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Exchange 2000 is as different from Exchange 5.5 as Windows 2000 is from NT 4.0. This feature briefing will bring you up to date on this big new release.
As everyone knows, Windows 2000 is a significant upgrade to Microsoft's cornerstone operating system. But the fundamental improvements in Win2K have another side—BackOffice products can reap the benefits of its rich new features. Nowhere is this more evident than in the next version of Microsoft's messaging system. Exchange 2000 makes a great leap forward in Microsoft messaging technology, taking advantage not only of Windows 2000 (to such an extent that it requires Win2K Server to run—no Windows NT for this product), but also improving existing functionality and adding additional messaging services. In this article, we'll show you some of the highlights, based on Release Candidate 1.
AD: A Good Thing for Exchange
One of the most significant new services provided by Windows 2000 is Active Directory, the distributed, standards-based directory that is the security subsystem of Win2K. This full-functioning directory service provides a central source for enterprise directory information. Here's evidence of the fact that Exchange 2000 takes full advantage of AD—Exchange no longer has its own directory. Rather, all directory services, both mail recipients and configuration information, are stored in AD. Is this a good thing? Absolutely! Let's look at why.
First, functionality. In addition to the operational impact of having a single repository for enterprise data, there are several key technical benefits of AD. Those include granular access control, an extensible directory schema, and improved lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) support.
Next, granular access control. With AD, each object has its own access control list (ACL). This allows you to set the permissions for each object and in turn control access to the directory at a detailed level. With this capability, you as the Exchange administrator can store important information in the directory that can be accessed only by certain users, administrators, or applications. For example, as employees come and go, you may want your Human Resources department to create and delete users in AD. However, you don't want HR personnel to be able to add additional SMTP address definitions for users, or to change a user's storage limits. AD lets you define attribute-level access for this type of security structure.
Schema extensibility is another plus. AD schema extensions are available for use with Exchange applications, users and other programs in the enterprise. The advantage of a single directory schema such as that used by AD, Exchange, and other enterprise applications is the commonality it brings to different applications.
And then there's performance. By having a single directory across the enterprise that provides directory services to multiple applications, you'll experience an overall increase in performance and efficiency.
In Windows NT 4.0 and Exchange 5.5 environments, there are two directories: the NT domain directory and the Exchange 5.5 directory. Each replicates information to different servers in a variety of ways. As a single directory, AD eliminates this unnecessary redundancy. Furthermore, AD can be segmented into multiple domains, with a Global Catalog providing insight across domains. This gives organizations the opportunity to control where domain data is replicated, while still giving applications and users access to other domain data via the Global Catalog. This contrasts with Exchange 5.5, where the entire Exchange 5.5 directory is replicated to every Exchange server in the organization. Last, AD replicates attribute level changes, whereas Exchange 5.5 replicates at the object level. This means an overall reduction in the amount of replication traffic when you compare similar Exchange 5.5 and Active Directories.
Ease-of-use is another argument for incorporating AD in Exchange 2000. Using AD as a directory service provides a single administrative framework for the enterprise. AD users, managed through the Active Directory Users and Computers MMC snap-in, include Exchange 2000 attributes. This means that a single tool can be used to manage AD users and Exchange mailboxes. With this type of framework, a line has been drawn between Exchange recipient management and configuration management. Recipient management is done through AD management tools, whereas Exchange configuration management is done through Exchange management tools.
Finally, consolidating directories can simplify things greatly under AD. Consolidation unifies objects of similar type; the most obvious is the user object and the mailbox object. Others include Exchange distribution lists that have become AD mail-enabled groups. Exchange custom recipients have become AD mail-enabled contacts. Unifying these objects has several advantages. For example, with Windows NT 4.0 and Exchange 5.5, if a user joined the Engineering group of an organization, the NT administrator would have to add the user to the NT group Engineering to grant the user access to Engineering resources. The Engineering distribution list manager would have to add the user to the Engineering distribution list. When using AD, the user would only have to be added to the mail-enabled security groups Engineering to have access to Engineering resources and to receive messages sent to the Engineering group.
Architectural Changes
Along with moving its directory to Windows 2000, Exchange has undergone several other significant alterations. These include architectural changes that affect how messages are stored and transported across the enterprise.
Information Stores
In Exchange 5.5, a single information store service manages two information stores, one private and one public. There's no practical limit to the size these information stores can reach. (Well, actually, there's a 16-terabyte limit.) Consequently, Exchange information stores can grow quite large if unchecked and can be the limiting factor that requires multiple servers. The information store can grow so large that it can't be backed up or restored from backup in a reasonable amount of time.
With Exchange 2000, it's possible to have multiple public and private information stores on a single server. This means that very large Exchange 5.5 information stores can be divided into multiple Exchange 2000 information stores, which can be mounted and dismounted, backed up, and restored independently of each other.
Information stores are divided into storage groups. With Exchange 2000 Release Candidate 1, there can be up to four storage groups per Exchange 2000 server. (It was possible to have 15 storage groups in Exchange 2000 beta 3, but that number appears to have been reduced for the final product.) Each storage group has a single set of transaction logs for the information stores in that storage group.
Each storage group can host up to six information stores. However, Microsoft recommends that no more than five information stores be created per storage group. When the Exchange database utility ISINTEG is run, it needs to be able to mount a temporary information store in the storage group. If six information stores exist in the storage group, one of the other five information stores will have to be dismounted before ISINTEG can run against the troubled database.
As with previous version of Exchange, Exchange 2000 offers a variety of client access methods to the information store:
Another significant architectural change to Exchange 2000 is in the area of transport protocols. In Exchange 5.5, most client access protocols were hosted in the Information Store. With Exchange 2000, client access has been moved from the information store to IIS 5.0.
Front-end/Back-end Servers
Here's an added benefit of having IIS host the protocol stacks for Exchange 2000: the ability to define Exchange 2000 front-end and back-end servers. This configuration offers a new concept for Exchange: the ability to route client traffic (except MAPI). An Exchange 2000 front-end server relays client access protocols (again, except MAPI) to the appropriate back-end server. This way, a user need only know the name of the front-end server that will route the client protocol to the user's back-end server.
Dismantling Sites
Up to this point, Exchange sites have defined three important components of product design. Site boundaries define:
Each of these components is evaluated when you're defining an Exchange site topology and may have different and conflicting design considerations. The best site topology for messaging routing may be very different than the ideal site topology for administering the messaging environment—yet there can be only one site topology.
Exchange 2000 breaks up the concept of a site into three individually designed and manageable components, as shown in Figure 2. With sites broken up into separately configurable components, Exchange 2000 offers much more configuration and management flexibility. (The amount of flexibility depends on whether Exchange 2000 is running in Native Mode or Mixed Mode. To support coexistence, Mixed Mode Administrative Groups and Routing Groups are coupled to closely resemble Exchange Sites.)
Administration the Way You Want It
Exchange 2000 configuration objects are divided into manageable groups called Administrative Groups. Objects such as servers, public folder trees, policies, and routing groups are assigned the same ACL permissions as the administrative groups they're contained in. You can create administrative groups, independently of routing groups, to implement the administrative model you want (when in Exchange 2000 native mode).
Microsoft Management Console
Gone is the Exchange Administrator tool. As with all Windows 2000 applications, the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) is used to administer Exchange 2000. A series of snap-ins allows for varied administrative interfaces that you can customize for various tasks. An added bonus is right-click menus, as shown in Figure 3.
Administrative Group Rules
There's less flexibility with Exchange 2000 RC1 Administrative Groups than there was in Beta 3. Servers must be installed in an Administrative Group and can't be moved between administrative groups. The administrative group into which a server is installed is used to build the server's distinguished name (DN). Changing the DN of a server, or any object for that matter, is no trivial task. This functionality was introduced in Exchange 5.5 Service Pack 2; Microsoft plans to offer a similar tool after Exchange 2000 is released.
Administrative Group Strategies
New to RC1 is the Administration Delegation Wizard. This wizard steps you through applying permissions to the administrative group, as shown in Figure 4. With this tool, you can take an administrative model that fits your organization and apply it to the Exchange 2000 portion of AD.
Administrative Groups offer flexibility that will allow organizations to re-evaluate how they're currently managing their messaging environments. For example, many organizations have a central IS group that's responsible for the overall administration of the messaging structure. There are additional administrative roles at remote locations that are responsible for the local servers, public folders, and the like. In this type of environment, it's possible to create an Administrative Group for the central IS group that contains all Routing Groups, Public Folder hierarchies, and policies for the organization. (Note that the server can only reside in a routing group outside the Administrative group when Exchange 2000 is in Native Mode.)
Only administrators in this group would be able to manage routing groups, their connectors, and so forth. The remote locations would then have their own Administrative Groups, containing their local servers, allowing those administrators to perform local administration of those objects. This is shown in Figure 5.
Routing the Way It Should Be
As administration has moved to Administrative Groups, message routing in Exchange 2000 has moved to Routing Groups. Routing Groups perform message routing similar to how it was performed with Exchange sites. Messages are sent point-to-point between servers in the same routing group and are routed across connectors between routing groups. There are three main differences in the way message routing works in Exchange 2000:
The use of SMTP between servers within a routing group will likely change the criteria by which routing groups are designed, when compared to Exchange sites. It's unnecessary to have the bandwidth between servers within a routing group to support RPC. Rather, routing groups will be designed to control message flow. Routing Groups also dictate Public Folder access. Clients will search for an instance of a given public folder in the Routing Group for which the user's mailbox resides. Searching for the instance of a public folder across routing groups is defined at the Routing Group Connector.
Link State
Each Exchange 2000 server knows the status of all connectors in the organization—whether each is up or down. Unlike previous versions of Exchange, a server sending a multi-hop message knows that all connectors are up between its routing group and the destination routing group. If there's no route available because a connector two hops away is down, the server queues the message until the route becomes available.
All this is accomplished with the help of an algorithm with its roots in network packet routing. Each server hosts a Link State database. One server in the routing group is designated as the Routing Group Master. When a connector fails, the bridgehead that discovered the failure notifies the Routing Group Master (TCP port 691). The Routing Group Master then notifies all other Exchange 2000 servers in the routing group. If any of these servers is a bridgehead to other routing groups, they in turn notify the bridgehead in the opposing routing group (TCP port 25). That bridgehead then notifies its Routing Group Master, and so forth. The failed connector state is thus propagated throughout the organization (see Figure 6).
Traditional Exchange site topologies have been hub-and-spoke, to avoid message ping-ponging between sites. With LSA, Routing Groups can be designed in a full-mesh topology without messages bouncing between routing groups looking for an available route.
Improved Services
Regarding services, little has gone untouched in RC1 of Exchange 2000. As you can see from the change in architecture, most components were enhanced during this upgrade process, and many others completely rewritten. Some of the highlights are included below.
Outlook Web Access
One component that underwent a great deal of development was Outlook Web Access (OWA). Introduced in Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.0, OWA provides access to Exchange Server information from Microsoft Internet Explorer or other HTML browsers.
The enhancements to OWA in Exchange 2000 increase performance and scalability. This was accomplished through major architectural changes on the server as well as the client when using IE 5.0. These enhancements include:
OWA is not Outlook 2000. While it can be very useful to roaming and remote users alike, it still lacks many of the features found in Outlook 2000. These include digital encryption and signature support, inbox rules, message searches, and three-pane views. You can view and create calendar items, but much of the calendar functionality found in Outlook 2000 isn't available (such as appointment list views, free and busy details, meeting attendee acceptance, multi-day and all-day events, task lists, and exporting data).
New Services
Along with improvements in existing services, Exchange 2000 has several new communication services. These services provide expanded access to data stored on Exchange servers and increased methods of communication beyond simple messaging.
Web Store
Exchange 2000 databases are exposed to the file system through the Exchange Installable File System (EXIFS). This means that folders in Exchange 2000, such as a user's inbox or a public folder, can be mapped to a network drive. That sounds simple enough, but it could change the way Exchange is used in many organizations. Rather than having Web servers hosting data accessed by Web browsers, file servers hosting data accessed by network clients, and messaging servers hosting data accessed by Outlook, all these clients can access data hosted in the Web Store. Furthermore, when this data is located in a public folder, it can be replicated around the organization to provide efficient, reliable access.
How the Web Store will be used (and what its final name will be) in the shipping version of Exchange 2000 is yet to be seen. Having it there strengthens Exchange as an ideal platform for knowledge management and collaborative applications, since it increases the means for getting to data.
Instant Messaging
Instant Messaging (IM) is thought by many to be for the casual AOL or Internet user trying to avoid long-distance phone calls. However, many corporate organizations are realizing the advantages of Instant Messaging; it allows users to see "presence" information about other users. That information can include whether someone is online, online but inactive, busy, or out of the office. Instant Messaging is real-time—meaning communication between users happens immediately. This makes it ideal for ad hoc or urgent communication. For example, Edgar may have a workstation at his desk, a laptop he takes to meetings, and a home computer, all on the corporate network. If Bill needs to get an answer to an important question from Edgar, Bill can see if Edgar is online. If Edgar is online, say in a meeting with his laptop, Bill can initiate an Instant Message to get his question answered.
Exchange 2000 uses the Rendezvous Protocol (RVP) for Instant Messaging. Using this protocol and the presence database, an organization could create a custom application that sends an urgent message to everyone online. Note that Instant Messages aren't stored—once the Instant Messaging session is closed, the messages are gone.
Data Conferencing Services
In addition to Instant Messaging, Exchange 2000 provides data conferencing services. The Microsoft Exchange 2000 Data Conferencing Server gives users the ability to hold multi-user Web browser-based conferences that include video, audio, shared whiteboard, direct file transfer, and chat.
Data Conferencing services are divided into two categories; multi-cast services based on TAPI 3.0 that will provide audio and video sessions, and T.120 services, which provide everything else. In RC1, data conferencing rooms are created using the Exchange System Manager. Outlook 2000 users can schedule other users and the data conferencing room for an on-line conference. When the conference time arrives, the Outlook 2000 users simply right-click on the calendar item and choose Join Conference. A Web browser is opened and the user joins the conference (see Figure 7). This will be a separate product when Exchange 2000 is released, but won't be included in Exchange standard or enterprise edition.
Big Differences, Big Payoff
Exchange 2000 is as different from Exchange 5.5 as Windows 2000 is from NT 4.0. Therefore, it's important to learn as much as you can about this product, set up a lab for testing, and carefully plan upgrade paths and coexistence scenarios before initiating your Exchange 2000 deployment. Microsoft is committed to making deployment of Exchange 2000 as painless as possible. There are already numerous white papers available at www.microsoft.com/exchange on the various components that make up Exchange 2000. Take the time to educate yourself so you can enjoy working with this outstanding messaging system.
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In the Pearl Harbor attack, people like Don Rae advocate sacrificing a battleship or bomber (instead of a cheaper fighter) as a "second" casualty as a "gambit" just to get American air forces to head for the Pacific instead of the Atlantic. Can one also make a case for electing NOT to take the sub as a (first) casualty?
Likewise, in a first turn Med naval battle, should Germany use its sub off France as "cannon fodder" in an attack against the British battleship off Gibraltar? Or should it have the sub try to take out the U.S. convoy off the Atlantic and let larger units deal with the battleship (and suffer the consequences).
Basically, is it sometimes better to take big warships or planes as potential casualties over a smaller, but more strategic unit such as a sub? Or is the loss in IPCs too much to bear (12 or 15 versus 8)? How do you make these choices? And, how, if at all, would your answer change if you had "super" subs.

subset: commoncrawl


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FRANKFURT, Germany -- Carin Koch has been appointed captain of the European Solheim Cup team that will face the United States in Germany next year.
The Ladies European Tour says the Swedish golfer will be the one to lead a team seeking an unprecedented hat trick of wins for Europe at Golf Club St. Leon-Rot from Sept. 18-20, 2015.
Last year, Europe claimed a historic first win in the United States with an 18-10 victory at Colorado Golf Club after ending the Americans' dominance in the competition in 2011 at Killeen Castle.
Koch, a vice captain in 2013, says "I cannot wait to stand with the team on the first tee next September to start our quest for the hat trick of wins against the U.S. team."


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After the state began managing the park in the 1960s, a bathhouse and beach were installed. Later, under the direction of city planner, Robert L. Bendick, Jr. ( who went on to become the Director of the state Department of Environmental Management), a combination of state, Federal, and community agencies revamped the park with lawns and a fountain. Footpaths, playground equipment, tennis and volley ball courts were added. The former bathhouses and decks from the 1960s were replaced, and the park assumed its popular sobriquet, "Social Ocean." In May of 1977, the present name of World War II Veterans Memorial State Park was dedicated.
In 1979, the first AutumnFest took place. AutumnFest is a three day fair and community extravaganza anchored at the park, featuring food, exhibits, and entertainment, topped off by a giant parade. It is one of several signature community events for Woonsocket and all northern Rhode Island.
Saturday, Feb 24, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. ET
Online Event
Sunday, Feb 25, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. ET
Zoom and Facebook
Online Event
Sunday, Feb 25, 2024 at 4:00 p.m. ET
Online Event


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Date(s) - 19 Nov 2013
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Nov. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Amgen (AMGN) will host a webcast investor meeting at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2013 on Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m. CST. (6 p.m. AZ
Sean E. Harper, M.D., executive vice president of Research and Development at Amgen, along with members of Amgen's clinical development team and clinical investigators, will participate at the investor meeting to discuss data being presented at AHA.
Live audio of the investor meeting will be simultaneously broadcast over the Internet and will be available to members of the news media, investors and the general public.
The webcast, as with other selected presentations regarding developments in Amgen's business given by management at certain investor and medical conferences, can be found on Amgen's website, www.amgen.com, under Investors. Information regarding presentation times, webcast availability and webcast links are noted on Amgen's Investor Relations Events Calendar. The webcast will be archived and available for replay for at least 90 days after the event.
About Amgen
Amgen is committed to unlocking the potential of biology for patients suffering from serious illnesses by discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering innovative human therapeutics. This approach begins by using tools like advanced human genetics to unravel the complexities of disease and understand the fundamentals of human biology.
Amgen focuses on areas of high unmet medical need and leverages its biologics manufacturing expertise to strive for solutions that improve health outcomes and dramatically improve people's lives. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen has grown to be the world's largest independent biotechnology company, has reached millions of patients around the world and is developing a pipeline of medicines with breakaway potential.
For more information, visit www.amgen.com and follow us on www.twitter.com/amgen.
Amgen, Thousand Oaks
Ashleigh Koss, 805-313-6151 (media)
Arvind Sood, 805-447-1060 (investors)


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Opening Reception March 10th, 6 – 9 PM
On exhibit from March 10th – April 7th
Plastic Nation is an art show designed to bring awareness to our consumption of plastic and how it's polluting our oceans and local environment. On March 10th, come see how local artists are upcycling the material to use in their work. Can you imagine a brooch made out of plastic? Sculptures from bottle caps! Photography, collages and much, much more. Part of the proceeds go to St. Louis Earth Day and their efforts to divert plastic from our local environment.
For more information, visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/1617283875029771/


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There are a ton of cheap RF transceiver boards available. [Martin] recently took a look at several of the most common ones and reports back on what you want to look for when acquiring wireless hardware for your projects.
Ikea picture frame plus old laptop equals a roll-your-own digital picture frame which [Victor] built. It runs Ubuntu and is more powerful and extensible than anything you could purchase outright.
Our friend [HowToLou] sure loves the FlowRider. So much so that he's trying to figure out how to make them less expensive to operate. He put together an example of how he thinks a standing wave can be created that follows the rider as they move along the surfing area.
[Garrett] released an Arduino library that offers threading, debugging, and error handling. The usertools package can be downloaded from his Github repository.
There's only one way to gauge your Christmas cheer — hook yourself up to the XMeter built by [Geoff]. He's the same guy who built a breathalyzer a couple of years back. It flashes images of holiday activities on a television while measuring galvanic response using a couple of DIY probes.
And finally, play around with a virtual x86 system. [Fabian Hemmer] wrote the incredibly full-featured virtual machine in JavaScript. You can get your hands on the code via his GitHub repo. [Thanks Martin]


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$\text P$ vs $\text {BQP}$ is an open question. That is, "can systems which require a polynomial number of qubits in the size of an input be described with only a polynomial number of bits?" If the answer is "yes", then the device you're reading this with can factor quickly and do other fun things, whoopee! Most quantum information scientists assume that universal quantum computation is hard for Turing machines / classical computers, but there is no proof to show classical computers are quantum-weak. We know the following:
- Clifford circuits acting on stabilizer states are classically efficient (Gottesman-Knill theorem).
- All quantum states with a positive Wigner representation are classically efficient. This includes both stabilizer states and so-called bound states (see here). Bound states are interesting because they cannot be described trivially as combinations of stabilizer states (they lie outside the stabilizer polytope / octahedron), yet are still easy to classically simulate.
- Magic states promote Clifford circuits to full quantum universality by allowing for the application of a non-Clifford unitary through a process called 'gate teleportation' or 'gate injection' (see here). Magic states however, being pure non-stabilizer states are classically inefficient to simulate.
- It has been shown that if one can simulate a reusable magic state, then quantum power is classically realizable with software which takes advantage of the finding, ie. $\text P = \text{BQP}$ (see here). This is a big finding, but magic states are generally destroyed in the teleport/injection process so it seems hard to achieve magic-state-reusability.
The reason why $\text P$ becomes $\text{BQP}$ when the magic state is reusable is because the number of terms introduced by the magic state is kept constant; whereas in the typical magic state scenario (where the magic state is destroyed during gate injection), the number of terms grows exponentially with each magic state introduced to the computation (generally $N$ magic states consumed per $N$ non-Clifford transformations required, so $d^N$ terms).
Thus the challenge then becomes: how can we keep the number of terms constant but not be burdened with devising an invincible magic state? Ie. how can we employ a linear number of magic states in our simulation but keep the terms introduced by such states constant as in the $\text{P}=\text{BQP}$ finding from this article.
The proposed answer to the above problem is to compress the output of the gate injection qudit to the nearest 0 / neutral Wigner state (Wigner representations in this context are defined in this paper in the middle of p.5). Specifically, the gate injection circuit has 2 inputs: an info input $|\psi \rangle$, and a magic state $|T\rangle$. The output is the result state of a $T$ gate applied to $\psi$, $T|\psi\rangle$. In the event the output $T|\psi\rangle$ has a negative (inefficient) Wigner representation, we would then compress that qudit so that its state is shifted to the nearest 0 Wigner representation.
Your thought may be, well, the quantumness will be lost when you shift the output of the gate injection circuit to the nearest 0 Wigner state. But wait! 0 is neither a positive nor negative number, so we are not technically shifting it to a positive (weak and fast) state, but a neutral state -- by contrast, negative states are strong but seemingly slow. This is potentially an important distinction because while such 0 Wigner states are efficiently simulable, they may also retain quantum power.
The bottom line is we would have a circuit with Clifford gates, positive and neutral Wigner states (the latter sometimes called zero-sum-negative states), and unlimited use of magic states -- with the caveat that the output of the gate injection circuit can never be negative, and if so it must be shifted to the nearest 0/neutral Wigner state. Is such a system universal for QC?


text: Page Content Electricity touches every aspect of our lives. From the facilities that generate electricity to the lines that carry it to our homes and businesses, we depend on this system to power our lives and our region. Energy Northwest is committed to educating the communities we serve about energy. We offer a speakers bureau with a variety of presentations given by one of our trained industry experts. Some of the topics include: Powering our clean energy future Columbia Generating Station - the Northwest's only nuclear power plant Nine Canyon Wind Project and wind power Our speakers are perfect for large events, small groups, civic meetings, professional organization workshops, employee brown bags or schools. There is no charge. The presentations are way for us to reach out and engage our community in matters that affect all of us. To schedule an Energy Northwest speakers bureau presentation, e-mail email@example.com. Please submit your request, preferably at least 30 days in advance, and we will make every effort to accommodate your schedule. Please allow five business days for a response to your request.


text: Okay. So I was wactching Wimbledon last year whaen Laura Robson (GB) won. She also made it to the final of the Hopman cup with Andy Murray (GB) but lost. She's still only 15. 16 this month, she's only 4 months older than myself, but I was wondering what you guys taught bout her. Is she too young ? Is it great she's so young ? Do you guys thing shes good? Is she a next star ? What you guys think ?


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2014 Cadillac CTS
Chalk up another home run for Cadillac. On the heels of its award-winning compact sedan, the third-generation midsize Cadillac CTS sedan debuts larger, leaner and ready to take on longstanding leaders in the luxury midsize category.
While the last generation Cadillac CTS was nothing to shake a stick at (it broke the record for a production sedan on Germany's famous Nurburging racetrack when it debuted), it was an awkward 'tweener. Too big to be compact, yet too small to be midsize, the outgoing CTS straddled the line drawn by other luxury brands. With the introduction of the compact Cadillac ATS, Cadillac has more precisely matched the BMW 3 Series class, allowing it to redesign the CTS as a larger car. As a result, the 2014 Cadillac CTS has been moved squarely into the premium midsize category, putting it in direct competition with the Audi A6, BMW 5 Series, and Mercedes-Benz E-Class.
The 2014 CTS sedan is 4.2 inches longer than the previous-generation (2008-2013) models, with a wheelbase that's stretched 1.2 inches. The 2014 CTS also sits 0.8 inch lower. The new design bears a family resemblance to the compact ATS and full-size XTS sedan. While still based on Cadillac's Art and Science design language, the once-radical styling of the CTS has been softened, while still keeping Cadillac's signature vertical lines and sharp creases. The grille is wider, with vertical stripes of LED lights that run the length of the headlamps, and continue below down the foglamp housings.
A choice of engines is available for the new CTS. Standard is a peppy and efficient 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that makes 272 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, slightly more than the previous gen's naturally aspirated 3.0-liter V6. Fuel economy for the 2014 CTS with 2.0-liter turbo is an EPA-estimated 20/30 mpg City/Highway, 19/28 mpg City/Highway with optional all-wheel drive.
Optional is an updated version of the 3.6-liter naturally aspirated V6, good for an impressive 321 hp and 275 lb.-ft., with an EPA-estimated 19/29 mpg on RWD models and 18/26 mpg City/Highway with AWD.
Both engines are mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission; enthusiasts who like to row through the gears may be dismayed to learn that Cadillac axed the 6-speed manual available on the previous version.
The CTS VSport features a new twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter V6 that cranks out 420 horsepower and 430 pound-feet of torque. It's paired to an all-new 8-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters for a broader power band and increased fuel economy. Cadillac says the CTS VSport will dash from 0-60 mph in just 4.6 seconds. Fuel economy is predictably lower, with an EPA-estimated 17/25 mpg City/Highway. CTS VSport models are rear-wheel drive only.
Based on the same rear-wheel-drive platform as the compact Cadillac ATS, the new CTS uses many of the same weight saving technologies, like extensive use of aluminum in the chassis and body. The result is the lightest CTS to date; Cadillac says the base model has a curb weight of 3,616 pounds, nearly 200 pounds lighter than the BMW 528i. Use of lighter materials in the back, combined with a heavier rear steel suspension, help the CTS to achieve a near-50/50 weight distribution.
For the first time, GM's magnetic ride control suspension is optional on all CTS models. The CTS is also the first Cadillac to use Automatic Parking Assist, GM's automated parallel parking system. New safety features include automatic safety belt tightening, which continuously adjusts the seat belt during driving. A plethora of electronic safety systems are also available, including adaptive cruise control, forward collision alert, lane departure warning, side blind zone alert and panic brake assist.
Though its design might not appeal to everyone, the 2014 Cadillac CTS is as good as any German luxury sedan when it comes to performance and handling, and outshines many with its impeccable interior materials and finishes. With many technology and comfort features coming standard, the CTS is also an excellent value for the money when compared to others in its class.
While the CTS sedan (including Vsport) is all-new for the 2014 model year, the 2014 Cadillac CTS-V with 6.2-liter V8, the 2014 CTS Coupe, and the 2014 CTS Sport Wagon are all still based on the previous-generation platform, as are the CTS-V versions of the coupe and wagon. The CTS Coupe and Sport Wagon debuted as 2011 models and have not changed much since then. The CTS-V sedan was launched as a 2009 and remains largely unchanged.
Model Lineup
The 2014 Cadillac CTS sedan is available with a choice of three engines, each with several trims. Rear-wheel drive is standard, all-wheel drive is available.
CTS ($45,100) comes standard with the 2.0-liter turborcharged four-cylinder engine and is available with rear-wheel drive or all-wheel-drive ($47,100). Standard features include dual-zone automatic climate control, leatherette (vinyl) upholstery, 8-way power front seats with 4-way power lumbar and 4-way manually adjustable head restraints, driver memory, a leather-wrapped manual tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel with multifunction controls, keyless ignition/entry, adaptive remote start, cruise control, universal home remote, Bluetooth phone and streaming audio connectivity, the Cadillac CUE infotainment system with 8-inch color touchscreen display, a 11-speaker Bose premium audio system with active noise cancellation, HD radio, satellite radio capability with a three-month included subscription, rear parking assist, heated and power adjustable outside mirrors with turn signal indicators and 17-inch painted aluminum wheels with run-flat tires. An optional leather seating package ($3,500) includes leather upholstery, power steering column, heated and ventilated seats, heated steering wheel, split-folding rear seat, single in-dash CD player and additional ambient lighting.
CTS Luxury trims can be had with the 2.0-liter turbocharged engine with rear-wheel drive ($51,000) or all-wheel drive ($53,000), or with the more powerful 3.6-liter V6 with rear-wheel drive ($53,700) or all-wheel drive ($55,700). In addition to the standard features, CTS Luxury includes leather upholstery, adaptive HID headlamps, a Driver Awareness Package with blind spot monitoring system, rear cross-traffic alert, lane departure warning and forward collision alert, as well as different 17-inch wheels. Options for the Luxury model include Cadillac's adaptive magnetic ride control suspension system with 18-inch painted ($1,550) or polished ($2,000) wheels and a panoramic sunroof ($1,250).
Navigation with an upgraded Bose audio system ($905) is optional on both standard and Luxury trims.
CTS Performance models come with the same choice of 2.0-liter turbocharged engines with RWD ($57,400) or AWD ($59,400), or with the 3.6-liter V6 and RWD ($60,100) or AWD ($62,100). In addition to everything above, CTS Performance upgrades with tri-zone automatic climate control, heated rear seats, navigation, a 110-volt power outlet, automated parallel parking assist, a head-up display and additional ambient lighting. Options for Performance models include 20-way-adjustable sport seat package ($1,625) with sport pedals and a reconfigurable gauge cluster. An optional Driver Assistance package ($2,540) adds active safety features including full-speed adaptive cruise control (which can bring the car automatically to a stop in case of emergency), front and rear automatic braking and automatic collision-preparation braking with automatic seatbelt tightening.
CTS Premium trim with the 2.0-liter turbo ($61,800) with AWD ($63,800) as well as the 3.6-liter V6 with RWD ($64,500) or AWD ($66,500) includes all of the Performance equipment plus additional leather trim, the Driver Assistance package, the reconfigurable instrument cluster and an advanced security system.
CTS VSport models ($59,070) are powered exclusively by a 3.6-liter twin-turbocharged V6. Standard features include those found on the CTS Performance trim plus a sport suspension, electronic limited-slip rear differential, selectable driving modes, sport-tuned steering and unique 18-inch wheels with high-performance summer tires. The CTS VSport Premium ($69,070) adds features found on the Performance trim and the Driver Assistance Package. Optional on CTS VSport models is an upgraded high-performance brake pad ($100).
Safety features standard on all models include active front head restraints, driver front-seat side airbags and full-length side curtain airbags, traction control, stability control, anti-lock brakes and GM's OnStar roadside assistance and rash notification with one-year included subscription. Optional active safety features are available in the Driver Assistance package. All-wheel drive can enhance handling stability in slippery conditions.
Exterior styling on the 2014 Cadillac CTS retains the sharp angles and vertical lines of Cadillac's Art and Science design language that's been in use for more than a decade. Yet the new CTS is much more sophisticated, with more fluidity between the sharp angles. It bears a close family resemblance to the ATS and full-size XTS sedan.
At 4.2 inches longer and nearly an inch lower, the 2014 Cadillac CTS looks more planted. Visually, the bulk of the CTS is concentrated under its tall beltline; the bottom half looks substantial and solid, with a wide, large grille.
From head-on, the front end is still very crisp and angular. Vertical stripes of LED lights that run the length of the stretched-back headlamps, and continue below down the outside of the tall foglamp housings. Hood lines are deeper and more sculpted, flowing into a sleek and sloping windshield.
Its aerodynamic shape is clear from the side view. The narrow line of LED daytime running lamps stretches back into the front fender, reminiscent of Cleopatra's exaggerated black eyeliner. The relatively low roofline gently sweeps back and down into the rear window, with no interference other than the small center-mounted roof fin. A slight lip on the truck lid helps to guide air coming off the back of the car. Wheel choices vary, and come in an array of painted and polished designs in 17, 18 and 19-inch sizes.
In back, an updated version of Cadillac's vertical taillamps are wide and solid red. The rear bumper, as before, comes to a center point. Below, geometric-shaped dual exhaust ports are integrated into the rear bumper, giving it a clean, symmetrical look.
Interior Features
Like other Cadillac interiors, materials on the CTS are high-quality and luxurious. Compared to rivals, the cabin of the CTS really shines. Cadillac prides itself on using materials that are authentic; if it looks like wood, it is. Trim and colors vary by model type and package; some wood inserts have a high-gloss finish. Others are open pore, with a very thin coating that allows you to feel the natural pock marks and variation. All interior examples we saw were beautiful, harmonious and classy.
Standard front seats are comfortable, but not heavily bolstered. Those of smaller stature may find the flatter design more comfortable, as more highly contoured large seats sometimes seem to hug in all the wrong places. Upgraded sport seats have more aggressive bolstering, but don't feel overly confining. In a CTS VSport model we drove, bolsters were adjustable, to provide just the right amount of squeeze.
Vinyl upholstery is smooth and durable, and feels leather-like. Genuine leather upholstery is soft and good-looking. Optional semi-aniline leather is buttery and smells delightfully rich, as less protective coating allows more of the natural hide to come through. Although, the latter also requires more care and can be less durable long-term.
A high center console sits between driver and passenger, making each feel like she's in her own compartment. We felt the console was a bit too high, though, and we hit our elbow a few times attempting to shift gears.
Storage in the front seat is okay, but not plentiful. Two center cup holders are large enough for standard-size water bottles, but won't fit larger containers or coffee mugs. Side map pockets are relatively narrow and lack additional cupholder space found in some competitors. There is a clever locking storage area behind the touch screen in the center stack, but it's not convenient to use while driving. The center console is roomy, but it opens sideways with the opening facing the driver, which makes it difficult for the passenger to access.
The star of the center stack is the 8-inch touchscreen, framed by a deep and dramatic U-shaped line. The interior design echoes the lines and shapes of the outside, with sharp angles and rising lines that wrap around and create a seamless flow from the center instrument panel to the doors.
CUE, short for Cadillac User Experience, is Cadillac's voice-activated proprietary interface with an iPad-like touchscreen. While past Cadillac models were fraught with an overwhelming number of buttons on the center stack, CUE drastically cuts down the number of controls to just a handful. It controls audio and telephone functions, as well as directions and map information on cars equipped with navigation.
CUE's home menu is configurable so you can access your favorite functions easily. It also uses proximity sensing, which saves extra steps and keeps your attention better focused on the road. When driving, CUE will display full-screen maps or audio information, but when your hand is nearby, it automatically brings up menu options related to the current function on the screen.
We were pleasantly surprised by the navigation and voice activation. Voice recognition systems can be painfully inaccurate, but CUE understands natural voice commands, meaning you don't need to use pre-canned terms to get it to do something. Even better, it can correctly identify difficult names from an address book, although it will most likely butcher the pronunciation when repeating it back to you.
While CUE is mostly user friendly, there are still a few oddities. One of these is that it uses physical buttons on the center stack, located below the screen for the climate control's fan speed and temperature. However, if you want to change vent mode, you have to go in to the CUE menu. It annoyed us when a barrage of fingerprints appeared on the screen after just a few minutes of use. The CTS does come with a microfiber cleaning cloth, but it's not an elegant solution.
Still, CUE has gotten better since it debuted on the XTS. Software has been upgraded to cut down response time, and we could tell the difference.
The steering wheel in the 2014 Cadillac CTS is comfortable. Not overly thick, yet substantial enough to grip firmly in hand. CTS VSport models have a thicker wheel, but it doesn't feel overly stuffed like some other carmakers' sport wheels. Drivers can toggle through an array of electronic information on the instrument cluster, including speed, fuel economy, distance to empty, and more. An optional configurable thin transistor film (TFT) instrument cluster allows the driver to change the look of the gauges; choices range from clean and simple to highly detailed.
On cars equipped with the Driver Awareness Package, the driver's seat will vibrate when the lane departure warning or forward collision alert is activated. If a vibrating seat isn't your style, you can change the warning to an audible tone. As for us, we think the vibrators should have a manual on/off switch and be repurposed as seat massagers.
Visibility is fine in the CTS, though the instrument panel sits up high. Those of smaller stature may have to raise the seat to see properly. Also, flat, squat sideview mirrors may take some getting used to.
In back, the 2014 Cadillac CTS is still a bit more cramped compared to its rivals. Rear legroom measures 35.4, compared to 37.4 inches in the Audi A6, 36.1 inches in the BMW 5 Series and 35.8 inches in the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Still, a six-foot-tall passenger can fit behind a six-foot-tall driver with a bit of knee room to spare. Rear headroom is 37.5 inches, compared with the Audi's 37. 8 inches, BMW's 38.3 inches and Mercedes's 38.2 inches.
Cargo space is also a little shy of competitors'. The trunk in the CTS measures 13.7 cubic feet (an increase of only 0.1 cubes compared to the outgoing model), compared with the 14.1 cubic feet in Audi A6, 14.0 cubic feet in 5 Series, 15.9 in E-Class.
Driving Impressions
The 2014 Cadillac CTS is responsive, lively and athletic. It handles as well as the best European sedans, yet it's also comfortable, smooth and quiet. The base 2.0-liter turbocharged engine is capable and fun, and is the best choice for everyday commuting. At high rpms it sounds like it's working hard, but isn't quite as whiney as the four-cylinder turbo used in the BMW 528i. The 2.0-liter turbo is the most efficient of the CTS lot, with an EPA-estimated 20/30 mpg City/Highway on rear-wheel drive vehicles and 19/28 mpg City/Highway with optional all-wheel-drive.
Better suited to the CTS is the upgraded 3.6-liter V6. Acceleration is effortless, and gives smooth and satisfying power. As expected, fuel economy dips a bit, with an EPA-estimated 19/29 mpg City/Highway on RWD models and 18/26 mpg with AWD.
Most impressive (and most expensive) is the hot-rod CTS VSport, which skyrockets effortlessly down the road and through twisty canyons with its all-new 3.6-liter twin-turbocharged V6. On two-lane roads, we shot by slower cars effortlessly, making the drivers left behind wondering what had just happened. Fuel economy is an EPA-estimated 17/25 mpg City/Highway.
Sound insulation is quite good in the cabin of the CTS. On the upgraded 18-inch wheels, we noticed very little road and tire noise, and virtually no wind noise. Larger 19-inch wheels were, as expected, a little noisier, but we didn't find it unbearable. All models come with active noise cancellation, which helps to reduce ambient noise inside the cabin, much like noise-cancelling headphones.
On CTS VSport models, engineers took it a step further, carefully orchestrating the cabin acoustics using active noise cancelation and microphones to keep out the bad noises and pipe in the good ones. The result is a satisfying, audible growl when you get on the throttle, especially in Track mode.
All of our test models came with the optional Magnetic Ride Control. This adaptive suspension system manages the CTS's weight beautifully around tight corners and long sweepers. Both the 2.0 turbo and the 3.6-liter have a choice of three driving modes: Touring, Sport and Snow/Ice. CTS VSport models have an added Track mode. Each changes the car's setup to range from comfortable to ultra-competitive. We haven't gotten a chance to test the standard CTS suspension.
All CTS models come with Brembo brakes, which are firm and confident, but not overly touchy. Upgraded brakes on CTS VSport models have more bite, as one might expect. Upgraded brake pads on the CTS VSport are even better, but also make more dust.
The 2014 Cadillac CTS is a class-leading performance sedan that offers great handling, a high-quality interior and many standard features at a competitive price.
Laura Burstein filed this New Car Test Drive report after her test drive of all the 2014 Cadillac CTS models near Santa Barbara, California.
Model Line Overview | |
Model lineup: | Cadillac CTS Standard ($45,100); Luxury ($51,000); Performance ($57,400); Premium ($61,800); CTS VSport ($59,070) |
Engines: | 2.0-liter, turbocharged, direct-injected inline-4 VVT; 3.6-Liter, direct-injected V6 VVT; 3.6-liter twin-turbocharged direct-injected VVT |
Transmissions: | 6-speed automatic; 8-speed automatic |
Safety equipment (standard): | OnStar, six airbags (front, side and curtain), traction control, anti-lock brakes (ABS), stability control |
Safety equipment (optional): | blind spot monitoring system, rear cross-traffic alert, lane departure warning, forward collision alert, adaptive cruise control, front and rear automatic brake, heads-up display, automatic collision preparation, full-speed adaptive cruise control, automatic parallel parking assist |
Basic warranty: | 4 years/50,000 miles |
Assembled in: | Lansing, Michigan |
Specifications As Tested | |
Model tested (MSPR): | 2014 Cadillac CTS 2.0 Luxury ($53,000) |
Standard equipment: | leather upholstery, dual-zone automatic climate control, 8-way power front seats with 4-way power lumbar and 4-way manually adjustable head restraints, driver memory, a leather-wrapped manual tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel with multifunction controls, keyless ignition/entry, adaptive remote start, cruise control, universal home remote, Bluetooth phone and streaming audio connectivity, the Cadillac CUE infotainment system with 8-inch color touchscreen display, a 11-speaker Bose premium audio system with active noise cancellation, HD radio, satellite radio capability with a three-month included subscription, rear parking assist, heated and power adjustable outside mirrors with turn signal indicators, adaptive HID headlamps, 17-inch wheels |
Options as tested (MSPR): | Navigation with upgraded 13-seaker Bose audio system ($905); 18-inch painted wheels with all-season run-flat tires and magnetic ride control ($1,550); White Diamond paint ($995) |
Destination charge: | $925 |
Gas guzzler tax: | N/A |
Price as tested (MSPR): | $57375 |
Layout: | all-wheel drive |
Engine: | 2.0-liter turbocharged direct-injected inline-4 |
Horsepower (lb.-ft @ rpm): | 272 @ 5500 |
Torque (lb.-ft @ rpm): | 295 @ 1700-5500 |
Transmission: | 6-speed automatic |
EPA fuel economy, city/hwy: | 19/28 mpg |
Wheelbase: | 114.6 in. |
Length/width/height: | 195.5/72.2/57.2 in. |
Track, f/r: | 61.4/61.7 in. |
Turning circle: | 39.0 ft. |
Seating Capacity: | 5 |
Head/hip/leg room, f: | 39.2/53.8/42.6 in. |
Head/hip/leg room, m: | N/A |
Head/hip/leg room, r: | 37.5/53.3/35.4 in. |
Cargo volume: | 13.7 cu. ft. |
Payload: | N/A |
Towing capacity: | 1000 Lbs. |
Suspension, f: | Magnetic Ride Control with monotube inverted struts |
Suspension, r: | Magnetic Ride Control with monotube shocks |
Ground clearance: | N/A |
Curb weigth: | 3616 lbs. |
Tires: | 245/40R18 |
Brakes, f/r: | vented disc with 4-piston fixed calipers/vented disc with single-piston cast iron silding calipers and ABS |
Fuel capacity: | 19.0 gal. |
Unless otherwise indicated, specifications refer to test vehicle. All prices are manufacturer's suggested retail prices (MSPR) effective as of September 30, 2013.Prices do not include manufacturer's destination and delivery charges. N/A: Information not available or not applicable. Manufacturer Info Sources: 800-333-4CAD - www.cadillac.com |
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We're behind in posting to the blog but happily we are in great shape with coffee and equipment. We will certainly make an effort to post more often. At the moment we have all the Technivorm Moccamaster models in stock, these include the ever popular KBT-741 in both polished silver and black, the cylindrical Moccamaster CDT all of which brew 1.25 liters. We also stock the slightly smaller and shorter one liter model, KBTS. All are available with the best offer on the internet and selling at the lowest allowable price.
A number of coffees have arrived and will be on the site very shortly. We were successful bidders on Hacienda Esmeralda's lot called Mario Pasqua, our favorite of the group offered this year. Mario is the name of the field where their most acclaimed coffee has come from in the past. This field was picked three times, the last of which was in April around Easter – Pasqua in Spanish. Esmeralda's crop was half of the previous year, a common problem throughout Panama, Costa Rica and Colombia this year. Less coffee, winner of this year's Best of Panama, higher prices. We will have only a bit available.
We will also be adding Ethiopia Amaro Gayo Organic, a beautifully selected natural with pronounced blueberry and tons of fruit. Special coffees out of Ethiopia are very difficult to find this year because of the advent of the ECX or Ethiopia Commodity Exchange. Ethiopia has launched its own NY Mercantile style exchange in an effort to generate more income and smoother transactions for farmers within the country, where in the past an open auction system existed. In doing so, the exchange negates rewards some growers and exporters were gettting in the past for exceptional coffee production, and relegates those coffees to being identified solely by region. It would be like famous Grand Cru wines such as Chateaux Lafite, Latour or Margaux being required to be sold as just Bordeaux, without allowing them to be sold separately and at their much deservingly higher prices. Why would they continue to take special care and make investment in their farms without reward? This is a situation we hope to be corrected in the near future, but it exists for now. Some pre-arranged shipments were allowed to go through and Amaro Gayo Organic is one of them. It is similar in appeal to Bagersh' Idido Misty Valley, which will not be in the US in 2009.
Also be on the lookout for a truly top Kenya AA Kagumoini, one of the best we've had in some time, and we've had some stunners. Another coffee is a microlot from Costa Rica milled at the Helsar micromill. These and more to be added shortly. Check our New Arrivals section for the latest additions. New CoE coffees from Colombia, the 4th place winner, and, Costa Rica, the 3rd place winner, have just been added.


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The fatal crash of a helicopter in the East River reignited a debate over whether to restrict their flights as investigators on Wednesday studied weather reports and instruments looking for clues to the accident's cause.
State and city legislators led by U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said the crash underscored the danger of helicopter flights. They called for a ban on tourist flights and pleasure trips by privately owned aircraft at Manhattan's three riverside heliports.
"You're talking about the densest population center in the country, very, very tight, narrow corridors and a huge amount of volume," said state Sen. Daniel Squadron. "And even though they're not going over land, that's still a pretty dangerous cocktail."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, himself a helicopter pilot, defended the flights.
"Helicopters are a very safe way to travel," he said. "There's three or four deaths in automobile accidents every single week in the city. Nobody's suggesting a ban on automobiles."
There have been 28 helicopter accidents in New York and 19 deaths since 1983, National Transportation Safety Board records show.
Aviation trade groups said any restrictions would be premature because investigators are still trying to determine what caused Tuesday's crash.
"You can't offer a solution to a problem you don't even understand yet," said Matt Zuccaro, president of Helicopter Association International, an advocacy group.
Commercial air tour companies are already limited to a heliport near Wall Street and only fly specific routes around the Hudson River and New York Bay. But the Bell 206 helicopter that crashed on Tuesday at the East 34th Street Heliport was on a private, non-commercial flight and was carrying only friends of the pilot.
The crash killed passenger Sonia Marra, a 40-year-old British citizen living in Australia. Another passenger, Helen Tamaki, was in critical condition with possible damage to her lungs and brain, her sister, Suzanne Tamaki, told the New Zealand Herald.
The helicopter might have been saved if it had been equipped with inflatable emergency pontoons, Mr. Zuccaro said. Air tour helicopters operating over water are required to have either pontoons or life jackets for each person, but private aircraft are not.
Investigators on Wednesday were examining the wreckage of the helicopter at a former Navy base in Brooklyn.
They were hoping to extract information that may have been stored by the aircraft's GPS navigation equipment, engine monitors or other instruments, said National Transportation Safety Board member Mark Rosekind. Experts were also talking to the pilot and reviewing videos of the crash for clues.
Mr. Rosekind said a piece of one of the helicopter's main rotor blades was missing, but it's unclear whether it broke before or after it crashed. The helicopter was built in 1976, and investigators were reviewing its maintenance logs, he said.
Experts also were studying the weather, which has been a key factor in other crashes at Manhattan heliports.
"One of the areas we're looking at are the winds," Mr. Rosekind said.
A weather reporting station at nearby LaGuardia Airport had reported gusts of up to 20 mph on Tuesday afternoon, and there were gusts to 25 miles per hour at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Winds can sometimes be rougher along the river because of turbulence caused by tall buildings and bridges.
In June 2005, two helicopters crashed within four days of each other at the East 34th Street Heliport. One, a Sikorsky, took off in 17- to 26-mile-per-hour winds and was caught by a tailwind that had been initially blocked by a building. The tailwind caused the helicopter to lose lift and drop suddenly into the water.
The other helicopter, a Bell 206 similar to the one that crashed on Tuesday, had taken off overweight and with a tailwind that made it more difficult to climb, the National Transportation Safety Board determined.
The National Transportation Safety Board also cited winds in the crash of helicopters in 1985, 1986, 1990 and 1997.
In 1993, a Bell 206 lost engine power but landed safely on the water after inflating its emergency pontoons.
The Federal Aviation Administration and city officials tightened the rules governing commercial sightseeing flights after a sightseeing helicopter and a light plane collided over the Hudson River, on the other side of Manhattan, in 2009.
Sightseeing flights now depart from the Wall Street heliport near Manhattan's southern tip and follow a strict route. Aircraft on the Hudson have to obey a 161-mile-per-hour speed limit and call out their positions on the radio using landmarks.
But Mr. Nadler and other lawmakers have clamored to have tourist flights eliminated entirely.
"Yet another terrible tragedy involving a helicopter should send us a clear message in flashing neon lights," Mr. Nadler said in a statement. "Sightseeing and nonessential helicopters are dangerous, unnecessary, and not worth it."
U.S. Rep. Carol Maloney, D-N.Y., sent a letter to Federal Aviation Administrator Randolph Babbitt on Wednesday calling helicopter traffic the "wild west of aviation" and asking him to review airspace rules over the city.
The pilot in Tuesday's crash, Paul Dudley, was a charter pilot who also managed the Linden, N.J., airport where many New York City helicopters are based. But on Tuesday he was flying for himself and his friends, Mr. Rosekind said.
Aviation advocates said the lawmakers were using the crash as an excuse to pick on tour companies.
"Any banning of tourist flights would not have prevented this tragedy," Jeff Smith, chairman of the Eastern Region Helicopter Council, said in a statement.
The passengers in Tuesday's flight were visiting New York to celebrate the birthdays of Ms. Marra and her stepfather, Paul Nicholson, 71.
They were accompanied by Mr. Nicholson's wife, Harriet Nicholson, 60; and a friend of Marra, Helen Tamaki, 43. The Nicholsons are British but live in Portugal; Ms. Marra, a British citizen, and Ms. Tamaki, a citizen of New Zealand, lived in Sydney, Australia.
The group had planned to do some sightseeing and then go to dinner.
Ms. Marra had worked at Galluzzo's fruit and vegetable market in the Sydney suburb of Glebe for the past three months, worker Joe Galluzzo said. Ms. Marra was thrilled when Ms. Tamaki surprised her with the trip to New York as a 40th birthday present, Mr. Galluzzo said.
Mr. Marra had not seen her relatives in years and was planning to meet up with them at the top of the Empire State Building as soon as she and Ms. Tamaki arrived in New York, Mr. Galluzzo said.
"Loved by the customers, fantastic personality—very bubbly," Mr. Galluzzo said of Ms. Marra. "She couldn't do enough for us. She was just a great, great person."
Fellow pilots at the Linden airport said Mr. Dudley is an experienced pilot in helicopters and airplanes. He has more than 2,200 flight hours under his belt as a pilot, including about 500 hours in the Bell 206, Mr. Rosekind said.
In 2006, he landed a Cessna 172 light plane in a park near Coney Island in Brooklyn after the engine failed. No one was hurt.


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(visited by Nathan Johnson, Michelle and John)
18-Nov-2001 -- Michelle and I (John) are a Chinese couple living in Yunnan province. We met a good friend from Canada named Nathan who introduced us to confluence hunting and suggested we try to reach one. I went to the website www.confluence.org and realized our province had many to choose from. We thought we could find a GPS and other necessary tools, so why not?
Sunday November 18th was sunny with few clouds. We borrowed a jeep from my friend and drove it from Kunming to the closest parking spot we had found. Before this we had tried two times to find the best road access (our maps did not include the many small village roads in the countryside). The first time was on Oct 28, 2001. We arrived at a village called Qiansou, where the GPS displayed N 25.15 E 102.91, approximately 3 km from the confluence. But the time was 5:00 pm, and the point still hiding behind a mountain. So we decided to turn back. The second time, on Nov 11, 2001, we thought a better place to park would be a mountain I found on the map called Laoye mountain. The Laoye mountain is 2470 m high, but is comprised of a series of peaks. This time we arrived at a village called Wunan, where the GPS displayed N 25.05 E 102.98, only 1.8 km away. Then we saw another village, Dahelongtan, even closer. We drove there and found ourselves only 1.6 km from our destination. There the road ended and the trail began. We thought it better to call it off one more time, as again we had lost so much time driving unmapped roads.
On our walk up the mountain, the scenery was beautiful, with many trees and weird flowers. The trail, as luck would have it, led us to within 10 metres of the confluence. We did the necessary bushwhacking, took the photos, then promptly lay down for a nap in the sun.


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083 798 3349
4th rd, Elandshaven


text: With over 7 million views on YouTube, many of you might have already seen this. It's 12 year old Greyson Michael Chance's performance of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" at a school recital at the Cheyenne Middle School in Edmond, Oklahoma. In addition to his amazingly original interpretation, there's also the pleasure of watching the gradually building reaction of his classmates!


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(TRENTON) – Legislation Democrats Valerie Vainieri Huttle, Tim Eustace, Patrick Diegnan and Thomas Giblin sponsored to ensure individuals with developmental disabilities access to the best care in the most appropriate environment cleared the full Assembly on Thursday.
"I have been to all seven of our state's centers and I have met with the residents and their families," said Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen). "In most cases, NJ state developmental centers are providing outstanding service and support in caring for our most profoundly developmentally disabled citizens. The best way to ensure our health centers continue to provide the best care is by speaking to former residents and evaluating their exit or transition process back into the community."
The bill (A-1098) would require follow-up studies of former residents of State developmental centers to assess their well-being. Specifically, the studies would make assessments of all former residents of North Jersey Developmental Center and Woodbridge Developmental Center who have made a transition into the community after August 1, 2012.
"The care provided by these centers support many individuals and families in the state and must continue to do so," said Eustace (D-Bergen, Passaic). "The individuals who are able to and wish to move out of the centers must be monitored throughout the transition process to make sure there are no negative changes in care. The study will help us to understand what is going right and what changes need to be made in order to ensure quality care for the residents in these communities."
"In most cases, NJ state developmental centers are providing outstanding service and support in our communities," Diegnan (D-Middlesex). "We want our health centers to continue providing the best care to the people they serve. Implementing a study of New Jersey's developmental centers is a step in the right direction."
"Our development health centers provide vital services and support to many New Jersey families," said Giblin (D-Essex, Passaic). "Ensuring these services are actually helping the individuals who use them is important to planning the future of these centers. It will tell us how we are doing well and what needs to be improved upon."
Under the bill's provisions, the studies are to include all former residents of other State developmental centers, who have made a transition into the community after the effective date of the bill as a result of implementation by the Department of Human Services (DHS) of its "Path to Progress" plan. The plan was developed to ensure that individuals with developmental disabilities who have expressed a desire to live in the community and whose individual habilitation plan so recommends, can do so.
The bill also requires the studies to include assessments of former residents of other State developmental centers, who have made a transition into the community after the effective date as a result of the implementation of a plan to close a developmental center. The studies are to evaluate former residents based on data collected after residents have been in the community for at least six months.
The results would be compiled in a report and submitted one year after the effective date, which is to be made available on the DHS website and submitted to the Governor and the Legislature.
The bill passed the Assembly 75-0.


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Friday, April 22, 2011
News On B&N ebook Publishing
Some quick updates on my experience on Barnes and Noble.com. Unfortunately due to my workload right now I have to make this a quick update and so I didn't compile the great information you guys have been sending in to me on publishing sites and software. If you're new to reading and watching my videos on ebooks please check out the great comments below and below other posts - that contain some of this hard to find information.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
New Portfolio Piece - YA Cover
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Part 2 - ebooks Formatting etc.
This is a continuation of our discussion here on ebooks. Since this is such a new industry the only way we can get good information is to share what we learn with eachother. I'm putting together what I've learned in video form and answering questions as best I can with what I've learned. If you have any information that would benefit authors and illustrators I'd love to hear from you.
In this video you'll see what my back office looks like on the "Pubit" Barnes and Noble site.
In this video you'll see what my back office looks like on the "Pubit" Barnes and Noble site.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Part1 - ebooks - Are they worth making?
Last week I got an email from Illustrator Laura Zarrin asking if I thought publishing my own children's ebooks is financially worth the time. I've published 3 of my own ebooks in the last 4 months and have learned so much in doing so. There was too much information to type out in an email so I thought I would just make a video and answer her question here. I hope this helps anyone contemplating this decision. If anyone has an more questions just leave a comment and I'll try to answer it.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Portfolio Work
I gave my Illustration 1 class this assignment:
Setting: Castle
content: One human figure
Concept: "Something's coming"
I was sketching at the in-laws and started working on it - liked it - decided to render it for my portfolio. I don't get young adult cover work so I thought I'd try to expand my portfolio to possibly attract some.
I was inspired by one of my students concepts - I hope he takes this as a compliment.
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Public Safety & Human Services Committee agendas are available prior to the meetings. Minutes are available following approval.
View Agendas and Minutes
Except as otherwise provided in this article, each standing committee shall consist of at least three adlerspersons, one of whom shall act as chairperson. The Council president shall designate the chairperson at the time of nominations, or the first person named on each committee shall be the chairperson according to Robert's Rules of Order. The second person named shall be vice-chairperson.
The Public Safety & Human Services Committee shall oversee fire and police service, public health, and services for elderly, review the issuance of any license, permit or franchise in connection with the sale of alcoholic beverages and review the need for ordinances concerning enforcement of any criminal codes, fire, building, residence, traffic, and such other codes, ordinances, and resolutions as may be appropriate to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the public. Additionally, to review applications for outdoor sound, basketball hoops, and permits for the sale of tobacco products, oversee the use of any public buildings, lands, easements, streets, or property for special events and provide recommendations on contracts for senior services, garbage collection, library services, emergency medical services.


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Citigroup's announcement on Monday that it plans to stress finance and investing know-how in filling upcoming openings on its board of directors could be the tip of an iceberg.
More financial-services companies whose earnings were hijacked by their investments in subprime mortgage-backed securities and other kinds of companies simply struggling with the current economic downturn are likely to adopt the same strategy, according to some who are familiar with the workings of corporate boards. But that doesn't necessarily mean the strategy is a sound one.
Citigroup stated on its website that it is "actively seeking new directors" and is placing a "particular emphasis on expertise in finance and investments." As to its reasons, the notice said only that the move is "in response to shareholder inquiries related to the scheduled retirement of certain directors." A company spokesman declined further comment.
The Securities and Exchange Commission requires public companies to disclose whether they have at least one audit committee member with expertise in generally accepted accounting principles, financial statements, and internal controls, and if they do not, to explain why. At Citigroup, retired Medtronic CFO Robert Ryan is on the audit committee. Also on the board is Richard Parsons, chairman of Time Warner, who ran a New York thrift in the 1990s. Former treasury secretary Robert Rubin, the chairman of the company's executive committee, is an internal board member.
Companies in all businesses, not just financial services, can be expected to follow Citigroup's lead. "The financial people will come to the fore now," said Milan Moravec, chief executive officer of Moravec & Associates, a management consulting firm that provides expertise on the makeup of boards. "Hopefully they'll provide a better understanding of the direction companies need to go." The operative word, though, was "hopefully." Moravec told CFO.com that he doesn't really expect such decisions to have much impact. He called Citigroup's announcement "a knee-jerk reaction."
Loading a board with financial people, even at a financial-services company, makes for a bad mix, according to Moravec. "You'll have a bunch of technical experts who are not really very good at communicating with one another or at bringing about the right levels of constructive conflict and differences of opinion," he said. "They'll be likely to make the same kinds of poor decisions that were made before."
Indeed, having too many finance experts could undermine one of a board's chief functions, which is to ask "the dumb question," according to Keith Hall, a former CFO of Lending Tree who now sits on three boards (public company, private company, and non-profit organization). Asking and answering such questions could have insulated companies from exposure to the subprime mortgage meltdown, he suggested.
Noting that he wasn't singling out Citigroup and that he wasn't familiar with what its board was doing, Hall told CFO.com, "If a board had an environment supportive of members asking dumb questions, they might have asked, 'What are all these alphabet soup-like things like CDOs? How do they really work?' If you had probed further, could it have been revealed whether there was proper documentation of the underlying instruments supporting these mortgages? Perhaps the most important dumb question would be, 'What were the facts behind these subprime loans?'"
A different point of view was offered by Ramon Weil, a professor of accounting in the University of Chicago's graduate business school who has done research on the roles of finance executives on corporate boards. He said Citigroup's strategy is appropriate because it's a financial services company. At a manufacturing company, say, someone whose expertise is largely in finance rather than in manufacturing might not have much to offer as a member of the general board.
Theoretically such a person is needed for the audit committee, but Weil pointed to problems there as well. "The most surprising thing in my research has been how many CFOs don't know diddly-squat about accounting," he said. "I'm suspect of CFOs on boards who have never been involved with accounting. They know about financial markets, earnings reports, borrowing, and dividend policy, but they tend not to be real helpful on audit committees about the kinds of accounting issues that have gotten so many companies in trouble."
Yet that kind of CFO might be just the one that corporations are looking to install on their boards, according to Tom Kolder, president of finance-executive recruiting firm Crist Associates, for which placing board members is a key service.
In recent years, Kolder said, the catalyst for bringing CFOs into the boardroom was the new compliance demands brought about by Sarbanes-Oxley. Now, though, the trigger will be the devastating effects of companies' risky behavior in the capital markets. That means a different kind of CFO will be in demand. "Whereas in the past coming up through the CPA track was the key qualifier, what you can expect to see now is treasury-related skills coming into favor," he said.
Regardless, companies are ill-advised to view changing the board mix as a panacea for their problems, according to Hall. "I suppose the trend for more industry experts being put on boards [at financial services companies] will continue, but that doesn't make a problem like the mortgage mess magically disappear," he said. "It's going to take a lot of work and time to sort matters out. Sometimes it takes a lot of dumb questions to get to the real answers. And let's face it, there are a lot of guys on Wall Street who all thought they were doing the right thing and the risk wasn't that great."


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In Virginia, there is a cold, damp relic of American ingenuity called the Crozet Tunnel. It was built in the 1850s for the Blue Ridge railroad. For a time, it was the longest tunnel in America, nearly a mile long, under Afton Mountain. Well, today, it's abandoned. But for years, local officials wanted to turn it into a walking path. Well, now it looks like that'll happen.
Reporter Eric Mennel visited the tunnel before it's a change.
ERIC MENNEL, BYLINE: The entrance to the Crozet Tunnel looks like a setting out of "The Lord of the Rings." The stone archway is about 20 feet tall by 16 feet wide. Clouds form below the arch because of the cooler temperature inside. And it's covered with algae and graffiti. One says: Find Your Happy Place. Not sure who would do that here. Stay Away. Yeah, just stay away. OK, that seems more appropriate.
MENNEL: Did you hear something in the tunnel?
CALEB HATFIELD: Yeah. It was an invitation.
MENNEL: All right, here we go.
MENNEL: That's my friend and co-spelunker, Caleb Hatfield.
The Crozet Tunnel was Virginia's first major attempt to build through the Blue Ridge Mountains. For a nation expanding, this was to be a gateway to the West.
HATFIELD: The pathway has turned to just rubble. The walls have turned to concrete on one side.
MENNEL: Less than 100 yards into the tunnel, the natural light disappears and we're left with only our headlamps and two small flashlights.
All right, so we've come upon a wall.
HATFIELD: It looks kind of like something you'd see in a World War II movie. The Nazis have dug an underground bunker and this is like the security access point, with one two-foot-by-two-foot round tube.
MENNEL: A drainage pipe, to be exact. When the tunnel was decommissioned in the 1940s, there was a plan to store natural gas inside. But that never happened. Now, the 16-foot long pipe is all that separates wanderers from the main cavern of the tunnel.
It's not entirely inviting. But this is what we came here to do.
HATFIELD: Yeah. All right man, here we go. Oh wow, a rush of wind.
MENNEL: Dude, I'm not feeling good about this.
HATFIELD: Oh, it's fine.
HATFIELD: Look at the (unintelligible)
MENNEL: And that's what it sounds like when you get water inside your recorder. Luckily, that's the only thing that died inside the pipe. And my cell phone had a recording app, so we trekked on.
All right. Let's keep going.
The belly of the tunnel is absolutely astonishing. Blasted rock along the sides and ceiling glistens, as if spattered with diamonds. The tunnel was built on the backs of Irish immigrants and slaves. Some died during construction. With such intense echoes, you're never really sure if it's your own voice bouncing back or theirs. But that didn't keep Caleb and me from having a little fun.
We're just going to yell as loud as we can in the middle of this mountain and see what it sounds like. One, two, three.
MENNEL: That was pretty cool.
HATFIELD: Yeah, I like that.
MENNEL: We made our way towards the exit, through more pipes and more water. It was an amazing experience, feeling both totally isolated from the world and connected to all the tunnelers that had come before us. But it's an experience that won't be available for much longer.
Nelson County, the county in Virginia where one entrance to the tunnel sits, plans to build a parking lot nearby and a safer trail that will, eventually, go through the entirety of the tunnel. And while much of the danger will disappear, and the echoes become muddled together, you can't help but think that nature will somehow find a way to keep tunnelers on their toes.
For NPR News, I'm Eric Mennel.
You're listening to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Celebrate the holidays with a special holiday feast! This December, the Elmwood Park Zoo invites you to have brunch with Santa. Gather the family and enjoy a buffet-style brunch, get your photo taken with Ole' Saint Nick, meet his reindeer, and make your own holiday ornaments. Tickets are on sale now, so get them while you still can!
To make a reservation, call 610-277-3825 ext. 241
When: December 15th - 16th & 22nd - 23rd, 2012
Where: Elmwood Park Zoo
1661 Harding Blvd.
Norristown, PA


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Graflex: the View Cameras
Graflex produced only three cameras which may be considered as true view cameras. It was best known for its press cameras and the big Graflex SLR's. There were also these three view cameras, the Crown View (1938-42), the Graphic View (1941-49) and the Graphic View II (1949-67). The Graphic View and View II cameras were produced and sold in volume. A pristine example of either can be purchased for the price of a modern roll film back, and it probably will come with a usable lens. The cameras may be dismissed today by some as unworthy because they are so inexpensive, but the low price is a result of the fact that so many were made. So many were made because photographers wanted them. They wanted them because they were (and are) fine cameras. These view cameras were well made and remain a viable option for the large format photographer. | |
Brought to you by Graflex.Org |


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Children all across the state of Kentucky had the opportunity to compete in the annual Governor's Cup Competition on Saturday, January 19. These District competitions are the first stop on the road to reaching the State tournament, which will be held in Louisville. Students on the June Buchanan Middle Grade Academic Team have been anxiously awaiting this day, and it proved to be a very successful one for the entire team!
Students from June Buchanan placed in every category in the District competition, and all members of the Middle Grade Academic Team advanced to Regional competition. In addition to claiming 1st place overall and 1st in Future Problem Solving, the JBS Quick Recall team won 1st place for the third consecutive year!
Coach Natalie Gibson stated, "Our team members are extremely dedicated. This is a great way to begin our season, and we hope to make a return to the State competition this year. We continually strive to better ourselves, and it's great when the students receive tangible proof that their hard work is paying off!" Coach Cindy Hall added, "It is a great honor to work with these students. We are extremely proud of them!"
The JBS Middle Grade Academic Team would like to thank Dr. Brad Moore and Miss Channing Everidge for their continued help and support.
4th (tie): Kaitlyn Everidge
4th (tie): Hope Watts
4th: Kaitlyn Everidge
3rd: Dalton Hylton
2nd: Dora Stanley
Language Arts:
5th: Samantha Bryant
2nd: Ruby Yeary
Arts & Humanities:
3rd: Samantha Bryant
1st (tie): Connor Jacobs
1st (tie): Ruby Yeary
4th: Kassidy Everidge
2nd: Colton Jacobs
1st: Trey Moore
Social Studies:
3rd: Connor Jacobs
2nd: Colton Jacobs
1st: Trey Moore
Future Problem Solving:
1st: Samantha Bryant, Kassidy Everidge, Madison Huff, and Cage Watts
Quick Recall:
1st: Dalton Hylton, Colton Jacobs, Connor Jacobs, Trey Moore, and Ruby Yeary


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Frédérique Nalbandian
In an increasingly virtual world, speeded up by information, Frédérique Nalbandian avoids using materials that are rigid, hard, extremely compact, preferring those that are soft, flexible and ductile, with a consistency that can be easily dominated by the artist's hand. Frédérique likes to use plaster, soap, wax and paraffin for their ability to envelop things and objects, but also organic forms, such as man's flesh and organs. In her work there is not a strong need for reductionism of the image as in Arte Povera, nor the need to recover the primary elements of nature, but rather the desire to recover the memory of things and the forms of pre-existing objects, reproposing them with a warm, personal language. In some way this artist's work is closer to the experiences of the Individual Mythologies of the Seventies, where the language of art becomes the tool for recovering the extension of the spatiality of man as a being in all his different actions and in all his imaginative faculties.Her language is that of the rediscovery of the elements scattered through our everyday world, in order to understand, from the negative point of view, their form which she later reconstructs with plaster or soap. Her way of working is to smash pieces of reality with a hammer and display them on the walls or floor of the exhibition sites.In this way she realises her project, putting these fragments in direct contact with the spectator, who is therefore involved in an aesthetic experience. By fragmenting the images in the negative, she obtains unusual and enigmatic forms, which preserve the warmth of life and, through her fingerprints left on the plaster, provide personal evidence of her action. This desire to destroy and modify reality certainly springs from an interior state, almost showing her unease, which generates and produces the game of emotions. Breaking the features of reality and recreating it in the form of new images is a creative act that makes up for a lack of love, a gap that the artist wants to fill with meaning. Through this act of transforming and sharing she takes part in the life of things and events in the first person, taking part in them with an action of reciprocal coexistence.What most strikes us in Frédérique's creative activity is this process that presents the tactile nature of the material reduced to fragments, which gives us the power to recover the memory of things and the warmth of life expressed by man's integrity.It is "idea translated into matter" which, through its physicalisation, produces an intense and cerebral anthropological sensitiveness.


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Lilac-or Chocolate-Topped Cupcakes
If the idea of catering for a party makes you want to lie down quietly in a darkened room, you're not alone. In the final episode, the delights on offer are Union Cafe spiced nuts, Halloumi with chilli and Spatchcocked birds for the barbecue.
Total Time: 45 min
Prep: 25 min
Cook: 20 min
Yield: 1 (12-cup) cupcake pan or 3 (12-cup) mini-cupcake pans
Level: Easy
- 3/4 cup self-rising flour
- 1/2 cup very soft unsalted butter
- 7 tablespoons sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Few tablespoons whole milk
- Approximately 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted, or instant royal icing
- 1 to 2 tablespoons water
- 7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, with a minimum 70 percent cocoa solids, chopped, or use chocolate buttons
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- Food coloring paste, I'm using Grape Violet
- Gold chocolate button (or any candy coated chocolate)
- Special equipment: 1 (12-cup) cupcake pan or 3 (12-cup) mini-cupcake pans with appropriately sized paper baking cups
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
For the cupcakes:
- Put all the ingredients for the cupcakes except the milk into a food processor and blitz furiously. Then pour in the milk, and process again until you have a smooth batter. Divide the mixture between either the big muffin pans or the 3 small pans.
- Cook the big cupcakes for about 15 to 20 minutes, and the small ones for about 10 minutes, although you might need to keep a closer eye on the little ones. Cool the cupcakes on a wire rack.
For the icing:
- To ice the mini-cupcakes, mix the confectioners' sugar with a tablespoon or 2 of water from a recently boiled kettle or cold water (according to package instructions) for instant royal icing until you have a smooth, spreadable paste. In both cases add water slowly: you don't want this runny, and nothing is more irritating than having to start sifting more sugar. The merest, tiniest blob of food-coloring paste- in this case, as I said, Grape Violet – will be enough to bring a dizzy and rich-toned intensity to the proceedings; you can always add more coloring if you want, but again the important thing is to guard against having to do any more sifting. And if you have been too heavy-handed and landed yourself with a batch of unusable dark icing, then just make up some more plain white icing and add to tone down.
- Slice any peaking humps off the tops of the cakes with a sharp knife and then pour, from a dunked-in spoon, the icing over each cake until the tops are thickly and smoothly covered.
- Let stand for a couple of minutes until the icing has set a tiny bit and then dot a gold button or other decoration of your choice on top.
Chocolate Ganache:
- Put both ingredients in a saucepan and, over low heat, cook until the chocolate's melted.
- Whisk together with handheld mixer or electric whisk (for ease and preference), watching the mixture become thick and glossy. Spoon and smooth over your waiting cupcakes.
- Let stand for a couple of minutes until the icing has set a tiny bit and then decorate in whatever way you want.
Yield: enough to ice 12 normal-sized cupcakes


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By: Goodman Lipkind
Head master of the Jews' Free School, London; born at Swansea, South Wales, 1842. He was educated in the Jews' School at Manchester, whither his family had removed in 1845. In 1854 he was indentured to Moses Angel at the Jews' Free School, London, as a pupil-teacher, and in 1864 he was appointed principal instructor of English. For the next twenty years Abrahams had charge of nearly all the teaching staff of the boys' department of the school. In 1884 he was appointed vice-master. When, in December, 1897, failing health compelled the retirement of Moses Angel, Abrahams was elected head master of the school, while Moses Angel became principal; on the death of the latter in September, 1898, Abrahams succeeded him.
Abrahams is a graduate of the London University, and one of the founders of the Jewish Educational Board and of the Teachers' Training Committee. His published works are: "A Manual of Scriptural History for Jewish Schools and Families," London, 1882; "A Translation of the Prayer-Book for School Use"; "A Chronological History of England."
On the establishment of the "Jewish Record," in 1868, Abrahams acted as its first editor. He has been also a frequent contributor to other Jewish periodicals.
- Jew. Chron. Dec. 10, 1897, p. 9;
- Jew. Year Book, 1899;
- Young Israel, Dec., 1899 (portrait).


text: Travelers decide to rent cars for a variety of reasons – to visit remote regions of a new area, to enjoy the freedom and convenience of traveling at their own pace, and to simply savor the joys of a good road trip. But no matter why you need a car we can set you up with the perfect car to make your journey more accessible. Perhaps a convertible top sports car would make your trip even more special. Or maybe you just need to find the most affordable car in the area to get you from Point A to Point B. Don't be overwhelmed by your options or misguided by unreliable advice! Whatever your travel style or your budget, we've compiled all the car rental information you need in an easy-to-read format to help you make a smart and informed decision. At Tripbase, we know the ins and outs of the rental car industry, and our price comparison tool can help get you the best deal for your vacation. Getting the best prices on rental cars has never been easier! To help get you in the driving mindset when you reach your travel destination, check out a few of our favorite Tripbase blog posts and get excited for the open road that lies ahead of you. Road Trip Planner and Driving Trips Six Iconic and Essential American Road Trip Ideas |