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in Light Report:
Sector Looking for Alternative Solutions to Spur Adoption of General Lighting
By Paula Doe, SEMI
With the HB-LED sector counting on affordable general lighting to drive its future growth, device makers look at the potential for alternative substrates, innovative packaging and statistical process control.
General Lighting Increasingly Becomes the Driver in a Flattening Market
The packaged LED device market will see modest 1.8 percent CAGR over the next five years, to rise from $13.7 billion to some $15 billion by 2017, according to Strategies Unlimited. With demand for other applications maturing, most of this growth will need to come from general lighting. Use of LEDs for the still small market of general lighting roughly doubled in 2012, to reach $3.1 billion, barely edging out displays to become the largest application for the first time, noted Strategies Unlimited director of LED market research Ella Shum. Sales for almost all other applications, however, are trending down, as both overcapacity and improving manufacturing push down prices, and applications across the board from headlights to TVs used significantly fewer, brighter devices. Strategies Unlimited counts in its total all devices >30lm/W, and as industry technology improves, that means that a large number of off-spec but reasonable quality components go into things like Christmas lights and light tubes and strips now get counted as part of the mid- and high-brightness LED lighting market, explained Vrinda Bhandarkar, SU's director of LED lighting research.
Lm/W & Klm/$
Though the overall market may be flat, most of the leading suppliers are seeing healthy growth. Shum noted that many of the top 10 component suppliers saw double digit increases in sales, led by Toyoda Gosei at 37 percent, thanks to post-tsunami demand for energy savings in Japan, and Lumens at 32 percent, thanks to growth of its packaging for Samsung. Philips Lumileds and Samsung saw 21-22 percent growth, followed by Sharp, Seoul Semiconductor and Cree at 14-18 percent. Everlight and LG Innotek, however, saw 1 percent declines. Several of these big players were squeezed for capacity, and expanded by acquisitions or partnerships, with Nichia allying with Citizen, LG with Showa Denko, and Epistar acquiring Huga Optotech, while the giant Chinese shipping company San-an bought a chip maker in Taiwan and hired a crowd of engineers from others.
This growth comes as prices have continued to plunge towards what's needed to drive mass adoption of general solid state lighting. Average price per light output dropped another 45 percent in 2012, to $3.45/klm, according to Strategies Unlimited. Some leaders have pushed device efficiencies up and manufacturing costs down to do markedly better, with Nichia reporting $2/klm with its low-cost plastic QFN package and Cree optimizing all parts of the device and packaging to introduce a commercial 200lm/W device.
Equipment spending will likely decline another ~10 percent this year, to some $1.7 billion, according to SEMI's Opto/LED Fab Forecast. Equipment investment dropped ~30 percent last year to $1.9 billion after the 2011 boom fueled by aggressive Chinese government subsidies, reported SEMI CMO Tom Morrow. But that excess capacity in China is starting to get utilized. Chinese LED fab utilization has recovered from its 39 percent low in 2011 back up to 61 percent as of 3Q12.
China LED Fab Utilization
While general lighting will drive much of future LED growth, Osram Opto Semiconductor LED VP and GM Wolfgang Lex pointed out that 50 percent of LEDs will still continue to be sold into applications other than lighting and displays — and it's those other applications with high-value products with specific demands of their own that are actually driving much of the technology development. "It's these niches that are paying for the R&D to develop the technology, not solid state lighting," he noted.
"The winners will be those with the best lumens per wafer, the rights to the IP, and the money to develop the technology," said Cree SVP Norbert Hiller, noting that displays would consolidate around the few big players, but the less mature lighting market still had room for new ideas from a lot of different companies, known and unknown.
Bringing Down Costs: A Look at GaN-on-GaN, GaN-on-Si, and 6-in. Sapphire Substrates
University of California Santa Barbara professor Shuji Nakamura argued that GaN-on-aN LEDs, currently being manufactured by Soraa, which he co-founded, could possibly increase lumen output by as much as tenfold, while reducing the cost per lumen, as the expensive GaN substrates remain a relatively small portion of total cost. GaN substrates mean no lattice or thermal mismatch and drastically fewer dislocations, for easy current spreading and little droop even at high current density. "Ammonothermal technology [for GaN growth] will decrease cost in the near future," argued Nakamura. Soraa is working on an ARPA-E project to grow GaN crystals with a steel reactor lined with insulating ceramic for the high heat and high-pressure growth chamber, instead of the usual costly and hard-to-scale-up nickel super alloys.
German epi wafer supplier AZZURRO, meanwhile, is supplying 150mm-200mm GaN on silicon wafer templates, with the buffer layers grown, ready for LED makers to largely use their existing epi processes to grow the active layers on top. The company has announced that Epistar has successfully migrated its LED structures to the 150mm templates. AZZURRO co-founder and EVP of business development Alexander Loesing suggests that LED makers now using 2-inch wafers could potentially move to larger substrates with limited capital investment by using the templates, doing the epi in house with existing tools, then using a CMOS foundry to do the rest of the processing. "We don't believe people will add 200mm lines, but will use a foundry. We are working on deals with foundries for the whole process," he said. The company grows its buffer layers on thick silicon wafers with its proprietary and patented strain management to control the bow. After LED makers grow their LED structures on the templates, they remove the silicon with standard low-cost removal processes, for wafers with the 50µm bow required for silicon lines. Loesing reported 445.2nm emission with a standard deviation (std) of 2.53nm across the wafer. The company is also marketing GaN-on-Si epiwafers to power semiconductor makers.
China's Lattice Power reported it is currently running some 10,000-15,000 2-inch GaN-on-Si wafers per month, with typical performance of 130-140lm/W for 45mil chips for some 50 customers to prove the process. It's developing a 6-inch wafer version, where uniformity remains a bit less, with standard deviation of ~3nm instead of the 1nm on 2-inch, but CTO Hanmin Zhao estimates that the company will get 6-inch uniformity to a similar 1nm std by 3Q this year. He figures the cost per 1mm chip will be about 30 percent less on silicon than on than sapphire, using a vertical chip design. The 2-inch vertical silicon devices are getting about 5 percent higher light output and 5 percent lower yields (70-80 percent) than the lateral sapphire alternative, but about the same as the vertical sapphire version.
But the best bet for cost reduction may still be six-inch sapphires, especially now that there is industry progress on standards for the wafers, cassettes, loadports and software needed to adopt the existing silicon-centric production equipment to efficient commercial volume production of the thicker and more bowed sapphire wafers, noted SEMI's Morrow.
"We believe when the market improves many will go to 4-6 inch sapphire, as prices of 6-inch wafers come down, and as 6-inch offers about 9X more efficient processing with its 9X more chips per wafer, since cost drives everything," says Rubicon CEO Raja Parvez. "Besides scaling, it also brings the ability to use excess semiconductor equipment for post epi processing for better uniformity and yield." He figures only about 15 percent of the industry uses 6-inch so far, 30-40 percent 4-inch, and about 50 percent still on 2-inch, and not much change occurred in the last very challenging 18 months, as LED makers had plenty of capacity and no desire to invest in new equipment in the downturn. But as the industry recovers demand for higher quality and specifications will drive users to flatter, cleaner, thinner, and larger wafers, he suggests, noting that older generation wafers will no longer be good enough as the market gets more sophisticated. "Standards will develop," he notes. "At the end of the day, this will help to further decrease costs."
While sapphire wafer prices have fallen sharply recently, the technology developed for the LED industry is now drawing considerable interest for durable, scratch-resistant camera lens covers for cameras and smart phones, or even for smart phone cover plates, which could compete with LEDs for sapphire supply and potentially boost wafer prices.
Wafer makers are also looking to add value, by offering patterned sapphire surfaces (PSS) for light extraction, which has typically been done by LED makers in house as part of their device design. Rubicon is developing PSS in house for 6-inch wafers.
Rethinking LED Packaging
Bridgelux has taken an innovative approach of packaging its newest family (Vero™) of LEDs with a standard- footprint, multilayer plastic substrate with connectors, for "plug and play" connectivity and easy integration of more features for smart lighting in the future, argues Jim Miller, chief Sales and Marketing officer . The line includes multiple color quality options with overlapping performance capabilities to cover a wide range of different applications in one form factor to simplify the supply chain. The chip-on-board platform offers thermally isolated solder pads, or an onboard connector port for snap-in solder-free connections, for easy installation and field upgrades. The standardized packaging is manufactured at a semiconductor OSAT with automated processes which Bridgelux believes provides competitive advantage. The substrate and packaging technology have been designed so smart lighting features like light or occupancy sensors or other chips can be readily integrated on to the same product platform.
Improving Yields with Statistical Process Control
Software and metrology suppliers noted progress in improving LED yields by tracking parameters in line, and automating the analysis of what needs fixing when. Suppliers argued for the need to monitor real-time variables like temperature, reflectance and curvature in the epi process, and patterns in electrical and optical wafer maps, and for analysis of how these measures relate to final yield, and for alarm points for when things are out of spec and need adjustment. "The LED sector's pain point is that although it can see defects on inspection at various process points, isolating defects to point of origin and establishing root cause still remains a challenge," says Steven Chen, KLA-Tencor process control technologist. By correlating epi defects to yield, KLA found that while total defect counts did not correlate with yield, higher densities of critical defects of interest did have significant impact. "The inspection equipment's defect detection sensitivity and classification capabilities need to be matched with yield management software that ties all the data together," he notes. He estimated that identifying the killer defects and applying inline controls by linking inspection results with defect analysis solutions could potentially save a user $1 million per year by catching problems earlier.
Rudolph Technologies' Matthew Chriss, LED process control engineer, noted that if fabs connected MES systems to their many MOCVD chambers they could stop going through log books looking for the commonalities among low yielding chambers, and get automated readouts of excursions to locate the tools, pockets, processes, or settings causing problems before things get too far out of spec. "The automated systems may reduce the operators needed for a small reduction in personnel costs, but I believe the much bigger value is in the consistent process control," says Chriss. Laytec's CTO Kolja Haberland also reported yield improvements from its system to monitor real-time temperature, reflectance and curvature in the MOCVD tool and report when a reading moves enough out of spec to impact yield.
For more information on SEMI, please visit www.semi.org. Visit www.semi.org/Store/MarketInformation/OptoLEDFabForecast for information on the SEMI Opto/LED Fab Forecast. For information on SEMI's involvement with HB-LEDs, visit www.semi.org/led.
Also visit the SEMICON China 2013 (March 19-21) website (www.semiconchina.org) to learn more about the LED Manufacturing Pavilion and the LED China 2013 Conference. For information on LED programs at SEMICON West 2013 (July 9-11), visit www.semiconwest.org.
March 5, 2013


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During her eight seasons on the UMass Dartmouth sideline, Nicole Maher has compiled a 109-60 record (.645) with three Little East Conference regular-season championships, three Little East Conference tournament titles, and three NCAA Division III tournament appearances. She has led the Corsairs to sixth straight winning seasons, marking the longest sustained run of success in program history.
Last year, UMass Dartmouth sported an overall record of 14-7. Maher became just the second coach in program history to reach the 100-win milestone, achieving the feat at Wheaton College (Mass.) on Sept. 22, 2013. She led her charges to a three-way tie for second place in the conference standings with a 9-2 mark. The Corsairs defeated fifth-seeded Southern Maine in the quarterfinals of the Little East Conference tournament before being edged at top-seeded Keene State College.
In 2012, UMass Dartmouth tied the program's single-season win record (17), matching the standard that was established by the 2006 squad. The Corsairs became the first team in program history to produce an undefeated 11-0 mark in conference play, winning the league title outright for second time in the past three years. UMass Dartmouth protected its home turf during the Little East Conference tournament, defeating Western Connecticut, Plymouth State, and Keene State to earn automatic qualification into the NCAA Division III tournament.
Maher has mentored a total of 38 All-Little East Conference selections, including 20 student-athletes on the first-team. She has coached three conference offensive players of the year (Eleanor Taylor, Stephanie Kinchla, and Robin Dziedzic), two defensive players of the year (Taryn Cardiel and Sara Joyce), and two rookies of the year (Cory Connolly and Eleanor Taylor). Maher has been tabbed by her peers as the Little East Conference Coach of the Year six times during her career, most recently in 2012.
A talented recruiter, Maher has tutored two All-Americans in Seana Golden (2008) and Robin Dziedzic (2006). She has produced a total of 11 National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-New England West selections, including 2013 recipients Tori Dolce and Devon Herlihy. Under her leadership, three student-athletes have represented the Corsairs at the prestigious NFHCA Division III Senior Game, most recently with Tori Dolce and Eleanor Taylor this past fall.
Maher's charges have dedicated themselves to the fulfillment of the Division III philosophy. The Corsairs earned the NFHCA National Collegiate Academic Squad award in 2007 and 2010 for maintaining a 3.0 or higher grade point average. Individually, UMass Dartmouth has received a total of 32 Little East Conference Fall All-Academic citations since the inception of the conference-sponsored program in 2007.
Prior to joining the UMass Dartmouth staff, Maher served as an assistant coach at Bryant University for two seasons. She began her intercollegiate coaching career at Bridgewater State in 2001, leading the Bears to a 9-8 overall record.
A native of the South Coast, Maher was inducted into the Somerset (Mass.) High School Hall of Fame in 2006, her first year of eligibility. She was a four-year member of the University of Connecticut field hockey team between 1996 and 1999. Maher helped lead the Huskies to three consecutive Big East championships and back-to-back appearances in the NCAA National Semifinals. She holds the Big East records for most goals in a tournament game (3) and most goals in a tournament (5). At the time of her departure from Storrs, Maher ranked among the career leaders in goals (3rd, 48) and points (9th, 104). In 1999, Maher was named to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I All-America, second-team, Big East Defensive Player of the Year, NFHCA All-Region, and All-Big East, first-team.

subset: commoncrawl


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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Longhorn Network is turning up on the channel guides of another major cable television provider.
Time Warner Cable has added the ESPN network dedicated to the athletic program at the University of Texas. The network went live on Time Warner Cable's Texas systems Friday, in time for Saturday night's telecast of the Texas Longhorns' opener against New Mexico State.
Financial terms and other details of the agreement aren't being disclosed.
The Longhorn Network also will carry the Sept. 14 game against Ole Miss and the Nov. 2 game against Kansas, plus exclusive pregame and postgame programming for all Longhorns football games. The network also provides live coverage of Texas men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, tennis, rowing, track and field and golf.


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The National Security Agency inadvertently brought Syria's Internet to a screeching halt nationwide in 2012 after a failed attempted to hack into the war-torn country's communications data, according to a new claim by Edward Snowden.
The fugitive leaker, in a sprawling new interview with Wired, said that NSA agents attempted to exploit a core router of a major Internet service provider in order to tap into the country's emails. But the plot backfired, bringing Syria's Internet down for days amid an escalating civil war.
When he went to work for Booz Allen Hamilton in early 2013, Snowden was already disillusioned with the government's surveillance practices but "had not lost his capacity for shock," writes James Bamford:
One day an intelligence officer told him that TAO—a division of NSA hackers—had attempted in 2012 to remotely install an exploit in one of the core routers at a major Internet service provider in Syria, which was in the midst of a prolonged civil war. This would have given the NSA access to email and other Internet traffic from much of the country. But something went wrong, and the router was bricked instead—rendered totally inoperable. The failure of this router caused Syria to suddenly lose all connection to the Internet—although the public didn't know that the US government was responsible. (This is the first time the claim has been revealed.)
Inside the TAO operations center, the panicked government hackers had what Snowden calls an "oh shit" moment. They raced to remotely repair the router, desperate to cover their tracks and prevent the Syrians from discovering the sophisticated infiltration software used to access the network. But because the router was bricked, they were powerless to fix the problem.
Fortunately for the NSA, the Syrians were apparently more focused on restoring the nation's Internet than on tracking down the cause of the outage. Back at TAO's operations center, the tension was broken with a joke that contained more than a little truth: "If we get caught, we can always point the finger at Israel."
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government has periodically turned off Internet services in specific areas prior to launching an attack, according to The Washington Post. On at least three occasions, the sporadic outages, which have continued into this year, were nationwide.
It is unclear which blackout Snowden is referencing, but any would have the potential to disrupt communications among fractured rebel groups and aid the Assad regime.
During one massive, prolonged blackout in November of 2012, the Associated Press, a number of other news outlets and cyberwarfare experts concluded the Syrian government was likely to blame. Syrian authorities, meanwhile, pointed the finger of responsibility at rebel insurgents. Other theories for how the blackout started circulated widely, but few appear to have suggested the U.S. government could be the culprit.
The November blackout was seen as the worst to hit Syria since its civil war began in early 2011. During the Internet shutdown, Reuters reported that Assad's forces were planning a "military showdown around Damascus."
U.S. officials also attempted to provide Syrian opposition forces with an alternative to circumvent the blackout, and berated those thought to be responsible for bringing down the country's Internet.
"We condemn this latest assault on the Syrian people's ability to express themselves and communicate with each other," a State Department spokeswoman said at the time, noting that it had provided 2,000 units of communications gear to some rebel groups.
Also in the Wired interview, Snowden claims to have witnessed a program, known as MonsterMind, under development that would hunt for the origins of a potential foreign cyberattack. Once threatening malware was detected at a point of entry, MonsterMind "would automatically fire back," a level of aggression which Snowden said gave him concern because "attacks can be spoofed."
Snowden, 31, is living in Russia, where last week he earned a three-year residency permit after his one year of asylum expired. He faces espionage charges in the U.S. for leaking classified government secrets.
(Image via Rena Schild/Shutterstock.com)


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A product manager's view of the world
As interpreted by… the Muppets!
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I have had a recurring issue in my photos and videos of a weird grain that happens even when there is plenty of light. None of my videos or photos are as crisp as they should be. I have tried resetting all the setting on the camera. I am using a 64 gb U3 80 mb/s and the first link was shot with a 64 GB U3 100 mb/s. It doesn't seem like low light noise even though it gets worse in low light
this is a video I shot for an example. This was at F6.3 400 ISO Cinelike D and started
I have been reading some of the reviews on the new Olympus Super Model but none have thought to mention the performance of the new camera with the older Four Thirds lenses. I see that the Mkii like its predecessor supports both phase and contrast detection AF and since I see that Oly are still producing their Super Grade lenses I assume that the new camera will focus the FT lenses via an adaptor as before. However even DPR make no mention of this in their review. Has anybody out there heard any
Panasonic's new GX8 is packed with cutting-edge developments for Micro Four Thirds
Don't just look at the Lumix DMC-GX8 as an update to the two year old GX7, or a flat-top version of the recently released G7. I had an afternoon to try out the GX8 recently at a rather blustery Brighton and discovered why the GX8 is rather special.
One-third more pixels - a 20 megapixel first for Micro Four
Does anyone know where I might find an adapter for a 4/3 Oly 60mm lens to fit the front of an OM system Auto Bellows?
I have been building up studio kit over the past few months, studio flash, soft boxes, beauty dishes, and a Sekonic L-478D light meter.
The meter can be used for flash, in fact the reason I bought it, but it does of course read ambient light as well. This meter can be profiled to match the cameras dynamic range for it claimed more accurate results.
So today I did some tests and created a profile for shadow or cloudy conditions. This revealed a dynamic range of 8.7 on the GH3. That's
When I switch Noise Reduction to OFF, Noise Filter to OFF and Gradation to NORMAL I get the best quality and least noise in all shooting situations. Can anyone explain this contradiction. It's driving me crazy.
A canon user for many years now converted to Micro Four Thirds.
First of all I must say sorry because of no pictures in thread. It's due to busy times and there is a mess with all the images (I havent even managed to unload the pics from one CF card for couple of months).
After my wife complained several months about the recycling time of FL-36R I made her a christmas present with Metz 52 AF-1.
Out of the box it was a nice piece with leg and soft bag. When I powered it up it got a bit strange as I was used with buttons and wheel but it
A friend of mine was playing with his band in a village dance party near my home couple of weeks ago and asked me to join. As the weather was nice, it was only ca 30km away and hasnt seen them performing before thought it would be fun to spend the evening there. Took along my E-1 with 35mm, 14-42 and FL-36R. Soon found that the kit lens was that I took for wide angle shoots wasn't actually the one needed. Would have benefited more from 40-150 lens plus later in the evening the lens was a bit too
Have used only basic post processing elements so far (exposure, WB, etc) but while looking at Robert Watcher video about layer masks thought it doesn't look so hard. Well it sure would help a lot if one would know how to use the software .
The first one was made with separate layers and lasso not with masks as in video but lets take it step by step and also as read from the thread there he started the same way. Next thing to do in the future is to study how these layer masks work and
Starting the blog for reminding me the error I have made way too many times. There are many times when I haven't taken the minute to step closer or stop for a sec. For the first problem there are also couple of additional solutions a) get a camera that has more than 5Mpix for cropping b) get a longer lens because @ 150mm kit lens is a bit soft. But for those solutions there is one big and very old problem - cash
On Monday at my way home from office I saw windsurfers on the field.
Olympus has found a new source of sensor for the OM-D E-M5
As I revealed on the forum earlier in this week after a tip-off from a highly trusted contact in the camera industry based in Japan, I am completely convinced that the Olympus OM-D E-M5 sensor is not made by Panasonic, so marking an end to the exclusive use of Panasonic sensors in Olympus Four Thirds and Micro Four Thirds cameras since Olympus' last Kodak
Over at our sibling site I covered the issue of diffraction limiting digital cameras some time back. If you reduce the aperture setting in your lens beyond a certain point that relates to the pixel pitch of your camera's sensor and your images will get softer because of diffraction.
With 12.3 megapixel Four Thirds and Micro Four Thirds cameras the theoretical diffraction threshold is almost exactly f/8 although in practice I find that f/7.1 is the aperture to aim for. Users of Micro
Just wanted to share a recent short film of a wedding I recently did using the new 12mm Olympus, 4/3 25mm 1.4 (the older one, which is gorgeous), 57mm hexanon, 85 Rokinon.
12mm performed AF VERY WELL - continuously AF almost telepathically and handled flare VERY well.
Originally Posted by Dan at
No longer looking for the above, found lens
Have found one
Originally Posted by Stonkin
I Have a Lumix GF2 and I want to record videos of bands playing for at least 100 mins but my camera is limited to 29 minutes of recording time ( some VAT regulation in the UK) is there a fix / hack to get round this so I can record up to the maximum card capacity.
Please Help
Originally Posted by Ian
Are there RAW file samples available elsewhere? I haven't looked, but as a good boy I have respected Panasonic's request not to publish RAW files or full size camera JPEGs...
PS - I have moved your post to the hands-on preview thread
Raw files are available here
i am trying to decide on a macro lense for my olympus e510. could anyone recomend a good one for me and give me reasons why you are recomending what you recomend? are the zuiko lenses considered the best for olympus cameras? i have done a little research into some of the sigma & panasonmnic lenses but have not gotten any real feel for them. i was looking at the sigma 30mm 1.4 but it got as many bad reviews as it got good ones. i did notice that a lot of the bad reviews came from cannon or nikon
As I stated in my first blog post, this one is where I will begin to criticize the Four-Thirds sensor. Most criticism comes from those who argue for better performance at high ISOs from our sensors because of a perceived (and inaccurate) inferiority at minimizing noise. I have, I think quite well if I do say so myself, argued that when you bring lenses in to the equation, Four-Thirds is the best crop-frame system available for its low-light performance. I stand by this assertion, but I am not
The Four-Thirds format is much derided outside the ranks of its users. In applying for a photography gig recently, I was told that only professional equipment could be used, when I pressed for information, I was told that this meant Canon or Nikon. All others need not apply. I have a feeling there are a few users Leica, Hasselblad, Mamiya, among others that would take issue with this. But as a Four-Thirds user, I do too. I am going to do two posts on the alleged faults of Four-Thirds. The
Updated 24th October 2010 at 01:56 AM by ReggieB
(Typos and formatting)
I stopped today whilst passing a vinyard, attracted by the strong backlighting and the translucence this gave to the vines and the trees beyond. However, the shadows and highlights that I wanted to preserve were way beyond the dynamic range of the camera, especially as I was saving as JPEG.
I tried recovering these in pp using highlight and shadow adjustment on the best balanced JPEG from my bracketed sequence, but I've still introduced some noise in the shadows (albeit cleaned up
Despite my well-intentioned resolution, I left the house today without my E-PL1. It's no excuse but my daughter had a doctor's appointment and I was in a hurry. As you might guess, on the way home I saw numerous photo opportunities. In the high street there was the comical sight of two people desperately trying to load an implausibly large sofa into an impossibly small car and on the drive home there were any number of autumnal trees backlit by the low, late afternoon sun.
Once home,
Thankfully it's now the time of year in the UK where we can comfortably wear fleece jackets again, with pockets big enough to slip in an E-PL1 and Panny 20mm. I grabbed this shot of our local high street tonight while on my way to collect a chinese take-away, mainly to test the camera at high ISO.
ISO 1600, 1/8th sec @ f4, no in-camera noise reduction but Dfine 2.0 applied
In my last blog entry I discussed the notion that perfection in nature, although much sought-after, is not necessary and that we should accept flawed beauty as individuality. Following on from that I'd like to question the desire many of us have to achieve perfection in our photography, which can become almost an obsession a Holy Grail.
There is nothing wrong in trying to better ourselves, of course, producing the best quality work that we can and striving to improve, but it can
Photographers naturally posses a desire to capture beauty in nature and strive to produce images that display it to perfection. We all want the perfect sunrise, perfect waterfall or perfect vista. When it come to smaller details we are no less demanding. Nothing in nature is more beautiful than a flower but we cannot photograph any old flower, it has to be a perfect specimen.
The same with leaves. Yesterday I spent a pleasant hour in a local park searching for fallen leaves, not
I was just wondering if anyone has had experience with the Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 EX DG APO Macro HSM II (phew!) zoom lens? I am considering it as an alternative to the Oly 50-200. The Sigma has the advantage of internal focusing and zooming. My experience with Sigma lenses has generally been good. I see they have just released an OS version of this lens but that variant doesn't seem to be available in Four Thirds mount, not that that is likely to be an issue with anybody except E-1 users.
Micro Four Thirds is not so much a new format in digital photography (standard Four Thirds using the same sized sensor has been around for a number of years) as a new concept, and one which is taking the world of photography by storm. So much, in fact, that it has already spawned a number of imitations from Ricoh, Samsung and Sony using different sized sensors but all broadly based on the same concept, and others are bound to follow. For now, though, MFT remains the undisputed leading format
We've discussed photographer's rights a lot just lately, but there is another side of the coin photographer's responsibilities.
Yesterday I went to a show put on by a local dancing school and very professional and entertaining it was, too. Before the show started the audience were asked to refrain from flash photography as it could annoy others in the audience and also interfere with the filming that was taking place to produce a DVD of the performance. I didn't have my camera anyway,
In a perfect world, when digital SLRs first became feasible, the major manufacturers would have all got together to produce the perfect camera system. It would have had the 4/3 sized sensor and retained the 4:3 aspect ratio. Canon and Nikon would have worked on the focusing, sensor IQ, noise control and shutter mechanisms. Fuji would have been responsible for optimizing the dynamic range of the sensor. Olympus would have provided the innovation for dust reduction, live view, in-body image stabilization,
Looking around other forums it is apparent that Micro 4/3 is buiding up a real head of steam. People are buying into the format for any number of reasons but they are all agreed on two things; they love the small size and are impressed, even surprised, at the image quality.
There are compact users who have longed for better quality but did not want the inconvenience of carting a DSLR around. Many rangefinder enthusiasts have bought into the concept (some experiencing digital for the
We take it for granted that technology improves our lives and that anything new is progress and that all progress is good. Usually this is true; how many times have you heard people, in an illogical time warp of nostalgia, reminisce that They don't make cars like they used to. This invariably stirs my memory of plastic seats, a heater only on de-luxe models and a constant battle against rust in the wings and sills. Much as I, too, have fond memories of my Anglia 105E and Vauxhall Viva, I can't
Following my earlier letter to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, here's a letter I've now sent to the Home Secretary:-
Dear Mr Johnson,
I am writing to you in your capacity as Home Secretary to express my satisfaction at yesterday's ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that the current indiscriminate use by police of Stop and Search powers under Section 44 of the Counter Terrorism Act is illegal.
However, I am extremely disappointed
Sometimes in life we encounter issues and injustices that we feel strongly about. But, other than voice our opinions to anyone who will listen, what do we actually do?
The answer, in my case at least, is very little or nothing. Take the issue of photographer's rights, for example. I did attend the gathering of photographers outside New Scotland Yard last February, but since then all I've done is huff and puff on various forums.
Today, however, I felt that it was time
The name is Scott J. Owens, life-long resident of River Ridge, Louisiana (burb of New Orleans). Multimedia Producer & Owner of Scout Pro Productions, LLC., I am also a shutterbug. Recently got myself a Panasonic GF1 w/ EVF and the 20mm lens. I think I will start blogging about my photo jouneys, thoughts, expectations, etc. with the GF1.
What to expect from my blogs Well, a little of everything from discussions on future photography realms, cameras, videography, & wildlife
Updated 5th January 2010 at 06:10 PM by scoutpro
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Some photographers are lucky. They live in areas of outstanding natural beauty such as the Lake District where they cannot fail to regularly take masterpieces as a matter of course. Those of us unfortunate to live in more mundane areas are destined to stomp around complaining we have nothing worth photographing whilst dreaming our lives away planning the next trip to some real scenary.
But wait a moment, isn't beauty in the eye of the beholder? Don't we, as photographers, have a creative
Anne and I have been married for coming up on 34 years. After being away in the big city or sometimes just because I feel like it, I still love to bring home a small bouquet of flowers to bring out Anne's beautiful smile and expressions of appreciation . . .
. . . and I still receive little personal messages as emails and sometimes even "love messages in the sand" from Anne.
When out with a couple of our friends enjoying ourselves around the beach last week
I took the camera along to a Halloween party, and came away having learnt a number of lessons:
I should change my playback setting back from 'auto playback' to '2 sec'.
I had originally set this because I was annoyed at looking at the picture and turning the scroll wheel to zoom or hit the left arrow to compare to the previous shot, only to find I'd jumped back to camera controls. However, this is a fairly minor irritation compared to applying a deletion lock instead of
The E-620 has three focussing modes: Single AF, Continuous AF, and MF. For S-AF and C-AF, the release priority can be set via the menus and either a single focus point or all seven focus points can be used. Both S-AF and C-AF have a '+MF' option, allowing manual focus to be used.
As has been discussed recently on the forum, the E-620 has a slightly odd behaviour in S-AF mode with release priority off. Once the shutter button is pressed it will take a picture once it finds focus,
Updated 27th October 2009 at 09:36 PM by robminchin
The Live View mode on the E-620 certainly has a number of foibles. It seems rather odd, for instance, that face detect is off in 'Auto' mode - which is where I would expect most users who wanted to use face detect to be. It also seems a bit odd at first that face detect does not work unless all the focus points are active - at which point the camera is suddenly able to put a focus point somewhere other than on one of the focus points. Clearly Olympus have designed Live View to be used in conjunction
We have high expectations of Nature. We love to photograph landscapes, flowers, trees and, in the autumn, fallen leaves. But we always want to find a pristine example, the perfect specimen, before we press the shutter.
If we have a snowfall we want to capture the virgin snow before anyone, or anything, has walked on it. We expect a beautiful scene to be free of electricity pylons and other man made intrusions. To warrant the attention of our lens a flower must be perfect in every
Last Saturday, a number of astronomers from the Division of Planetary Sciences visited Arecibo Observatory after their annual meeting in San Juan. I was there, working, but I brought the E-620 along and managed to get some pictures between talking to the visitors.
One thing I certainly learnt was how fast and accurate the camera is. I took almost 200 pictures, and only 1 was not correctly focussed. I didn't miss a single shot because the camera was too slow. Not a single shot
Updated 27th October 2009 at 09:37 PM by robminchin
Anne and I were heading up to the Bruce Peninsula on Saturday to spend a weekend with our friends. It is beautiful countryside and many opportunities struck my eye as I drove along the 2 hour trek to our destination.
The main reasons that I didn't stop to grab pictures along the way, was because it was around noon when we were traveling - as well as the roads that we were taking are narrow, hilly and difficult to pull off to the side - and our friends were expecting us to be there for
Updated 12th October 2009 at 02:03 PM by Robert Watcher
You only need one camera, but a boy can never have too many tripods. Or so it seems with me! I already have a Benbo Mk1, which is incredibly robust, sturdy and flexible, a Benbo Trekker, which shares many of the qualities of it's bigger brother but is smaller and lighter, a Gitzo 106, which is very compact and lightweight and a Kennet of uncertain vintage which extends to about 10 feet, for which you also need a step ladder. With this selection I can cover anything from looking over a nine foot
I took my complete Bronica system to town today, the first time it's been out of the house for over a year. The plan was to see how much trade-in allowance Cameraworld would give me against, for example, an E-P1 and/or a 9-18mm ZD for my E3.
But it didn't happen. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I had a look in the shop, of course and it was full of goodies. Yes, they had the E-P1 with both 14-42mm and 17mm lenses. They also had the GF1 with 20mm and EVF what a combination
"[I]t's astonishing how much Olympus has crammed into its small dimensions" (DP Review)
"Despite its compact size, the E-620 is loaded" (Pop Photo)
"The E-620 pulls most of the important features found in the company's high-end SLRs into one compact, more affordable camera" (Imaging Resource)
Whichever way you look, the E-620 is presented as a small camera. How does it stack up size-wise against my old H2?
The way program mode works (auto mode and the various scene and art-filter modes generally follow this) should be easy to understand. After all, Olympus have kindly given us a chart at the back of the manual letting us know how the camera will operate with the 14-42 mm kit lens at 14 mm. Unfortunately, there is a problem with this: the chart does not reflect the default behaviour of the camera.
On the chart, the camera keeps the aperture wide open (f/3.5) as the light level climbs
Updated 27th October 2009 at 09:38 PM by robminchin
Unlike on my H2, where there was not a wide range of ISO levels without intrusive noise, the Auto ISO on the E-620 can, potentially, be useful (particularly for those, like me, who are just starting out and haven't quite got the hang of where the ISO button is yet). However, like all tools, it requires understanding in order to be used properly.
The Auto ISO setting applies, by default, to most modes. It can be activated for M mode, but cannot be set to anything other than ISO 200
Updated 27th October 2009 at 09:39 PM by robminchin
A few days ago I visited a local art exhibition. I always find this a rewarding experience on several levels. Not only is it an opportunity to admire the work of some very talented local artists, it's also a valuable exercise in sharing their vision and interpretation of familiar local scenes and, through their eyes, discovering new locations that have hitherto passed me by.
Looking closely at the work of several artists, I was struck by their diligence at recording every feature
When I started looking for a DSLR, I had two main uses in mind. I wanted a camera for general photography (not a problem), and I wanted a camera for taking pictures of birds (slightly trickier). With a 1.7x tele-converter on my H2, I could reach an EFL of 734 mm; it would be nice to have a similar reach (and focussing in less than a couple of seconds). To make sure this was no easy task, I had a budget of $1000 to work on. I also had no chance of handling the camera prior to purchase, so everything
No.9: Stabilise your photography
An important innovation in recent years is image stabilisation. First developed for video cameras, image stabilisation is now a common feature in all kinds of still cameras. Image stabilisation is designed to minimise the problem of motion blur in an image caused by the movement of the camera. In other words, the system uses gyro sensors to detect movement of the camera and compensates for that movement to prevent blurring of the subject being photographed.
After around a year of looking at cameras, I have finally bought an E-620. I am now starting to learn how to use it, and thought it might be of interest to some to share my experiences via the new blog facility here, and possibly to get some feedback on what I'm doing wrong!
A bit about me:
This is the first DSLR I have owned, my previous camera was a Sony DSC-H2, although I have used DSLRs before. A couple of my H2 photos have ended up as postcards, and one was shortlisted
Updated 27th October 2009 at 09:40 PM by robminchin
Why are there so few women photographers? At all levels. I was prompted to consider this question by a very amusing article (more of a rant, actually) by Ann Toon in the latest issue of Outdoor Photography magazine. Ann is a very successful nature photographer in her own right (in her own right...see, I'm only on the fourth sentence and already I'm being patronising, if unintentionally) and one half of a photographic partnership with her husband Steve.
She recounts how it is often
Yesterday's picture on my blog was taken several days ago in bright sunlight. Not long afterwards the cloud rolled in again, making views that included the sky rather unattractive. It was time to look closer to my feet and I came across this little grouping of bramble leaves in various stages of colour change. I felt they were a miniature representation of Autumn and the colours seemed particularly vibrant in the soft, even light.
I used my 70-300mm lens, which offers excellent magnification
No.8: What's the fuss about SWD?
SWD stands for SuperSonic Wave Drive. It's Olympus' own technology and is used in three areas across the company's camera body and lens products.
Olympus has developed and patented several technologies that centre around the transmission of mechanical energy through high frequency vibrations. These vibrations are at so-called 'supersonic' frequencies in excess of around 25KHz, and they project wave forms through otherwise solid media,
No.7: Live view AF - going beyond the manual/user guide.
Note: This tip is aimed at users of Olympus E-System camera models including the E-420 and E-520 and later models.
The conventional way to move the AF point around the frame in live view mode while using Imager AF (contrast detect AF) is to select one of the 11 AF areas, as below:
Andy raised a point about image aspect ratios in a comment on Ian's Daily Hints and Tips Blog yesterday. One particular feature that makes Four Thirds DSLRs unique is the image aspect ratio. In common with most compacts the ratio is 4:3 (not the reason for the name of the format, just a co-incidence). However, all other DSLR formats and systems are 3:2 in line with the old 135 (35mm) film format. The question is, does it matter?
The answer is bound to be subjective, but to me it is
About a week ago I posted a picture of old sea defences at Spurn Point, to illustrate my comments about the advantages of using a tripod. http://fourthirds-user.com/forum/blog.php?b=14
That photograph was taken in October 2008. My friend whom I was with at the time, David Williams, emailed me the picture reproduced below a couple of days ago to show how much the scene has changed since I took that photograph. His version was taken in May this year. I was shocked to see how radically
No.6: What makes Four Thirds special?
I'm often asked why I have a special interest in Four Thirds. I must emphasise that my fundamental interest is in taking pictures and photography in general, regardless of brand or system platform. But ever since Olympus introduced the OM system in the mid-1970s, I have marvelled at how Olympus has applied its engineering in a re-inventive way. That philosophy remains as true today as it has been over the last 50 years.
Some regulars on the Forum will be aware that for a few years I've been suffering from Parkinson's Disease and, more recently, depression. I won't bore you all with the details of how that has affected me, but if anyone really wants to know here's a link to a very long post I made on the Parkinson's Forum (where I'm known as Innominate) http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/pdsforu...rky-depressive
The effect on my photography has
No.5: A quick look at some detail differences between Panasonic Leica and Olympus Zuiko Digital Four Thirds lenses.
Panasonic Leica lenses for Four Thirds bodies are not very common, but they are highly coveted. Designed and manufactured by Panasonic's own engineers, in Japan, Panasonic's Leica-branded lenses need to meet tight optical quality standards set by Leica in Germany.
Not all Panasonic lenses are branded Leica, indeed only one Micro Four Thirds Panasonic lens
I've been blogging for about a week now but in many ways it seems a lot longer, not least because prior to that I only had a vague notion about the concept of a blog. In this Internet savvy age that might seem a little naïve but I do tend only to acquaint myself with aspects of the modern age, or indeed any age, that interest me or directly affect me. A bit like Homosexuality or Christianity, really. I know they both go on and I have no axe to grind with either, but their relevance has passed me
As DSLR owners we often tend to dismiss digital compacts as inferior cameras that are hardly worth carrying, due to their compromised image quality caused by the tiny sensor. It's true that at high ISO IQ can leave a lot to be desired, but keep to around 100 ISO in good light and the quality can be
What a lovely day it's been. As I walked my daughter to school this morning I rejoiced in the gentle warmth of the autumn sun on my face, tempered by the slightest cool breeze, and couldn't but notice how clean and fresh everything looked, washed by the crisp morning light. I just knew I had to get out to take a picture. It was a bit illogical, because the sky was that insipid, milky blue that unfortunately often contrives to ruin the potential of such promising days in terms of landscape photography.
Well, once again I'm up ridiculously late so before I finally do go to bed I might as well post today's entry to my blog.
Ian recently revealed on the forum that he keeps chickens and that reminded me of this shot, which I took in May 2008 in Norfolk.
We had a holiday cottage for a week, next door to a smallholding from which poultry of various breeds regularly came a visiting to our garden. The owner seemed to take the concept of freerange to a whole new art form as
When you shoot a landscape in many ways it's like taking a portrait of a person. You can choose to show either its good side or its bad side, capture its mood, portray its personality and include enough visual clues to tell the viewer a bit about what goes on there. Rather than just aim to capture a beautiful scene, why not try to make your subject more interesting by attempting to show its true character, by taking a portrait of the place?
A couple of years ago I spent a week exploring
No.4: What you need to know about live view autofocus and which bodies work best with which lenses.
Live view means being able to see what the lens on the camera sees, viewed either via an external screen, or an eye-level electronic viewfinder. Live view is not, as far as I know, officially part of the Four Thirds standard. Panasonic and Olympus have developed their own solutions, but thankfully they do embrace the issue of compatibility - up to a point.
Olympus got the
If someone asks me the quickest way to improve their landscape photography I enquire if they always use a tripod. If they don't, that's the answer. The popular assumption is that you only need a tripod if the shutter speed falls below the level that you can hand hold with sharp results. This is certainly true, but is just one of the advantages of this remarkable and versatile three-legged friend.
Look at this picture, for example:-
During our 2008 Costa Rica Adventure - while wondering through the streets of Alajuela, I came across a fellow in a wheelchair, working on motorcycles in a small garage in amongst retail stores and homes on a side street. It was evident that he was dealing with customers at that time and so I kept track of the location and checked back a few times to see if I would be able to get a shot of him working.
It never happened. 2 or 3 times I went there and the place was closed.Then one
Some of you may have already been exposed to this thread on the forum - but it gets buried quite quickly there and I thought that it would be valuable content to have in the Blog. It is a post that really shows the value of the Olympus weather sealing that is part of the E-3 and several of the lenses in their line up. I really value this as I have destroyed non-Olympus cameras and lenses in the past by working unprotected in situations like this - and ones that were far less extreme.
No.3: Preview the effects of the motion in your scene according to the shutter speed selected.
You are probably aware of a facility that many cameras, that have any serious pretension, offer the user, namely: depth of field preview. You press a button, the lens aperture closes up and you can see how the distance of the sharply focused area is affected. The smaller the aperture, the greater the distance is covered in focus, or the depth of field.
Applying some common
Yesterday, in my very first blog entry, I questioned how I would be using this new media and what I had to offer. The very first comment I received, from zzlipps, was in the form of a request that I share some of my landscape techniques. I must admit that is one area of photography where I have done relatively well in the past and it is a subject dear to my heart, so it's probably as good a place as any to start.
The common misconception is that in order to get spectacular landscapes
I know that when I post images that show my raw unprocessed "before shots" or "all 1800 images from a wedding" - I am really making myself vulnerable and exposing myself as not being nearly as good photographically as some might presume that I am. The mystique of my images is gone!
In some ways it's a little like Penn and Teller exposing the simplicity and trickery of magic acts - when what has kept people coming back to magic shows for years and years is the presumption
Updated 22nd September 2009 at 09:26 PM by Robert Watcher
UPDATE: I missed out the fact that the Olympus E-620 and E-P1 models have a new facility to edit the first two characters of the filename for personal customisation (just the second character when shooting in Adobe RGB space).
No.2: Today we look at how Olympus and Panasonic Lumix formulate their image file names and folders on the memory card.
Inside the standard DCIM (Digital Camera IMages) folder, you may find one or more sub-folders which
Oh here we are and here we are and here we go
All aboard and we're hittin' the road
Here we go
Bloggin' all over the world!
All I can say is I'd better hold on tight, I'm frightened I might fall off!
Being a little naïve about these things I'm not totally sure about the difference between a forum post and a blog entry. As I understand it, I should still use the forum when I want to start a discussion but use my blog when I want to keep the focus
I am terrible for making something out of nothing. I know - - - you're not supposed to do it. Your supposed to get it right in the camera.
My problem is that I am a visually spontaneous person who, is "into the moment" and far less concerned with whether I have it technically correct or composed perfectly. Mind you - I want it close, so that I at least have content to work with in the darkroom (I processed all of my own colour and black and white work in my traditional darkroom
Thought that I'd make my first Blog post using parts of a recent forum thread where I displayed some dramatic images taken recently at a local fair - and was asked how I came to the vibrant colours of one of the images in particular.
This is my final Display Image - which will make a great framed print. The shot was taken with my handlheld Olympus E-3, with 12-60 SWD mounted. Exposure was f3.7 @ 1/80'th second : 250 ISO
Updated 21st September 2009 at 07:31 PM by Ian
(Linked blog to relevant categories)
No.1: Auto Gradation mode on Olympus E-System models can be useful but use with care, especially if you are shooting RAW.
Welcome to the first in a new daily series of concise hints and tips for Olympus and Panasonic Four Thirds (and Micro Four Thirds) camera users!
Today, I'm looking at the Auto Gradation picture mode that Olympus E-System cameras of recent years have featured. You can see the gradation mode on the camera's LCD screen settings matrix, denoted by an
From today, any registered forum member on Four Thirds User can start their very own blog, right here.
Blogs and forums
So what is the difference between a blog and the forum? Think of a forum as a place to discuss things. It's a place where many talk to many.
A blog is different. A blog is about you talking to many; the focus is on you and your subject. Although you can respond by commenting on a blog, fundamentally a blog is about you and what you have to say;


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Missing Missoula Children Taken by Non-Custodial Mother
Yesterday, July 31, the Montana Department of Justice issued a missing and endangered children alert for a 6-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl authorities say were taken from Missoula. Public information officer for the Missoula Police Department, Detective Sgt. Travis welsh says the mother and children are still missing after a judge awarded custody to the father.
"A district court judge has awarded custody of the two small children to their father," Welsh said. "Their mother currently has physical custody and she has not turned the children over to their father as ordered by the court."
The alert says the children's 30-year-old mother, who does not have custody of the children, took Kyus and Ashlyn Swanson on Tuesday. Authorities identified the mother as Fawn Phifer and not that she has had a history of drug abuse and is suspected of child neglect. She is 5 feet, 8 inches tall, weighs 140 pounds and has red hair and brown eyes. Kyus has blonde hair and brown eyes and may be missing some front teeth. Ashyln has red hair and brown eyes. Welsh says the whereabouts of the mother are still a mystery.
"She apparently has gone into hiding, at least in some capacity, and is not responding to phone calls and text messages asking her to at least let someone know where she is at and if the kids are ok," Welsh said.
Anybody with information on their whereabouts are asked to call the Missoula police department at 406-552-6291.


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By DAVID GREEN
A Fayette resident asked village council members last week about closing in the walking track on Eagle Street to allow an area for dogs to run free.
Denise Jensen told council Jan. 23 that she often walks her four dogs at the track—and cleans up after them—and if no one else is present, she lets them off the leash. She was told by the police that she's breaking the law.
Jensen said a sign at the park mentions several rules that are routinely broken and she's wondering why this one rule is now being enforced.
She suggested closing off the openings in the fence so that dogs could not leave the area. Mayor Ruth Marlatt said council's Public Safety Committee would discuss the issue.
Jensen left the meeting to return to work, but the issue was discussed further for a short amount of time. It was mentioned that at least four openings would have to be closed.
Police chief Jason Simon said the first time he had contact with Jensen about her dogs was after one of the dogs chased a child on a bicycle.
TREES—Archie Stamm was appointed to fill a vacancy on the village tree commission.
Administrator Steve Blue said there were some residents unhappy with tree removal related to the sewer project. He's expecting to receive a schedule from the contractor for future work and that will allow him to speak with residents beforehand.
PRESIDENT—Dave Borer was chosen to continue serving as president of council.
SLEDDING—Gleason Construction, the contractor for the sewer work, suggested using leftover fill dirt from the project to create a sledding hill. It's a good idea, Blue said, but there might not be a suitable location.
WATER—Jeff Merillat will serve as the backup water system operator for Tom Rupp, but he is not interested in serving as the primary operator. Blue said he is looking for a replacement for Rupp who wants to retire from the job in the near future.


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The Marion County Fiscal Court is scheduled to meet at 4 p.m. Thursday, June 6, on the second floor of the David R. Hourigan Government Building.
The agenda includes:
- Minutes of the previous meeting
- Second reading fo the 2012-13 budget ordinance
- Approval of second payment to Marion County Economic Development Office for the 2012-13 fiscal year
- Payment of NACo dues for 2013-14
- Contract with Marion County Board of Education for use of the shop building/21st Century learning center
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Continental Europe will probably be warmer than average for a third month in February as the milder counterpart of the polar vortex that gripped North America helps to extend a decline in power and gas prices.
Five of seven meteorologists expect most parts of Europe to be milder than normal next month, according to a Bloomberg survey. Europe and the U.S. are at opposite ends of an Atlantic low-pressure system bringing mild weather to the U.K., France and Germany, while plunging the U.S. into a deep freeze, said Deutscher Wetterdienst, Germany's national weather forecaster.
"Europe and the U.S. are coupled right now," Andreas Friedrich, meteorologist at DWD, said in a Jan. 29 telephone interview from Offenbach, near Frankfurt. Over the next two weeks, "we are seeing the mild end of the polar vortex that will bring back frosty temperatures to the U.S."
Electricity prices in markets from France to Scandinavia touched record lows today after a mild start to the winter cut demand just as the region is emerging from its longest-ever recession. Natural-gas stocks are approaching the seasonal average after starting the winter at the lowest level in at least four years on Oct. 1.
16-Month Low
Power for delivery in February in Germany, Europe's biggest market, fell 12% this month to close at 36.70 euros ($50) a megawatt-hour, according to broker data compiled by Bloomberg. Natural gas for delivery next month in the U.K., the region's largest market, reached a 16-month low of 61.1 pence a therm ($10 per million British thermal units) on ICE Futures Europe in London.
"Temperatures are dominating prices," Ricardo Klimaschka, energy trader at Energieunion GmbH, said yesterday from Schwerin, Germany. Nordic and German power costs may decline further, he said, without being more specific.
"We just haven't had a proper winter yet, and power for delivery in March could slide to 32.50 euros," Frank Woskowski, a power trader at AVU AG fuer Versorgungsunternehmen, said by phone from Gevelsberg, Germany, today. German power for March dropped to a record 34.55 euros a megawatt-hour today, broker data show.
Copyright 2014 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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VIENNA (AP) — Like anywhere, dozing off behind the wheel in Austria can be deadly. But for one teen-ager it will likely result in a charge of attempted car theft.
State broadcaster ORF cites police saying they are have identified a 17-year-old male as the likely suspect after a woman found her vehicle partially hot-wired, a door forced open and a youth apparently drunk and fast asleep inside.
ORF said Tuesday the unnamed culprit rewired the vehicle to its normal state and walked off after being discovered Sunday. He was traced after the owner reported the incident to police.
RecommendedPolitico Reporter On Heitkamp's Sexual Assault Survivor Fiasco: She's Going To Pay For It
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A policeman in Salzburg province confirmed the incident on the phone. He refused to identify both himself and those involved.


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5 things to know after Seahawks dominated Cardinals in desert for 34-22 victory
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GLENDALE, Ariz. – Seattle overwhelmed the Arizona Cardinals on offense and stifled them on defense.
It was a dominating Thursday night in the desert for the Seahawks, and the latest evidence that they are the team to beat in the NFC West.
Russell Wilson threw for three touchdowns and Marshawn Lynch ran for 91 yards in Seattle's 34-22 victory.
The Seahawks intercepted two of Carson Palmer's passes and sacked him seven times, twice by Chris Clemons, who had been questionable for the game with a hyper-extended elbow.
Wilson was asked if Seattle is the best team in the NFL, but he wouldn't go that far.
"We've got to be the best team every week, that's the biggest thing," he said. "We have a great football team, I know that."
Still, the Cardinals stayed in the game, thanks in large part to a pair of fumbles by Wilson as he was sacked deep in Seattle territory.
Two third-quarter touchdowns — one on a 10-play, 80-yard drive, the other after Brandon Browner's 49-yard interception return to the Arizona 1 — opened up a 31-13 lead and the Cardinals couldn't get back in it.
Here are five things we learned from the game:
BIGGEST PLAY GAINED 6 YARDS: For all the big chunk of yards the Seahawks got, the biggest play might have been a 6-yard pass in the third quarter.
Leading just 17-13, Seattle had it third-and-3 at the Arizona 48 and Wilson was being chased by Daryl Washington. The Arizona linebacker had Wilson by the legs and was bringing him down when the Seattle quarterback somehow got off a pass to Zach Miller who caught it for a first down.
"I knew I wasn't down," Wilson said. "I just made a little shortstop flip to him. He made a great play. He is such a good player and so aware of situations and he knows how to get open and get away."
Arizona coach Bruce Arians thought the referee gave Wilson a break on the play.
"It was a huge play," Arians said. "Most quarterbacks, the referee would have blown that down. He's such a great athlete that Terry (McAulay) let him continue playing, and you just live with the call."
Seattle went on to score to go up 24-13.
WILSON HAS GROWN: Well, not literally. He's still just 5-11.
But, despite some struggles this season, he says he is a far better quarterback when he made his NFL debut in a loss at Arizona in last year's season opener.
"I think I've grown so much," Wilson said. "Our football team has grown a lot. We're still very young. We're improving every week and that's the thing."
Not that everything is perfect. He had two fumbles on sacks deep in Seattle territory, leading to 10 Arizona points.
"Obviously the only negatives of the game were really those fumbles," Wilson said. "Got to get rid of that. Got to find a way or something. Got to try to watch that. That's on me.'
Seattle coach Pete Carroll said Wilson "did a bunch of cool stuff and took care of the football and the throwing game."
"Of course he got pounded a little bit, and we gave up the sacks that caused the fumbles," Carroll said, "but sometimes that happens."
LYNCH IS A BEAST: Lynch had some huge carries in the game, notably a 17-yard run up the middle to the Arizona 5 en route to that first third-quarter TD. He carried half the Arizona team 7 or 8 yards on the play.
"Marshawn Lynch, can anybody be any tougher?" Wilson asked. "How tough he is, how he runs the football, his mentality and he has great hands, too, in terms of the protection game. There can't be too many players any better."
PALMER'S WOES CONTINUE: With two more interceptions, Palmer has 13 for the season. Only Eli Manning has more with 15.
"We all need to step up our game," Palmer said, "mainly me, being the quarterback — that's your job."
Arians was asked if he considered benching Palmer in favor of Drew Stanton.
"No," he said. "It's the reasons for the interceptions. Is it his decision-making? The first one to me was obvious pass interference, and the safety makes a great play. The second one was just a poor decision. Those are the ones we have to look at."
SCHEDULE EASES: After losing to San Francisco and Seattle in a five-day period, things should get a bit easier for the Cardinals.
Over the next four weeks, they play Atlanta at home, have a bye, host Houston and go to Jacksonville.
"We have a stretch of very winnable games coming up," Palmer said. "We just had two very difficult division games, two games in four, five days. We have to bounce back. ... Sometimes it just takes one. It takes one game to get that roll and confidence and get moving."
AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org
Follow Bob Baum at www.twitter.com/Thebaumerphx


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I've got a Roland SH101 that I picked up sometime back and didn't really use it only a handful of times. The other day I fancied a 'mess about' with it so set it up. I used a Boss power adaptor from my guitar pedals that I've used in the past. It was working fine for about twenty minutes the stopped. I tried another power adaptor but still nothing. So I opened it up just and saw on the circuit board by D8 and L1 it was burnt or blown a little bit.
Anyway my question is how easy a fix is it? Who will be able to fix it and source the parts? (The diode and inductor)
I'm looking to sell as well if anybody is interested; what sort of price can I get new/broken?
Thanks in advance,


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SQLBits: April 7th - April 9th 2011 in Brighton, UK
Free community event on Saturday (April 9th) with a paid conference day on Friday (April 8th) and a Pre Conference day full of day long seminars (April 7th).
It'll be a huge event with over 800 attendees and over 20 MVPs. I'll be presenting on Saturday April 9th.
SQL in the City: July 15th 2011 in London, UK
One day of free SQL Server training sponsored by Redgate. Other MVP's that'll be presenting there are Steve Jones (website|twitter), Brad McGehee (blog|twitter) and Grant Fritchey (blog|twitter)
At both conferences I'll be presenting about database testing.
posted @ Monday, March 28, 2011 7:40 AM | Feedback (1) |
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Sheriff Finds Lost Hikers
Humboldt Co. Sheriff's Office Press Release:
On 12-09-2012, approximately 6:15 p.m. the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office received a call for assistance from California State Parks regarding four people, including a five year old male and a seventeen year old female, being lost in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The lost hikers had a cell phone and called 911 asking for assistance. The hikers told the dispatcher they had no water or food with them.
California State Parks requested assistance from the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office in locating the lost hikers.
Humboldt County Sheriff Search and Rescue Deputies and volunteers, and a State Park Ranger responded to the scene near Albee Creek Campground. At approximately 8:30 p.m. the hikers were located. They were all in good health and did not need medical assistance.
The Sheriffs Office would like to remind hikers to tell family and friends where they are hiking, when they expect to return, bring appropriate equipment and clothing. This time of year the weather conditions can change rapidly. Wet and cold weather can cause hypothermia. A cell phone, map or GPS is also very helpful. Keep in mind not all rural areas have cell phone coverage and a cell phone batteries need to be fully charged.


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Most of the microbes in our guts appear to remain stable for years, perhaps even most of our lives, researchers reported Thursday.
An analysis of the bacteria in the digestive systems of 37 healthy women over a period of about five years found, for the most part, little variation over time, says molecular biologist Jeffrey Gordon of the Washington University School of Medicine, who led the research. As decades-long internal companions, Gordon says, many microbes "are in a position to shape our lives, to promote our health or, in certain circumstances, contribute to risk for disease."
Scientists have known for a long time that we all carry around bacteria that help us digest our food. But they apparently do lots of other things for us too.
"These are cells that are important parts of ourselves," Gordon says. "And they contribute to our health."
There's always been one big question about the microbes, he says: "Once these communities are formed, how long do they endure? What is the stability in healthy individuals?"
To try to get a sense of that, Gordon and his colleagues developed a new type of "gut check": a genetic analysis Gordon calls "a bar code of life." The technique involves repeatedly analyzing all the variations in a particular bacterial gene. Because each strain of bacteria carries a slightly different form of the gene, the forms act almost like name tags or "bar codes" that identify which strains are present.
The method is "a way of classifying organisms represented in an individual's gut community in a moment of time and over time," Gordon says.
Being able to test gut microbes from time to time could eventually prove to be a useful part of a checkup, Gordon says. For example, in the current study, published in this week's issue of the journal Science, Gordon and his team found that when several women lost weight, the makeup of their gut bacteria slightly shifted (though the scientists couldn't tell which came first — the weight loss, or the bacterial shift).
"By looking at someone's intestine we could pretty much tell how much weight they had lost or gained without having to put them on a scale," says Jeremiah Faith of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, who helped conduct the study.
Another intriguing finding was that people's microbes seem to run in families — much as genes do. The researchers found more similarities in the gut microbes of related women — such as sisters, or a mother and her daughter — than among women who were not related.
"For everyone that we checked we were able to identify strains of bacteria that were shared between related individuals, which suggests that [they] had these microbes for a long time because many of these [relatives] lived far apart from each other now," Faith says.
The finding corroborates earlier work suggesting that our microbial communities tend to form early in life, largely from microbes we get from our mothers and other close relatives when we are young.
"In the same way our genome defines who we are, one could say that the microbial populations that inhabit us define who we are," says Eric Pamer of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Because all the women in the study were healthy, the researchers did not examine what happens to our microbes when we do things like take antibiotics or probiotics. Stay tuned for future research.
It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Audie Cornish.
Here's some news to think about while you're enjoying that Fourth of July picnic. It's about your digestive system, specifically the microbes that live in your gut. Researchers have found that we carry the same collection of bacteria with us for most of our lives.
As NPR's Rob Stein reports, this insight could change how doctors monitor our health.
ROB STEIN, BYLINE: Scientists have known for a long time that we all have helpful bacteria and other microbes in our guts. They help us digest food, make vitamins, they may even help fight off infections and regulate our metabolisms.
But Jeffrey Gordon at Washington University in St. Louis says there's always been one big question about these microbes.
JEFFREY GORDON: The question is: Once these communities are formed, how long do they endure? What is the stability in healthy individuals?
STEIN: Are they the same microbes? Or do they come and go? To try to get a sense of that, Gordon and his colleagues developed a new way to identify our microbes, a genetic analysis Gordon calls a bar code of life. He used it to monitor the microbes in 37 healthy women, year in and year out, for about five years.
GORDON: Using this method, this bar code of life, it was a way of classifying organisms represented in a given individual's gut community, at a moment in time and over time.
STEIN: In this week's issue of the journal Science, the researchers report that the microbes seem to change very little, at least in healthy people. And based on what they found, the scientists think they can project the long-term composition of our microbial community.
GORDON: These microbes, likely, are with us for most of our lives and, as such, are in a position to shape our lives, to promote our health or, in certain circumstances, to contribute to risk for disease.
STEIN: Contribute to our risk for disease by getting out of whack somehow. That might play a role in all sorts of diseases, like inflammatory bowel disease, maybe even things like obesity, diabetes. And if that's the case, then testing our gut microbes from time to time, a new kind of gut check could be very useful. Gordon says it would sort of be like getting a blood test as part of an annual physical.
GORDON: An individual comes in and not only do we get blood chemistries, but we also examine the representation of different microbes in his or her gut. This will give us a more comprehensive view of their health status and give us a way of understanding how things are changing.
STEIN: In fact, the researchers have already been able to measure one key thing about someone's health just by looking at their microbes. Jeremiah Faith helped conduct the study.
JEREMIAH FAITH: By looking at someone's intestine, we could pretty accurately tell, over a length of time, how much weight they had lost or gained without having to put them on a scale.
STEIN: Another intriguing finding was that peoples' microbes seem to run in their families, sort of like genes.
FAITH: For everyone that we checked, we were able to identify strains of bacteria that were shared between related individuals, which suggests that you had these microbes for a long time, because many of these people, you know, they live far apart from each other now.
STEIN: All this seems to reinforce the idea that the microbes in our guts are really important. And Eric Pamer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York says that means we should be paying a lot more attention to them.
ERIC PAMER: In the same way that our genome defines who we are, one could say that the microbial populations that inhabit us define who we are.
STEIN: What remains unclear is exactly what we might be doing that disturbs our microbes and what that means for who we are and how we're feeling.
Rob Stein, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Blackjack and Roulette Packages
Aspers Newcastle
Friday, 20 October 2017 from 19:00 to 22:00 (BST)
Event Details
Want to add some sparkle to your next special occasion?
Or maybe you're just looking for a unique night out in Newcastle? Whatever your needs, this package has you covered.
Enjoy the full experience of Newcastle's biggest casino beginning with a Champagne reception, followed by a delicious three course meal. Then enjoy the thrill of the game with a free bet.
You'll also have the option of free tuition on our most popular games - perfect as an introduction to the Casino or to brush up on your skills.
Whether you're a pro or don't know your spades from your aces, this package is guaranteed to take you to the next level of entertainment!
Packages are available from 16:00 - 21:00, preferred booking time will be available to select on the order now confirmation page.
One week notice is required to make any amendments or cancellation to any tickets booked. All deposits and full payments are non refundable and non transferable. If you are late for your party package you risk missing out on your learn to play. It is your responsibility to be at Aspers Guest Relations desk at the arrival time agreed. We have busy Friday and Saturday nights, this measure is to ensure that everyone is allocated their time spot and that bookings after yours receive their tuition at the correct times.
When & Where
Aspers Casino at The Gate
Newgate Street
NE1 5TG Newcastle upon Tyne
United Kingdom
Friday, 20 October 2017 from 19:00 to 22:00 (BST)
Add to my calendar
Aspers Newcastle
Whether you're a gaming beginner or a professional, you can be sure of a warm and friendly welcome 24/7 at Aspers. Come and discover:
- Our stunning Freya's Restaurant
- A choice of stylish, elegant and vibrant bars
- The largest selection of casino gaming in Newcastle
- With more variety, more choice, more slots, more tables and more fun, you'll be well looked after - whatever your game - at Aspers.
And that's not all…
Feeling thirsty? Enjoy the vibrant atmosphere and relax with your drink in the stunning Tanzibar.
Feeling hungry? Dine in style at Freya's Restaurant.
There's something for everyone at Aspers and we're open 24/7 so relax and enjoy yourself, any time of the day or night. We look forward to seeing you soon.


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Sheets & Pillowcases
Sheets & Pillowcases
Sleep in luxury with our huge range of sheets & pillowcases. Rest your head on a luxury cotton pillowcase to ensure a wonderful night's sleep. Or if you'd like to fit your sheets with a theme you can choose from a wide range of different coloured bed sheets. For more bedding and bedroom accessories be sure to check out our range of duvets, duvet covers and cushions & throws.
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Console Table For Entryway. When you intend to buy new furniture for your home, the thought of buying furniture online is not the initial thing that involves your mind; somewhat, you try to learn other options for your furniture shopping. Unlike the historic times, getting the furniture custom-made at home by a tuned carpenter is nearly the thing you want to go for, and browsing each furniture store in your area to discover the best products and discount rates aren't practical alternatives.
Sturdy oak furniture is highly popular for its toughness and great looks. However, its high price is exactly what continues most people away, but sometimes special discounts are available that just seem to be too good to be true. They are, which article is here now to provide information how to you shouldn't be tricked by such offers. Lumber furniture is still extremely popular, and oak furniture is one of the very best varieties. As being a hardwood it is rather durable and can last for quite some time.


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AMBOY – If I was an Amboy player, I probably wouldn't want to hear about what a great football game it was, either.
But as a staunchly objective, nonbiased (cough, cough) member of the media, I hope the Clippers can find solace in the fact that they were one of two heavyweights in a slugfest for the ages Saturday.
At the very least, they should puff their chests knowing they lost to the likely Class 2A state champs. Forget that my 3A and 7A state champion picks went down swinging Saturday. I'm pretty sure about this prognostication.
And so is Cooper Nelson.
"Personally, I felt like this game was the state championship right here," he said afterward. "I tried to treat it that way, because there's a chance the winner of this game would win the whole thing."
He admitted that he and his Clippers surpassed the expectations he had when his family moved back to Amboy from Galena earlier this year. It took an bona fide buzzsaw for Nelson and Co. to stop surprising even themselves.
The shiniest teeth on said buzzsaw are those at skill positions – big, laser-rocket-armed quarterback Tanner Matlick and his loyal army of fleet-footed receivers and backs.
But the game ball should go to his offensive line. Usually, when we sports meatheads throw the linemen a bone, it's for their ability to open holes for the running game. Perhaps that's simply dictated by the fact that most of the dominant prep programs we as a staff have covered have won with run-first, pass-when-we-have-to offenses.
But these big fellas earned a steak dinner and dessert from their quarterback on Saturday. Amboy coach Gary Jones spent the week emphasizing that his team had to put pressure on Matlick, no if's, and's or but's about it. He, his staff and his players refined blitz packages throughout the week and then liberally sprinkled them into the play-calling.
But the only sniffs the Amboy linebackers got of Matlick was that left in his wake the very few times he was flushed from the pocket.
Give the Clippers credit. When they got their shots, they made good on them. Andrew Klein put quite a stick on the big guy for the team's lone sack. Wrestling fans, think Bill Goldberg. It was a clean, snot-knocking spear.
And when Matlick sneaked for a first down in the first half, he got flat-out belted by linebacker Taylor Ikens. As the pile formed, the Clippers continued to take advantage.
"There was some dirty play going on, I guess – some kid twisting my leg while I was down under the pile," Matlick said. "No big deal. I shook it off. It's fine."
While the Clippers brought their "A" game, pushing the No. 1 team in the state since Week 3 to its very limits, I left The Harbor lamenting the fact that I didn't ask a question I now can't seem to shake:
Do the Clippers pull for Mercer County now, in order to say they lost to the best 2A team in the state? Or do they act on human instinct, hoping someone ends the dream of the team that ended theirs?
Regardless of their rooting interest lies going forward, I'll be surprised if the Clippers didn't lose to the state champ Saturday afternoon.


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BRONXVILLE, N.Y. ? This is a weekly column written by Bronxville Mayor Mary Marvin. It is being reprinted by The Bronxville Daily Voice.
One of the main initiatives in the recent Capital Improvement Plan focuses on a street lighting upgrade throughout the Village. Because of increased vehicular and pedestrian traffic, particularly in and around the business district, a more reliable system is warranted.
Superintendent of Public Works Rocco Circosta has been diligent in researching the new technologies, bulbs and fixtures that have recently become available. We did not rush into a lighting plan since the technology was changing rapidly as better and more efficient bulbs kept coming to market. The Village has benefited from our deliberate approach, as we recently found an LED bulb that will fit in our globe lights as well as our conventional overhead fixtures. Up until just a few months ago, our only choice was to change out or retrofit our globe lights to accommodate any energy efficient bulb.
As background, the Village currently uses the least energy efficient bulb, an 189 watt incandescent filament bulb, in most of the business district. Due to energy efficiency concerns, the bulb has recently been phased out in the European Community. The current bulbs have an approximate life of 2,000 hours, so under the most optimal of circumstances they must be changed twice a year. However, since the core of the bulb is a fragile filament, wind, rain and snowstorms take out many on a weekly basis. Although the bulbs only cost $8 each, they require a significant amount of maintenance time and personnel.
Currently, we are testing LED lights from two different manufacturers in the three lights at the intersection of Midland Avenue and Pondfield Road. I ask you to take notice and share your feedback.
Important in our analysis of any of the bulbs is the amount of light emitted, the balance of color, as some lights have a white, yellow or bluish cast, and the general ambient effect upon the Village.
In the very near future, our Department of Public Works will be placing the most recent evolution of LED lights on Parkway Road from the Village line to the Avalon. This neighborhood was chosen because of the active involvement of residents in a neighborhood association, which we are counting on to give us feedback.
In addition, the lights are at various heights and distances from the curb on Parkway Road, which affects the lumens, thus offering a good test case because of the variety of the poles.
Currently, the Village spends $120,000 per year illuminating our public spaces. Though the new LED bulbs cost $300 each versus the current $8 cost, their life expectancy is eight to 10 years. The LED bulb, only 40 watts, actually emits more lumens than the 189 watt bulb currently in our fixtures. The newer bulbs will also require much less maintenance and will reduce the number of outages.
When the entire inventory of Village light fixtures (536) is changed over to LED bulbs, we anticipate a savings of over 75% in energy costs alone, without even taking into account the maintenance and labor costs of replacing the current fragile filament bulbs.
The current Capital Budget provides for $30,000 to "re-lamp" 100 of the over 500 fixtures in the Village, with initial emphasis on the business district.
Expecting this first foray to prove successful, we will continue to add capital funds going forward to re-lamp the entire Village.
We continue to monitor government sites for any available energy efficiency grants that may help to defray our costs and/or take advantage of the terms of low interest loans from the New York Power Authority.
Our deliberate approach on this project has resulted in the Village ultimately receiving a better product at a reduced cost.
Please share your opinions with us at Village Hall as to the quality of the test fixtures and their illumination.
On the same subject of lighting, or more precisely the lack thereof during Hurricane Sandy, many of you have inquired about the feasibility of burying the seemingly fragile overhead wires. I reached out to Con Edison staffers and learned that the cost of burying wires is $5 million to $7 million per lane mile (our Village has the equivalent of 17 lane miles) with an additional responsibility of between $5,000 to $20,000 per homeowner, the variance based on whether the terrain is rocky near the hook-up from street to house.
Perhaps a more doable approach is to work with Con Edison to bury or protect the feeder lines that electrify so many ancillary lines throughout the Village. Surely, there has to be something more we can do to eliminate what happened in the Village during Hurricane Sandy, especially since the outages occurred even though the storm did not even reach a Category 1 hurricane in severity.
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The Kentucky Sheriffs' Boys and Girls Ranch would like to send a very special thank you to Owen County Sheriff Zemer Hammond for working so diligently and continuing his efforts to raise money for needy children in Kentucky. Most recently, Sheriff Hammond was instrumental in obtaining a very nice donation from a local contributor.
Recently I overheard a local gentleman advise his friend not to allow his children to "go too far to the left or too far to the right, but instead keep them in the middle."
That, my friends, is what has happened in our country. Not willing to offend anyone we have become lukewarm middle of the road Christians.
Christ has a few words to say about lukewarm Christianity. "So, then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth." (Revelation 3:16)
We are proud to announce that we have set a date for our 14th annual Charlie Satterwhite Memorial Golf Shamble. This year's tournament will take place on Saturday, April 6, at Fairway Golf Course in Wheatley. Your participation over these past 11 years has been greatly appreciated. Your efforts have allowed us to raise over $110,000 for our two charitable organizations.
In recent months we have heard a lot about the right to keep and bear arms. What is our duty as Christian Americans in regard to this important matter?
We know that everyone has been really concerned about school safety since the Newtown tragedy. Be assured that OCES is continuously thinking about our students' safety. Owen County Elementary School practices emergency situations throughout the year.
When our SBDM committee last met, the committee agreed on the modification of a few procedures that stood out as concerns. Below, we have bulleted the changes or modifications that will be implemented as of Feb. 1.
As of Feb. 1:
I would like to say thank you to the Owen County Volunteer Fire Department.
They came to our house on Sunday, Jan. 13, in the cold, rainy weather. They were at our house in less than one minute from the time we called 911 and had the fire under control within minutes.
So if you see a fireman make sure you say thank you for all they do. I know I will.
Again, thanks so much.
Spanky, Mandi, Kayleigh and Levi Hudnall
With the soaring cost of running state and county government offices, there are many cutbacks being made. Across Kentucky, the county clerk's offices struggle to handle personnel, consumer services and operating costs into their working schedules, it sometimes becomes a decision between hours of service offered and the number of staff. Both state and county governments are searching for a solution to the dilemma.
I would like to respond to Bro. Tom Hall's editorial of Dec. 12, 2012.
Tom, thank you for your wonderful editorial which exposed the terrible sin of sodomy. As you stated, Christians and the churches need to get involved in the battle. The greatness and stability of America began with the Pilgrim separatists and the Puritans. These Christians were committed to establishing the kingdom of Jesus Christ on the Earth.
How great would be to have a Walmart in Owen County so you can get everything you need for the upcoming holiday with ease?
Sadly, we don't have one of those but what we do have is a chain of local businesses that may be able to provide us with things that are on our grocery lists. The nearest Walmart is located in Dry Ridge and that's a lot of wasted gas money just to go and buy needed supplies.
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The Owenton News-Herald is your source for local news, sports, events and information in Owen County and Owenton, KY, and the surrounding area.