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Introduction: How to Make Portable Speakers With PET Bottles
Environment-friendly and cheaper alternative
- One can make his/her own speakers without buying expensive ones from the electronics store. Just look for old desktop or stereo speakers (preferrably with a diameter of approx. 2.5 inches).
- The speakers can be utilized either indoors or outdoors due to its compact size and ease of use.
Step 1: STEP 1
- Gather the following materials:
1. two (2) small speakers (with a diameter of approximately 2.5 inches) attached to a 3.5mm jack
2. wire cutter
5. small Phillips screwdriver
6. two (2) identical PET bottles with a diameter of 2.5 inches on their widest inner area on the top halves
Step 2: STEP 2
- Use the cutter to slice the bottle into two.
- The horizontal ridges on the top half of the bottle can be used as guides. One can adjust where to cut according to his/her requirements.
Step 3: STEP 3
- Remove the bottle cap. Detach the wires from the one of the speakers with the scissors.
- Insert the wires of the other speaker through the neck of the bottle and carefully pull them out of the mouth, with the speaker's front facing the open bottom of the top half of the bottle.
Step 4: STEP 4
- If there are any sharp edges on the metal support of the speakers, slowly fold them inwards with the wire cutter. Fit each speaker snugly on the top ridge, near the neck of the bottle.
Step 5: STEP 5
- Using the cutter, cut through the center of the bottle caps with one horizontal line and the other one vertical, forming a "+" sign. Slowly pull outwards the four flaps that were formed by the cuts. Insert the wires through the caps, and twist the latter back on the necks of the bottles.
- Reattach the other speaker to the cut wires.
Step 6: STEP 6
- The speakers are ready for use.


How To Get Old Pecan Trees To Produce
Getting an old pecan tree to produce.
If your pecan tree harvest is declining, and you have not changed your maintenance habits, you might be dealing with an old tree that is just slowing down.
You can rejuvenate old pecan trees and get them to produce by interrupting the alternate-bearing process. This is done through proper maintenance, such as fertilizing correctly, sticking to a watering schedule, and managing common diseases. Extensive pruning, if done correctly, can also revive an old tree.
Pecan trees will start producing at different ages, depending on whether they were grafted or not. Grafted trees tend to produce earlier, starting at around 5 years old. Native trees can take anywhere from 10-15 years to begin production.
Once the production begins, trees can produce a crop every year, although some years will be lighter than others. This cycle of heavy production followed by light production is called alternate bearing (sourceOpens in a new tab.).
Pecan trees can live for over 100 years, with some reaching over 300 years old. Some trees will produce good harvests well into their old age, but most begin declining after 50-60 years of age.
If you aren't sure how old your tree is, you can roughly gauge the age of a tree by multiplying the diameter of the trunk in inches by the growth factor (how much it grows per year in inches).
If your tree is over 50 years old, consider the following rejuvenating tips.
Rejuvenating Old Pecan Trees
Rejuvenating old pecan trees is a process that takes time, effort, and a lot of love. To revive your aging pecan tree, take a look at the following recommendations.
Alternate Bearing
It is normal for pecan trees to go through periods of alternate bearing. This is partly due to the tree's life cycle. Pecan trees:
 1. Produce their harvest in the fall, which does not give the tree much time to save nutrients (particularly carbohydrates) before winter.
 2. Require large amounts of carbohydrates to produce the fats in the pecan nut.
This combination of draining the tree of carbohydrates and giving it a little amount of time to make up for that loss will naturally cause years of lighter harvests.
This is a natural cycle, even if the tree is healthy. However, the older a tree gets, the more prominent this cycle becomes. You can interrupt alternate bearing with good fertilization techniques.
The key to fertilizing pecan trees is balance. Over-fertilized trees will have softer limbs and fruits and untimely production (sourceOpens in a new tab.), while under-fertilized trees will produce poor yields and become susceptible to pests and diseases.
Two of the most important nutrients for pecan tree production are zinc and nitrogen. Both encourage leaf growth, which directly impacts nut production. It takes about 10 leaf compounds (gatherings of multiple leaves) to support one nut.
The best technique is to do a soil and leaf analysis to determine their nutritional makeup and to supplement accordingly. If that is not possible, apply "complete" fertilizer (like 12-12-12, or 10-10-10).
If you decide to apply nitrogen and/or zinc-specific fertilizers, consult NMSU's fertilization suggestionsOpens in a new tab. for application guidance.
Apply the fertilizer in mid-March. In mature trees, apply another round in the late summer if the crop is heavy, as those nutrients will need to be replaced for the next year.
To determine the amount, measure the width of the tree trunk in inches 4 feet from the ground. For each inch of width, spread 4 pounds of fertilizer but do not use more than 25 pounds. Start a few feet away from the trunk and move towards the edge of the branches (sourceOpens in a new tab.).
Irrigation Tips
Years of neglect can compound and speed up the aging process in pecan trees. Reintroducing proper maintenance can jolt a tree back into production. Since pecan trees need a lot of water, you may need to modify your irrigation schedule.
Over the years, inadequate watering will cause stunted roots, and they will not be able to reach water from the subsoil. The tree will stay small and the nuts will be small and hard. Overall, this could cut a tree's lifespan short.
Good watering habits can be hard for homeowners, because at the peak nut production stage a tree may need up to 350 gallons a day. Some of this will come from the soil. However, if insufficient watering habits continue, it can induce alternate bearing.
Depending on the soil type, your tree will need anywhere from 2"-6" of water 1-2 times a week. Sandy soil may need more water more frequently since it drains quickly. Loamy soils will need closer to 3" of water a week, and hard soils may need less because they do not drain well.
Water should soak in up to 3 feet deep from the trunk to the drip line (the edge of the branches). Sprinklers will not provide enough water to maintain both your lawn and the tree. Use soaking treatments, like soaker or drip hosesOpens in a new tab. (link to Amazon), evenly spaced underneath the canopy of the tree reaching from the trunk to the drip line. Start deep watering in March and continue through October.
Nuts fulfill their sizing stage (physical enlargement) from May to August; inadequate watering at this point will result in smaller nuts. Watering is also essential in the first few weeks of September when nuts reach the filling stage (August through October).
Managing Diseases
Newer pecan tree varieties are resistant to certain pests and diseases, especially common ones. Old trees do not have this modified protection, so you will need to actively manage disease threats.
The most prominent disease in pecan trees is pecan scab, especially in older trees that cannot naturally resist the disease's mutations.
Fusicladium effusum, the responsible fungi, can lay dormant in foliage over the winter and grow in early spring rains. The fungi can spread when old foliage and nuts are not cleared from beneath trees before the winter and when trees are poorly ventilated. Infected trees can potentially lose an entire crop (sourceOpens in a new tab.).
To help prevent pecan scab, remove fallen leaves and debris from around the tree just before winter. Create airflow through the tree by keeping branches cut back and thinned; the airflow will dry out potential breeding grounds for the fungi.
Rejuvenation Pruning
Rejuvenation pruning for old trees includes controversial techniques. Older advice suggests cutting back major portions of the tree at one time, but this may stunt growth. Pruning is effective, but only if it's done correctly.
Proper pruning should happen in smaller chunks. Remove dead and diseased branches annually, along with overcrowded branches. Thin these out enough to let enough sunlight reach the center of the tree.
Do not "de-horn" your tree. This technique, also known as pollarding, involves cutting each branch at the same point each year to permanently stunt the tree. This weakens the tree over time and will only produce suckers and water sprouts.
Instead, plan a long-term pruning schedule that spans over at least 3 years. Remove a few major branches each year when the tree is dormant, but do not cut them all the way back to the trunk. Leave a small stub, as this will reduce the risk of wood rot.
Starting Pecan Trees
You can enjoy a lifetime of abundant pecan harvests if you plant a tree correctly the first time. Make sure you plant trees in rich, loamy soil to provide nutrition and adequate water retention.
Space trees appropriately so they have ample room to grow. Finally, make sure you plant enough trees to cross-pollinate to ensure heavy nut production.
See our guide on starting pecan trees from cuttings.
Space and Soil Conditions
Trees need space for a large root system. Plant your new tree at least 40 feet away from other trees so they do not compete for water and nutrients. Keep them a similar distance away from buildings as well.
Pecan trees can survive in different types of soil, but the soil must be able to drain. Loamy soils are ideal, but sandy soils will work if you can replace the quick drainage with frequent irrigation and apply compost each spring. Hard soils are least conducive, as they will waterlog the roots.
Pecan trees are monoecious, meaning they produce both male and female flowers. If a tree's male flowers are ready first, the tree is Type I (male). If the female flower is ready first, the tree is Type II (female).
Since the flowers are not typically ready at the same time on the same tree, a second tree is usually needed. They need to be ready at coordinating times (male flowers on one tree are ready at the same time female flowers are ready on the other).
Consult your local extension office to see which trees coordinate well in your area. Plant them within 150 feet of each other, but not less than 40 feet.
Old pecan trees' crops will eventually slow down, but you can rejuvenate them with a few simple steps. Proper maintenance and pruning techniques can bring an old tree back to life. If you plan on starting trees, starting


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Keratomalacia can be linked to lower socioeconomic status, poor maternal nutrition, and inadequate breastfeeding, according to a paper in the journal Cornea.
Dr Noopur Gupta et al., Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, studied the case records of children under 6 months of aged suffering from keratomalacia from June 2007 to April 2010.
Parameters assessed included age, sex, anthropometry, nutritional status, socioeconomic status, antenatal history, maternal nutrition, systemic associations, immunization and dietary history. Comprehensive ocular examination was completed and consisted of ocular adnexa, conjunctiva, cornea and anterior chamber.
Of the children included in the study, 88% had protein energy-associated malnutrition, 94% belonged to poor families and 75% were not sufficiently immunized. In 100% of keratomalacia patients, inadequate breastfeeding was the main cause.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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A COMPARISON OF BEHAVIOR FOR TWO COHORTS OF
CAPTIVE-REARED GREATER SANDHILL CRANES
RELEASED IN NORTHERN ARIZONA
DANIEL P. MUMMERT, Northern Arizona University, School of Forestry, P.O. Box 15018, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011, USA
CAROL L. CHAMBERS, Northern Arizona University, School of Forestry, P.O. Box 15018, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011, USA
DAVID H. ELLIS, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 11410 American Holly Drive, Laurel, MD 20708-4019, USA
To determine how the behavior of greater sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis tabida) changes according to time of year, time of day, and number of days after release, we observed the activities of 2 groups of captive-reared greater sandhill cranes at Mormon Lake, northern Arizona. The behaviors we compared were alert, loafing, sleeping, foraging, preening, locomotion, and other. We found costume-reared subadult greater sandhill cranes that were established at the study site for a year spent more time foraging and being alert towards predators than parent-reared juvenile greater sandhill cranes that were recently released from captivity. We also found that with time juvenile sandhill cranes were increasingly alert and spent less time loafing. It appeared that captive-reared juvenile sandhill cranes learn behavior important for survival from previously released captive-reared cranes.
PROCEEDINGS NORTH AMERICAN CRANE WORKSHOP 8:145-154
Key words: Arizona, behavior, costume-rearing, Grus canadensis, parent-rearing, sandhill crane.
Return to Table of Contents


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Definition of Earthlies
1. earthly [n] - See also: earthly
Click the following link to bring up a new window with an automated collection of images related to the term: Earthlies Images
Lexicographical Neighbors of Earthlies
Literary usage of Earthlies
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Report of the Proceedings by Church congress (1895)
""Though tl,e Earth dispart these earthlies, face from face, Yet the Heavenlies shall surely join in Heaven, For the Spirit hath no bonds in time or space...."
2. Appletons' Annual Cyclopædia and Register of Important Events of the Year (1892)
"I remember to have murmured, morn and even, " Though the Karth dispart these earthlies. face from face...."
3. The Methodist Review (1890)
"... not have said this had Christ not been in hades, nor could he have said " that in the name of Jesns every knee shall bow, of heavenlies, and earthlies,..."

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


Let f and g be differentiable functions for all x\in\mathbb{R}
Now if f(x)=(g\circ f')(x), can I conclude that because f is differentiable,
thus (g\circ f') is differenitable.
And further that if (g\circ f') is differentiable then:
(g\circ f')'=g(f'(x))\cdot f''(x) and thus f is twice differentiable?
If not, then how about if g is bijective and thus has an inverse g^{-1}, and the inverse is differentiable.
f(x)=(g\circ f')
(g^{-1}\circ f)(x)=g^{-1}\circ(g\circ f')(x)=f'(x)
And now g^{-1}\circ f is a combination of 2 differentiable functions, thus
(g^{-1}\circ f)'=\left(f'(x)\right)'=f''(x)
then f is twice differentiable?
This is not homework, I am just thinking.


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the event does not occur
Work Step by Step
The probability of an event occurring at least once is equal to 1 minus the probability that ___________________. P(event happening at least once) = 1 - P(event does not happen)
You can help us out by revising, improving and updating this answer.Update this answer
After you claim an answer you'll have 24 hours to send in a draft. An editor will review the submission and either publish your submission or provide feedback.


Using the Remote Control as a Wireless Mouse
Note: This function does not work when you project from a device connected using an MHL cable.
 1. Connect the projector to a computer using the projector's USB-B, Computer, or HDMI port to display video.
 2. If you connected your computer to a port other than the projector's USB-B port, also connect a USB cable to the projector's USB-B port and to a USB port on your computer (for wireless mouse support).
 3. Start your presentation.
 4. Use the following buttons on the remote control to control your presentation:
 - To move through slides or pages, press the up or down Page buttons.
 - To move the cursor on the screen, use the arrow buttons.
 - To left-click, press the button once (press it twice to double-click).
 - To right-click, press the Esc button.
 - To drag-and-drop, hold the button as you move the cursor with the arrow buttons, then release at the destination.
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Computación científica en el mundo real (Computer Science for the Real World): Grades 3-4, Nonfiction Social Studies
In today's world, Computer Science literacy is as important as reading, writing, and math. Computer Science will be a part of every student's future career, regardless of the discipline, and is therefore an essential part of college and career readiness. At school districts throughout the country, and in conjunction with parents' wishes, Computer Science instruction is beginning in the earliest grades where computational thinking and concepts of digital citizenship can be cultivated across the curriculum. COMPUTER SCIENCE FOR THE REAL WORLD™ is a new program created specifically to embed core concepts and core practices from the new K12CS Framework into high-interest leveled texts. This nonfiction set explores informational texts that combine grade-appropriate social studies topics with a concept or practice from the K12CS Framework. The back cover indicates the GRL level as well as the exact concept or practice from the K12CS Framework.


Help! My Cat Gets Carsick!
It's not for the reason you'd think 🤢
cat gets carsick
Being carsick is no fun for you, and it's especially not fun for your cat.
It's heartbreaking to see your cat get queasy in the car (especially if you've been there too and can feel his pain).
The Dodo spoke with Dr. Tom Elston, cat specialist and owner of T.H.E. Cat Hospital in California, who explained why cats get carsick and how you can help.
Cats and carsickness
"Like people, cats can get carsick too," Dr. Elston told The Dodo. "Carsickness is a form of motion sickness, much like we experience when in a car, on a boat, or up in a plane."
But rather than getting nauseous from the speed of the car or bumps in the road like people do, a cat's motion sickness is actually a result of stress or anxiety.
This is because cats don't usually ride around in the car very often, so probably they aren't used to it the way dogs are.
Not to mention, cats often associate car rides with going to the vet, which can be a source of anxiety for them.
Signs of carsickness
"The most common symptom of motion sickness in cats is vomiting, but it may be combined with peeing or pooping in their carrier if they're particularly anxious," Dr. Elston explained.
Other signs include:
 - Vocalization
 - Restlessness
 - Drooling
 - Licking lips
 - Lethargy
What to do
Since travel sickness in cats is rooted in anxiety, the first thing you should do is contact your vet.
"Depending on your cat's needs, your vet may be able to prescribe medications to help with anxiety or nausea, and can provide more specific recommendations based on your cat's age, health, and temperament," Dr. Elston said.
There are also some over-the-counter items you can try to supplement your vet's treatment plan.
Like this Feliway calming travel spray from Chewy for $13.99
In addition to treatment recommended by your vet, you should also try to get your cat more comfortable with his carrier.
If he thinks of it as a safe space, traveling inside it could help ease his anxiety.
You can do this by leaving it out at home so he gets used to hanging out in it, or even filling it with some of his favorite treats so he knows it's a place where good things happen.
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Born of the Sea - A History of Waxed Canvas
Born of the Sea - A History of Waxed Canvas
For you to truly appreciate the uniqueness waxed canvas as the material of choice in your wet weather bag, it helps to understand a bit of the history of the product. It's not a modern material by any means in fact it's double-dipped in a history of Maritime tradition, hard men of the sea and military conquest of the globe. To know how it came to be is what makes it special to me and it's why owning one of my pieces is like maintaining a small part of that history for yourself.
Looking back in time to the 15th century and most sailing ships were powered by Flax Sails. Flax is the early term for Linen and it's is one of man's earliest and oldest resources. We think of cotton as the most common fabric of the 20th century but before that it was flax all the way back to unrecorded history. Flax sails were heavy and broad weaved. In other words they had tiny gaps between the fibres what leaked air. So when the sails were full, they lacked complete efficiency.
Sailors soon began to realise that a wet Flax sail increased the wind capturing efficiency of the sail because the water swelled the fabric and the molecules closed the gaps between the fibres thus allowing it to hold more wind. However, as you can imagine it also made the sail heavier and vessel slower.
Linen with a wider weave
By the 15th century innovative seafarers were realising that applying oils such as fish oils and linseed oil created the same membrane as water but made the sails water resistant, lighter and faster.
Did you know that linseed oil comes from Flax plants? So the "Lin" in "linseed" is a reference to linen.
Soon we see Mariners using offcuts of old sails to make wet weather gear such as hats and capes. Linseed became the most prominently used substance to treat linen sails and wet weather gear but over time its properties broke down causing it to stiffen crack and go yellow. This is where the yellow colouring of Fisherman's wet weather gear originated.
Vintage maritime wet weather gear
By the late 1800's, two things of significance happened. Cotton overtook linen as the fabric of choice in the international thread trade. And with the waning efficiency of linseed oil in the waterproofing of sails, millenaries in the British Isles began experimenting with applying wax to what was now dual layered cotton sails. Something truly innovative was discovered. The wax was lighter than linseed oil, didn't stiffen as much in cold weather and didn't deteriorate to the same extent. Waxed cotton canvas was born! Soon several British companies were competing with recipes for waxed cotton to provide sails and wet weather gear for the British Navy and competitive Tea Clippers.
During WW2 the innovative fabric was being used by the British to equip its soldiers with wet weather gear; some of the best in the world at that time.
Cotton sails were eventually replaced with synthetic materials throughout the 20th century but waxed cotton canvas has stuck around to become something of a novelty in the fabric industry.
As a side note here, I remember in the Australian Army in the 1990's I was issued a Japara brand wet weather coat. I don't think they still issue these. They were very sought after pieces of kit and forever being nicked.
So there you have it a more definitive origin story of Waxed Cotton Canvas.


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Traveling Luck for Sambilong Island, Tawi-Tawi, Philippines
Where is Sambilong Island?What's around Sambilong Island?
Wikipedia near Sambilong Island
Where to stay near Sambilong Island
The timezone in Sambilong Island is Asia/Manila
Sunrise at 05:46 and Sunset at 18:09. It's Dark
Latitude. 5.1211°, Longitude. _PHONE_°
Satellite map around Sambilong Island
Loading map of Sambilong Island and it's surroudings
Geographic features & Photographs around Sambilong Island, in Tawi-Tawi, Philippines
- populated place;
- a city, town, village, or other agglomeration of buildings where people live and work.
- Luuk Talay (3.9km)
- Lapid-Lapid (6.2km)
- Mandulan (7.2km)
- Kulit Kima (7.4km)
- Sanga-Sanga (10.8km)
- Tengultengul (11.1km)
- Look Pandan (11.2km)
- Silubbog (12.2km)
- Malassa (12.6km)
- Lakit-Lakit (12.9km)
- Tongput (13.3km)
- Montay-Montay (14.5km)
- Lato-Lato (14.5km)
- Ungus-Ungus (15.5km)
- Tarawakan (16.2km)
- Paniongan (16.3km)
- Ipil (16.3km)
- Karungdung (17.1km)
- Tong Pettong (17.2km)
- a tapering piece of land projecting into a body of water, less prominent than a cape.
- Pike Point (1.9km)
- Maria Point (4.3km)
- Nanka Point (4.6km)
- Batu Point (5.5km)
- Carmen Point (8.6km)
- Bugut Lapit Point (9.1km)
- Masatong Point (12.3km)
- Ingatan Point (13km)
- Tihi Point (13.1km)
- Tihi Point (15.2km)
- Sinabon Point (15.2km)
- Panijugan Point (15.2km)
- Titi Point (15.2km)
- Pamahabaan Point (16.6km)
- Maangit Point (17.8km)
- a tract of land, smaller than a continent, surrounded by water at high water.
- a surface-navigation hazard composed of consolidated material.
- Takut Mataha Reef (3.5km)
- an open way with improved surface for transportation of animals, people and vehicles.
- Tarawakan Road (16km)
- a small coastal indentation, smaller than a bay.
- Sinabon Cove (17.7km)
- a conspicuous, isolated rocky mass.
- Shell Rock (14.4km)
- a land area, more prominent than a point, projecting into the sea and marking a notable change in coastal direction.
- Malasa Point (13.9km)
- an area dominated by tree vegetation.
- Lambus Lambus (1.9km)
- second-order administrative division;
- a subdivision of a first-order administrative division.
- Bongao (9.1km)


top of the schema file. For example, in po.xsd for the Customize Inline example, the namespace declaration is as follows:
A binding declaration with the jxb namespace prefix would then take the form:

 binding declarations .
Note that in this example, the globalBindings and schemaBindings declarations are used to specify, respectively, global scope and schema scope customizations. These customization scopes are described in more detail in Scope, Inheritance, and Precedence.


China & India's Military – Graphic of the Day
China and India have the two largest populations of any country in the world. Today's graphic is a comparison chart of their military. Broken down by army, navy, air force, strategic forces and reserve size, see how these two giant countries manage their armed forces. At the bottom of the graphic is a chart of their military expenditures. Up until the year 2000, both countries had very comparable military spending patterns. However, over the last 12 years, while India's spending has remained relatively constant, China's has increased dramatically and is now over 3 times as large.


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Anna M. Lawrence, One Family Under God: Love, Belonging, and Authority in Early Transatlantic Methodism (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011).
Originally a sect within the Anglican church, Methodism blossomed into a dominant mainstream religion in America during the nineteenth century. At the beginning, though, Methodists constituted a dissenting religious group whose ideas about sexuality, marriage, and family were very different from those of their contemporaries.
Focusing on the Methodist notion of family that cut across biological ties, One Family Under God speaks to historical debates over the meaning of family and how the nuclear family model developed over the eighteenth century. Historian Anna M. Lawrence demonstrates that Methodists adopted flexible definitions of affection and allegiance and emphasized extended communal associations that enabled them to incorporate people outside the traditional boundaries of family. They used the language of romantic, ecstatic love to describe their religious feelings and the language of the nuclear family to describe their bonds to one another. In this way, early Methodism provides a useful lens for exploring eighteenth-century modes of family, love, and authority, as Methodists grappled with the limits of familial and social authority in their extended religious family.
Methodists also married and formed conjugal families within this larger spiritual framework. Evangelical modes of marriage called for careful, slow courtships, and often marriages happened later in life and produced fewer children. Religious views of the family offered alternatives to traditional coupling and marriage—through celibacy, spiritual service, and the idea of finding one's true spiritual match, which both challenged the role of parental authority within marriage-making and accelerated the turn within the larger society toward romantic marriage.
By examining the language and practice of evangelical sexuality and family, One Family Under God highlights how the Methodist movement in the eighteenth century was central to the rise of romantic marriage and the formation of the modern family.


text:
the seeds):
- Compare Ri with neighbors (Question: should neighbors include or exclude those regions that were already matched?
- If it exists, Rk is best neighbor if smallest D of all neighbors and and D < T.
- Check Rk's neighbors.
- Merge IF Ri is Rk's best neighbor
- remove from candidate region set. (give all "small" regions a chance to merge with best neighbor before growing larger regions)
- update segment values
- next i
3. next t, with all segments returned to candidate region set, until no regions can be merged
4. Force a merge of regions that are too small
TODO: complete references with links.
 Carleer, et al: Assessment of Very High Spatial Resolution Satellite Image Segmentations, 2005 (Evaluates 2 boundary and 2 region based algorithms.)
 Bins, et al: Satellite Imagery Segmentation: A Region Growing Approach, 1996 (Describes approach taken in SPRING software.)
 Cheng et. al.: Color image segmentation: advances and prospect, 2000 (survey of segmentation methods and color spaces)
 G. Meinel, M. Neubert: A Comparison of Segmentation Programs for High Resolution Remote Sensing Data, 20?? (Includes timing to complete segmentation)


text:
Comparison of three commercial drain tiles in a heavy clay soil of Imperial Valley
F. E. Robinson, University of California
J. N. Luthin, University of California
California Agriculture 22(8):10-11. DOI: 10.3733/ca.v022n08p10.
Frank E. Robinson is Assistant Water Scientist, Department of Water Science and Engineering, University of California, Davis. James N. Luthin is Professor of Irrigation and Civil Engineering, Department of Water Science and Engineering, University of California, Davis.
No evidence was found in these tests of real differences in performance between clay, concrete, or bituminous-fiber tiles. Differences in tile outflow were due primarily to soil variation and not to tile performance. Little actual change in salinity resulted from the leaching operation in the body of soil between the tiles. In most cases as much, and often more, water was lost through seepage as was removed by the tile. Much of the water which moved through the soil followed the disturbed trench above the tile, as evidenced by the much lower salinity in that trench. Electrical conductivity of the tile effluent was inversely related to both rate and duration of tile flow. Each tile showed a unique relationship between electrical conductivity, rate, and duration of flow—probably a reflection of a unique combination of hydraulic conductivities along each tile line.


William the Worm and the Magic Beans
Scoil Mobhí Glasnaíon, 5th Class, 27th May 2019
Once there was a worm called William. His companion was Passion Fruit the Monkey.
William's friend Passion Fruit was badly injured in the war so he took him to the forest.
They enjoyed a quiet life in the forest - until a year later, when they saw four glowing beans in the night.
Then it started raining salt and the beans disappeared.
William started crying and he went to his underground house in his mini-van.
He found the glowing beans in the ground. William brought the beans to the surface in the mini-van.
Passion Fruit stole the beans from the van.
He used the glowing beans' power to teleport away.
William was confused why Passion Fruit would steal the beans so he went to his secret underground library to study about the beans.
William discovered that the beans were magic and that looking at the beans makes anyone want to steal them.
Meanwhile, Passion Fruit had eaten one of the beans and it turned him into a big, big, big gorilla.
Now, there were only three beans left…


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What is the Wine Aroma Wheel?
The Wine Aroma Wheel is an incredible tool to learn about wines and enhance one's ability to describe the complexity of flavor in red and white wines.
Initially, most people can't recognize or describe aromas so the purpose of the wheel is to provide terms to describe wine aromas.
The wheel has very general terms located in the center (e.g. fruity or spicy), going to the most specific terms in the outer tier (such as strawberry or clove). These terms are NOT the only words that can be used to describe wines, but represent ones that are most often encountered.
Easy to use and understand, it will enhance your whole wine experience.
"A person with increasing knowledge and sensory education may derive infinite enjoyment from Wine."


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General Internal Medicine (FMH)
Praxis Dr. Wagener offers you not only GP services, but also treatments for all disorders and illnesses from the entire spectrum of general internal medicine.Schedule an appointment
Holistic medicine for your well-being
In the case of acute or chronic complaints, the Praxis Dr. Wagener team will conduct comprehensive medical tests to diagnose the exact problem. For the best possible individualised therapy, we can refer you to a recognised specialist in their field according to your diagnosis. Our medical expertise is complemented by components from complementary healing methods in order to best support your journey to recovery.
What we offer:
- Pulmonary function
- 24-hour blood pressure measurements
Areas of application
In the field of general internal medicine, we offer our patients a comprehensive range of treatments. This includes the following illnesses:
- DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY ORGANS (E.G. PNEUMONIA, BRONCHITIS, ASTHMA)
- DISEASES OF THE HEART
- DISEASES OF THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT
- DISEASES OF THE KIDNEY
- METABOLIC DISORDERS (E.G. DIABETES)
- VARIOUS ONCOLOGICAL DISEASES
Types of treatment
Our basic principles are aligned towards the individual needs of our patients. At the same time, we utilise our collective experience to improve your well-being. This means that we employ medicines carefully and only where necessary, and also include additional complementary treatment methods where appropriate.
Information on treatment
Our primary aim is to guarantee competent assistance in the event of an illness. Hence, we make it a point to discuss the diseases and various therapy options with our patients in detail. We are also available to answer family members' questions and concerns.
We work together closely with specialists from various fields, such as cardiology, orthopaedics, and gastroenterology. This allows even complex clinical symptoms to be diagnosed and treated in a professional and well-founded manner. Where necessary, we ensure a rapid referral so that no precious time is lost for clarification and treatment for our patients.


Lezgian also called Lezgi or Lezgin, is a language that belongs to the Lezgic languages. It is spoken by the Lezgins, who live in southern Dagestan and northern Azerbaijan. Lezgian is a literary language and an official language of Dagestan. It is a Caucasian language of the Nakh-Daghestanian language family ( Archi, Tabassaran, Agul, Rutul, Tsakhur, Budukh, Kryz, Khinalug, and Udi ) spoken in Azerbaijan and Daghestan. More specifically, it falls under Eastern Samur group of Lezgic languages (Lezgi, Agul, Tabassaran)
Key spoken dialects: Küre and Axty in Daghestan; and Qusar (Quba) and Ismayilli in Azerbaijan. Standard Lezgi which is the standard dialect is based on the Küre dialect.


text: In this four-day workshop, students will learn how to use the silkscreen process to create hand-printed multiples of an original image. Silkscreen is an exciting art-making technique with a rich history and a diversity of applications: from fine art prints to t-shirt designs, protest posters, and beyond. Students in this course will be exposed to a variety of historical and contemporary examples of silkscreen printing and will use these examples as inspiration as they design and print their own original artworks. Students are encouraged to investigate their own interests and ideas when developing their subject matter for the project. Technical skills learned will include both digital and hand-cut film stencil making, the photo-exposure process for transferring images onto screens, color theory when mixing inks, proper printing techniques, and correct registration of multiple color layers within a single print.


How Samsung uses AI to improve photos taken on the Galaxy S21
How Samsung uses AI to improve photos taken on the Galaxy S21
In our reviews, we made clear that the Galaxy S21 Ultra and the S21+ are capable of capturing excellent photos. While the camera sensors do play a part in this, modern photography is now also a lot about AI and image processing and that is exactly what Samsung reveals in a blog post that details how the AI-algorithm works on the new Samsung flagships.
 - Samsung reveals specific details about the AI post-processing of its photos
 - It involves the camera detecting faces and separating them from their surroundings before editing them
 - Blurred backgrounds in portraits are also more accurate and feature a sharpening gradient
It's always exciting to see what technology smartphone manufacturers use to improve the images on their latest smartphones. Samsung, in its blog post, details the magic it uses to improve portraits captured on its phones in fair detail.
Behind the Snapshot S21 AI main1
The software uses masks to separate faces and enhance fine details / © Samsung
First of all, it's all about making faces look natural and a little bit out of the subject at the same time. To do this, the software detects the two faces of the subjects and separates them from the rest of the image for post-processing. Samsung then uses "natural enhancements" to tweak things like the eyes, hair, face shape, and white balance to create natural faces. Here, Samsung basically takes the same approach as it does with manual digital photo editing, which also uses masks to tweak only certain areas of the image.
Precise portrait mode with sharpness gradient
Masks are also about blurring backgrounds. It's been a trend in camera smartphones for a few years now to mimic the depth of field of portrait lenses with a small open aperture, and in fact it worked very well in my review of the Galaxy S21+. For portraits, Samsung takes advantage of the depth information gained from the Time-of-Flight sensor on the S21 Ultra and the additional and slightly differently positioned cameras on the S21+.
As with the faces in the first example, Samsung's camera software creates a mask and then optimizes the transition between subject and background. By using a tri-mask consisting of background, subject and the area of transition, Samsung can also identify hair with greater accuracy and omit it when blurring.
Hauswand Portraet Galaxy S21 Plus
Even though Samsung messes up the bars on the left side of the image, the sharpness gradient is killer! / © NextPit
At the same time, the software segments subjects if they are at different distances from the camera. This explains the quite natural-looking sharpness gradient you can see in my test photo of the Galaxy S21.
Source: Samsung
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text:
IPCMS (University of Strasbourg and CNRS joint lab) has been certified ISO 9001 for the following activities:
– Elaboration and characterization of materials by several different techniques (SEM, XRD, TEM)
– Nanofabrication in STnano cleanrooms.
The shared research facilities of IPCMS implemented a quality management system (synergy between skills, know-how, people and scientific / technical equipment) that led to the ISO 9001 certification by AFNOR. This certificate guarantees the quality and traceability of the results obtained by researchers, external users and industrial partners on IPCMS platforms. The students teaching and training in the platforms also enter into the quality system and certification.
This certification confirms the commitment to quality in the research activities that IPCMS has been conducting since 30 years
The four shared facilities of the IPCMS are:
– Plateforme de nanofabrication STnano
– Plateforme de diffraction par rayon X
– Plateforme de microscopie électronique à balayage
– Plateforme de microscopie électronique à transmission


text:
North Pole (also known as the "Geographic North Pole" or "Terrestrial North Pole") – the northernmost point on Earth.
North Magnetic Pole – the shifting point on the Earth's surface where the Earth's magnetic field points directly downwards.
North Geomagnetic Pole – the point of intersection of the Earth's surface with the axis of a simple magnetic dipole (like a bar magnet) that best approximates the Earth's actual more complex magnetic field.
Originally by analogy with the Earth's magnetic field, the terms "north pole" and "south pole" are also applied to magnets in general, in order to distinguish one "end" of the magnet from the other. For this use see under Magnet and Magnetism.


La Hoube
Welcome to the course: "La Hoube". This course is designed for level B2 upwards.
Michèle, who lives in Merkwiller, guides you for a hike in the Northern Alsace / Lorraine. Would you like to go for a walk?
In this course you will:
Work independently and receive support from Frank Peters by doing the following activities:
 1. Translate 20 words & expressions related to describing the route of a hike into your own language
 2. If you live in the area and have been there, you can answer questions about your experience.
 3. Phone a friend and suggest going for a hike.
 4. Contribute to a discussion by reading and writing any comments left by other participants.
 5. Watch some videos to gain an impression of the area.
 6. Click on links to the local tourist office and attractions
 7. You can download the lesson outline to do offline.
Start Course
Level: B2-B1
Teacher: Frank


liquor liabilityUnder dram shop liability laws, a party injured by an intoxicated person can sue establishments contributing to that person's intoxication. The term "dram shop" was derived from 18th century English taverns that sold gin by the spoonful, called a dram. Dram shop laws are established by each state.
Dram shop laws can apply to:
 - bars
 - liquor stores
 - restaurants
 - social clubs and private events where liquor is served
The laws also include prohibitions against selling liquor without a license, selling liquor after hours, and selling liquor to minors. For example, if a person has several alcoholic drinks at a restaurant or bar and is visibly intoxicated, and then gets in a car and kills someone on the way home, the owner of the serving establishment can be sued for damages. A dram shop case is often a component of a larger accident case such as a DWI. The statute of limitations on the dram shop portion of the case differs from those that apply to the other claims made in the case.


text:
Users can filter a dataset in the goal creation tool, decreasing goal page set-up time and promoting catalog simplicity.
For example, the dataset we'll filter on is Seattle Crime Stats, categorized by police precinct and types of crime.
Let's say we want to create a goal that measures burglaries over time in various police beats.
First, create a new goal and describe the measurement in the Prevailing Measure Definition. This process doesn't change.
In the Prefilter Dataset section, instead of creating a goal based on the entirety of the dataset (Use As-is), select Filter Data First and click Next:
In the Filter Conditions section, in the text box labeled Column, start typing the category containing the subset of data. It will auto-populate with possible category headers. Next, select the Value from that category on which you'd like to filter.
Again, the field will auto-populate.
After completing Column and Value fields, the tool will return the number of entries in the category that match the criteria entered in the Value field.
Click the button to add a criteria to the filter. For instance, adding a similar field like "Robbery" increases the number of returned entries from 3875 to 7750.
Add another set of filter criteria by clicking the button, for instance, to see only the burglaries that were reported in Police Beat C1. You can see this combination of criteria reduces the total number of returned fields to 76.
Click Next. From here, walk through the remaining sections of the goal creation wizard as usual. Click Finish and Save to see the chart, target and calculated status.
To create a goal using a different subset of information from the same dataset, enter Edit mode and click Save As. Give your new goal a name and select the appropriate dashboard.
Enter your new goal in Edit mode, navigate to the Filter Conditions section and adjust the filter criteria to reflect your new goal. In this example, we've modified our crime type from "Burglary" to "Motor Vehicle-Theft" and "Larceny-Theft."
Walk through the rest of the goal creation wizard and click select Finish, then Save. Remember to change the target value and verbiage of your new goal if it differs from the original.


text:
10th Canadian Field Hospital
The third Canadian contingent was the only one to take a field hospital with it to South Africa. The 10th Canadian Field Hospital (10 CFH), which departed Canada in January 1902, was quite small, numbering only 61 all ranks and 29 horses. It was organized into a hospital staff of five officers, a ward section of 35 other ranks, and a transport section of 21 other ranks to pick up and transport the wounded. The hospital was based on British practice with Canadian innovations, including improved tenting, ambulances, water trailers, and an acetylene gas lighting system. Many among the members of 10 CFH were veterans of previous tours in South Africa.
In South Africa a section of the unit accompanied the 2nd Regiment, Canadian Mounted Rifles into the western Transvaal. The remainder moved to Vaalbank, 60 kilometres away on the Lichtenberg blockhouse line. Here it received sick and wounded from the columns operating in the area. This section of 10 CFH remained at Vaalbank until 18 June 1902 during which time it treated over a thousand patients, British, Boer and Black South African. 10 CFH ambulances evacuated patients for longer-term care to Klerksdorp. By all accounts, the 10th Canadian Field Hospital provided outstanding medical services during its stint in South Africa.


text:
This example uses both channels of USRP® B210, X300 or X310 to receive an LTE downlink signal. LTE System Toolbox™ is used to perform the cell search procedure and to decode the MIB and SIB1 messages if present.
LTE System Toolbox provides functions and tools to decode LTE waveforms. This example shows how an LTE waveform can be captured with SDR radio hardware such as a USRP®-based radio. The signal can then be analysed and decoded. In this example the captured waveform is searched for the presence of a suitable LTE signal. If found, the MIB and SIB1 messages are decoded.
This example decodes the MIB for a burst of captured frames, and then decodes the control format indicator (CFI) for each subframe, which informs the user equipment (UE) of the size of the control region. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) is then decoded. With this information the SIB1 message in the PDSCH is finally decoded.
The example outputs recovered cell wide information including the detected cell identity and checks the SIB1 CRC. The example also plots the signal spectrum, the PDCCH constellation and the magnitude of the channel estimate.
If you have a second SDR platform, a suitable signal can be generated by the companion example Two Antenna LTE SIB1 Transmission using USRP® based Software-Defined Radio (SDR).
This example requires the USRP®-based Radio support package. This can be installed using the Add-On Explorer.
More information about other supported SDR platforms can be found here.
The full example description and source code can be found in the list of examples using USRP® under the name "LTE Cell Search, MIB and SIB1 Recovery with Two Antennas".
Universal Software Radio Peripheral® and USRP® are trademarks of National Instruments Corp.


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How can I count the number of spaces of the current line in a textarea
If my cursor is current on line 2 then the result should be: 3
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2 Answers
up vote 0 down vote accepted
Here is the code:
window.onload = function () {
 var ta = document.getElementById('ta'); //set your textarea's id
 ta.onclick = function (e) {
 var lineNo = ta.value.substr(0, ta.selectionStart).split(/\r?\n|\r/).length,
 lineText = ta.value.split(/\r?\n|\r/)[lineNo - 1],
 numOfSpaces = lineText.split(/\s/).length - 1;
 console.log(lineNo, lineText, numOfSpaces);
Here is the fiddle.
NOTE: textarea.selectionStart does not work in some browsers. For a cross-browser support see this post.
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You need to split the string value of the textarea and then:
var textString = //pull data from textarea
var textArray = textString.split("\n");
for(var i=0; i


text:
How to Make the Nordic Region Carbon-Neutral
The IEA has started a new regional technology study that helps determine the best way to make the Nordic region carbon-neutral by 2050. According to the research, around 3,000 offshore wind turbines will need to be in use in the region in order for success.
It is possible for the Nordic region to be completely carbon-neutral, but big changes in its energy sector will need to take place first. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has reported in the first regional edition of its flagship technology publication, Energy Technology Perspectives, that these changes include a ten-fold increase in wind generation and an end to all use of coal and significant electrification of transport.
The new report expands on the Energy Technology Perspectives 2012 global scenarios for energy policies that would limit average global temperature increase to 2°C. Nordic Energy Technology Perspectives outlines the opportunities and challenges for the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway – a major fossil fuel exporter – and Sweden to use their rich renewable energy resources to transform their landscape and economy, with 10,000 onshore and 3,000 offshore wind turbines and the region exporting 75% of its new power generation.
In order to become carbon-neutral, emissions from transportation must fall by nearly 90% from current levels, with nine in ten new light vehicles in 2050 being pure electric or hybrid and most freight transport going by rail or running on biofuels. The transportation sector will be the hardest to decarbonize due to the sparse population of the trade-intensive Nordic countries, but transportation costs should not rise significantly as reduced demand and higher efficiency will lower fuel bills.


An official website of the United States government.
Official websites use.gov
Secure.gov websites use HTTPS
Zero-Waste Poultry Processing with Sequential Membrane Separation and Anaerobic Digestion
Kommalapati, Raghava
Prairie View A&M University
Start date
End date
The overall goal of our project is to develop and demonstrate a zero-waste poultry processing model to improve sustainability and food safety of poultry processing. In our research project, poultry processing wastewater (PPW) generated from poultry slaughterhouse is treated with a novel combination of sequential ultrafiltration (UF), forward osmosis (FO) and reverse osmosis (RO) processes, and the solids separated from the PPW treatment undergo 2-stage anaerobic digestion to produce methane and fertilizer. This goal is supported through the following objectives:1. Develop a sequential UF-FO-RO process for efficient and cost-effective treatment of PPW;2. Demonstrate the potential for a zero-waste discharge model of waste management in poultry processing;3. Estimate the renewable methane potential of solids from poultry processing, and evaluate the effect of biosolids on soils.4. Evaluate the life cycle environmental and economic impacts of the proposed zero-waste discharge system.
Funding Source
Nat'l. Inst. of Food and Agriculture
Project source
View this project
Project number
Accession number
Natural Toxins
Bacterial Pathogens
Chemical Contaminants
Meat, Poultry, Game


text:
Home > Software > Duplicate Commander 3.2.5448
Version 3.0 has multiple known issues, crashes, bugs, etc. The current beta version has progressed a lot since the last stable released over 2 years ago, and I've gotten nothing but positive feedback from it. It is highly recommended that you use the current beta.
Duplicate Commander is a freeware application that allows you to find and manage
duplicate files on your PC. Duplicate Commander comes with many features and tools that
allow you to recover your disk space from those duplicates.
Duplicate Commander goes Open Source! Check out the source on my personal GitBlit server. If you have Git on your computer, you can clone the repository with:
git clone _URL_
256 MB of RAM (1 GB recommended)
Pentium II 500 MHz processor
1 MB of hard drive space
.NET Framework 2.0 (automatically installed on Vista and newer)
- Search for duplicates based on filename or actual data
- When searching for duplicates based on filename, you may also factor in file extension, size, or timestamp.
- Duplicates found can be limited to certain file types
- Duplicates found can be limited to a certain file size bracket
- Search locations can be pinned and accessed easily later
- Search results can be saved and re-imported later
- Duplicates can be replaced with hard links or soft links that point to a single copy of the file
- Some operations can be reversed later through undo scripts
- Undo Scripts are script files readable by Duplicate Commander that when executed, reverses some of Duplicate Commander's actions. Actions that can be undone are:
- Moving duplicates to a different folder
- Replacing files with hard links
- Replacing files with soft links
- Files are never deleted permanently
- As a safety precaution, files are always deleted to the Recycle Bin.
- Folders can be excluded from being searched
- Vital OS folders are excluded by default
- This includes your Windows and Program Files folders.
- File types can be excluded from being searched
- Powerful automatic checking functions
- Duplicate Commander can automatically check items for you that match certain criteria, such as
- The smallest or biggest file in the group
- The oldest or newest file in the group
- Files contained in certain folders
- Files of a certain extension
- Files of a certain date range
- Files of a certain size range
- Files that contain a certain string
- Files that cross-reference each other
- Files can be checkmarked that only have duplicates in other certain folders.
- Files with paths that match a regular expression
- Lightweight and portable
- Duplicate Commander is lightweight and comes in both an installed version and a portable version.
- Includes an auto-updater
- Regardless of whether you're using the installed version or the portable version, Duplicate Commander can be updated automatically right from the user interface in no more than 2 clicks.
- Duplicate Commander is freeware for all uses.


2:1 Accentuated Eccentrics
When coaches say "accentuated eccentrics" what they're basically talking about is lowering a weight slowly. Accentuate means to emphasize, and the eccentric is the lowering or negative phase of a lift. Along with improving the mind-muscle connection, accentuated eccentrics increase time under tension, crucial for muscle growth.
So, for 2:1 accentuated eccentrics, you'd use both legs (or arms) to explosively lift a load, then lower slowly with just one arm or leg. Here's how that looks on the leg extension:
The lifting portion should be explosive, while the lowering portion should take about 5 seconds. The former improves muscle fiber recruitment. The latter increases mechanical tension, metabolic stress, and fatigues a greater number of muscle fibers. And since the muscle is under tension for longer, blood can't enter the muscle, creating a hypoxic environment. This boosts metabolic stress and increases growth factors like IGF-1, further boosting muscle gains.
Keep the 2:1 technique at the end of training for 3-4 sets of 4-8 reps.
Related: Eccentric Training for More Muscle
Related: This Is Why You're Not Jacked


SQL Book
The SQL Union command can be used to combine the output from 2 or more SELECT statements into 1 resultset. This article explains the syntax and rules of the UNION command and gives real world examples of it in use.
SELECT [ColumnName,...]
SELECT [ColumnName,...]
UNION rules for success
The syntax for the UNION command is very simple but there are some rules that must be followed for the command to work correctly.
 - The SELECT statements must select the same number of columns
 - The columns selected in the different SELECT statements must be in the same order
 - The corresponding columns from each SELECT statement must either be of the same data type or be able to be converted (either implicitly or explicitly using a SQL function such as CAST).
Real world example
In the following example for an e-commerce website that has a shopping cart and message forum on it we want to generate a resultset of users who we can send the sites monthly email newsletter to. To do this we want to combine the user information from the Customer table with user information from the ForumUser table:
SELECT FirstName, LastName, Email, DateLastOrder
FROM Customer
WHERE ReceiveNewsletter = 1
SELECT FirstName, FamilyName, EmailAddress, DateLastPost
FROM ForumUser
WHERE SendNewsletter = 1
The output of this query would look similar to the following:
Jimi Hendrix _EMAIL_ 10/10/2007
Bob Marley _EMAIL_ 05/01/2007
Fred Bloggs _EMAIL_ 09/10/2007
We can see that the single resultset that is made from the UNION command always takes its column headings from the first SELECT statement in the UNION.
It is also important to identify that the UNION removes any duplicate (non distinct) rows from the resultset. This means that in the example above if a user was in both the Customer table and the ForumUser table and the corresponding Email addresses were the same and the LastOrderDate and LastPostDate were the same then only one or these 2 rows would be included in the resultset. By chance it happens that for the above example this is a beneficial aspect of the UNION command as we would not want to send the newsletter to the same email addresss twice. There may be times however when we want to include all the duplicate rows and to do this we simply modify the UNION command to include the ALL keyword.
SELECT Column1, Column2 FROM Table1
SELECT Column1, Column2 FROM Table2
SELECT Column1, Column2 FROM Table3
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Laser Printers Buying Guide
Laser printers have long been used by medium to large businesses, but they are now much more affordable for small businesses and home offices as well. These days, monochrome laser printers can be bought for as little as $100, while decent colour laser printers start from around $600. Laser printers are still more expensive than their inkjet counterparts but they also offer advantages like faster print speeds and, often, lower running costs.
There are a number of factors you should consider when looking to buy a laser printer.
Printer consumables
Laser printers' consumables are typically cheaper than inkjets'. However, the cost of running a printer will still far outweigh the initial price tag in the long run, so considering the costs of a particular model's consumables is a good first step.
Toners are the biggest cost, as you'll need to replace them most frequently. They aren't the only consumables, though: you might also need to replace the printer's drum, fuser unit and waste toner unit.
The best way to compare different models' consumable costs is to calculate their cost per page. You can do this by finding the cost of the printer's individual consumables as well as their lifespan, which is often quoted in page yield (the number of A4 pages it will last). Then use this formula:
Cost of consumable / Page yield = Cost per A4 page
Calculate this for individual consumables then add them together to get the overall cost per page. Page yields aren't always accurate, but the cost per page is still a good comparative point between models, particularly from the same manufacturer.
It's worth checking if you can pick up a remanufactured toner cartridge from Cartridge World or similar stores. Printer manufacturers discourage buying third-party consumables but it can be a more cost effective way of purchasing toners.
You can always try to lengthen the lifespan of consumables by printing at lower resolutions or using toner-saving modes where available. The reduction in document quality is sometimes minimal and you will use less toner powder.
Print resolution
The quality of a printer's output is partially indicated by the number of dots per square inch (dpi) that it can distribute across a sheet of paper. This figure depends on the accuracy of the printer's hardware, and you can usually expect of range of 600 to 2400 dpi on monochrome and colour laser printers depending on their price. It isn't always necessary to go for the highest possible resolution — in most cases you can produce good quality text documents using 300 or 600 dpi. However, for graphics a higher print resolution can mean greater detail.
Printer manufacturers may also quote an "optimised" print resolution, which uses both printer hardware and software to smooth images for better quality results.
High-end text laser printers also offer halftone printing, which can produce increased shades of grey, and lines per inch (lpi) quality settings, which determine how detailed halftone graphics are. This is mainly important if you're looking for the highest possible text quality or plan to print lots of graphics from a monochrome printer.
A high print resolution doesn't necessarily mean that text documents will look fantastic or that colours will be accurate. Ultimately, the best way to compare is to find a store that offers sample printouts and examine them, as well as read independent reviews that rely on real-world tests (like PC World's).
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text: The main cable is made of PPWS. Its large displacement and nonlinear mechanical properties are shown by their own elastic deformation and its geometry changes affecting the system balance. To get the real main cable-shaped of long-span suspension bridge, based on the finite element method, the element stiffness matrix was derived, which displacement field was same to the element shape. Then through the horizontal and vertical direction equilibrium equations were solved, the relationship between main cable shape and the system parameters was obtained. The calculation method was compiled to MATLAB 7.0 programs, and applied to ascertain the main cable-shaped of one long-span suspension bridge. When the paper calculated result was contrasted with the design value, it could be concluded that: the main cable-shaped of long-span suspension bridge could be accurately obtained by the paper method, and the method was convenient for compiling.


text:
Land and marine iguanas and giant tortoises living close to human settlements or tourist sites in the Galapagos islands were more likely to harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria than those living in more remote or protected sites on the islands, researchers report. Many of the reptiles harbor E. coli bacteria that are resistant to ampicillin, doxycycline, tetracycline, and trimethoprin/sulfamethoxazole.
- Patterns of antibiotic-resistant bacteria found in Galapagos reptilesMon, 23 Jan 2012, 15:21:55 EST
- Wild sharks, redfish harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteriaWed, 16 Jun 2010, 16:04:19 EDT
- Honeybees harbor antibiotic-resistance genes Tue, 30 Oct 2012, 7:33:04 EDT
- Transporting broiler chickens could spread antibiotic-resistant organismsMon, 24 Nov 2008, 10:57:20 EST
- Human and soil bacteria swap antibiotic-resistance genesThu, 30 Aug 2012, 15:05:49 EDT


text:
ABSTRACT: Throughout Amazonia, overfishing has decimated populations of fruit-eating fishes, especially the large-bodied characid, Colossoma macropomum. During lengthy annual floods, frugivorous fishes enter vast Amazonian floodplains, consume massive quantities of fallen fruits and egest viable seeds. Many tree and liana species are clearly specialized for icthyochory, and seed dispersal by fish may be crucial for the maintenance of Amazonian wetland forests. Unlike frugivorous mammals and birds, little is known about seed dispersal effectiveness of fishes. Extensive mobility of frugivorous fish could result in extremely effective, multi-directional, long-distance seed dispersal. Over three annual flood seasons, we tracked fine-scale movement patterns and habitat use of wild Colossoma, and seed retention in the digestive tracts of captive individuals. Our mechanistic model predicts that Colossoma disperses seeds extremely long distances to favourable habitats. Modelled mean dispersal distances of 337-552 m and maximum of 5495 m are among the longest ever reported. At least 5 per cent of seeds are predicted to disperse _PHONE_ m, farther than dispersal by almost all other frugivores reported in the literature. Additionally, seed dispersal distances increased with fish size, but overfishing has biased Colossoma populations to smaller individuals. Thus, overexploitation probably disrupts an ancient coevolutionary relationship between Colossoma and Amazonian plants.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 03/2011; 278(1723):3329-35. · 5.41 Impact Factor


text:
Understanding the relationship between romantic love versus long-term love can mean the difference between lifelong happiness and satisfaction or settling for much less. One way to explain these differences is through Robert J. Sternberg's Triangulation Theory of Love. Different stages and types of love can best be explained as a combination of three elements -- intimacy, passion and commitment -- according to Sternberg. The presence and amount of each makes all the difference.
Romantic Love and Obsession
Sternberg's Triangulation Theory describes romantic love as a combination of intimacy and passion. Intimacy is described as close, connected feelings in a relationship. It's the emotional bond that brings people together. Passion is the drive that leads to romance and physical attraction. Romantic lovers in new relationships are drawn to each other emotionally and physically. Romantic love, when new, often results in a preoccupying thoughts that makes it difficult to think about anything else. Stony Brook University researchers, Bianca P. Acevedo and Arthur Aron, found that such obsession results in greater satisfaction and happiness in the short-term.
Commitment and Security in Long-term Love
In addition to intimacy, long-term love requires commitment, which is composed of both the short-term decision to fall in love and a long-term determination to maintain that love. The success of long-term love also depends on how secure you are in the relationshipt, according to University of Denver researchers, Cindy Hazan and Philip Shaver. Secure individuals describe their relationship as happy, friendly and trusting. Supported by their partners, secure people are able to give support in return. It takes up to two years for secure attachments to form.
Long-term Love and Companionate Relationships
While all long-term love involves intimacy and commitment, for some couples, passion does not last. Love with intimacy and commitment, but without passion, is called companionate love, according to Triangulation theory. Couples in companionate relationships maintain their relationships based on mutual interests and values and are committed to one another, but the physical attraction is no longer there. While it is commonly believed that over time romantic love fades, Acevedo and Aron argue that this is not always the case.
Consummate Long-term Love
Consummate love is described by Sternberg as having all three components of intimacy, passion and commitment. While admitting it is the love that most people strive for, Sternberg states that is not easily attained and even more difficult to maintain. Acevedo and Aron concluded from their study that long-term romantic love not only is possible and exists, but when it does, it appears to enhance people's lives by providing them with marital satisfaction, mental health and overall well-being.
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Crowding out in blood donation: Was Titmuss right?
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Citation: Carl Mellstrom, Magnus Johannesson (2008) Crowding out in blood donation: Was Titmuss right?. Journal of the European Economic Association (RSS)
doi: 10.1162/JEEA.2008.6.4.845
Tagged: Economics (RSS)
Mellstrom and Johannesson try to offer a very clean test of Titmuss' crowding out hypothesis (not called that at the time) offered in his book The gift relationship. In his book, Titmuss argues that the introduction of monetary rewards can reduce the supply of blood donors.
Mellstrom and Johannesson's paper presents a field experiment designed to test this. They use three treatments:
 1. Subjects are given the opportunity to donate blood without any special incentives.
 2. Subjects are given the opportunity to donate blood with a payment of 50 SEK (~ 7 USD).
 3. Subjects who choose to give blood were give the option of accepting 50 SEK or donating the same amount to charity.
The findings in the full sample showed no crowding out. However, when the authors split the sample into men and women, they found a statistically significant effect with women, but not with men. Women were less likely to donate blood when money was offered while they could not conclude that were. The charity option was associated with an increase in the rate of donations for women, but not for men.
There were several important limitations. For one, the authors advertisement for the study (due to ethics boards requirements) explained that the study was on attitudes to donate blood. Second, they do not actually measure blood donation but rather when the people recruited went to a physical exam which in Sweden is necessary to give blood. Apparently, most people who receive these exams will subsequently give blood (~70%).


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- 2 green balls, 2 red balls, 2 sashes of the same colour.
- 6 children are chosen out of the class to be dinosaurs while the other children run around and try to avoid getting caught.
- 2 children of those children hold the green balls or "freeze balls" and 2 of the children hold the red balls or "dance balls". The remaining 2 children are to wear sashes and it is their job to be officers and unfreeze the children that have been caught by the freeze and dance dinosaurs.
- This means that whenever the frozen dinosaurs move towards the other children, those children have to freeze in order to prevent getting caught and whenever they see a dancing dinosaur coming towards them they need to dance to prevent getting caught. If a child is caught, they need to freeze in a dinosaur pose until the officers come and unfreeze them.
- More dinosaurs can be added if desired, and actions can be altered to suit individual needs.
- If you have a small class, only elect one child per dinosaur.
Do you have any other suggestions for different actions? Leave a comment below…


The Law Commission is a statutory independent body. We aim:
 - to ensure that the law is as fair, modern, simple and as cost-effective as possible
 - to conduct research and consultations in order to make systematic recommendations for consideration by Parliament, and
 - to codify the law, eliminate anomalies, repeal obsolete and unnecessary enactments and reduce the number of separate statutes.
What does it mean for the Law Commission to be independent?
Former Law Commissioner for property, family and trust law, Professor Elizabeth Cooke, explains the implications of our independence for how we select projects that are suggested to us, how we conduct our projects, and the recommendations we make to government.


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Exchange System Discovery Tool Overview
The Exchange System Discovery Tool is a non-intrusive and highly secure tool that examines and analyzes selected mailboxes and reports on the collected message data. The tool output is a set of reports created from the statistics generated from a zip file uploaded to the CommVault Cloud where it staged on a virtual machine using Commvault.
The Exchange System Discovery Tool can be used to:
- Perform archive prediction to reclaim space after the archive.
- Provide data protection estimates and backup window timeframes.
- Analyze and track mailbox usage and distribution.
The key features of the tool include:
- The ability to run on a proxy without any load on the Exchange server, provided the proxy is on the same domain as the Exchange server.
- The ability to discover more than one Exchange server at a time.
- The ability to run multiple instances of the tool simultaneously.
How It Works
Request an account for Cloud Services from your Account Representative, and then log in and download the Exchange System Discovery Tool. The tool output is a set of reports created from the statistics generated from a zip file uploaded to the CommVault Cloud where it is staged on a virtual machine using Commvault.
The collected message data includes the following:
- Message size
- Message count
- Attachment details
- Recipient details
- Modification time
Last modified: 2/27/2018 7:39:11 PM


FAQs Welcome to the Antioch-Chichibu Sister City Program
Antioch-Chichibu Sister City Organization Logo
Home | Our History | Visiting Japan | Culture | Be a Delegate | Be a Host | FAQs | News
Q: Where is Chichibu (秩父市)?
A: Chichibu City is located in Saitama prefecture (roughly equivalent to a State in the US), on the main island of Japan (see map). Present population of Chichibu city is approximately 69,000. The city was formally "incorporated" in 1950, but Japanese have lived in this area for thousands of years.
Interestingly, like Antioch, there is a river that runs through Chichibu – the Arakawa River - and Mount Buko rises south of the city center. These geographical similarities are part of what initially prompted Chichibu to be proposed for a Sister City in Japan. For more information see this wikipedia link.
Q: How old does a student have to be to visit Japan through this program?
A: The minimum age is 16. Please see information for interested delegates for more information.
Q: Are vaccinations needed to visit Japan?
A: No vaccinations are needed, although making sure you are up-to-date on your regular vaccinations is recommended. More health information can be found online through the CDC Travelers Page.
Q: What is the time difference between Chichibu and Antioch?
A: Chichibu is 17 hours "ahead" of Antioch, that is, at 7:00PM Monday in Antioch, it is Noon Tuesday in Chichibu. Communication between the two cities is convenient from 3:00 PM Antioch time (8:00AM the next day in Chichibu) to 7:00 PM Antioch time (12:Noon the next day in Chichibu).
Q: How difficult will it be to "navigate" in Japan; do many Japanese speak English?
A: Delegates are most often with their host family and/or the delegation who will help them navigate about Japan.
Delegates should also always have the contact information for the group leader on hand in case the need for additional help should arise.
Smart phones with translator aps are very useful, however, due to the radical difference in sentence structure between the Japanese language and English, these aids are often not as easy to use as one would hope.
Many Japanese we meet in our visits speak some English, as English is taught starting in the third grade. Interestingly, their written English is generally superior to their spoken English, as English is often learned from books, with less stress on verbal communication. Sometimes communication between delegates from Chichibu and their hosts in Antioch is easier by writing notes.
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Q: How can I get money in Japan?
A: Currencies can be exchanged at either airport. In the visit of 2015, the exchange rate was more favorable at the Narita Airport in Japan.Note that most of the costs to delegates (food, lodging) will be covered by our host families. For personal spending (Ice cream? Souvenirs?) Yen will be needed.
Japan is a cash-based society so you will want to have cash on you at all times.
Once in Japan, you can get cash 3 ways:
 - Use your Visa Delta/Cirrus/Plus (check the back of your card for these logos) debit card to get from a CashPoint/ATM machine. These can be found at the local post office, some 7Elevens, and there are some Citibank ATMs as well. There is usually an English option on the menu once you enter your card. Make sure to notify your bank that you will be withdrawing money from Japan, or they may freeze your card.
 - Use Travelers Checks and exchange at the airport or at the local bank counter.
 - Exchange cash at a JUSCO store (big grocery and department store). They often have money exchange machines (dollars to yet) on the first floor.
Most large businesses and restaurants will accept credit cards, but you will use cash for smaller businesses
Keep in mind that any time you exchange dollars for Yen, you are selling your dollars and buying Yen, and there will be handling fee for this service (often 3% of your purchase or withdrawal) in addition to the exchange rate, which is "bundled" into the nominal exchange rate. This bundled fee results in the difference between the nominal rate of yen per dollar and dollars per yen. You can view the current exchange rate online through Google or Xe.com and your credit card and bank will let you know their additional service charges
Here is a link to interesting information regarding costs in Japan.
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Q: Will my cell phone work in Japan?
Example: AT&T Pay-per-Use
 - Without international package: $2.50/min
 - With international package: $1.69/min + $5.99/month
A: Maybe. Most newer smart phones will work in Japan on international roaming. Check with your cell provider for rates and prices.
Renting an international sim card before you depart will allow you to use your phone in Japan. There are several options online for this, including PicCell Wireless. However, for trips less than 2 weeks, International roaming and calling cards may suffice. You can use a calling card bought in the U.S. or buy one in Japan. Often you can find calling cards at the airport or at 7-Eleven in Japan.
Example: Mobil 1
 - Using WiFi: free text, calls to the US, internet surfing.
 - Using WiFi: calls to non-US numbers, including Japanese numbers: $0.20 per minute.
 - Non-WiFi calls to the US: $0.20 per minute
International Data roaming plans are for a very small amount of data, and you can rack up VERY large bills quickly if you use it too much. It is recommended that you ONLY use data when connected to WiFi; you can disable data in your phone settings. It does not cost anything to connect to WiFi and you can do that from any hotspot.
3G service is standard in Chichibu.
Texting will likely be at no charge.
"Being Smart About Phone Fees Overseas" NY Times
Q: How do I call to Japan from the U.S.
A: The Country Code for Japan 81. From most phones, dial 011+81+phone number.
For example, the City of Chichibu phone number is 0494-22-2211. From the U.S., you would dial: 011+81+274+494-22-2211. As you see, you drop the "0" from the number given in Japan. When calling a Japanese number from inside Japan, you would use that "0." Toll-free numbers in Japan begin with 0120 or 0088. See _URL_ for more information.
How do I call to the U.S. from Japan?
A: The international access number when calling from Japan is 010; and the US code is 1.
From most phones, dial 010+1+area code+phone number.
For example, the City of Antioch phone number is _PHONE_. If you are using a Japanese-based calling card in Japan, you would dial: 010+1+_PHONE_. See _URL_ for more information.
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Other useful links:
Department of State Japan Consular Info Sheet
Centers for Disease Control Japan Travel Page
Japanese Consulate, SF:
US Embassy, Tokyo
More Questions?
Send your question to Antioch-Chichibu helpers
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URI patterns of the web application's alternate docroots.
To specify an alternate docroot for a web application or a virtual server, use the alternatedocroot_n property, where n is a positive integer that allows specification of more than one. This property can be a subelement of a sun-web-app element in the sun-web.xml file or a virtual-server element in the domain.xml file. For more information about these elements, see sun-web-app in Sun GlassFish Enterprise Server v2.1.1 Application Deployment Guide and virtual-server in Sun GlassFish Enterprise Server v2.1.1 Administration Reference.
A virtual server's alternate docroots are considered only if a request does not map to any of the web modules deployed on that virtual server. A web module's alternate docroots are considered only once a request has been mapped to that web module.
If a request matches an alternate docroot's URI pattern, it is mapped to the alternate docroot by appending the request URI (minus the web application's context root) to the alternate docroot's physical location (directory). If a request matches multiple URI patterns, the alternate docroot is determined according to the following precedence order:
Longest path match
For example, the following properties specify three docroots. The URI pattern of the first alternate docroot uses an exact match, whereas the URI patterns of the second and third alternate docroots use extension and longest path prefix matches, respectively.

The value of each alternate docroot has two components: The first component, from, specifies the alternate docroot's URI pattern, and the second component, dir, specifies the alternate docroot's physical location (directory).
Suppose the above examples belong to a web application deployed at _URL_ The first alternate docroot maps any requests with this URL:
To this resource:
The second alternate docroot maps any requests with a *.jpg suffix, such as:
To this physical location:
The third alternate docroot maps any requests whose URI starts with /myapp/jpg/, such as:
To the same directory as the second alternate docroot.
For example, the second alternate docroot maps this request:
The third alternate docroot maps:
If a request does not match any of the target web application's alternate docroots, or if the target web application does not specify any alternate docroots, the request is served from the web application's standard docroot, as usual.
You can specify that a request for an old URL is treated as a request for a new URL. This is called redirecting a URL.
To specify a redirected URL for a virtual server, use the redirect_n property, where n is a positive integer that allows specification of more than one. This property is a subelement of a virtual-server element in the domain.xml file. For more information about this element, see virtual-server in Sun GlassFish Enterprise Server v2.1.1 Administration Reference. Each of these redirect_n properties is inherited by all web applications deployed on the virtual server.
The value of each redirect_n property has two components, which may be specified in any order:
The first component, from, specifies the prefix of the requested URI to match.
The second component, url-prefix, specifies the new URL prefix to return to the client. The from prefix is simply replaced by this URL prefix.
To enable Comet support for an HTTP listener and all its associated web applications, set the cometSupport property to true. For more information, see http-listener in Sun GlassFish Enterprise Server v2.1.1 Administration Reference.
 CheckIn CheckInServlet 0
Use the contextXmlDefault property to specify the location, relative to domain-dir, of the context.xml file for a virtual server. For more information about virtual servers, see Virtual Servers. For more information about the context.xml file, see The Context Container.
To enable WebDav in the Enterprise Server, you edit the web.xml and sun-web.xml files as follows.
First, enable the WebDav servlet in your web.xml file:
 webdav org.apache.catalina.servlets.WebdavServlet debug 0 listings true readonly false
Then define the servlet mapping associated with your WebDav servlet in your web.xml file:
 webdav /webdav/*
To protect the WebDav servlet so other users can't modify it, add a security constraint in your web.xml file:
 Login Resources /webdav/* Admin NONE BASIC default Admin
Then define a security role mapping in your sun-web.xml file:
 Admin Admin
If you are using the file realm, create a user and password. For example:
asadmin create-file-user --user admin --host localhost --port 4848 --terse=true --groups Admin --authrealmname default admin
You can now use any WebDav client by connecting to the WebDav servlet URL, which has this format:
You can add the WebDav servlet to your default-web.xml file to enable it for all applications, but you can't set up a security role mapping to protect it.
To set up mod_jk, follow these steps:
Obtain the following software:
Apache Tomcat Connectors (_URL_
Apache Tomcat 5.5.16, needed for just one JAR file (_URL_
Apache Commons Logging 1.0.4 (_URL_
Apache Commons Modeler 1.1 (_URL_
Install mod_jk as described at _URL_
Copy the following Tomcat and Jakarta Commons files to as-install/lib:
Create and configure the following files:
/etc/httpd/conf/worker.properties or domain-dir/config/glassfish-jk.properties (to use non-default values of attributes described at _URL_
Examples of these files are shown after these steps. If you use both worker.properties and glassfish-jk.properties files, the file referenced by httpd.conf, or referenced by httpd.conf first, takes precedence.
Enable mod_jk using the following command:
asadmin create-jvm-options -Dcom.sun.enterprise.web.connector.enableJK=8009
If you are using the glassfish-jk.properties file and not referencing it in httpd.conf, point to it using the following command:
asadmin create-jvm-options -Dcom.sun.enterprise.web.connector.enableJK.propertyFile=domain-dir/config/glassfish-jk.properties
Restart the Enterprise Server.
Here is an example httpd.conf file:
LoadModule jk_module /usr/lib/httpd/modules/mod_jk.so JkWorkersFile /etc/httpd/conf/worker.properties # Where to put jk logs JkLogFile /var/log/httpd/mod_jk.log # Set the jk log level [debug/error/info] JkLogLevel debug # Select the log format JkLogStampFormat "[%a %b %d %H:%M:%S %Y] " # JkOptions indicate to send SSL KEY SIZE, JkOptions +ForwardKeySize +ForwardURICompat -ForwardDirectories # JkRequestLogFormat set the request format JkRequestLogFormat "%w %V %T" # Send all jsp requests to GlassFish JkMount /*.jsp worker1 # Send all glassfish-test requests to GlassFish JkMount /glassfish-test/* worker1
Here is an example worker.properties or glassfish-jk.properties file:
# Define


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History of Trinity Church
At Trinity the pleasant,historic environment of old Towsontown still thrives at 120 Allegheny Avenue, in the middle of bustling, high rise, modern Towson, the seat of Baltimore County, Maryland.
The congregation of Trinity stands upon a long history of traditional worship plus community sharing, in continuity. Kenneth H. Saunders III, the current rector, is only the seventh to hold this office since the parish was chartered. Trinity Church began in 1839 as a small group of Episcopalians meeting in the Epsom Chapel, a Methodist church that was located amid what is today the Towson Center parking garage. Because the Epsom Chapel was not preserved while Towson grew from town to metropolis. Trinity is the oldest church edifice in the Towson area.The original church, which constitutes the nave of the present building, was dedicated on Ascension Day, May 20, 1860. The church was designed by noted architect Norris Starkweather in a conservative Romanesque style. It is constructed of limestone donated by John Ridgely of Hampton. All additions and other church buildings are made of stone from the same quarry in Texas, Maryland. The nave is centered on a direct north-south line with the cross corridor of the original Court House.
The chancel and the baptistery in the west transept were added in 1892. The present sanctuary was built in 1926. The Moller organ, built in 1939, was enhanced in 1978. The Lee Chapel in the east transept was added in 1960 on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the church.


Home / How To / 10 tips for using MTH Trains' RealTrax
10 tips for using MTH Trains' RealTrax
By Ray L. Plummer | March 3, 2021
A little maintenance keeps your trains on track
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RealTrax switch with bottom cover removed
MTH RealTrax O-31 switch
MTH RealTrax O-31 switch
Here are a few tips and tricks when working with MTH RealTrax:
 1. The two ground rails are not tied together. This is true for other track systems using non-metallic ties, including those from Atlas O and GarGraves. If you add a switch, you need to add a lockon and make sure it's on the opposite side of the track from the first lockon. This assures ground on both outside rails and prevents loss of ground through the switches. It also enhances the signal using a command system, and it gives a better chance that the ground power will be on all the track sections in case a copper connector was missed during assembly.
MTH RealTrax O-31 switch
MTH Illuminated Lock-On
 1. The larger the layout becomes, the more lockons are needed. Alternate the sides as you install them. MTH sells a separate ground track, which connects the two outside rails. If you can't find an MTH ground track, it's easy to make. Take any piece of track and solder a wire (under the track) from one copper contact to the other ground rail.
 1. If you're having trouble snapping the track together, put a small drop of plastic-compatible oil, such as Labelle no. 108, on the mating plastic connections.
 1. If you have an area where trains stop, remove the track in question and check that the copper contacts are still spot-welded to the rail. If they are, use a digital multimeter set to read resistance in ohms to check continuity. Disconnect the transformer, and then hold one probe on top of the rail while gently pressing down on the copper contact. It should show continuity. If it doesn't, the weld has broken and you should replace the track. Or see no. 5.
 1. Fortunately, a broken weld is easily fixed. Using a 1⁄16-inch bit, drill through the copper contact slightly into the rail where it was spot-welded. Using a soldering iron, fill the hole with solder.
 1. A "chattering" switch or a switch that throws by itself is usually caused by the non-derailing feature. Underneath are two ground rails that come together to form a V; they throw the points if a train approaches and they're set in the wrong direction. Once wheels have touched them, they ground and energize the switch rails to throw the points. Sometimes when the track hasn't been laid straight, it can cause these rails to touch. One way to solve this is to grind a small amount of metal from the end of the rail and insert a piece of plastic as an insulator. Attach the plastic to the rail with super glue, and sand to the same contour as the rail.
 1. If a train stops after going through a switch, the ground was probably lost. Place another lockon after the switch on the opposite side of the first lockon. Check track continuity before, through, and after the switch.
 1. If the points fail to close against the stock rail, turn the switch over and remove the bottom plate. You'll see two small, V-shaped springs with a round piece of plastic between them. Both legs of the spring should be on the same side of the post. If one has jumped over, carefully lift it to the correct side.
RealTrax switch with bottom cover removed
RealTrax switch with bottom cover removed
 1. Switch won't throw? When using track power, be sure the copper jumper under the first two screw terminals is making contact. If you're using auxiliary power, remove the jumper. Sometimes it's just a matter of reseating the switch motor. Watch the small magnets in the throw bars. They're sensitive to polarity, which can repel instead of grabbing the throw bar if in the wrong direction. Most often it's a problem with the controller. Take the controller apart and remove the light bulbs. Set your multimeter to ohms, and touch one probe to the black wire and the other to the red one. Move the handle and check for continuity. Then check the green wire and bend the copper contacts as needed.
 1. You can test switches on a workbench. Using wires with alligator clips, hook them to a power source. Clip the red, or hot, to a center rail. Take the ground, and touch each of the control rails for the non-derailing feature opposite from where the points are set. The switch points should throw to the correct position. Next, touch the ground to each of the two screws where the red and green wires would go from the controller. The switch should throw both ways.
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Grant curse no longer weighing on Giants
Grant curse no longer weighing on Giants
That's one nail in the plague.
And one for the plaque.
If the San Francisco Giants knew it would be this easy, they would have allowed Eddie Grant back on the wall a long time ago. With Wednesday night's Game 1 victory over Texas, they have taken the first step toward perhaps their first World Series triumph since 1954.
What of such significance could possibly have come between the Giants of '54 and today? Besides a continental shift of 2,600 miles, that is?
A plaque dedicated to Grant, an unlikely turn-of-the-century ballplayer and World War I hero, and prominently mounted on the center-field wall of the Polo Grounds went missing. This was no pea-sized homage, but a five-foot rectangular memorial clearly visible in that famous clip of Willie Mays' over-the-shoulder grab in the '54 Classic.
Grant was killed on Oct. 5, 1918, in the Battle of Argonne in France. The New York Giants unveiled their tribute between games of a Memorial Day doubleheader in 1921.
With that plaque looking over them, the Giants won the 1921 World Series, then three more before venturing West. In 1958, the franchise moved to San Francisco, lock, stock and barrel -- but no Grant plaque, which did not survive the fans' on-field invasion following the Polo Grounds farewell game of Sept. 29, 1957.
The mysterious disappearance of the plaque isn't what angered the baseball muses. But did they subsequently punish the Giants for their disinterest in locating the missing original plaque, or in authorizing a replacement?
Baseball historians think so. As do authors Mickey Bradley and Dan Gordon, who explore the phenomenon in a pair of books, "Field of Screams: Haunted Tales from the Baseball Diamond, the Locker Room and Beyond" and "Haunted Baseball: Ghosts, Curses, Legends & Eerie Events."
Through the San Francisco years, the Giants were frequently approached by various groups about installing a makeup memorial, but were repeatedly rejected by an ownership that considered Grant part of the New York Giants' past. The last such spurned overture was made by the Great War Society in December 2001.
Ten months later, the Giants lost another World Series, to the Angels.
On Memorial Day 2006, Giants ownership finally gave in and mounted a replica plaque to Grant at AT&T Park, a club official at the time telling the author Bradley, "Baseball fans are so superstitious, and players are too, so you have to take this stuff seriously. And if by putting up a plaque we can break some sort of curse, who's to say it's not the right thing to do?"
We're about to find out, across the next 10 days.
The Polo Grounds original plaque read:
PHILADELPHIA NATIONALS _PHONE_-1910
CINCINNATI REDS _PHONE_
NEW YORK GIANTS _PHONE_
The replica is a faithful reproduction mounted near AT&T Park's Lefty O'Doul entrance. O'Doul was a career.349 hitter who won a pair of National League batting titles -- he nearly hit.400 in 1929, when he finished at.398. Meaning, he and Grant had nothing in common.
Grant may have been baseball's first renaissance man. He was Harvard-educated and grammatically-correct, known to get on teammates' nerves by yelling on pop flies, "I have it," rather than the traditional but ungrammatical, "I got it."
As a ballplayer, Grant was an accessory. In a 10-year career, he never hit higher than.277, had good speed but only moderate extra-base pop. He had his greatest success early in his career with the Athletics and was really only a blip on the Giants' radar, playing 202 games for them in three seasons.
But he wore the hero's mantle well. He volunteered for the military in 1917, at 34 being well beyond draft age, and distinguished himself as a brave battlefield leader before falling.
So the N.Y. Giants were honoring the man, not the ballplayer, with that plaque. After many decades, the Giants recognized that Eddie Grant towered above the limitations of being "part of New York Giants history," and they did right.
Whether it serves them right, we'll soon know.