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My intro class is covering earthquake size on Monday. I talked to them about the Haiti earthquake at the beginning of the semester, and now an even larger earthquake has struck the subduction zone off the west coast of Chile. I put together a bunch of powerpoint slides for my class using some images shared by geobloggers, journalist-bloggers, and the USGS. And although I'm currently on blogging hiatus, I decided to share them with the world, in case anyone else could use them.
There are two different ways to talk about the size of earthquakes: magnitude and intensity. If you listen to news reports about disasters, you've heard of earthquake magnitude. You may not have heard of intensity, but if you've experienced an earthquake, the Mercalli intensity scale should sound very familiar to you. The two ways to talk about size are complementary - they describe different things. Both are important, but in different ways.
An earthquake's magnitude is related to the amount of energy released by an earthquake. The Richter scale, which isn't actually what's used any more, is a kind of magnitude scale. Richter's scale used the amplitude of shaking on a seismograph to estimate the size of an earthquake - the bigger the squiggle, the bigger the quake. (The moment magnitude scale used today includes other information that gives a more complete picture of the energy released by the earthquake. That information is especially important for understanding large earthquakes, like the one that just occurred in Chile.)
All earthquake magnitude scales are logarithmic: a magnitude 8 earthquake is an order of magnitude larger than a magnitude 7 earthquake. To illustrate this concept for my class, I borrowed the seismograms recorded by Ian Stimpson and shared on his blog (Chile and Haiti), re-scaled the Haiti seismogram, and put the two seismograms on the same powerpoint slide:
The maximum amplitude of shaking at the Chile earthquake is around 35 times greater than that of the Haiti earthquake. The difference in energy is even more extreme - the Chile earthquake released something like 500 times the energy released by the Haiti earthquake. One of the reasons for that can be seen in the two seismograms: the Chile earthquake shook for longer than the Haiti earthquake. The Chile earthquake also broke over a larger area (around ten times larger). Edit: as Ian Stimpson pointed out on Twitter, there's another reason why the energy difference is even larger. His seismograph saturated for the Chile earthquake - at some point, the seismograph can't record increases in the amount of shaking. (That's one reason that moment magnitude is used for large earthquakes - and it's one reason why initial reports stated that the Chile EQ was M 8.3, not M 8.8.)
We won't know how much damage has happened in Chile for some time. It's likely to be significant, but not 500 times worse than Haiti (and the Haiti earthquake has probably killed more people). Those differences are partly due to differences in the buildings, but they are also reflected by the second way of looking at the size of an earthquake: seismic intensity.
The intensity of an earthquake describes its effect on the Earth's surface (including its effect on people and the things they build). Intensity is measured on a descriptive scale called the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. The Mercalli intensity scale includes descriptions like:
I. Not felt except by a very few under especially favorable conditions.
XII. Damage total. Lines of sight and level are distorted. Objects thrown into the air.
In between, it describes earthquakes that wake up people who are sleeping (intensity V), move heavy furniture (intensity VI), and cause chimneys to fall over (intensity VIII). Intensity is related to the energy released by the earthquake, but it's also related to distance from the fault that slipped, to the way that the fault broke during the earthquake, and to rock and soil conditions that can increase shaking.
And those differences mean that Port-au-Prince was hit really hard - probably harder than any place in Chile.
Although reports of damage are just coming in, the USGS has maps that estimate the amount of shaking in the Chile earthquake:
Image source: USGS ShakeMap for Chile EQ
A huge area was affected by shaking of Mercalli intensity of VII or VIII - strong enough to destroy some buildings, but to leave many standing (especially if they were designed to withstand earthquakes).
Contrast the Chile map with that of Haiti:
Image source: USGS ShakeMap for Haiti EQ
The Haiti earthquake shook a small area very intensely. Unfortunately, that area included the city of Port-au-Prince - a city with a dense population and buildings that are not built to withstand earthquakes. The results were devastating.
Other sources of information for classes:
IRIS's teachable moments collection
Terremoto Chile, a blog (in Spanish) about the Chile earthquake
Saturday, February 27, 2010
How big was that EQ? Magnitude vs intensity in Chile and Haiti
Posted by Kim at 12:20 PM
13 comments:
- liz VanBoskirk said...
WIth teaching and using these two earthquakes for comparison I feel that one should also discuss enforcing earthquake building engineering standards. A few years ago I attended a meeting of the Americas where South America and Central America city planners, political figures, others from universities and the UN discussed how they implemented disaster mitigation in their city.
- February 27, 2010 at 2:47 PM
- Kim said...
Elizabeth - definitely! In this case, I had planned to talk about EQ damage in class on Wednesday. By then, I hope there will be reports out of Chile that show that building codes made a difference, and that the damage was much less than it could have been. Until them, I am keeping the people of the area in my thoughts (and sending money to the Red Cross).
- February 27, 2010 at 2:51 PM
- Jim L. said...
I always found the Mercalli scale as not particularly useful since it is subjective in so many instances.
1. Different types of rock/sediment will give different results for the same magnitude
2. If no one is in the area then there will nothing on the Mercalli
3. A lot of the Mercalli information relies on people's interpretation of the events that happened.
It makes it very difficult to impossible to compare earthquakes because they are usually in complete different circumstances. Even in the same city 100 years apart, the same magnitude earthquake will result in different Mercalli results. - February 27, 2010 at 3:23 PM
- Kim said...
Jazinator: I think the Mercalli scale is useful for some things. The USGS's PAGER population exposure information, for instance, says what kind of damage is likely in different areas (and how many people live in those places) - that's got to be very useful information for planning rescues! I don't know how the maps are generated - they must use the seismograms (and/or other remote information) to estimate ground acceleration and then Mercalli intensity, or something. But they put the likely damage into words that are clear to non-scientists: broken dishes vs collapsed buildings. So yes, the scale is subjective, but it's related to quantifiable things like ground acceleration and ground velocity. And the subjectivity may be a strength for describing what's important about the damage.
- February 27, 2010 at 3:46 PM
- Unknown said...
I think another important factor is the difference between focal depths of both earthquakes. Haiti EQ was about 13 Km depth while Chile EQ was 35 Km depth. This factor together with the rheology difference in both cases could cause that with a less amount of energy you could have higher damages (beside the building codes, poverty, etc.). I think the key factor for the intensity (not the magnitude as you explained here) is the capability of the quake to generate surface waves. What do you think about it?
- February 27, 2010 at 5:52 PM
- Kim said...
Raul - I agree, the depth is probably a big part of the reason why the maximum intensity of the Chile earthquake. (I didn't mention it because I wasn't sure if the depth had been calculated, or whether it had been set by the location program. Though depth is distance in another dimension, I guess.)
I don't know all the things that control the ground acceleration. (I'm not sure if it's mostly the magnitude of the surface waves, or if there's more to it than that.) - February 27, 2010 at 6:02 PM
- Brian Garrett said...
I think the subjectivity of the Mercalli scale is precisely the point. Empirical measurements such as seismograms and the moment magnitude derived from them give a good description of the geophysics involved, but convey very little on the effects at the human level--building damage, emotional reactions, phenomena witnessed. Also, while an earthquake will have only one magnitude (at least, only one per any given magnitude scale used), MMI intensities will vary widely depending on local circumstances. These enable scientists and others to investigate the human dimension.
- February 28, 2010 at 1:39 PM
- Anonymous said...
This is an excellent explanation and much more useful than the hyperbolic statements in the media. Just from the photographs of Haiti and Chile, the devastation in Haiti looked worse after taking account of the differences in construction. This piece explains why that is right. For example, CBS Morning News reported that the Chile earthquake was "500 times" stronger than Haiti, yet the destruction was clearly not 500 times greater in Chile. Thanks for this, clear, common sense science.
- March 1, 2010 at 6:32 AM
- Jim L. said...
Your points are valid and I can understand the usefulness of the Mercali scale. I guess I will try not to bash it as much in the future (probably not, but hey I can try).
- March 2, 2010 at 7:08 AM
- mcdevo said...
Is there a way to know what the ground acceleration was during the Chilean earthquake? Is this known from the Richter measurements, or are auxillary measurements needed? And ... is the acceleration mapped for a surface area in the region, e.g., the peak acceleration near epi-center was XX m/s^2, and in center of Santiago, the peak accleration was yy m/s^2 ? Thanks if you can help me to understand this.
- March 2, 2010 at 8:49 AM
- liz VanBoskirk said...
Seismic PBO network data link:
All sites are in N America, the west coast and Yellowstone. - March 2, 2010 at 8:57 AM
- Kim said...
mcdevo -
I don't know how the ground acceleration was determined for the Chile earthquake. I know there are instruments that can measure ground acceleration, but I don't know if the initial estimates came from instruments, or whether they can from modeling the relationship between the record of many seismic stations and ground movement. (I wonder if there's modeling involved, because there were similar maps made right after the Haiti earthquake, and I don't think Haiti had the necessary instruments.)
Elizabeth - thank you for that link! - March 2, 2010 at 10:13 AM
- Kim said...
(And this is where I should say that I'm a structural geologist, not a seismologist. If you want details of how seismologists study earthquakes, you're better off talking to Ian at Hypo-theses or Julian at Harmonic Tremors or the authors of the Shaking Earth blog.)
- March 2, 2010 at 11:05 AM


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The House of Representatives on Thursday evening narrowly passed a plan that cuts about $40 billion* from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps program. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the move will push nearly 4 million low-income people off of the program in 2014. USA Today reports:
"The House voted 217-210 for the bill that cuts nearly twice as much from food stamps as a bill the House rejected in June. It is also far more than a Senate measure passed earlier this year that would trim about $4.5 billion in spending. The bill failed to draw the support of a single Democrat, many of whom have said the steep cuts would erode a key safety net depended upon by families with children, seniors, veterans and people looking for work."
Earlier on Thursday, Sojourners President Jim Wallis condemned the then-proposed cuts, saying, "These same politicians are not willing to go to where the real money is: the Pentagon budget, which everyone knows to be the most wasteful in government spending, or the myriad subsidies to corporations, including agribusiness subsides to members of Congress who will be voting to cut SNAP for the poor. ... They are going after cuts to the poor and hungry people because they think it is politically safe to do so. So let's call that what it is: moral hypocrisy."
Check back with Sojourners for details on how your congressperson voted.
Image: U.S. Capitol Building, Orhan Cam / Shutterstock.com
*The early version of this story incorrectly stated $40 million in cuts.
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Press Release
From the New York Times bestselling writer of the Marvel Zombies series comes a gut-splitting (then eating) comedy! From acclaimed Marvel Zombies writer Fred Van Lente comes The Mocking Dead! The Mocking Dead is a tongue-in-cheek look at the wildly popular zombie genre, with amazing interior art from Max Dunbar, colored in a unique black, white, and red pattern. Featuring an incredible and unique design Zombie Caution cover by Bill Tortolini as well as a Subscription only cover from Max Dunbar himself, he Mocking Dead is available in comic book stores and digitally this coming September!
In THE MOCKING DEAD #1, a small outbreak can turn into a worldwide apocalypse… but only through a long string of screw-ups. Once actual zombies begin popping up in our world, a lone intelligence analyst realizes real-life events are beginning to mimic the events of a long-lost, Grade-Z, drive-in horror flick. As he races to save humanity with this knowledge, he quickly learns the only thing more dangerous than ravenous walking corpses is the ineptitude of the living!
"If you want to see a different take on zombies and how it would really play out in our world, definitely pick up THE MOCKING DEAD," says writer Fred Van Lente. "It's got laughs and gore in equal measure."
"We sat down, we pitched Fred our idea, he liked it and came back with his voice. I cannot wait for fans to read this. It's going to be a fun ride! A fun ride with lots of bites, death, and everything that comes in a zombie story ;-)" – States Dynamite CEO/Publisher Nick Barrucci
"The zombie genre has quite obviously exploded and it's been asking for something like this for a long time," says Senior Editor Joseph Rybandt. "Once we decided to "send it up", we talked to our one and only writing choice and Fred was able to make it work. Along the way, it became its own thing, still doing what we intended, but growing in complexity due to Fred's immense talent and Max's incredible world-building. It's gonna be a whole lotta bloody fun…"
"LIKE" DYNAMITE'S FACEBOOK PAGE TODAY! http://www.facebook.com/dynamitecomics
Join the conversation on Dynamite Entertainment's twitter page at http://twitter.com/DynamiteComics.
To find a comic shop near you, call 1-888-comicbook or visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com/.
For art and more information, please visit: http://ww.dynamite.com/.
About Dynamite Entertainment:
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT was founded in 2004 and is home to several best-selling comic book titles and properties, including The Boys, The Shadow, Vampirella, Warlord of Mars, Bionic Man, A Game of Thrones, and more!
Dynamite owns and controls an extensive library with over 3,000 characters (which includes the Harris Comics and Chaos Comics properties), such as Vampirella, Pantha, Evil Ernie, Smiley the Psychotic Button, Chastity, Purgatori, and Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt.
In addition to their critically-acclaimed titles and bestselling comics, Dynamite works with some of the most high profile creators in comics and entertainment, including Kevin Smith, Alex Ross, John Cassaday, Garth Ennis, Jae Lee, Marc Guggenheim, Mike Carey, Jim Krueger, Greg Pak, Brett Matthews, Matt Wagner, and a host of up-and-coming new talent!
Dynamite is consistently ranked in the upper tiers of comic book publishers and several of their titles – including Alex Ross and Jim Krueger's Project Superpowers – have debuted in the Top Ten lists produced by Diamond Comics Distributors. In 2005, Diamond awarded the company a GEM award for Best New Publisher and another GEM in 2006 for Comics Publisher of the Year (under 5%) and again in 2011. The company has also been nominated for and won several industry awards, including the prestigious Harvey and Eisner Awards.


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Marita + Andrew found each other in high school – and not just any high school, a high school in Japan! After graduating high school and spending their college years in Seattle, Andrew moved to Florida to start his navigator training. Then they found out that in order for Marita to live with Andrew, they would have to be married, so they had a courtroom wedding with just four others present. They told everyone they were engaged with the plan to have a big traditional wedding the next year. After the stress of Andrew being in school and trying to coordinate their guests schedules so they could attend (lots of family were living in other countries), they decide to call off the wedding and tell everyone they were already married.
Since they already had a photographer (the talented Andria Lindquist) booked and a gorgeous (wait until you see it!) custom gown on the way, they decided to travel back to Seattle and elope with their closest friends – in a field just like Marita dreamed of. It was perfect – and now they have photos of their wedding to share with their future children and remember the day forever. Congrats to Marita + Andrew and thanks so much for sharing your story.
I had yearned for peonies since beginning to peruse the wedding blogs for inspiration, and was astounded when I went to Pike's Place Market the day before our ceremony to see dozens of buckets of pink peonies waiting for me. My bouquet of 14 peonies only cost me $20!
I had seen countless elopements that looked so sweet and simple, and I was really drawn to outdoor with a small arch to bring a focus to our small little group. Growing up, Pride and Prejudice was (and still is) my favorite book, and all of the outdoor strolls Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy took led me to believe that they might have had a small outdoor ceremony under an arch of flowers. So, I imagined an old Victorian style outdoor wedding, with a handful of people in a semi-circle and a simple bouquet.
Favorite Moment of the Day? One of the main reasons we had a ceremony was because we never got to say our own vows at our ceremony in the courthouse. Andrew writes the sweetest most thoughtful anniversary/birthday/holiday notes, that I really wanted my vows to match his. I rewrote several drafts of my vows, hoping to make them feel genuine with a little humor sprinkled in. I couldn't help but cry through both of our readings of the vows, and that was by far the best moment of the day.
After traipsing the streets of downtown Seattle having a mini photo shoot, we went to dinner at Barolo Ristorante to end the evening. Even though nothing about our wedding was conventional, we felt that it was the most genuine representation of our relationship, and now marriage. I feel blessed that we got to celebrate twice with those closest to us, and focus on the fact that we found each other. Andrew saved me, and I will spend the rest of my life letting him know how grateful I am for it.
Any advice to those planning now? Stick to your gut. Even though we were already married, we wanted photos to show our children, but also to mark the occasion in a special way. I knew I wanted something small and intimate, but that didn't feel overdone or that we were trying to have an actual wedding. I had moments of panic that the ceremony would be cheesy or awkward, but the entire day felt so natural that all my fears evaporated. We were really intent on focusing on vows and just celebrating, and we got exactly that.
But the most important piece of advice I can give is to hire a quality photographer. Since taking our engagement photos with Andria, I was dying to shoot with her again, especially since her photos just seemed to be getting better and better. She knew us so well, the style we liked, that it was the most natural fit. She acted like our wedding coordinator also (which I don't recommend for big weddings!) by keeping us on time and choosing the location of the ceremony. I had a vision in my head, but no real direction of how to carry it out. Looking at our photos now, I'm blown away at how much Andria interpreted my vision and turned it into something we will treasure forever.
photography: Andria Lindquist // wedding dress: Etsy seller Atelier Tami // bride's shoes: Christian Louboutin // bridesmaid dresses: Anthropologie & Banana Republic (they chose their own) // hair stylist: Salon Armand // ceremony location: Discovery Park // elopement dinner: Barolo Ristorante // flowers: Pike Place Market // grooms attire: Calvin Klein


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Saying girls are rubbish at maths makes girls rubbish at maths
Very interesting interview with two researchers into the affects of stereotypes on women in their performance in maths tests.
This is based on their study (pdf) published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.
See I'm not just wittering on about gender stereotypes, be they a love of pink or the *need* for women to remove every inch of hair from their body, because I find them irritating (physically and mentally); they can also be harmful.
And immensely aggravating to those of us who can long divide. Again, I give you xkcd on this subject.


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- Home
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Solid Waste Division
Solid Waste Division
Chris Felts, Superintendent
The Solid Waste Division (formerly known as the Sanitation Division) provides weekly curbside collection of household garbage, yard waste collection, and bulk waste collection.
The office hours are 7:00 am - 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday. Please direct specific questions directly to (336) 222-5111. Below, you will find a summary of all of the services provided by the City as well as links to additional information about each.
Household Garbage Collection
Curbside automated garbage collection occurs once a week. Collection days are either on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday, depending on the location. This interactive map is available to help determine the collection day. Additional ways to determine the collection schedule are also available by clicking here.
The City issues each residential customer one black 95 gallon roll out container that must be placed at the curb by 7:00 am on the specified location's scheduled collection day. The container must have a clearance of 5 feet on each side and 15 feet above the container to be serviced. The City also requires the removal of the container from the curb by 7:00 pm on the same day of collection.
The City provides solid waste services in multi-family developments where collection is feasible. To learn more about this option, follow this link.
Because Collection Schedules are often altered by Holidays, schedule modifications are advertised on the City's website homepage, through the City's email notification system, on the City's social media, and in Times-News. To view a current year holiday calendar to see if a Holiday will alter a specific solid waste collection, click here.
Yard Waste Collection
Yard waste is collected on the same day as Household Garbage. Yard waste must be at the curbside by 7:00 am. Get more details about yard waste collection by following this link.
Bulk Waste Collection
Bulk Waste (tree limbs and junk) are collected on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday on a convenience schedule. Bulk collection trucks collect white goods, large "junk," and yard brush separately. Learn more about the options for disposal of Electronic Waste by clicking here. Get more details from the Bulk Waste guide by following this link.
Items not Collected
Certain items will NOT be collected by the City. Some examples of items NOT collected are: building, remodeling and contractors waste including wood, automobile parts, tires, batteries, dirt, rock, masonry, sealed containers, liquids, chemicals, hazardous wastes, paints, logs, stumps, fluorescent lights, recyclables, and bulk waste from businesses and institutions. For specific questions about an item please call (336) 222-5111.
Recycling Services
The City contracts with a private hauler, GFL Waste Industries, INC to provide curbside recycling service every other week. Typical items that are recycled are; corrugated cardboard & chipboard, newspaper, inserts, magazines, phone books, mixed paper, inserts/junk mail, aluminum and steel cans, glass bottles and jars, plastic milk jugs, plastics labeled #1-#7, soda bottles and water bottles. DO NOT place these items in the black City container or yard waste containers. Please direct recycling inquiries to GFL Waste Industries, INC at (336) 229-0525. Additional recycling information may be found here.
Electronic Waste Collection Events
Two times a year, the City holds FREE E-Waste Recycling Days. These events have been very successful and give Burlington citizens an option to keep Electronic Waste out of landfills as banned by the State. These annual events are held the 1st Saturday in February and the 1st Saturday in October from 9AM-2PM at the Public Works Department parking lot located at 234 East Summit Avenue. See full schedule.


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Industry Insights
Robotic Paint Automation for Smaller Industrial Operations
POSTED 11/03/2008 | By: Mark Freels, Paint Business Development Manager, Robotics Division
Recent advancements have made paint and coating robots highly affordable and useable
Painting robots and industrial robots in general have a reputation of only being affordable to the largest and most technologically adept companies. Today's reality, however, is far different as robots of all kinds are now highly viable for a full range of smaller, general industrial markets and applications. Robots, like other computer based equipment, become more affordable as the installed base grows. And with today's industrial employee base having at least a working knowledge of graphical user interface (GUI), the ability to program and control robots has become more intuitive and user friendly for the novice programmer.
The 6-axis robot is a mature, stable product, the primary R&D costs of which have been well absorbed by the manufacturers and early adopters. Painting and coating robots are now positioned to help general industrial users increase competitiveness, product quality and workman safety, all while reducing the environmental impact associated with spraying many coating materials.
This article will help answer:
- What is a painting and coating robot?
- Is your factory a good candidate for robotic paint automation?
- If so, what advantages will automation bring to your operation?
What is a painting and coating robot?
"Painting Robot" is an industry term for a robot that has two major differences from all other standard industrial robots:
1) Explosion proof arms. Paint robots are built with explosion proof robot arms, meaning that they are manufactured in such a way that they can safely spray coatings that create combustible gasses. Usually these coatings are solvent based paints which, when applied, create an environment that must be monitored for fire safety.
There are several ways robot and applicator manufacturers maintain spark proof integrity in the spray environment. Positive pressure and intrinsically safe electronics are the two most common.
Terms such as 'explosion proof' can be a little startling to a paint robot novice. But, as an example of how safe automated paint systems are, all production model cars are painted with robotic automation!
For more specific information defining explosion proof environments see National Fire Protection Association code NFPA 33.
2) Self-contained paint systems. When paint robots were first designed, they only had one function – to work safely in a volatile environment. As acceptance and use expanded, painting robots grew into a unique subset of industrial robots, not just a traditional robot with explosion proof options. Painting robots now have the ability to control all aspects of spray parameters. Fan air, atomization air, fluid flow, voltage, etc, can all be controlled by the robot control system.
Is your factory a good candidate for robotic paint automation?
There are several limiting factors to robotic painting:
- Part presentation
- Amount of dissimilar parts
- Size and shape of the parts
Part presentation: Robotic coating does not require the highly accurate part presentation as more technical robotic applications such as arc welding and machining. Painting applicators usually require a tip to part distance of 10 to 14 inches. The more accurately a production conveyance presents a part to the robot, the more benefit of quality and material savings can be achieved. An industry standard request of part presentation can be assumed at 0.25 to 0.5 inches. The importance of tolerance will vary depending on the quality of finish required and cost of coating (material savings). For most standard applications a simple two hook part placement versus a single point hook provides enough stability to make robotic paint automation accurate and affordable.
Amount of dissimilar parts: Robots are very effective in a variety of painting systems; from those that involve only few parts to those that involve many hundreds of different parts. The primary environment where robots are not effective is in 'job shop' applications. An engineered piece that will be manufactured one time and never again is not a good candidate. Parts that will be manufactured over and over, even with major time gaps (months/years) between runs can be easily coated with today's robotic technology. The robot memory will store part specific programs indefinitely and call for them when required.
Size and shape of the parts: A good rule of thumb is that if a man can paint a part there is a robot that can reach the same area. In certain applications, however, the size or shape of part is so unique that both man and robot may struggle to reach all surface areas. Other Limiting factors include:
- Very small parts: often the work is too fine to be done by hand or robot; some other process such as dipping will be more effective.
- Very large parts: the robot will need to be moved by additional track systems and extensions to reach all areas; often not viable for a smaller industrial operation.
What advantages will automation bring to your operation?
Quality and paint savings: Increased and more consistent product quality are the most widely regarded advantages gained by robotic automation of all types. For painting and coating robots the most complete analysis must dig deeper as the quality improvement cascades through the entire production system.
An industry standard assumption is that a paint savings of 15 to 30% is achieved when manual painters are replaced by automation. This savings is achieved in two primary areas:
- Film thickness tolerances of ± 0.2 mils are common with robotics. If a substrate requires 2 mils ± 0.2 and is regularly produced by hand at 3 mils a paint 'loss' of 50% can hit the producer with no knowledge of the additional expense. If the manual sprayer applies below minimum (e.g. 1.6 mils) the part will need to go through the system again or be scrapped. It is much more common to see the overspray situation because that will make it through inspection and need no rework.
- Trigger accuracy is the other major quality and savings impact. Industry standards of less than 200 ms trigger time are common. This allows the user to only apply paint to the part. When the applicator is repositioning the paint supply trigger is off, minimizing paint loss due to paint sprayed randomly into the air.
Savings achieved through film thickness tolerance control and trigger accuracy will relate directly to many other savings:
- Exhaust: Tolerance control/trigger accuracy directly reduces stack volatile organic compounds (VOC) volumes.
- Overspray: Reductions go directly to less filter usage or chemical usage with water wash booth.
- Reduced rework: Problems such as sags and modeling should be reduced.
- Reduced scrap: Less material to landfill.
GREEN is good: Paint robots have always been environmentally friendly. It is becoming obvious that carbon footprint impact will soon be the baseline for a good community employer, if not legally measured. When using robots there are the environmental savings already discussed, plus additional energy savings that are to be gained.
Example: a 10'x10' spray booth at 120 FPM air flow is using 12,000 cfm to provide a safe work space for manual sprayers. If a robot is installed and air flow is reduced to 60 fpm, to maintain legal lower explosive limits (LEL), the user can immediately see a 6000 CFM savings. Again the savings start to cascade - a softer spray pattern using less paint flow volume is possible because of the lower air flow velocity, equaling more paint savings, less VOC exhaust, etc.
People first: All savings aside, many paint spray environments are very unfriendly to the workmen who occupy them. Chemicals such as Zylene, Toluene, and Diisocyanates are extremely unhealthy. Spraying the same product over and over can also result in a repetitive stress injury. Many employees initially see robots as a threat to their employment. In the case of many spray chemistry situations, the benefits of moving the robot in and the person out far outstrip the disadvantages. In most cases the employee is moved to a safer, more rewarding position.
Ballpark cost
While it is difficult to completely assess the installed cost for all industrial painting situations, as an example, a single ABB robot painting system can be purchased, installed and be fully operational for $100,000 to $150,000. The cost range is dependent on the size of the robot needed. Depending on paint usage, labor savings and increased quality/less waste, the full investment can be paid back between four months and one year. A well maintained paint robot can last for a long time, delivering savings that cover the cost of the system many times over!
The robot can be a great tool, but it is only a tool. The most common mistake is assuming that the robot is a paint expert. It is not. The expertise comes from support staff who keep the robot calibrated and at optimum functionality. With the combination of well trained staff and maintained robots, it will be very possible to increase quality and throughput while reducing cost and being a better corporate citizen.
Further Information
Please contact Mandy Hermes at ABB Inc. Auburn Hills MI for additional information.
Call 248-391-8400.


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Barcelona: The GSMA today announced the winners of the 18th Annual Global Mobile awards, held at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The winners were honoured in an afternoon ceremony hosted by writer, actor and comedian, David Walliams.
Walliams entertained nominees and attendees with a comic introduction to the ceremony. He was joined on stage by representatives from sponsors McAfee, Myriad and Telmap, and media partners CNBC, Fortune and Time, who co-presented awards, as well as John Hoffman, CEO, GSMA Ltd., and members of the judging panel.
"Through these awards, we are proud to shine the light on the mobile industry's many innovators and leaders, from all corners of the world," said John Hoffman, CEO, GSMA Ltd. "This year's new categories reflected the industry's reach into many new sectors and we received more than 600 high-quality entries from across the mobile ecosystem. We would like to congratulate all Global Mobile Awards winners and thank the many hundreds of companies and organisations that support these awards by entering each year."
Also announced today were the Government Leadership Awards, which recognise governments from around the world for their innovation and leadership in use of mobile technologies in the public sector.
The winners of the 2013 Global Mobile Awards are:
Best Mobile Health Product or Service
MIPsoft for BlindSquare
Best Mobile Education or Learning Product or Service
Mobilink for SMS Based Literacy program
Best Mobile Product or Service for Automotive
BMW i, MINI, Sixt and Vodafone Group for DriveNow Premium Car Sharing
Best NFC /Mobile Money Product or Service
Etisalat for Flous – The Etisalat Commerce Programme
Best Mobile Publishing Product or Service
Ver Se Innovation for NewsHunt
Best Mobile Innovation for 'Smart Cities'
Streetline for Parker
Best Mobile Enabled Consumer Electronics Device
Samsung Electronics for Samsung GALAXY Camera
Best Enterprise Mobile Service
Mobilelron for Version 5 Complete Enterprise Persona
Best Consumer Mobile Service
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Table of Contents
Liberty University Derecognizes College Democrats
FIRE has received a large number of e-mails asking for our take on the recent derecognition by Liberty University of its chapter of the College Democrats. For those who don't know, last week saw reports that Liberty University—a private, evangelical Christian university founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell—had determined that the campus chapter of the College Democrats could not be an official organization at Liberty because of its affiliation with the national Democratic Party. Mark Hine, Liberty's vice president of student affairs, explained the decision in an e-mail to the campus club, saying that its affiliation with the national Democratic Party was unacceptable because
The Democratic Party platform is contrary to the mission of Liberty University and to Christian doctrine (supports abortion, federal funding of abortion, advocates repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, promotes the "LGBT" agenda, hate crimes, which include sexual orientation and gender identity, socialism, etc.)
Hine later elaborated in a statement to the press:
Among other things, Liberty University stands for the sanctity of human life. The loss of human life through abortion is a great tragedy and we cannot remain silent when the political policies or politicians themselves promote the destruction of innocent human life.
While those who are members of the LU Democratic Club are well intentioned and honorable, the platform and policies of the national Democratic Party and the candidates supported by that party, and thus the student organization itself, are inconsistent with the mission of the University.
Later, Jerry Falwell Jr., Liberty's president, indicated that Liberty actually was open to having a Democratic club on campus, but that it may not be affiliated with the national Democratic Party. As the Lynchburg News & Advance reported:
"That club still has the right to exist," Falwell said, although it cannot use the university's name in its activities.
"They still can meet on campus," in certain rooms, he said. "There is absolutely no animosity at all toward any of these kids.
"They are good, Christian kids who sit with me at ball games. I just hope they find a pro-life family organization to affiliate with so they can be endorsed by Liberty again."
The question everyone has been asking FIRE is this: Can Liberty University do this? The answer is yes.
Why is it that Liberty is within its rights to ban its College Democrats from having a formal relationship with the national party? When FIRE considers this issue, we first look to see if the university is public or private. Because of the First Amendment, a public university could never ban such a relationship, but Liberty is a private and religious university. For private universities, we turn to the stated mission and policies of the university itself to see if the university advertises itself as an institution that respects free speech and whether its policies are in accord with that promise. The vast majority of private institutions do hold themselves out as protecting free speech, so when they betray their promises, FIRE objects.
However, our evaluation of Liberty University indicates that Liberty is actually quite open and straightforward about its values, and respect for unfettered freedom of expression does not appear to be among them. For instance, in the "About Liberty" section of its website, the university lists the following among its ten "distinctive" attributes:
4. An uncompromising doctrinal statement, based upon an inerrant Bible, a Christian worldview beginning with belief in biblical Creationism, an eschatological belief in the pre-millennial, pre-tribulational coming of Christ for all of His Church, dedication to world evangelization, an absolute repudiation of "political correctness," a strong commitment to political conservatism, total rejection of socialism, and firm support for America's economic system of free enterprise.
5. Behavioral standards which include the prohibition of drug, alcohol and tobacco use, coed residence halls, and sexual promiscuity.
6. A modest dress code, reasonable curfews and respect for authority.
10. Required attendance at convocations and chapels three times weekly. Our student body also attends church services weekly, although church attendance is voluntary. A perpetual spirit of revival pervades the campus.
There is no mention here of free speech or freedom of association. In fact, these public commitments to a very specific set of religious and political views should make it abundantly clear to all would-be Liberty students that if they decide to attend Liberty, they are agreeing to abide by a clearly delineated set of rules that will limit their ability to engage in the freedom of expression and association they would enjoy at other schools. Like Bard College or Brigham Young University, Liberty has made an institutional choice that certain values are more important than freedom of expression or association. At Liberty, those values are largely defined by selected tenets of Christian evangelicalism. At BYU, the Mormon faith informs conduct rules. And at Bard, students know that once enrolled, they are entering "an inclusive environment in which freedom of expression is balanced with a respectful standard of dialogue." Because each of these private schools explicitly privileges values other than freedom of expression, FIRE has designated each one as "Not Rated" in our Spotlight database of speech policies on campus. As we explain:
Of course, some private institutions—such as religious colleges—have particular missions that they believe require restrictions on speech. When a private university states clearly and consistently that it holds a certain set of values above a commitment to freedom of speech, FIRE does not rate that university. However, FIRE will still record the restrictions on speech at those institutions so that students can have a better understanding of the environment in which they will be educated.
As evidenced by the "About Liberty" page on Liberty's website, Liberty is unquestionably one such private institution.
Free speech and freedom of association also do not seem to appear in The Liberty Way (PDF), Liberty University's student code of conduct, which contains Liberty's very strict dress code and behavioral standards. (For instance, "attendance at a dance" is a punishable offense.) It does not appear to FIRE that a reasonable student attending Liberty University would expect to enjoy the same freedom of expression and association that he or she would enjoy on a public campus or simply outside of college. It's not that difficult to "know before you go" to Liberty University.
Part of what appears to be driving Liberty's decision on this matter is its apparent belief that it cannot fulfill its mission if its students are perceived to be using Liberty's name to advocate beliefs that Liberty itself rejects. Most universities are careful to state that recognized but independent student groups do not necessarily reflect the values of the institution. Liberty University, however, appears unwilling to make this distinction.
There are major perils in this approach. Since Liberty must apparently approve the mission of all of its student groups, it is safe to assume that the university also endorses those missions, therefore placing part of the university's message in the hands of students. And since students are often not very careful about what they say or how they say it, they have the power to make Liberty University look very bad. For instance, if a group began to espouse racist views, and Liberty University did not immediately derecognize that group, one would be entitled to assume that the university condones the views expressed.
The other, more fundamental concern with derecognizing the College Democrats is that it makes it clear that Liberty University is not a "free marketplace of ideas" where all ideas can be discussed, argued, and advocated on an equitable basis. A great deal of the reputation and the perception of legitimacy of most universities depends on that university being seen as a place where the best and truest ideas and scholarship can win out in each person's mind and conscience, no matter whether or not such ideas prove to be popular or acceptable to those in power. Liberty University has determined that some viewpoints are simply unacceptable on its campus. Therefore, any truth that might be found by means of vigorous debate of these ideas will most likely not be brought to light at Liberty University, thereby damaging intellectual discourse on that campus.
Presumably, Liberty is willing to make this tradeoff because of its religious beliefs—but the university should recognize that it is a tradeoff. The degrees Liberty issues its graduates will lack credibility with certain audiences because Liberty has made impossible a truly free and open debate about issues like abortion, socialism, creationism, and so on. Liberty's students deserve to know that, too, before they make a choice to attend.
It's important to recognize that while one may believe that Liberty students are losing out by not attending a school that allows disparate views on campus, Liberty students made the choice to attend such a school for themselves, as is their right. Because Liberty so clearly styles itself as a unique institution—as is its right, as an exercise of freedom of association—Liberty's College Democrats may be disappointed to be denied recognition, but they shouldn't be surprised. After all, they knew that Liberty is a university that restricts speech in the interest of other values.
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On today's free speech news roundup, we discuss the recent NetChoice oral argument, Taylor Swift, doxxing, October 7 fallout on campus, and Satan in Iowa. Joining us on the show are Alex Morey, FIRE director of Campus Rights Advocacy; Aaron...


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Washington – President Barack Obama's first task as he launches his second term will be to fill a number of key vacancies expected in the White House, positions that will be instrumental in helping him tackle his legislative agenda as well as navigate conflicts around the globe.
Already, a pair of high-profile officials – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner – have said they'll step down.
No other Cabinet members have said they plan to leave, but the heads of the departments of Defense, Justice and Transportation may quit in the coming months. The position of commerce secretary already is vacant.
Other Cabinet officials are expected to stay, including those who run the departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services.
While Obama's Cabinet remained relatively stable in his first term, several senior aides left.
Political observers expect half of the president's Cabinet – as well as a handful of senior staffers – to change at the start of his second term, as has been the nature of life and work at the White House. Former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton each replaced half of their Cabinets after they were re-elected.
Obama is also likely to look at rewarding some campaign aides with high-level positions. Here's a look at some of the possible vacancies and potential replacements:
Geithner, the longest-serving member of the president's economic team, already has said he'll leave.
This vacancy is arguably the most difficult to fill, as Congress and Obama face a deadline to ward off looming tax increases and spending cuts that threaten to throw the nation into another recession. The next secretary needs to be a name with clout on Capitol Hill, as well as one that global financial markets respect. Earlier this year, Geithner said on ABC that his replacement needed to be someone "willing to tell (Obama) the truth."
Possible replacements include: Jack Lew, the president's chief of staff and a former head of the Office of Management and Budget; Larry Fink, a founder of financial giant BlackRock, the largest money management firm in the world; Roger Altman, a deputy treasury secretary in the Clinton administration; and Erskine Bowles, former chief of staff to President Clinton and a co-head of Obama's special commission that drafted a report on fixing the budget deficit and debt problem.
Hillary Clinton plans to step down, though she recently said she'd stay on until Obama picked a replacement. Her successor will have to deal with situations across the globe, including the unresolved debt crisis in Europe, the rise of militant Islamist factions in transitional Arab states, a nuclear showdown with Iran and violence in Syria.
Possible replacements: Sen. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat who's the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; National Security Adviser Tom Donilon; Samantha Power, special assistant to the president and senior director for multilateral affairs and human rights; William Burns, the deputy secretary of state; and R. Nicholas Burns, a former undersecretary of state for political affairs.
U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice was widely considered a top contender until she went on TV with what turned out to be misleading information about the attacks in Libya on Sept. 11 that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta hasn't said publicly whether he'll stay on for a second term. But some speculate that the 74-year-old Panetta, who commutes to his California walnut farm every weekend, will retire in a few months, after Congress debates making cuts to the military.
Possible replacements: Michele Flournoy, a former undersecretary of defense for policy; Jack Reed, a Democratic senator from Rhode Island; Ashton Carter, the deputy secretary of defense; Chuck Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska ; Richard Danzig, a former secretary of the Navy; and Sam Nunn, a former Democratic senator from Georgia.
Attorney General Eric Holder may depart. Already under fire from Republicans for his role in the botched Fast and Furious gun operation, he told a congressional committee earlier this year: "What my future holds, frankly, I'm just not sure."
Possible replacements: Deval Patrick, the Democratic governor of Massachusetts; Amy Klobuchar, a Democratic senator from Minnesota; Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democratic senator from Rhode Island; Claire McCaskill, a Democratic senator from Missouri; Janet Napolitano, the secretary of homeland security; and Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
Ray LaHood, a former Illinois congressman who's the only Republican in Obama's Cabinet, told the Chicago Tribune last year that he'd serve only one term, but he backed off a bit in September, saying he'd first sit down and talk to the president.
Possible replacements: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who served as the chairman of this year's Democratic National Convention and has championed mass transit, and Ed Rendell, a former Democratic governor of Pennsylvania.
Secretary John Bryson stepped down after suffering a seizure in June. The department has been led by acting Secretary Rebecca Blank.
Potential replacement: Ron Kirk, the U.S. trade representative, who plans to leave his current position.
Jack Lew, the budget director who became Obama's chief of staff last January, is said to be interested in the treasury position.
Possible replacements: Ron Klain, Vice President Joe Biden's former chief of staff, and Tom Nides, a deputy secretary of state.
Jay Carney is expected to step away from handling the daily news briefing.
Potential replacements: Jen Psaki, the Obama campaign traveling press secretary, who often shared briefing duties with Carney on Air Force One; and Joshua Earnest, the principal deputy White House press secretary, who's stood in for Carney several times during the televised briefings.


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Seeing teachers publicly demonstrating for their rights during their recent seven-day strike reminded me how I began my career as a college professor in the Windy City during the mid 1970s.
Back then, while recalling my public school teachers and having recently completed two transformative years at the University of Chicago in graduate school, I would passionately encourage my brightest students to become teachers. Many followed my advice.
My routine went something like this:
America needs dedicated and competent schoolteachers. And teaching still is the noblest profession. However: Don't become a teacher to earn a high salary, because you never will. You become a teacher to touch the lives of children, to make a positive contribution to their futures, to literally save some of them from their dysfunctional homes and neighborhoods.
While you will transmit knowledge and skills, you also will perform the duties of counselor, mentor, coach, friend, confidant, diplomat, disciplinarian, judge and, of course, surrogate parent, which may include providing food.
You will need to naturally possess or quickly grow a stiff spine, for you will have to endure the politics of school board members, mayors, state and federal officials and other wielders of power.
You will need the patience of Job to cope with the irresponsibility and bad attitudes of parents and other adults in your students' lives. Learn personal stress management, and don't expect a promotion unless you move into administration. You will learn the psychology of being the scapegoat. You will become one sooner than later.
You will need the stamina of a beast of burden. Depending on the courses you teach and the socioeconomic statuses of your students, you will work 50-hour weeks. You will bring home your students' assignments to grade long after the formal school day has ended. You will attend countless meetings, fill out reams and reams of inane paperwork, annually attend professional development workshops, and hold conferences with parents ready to take off your head.
Many of you will need to moonlight because your day job won't pay enough to make ends meet. Ironically, you will be portrayed as a moocher who gets the entire summer off. Still, you must be prepared to dig into your pockets to buy your own classroom supplies to do your job. You will spend many, many hours on your feet.
Why, you ask, would I want to become a teacher under these ugly conditions? Why? Teaching is our most important profession. It is a calling, and excellent teachers are some of our greatest heroes. That's why.
I dropped this spiel more than a decade ago.
Now I wouldn't try to encourage a student to become a public school teacher in this toxic environment. Even a lot of people who don't hold teachers in contempt easily speak the popular rhetoric of disrespect.
With perhaps the exception of anti-intellectual Australia, the United States is virtually alone in the world in being profoundly contemptuous of its schoolteachers. The negative results — vengeful layoffs and firings, increased class loads, evaluations based on unreliable standardized tests, and the hurry-up establishment of charter schools and vouchers — are damaging the profession beyond repair.
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Explore all your optionsAfter analyzing federal surveys of attrition rates in schools nationwide, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Department of Education and Teach Plus, a nonprofit organization, found that teachers are leaving the profession in droves. Nearly half of those entering the field to replace retiring baby boomers leave within five years. The joint analysis shows that teachers with only one year in the classroom constitute the largest single group of teachers.
Inexperience is the new normal.
Some experts doubt that teaching will ever again attract an adequate number of high-quality prospects. After all, the profession is hampered with an ongoing high attrition rate, nearly 25 percent leaving in the first three years. This state of affairs is not sustainable.
A core problem, as many Chicago teachers said, is that most teachers feel "ordered around" and "threatened" and "bullied" by people who have never taught one day, who have not sat through a single lecture on pedagogy. With most decisions being pushed down from the top, teachers rarely have meaningful input in decisions that determine their fate — an unthinkable condition in other fields.
Most Americans with children in public schools expect miracles from the very teachers they demonize so vehemently. I no longer will encourage students to become teachers.


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Older boyfriend wants to add a second male partner: what do I do?
Heather Corinna replies:I am 14 years old and my boyfriend is 18. We have not had vaginal intercourse yet but we have anal sex regularly. Recently he has told me that he wants to add another partner into our anal sex. I said that I was fine with it (assuming that he wanted another woman to join) but then he told me he wanted a man. I'm sort of uncomfortable about it. Does this mean he is gay? What should I tell him?
If you're not comfortable with anything sexual at any time, then the answer is always to make clear to a partner that you aren't comfortable with what they want, and wait until you are comfortable with whatever that thing is. If you never are, that's okay. It's pretty rare that any two people will want to do everything the other does, or want to do the same thing at the same time, or in the same way or situation. More times than not, we'll just often have times when we don't want the same thing, and that answer is always to defer to the wishes of the person who does NOT want to do something.
None of us needs our every sexual desire or whim met to be happy and healthy. However, having our wants, limits and boundaries respected when it comes to only doing what we really, strongly want to do is pretty essential to both. In other words, anyone's no to sex always trumps someone else's yes.
Managing multiple partners when you have a primary partnership can be mighty complicated. I don't know anything else about you beyond this post, but being able to do that at 14 would be pretty uncommon. Managing an open relationship -- even when it's only open occasionally -- takes a lot of extra communication and honesty, extra safer sex practices (if you add an extra partner, for your safety, it'd be vital for all of you to use safer sex, without question, and for you and your boyfriend to do so for at least six months after an additional partner until you both get a clear STI screen after that six months), and it also (though this is the case even with monogamy) requires everyone involved has equal rights and agency in the relationship to negotiate what they need. In other words, whatever limits and boundaries you have need to be just as important as his limits and boundaries and need to be respected without question. Obviously, too, any additional partner would have to also be someone you knew you could trust, who conversations were also had with about limits, boundaries and sex safety. If a secondary partner is only being chosen by one partner for both, that's not at all okay. If everything involved in that whole paragraph made you feel overwhelmed or dizzy, then it's a safe bet this is not something that's a good idea for you right now.
For this relationship to be healthy for you, you also have to feel able to be assertive when it comes to what you really want and what you don't, without feeling like you need to defer to him. This is his interest: is an additional partner yours? I'm not asking if you're fine with it, I'm asking if it's something you really want and are ready for, too. I'm asking if it's something you'd have suggested on your own. Sex of any kind should be something we deeply want and desire, not just something that we're okay with, or figure we can deal with.
In terms of your boyfriend's orientation, if he finds men attractive as well as women, that would mean he was bisexual, rather than gay. However, some heterosexual men want other men involved in sex with their female partners when they're not all that attracted to other men. Ultimately, involving other men in sex is homoerotic activity, but for some men, the attraction to bringing other men into sex with their partner is less about male-male attraction and more about an attraction to group sex of any kind, humiliation roles per their female partner or, when it's something their female partner wants, not them, delighting in their female partner's pleasure and desire to have other partners. But you can certainly ask him why he wants another man there: if he's bringing this up, even if you don't decide to do this, it should be something both of you can talk about honestly, and the why of this is something you're certainly entitled to know.
I also want to make sure that you're aware that anal sex carries high risks of sexually transmitted infections and also has the possibility of pregnancy risks, since semen can easily drip from the anus to the vulva. Is your partner always using condoms for anal sex? Are you both getting tested for STIs regularly? I know it can sometimes be tough at your age to find or use sexual healthcare services, but it's doable, and given you're sexually active, it's something you need to be getting. If you can't get those yet, and/or your partner isn't getting tested himself and supporting safer sex with the anal sex, I'd suggest you reconsider a sexual relationship right now.
Lastly, I just want to add so both of you know the deal that in a lot of areas, it would not be legal for your legally adult partner to be having genital sex with you at all, let alone with another man. In most areas, the age of consent is higher than 14, and in those where it is 14, there are usually restrictions when the other partner is not a minor, but an adult, as your boyfriend is. Your boyfriend may be flirting with statutory rape charges for being sexually active with you. And as an adult, him bringing another man into this could create additional legal issues, like corruption of a minor charges or additional rape charges.
Even if this isn't a legal issue, while a four-year-age difference at 30 and 34 isn't a biggie, it can be pretty huge between 14 and 18, especially when one of you is an adult and has legal rights the other doesn't. Check in with the laws in your area (your partner can do this, too), and also check in with yourself to be sure this is a relationship that feels like it's among equals, okay? The rates of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections are usually higher when young teen women have partners that are legal adults, and a lot of that has to do with the older partner being exploitive, or the younger not feeling able to insist on birth control and safer sex. So, just be sure that your partnership is a healthy one for you in this respect.
Ultimately, what you should tell him is what you're feeling. If you have questions about the why of this, ask them. If this is not what you want, let him know this isn't something you want to do and decline. And if he's a good partner to you, then even if he wishes it was something you wanted, too, nixing this shouldn't be a big deal, and he should be kind and understanding about you saying no. (In fact, he should have said from the onset that if this wasn't something you also wanted like he does, that it was no big deal.) In the case that he's not, not only do you not want to be with someone else AND this guy, you probably shouldn't be with this guy, all by himself, either.
Here are some extra links to help you out with all of this:
- Safe, Sound & Sexy: A Safer Sex How-To
- Why I Deeply Dislike Your Older Boyfriend
- Ready or Not? The Scarleteen Sex Readiness Checklist
- Potholes & Dead Ends: Relationship Roadblocks to Look Out For
- Safer Sex...for Your Heart
- The Bees and...the Bees: A Homosexuality and Bisexuality Primer
- Be a Blabbermouth! The Whats, Whys and Hows of Talking About Sex With a Partner


text: Sperry Top-Sider Celebrates 75th AnniversarySperry Top-Sider celebrates its 75th anniversary and remains the number one choice in footwear for boating enthusiasts since 1935. From the world's first siped rubber outsole for non-marking traction, Sperry has continuously introduced new advancements in high-performance footwear, making it the leading brand among the nautical community. The iconic American brand was founded on the principle that a shoe should be just as functional on the water as it is on land. Inspired by his dog's ability to run swiftly over ice and snow, Paul Sperry, founder of Sperry Top-Sider, set out to create a quality boat shoe. Using a pen knife, Sperry attempted to replicate the hundreds of wave-like grooves on the underside of his dog's paw, by cutting siping into the outsole of a rubber sneaker. The technique proved successful and Sperry patented the innovative method, which is now known as Razor-Siping™.Today, the Sperry Top-Sider brand offers a wide array of performance footwear designed to withstand the elements while maintaining a classic, sophisticated look. The collection features shoes fabricated from specially treated leather, anodized aluminum eyelets, genuine rawhide laces, the authentic Sperry Top-Sider™ non-skid sole, and sharp angled slits, which allow maximum traction and flexibility. While a pair of Sperry's are ideal for the water, land dwellers near and far have made Sperry their choice in footwear due to the shoe's durability, fine craftsmanship, and fashion-forward aesthetic. Sperry offers a large selection of shoes for men, women and children, as well as styles ranging from boat shoes, nautical classics, sandals, a resort line and even styles suited for the office. In addition to shoes, the Sperry Web site also offers men's and women's T-shirts and polos, bags, hats and shoe accessories. As 2010 marks a milestone in the history of the brand, Sperry has launched an exclusive 75th Anniversary collection of men's and women's shoes, many of which are offered for just $75. As part of the celebration, Sperry is offering its customers a chance to win a free pair of shoes by submitting their favorite pictures taken in, on and around the sea. Photos from different eras, as well as favorite stories, can be submitted online at the Sperry Top-Sider Facebook fan page.The company has earned a solid reputation among those with a passion for the sea and is widely recognized for its efforts within the boating industry. Sperry is the official footwear of the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regattas, the US Sailing Team, US Sailing, the 2009 BoatUS Collegiate Bass Championship, the Salt Water Sportsman seminar series and the National Safe Boating Council. Adding to the laundry list of achievements, Sperry has recently partnered with the New York Yacht Club. "As the official footwear sponsor of the New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, we're thrilled to begin a long-term relationship with this iconic institution, which shares our same commitment to and love for the sport. The Invitational Cup is the perfect platform to promote the purity and universal appeal of sailing to a global audience," said Craig Reingold, president of Sperry Top-Sider. Whether you're a seasoned seamen or someone who simply loves a stylish shoe, Sperry is there for you every step of the way. See the full Sperry Top-Sider Collection at SperryTopSider.com |


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The first puzzle shouldn't be too hard. The second ... is tough. It's by Mike Shenk, who has a site called puzzability, and is interviewed here.
I wish you all peace and joy during these winter holidays.
Holiday Logic
by Sue VanHattum
by Sue VanHattum
1. The Green girl's favorite Christmas tradition is singing carols.
2. The Brown boy celebrates Kwanzaa indoors.
3. DJ and Jordon joined their friend in her candle lighting ceremony.
4. Layla and Amani joined their friend for his annual walk through the woods.
5. The Gold girl came to Jordon's house to join his family in their feast.
6. The Fox family celebrate the Yuletide, and Amani comes to their party.
7. Amani couldn't make it to the Gold family's Hanukkah celebration.
Each child celebrates just one holiday with one special activity as a tradition in their family, though they do join in the fun with their friends this year. Your mission: Decide who celebrates each holiday, and what they do to celebrate.
Oh Deer! A logic problem by Mike Shenk
(first published in Games Magazine, December 1992)
(first published in Games Magazine, December 1992)
Twas the night before Christmas, and at the North Pole
The last-minute planning was taking its toll.
As Santa was hastily making a scheme
For the placement of deer in his sleigh-pulling team,
The good Mrs. Claus was crocheting bright bows
To be worn by these reindeer (four bucks and four does).
The ribbons were colored in eight festive hues:
One ocher, one rose, one cerise, one chartreuse,
One maroon, one magenta, one white, and one blue.
(These ribbons helped Santa keep track of who's who.)
The deer pulled the toy-laden sleigh in four rows,
Arranged so no row held two bucks or does.
The order of pullers was changed year by year,
For Santa was thoroughly fair with his deer.
He summoned the elves and instructed them thus:
"Let's hitch up the reindeer with minimum fuss.
The bow on the buck behind Dasher is white,
While Blitzen, a doe, sees cerise to her right.
The blue bow is nearer my sleigh than is Dancer,
But nearer the front of my team than is Prancer.
The doe in chartreuse gets a front-of-team honor,
But not on the same side as Cupid or Donner.
Now Comet stands two spots ahead of the rose.
And three deer of four on the right side are does.
The cerise bow is worn two in back of maroon,
One of which is beside the bright ocher festoon.
Oh-Cupid's in front of a buck, by the way.
Well, that's how they line up for pulling my sleigh.
I trust that you elves, being clever, now know
Each reindeer's position and color of bow."
In no time each colorful ribbon was tied
And the team was hitched up for the transglobal ride.
Can you ascertain where each member fits in?
Who's Comet? Who's Cupid" Where's Donner? And Blitzen?
Who's Dasher? Who's Dancer" Where's Vixen? And Prancer?
With logical thought, you'll determine the answer
And write down the color and place for each deer.
Happy Christmas to all, and to all much good cheer!


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- We show you the best, we don't show you the worst.
- We show you people who follow the plans, not those who are all talk.
- We show you those who inspire even us with their commitment to their results.
- You cannot get results exactly like these. You are unique and that means you can only get your own best possible results.
- Your results are a function of time spent following the plan; your genetic response to the right exercise and diet program; how hard you train; how consistently you come to the gym; how disciplined you are with your diet; & your starting point.
- Oftentimes the lower your starting point (poor fitness, terrible body composition) the better your results.
- We cannot do the work for you and the results you see here are a testament to the work ethic of our clients.
Our reputation is that we are the best trainers in the world for helping you to unlock your potential, & we can lead you to the door, give you the key, even turn the handle and push the door open, but we cannot walk through it for you.
In the end the result is down to you.
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Amelie Mauresmo should be pissed at her clothing sponsor, Reebok, for setting the photo shoot for her new line of clothes — released in time for Wimbledon — on the top floor of a bland parking garage in North London.
Botched gimmick, much? We've seen better "makeshift courts" than this. (Remember the converted helipad in Dubai? Or perhaps matches on streets?) Even split courts have been done better (see: yachts in Valencia).
Really, Reebok should have just thrown her a party, like they did for Nicole Vaidisova when they announced her 2007 U.S. Open outfit.
Oh well, my whole point of this post was to show off Amelie's dress. More photos here.
It's simple, classy, feminine. We like it. Do you? Tell us.
(via OTB)


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E-Learning Trends | Research
By 2015, 25 million post-secondary students in the United States will be taking classes online. And as that happens, the number of students who take classes exclusively on physical campuses will plummet, from 14.4 million in 2010 to just 4.1 million five years later, according to a new forecast released by market research firm Ambient Insight.
Blended and Online Learning Growth The report, "The US Market for Self-paced eLearning Products and Services: 2010-2015 Forecast and Analysis," predicted a five-year compound decline of 22.08 percent per year in students attending traditional classrooms exclusively. The number of post-secondary students taking some (but not all) classes online will grow at a compound annual rate of 11.08 percent over the same five-year period, from 12.36 million in 2010 to 21.13 million in 2015. But the real growth will be seen among students taking classes exclusively online. Ambient predicted a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.06 percent in that area, from 1.37 million in 2010 to 3.86 million in 2015.
By that time, the number of students taking classes exclusively online will be nearly equal to the number taking classes exclusively on a physical campus, with a gap of just 240,000 students (a figure that represents less than 1 percent of the entire forecast post-secondary student population, including degree-granting institutions, vocational training schools, continuing education institutions, etc.)
Further, according to the report, "If this trend continues, by 2018, there will be more full time online students than students that take all their classes in a physical classroom."
Top Institutions for Online Enrollment The report also indicated that despite the high five-year compound annual growth figures, the annual growth of full-time and part-time online enrollments at the top-10 institutions seems to have slowed in the last two years, while growth at some of the smaller institutions accelerated. The report characterized the larger institutions as "pioneers in online learning with large numbers of students" that are "approaching enrollment saturation points" and aligning with previous forecasts.
In terms of the top institutions for full-time enrollment, all of the institutions in Ambient Insight's top-5 continued to experience growth over the last two years, though that growth declined for all but one.
A similar pattern emerged for the top institutions for part-time online enrollments, according to Ambient Insight. All of the institutions in the top-5 continued to experience healthy, double-digit growth from 2009 to 2010, just slightly less healthy than the growth experienced from 2008 to 2009.
Further details about the top institutions are available in Ambient Insight's report.
The report also spotlighted some of the smaller online institutions, many of which are also experiencing double-digit growth in enrollments. Some are using partnerships with commerical suppliers to accelerate that growth further. Ambient Insight Chief Research Officer Sam S. Adkins also pointed to a creative partnership between the state of Indiana and Western Governors University.
"An interesting partnership is the deal between the state of Indiana and Western Governors University (WGU) forged in August 2010," . "WGU set up a private portal called WGU Indiana allowing Indiana to launch an online school with very little upfront capital. WGU Indiana operates at no cost to the state. The Indiana governor refers to the new online school as 'Indiana's eighth state university.' As of January 2011, enrollment had tripled to reach 800 students, mostly working adults, just six months after launch. WGU Indiana indicates they are adding 'nearly 100 new students each month.' This is a unique business model that should appeal to other states if it is successful."
E-Learning Expenditures Booming Adkins said that all of this growth will help propel expenditures on electronic learning products in higher education to unprecedented levels (though it won't be the only factor driving spending).
The report focused on expenditures by academic institutions, businesses, and other organizations on a category of electronic learning products that Ambient Insight refers to as "self-paced e-learning products," which includes learning management, classroom management, and learning content management systems, along with student information systems and hosted learning platforms, among others. This category does not include mobile learning, gaming, or several other major e-learning categories. (Ambient Insight's detailed methodology and category definitions can be found here.)
In higher education in the United States, according to Ambient, expenditures on these types of products will grow at a five-year CAGR of 6.7 percent, reaching $6.1 billion by 2015. Combined with K-12, academic institutions in the United States alone will account for $11 billion in expenditures in this category by 2015.
Higher education isn't the only segment experiencing growth in electronic learning expenditures. Across all industry segments, the market for these electronic learning products and services grew to $18.2 billion in the United States in 2010. That overall figure will climb to $24.2 billion in 2015, according to Ambient Insight's latest forecast--a relatively modest 5.9 percent compound annual growth comparable to that of Western Europe but lagging far behind Asia (at nearly a 30 percent five-year CAGR from 2010 to 2015), Eastern Europe (nearly 25 percent CAGR), Latin America (about 18 percent CAGR), and Africa (roughly 17 percent CAGR). Ambient said Asia's growth rate will propel it to become the second-largest consumer of these types of electronic learning products by 2015, just ahead of Western Europe and just behind North America.
Ambient Insight's latest report, "The US Market for Self-paced eLearning Products and Services: 2010-2015 Forecast and Analysis," is available now from Ambient Insight for $4,825 for an organizational site license. Further information, including a free executive summary with additional details, can be found here.
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by State Rep. Susan Lynn (TN-57th)
The following is a letter from Tennessee to the other 49 State Legislatures
We send greetings from the Tennessee General Assembly. On June 23, 2009, House Joint Resolution 108, the State Sovereignty Resolution, was signed by Governor Phil Bredesen. The Resolution created a committee which has as its charge to:
- Communicate the resolution to the legislatures of the several states,
- Assure them that this State continues in the same esteem of their friendship,
- Call for a joint working group between the states to enumerate the abuses of authority by the federal government, and
- Seek repeal of the assumption of powers and the imposed mandates.
It is for those purposes that this letter addresses your honorable body.
In 1776, our founding fathers declared our freedom in the magnificent Declaration of Independence; our guide to governance. They established a nation of free and independent states. Declaring that the purpose of our political system is to secure for its citizens' their natural rights. The Constitution authorizes the national government to carry out seventeen enumerated powers in Article 1, Section 8 and the powers of several of the ensuing amendments.
At the time of the Constitutional ratification process James Madison drafted the "Virginia Plan" to give Congress general legislative authority and to empower the national judiciary to hear any case that might cause friction among the states, to give the congress a veto over state laws, to empower the national government to use the military against the states, and to eliminate the states' accustomed role in selecting members of Congress. Each one of these proposals was soundly defeated. In fact, Madison made many more attempts to authorize a national veto over state laws, and these were repeatedly defeated as well.
There are clear limits to the power of the federal government and clear realms of power for the states. However, the simple and clear expression of purpose, to secure our natural rights, has evolved into the modern expectation that the national government has an obligation to ensure our life, to create our liberty, and fund our pursuit of happiness.
The national government has become a complex system of programs whose purposes lie outside of the responsibilities of the enumerated powers and of securing our natural rights; programs that benefit some while others must pay.
Today, the federal government seeks to control the salaries of those employed by private business, to change the provisions of private of contracts, to nationalize banks, insurers and auto manufacturers, and to dictate to every person in the land what his or her medical choices will be.
Forcing property from employers to provide healthcare, legislating what individuals are and are not entitled to, and using the labor of some so that others can receive money that they did not earn goes far beyond securing natural rights, and the enumerated powers in the Constitution.
The role of our American government has been blurred, bent, and breached. The rights endowed to us by our creator must be restored.
To be sure, the People created the federal government to be their agent for certain enumerated purposes only. The Constitutional ratifying structure was created so it would be clear that it was the People, and not the States, that were doing the ratifying.
The Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that which has been delegated by the people to the federal government, and also that which is absolutely necessary to advancing those powers specifically enumerated in the Constitution of the United States. The rest is to be handled by the state governments, or locally, by the people themselves.
The Constitution does not include a congressional power to override state laws. It does not give the judicial branch unlimited jurisdiction over all matters. It does not provide Congress with the power to legislate over everything. This is verified by the simple fact that attempts to make these principles part of the Constitution were soundly rejected by its signers.
With this in mind, any federal attempt to legislate beyond the Constitutional limits of Congress' authority is a usurpation of state sovereignty – and unconstitutional.
Governments and political leaders are best held accountable to the will of the people when government is local. The people of a state know what is best for them; authorities, potentially thousands of miles away, governing their lives is opposed to the very notion of freedom.
We invite your state to join with us to form a joint working group between the states to enumerate the abuses of authority by the federal government and to seek repeal of the assumption of powers and the imposed mandates.
Susan Lynn [send her email] is a member of the Tennessee General Assembly; serving on the Commerce Committee and Chairman of the Government Operations committee. She holds a BS in economics and a minor in history. She is the Chairman of the American Legislative Exchange Council's Commerce Task Force. Visit her blog at http://susan-lynn.blogspot.com


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Flosse, president of French Polynesia's local government when Couraud - known as "JPK" - disappeared, was quoted in Tahitipresse as saying he had been accused of "the most abominable deeds".
He plans to file a defamation writ because the TV programme - in the Tempo investigative series - didn't give him any right of reply in the face of the allegations. Flosse claims the programme violated the basic principles of democracy.
- Flosse threatens to sue over 'JPK' doco
- JPK Updates website, edited by Jason Brown
- France 3 documentary - Mort sous les tropiques
- Daily Motion videos on Flosse and JPK


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Step 1 of 5: Always choose the cleanest and flattest area possible for refuelling your machine. Lay the chainsaw down with the tank filler openings facing upward.
Step 2 of 5: Clean the area around the tank openings with a clean cloth.
Step 3 of 5: Raise the filler cap flap and turn the filler cap anti-clockwise as far as it will go. Remove the cap.
Step 4 of 5: Fill up both tanks slowly and carefully. Fill the fuel tank with the fuel mix and the oil tank with the chain lubricant. The see-through fuel tanks on the machines allow you to check the level at a glance. To make sure there are no spills, STIHL offers a patented filling system for fuel and chain lubricant.


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The annual pace of inflation held steady in October as the consumer price index rose 1.9 per cent compared with a year ago, matching its moves in August and September, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
The result was also in line with the expectations of economists, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.
The overall rise in prices came as food prices rose 3.7 per cent compared with a year ago. Fresh fruit prices rose 7.9 per cent and fresh vegetable prices climbed 7.5 per cent.
Compared with a year ago, the price of gasoline was down 6.7 per cent in October compared with a 10.0 per cent decline in September. Natural gas prices rose 3.3 per cent compared with a year ago following a 5.8 per cent increase in September.
Statistics Canada said although global demand for oil remained low in October, there were slight price increases on a monthly basis due to temporary supply disruptions in the Middle East and a drop in crude oil inventories in the United States.
Excluding gasoline, the annual pace of inflation was 2.3 per cent in October, down from 2.4 per cent in September.
The average of Canada's three measures for core inflation, which are considered better gauges of underlying price pressures, was 2.07 per cent compared with a revised figure of 2.03 per cent in September.
The core readings are closely monitored by the Bank of Canada, which adjusts its key interest rate target to manage inflation.
Regionally, prices were up 2.3 per cent compared with a year ago in Quebec, while Manitoba and B.C. both saw increases of 2.2 per cent. The annual pace of inflation was 1.7 per cent in Ontario.
READ MORE: Canadian annual inflation rate 1.9% last month
The Canadian Press
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Product Reviews
Mailsite offers Web based email that can be used for small- to mega-companies.
MailSite is a Windows NT/2000 mail server that is rather unique in the mail server space. It is designed to serve the needs of just about any site. MailSite has a proprietary database that can be used if storage requirements aren't vast. As well, it can use any SQL database for high-end storage needs.
MailSite comes in five flavors: MailSite Express (Web-based email), MailSite Workgroup (up to 500 mailboxes), MailSite Department (up to 5,000 mailboxes), MailSite Enterprise (50,000 mailboxes), and MailSite DataCenter (100,000 to 1,000,000s of mailboxes). MailSite Express is included with the other four versions, and for this review I evaluated MailSite DataCenter.
This product is one of the most scalable mail servers on the market today, and offers easy upgrades from each version. This allows an organization to purchase and configure lower-end versions and gradually upgrade as needed.
MailSite DataCenter isn't a Unix port, but was instead developed from the ground up as an enterprise mail solution. With its multithreaded and multiprocessor-capabilities, it can find a comfortable home on just about any Windows 2000 hardware platform.
Another MailSite strength stems from its administration interfaces, which include a dedicated console (Figure 1), a Java management console (Figure 2), and a Web management Console (Figure 3). User mailboxes can be stored in the Registry, Windows NT/2000 User Directory, and in a SQL database. The SQL database (not included) doesn't need to reside on the same physical system as MailSite. This allows the databases to be stored on either Windows NT/2000 or on powerful Unix systems, which enables incredible scalability.
MailSite DataCenter also has a feature-rich, Web email interface (Figure 4) similar to Microsoft's Hotmail service, which allows users to access their mailbox from anywhere on the Internet (assuming that you provide this option).
The features offered with MailSite DataCenter are too numerous to include in this short review, but whatever feature you might need, this product probably has it. Rockliffe is also responsive to user feedback and has made numerous changes based on customer feedback. Some features of note:
Support for standard Internet protocols (including SMTP, POP3, IMAP4, LDAP3, and HTTP)
Clustering support (with the database server residing on one system and the mail store on another)
Security (with features, such as authenticated SMTP, validation of address against a real-time blacklist, and rejection of messages by IP address, domain name, or email address)
All in all, MailSite DataCenter is an extremely powerful and scalable mail solution for Windows NT/2000. It was hard to find anything wrong with it, except for the price, but that price isn't steep for millions of users. If you're looking for a simple to install, end-user, scalable mail solution, you need to evaluate this product. A 30-day evaluation version may be downloaded from www.rockliffe.com/common/trial.asp.
About the Author
Barry Shilmover, MCSE+I, MCT, owns Shilmover Consulting Services, a Microsoft Solution Provider specializing in Windows NT/2000 and Exchange 5.5/2000 solutions. He has co-authored books that include Windows 2000 System Administrator's Black Book and Exchange 5.5 Exam Cram, both from Coriolis Press.
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Office Romance: Dos And Don'ts
How To Date At Work
Dating someone you work with: who hasn't done it? Celebrities, X Factor contestants, even politicians have hooked up "on set", behind stage and in Parliament.
Really, It's no wonder. We spend more time with colleagues than anyone else. We share common interests because we're in the same line of work and hook-ups are predictable when after-work drinks turn into late-night parties, where booze helpfully swipes all inhibitions.
But, as anyone who's dabbled their pen in the office ink will verify, dating a co-worker is fraught with complication. From someone speaking from experience, trust me, there are a few simple rules by which you must comply:
DO be discreet. Even if the entire office saw your tongues down with each other's throat on the dance-floor last Friday night, doesn't mean you have to fawn over each other come Monday, leaning over each other's desks and being handsy by the water cooler. Your co-workers will be annoyed (and slightly grossed out), your boss will raise an eyebrow and, more importantly, think of the humiliation if you break up. Awkward!
DON'T become anti-social. In my old job — a small office of about 20 — two staffers struck up a romance and, whilst the public displays of affection were kept to a polite minimum, they swiftly went from being two of the most bubbly people in the office to a quiet — dare I say, boring — couple; scuttling in together every morning, leaving quietly every night, sneaking off for lunch together and barely speaking to anyone else. Try to keep your relationship, work and social lives a little separate.
DO tread carefully. The problem with inter-office relationships is that no matter how far you go in keeping it a secret, you always get found out, and this isn't entirely a good thing. One ill-fated romance I had with a co-worker a few years back was detrimental not only to my emotional well-being, but my professional reputation. It didn't exactly look good when it was discovered I was dating the office Lothario, let alone when he publicly dumped me and I burst out crying at my desk, in front of numerous managers. Beware.
DON'T involve too many people. Places of work are gossip-driven. That's an inescapable fact. The couple who strike up a romance will inevitably become the Brad and Ange of the office, but only for about a week. Then they'll get bored and move on to the next piece of gossip. I was so infatuated with the Ill-Fated Office Ex, I told almost everyone in the office and therefore, they all knew went it went tits up, too.
DO be sure before you make a move. You like Hannah from marketing and are fairly certain she's been giving you the eye in the canteen. And she definitely winked at you at the Christmas party that time, didn't she? Maybe you'll come back from a business lunch a little tipsy and send her a suggestive email, inviting her to 'check over your accounts' and any other inappropriate innuendos you can think of. She'll love that. But, oops, actually her husband just died, she's forwarded your email to HR and now your boss wants to see you.
DON'T have sex on the photocopier. Obviously. Whoever thought up this cliché has a lot to answer for.
Having said all this, inter-office dating can be immeasurably fun. Hand-holding in the lifts, swift, stolen kisses in the kitchen and flirty email exchanges all make for a far more enjoyable working day. Just think twice before fondling too publicly. Leave the boardroom antics for FTSE, not playing footsy.
Dating Rules
Dating Mistakes
The Scarlett Letters
scarlett russell