superabrasives, 1401 East Lackawanna St., Mid-Valley Industrial Park, Olyphant, PA 18447; (800) 368-5155 or (570) 383-3261; fax (570) 383-3218; e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com; or visit http://www.warrenamplex.com.
Reference1. Abramshe, Ron, "Grading Technique, Analysis and Standardization of Micron Materials for Application in Computers, Optics, Lasers, Medical Devices and Other Applications Where Exact Tolerances Are Required," Grinding and Abrasives Magazine, January 2004, pp. 10-14.
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Easter Sunday in Miami Beach is always a party. If you're traveling with your family for the holiday, here's what to do:
Brunch: The traditional Sunday brunch gets a gourmet update at South Florida restaurants, including Hakkasan's tender steamed dumplings at the Fontainebleau Resort, Nemo's whole roast suckling pig, and Sakaya Kitchen's kimchee scrambled eggs. Just be sure to make reservations well in advance.
Easter Egg Hunt: An Easter Eggstravaganza at the tropical theme park Jungle Island kicks off April 2, 3, and 4 with three days of egg hunts that include 50,000 eggs stuffed with 800 pounds of candy and prizes. Located just minutes away from South Beach, the animal preserve is home to colorful tropical birds, alligators, jungle cats, African penguins, and chimpanzees. Easter weekend events run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and include visits by Babar the Elephant, Pepe the Parrot, and the one and only Easter Bunny who leads the crowd in pie-eating contests, arts and crafts lessons, and a chance to get wild in a bounce house. A free shuttle picks up guests at the Fontainebleau Resort, the Courtyard by Marriott, and the Loews Miami Beach Hotel.
Dinner: Talula Restaurant, a swank bistro popular among local foodies and their families, offers a special Easter dinner in its lovely back garden. The Gansevoort South Hotel and W South Beach are both just across the street from Talula.
- AdvisorGirl, from Oyster Locals


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Gran Hotel Barcino4
Carrer de Jaume I, 6, Barcelona, 08002
Price FromView Rooms
- Excellent
- 1 guest reviews
"What a lovely hotel with lovely people - especially Rafael, nothing was too much trouble! Our room was spacious and clean with a beautiful b..."
About the hotel
Property Location
With a stay at Gran Hotel Barcino, you'll be centrally located in Barcelona, steps from Museu d'Història de Barcelona and Ajuntament. This 4-star hotel is close to Palau de la Musica Catalana and Casa Batllo.
Make yourself at home in one of the 68 air-conditioned rooms featuring flat-screen televisions.
Rooms have private balconies. Complimentary wireless Internet access keeps you connected, and satellite programming is available for your entertainment. Private bathrooms with shower/tub combinations feature complimentary toiletries and bidets.
Make use of convenient amenities, which include complimentary wireless Internet access and concierge services.
Buffet breakfasts are available daily for a fee.
Business, Other Amenities
Featured amenities include complimentary newspapers in the lobby, a 24-hour front desk, and multilingual staff. Self parking (subject to charges) is available onsite.
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- Main
- 24 Hour Reception, Safety Deposit Box, Concierge, Laundry/Valet Service, Porter, Lift to all floors
- Business
- Wi-Fi Available In Public Areas
Useful Info Show/hide
- Between 14:00 and 23:00
- By 11:00 hours
- Up to 8 years old
- Know Before You Go Cash transactions at this property cannot exceed EUR 2500, due to national regulations. For further details, please contact the property using information in the booking confirmation. Fees The following fees and deposits are charged by the property at time of service, check-in, or check-out. Fee for buffet breakfast: EUR 13.20 for adults and EUR 13.20 for children (approximately) Self parking fee: EUR 25 per day In-room safe fee: EUR 2 per day Crib (infant bed) fee: EUR 15 per night The above list may not be comprehensive. Fees and deposits may not include tax and are subject to change. Mandatory Fees and Taxes You'll be asked to pay the following charges at the property: A tax is imposed by the city: EUR 1.21 per person, per night, up to 7 nights. This tax does not apply to children under 17 years of age. We have included all charges provided to us by the property. However, charges can vary, for example, based on length of stay or the room you book. The LateRooms.com rate for Gran Hotel Barcino in Barcelona is the total price of the room and not the 'per person' rate. All taxes are included, with the exception of city tax, which will be charged at 1.21(EUR) per person per night and is payable to the hotel directly.
- Pets are not allowed
Customer Reviews
Our reviews are from genuine LateRooms.com customers. We verify that the customer has stayed before leaving a review.
100% would recommend it to a friend
Customer service
Room quality
A gem in the heart of the Gothic Quarter
What a lovely hotel with lovely people - especially Rafael, nothing was too much trouble.
Our room was spacious and clean with a beautiful b...
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May 28, 2014
MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State University will welcome five new members and a team to its 2014 Athletic Hall of Fame in June.
Leading the group will be long-time DSU head track and cross country coach Buzz Stevenson. Being inducted with their coach will be four track/cross country athletes and the 1996-97 men's cross country/track teams. The four individuals selected are Desa Rae (Doyle) Cleveland, Amy (Hansen) Tvedt, Lorin Larsen (posthumously) and Ryan Phillips. The induction ceremony will be held on Saturday, June 7 at the Dakota Prairie Playhouse.
Desa Rae (Doyle) Cleveland (Class of 2002) excelled in the women's high jump and was the first-ever women's national champion in Trojan school history. She claimed the 2000 NAIA Women's Indoor High Jump Championship with a jump of 5 feet, 6 inches. Desa Rae held the DSU outdoor high jump school record with a jump of 5 feet, 8.5 inches, which stood for eight years.
Desa Rae is a five-time NAIA All-American with three selections from Indoor Track and two from Outdoor Track. She was an SDIC All-Conference selection in 2000 and was named an NAIA All-Scholar Athlete in 2001 for her academic success in the classroom.
Amy (Hansen) Tvedt (Class of 1998) received numerous athletic honors in her impressive distance running career at Dakota State. She was a two-time NAIA All-American indoor track runner in the 3000-meters and an All-American in cross country. She placed fourth at the NAIA Indoor Track Nationals in 1996 and fifth in 1997. She also placed 14th at the 1996 NAIA Women's Cross Country National meet.
Amy received South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference (SDIC) All-Conference honors on nine different occasions. She earned All-Conference status twice for cross country in 1995 and 1996. She was All-Conference four times during the indoor track season, with a pair of honors in the 1500- and 3000-meters runs in 1996 and 400- and 1500-meters in 1997. She was named to the SDIC All-Conference Outdoor Track & Field list three times in 1996 and 1997 (once in the 1500 and twice in the 3000-meter runs).
The South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference (SDIC) selected Amy as Indoor Track's Most Valuable Female Athlete in 1997 at the conference Indoor Meet. She was also named DSU's Most Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year in 1996 and 1997.
Lorin Larsen (Class of 1985) had a stellar track career at Dakota State where he was a four-time Most Valuable Athlete at the South Dakota Intercollegiate (SDIC) conference meet. He qualified for the Outdoor Track National Meet four times and the Indoor Track National Meet three times. He was selected as the DSU Team Captain in 1985.
Larsen, who was the team's Most Valuable Athlete twice in his career at DSU, currently holds Trojan outdoor track records in both long and triple jump and the 1600-meter relay. His record-setting long jump in 1984 measured 24 feet, 5 inches. In addition, he holds the DSU school record in triple jump with a leap of 48 feet and 1 inch. Larsen also anchored the men's 1600-meter relay. Their record-setting time of three minutes and 16.40 seconds still stands 30 years later.
Another DSU distance runner who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame is Ryan Phillips (Class of 1995). He was selected DSU's Most Outstanding Male Athlete in 1992 and 1993. Phillips earned NAIA All-American status in 1993 during the indoor track season (1000-meter run). He also received the NAIA Track All-District 12 honors in 1992 and 1993.
Phillips had a stellar running career with the Trojan cross country team and was named to the NAIA All-District 12 team in 1991. He was a two-time SDIC Cross Country All-Conference runner in 1991 and 1992. Phillips was picked by the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference as the Most Valuable Athlete in 1993.
Buzz Stevenson will be retiring this spring after 29 years of coaching the Dakota State University cross country and track teams. While at DSU, Stevenson has garnered 14 SDIC Coach-of-the-Year titles and two NAIA Great Plains Regional Cross Country Coach-of-the-Year awards. Stevenson's teams have won 14 SDIC conference championships and have produced 65 All-Americans.
Stevenson coached two national champions during his coaching era at Dakota State. Desa Rae (Doyle) Cleveland was the NAIA national champion in women's high jump during the 2000 indoor season. Andy Coy became the first-ever male track athlete to win the NAIA Indoor Track National Champions in the men's 1000-meter run in 2012.
Dakota State University Athletics will also be recognizing the 1996-97 men's cross country and track teams that won the SDIC championships. The 1996 Trojan men's cross country won the SDIC conference team title by a 33-point margin and qualified for the NAIA Cross Country Nationals where they placed 17th overall. Dakota State easily captured the 1997 SDIC Indoor Track title by 63 points and the 1997 SDIC Outdoor track title by 41 points. Stevenson was named the SDIC Indoor and Outdoor Track Coach-of-the-Year in 1997.
Members on the 1996-97 DSU men's cross country/track & field team were Robert Blasé, Daniel Crites, Dominick Damm, John Ecklein, David Greenman, Matt Jacobsen, Jared Jankord, Jake Kamps, Gerald Kubiak, Brad Mair, Matt Martens, Christopher Martin, Ryan Raak, Tyler Roerig, David Sample, Shane Scholten, Todd Smidt, Mark Stoick, Warren Terveer, Brian Tvedt, Orlando Velesquez (cross country), Larry Voss, Kurt Wallace and Chad Willard. A total of 10 members qualified for the indoor track national meet, while four athletes qualified for the outdoor track national meet in 1997.
For additional information or tickets for these events, contact the DSU Athletic Department at 605-256-5229 or e-mail Jeff Dittman at [email protected] for Hall of Fame information.
For further information and so that we may plan appropriately for the banquet Saturday evening, June 7, please RSVP by contacting the Athletic Department at 605-256-5229 or e-mail [email protected]. Tickets are $14 per person and may be purchased at the door. The social begins at 5:30 p.m. with dinner served at 6:15 p.m. The program will begin at approximately 7 p.m. The event is open to the public.
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director


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"Christmas is not a date. It is a state of mind." --Mary Ellen Chase
The market is in a holiday mood this morning and set to open with a positive bias. There is very little news flow and not much action, but that is exactly the right environment for continuation of our Santa Claus rally that finally kicked in Tuesday.
For a while Wednesday it looked like the surprisingly poor earnings report from Oracle (ORCL) might knock us off track, but market players were able to regroup. The Nasdaq and technology stocks still suffered some damage, but the rest of the market came back quite nicely in the afternoon and we closed strongly.
With money managers hungry for additional relative performance, plenty of underinvested bulls who are out of position, and no major news flow for a change, we are in good shape for positive seasonality to continue. It is likely to be very slow and choppy, but the positive atmosphere should attract some speculative activity as long as the news wires don't surprise us.
One thing I've written about quite often over the last couple of years is the tendency of the market to keep running once we see a turn like Tuesday's. Technically, these bounces and spikes shouldn't last too long and we should rollover again. That is especially true when volume is light, but this market has had a very strong tendency to continue to run up, even as volume declined.
Those low-volume V-shaped moves often frustrate both bulls and bears. The bears because they are on the wrong side of the action and are squeezed, and the bulls because they never see good charts develop and have a hard time finding entry points.
One of the most common complaints I've heard from position traders this year is how much difficulty they have finding good charts. We never seem to have conditions in place that allow bases and good support to develop. We go from oversold to overbought quickly and spend little time in that middle zone, which is where chart patterns tend to gain some weight. The high correlation between stocks just adds to the challenge.
To prevail in the market in 2011 it has been necessary to chase stocks that really aren't that technically attractive and then hold them as they become overbought. When the turn comes, hit the exits quickly or you'll give back your gains in a flash. Many of the standard trading approaches have not worked recently, and I don't expect that to change in the next few days.
We are in drift-upward mode again. There aren't many good charts, volume is light and if you want in you probably have to embrace some less-than-favorable charts. The fact that it is so hard to trust the action is one of the biggest reasons that it tends to keep running.
Watch for what the dip buyers do on an early pullback, but I expect the speculative money to be more active and, maybe, we might even see some old-fashioned stock-picking for a change.


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« Back to Schedule |
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| Download Camp Waiver Form
Location: Texas State Bobcat Baseball Stadium-San Marcos, TX
Monday, July 14, 2014 to Thursday, July 17, 2014
Starts: 9:00am / Ends: 12:00pm
Camp Cost: $210.00
Each position and skill will be intensely instructed by the Texas State Baseball Coaching Staff and student-athletes, helping each participant to better understand the game both mentally and physically allowing players to further develop individual skills through instruction, individual and multi-player drills and game experience as well as interaction with players off the field in a comfortable camp setting.
Our 'no standing around' approach means continuous reps and individual positive feedback. Individual instruction will be provided for: hitting, bunting, base running, infield and outfield mechanics and skill, catching: block/framing, throwing and pitching mechanics.
On the Final days, campers will engage in aquatic activities such as slips slides, water balloon toss, and field sprinklers. This is a fun and safe way to learn how to slide into bases, develop better hand eye coordination, and beat the Texas summer heat.
What to bring:
All campers need to bring their own bats, gloves, baseball
hat, batting gloves, helmet, cleats, catchers equipment (if
needed for camp), and any other equipment players need to
bring to compete. Please mark all your equipment with your
name. The camp is not responsible for lost belongings.
Camp will be conducted at the Texas State Bobcat Baseball
Stadium on Texas State Campus. The stadium was renovated
in 2009 now seating just over 2,000 fans. Pro size batting
cages and bullpens will be located down the left field line
and restrooms will be fully functional for this event. (Candy,
Gatorade and water will be available for purchase just inside
the gate entrance.)
Medical Care:
A member of the Texas State training staff will be present
during each event. Please note that it is important to complete
all medical information and waivers before coming to
Please check your email regularly as this is our primary way we communicate. Any additional information that we need to convey as the camp draws closer will be passed on to you via the e-mail address that you supplied when you signed up for camp. Please make it a habit to check your e-mail daily, this will eliminate any confusion and or miscommunication.
All camp check-in will be held at the front gate 30 minutes
prior to the beginning of camps.
Please bring signed form to registration check in.
Download Waiver Form
Parking will be available across from Charles Austin Dr.
from the Bobcat Stadium. Additional parking will be available
closer to the corner of Charles Austin and Aquarena
Springs in the open lot behind the Softball Stadium.
All campers are responsible for meals during the camp.
This is not an "overnight" camp. Hotel accommodations are not included in the cost of this camp.
Refund policy
We do not offer refunds on cancelled campers, just a future camp credit if you decide to cancel, but we do have what is called "Cancellation Protection". We offer basic Cancellation Protection to allow participants some peace of mind in case plans change. This allows us to keep our prices low and provide the best service possible. Due at the time of registration, Cancellation Protection entitles you to a full refund of camp fees should you cancel your registration more than 14 days prior to the start of an overnight camp, and 7 days prior to the start of a day camp. If you cancel within 14 or 7 days of the start of your session, we will give you a camp credit for all money paid. The credit is valid for three years from camp date. Credit with insurance is transferable to family members or friends, and good toward a future camp.
For questions regarding Ty Harrington Baseball Camp at Texas State University contact Daniel Fernandez at 512.245.7682 or 832.385.3871. Also e-mail email@example.com
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text:
It's not necessary to employ the words "creepy" or "crawly" or "crunchy" to make you shudder over this animal. The name is enough.
Cockroaches are infamous for their particular repulsiveness within the insect pool. Notoriously residing in kitchen cabinets or witnessed scuttling across a restaurant's floor (and instantaneously ruining your dining experience), these widespread bugs are widely loathed.
But Ekaterina Smirnova, the author and illustrator of the new book An Illustrated Guide to Cockroaches, doesn't want revulsion to hinder education about this incredibly adaptive, age-old insect.
In her guide, you will find anatomical descriptions of the international villain (it breathes through its skin, which is one reason it can live sans head for about a month), facts about its various talents (the American Cockroach can reach speeds of up to 37 miles per hour), a chronicle of how humans have tried to rid them from their human spaces (the Vegas Roach Trap), amongst many other enlightening sections.
While the interesting facts alone may not entice you, each section of the book contains crisp black, white, and red illustrations that make cockroaches less "yuck"-inducing. The pictures remove you from that time you saw a gigantic cockroach in a subway station, allowing you to see it as just another animal. One that can grow up to six centimeters, has six legs, and in one variety can hiss, that is.
The illustrated cockroaches even look cute. Well, you can judge for yourself.
Also, just in case you had the desire to investigate a sewer, a single manhole can hold a cockroach community amounting to more than 5,000 members.
If you're not disgusted, Smirnova includes a recipe for cooking cockroach to perfection.


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Berlin (Mar. 4)
It has become known that in connection with the search carried out by the authorities of the head office of the Central Union of German Citizens of the Jewish Faith, last week, that Minister Goering has since invited two leaders of the Union and expressed to them his regrets for the incident, as well as for the reports regarding the search published in the Nazi organ, "Voelkischer Beobachter."
The "Beobachter" had reported that proof that the Central Union was a Jewish Communist organization had been discovered. It is understood that in this connection Goering declared that he had instructed the "Beobachter" to publish a truthful representation of the event in question.


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The World and China Institute
作者: 发表时间:2006-2-28
Who we are:
The World and China Institute (WCI), founded in Beijing in 1994, is an independent non-government, non-profit research institute, dedicating to the mutual understanding of the world and China. The founders of WCI consisted of scholars, bureaucrats, policy analysts and entrepreneurs from various universities, research institutes, government units and private companies. Most of them have been very active, both in domestic and international contexts, since the very beginning of the reform and openness of China. Some of them were well trained abroad and have good understanding of both China and the world.
What we do:
By research for some projects, WCI seeks to identify and contribute to the solution of various important issues, national and international, that China is facing now.
WCI works by paying attention to the reform and openness of China, the great changes and transition in society, politics, economy and culture brought by the openness to the outside world. It attaches importance to the current situation and prospect of the economic and political reform since China adopted the market economy program in 1992. Another important issue, which WCI focuses on, is the international relationship of China with the World, especially in the Pacific Region, after the end of the Cold War. WCI is particularly interested in the issues as the national security, regional conflict, international economic and political development, the relationship of Sino-U.S., Japan and other countries. Also, WCI is interested in the cultural, economic and political impact of China accompanied the economic growth on the other parts of the world.
The emphases of WCI"s research projects are economic and political development and Chinese society in transition. WCI pays attention not only on economic growth and system changes, but also on how market economy influences on the social changes and political development. The Institute is studying the great changes in the society, politics, culture, ideology, economy and law taking place in the transition to market economy, and also planning to have comparative studies on the same issues in other countries. WCI believes, through these studies, we will understand China"s situation and experiences better and provide more valuable opinions.
Currently, WCI is focusing on research of political system reform, election in rural areas, civil society and its impact on politics, social thinking trend happening in China recently. We believe these studies can give contribution to bring up democracy, stability and prosperity to China in the near future. WCI has an intention to assist and design plans and frame to the local political reform, especially in the rural election.
How we do:
WCI is to have independent projects itself and joint program with Chinese and foreign government, research institutes, enterprises, international organizations and individual researchers to promote the academic exchange. The Institute accepts the entrustment by them to conduct projects in China, like the economic analyses, social and political development, international relationship, social or commercial survey, etc. Projects and activities conducted by the Institute are academic and experimental. WCI works independently to implement research projects, and to keep the purity of academia. On this basic principle, the Institute provides research report, survey or field studies.
WCI has conducted many successful meetings, symposium, seminars and conference with scholars, officials and entrepreneurs from China and the world to discuss issues they are interested in. These reports of above activities were published and have an international and domestic mention.
Recently, WCI designed and assisted the first direct election of director in township government in the town of Buyun of Sichuan province, which was mentioned by the world media and domestic media. This affair has deeply influenced the political reform in China.
What we have done:
Since the foundation in 1994, WCI has already conducted some projects with Chinese and foreign scholars, officials and businessmen in many fields. Some of those programs are following:
Openness Program:
l Symposium on MFN Status for 1994, which jointed by many officials from Foreign Affairs Ministry, MOFTEC, People"s Bank of China, Foundation of International Strategy in China and the American Chamber of Commerce of Beijing;
l Project of the Impact of Hong Kong on China"s Reform and Openness, which is jointed with Hong Kong partner and the outcome is some reports and a book published in Hong Kong in 1996;
l Conference on the Role of Western Culture in China Since the Reform and Openness in 1995;
l Project of the Role of Taiwan in Mainland China"s Reform and Openness, which is the another program with Hong Kong partner and many reports and a book published in Hong Kong in 1996;
l A series of projects concerning Taiwan issues, Sino-American relationship, Chinese foreign policy, which jointly with Hong Kong, Taiwan, America and Australia partners during 1995-1997;
l Preparation of International Conference of Internet and Economic Development in China, which cooperated with Ministry of Electronic Industry and China Society for Economic System Reform during 1996-1998;
Political Reform Program:
l Discussion meeting of the Transition of the Current China in Society and Politics in 1996;
l A series of program about transition of economic reform, political changes, reform of law system and the trend of current thinking in China jointly with Chinese, Hong Kong, Taiwan and American partners during 1995-1998;
l A series of discussions meetings about current thinking trend and political system reform in China in 1998, reports of those discussions published in China and some in America, Canada and Hong Kong.
Civil Society Program:
l Project of the Civil Society in China, from 1997-1998, which published as a book in Canada and Hong Kong in 1998.
Comparative Election System Program:
l Involvement in design and assistance of Buyun election in Sichuan Province in 1998-1999. Many reports of this election has been published by China and worldwide media including AP, Time, Newsweek, Washington Post, New York times and other Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand newspapers.
l Project of "Annovation and Development--To Promote the Election in Township Level" which finished in 2000 and published by Oriental Publishing House(People"s Publishing House) in Nov. of 2001 in China.
l Project of monitoring basic-level democracy including village, township and urban community in China. The book of "Report on Grassroots Democracy in China: 2000-2001" was published by Oriental Publishing House(People"s Publishing House) in April 2002 in China.
Publication we have:
WCI has publication titled "Background and Analyses" in Chinese, which circulated to some government and institution units.
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text:
10 - 6
X-Men: First Class
Matthew Vaughn
James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, January Jones, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Oliver Platt
10X-Men: First Class
A model of blockbuster filmmaking as well as a compelling political allegory, Matthew Vaughan's well-crafted reboot of the X-Men franchise is a smart and intermittently exciting superhero film that, like the best examples of the genre, never feels like merely a superhero film. Privileging story, character development, and sociopolitical ramifications above frenzied movement in his stately action sequences, Vaughan leans heavily on his contesting male leads. Although James McAvoy fashions Charles Xavier's idealism with an ease that masks his effort, it's Michael Fassbender's turn as the viciously elegant nascent Magneto that elevates the film. Resplendent in his period wardrobe, Fassbender exerts his power over the movie, molding it to his preferred form as his character manipulates metal. It's perhaps not his finest accomplishment in a tremendous year onscreen, but First Class heralds Fassbender's ascent to film's elite and revivifies a major property in the process. Ross Langager
Martha Marcy May Marlene
T. Sean Durkin
Elizabeth Olsen, Sarah Paulson, John Hawkes, Hugh Dancy, Brady Corbet, Julie Garner, Christopher Abbott, Maria Dizzia, Louisa Krause
9Martha Marcy May Marlene
Is it one of the most engrossing films about a cult ever made, or a multilayered drama about an unreliable narrator with an impressively vivid imagination? Writer/director Sean Durkin doesn't provide many easy answers in this dreamy but nail-sharp story of Martha, a lost young woman (Elizabeth Olsen, purposefully blank and sketchy) who holes up with her annoyed older sister while undergoing creepy flashbacks to her time with the cult she just apparently escaped from. There won't be an easy reprogramming for Martha, as she may have found the strength to escape the pull of the quietly sadistic leader (a malignant John Hawkes) but not to empty her mind of his poisonous ideas. Chris Barsanti
The Artist
Michel Hazanavicius
Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, Missi Pyle, Malcolm McDowell, Penelope Ann Miller
8The Artist
Yes, Mel Brooks made a silent movie back in during the height of his Me Decades power and no one then was suggesting it be nominated for Best Picture. The accolade that accompanied the release of this twee experiment by French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius may be putting off some film fans, but it's actually well deserved. By utilizing the antiquated format and finding the right balance between music and melodrama, The Artist actually transcends its type to become something more than a stunt. True, the gimmick is front and center, but it's also just one part of the merry meta experience. Indeed, everything, from the dead on performances to the use of known elements (musical cues, old Hollywood archetypes) tips Hazanavicius' hand. The rest is up to the audience… and for now, they just can't get enough. Bill Gibron
Midnight in Paris
Woody Allen
Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, Michael Sheen, Nina Arianda, Carla Bruni, Kurt Fuller, Tom Hiddleston, Mimi Kennedy, Alison Pill, Corey Stoll
7Midnight in Paris
Some of the year's most lauded movies dealt with nostalgia for the past, but none did so with the incisiveness of Woody Allen's love song to Paris. Owen Wilson plays a modern day writer—the Woody surrogate—who finds sudden inspiration in the City of Lights after befriending Ernest Hemingway, Salvador Dalí and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The film's time-traveling concept defies physics and the female characters are tinged with unbecoming shrillness, but still, few were unable to surrender to the film's exquisite joys. With a superb ensemble that combined A-listers with scene-stealing character actors, and dialogues that let you in on the jokes despite their artsy elitism, the movie was a delight for both the soul and the brain. Perhaps the most pleasant surprise of all was to see that the old continent seemed to refresh Woody's outlook on life; he still fears mortality, loneliness and thinks too highly of intellectualism, but Midnight in Paris proved to be his most optimistic, pleasurable movie since Manhattan. Jose Solís Mayén
Martin Scorsese
Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer, Christopher Lee, Frances de la Tour, Richard Griffiths, Jude Law
Hugo, Martin Scorsese's adaptaion of Brian Selznick's marvelous The Invention of Hugo Cabret, is at once a time machine, a dream, a magic spell, a symphony and a love letter to cinema itself, past, present and future. Set in 1930s Paris, a scant few years after the invention of the "talkie", Hugo is concerned primarily with the early days of the silent short (and especially the works of George Melies, played masterfully by Ben Kingsley), and filmed with the latest in 3D technology. But don't let the apparent gimmickry fool you; Scorsese's film is not just a crossroads of cinema through time, but a massive artistic achievement no matter how you look at the final product. Simply put, Hugo is an instant classic. Kevin Brettauer
Lost Bayou Ramblers "Allons a Lafayette" (video) (premiere) // Music
Jean Caffeine "Winter of Hate" (video) (premiere) // Music
The Skullers 'Meet the Skullers' (album stream) (premiere) // Music
TIFF 2017: 'The Shape of Water'
// Notes from the Road
"The Shape of Water comes off as uninformed political correctness, which is more detrimental to its cause than it is progressive.READ the article


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Raleigh, N.C. — A disagreement between the state and the contractor assigned to develop more secure driver's licenses for North Carolina means a delay in getting those IDs on the street.
Virginia-based MorphoTrak signed the $50 million work order in 2010 to deliver licenses that would be harder to counterfeit. But state Division of Motor Vehicles officials said the company began missing deadlines in 2011, forcing the DMV and the state Department of Transportation to order the company to halt work on the project in both June 2011 and September 2012.
The state even reduced the scope and complexity of the project to try to help MorphoTrak meet the deadlines and get the project completed, officials said.
With the project 27 months behind schedule, the state Attorney General's Office ruled in March that MorphoTrak had violated its contract, and state officials issued a third stop-work order.
After receiving assurances from executives of Safran Group, MorphoTrak's parent company, work on the licenses restarted in May. But the DMV and DOT then began talking with MorphoTrak sister company MorphoTrust about taking over the project.
MorphoTrust makes North Carolina's current driver's licenses and produces next-generation licenses for 42 other states, officials said. The company didn't make such advanced licenses when DMV signed its contract with MorphoTrak, they said.
DOT terminated MorphoTrak's contract in September and ordered the company to return all state property.
"The period of performance under this contract has been marked by significant obstacles directly arising from MorphoTrak's failure to meet its contractual obligations," DMV Commissioner Nicholas Tennyson wrote in a Sept. 18 letter to MorphoTrak Chief Executive Daniel Vassy.
"The small portion of the system delivered to NCDMV to date has not been developed according to NCDMV's requirements, the specifications contained within the contract, approved design documents or to the quality standards of the industry," Tennyson wrote.
Safran executives pleaded for more time, and the state has since backed off the termination.
"The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles and NCDOT are continuing conversations with MorphoTrak and its parent company to determine the most effective way to complete the required work with the most efficient use of taxpayer money. The department hopes to reach a resolution and announce the path forward before the end of this year," DMV officials said in a statement issued Nov. 1.
The state has invested $2.3 million for personnel in the driver's license project so far, as well as $2.1 million in hardware and $1 million in software development costs, officials said.
MorphoTrak haven't responded to a request for comment.


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Physics Biennial Meeting
The Chair's recommendation
Chair: Ludvig Muren
The Physics Biennial Conference aims to provide delegates with a full spectrum of radiotherapy physics educational and scientific information. If you are attending an ESTRO (Physics) conference for the first time, you will very soon learn to take advantage of the well-established composition of these events. The educational programme this year offers two pre-meeting courses as well as eight morning teaching lectures during the conference. The more scientifically focused part of the conference consists of 15 symposia, one debate and a number of proffered paper sessions with various presentation formats. They are too many to mention here, but below is a short description on some selected sessions and trends of this conference:
Adaptive radiotherapy
Several symposia will be devoted to elements related to the development of adaptive radiotherapy. One session will deal with the concept of margins in an adaptive context, another session will be devoted to the challenges of dose accumulation, and a third session will focus on the actual implementation of adaptive radiotherapy. These sessions should be particularly relevant for those who are involved or interested in this field.
Particle and proton therapy
The programme will also have a strong component addressing another 'hot' issue in radiotherapy - the use of protons and heavier charged particles. In the physics programme there will be one session focusing on the dosimetry challenges of proton therapy while another session will address the technology developments in particle beam therapy (including e.g. prompt gamma analysis and proton radiography/CT). In the inter-disciplinary track, there will be a session on the biology of particle therapy with respect to effects on both targets and normal tissues. These sessions should be of considerable general interest.
Otherwise we can look forward to a number of high quality sessions on interesting issues such as various flavours of functional imaging as well as real-time imaging. On the last day, a session on the future of medical physics should give direction as well as inspiration for the future expansion of our field.


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Four years ago, this was me. I was picking up the keys to my new car I had earned through my at-home business. I had worked hard and I was very proud of my accomplishments. Professionally, I was on top of the world. I had achieved a management position only the top 2% of people in my company ever reach. I thrived on the recognition and prizes I was receiving. I loved my work! I loved the people I associated with and the friendships I had formed.
Several years into this journey, I heard a wise woman say, "Time spent in one area is time taken away from another." It's a pretty simple phrase, but when I thought, really thought about what it meant, I realized that all the time I was investing into my business was time I was taking away from my primary responsibility as a mother. And although it is good for us as mothers to have our own pursuits, I was working A LOT! Even when I wasn't working, I was thinking about work. The stress I felt was spilling over into my home life and taking away from the little time we had together as a young family.
Eventually, I chose to step down from the position in my business and step up in the position of mom. It was a very difficult decision. After all, this work brought in income that we had come to rely on. I had a team of 30+ women to whom I was a leader and a mentor. I had constantly taught others that women could have both career and family without sacrificing either. And yet, I walked away from a career that was very important to me. I think what made it so difficult (and it often still is difficult) were the comments from others around me.
I continue to work on a much smaller level and I still associate with the same women who were once my peers (and are now my superiors). They continue to encourage me to work more and move back into management. They often remind me of the money I can earn, or influence I'll have in that position. I have to remind myself that I have the greatest influence over my children, and that one day they will grow up to influence the world. I came to realize that quantity time could not be replaced with quality time. My children needed BOTH.
There are many wonderful opportunities we can pursue as moms and as women. In stepping down from my position was I saying it is wrong for a woman to work? Not at all. It was simply a matter of dividing my time and prioritizing accordingly. How do we decide which opportunities deserve our time? This is the method I have used.
First, I rank my opportunities into 3 categories: things that are good (for me, for our family, for our health, for personal growth, etc.), things that are better, and things that are best. I try to focus the majority of my time and energy on doing things in the "best" category, and less time on those that fall into the good and better categories. None of us can only do things in the "best" category. I do ask myself the question, "Is this (activity, event, whatever) going to take time away from what is most important to me at this time?" Even though my business was good for our family, my really being there for our kids was better.
Second, I learned to say "no" to some opportunities, at least for now. I don't need to do it all, even if I tell myself that I am capable of doing just that. I have realized that "life is long." (I heard that phrase on one of the Power of Moms podcasts, and it has really stuck!) Life is long, and there will be time later to fulfill some of my life goals. One of my church leaders once said, "A woman need not sing all the verses of her song at the same time."
Third, I remind myself that what is good for me and my family may not be right for another mom, and what works for her may not be the best for my family. When friends, colleagues, and loved ones encourage me toward something I don't feel is right for me at this time (or takes away from something I do feel is important), I have to do what feels right in my heart. We may each have a similar end goal in mind, but how we get there may be different.
Occasionally, my son asks me about that car we earned. He asks when we will earn another one, or when he can color in the thermometer on one of my goal posters. Life has times and seasons, and I don't know when I'll get back to earning another car. But I do know that no other endeavor will prove to be more important than that of raising my children. And that just feels right in my heart.
QUESTION: What are the "best" things for you?
CHALLENGE: Try prioritizing your opportunities into good, better, and best categories.
Photo submitted by author.


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TEACHERS: Want the podcast?
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has inspired widespread fear throughout the U.S. and in many other countries. In reality, the threat of Ebola is actually quite small with only 1,700 deaths since 1976. The rarity of the Ebola virus has given major pharmaceutical companies very little incentive to develop a treatment for the virus given that the market for such a drug would be almost nonexistent. However, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, a small pharmaceutical company based in Frederick, MD, has been given government help to develop a cure for the virus. Listen to learn more about the complexity of the Ebola virus and what is being done to develop a cure.
Story Length: 4:11
© 2014 National Public Radio, Inc. Used with the permission of NPR. All rights reserved.


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Erbossyn Meldibekov's Painted Ceramic PlatesOctober 08, 2013
Erbossyn Meldibekov was born in 1964 in Shymkent, Kazakhstan and graduated from the Almaty Theater and Art Institute and currently lives and works in Almaty. Meldibekov's practice is informed by the post-Soviet situation and the "collapse of culture" in Central Asia, namely his native Kazakhstan where a system of political and social disarray exists between rivaling political and commercial tribes over the distribution of power and wealth.
He also examines the collapse of civility within a post 9/11 environment citing references from the on-going conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq and drawing on Central Asia 's epic historical past and conquests that have accumulated a sea of "heroic" monuments throughout the region. His ideas are deployed via a range of diverse mediums such as video, performance, architecture and installation offering his viewer's absurd, heroic and humorous visual interpretations of human interplay.
via ArtNau


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President Obama Calls for New Program to Fight Medicare and Medicaid Fraud
Updated 7:09 p.m.
President Obama continued to make his case for health care reform to the public Wednesday, at a speech in suburban St. Louis. The president emphasized a new plan to combat Medicare and Medicaid fraud, an idea that garnered bipartisan support at the his health care reform summit last month.
The president said that health care waste and fraud cost taxpayers almost $100 billion last year. He said that if there was a "Department of Improper Payments" then it would be "one of the largest agencies in the government."
The new proposal would expand the use of a pilot program that uses private auditors to root out fraud and waste, and incentivizes the auditors by paying them based on the amount of fraud they find.
"The fact is, Washington is a place where tax dollars are often treated like Monopoly money, bartered and traded, divvied up among lobbyists and special interests. And it has been a place where waste – even billions of dollars in waste – is accepted as the price of doing business," the president said in a statement.
Read the full White House statement here.
The speech is part of a public relations blitz by the president aimed at pushing health care reform over the finish line. At a Monday speech in Glenside, Pa., he went on the offensive against insurers, blasting recent insurance rate hikes and calling them a reason for reform.
Tonight on the NewsHour, Richard Kirsch of the advocacy group Health Care for America Now, and Mike Tuffin, of the industry group America's Health Insurance Plans, debate the merits of the president's argument.


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Rated 4 / 5 stars
You should think about using "corel painter", its a lot better for making digital paintings.
You look like you know what you are doing. I definitely know that feeling I just finished drawing a character I came up with called Greg the axe!! (not to much to gawk at but i like em) and now im trying hard to draw something else but.... other things happen
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Great stuff. Keep it up!
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In: Real Estate News16 Sep 2010
There's little doubt Toronto is at the heart of Canada's condo craze, and with continued strong sales, new construction and appreciation, it's quickly becoming the epicentre of the condo boom in all North America.
Toronto Condos Beat Out New York and Miami
Toronto condominium sales have long since outpaced Miami's, the continent's former condo mecca. In 2005, Toronto condo sales more than doubled the output in Miami, and since the housing and economic crisis hit the US, the gap has widened even further. Last year's 16,000 new units doubled New York's offerings. Today, Toronto is adding up to 20,000 new units annually, and there is little sign of that the appetite for this chameleonic form of home ownership is sated.
Condos are a relatively recent development in Toronto, which began with a wave of high-rise towers erected along the waterfront, the row of towers thickening until the waterfront became largely invisible from the downtown core. Initial resistance was quickly silenced when the frenzied demand drove resale prices up; investors and developers alike knew they had a winning formula.
Not Just For Retirees: Toronto Condos Attract Professionals, Immigrants
In the 1980s, retirees were the driving force behind the condo boom, but today, first-time buyers – such as young professionals and immigrants – as well as investors are the main purchasers of the thousands of condo units that go up each year in Toronto.
Nor does demand appear to be cooling significantly, though most experts are calling for a tapering off from peak building and sales activity in recent months. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Company forecasts 17,000 units will be completed this year, and 16,000 in 2011.
Part of the vast appeal of the condominium is its enormous flexibility – a condominium is a form of shared ownership, not a particular building style, thus taking on a wide variety of shapes and sizes to suit the urban or suburban environment, the wealthy investor and first-time homebuyer alike.
Toronto condominiums take on the shape of high-rise towers gleaming sharply along the downtown waterfront, or fashionable lofts in renovated historical buildings along King St West, or charming rowhouses tucked away on quiet residential boulevards in Cabbagetown. On the outer suburban edges, a condominium project may resemble nothing more than an elegant family community of sprawling detached homes in Etobicoke, or townhouses overlooking a golf course in Markham.
Toronto Condos' Broad Appeal
Toronto's allure is multi-fold. As Canada's largest metropolis and the driving force of its economy, Toronto is the top destination for the estimated quarter million immigrants welcomed into the country each year. Roughly 40,000 new housing units are needed each year to meet the demands of immigration, and competition for limited ground space has encouraged upward growth.
Toronto's condo industry is governed by the provincial Condominium Act, which allows for a wide variety of development options: standard, phased, leasehold, common element and vacant land, as well as the conversion or consolidation of existing buildings.
Investors Place Their Bets on Toronto Condos
In addition to this, Canada's economic stability through the worldwide financial crisis has attracted a great deal of investor attention, keen on placing their money in a safe and prosperous harbour. Some estimates place investor holdings in Toronto's condo market at 30-40% of the total, many of these overseas investors.
The reason for this is clear: condominiums in Toronto gain value. In fact, Toronto's condos have appreciated in value year over year for the past 14 years, sometimes modestly, sometimes astonishingly, but with an unstoppable upward impetus that spells good value to the canny investor.
For example, new condominiums in Toronto sold for an average of about $300 a square foot; just seven years later, prices now average nearly $600 a square foot. Now this is not to say that a new condo bought in 2003 will sell in 2010 for twice the original price, for by then it is a seven-year-old resale condo. But the fact is, buyers hungry to take advantage of a stable investment environment, affordable downtown living, or just rock-bottom mortgage interest rates, have ensured that Toronto remains a focal point for the condominium industry.
Despite this meteoric rise, Toronto is still not nearly as expensive as other major urban centres. For the domestic purchaser, this may not mean much, as affordability is tied to earning power, and Torontonians may not earn as much as other major urban dwellers. But for the foreign investor, it means strong purchasing power, a fact likely to sustain the industry for many years to come.
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Boost of £3.7m for Northamptonshire road repairs
A £3.7m fund has been provided by the government for road repairs in Northamptonshire.
The money awarded to the county council for maintenance over the next two years is on top of the £16m the authority spends on highways repairs each year.
The government has made £2.4m available in 2013-14 with a further £1.3m on offer for the financial year 2014-15.
The money is part of government investment aimed at helping councils to fund the maintenance of roads.


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Last-minute fans lose out: Ticket prices skyrocket to $5,400 late
Charlie Nguyen of Sachse spent Super Bowl Sunday down the street from Cowboys Stadium, his eyes glued to a video screen in the Arlington Convention Center. Along with scores of other football fans, he watched intently as the seating and cost of available tickets flashed on the screen.
Like most of the folks crowded in the center, he didn't like what he was seeing: Even two hours before kickoff, when tickets are supposed to be at basement prices, the buy-in from secondary market website StubHub bounced from about $3,750 to $5,400.
Nguyen was intent on waiting.
"Whatever we can get for a reasonable price," he said.
StubHub turned the convention center into its "Last Minute Services Location." It was where fans who already used the website could pick up tickets or people waiting until the last-minute could see what was available. A last-minute fire sale never materialized.
StubHub officials said that at many Super Bowls tickets can be found near face value as kickoff approaches. Not so in Arlington. Instead, relatively "good" deals were $3,500 per ticket.
"We thought it'd be $3,000 max," said Kevin Dean, who flew in from Los Angeles.
The Packers fan ended up paying $5,289 for a ticket "in the nosebleeds" a little more than an hour before kickoff.
Folks walking in off the street looked up at the screen all afternoon and shook their heads in disbelief at the prices.
Many complained that they couldn't find scalpers anywhere near the stadium, something Arlington police had made a goal.
Tom Reilly, a Pittsburgh Steeler fan who flew in from New Jersey, saw tickets on Friday for as low as $1,700. He thought the snow on Friday would drive prices down all weekend. So he came to Dallas thinking he'd get a great deal on Sunday.
Instead, he and a buddy each paid $5,000 for 200-level seats.
"We rolled the dice and lost on this one," he said.
Glenn Lehrman, a StubHub spokesman, said a combination of factors kept the prices high. He said the loyalty of the teams' fan bases and the improved weather conditions on Saturday and Sunday were big factors.
"And the big bonus here is everyone wants to see the stadium," Lehrman said.
After spending hours in Arlington, Nguyen finally gave up around kickoff.
"It was a fun experience, but ... you have to draw a line on how much you want to spend for fun," he said.