text:
Home › Forums › Previous Months › 70 – July 2022: The Last Express › Impressions
This topic has 5 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 5 months, 1 week ago by copypaper.
July 4, 2022 at 8:17 am #6251
I stumbled to the end of The Last Express over the weekend, decided I didn't entirely understand the events and played through it again. It all came together on the second playthrough, picking up all the little clues I should have discovered the first time around. I have to say, I absolutely love this game. It falls under the interactive movie genre to me (which I always have enjoyed despite the negative press). I love the way you are completely free to follow everyone around, and view all the events from every different angle. The fact that everyone actually speaks their own language and you get subtitles for the ones you understand. Also, the way it doesn't stick to a rigid timeline but gives some leeway to set events off when you are in range and still manages to keep it all together. The plot is unusually intelligent with rounded characters and makes me feel like I need to know more about the origins of the first world war to really understand it. There is a piece in the strategy guide penned by Jordan Mechner's school history teacher about the war which I'll have to read during the month.
There aren't a huge number of puzzles, it's more about soaking in the atmosphere and figuring out all the characters and their motivations. The clues for the puzzles are all quite subtle, you have to be paying attention right from the start but I suppose that is where the rewind comes in. I possibly should have made more use of that. It's not the longest game. I still took a while to play it the second time but I certainly expect to see everyone finishing it this month.
I'm quite impressed by the tech to pull all this off. It's effectively layering FMV to get all the characters moving around at the same time but all runs smoothly off a CD. Possibly a reason for the reduced frame rate at times.
As far as downsides, it would have been nice if the animation would have been smooth throughout. You get used to it after a while so it's not a real problem – all this rotoscoping must have been incredibly time consuming as it was. I'm not so sure about the "supernatural" element that comes in at the end – it possibly feels a bit out of place in such a historically grounded story but I suppose if Indiana Jones can get away with it.
I had played this before years ago but don't think I really fully appreciated it until going back this month. It's definitely been one of my favourite DGC games so far. Curious to know if everyone else will like it as much.
Tijn
July 10, 2022 at 9:00 pm #6266
I'm glad it's mostly about taking in the vibe, because that's exactly what I've been doing so far. I'm on my first playthrough and don't really understand what's going on exactly, but I seem to be progressing regardless, so I'm just going along for the ride haha
firefyte
Oh boy was that a train ride!
I am wondering why I never played this title, maybe it was just not a title I was looking into then, but it sure took me on a ride this time.
Music is fantastic as well as the audio direction. There is obviously a lot going on and you can sort of learn all the details of everyone, and read more into the lore.
Some sections feel extremely time-critical, and I found multiple ways of doing things, and lingering about on the longer segments, and getting a bad ending or seven along the way. This also ended up as a really stressful towards the end, not knowing if I have enough time to get stuff done, or if I forgot something and then I would have to go back 2h.
Even still, the story was compelling and it does warrant a playthrough or three. I did end up standing around and waiting sometimes, which was a bit frustrating, didn't find a mechanism to speed up time (even for a bit), but I did like the double-click move and rewind mechanics, although sometimes it is unclear what you actually should do, requiring a bad ending or two or a full location rewind to experience what you wanted.
The game is very interesting on how it accomplishes much in such small (physical) space. I didn't mind or care for the rotoscoping style, at some places it was really nice, others it was more meh.
As pix says, there is a lot of soaking in the atmosphere, and some of the characters are blatantly obvious as to who they are.
I can't wait for the discussion of this, also need to check the other threads for more opinions &c. I can also see why this has been top on many adventure game rankings.
July 25, 2022 at 10:52 pm #6333
Ok, I just finished the game. I was kind of into it from the start, but only slightly really, as I found it all quite confusing.
But the 2nd half of the game, from Vienna and beyond, has me absolutely blown away. The game just builds and builds as you get deeper into it, and where I found all the characters to be quite confusing at first, it all fell into place as the story progressed.
By the time the finale is over and ending credits scroll by, I was really moved by this incredible game. What a story, what a production, truly remarkable.
I strongly urge anyone playing this to try and make it all the way to the end. What a game.
rnlf
I finally finished it, too.
Overall, it's a brilliant movie with (some) very clever puzzles. The atmosphere is great, music, art direction everything just perfect.
Sadly, the gameplay itself was frustrating at times for me. I also hit a bug when transitioning from part 2 to part 3. First time I didn't meet Kahina after steeling the briefcase from Kronos, so I didn't get the scene with Kronos where he takes the scarf. Somehow that kept the things after Vienna from properly unfold. Neither did Tatiana come to my compartment to ask for help with her Alexei problem, nor did the conductor make my bed (he entered, stayed for a couple seconds and returned without doing anything). So I couldn't get the dream that foreshadows Alexei's death.
Second time, I had the briefcase with me while arriving at Vienna. While everything worked as expected (Tatiana came and I could go sleep), I couldn't put the briefcase away anymore, which meant I couldn't equip the master key to get into Alexei's compartment and find the detonator.
I had to replay from all the way back from the beginning of the concert several times to get it working. I had to consult a walk through to understand what was missing and try and fix it.
Anyway, some of the puzzles do not give proper feedback, which is sad. Figuring out how to get past Vienna in the first place was problematic, with so many things that need to be done in a short amount of time.
I also have some open questions regarding the story: Why didn't I just give the firebird to Kronos? Except for the story to proceed past Belgrade, there was no reason not to, as far as I can tell? Also, how did Kronos and Kahina get back onto the train? How did they outrun it to be in Ottoman Empire before the train got there?
Also, what did I miss about Robert and Anna? Where did that love story come from all of a sudden? In my playthrough, they only talked like two or three times before getting to Budapest.
Anyway, all in all I'm glad I finally tried the game. It does have some nasty issues in game play, but that's easily made up for by the brilliant writing (except for my two questions above, which are probably explained somewhere) and atmosphere. Clearly a work of art and directed by someone who's clearly interested in making movies more than games.
copypaper
August 25, 2022 at 4:57 pm #6421
My experience replaying it mirrors rnlf. There are segments that basically seem impossible without significant trial and error, which is very frustrating.
Back when I played it the first time closer to release, I was willing to troubleshoot through some of the more obtuse puzzles. I had a lot more patience and time back then. Also, I agree that it seems like you can wind up on paths that basically make it impossible to finish without going way back.
But two things still stand out. The research and world building of the characters, train, and time period are still second to none. Compared to anything else FMV from the time, it's actually great writing and acting. I know many of the characters are real people that were extensively researched, which comes through in the game. Nobody even tries to make experiences like this now.
Second, the concept of a realtime adventure game is still pretty wild to me. I can't think of anything else that lets you walk around what feels like a movie set in normal time, playing an adventure game. It is this premise that I think causes many of the gameplay issues later on, but if you forget the game's puzzles and issues, and just wander for a while and imagine you're on the train in the time period, there is nothing else quite like The Last Express.


The Ofwat consultation, titled 'Proposal to vary South West Water's area of appointment to include the Isles of Scilly' can be found at the Ofwat website.
Scilly's Council and the Duchy of Cornwall have urged residents to respond to a public consultation about South West Water extending its license to cover Scilly.
The Mermaid Inn on St Mary's has applied for permission to sell alcohol until midnight every night.
Tresco Estate has invited Isles of Scilly residents living with cancer to enjoy a regular Spa Day on the island.


text:
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (646 - 705), (Arabisch:عبد الملك بن مروان) was een kalief uit de dynastie van de Omajjaden. Hij regeerde van 685 tot zijn dood in 705. Hij was de zoon van kalief Marwan I, die slechts één jaar regeerde. Tijdens zijn regering woedde de Tweede Fitna (680-692) (burgeroorlog).

Onder zijn bewind veroverden de Arabieren de Maghreb. (Slag bij Carthago (698)).

Hervormer
Abd Al-Malik voerde belangrijke hervormingen door. Zo werd het Arabisch ingevoerd als officiële regeringstaal. Ook voerde hij een grootscheepse geldhervorming door met de invoering van de gouden dinar en de zilveren dirham in 696-697, die een in de munthistorie revolutionair uiterlijk kregen. Er werd rigoureus gebroken met de gebruikelijke imitaties van Sassanidische en Byzantijnse munten: de dinar en de dirham bevatten alleen regels tekst in plaats van portretten en symbolen. De naam van het land of van de kalief werd niet genoemd, alleen de shahada is er in hoekig koefisch schrift op te lezen. Verder werd er consequent een jaartal Anno Hegirae op aangebracht.

Daarnaast zette de kalief een efficiënte postdienst op en liet hij in Jeruzalem de Rotskoepel bouwen. Ook werd het herstel van de beschadigde Kaaba door hem ter hand genomen.

De laatste jaren van zijn regering waren vreedzaam. Abd al-Malik werd na zijn dood in 705 opgevolgd door zijn zoon Al-Walid I.

Zie ook
 Byzantijns-Arabische oorlogen

Kalief
Omajjaden

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Putin: 'We don't want the USSR back but no one believes us' 21 декабря 2015, 13:55
Russia is not trying to bring back the USSR, President Vladimir Putin said in a documentary aired Sunday, but the problem is that "nobody wants to believe it"
Russia is not trying to bring back the USSR, President Vladimir Putin said in a documentary aired Sunday, but the problem is that "nobody wants to believe it", AFP reports.
Since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis, which saw pro-Russian leader Viktor Yanukovych ousted by pro-European demonstrators, Moscow has accused the West of using "the politics of containment" in a Cold War throwback.
"With Ukraine and other areas of the former USSR, I'm sure our Western partners aren't working in the interests of Ukraine, they are working to prevent the recreation of the USSR," he said in "World Order", a documentary broadcast on the public Rossiya 1 channel.
"But nobody wants to believe us, nobody wants to believe that we're not trying to bring the Soviet Union back," he said.
The president also used the documentary to take a familiar swipe at Western intervention in North Africa and the Middle East.
"You can't just impose your version of democracy, of good and evil, onto people of other cultures, with other religions and traditions in this mechanic, automatic way," he said.
"Apparently (the West) think they're infallible, but when the moment comes to take some responsibility, they disappear."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: colormap/datatip issue in Matlab figure I run this code
A = uint8( ones( 200 ) );
a = [ A * 0 A * 1; ...
      A * 2 A * 3 ];

color_map = [ 0    0    0; ...
              0.3  0.3  0.3; ...
              0.9  0.3  0.1; ...
              1    1    1; ...
              zeros( 252, 3 ) ];

h = image( a );
colormap( color_map );

Then, I select a point in the figure using the datatip feature. This makes the colors in the figure change. They still have the same indices and RBG values, but they are different colors. Then, I delete the datatip, and the colors return to their proper colors.
Using,
set(gcf, 'Renderer', 'opengl')

makes the issue go away, but I'm wondering if there is a way to avoid having to do that? I am using MATLAB R2013b.

A: This line prevents the behaviour you mentioned above:
set(0, 'DefaultFigureRenderer', 'opengl');

It sets the renderer for all the new figures.
You can place that line in the startup.m file.
To learn more about startup file, go to:
http://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/startup.html
(you basicly generate that file if it does not exist, and put there the code you want to run whenever Matlab starts up).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
"""
Helpers for writing Axiom tests.
"""

import sys
import io

import six

from twisted.python.filepath import FilePath

from twisted.trial.unittest import SkipTest

from axiom.store import Store

_theBaseStorePaths = {}
def _getBaseStorePath(testCase, creator):
    if creator not in _theBaseStorePaths:
        s = creator(testCase)
        _theBaseStorePaths[creator] = s.dbdir
        s.close()
    return _theBaseStorePaths[creator]

def getPristineStore(testCase, creator):
    """
    Get an Axiom Store which has been created and initialized by C{creator} but
    which has been otherwise untouched.  If necessary, C{creator} will be
    called to make one.

    @type testCase: L{twisted.trial.unittest.TestCase}
    @type creator: one-argument callable
    @param creator: A factory for the Store configuration desired.  Will be
    invoked with the testCase instance if necessary.
    @rtype: L{axiom.store.Store}
    """
    dbdir = FilePath(testCase.mktemp())
    basePath = _getBaseStorePath(testCase, creator)
    basePath.copyTo(dbdir)
    return Store(dbdir)

class CommandStubMixin:
    """
    Pretend to be the parent command for a subcommand.
    """
    def getStore(self):
        # fake out "parent" implementation for stuff.
        return self.store

    def getSynopsis(self):
        return '<CommandStubMixin>'

    subCommand = property(lambda self: self.__class__.__name__)

class CommandStub(object):
    """
    Mock for L{axiom.scripts.axiomatic.Options} which is always set as the
    C{parent} attribute of an I{axiomatic} subcommand.

    @ivar _store: The L{Store} associated which will be supplied to the
        subcommand.
    """
    def __init__(self, store, subCommand):
        self._store = store
        self.subCommand = subCommand

    def getSynopsis(self):
        return "Usage: axiomatic [options]"

    def getStore(self):
        return self._store

class QueryCounter:
    """
    This is a counter object which measures the number of VDBE instructions
    SQLite will execute to fulfill a particular query.

    The count of VDBE instructions is very useful as a proxy for CPU time and
    disk usage, because it (as opposed to CPU time and disk usage) is
    deterministic between runs of a given query regardless of various accidents
    of operating-system latency.

    When creating data for a query involving a limit, start with B{more} Items
    than will be returned by the limited query, not exactly the right number.
    SQLite will do a little bit more work in the case where the limit restricts
    the number of Items returned, and this will cause a test to fail even
    though the performance characteristics being demonstrated are actually
    correct.

    Put another way, if you are testing::

        s.query(MyItem, limit=5)

    You should create six instances of C{MyItem} before the first C{measure}
    call and then create one or more additional instances of C{MyItem} before
    the second C{measure} call.
    """

    def __init__(self, store):
        """
        Create a new query counter and install it on the provided store.

        @param store: an axiom L{Store}.
        """
        self.reset()
        self.store = store

        c = self.store.connection._connection
        # XXX: this only works with the pysqlite backend, even _with_ the hack
        # detection; if we ever care about the apsw backend again, we should
        # probably do something about adding the hack to it, adding this as a
        # public Axiom API, or something.
        sph = getattr(c, "set_progress_handler", None)
        if sph is None:
            raise SkipTest(
                "QueryCounter requires PySQLite 2.4 or newer, or a patch "
                "(see <http://initd.org/tracker/pysqlite/ticket/182>) to "
                "expose the set_progress_handler API.")
        sph(self.progressHandler, 1)

    def progressHandler(self):
        """
        This method will be called internally by SQLite for each bytecode executed.

        It increments a counter.

        @return: 0, aka SQLITE_OK, so that this does not abort the current
        query.
        """
        self.counter += 1
        return 0

    def reset(self):
        """Reset the internal counter to 0.
        """
        self.counter = 0

    def measure(self, f, *a, **k):
        """
        The primary public API of this class, which runs a given function and
        counts the number of bytecodes between its start and finish.

        @return: an integer, the number of VDBE instructions executed.
        """
        save = self.counter
        self.reset()
        try:
            f(*a, **k)
        finally:
            result = self.counter
            self.counter = save
        return result

def callWithStdoutRedirect(f, *a, **kw):
    """
    Redirect stdout and invoke C{f}.

    @returns: C{(returnValue, stdout})
    """
    if six.PY3:
        output = io.StringIO()
    else:
        # We need to emulate stdio implicit encoding goofiness on python 2,
        # because some things write text to stdout and some things write bytes
        import StringIO
        output = StringIO.StringIO()
    sys.stdout, stdout = output, sys.stdout
    try:
        result = f(*a, **kw)
    finally:
        sys.stdout = stdout
    return result, output

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


After the completion of the Surfing America USA Championships on Sunday, a new team was chosen to represent the US. Under head coach Ian Cairns, only 12 of the 21 young shredders will be able to travel to next years Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships.
Names like Kolohe Andino, Evan Geiselman, Conner Coffin, Lakey Peterson, and Luke Davis have not only had a considerable amount of experience for their young age, but also possess a level of skill that far surpasses anything we've seen from their age group. Expect big things from this group of wonder-kids.


text:
Krebbingen is een term die gebruikt wordt voor de houten palen die op vrij korte afstand voor de wierriem van een wierdijk geplaatst worden. Een wierriem is een dikke laag zeegras, vroeger werd dat zeewier genoemd. De term krebbingen schijnt alleen in West-Friesland gebruikt te zijn. De palen hadden tot taak om het (heel lichte) zeegras op zijn plaats te houden tijdens golfaanval. Om kantelen van de wierriem tegen te gaan werd aan de teen in dunne laag steen gestort, de krebbingsteen.

Ontstaan
Het gebruik van zeegras als dijkverdediging is al heel oud, het wordt al in de 14e eeuw vermeld. De eerst bekende vermelding van krebbing stamt uit 1594: "In deeze tydt, was Jelle Adriaanz.  Wynsz. Dykgraaf van de vier Noorder-Coggen, heeft aldereerst bedacht en uytgevonden, tot bescherming van de Zeedyk, zeekere werken buiten aan de Wierdyk, die men Crebbings noemde, en noch alzoo genaamt werden, die noch huiden by de Inwoonders (om haar groote onkosten) zeer wel bekent zyn,  de eerste Crebbingh wierde doe geslagen voor de Spanbroekerdyk bewesten de Twiskerbrug".
In deze zelfde kroniek wordt vanaf pagina 367 uitgebreid de problemen met de wierdijken en de krebbingen besproken.

Ook Zacharias l'Epie vermeldt in zijn boek "Onderzoek over de oude en tegenwoordige natuurlyke gesteldheyd van Holland..." van 1734 op blz 184 en 185 de krebbingen. Hij beschrijft de krebbingen als volgt: "Men (heeft) de Wier-riemen voorzien met een ry zware palen, welke Krebbing word genaamt, staande drie of meer voeten van den Wier-dyk in Zee, en die spatie, tot boven gemeen of dagelyks gety, gevult met sparren, en die met deelen getafelt of overdekt, en daar op een genoegsame veelheyd van Kreb- of Krebbing-steenen gelegt. (...) Deze Krebbing, dus toegestelt, dient niet alleen om den slag van't water te breken, en alzoo 't uytslaan of uytkolken van den Wier-dyk zoo veel mogelyk te beletten; maar ook de wier te ondersteunen, en 't overzetten van den zelven, door de zwaarte van de inleggende kreb-stenen, wlke tot een tegen-gewigt ten 't gewicht van de wier verstrekken, voor te komen."

Opmerking
Volledig houten wanden als zeewering, zoals bijvoorbeeld bij Schokland worden geen krebbingen genoemd.

Referenties

Dijk
Geschiedenis van West-Friesland
Dijk in Noord-Holland


text:
America's Escape Game – Crisis at 1600 [Review]
4 January 2017 21 June 2017 by Lisa Spira, posted in America's Escape Game, Orlando, Reviews
Crash the White House.
Date played: November 14, 2016
Team size: up to 10; we recommend 5-7
A paramilitary group launched missiles at the White House and we needed to enter the Oval Office to disarm them.
For the most part, Crisis at 1600 was a standard office escape room with a style of furniture and props that suggested a governmental office. It was themed, but the set design didn't elevate the drama of the mission.
Image via America's Escape Game
Crisis at 1600 relied heavily on busywork puzzles. Once we had determined how to solve something, it took quite some time to execute the solution.
The puzzles were not distributed evenly throughout the game. This unevenness created bottlenecking, which would be magnified with large teams.
The penultimate segment of Crisis at 1600 was unusually designed and a lot of fun.
Everything before and after that aforementioned section lacked punch. We were completing tedious puzzles in a governmental office.
One particular portion of the game demanded accuracy while forcing us to use an inaccurate toy as a precision tool. The concept was exciting, but the execution was frustrating. Our gamemaster interrupted this segment to inform us that should we not succeed at the task, we'd have to burn a hint to move forward in the game.
Players with knowledge of American government and history will be able to steamroll portions of Crisis at 1600. We completed a section of the room escape out of order because we had the outside knowledge to both speed up and bypass puzzles.
There was one tedious newspaper-style puzzle.
Should I play America's Escape Game's Crisis at 1600?
Multiple people in Orlando have suggested to us that this is the greatest room escape they've ever played. We don't know what to make of that. Did they seeing something we didn't? Or is it that everyone loves their first time?
This is America's Escape Game's flagship game. While Crisis at 1600 may have given the company its start, at the end of 2016, it felt dated. If they want to lean on this experience as a flagship, it needs to be updated. It's a great concept and there is opportunity to create a dramatic space, an emotional roller coaster, and more interesting puzzles. They could make this game that into that special something.
That said, as we played it, Crisis at 1600 was a very average room escape. New players will enjoy it; experienced players could certainly have fun puzzling for America, but won't find much to write their representative about.
America's Escape Game seems a well-managed and disciplined company, but we don't understand the Crisis at 1600 hype. We hope they can build more drama and intrigue into their White House.
Book your hour with America's Escape Game's Crisis at 1600, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Full disclosure: America's Escape Game provided media discounted tickets for this game.
Previous postA Look Back, A Glance Forward
Next postEscape Room Madness – The Perfect Crime [Review]


text:
Q: How to add a property to reactive object VueJS 3? export default {
  setup() {
    const imageUrl = ref("");
    const title = ref("");
    const description = ref("");
    var source = "Global";

    const form = reactive({
      title: "",
      description: "",
      // src: source,
    });
    //...
  }
}

How do I add src: "source" (a new property) to form (the reactive object)? Like how we append on ref.

A: You can assign the field directly via form.src = source. For example, you could have a function that does this:
const addSourceToForm = () => form.src = source

And you can call that function later, e.g., from a button click:
<button @click="addSourceToForm">Add source</button>

demo


This Tass 3 compartment AV floor box plate can be installed directly into a Tass 3 compartment floor box, no separate adaptors required.
With this floor box AV plate, you can expand the mutlimedia connectivity of any Tass 3 floor box by adding HDMI tail connection, VGA tail connection and 3.5mm audio jack connections.
The floor box AV plate is finished in a high quality stainless brushed aluminium.
HDMI Tail connection, VGA Tail connection and 3.5mm Audio Jack Connections.
Finished in a high quality stainless brushed aluminium.
Can be installed directly into Tass 3 compartment floor box.


text:
TechXplorer Issue 28 Covers Rocsole's Success
Shell's TechXplorer publication covers Rocsole's success story in it's latest issue no. 28. With permission from Shell, we're publishing that piece.
The first time a cinema audience heard an amplified film soundtrack was when Eric Tigerstedt, the "Thomas Edison of Finland", demonstrated his patented "photomagnetophone" in 1914. The device was never commercialised, however; the inventor ran out of money and lacked good business advice. Finnish company Rocsole has not made the same mistake. It has secured the support of Shell Ventures, thereby receiving not only seed capital but also inspiration for new pipeline-inspection devices and insights into the oil and gas business.
When Rocsole was formed in 2012, the company comprised a handful of technically driven research and development engineers, scientists and mathematicians. The cofounders were all from the University of Eastern Finland. Jari Kaipio and Marko Vauhkonen were professors in the department of applied physics, and Anssi Lehikoinen and Pasi Laakkonen held PhDs; Pasi had also been the research director of the physics department. Their strengths were in the processing of digital data and their focus was on the commercialisation of related technology.
The services they planned to bring to market relied on sophisticated digital signal processing to turn electrical capacitance measurements made inside a pipe or tank into real-time tomographic images of fluids and solids in a cross section of the equipment being monitored. Initially, they positioned the start-up as an industrial-process-monitoring company and planned to promote their tomography services in the mining sector.
As work progressed on imaging the inside of pipelines, it became clear that the oil and gas sector was a natural and potentially lucrative market for their technologies. In September 2015, Anssi and Pasi visited Amsterdam to pitch for Shell's business.
The potential of the Rocsole system as an alternative to pipeline pigging and other
inspection techniques was clear to those at the demonstration. The laboratory-scale, proof-ofconcept set-up they saw was able to identify wax, scale and asphaltene deposits inside a pipe spool in real time without needing the potentially hazardous radioactive sources found in competing systems. In practice, however, the technology was far from ready for deployment in oil and gas processes.
Peter van Giessel, who looks after Shell Ventures' oil and gas portfolio, sums up his initial thoughts on the company: "When we met Rocsole, its products looked useful but were not mature or reliable." But that was not all; it seemed to Shell that Rocsole did not really understand the oil and gas business. "A big hurdle was that the pipe had to be cut to install the deposit sensor. We knew that few asset managers would have an appetite to do this unless it coincided with maintenance activities, which meant the potential market was rather small."
Although the demonstration failed to generate much immediate interest, it did spark an idea to modify the way in which the technology was deployed. Loek Vreenegoor, then general manager of Shell's pipelines, flow assurance and subsea engineering group, saw the potential for mounting Rocsole's sensors on a pipeline pig. This would enable the inside-out imaging of deposits along the entire length of a pipeline. Supported by Loek, Rocsole started to develop a prototype in-line inspection tool while also working on its static sensors for oil and gas applications.
Aware that it might be seeing the birth of a new, capacitance-based pipeline inspection tool, Shell Ventures continued to follow the company's progress with interest. Peter remembers that several months of downtime and very high costs had once resulted from an inspection pig becoming stuck in a North Sea pipeline. "We got excited by the work being done at Rocsole, because its sensors could work with a relatively large standoff from the pipe wall. There was the possibility that a Rocsole pig could be smaller than conventional pigs, and this would make it less likely to become stuck."
When Rocsole started looking for equity backing in 2015, it approached a range of potential partners that included equipment manufacturers, chemical and oil companies, and technology venture capitalists. Among them it hoped to find candidates that were open to new ideas, innovators and early adopters. "The oil and gas industry is conservative when it comes to adopting innovative technologies, so we needed help building credibility and understanding," says Mika Tienhaara, previously a member of the board of directors and now the chief executive officer. "Partnering with Shell was a good fit for us at that phase of the company's development, so, when it came to selecting backers, we put Shell Ventures near the top of our list."
Figure 1: Rocsole adapted its processing techniques for creating tomographic images of pipe cross sections to work with data coming from sensors mounted on a pipeline pig.
Buying in
Shell Ventures took a minority equity stake in Rocsole in 2017, just as the in-line inspection tool was moving from a proof of concept into the development phase. Positive results from a probe sensor installation at a Finnish tank farm in 2016 also contributed to growing confidence within the company that it had a viable way of addressing customers' problems. However, as time passed, investors wanted to see the company's products brought to market more quickly and at a lower cost.
Mika attributes the slower than anticipated commercialisation of Rocsole's growing portfolio of ideas to the backgrounds of his team's members. "Our guys are terrific, but they were used to doing research and development, they felt comfortable with that." He candidly describes the unfamiliar landscape that the company now found itself in and the challenges that came with it. "It is quite common for start-up companies to get stuck in the proof-of-concept or piloting stage and fail to scale up commercially. We did not want to do that. We were conscious that we needed to move beyond trying to prove that our technology could work to ensuring that it did work and showing how it could bring value to customers."
As the priorities and requirements of the oil and gas industry became clearer from discussions with potential customers and investors, Shell Ventures was able to offer Rocsole valuable input (see boxed text, Board talk). For example, it emphasised the urgent need for the company's products to be certified to IECEx standards for use in explosive atmospheres. As Mika recalls, "Shell challenged us in a positive way. To be honest, they gave us the push that we needed."
The results were encouraging. The increased interest from Shell in Rocsole's tank and separator monitoring technologies is attributed to the company gaining IECEx certification for its sensors. Shell now believes that these services offer potential savings on maintenance activities, as well as being relatively cheap compared with the alternatives. This view vindicates Rocsole's underlying proposition, which is that it offers insights that help operators to cut their operating costs and improve production.
Rocsole now differentiates its services from other investigation services in the way it applies its expertise in data acquisition and analytics. Instead of applying algorithms to interpret occasional snapshots from sensors installed for other purposes, Rocsole's technology captures proprietary electrical data many times per second. This enables it to provide insights into flow regimes with accreting solids – environments in which conventional sensors would be rendered inoperable by fouling or the buildup of deposits.
Peter is complimentary about the progress that Rocsole has made since Shell Ventures took an equity interest. At the outset, it recognised that it was investing in a small, highly driven company, one that was endeavouring to follow up too many leads at once. "As a start-up, it was natural that Rocsole was trying to offer exactly what every potential customer wanted," recalls Peter "but this was placing heavy demands on the company and often opportunities were not being realised."
One of Shell Ventures' roles was to infuse some realism. "We had to push the company quite hard to change," says Peter. "We wanted to see a more focused sales force with a change in the incentive structure to drive sales. But we had to strike the right balance and not stifle the entrepreneurial spirit."
Mika is also realistic about the time it took to build a trusting relationship, given the different cultures of Rocsole and Shell. "Of course, there have been challenges every now and then," he says, with good humour. He puts some of this down to cultural differences, noting that Finns are not the
most naturally outgoing people. "It took time to get to know each other," he continues, "but now everybody realises that open communication is the way to make the best of the relationship."
The company's willingness to outsource the development of explosion-proof equipment, which had been on the agenda for around 18 months, is representative of the sort of changes that came about. "I think working with Shell has been a very good way of moving our company forward by future-proofing what we are doing," says Mika. Commenting that the relationship has provided a relatively forgiving environment to test ideas, he notes, "I would rather have Shell give us its candid views, whatever they are, before going out to other companies!"
The value of Rocsole's innovations appears to have been recognised in the marketplace. In 2019, it gained 15 new clients representing a fourfold increase on the total at the beginning of that year and reported a year-on-year increase in revenues from €152,000 ($170,000) to €808,000 ($905,000). Oil and gas sector customers now include operators Equinor, Neste, Repsol, OMV, ExxonMobil and Suncor as well as oilfield services companies.
Board talk
Shell Ventures expects to make a return on its investments. However, it can play a longer game than most venture capital players and only invests in companies with technologies that have the potential to benefit Shell. Reflecting these priorities, Shell Ventures typically has a seat on each company's board and assigns a member of its implementation team to help align the offerings with Shell customers' needs.
Peter van Giessel is Shell Ventures' representative on Rocsole's board of directors. His role in this capacity is to look after Rocsole's interests, for example, by scrutinising the company's scenarios for commercialising and scaling up the deployment of its services and challenging other aspects of its growth strategy. With a dual role as an observer on the board and Shell Ventures' deployment manager, Michiel van Haersma Buma seeks to protect Shell's interests while maximising value for Shell, which involves finding applications for Rocsole's products within Shell's assets and facilitating their deployment.
Rocsole already has a variety of applications for its tomography techniques and customises its software for each. Its fixed sensors can reliably identify solid deposits and flow regimes in pipelines and fluid interfaces in tanks, separators and other industrial process facilities under challenging conditions (Figure 2). These solutions are proving to be especially effective in multiphase flows, where the current options in the market often fail.
Mika is very upbeat about the company's recent achievements. "We have enabled the industry to do continuous real-time monitoring and to see through layers of deposits, which is very difficult," he says, "and we can do this without using radioactive sources, which eliminates the need to manage significant health and safety issues."
Figure 2: Rocsole's Tank Profiler clearly maps the levels, thicknesses and variation over time of water, emulsion and sand layers in storage tanks.
In April, the company shipped a prototype of its Deposition In-Line Inspection (DILI) tool to Brunei, where an opportunity to test it in a real production environment had been identified. The objective of what is expected to be the first deployment of the tool is to validate the measurement technology in a 1-km length of 12-in. underground pipeline where wax deposits are expected. The plan is to run the DILI tool before and after a conventional pig has been used to clean the pipeline.
Although Loek remains involved in the testing and development of the DILI tool, new applications of Rocsole's sensors and tomographic processing are being explored in a range of oil and gas settings. Potential upstream applications of tomography include using DILI technology modified to run on electric wireline to monitor scale build-up in production well bores; and using a rig-mounted sensor to provide a new way of monitoring the presence of gas in drilling mud. This may significantly contribute to reducing the risk of well blowouts.
In up- and midstream applications, the technology has the potential to detect gas hydrates for flow assurance in flowlines and to scan for the presence of mercury in pipelines. It is also being adapted to determine the level of fluids in upstream electrostatic and downstream refinery desalters.
When used to monitor separators, Rocsole's sensors and software give valuable insights into the presence of emulsion layers, which are difficult to simulate and model using conventional methods. The company sees great potential for using its techniques in advanced separation solutions. For example, including data from an upstream pipe sensor able to detect incoming slugs can add to the effectiveness of Rocsole's predictive analytics.
Figure 3: Rocsole's 12-in. DILI tool being prepared for shipping to Brunei.
Intelligent applications
The company's short-to-medium-term goal is to derive greater benefits from its solutions by further leveraging its skills in data processing.
With half of its team working on software, coding and algorithms, Rocsole is focusing a significant part of its resources on artificial intelligence (AI) based predictive analytics and deep learning models to speed up data interpretation. The investment is already being rewarded; operations that have typically taken weeks can now be done in a few minutes. The company is also developing an AI system to predict separator performance and enable greater control automation and remote guidance; this is expected to have
compelling value when applied in unmanned production facilities and subsea processing.
The company's aim now is to train an AI system to forecast how quickly deposits and scale are likely to build up in systems. In the context of what Peter describes as "an ageing industry with less and less money in which it is necessary to squeeze more out of existing assets," he emphasises the potential of these developments. "Machine learning of trends in continuously acquired datasets has great potential for helping Shell to defer downtime through predictive maintenance."
Mika is satisfied that the company is now doing well with commercialising its established technologies, but notes that there still are areas where he would value more of Shell's expertise. Specifically, Rocsole's use of digital data is very closely aligned with Shell's ambition to implement machine learning as a core, transformative capability.
"We are very excited about using AI for driving predictive maintenance and are currently building a digital decision-supporting dashboard," he says, before concluding the interview with an appeal. "Shell Ventures has been a valuable partner on our journey to date. Now Rocsole would really like an opportunity to engage with Shell's digital transformation team. Perhaps we could find a way to collaborate on testing our new AI system in a pilot project!"
Previous Article Previous Article A Story Behind the LITI Product Line
Next Article Next Article Suez and Rocsole Partner on "Smart Desalter Controller" Solution


Find games for girls allow you to train care and have fun. Find items online games - are the games where you have to look for the hidden things given game.
One of the most popular entertainment among computer products are the ones that offer to look for items. This theme is developed in the different storylines and themes, thus creating a wider field of action for all audiences. Among the wide variety, you'll find games for girls, young men and older people of both sexes. Girls with pleasure open threads where your favorite doll, fairies, princesses and mermaids need help to find the details of clothes, cosmetics and jewelry. This may be due to the cleaning of the room or fees to the party. Find items online games can be part of a quest or act separate game, where the background images are hidden fragments of a thing, the whole artifacts or just letters, numbers, or hearts. In such a game to play well in between times when entertainment is not much time. But it's much more interesting to dive into a real fairy tale, where the scenario laid out and there are dialogues and a variety of tasks. In these stories, the game has a logical beginning and ending. In the course of it, the gamer collects all sorts of things that should be applied in a particular place and at the right time. These actions bring new discoveries and in the end they are the key elements for a successful completion of the stories. Games find the items require the player to observation and perseverance. Some things are hidden so skillfully that it is difficult to find even an experienced look. They blend in with the general background of the image, continue to loop images and create the illusion of extending the pattern. As the games go on time, does not always work, to cope with the task in the allotted time. For such cases, provided clues that point to the location of hidden objects. But you need to use them carefully as to restore the activity of such assistance takes time. Often, however, offered the opportunity to parameter settings games and confident players can complicate the task by turning off all prompts or make them subject to a minimum, but if you play for a while do not want to, you can cancel it altogether. In this case, the player will be able to search for all the items as long as they are normally not all of it will be y and not look at what the deadline expires. You can find free games on our gaming web portal that tries to diversify your leisure time the most attractive products. Among them you will find some familiar themes, which is always nice to come back, and new items, familiarity with which will bring you a new experience. If you would like to find games for free, you have found them! Some scenes reminiscent of detective stories, and you find yourself in the thick of things, becoming a seasoned detective. Someone stole a gold bracelet family, and someone lost a favorite dog. Collecting evidence, you are sure to attack a trail and unravel the events preceding the loss. The kids will be having fun playing games, where the main characters are the cartoon characters and art series for children. And adults are offered more complex, but also the usual subjects. We all know how sometimes difficult to find on the desktop pencil under gunpowder paper or a scrap of paper on which is written important information. That's just what they were before the eyes, and a moment later, as if vanished! In real life, these situations are annoying, but as a game, it is perfectly entertained. Choose a game and start to search for treasures, paper clips, or pets.


According to Dan Dan ciampa taking advice essay, too many leaders overlook this demand side of advice. In Taking Advice, Ciampa explains that more outside advisors than ever are offering leaders advice in increasingly costly projects. Excerpt from Essay: Right and Wrong Way of Doing Something: Making chocolate chip cookies Everyone loves chocolate chip cookies.
However, not everyone knows how to make good chocolate chip cookies the right way. In Taking Advice, Dan Ciampa conveys his experience and expertise in an enjoyable, interesting, and easytoread book. It is a must read for improving and enhancing business or personal life. Take my advicelearn from the expert! This paper explains that Dan Ciampa and Michael Watkins in" Right from the Start: Taking Charge in a New Leadership Role" introduce seven fundamental propositions for meeting the challenge of a new leadership position such as (1) a new leader has two to three years to make a noticeable difference in company culture and (2) new leaders Dan Ciampa.
Wise counsel& practical change strategies from an experienced adviser. Home; Background. Publications Articles. Here is a sample of the articles Dan has written: " The Art of Taking Advice and Using It Wisely"People& Strategy, Volume 33, Issue 2, 2010 Dan Ciampa is the author of Right From The Start (3.
67 avg rating, 67 ratings, 2 reviews, published 1999), Taking Advice (3. 83 avg rating, 6 ratings, 0 r Transformational Leadership Paper Essay. A Pages: 8 Words: 2161. This is just a sample. (Dan Ciampa 2005) Take Coca Cola for an example, when the company lost its CEO Robert Goizueta in 1997, the two subsequent CEOs suffered in his shadow, as people expected them to perform the same way Goizueta did, however, leading as suggested of Taking Advice and Dan Ciampa V.
The topic of how to take and use advice has not gotten the attention it deserves. I have been on the advicegiving side of the equation for a long time, and have offered help to many people who are very smart.
But I've meet very few smart clientsthat is, people who know how to find Looking at the argument that nearly all the thought and commentary regarding advice has been from the 'supply side the author argues that we need a better way of thinking about the 'demand side that is, a theory of advicetaking, as well as principles on how to take advice in practice.


Hey, what's that from above?
Is it love for blood?
Bright and rocking, yet still moody and thoughtful, British boys Sundara Karma have pretty much solid gems in their brief, 3-EP discography. Really looking forward to their debut LP coming this January. Good news, if you live in L.A. or SF, they just added tour dates for you this morning!


Mascots for a Cure is a tiny and amazing break from a families difficult reality with childhood cancer. They came into our lives and unite like family. These amazing people allowed our daughter Aaliyah to live her dream of opening up her bakery before her passing and we are extremely blessed for everything they had allowed her to see. Mascots for a Cure is important to us because they bring joy not just to the kids but to the whole family. We as a family believe Mascots for a Cure is something every kid needs to experience at least once in their life because of the amazing difference they make.


Our article on AR and FR gloves came out in the February-March 2019 edition of Incident Prevention.
Take advantage of the new gloves on the market today. There are more choices than ever.
"Stay ahead of the curve" by choosing gloves specific to the real hazard. Don't settle for simplistic terms like "flame-resistant" or "self-extinguishing" when your hazards may be more defined.
Read our full article online.


text:
Who's Driving the Rohingya into the Sea?
By Tony Cartalucci
Global Research, May 30, 2015
As the plight of the Rohingya, driven from Myanmar into the sea, gains increasing international attention, the same familiar voices across the West have begun climbing upon their soapboxes and pointing fingers at each and every nation refusing to accept them upon their shores. What is not mentioned, conveniently, is who drove them into the sea to begin with.
Who Are the Rohingya?
The Rohingya are a predominately Muslim people living in Myanmar's southwest state of Rakhine – and have lived there for generations. Many may be indigenous to Myanmar, having settled their centuries ago. Others may have come to Myanmar as a result of British rule during the 1800's.
Despite the fact that they have lived in Myanmar for generations, they have suffered as a stateless people, with the political dynamics in Myanmar making it nearly impossible to grant them citizenship without considerable conflict and the threat of widespread violence.
However, this is not because of the government of Myanmar will not grant them their citizenship.They have tried. It is the groups that have opposed Rohingya citizenship that has perpetuated this problem, groups the Western media has intentionally failed to expose and condemn.
Democracy Icon's "Saffron" Supporters
The group that is in fact driving the Rohingya from their homes in Myanmar and into the sea – and why this is not reported as the center of the current crisis – are the followers and supporters of the West's own "patron saint of democracy," Aung San Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi herself, and many of the NGOs that support her and her political network are directly and substantially underwritten by the US and British governments.
These NGOs and faux-news agencies include the Irrawaddy, Era Journal, and the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), all admitted by the Burma Campaign UK (page 15) to be funded by the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED) along with "Mizzima" also fully funded by NED and convicted financial criminal George Soros' Open Society.
There is also the "Burma Partnership" which upon its "About Us" page is listed a myriad of associations and organizations directly linked to Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party, including the Students and Youth Congress of Burma, the Forum for Democracy in Burma, and the Nationalities Youth Forum, which is directly funded by the Euro-Burma Office (in turn funded by the EU, and US National Endowment for Democracy), and Open Society.
The heavily US-British-backed Noble Peace Prize laureate's followers have prosecuted a campaign of ultra-racist genocide aimed at eradicating Myanmar entirely of the Rohingya people, often with orgies of machete-wielding brutality and neighborhood-wide arson leaving scores of people dead, and hundreds, sometimes thousands homeless, destitute, and above all, desperate.
Leading the violence are Suu Kyi's "saffron monks." The so-called "Saffron Revolution" of 2007 seeking to oust the Myanmar government and put into power Aung San Suu Kyi and her "National League for Democracy" was named so after the saffron-colored robes of these supporters.
Underneath the "pro-democracy" narrative, however, is an ugly truth that if known more widely amongst the global public, would spell the end of both Suu Kyi and her foreign backers' agenda in Myanmar.
While the Western media attempts to shift the blame on the Myanmar government itself for the current Rohingya crisis, it was the government that attempted to grant the Rohingya citizenship through incremental programs that included allowing them to vote in upcoming elections. The plan was, however, disrupted by violence spearheaded by Suu Kyi's followers, as reported by Australia's ABC News article, "Myanmar scraps temporary ID cards amid protests targeting ethnic minorities without citizenship."
The irony of Suu Kyi's supporters, supposedly representing a shining example of democracy worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize, attempting to deny hundreds of thousands of people their right to vote in elections is immeasurable.
Suu Kyi, for her part, has remained utterly silent regarding the brutality and inhumanity of her most loyal and active supporters. While she is portrayed as a woman of courage and conviction, in reality these "virtues" were bought and paid for through millions of dollars of support for both her and her political network over the decades by the US and British governments. While her silence is shrugged off by the Western media as "pragmatic" and "calculated," it is in reality merely her refusal to condemn the very supporters who have carved out a niche for her amid Myanmar's political landscape.
This carving has left a trail of blood and tears, one the Nobel Peace Prize has been shamefully used to distract the world's attention away from for years now.
Suu Kyi's Followers Have Brutalized the Rohingya for Years
Among Suu Kyi's saffron butchers, there stands out one leader in particular, Wirathu. Wirathu has been involved in stirring up politically-motivated violence for over a decade. In particular, his group has carried out a bloody campaign against the Rohingya, even landing him in prison in 2003.
The International Business Times published an article titled, "Burmese Bin Laden: Is Buddhist Monk Wirathu Behind Violence in Myanmar?" explaining in further detail:
The shadow of controversial monk Wirathu, who has led numerous vocal campaigns against Muslims in Burma, looms large over the sectarian violence in Meikhtila.
Wirathu played an active role in stirring tensions in a Rangoon suburb in February, by spreading unfounded rumours that a local school was being developed into a mosque, according to the Democratic voice of Burma. An angry mob of about 300 Buddhists assaulted the school and other local businesses in Rangoon.
The monk, who describes himself as 'the Burmese Bin Laden' said that his militancy "is vital to counter aggressive expansion by Muslims".
He was arrested in 2003 for distributing anti-Muslim leaflets and has often stirred controversy over his Islamophobic activities, which include a call for the Rhohingya and "kalar", a pejorative term for Muslims of South Asian descent, to be expelled from Myanmar.
He has also been implicated in religious clashes in Mandalay, where a dozen people died, in several local reports.
By all accounts, Wirathu is a violent criminal leading mobs which have cost thousands of people their lives and has created a humanitarian crisis that is slowly engulfing all of Southeast Asia. Yet Wirathu is still counted among Suu Kyi's most vocal supporters and frequently weighs in on high level decisions made by Suu Kyi's political party. Furthermore, the West has failed to condemn him, place any sanctions upon him, and through their various media outlets, still grant him interviews, lending him continued credibility and influence.
Beyond Wirathu, there are other "monks" who took to the streets in 2007's "Saffron Revolution,"a series of bloody anti-government protests in support of Aung San Suu Kyi. Human Rights Watch in a report titled "Buddhism and activism in Burma" (.pdf), would specifically enumerate support provided to Aung San Suu Kyi's movement by these organizations, including the Young Monks Union (Association), who are also now leading violence and calls for ethnic cleansing across Myanmar against the Rohingya people.
The UK Independent in their article, "Burma's monks call for Muslim community to be shunned," mentions the Young Monks Association by name as involved in distributing flyers recently, demanding people not to associate with ethnic Rohingya, and attempting to block humanitarian aid from reaching Rohingya camps set up after being driven by their homes by violence.The Independent also notes calls for ethnic cleansing made by leaders of the 88 Generation Students group (BBC profile here) – who also played a pivotal role in the pro-Suu Kyi 2007 protests. "Ashin" Htawara, another "monk activist" who considers Aung San Suu Kyi, his "special leader" and greeted her with flowers for her Oslo Noble Peace Prize address earlier this year, stated at an event in London that the Rohingya should be sent "back to their native land."
Are Myanmar's Neighbors to Blame?
This systematic genocidal brutality is what has driven the Rohingya to the seas from their rightful homes in Myanmar, scattering them abroad and creating a humanitarian crisis for other nations to bear. In particular, Myanmar's neighbor Thailand has been criticized vocally by the West as this crisis continues on, and more so now than ever since Thailand has ousted Washington and Wall Street's political order of choice there in a military coup in 2014.
But it is clear that the source of the problem is in Myanmar, and in particular the violence being used to drive the Rohingya from their homes. Myanmar's neighbors are but scapegoats for perpetrators not politically convenient for the Western media and the West's many so-called "international" institutions and rights organizations to name and shame. If anything, the perpetrators have created a political and humanitarian crisis regionally, giving the West an opportunity to meddle even further.
Regardless of what Myanmar's neighbors do to assist Rohingya being driven from their homes, if the violence driving them abroad to begin with is not stopped, the humanitarian crisis will only continue to grow. Such violence, however, cannot be stopped so long as the self-proclaimed arbiters of international order and human rights not only refuse to condemn those guilty of precipitating this crisis, but in fact actively defend and support them.
For Southeast Asia, and in particular, Myanmar, Thailand, and Malaysia – all nations targeted by the US and British with perpetual political meddling – exposing the true perpetrators of this crisis, and in particular the political order under which these perpetrators are operating, can expose Aung San Suu Kyi and her party and disrupt other foreign backed political proxies across the region like her. By doing so, perhaps an end can be brought to this current crisis today, and the next one prevented from unfolding tomorrow.
The Ronhingya are not "stateless." They are not "boat people." They are not "without a home." Their home is Myanmar. Ultra-racist genocidal criminals, apparently with the support and blessing of the West, have driven them from that home.
Tony Cartalucci, Bangkok-based geopolitical researcher and writer, especially for the online magazine"New Eastern Outlook".
The original source of this article is New Eastern Outlook
Copyright © Tony Cartalucci, New Eastern Outlook, 2015
Comment on Global Research Articles on our Facebook page
Become a Member of Global Research
Articles by: Tony Cartalucci
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. The Centre of Research on Globalization grants permission to cross-post Global Research articles on community internet sites as long the source and copyright are acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original Global Research article. For publication of Global Research articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: [email protected]
www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the copyright owner.
For media inquiries: [email protected]
Medical Doctor Warns that "Bacterial Pneumonias Are on the Rise" from Mask Wearing
مقالات البحث العالمية متاحة الآن باللغة العربية
Most Popular All Articles


text:
    {% if not budgets or date.year < current_month.year %}
    {{famount(account_balance or 0)}}
    {% else %}
    {{famount(account_balance or 0)}}
    {% if budgets.undetected_planned_expenses %}
    (-{{famount(budgets.undetected_planned_expenses)}})
    {% endif %}
    {% endif %}

    {% if budgets and date.year == current_month.year %}

      Balance without planned expenses: {{famount(account_balance - budgets.undetected_planned_expenses)}}

      Savings: {{famount(budgets.savings, True)}}

    {% endif %}

        Accounts

      {% for acc in accounts %}

        {{acc.title}}
        {{famount(acc.amount)}}

      {% endfor %}


Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations. The Rising Stars list recognizes no more than 2.5 percent of attorneys in each state. To be eligible for inclusion in Rising Stars, a candidate must be either 40 years old or younger, or in practice for 10 years or less.


text:
Steve Kerr on why he returned to the bench: 'It's fun'
CLEVELAND - When Steve Kerr announced April 21 that he was taking an indefinite hiatus from the bench, his goal was clear: find an answer to the chronic pain that has plagued him for nearly two years....
de · Esportes
Suspect in Portland light rail slayings to appear in court
Many Americans are now questioning why officials did not more closely monitor Jeremy Christian preceding the attack . However, his social media usage may have been the most significant warning sign. ...
Wawrinka forces 5th set against Murray
Again he was unable to take advantage and it was Murray who pounced for the opening set after 71 minutes when his opponent netted a backhand return off a second serve. Murray was back again thanks to ...
Apple Joins Smart-Speaker Race With Music-Focused 'HomePod'
Voiced by a reportedly new and improved Siri , the particular gadget will retail for $349, which is significantly more than its rivals-the Echo now retails for $179 and Google Home for $129-but i...
Minister offers condolences on bomb that killed 90 in Kabul
The attack left a scene of mayhem and destruction in the Afghan capital . The Haqqani network are a particularly brutal insurgency group which closely cooperates with the Taliban. There was no ...
Warriors dismiss 16-0 chatter, focused on Game Three
A victory would also be the Warriors' 30th in their last 31 games, dating to the regular season. Hopefully, you've been backing the Warriors , as they've absolutely walloped the competition in th...
Warriors set to make their claim as NBA's best ever
That Lakers team had Hall of Fame players like Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy who could cancel out Stephen Curry , Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant of the Warriors. In fact, three National Ba...
Manchester City complete deal to sign goalkeeper Ederson from Benfica
The Saints will no doubt be desperate to keep their team together this summer but the Mirror claim that Bertrand has told friends he wants to leave so a move to one of England's top clubs could no...
London attack: Saudi Arabia players fail to join minute's silence with Australia
The Saudi players were either unaware of what their opponents were doing when standing silent with arms linked and heads bowed, or simply chose to ignore the solemn gesture. Australia remain third in...
Place aux demi-finales dames ce jeudi — Roland-Garros
Et si la Lyonnaise n'était pas aussi attendue que sa compatriote à Paris, elle a tout de même fait part de sa frustration en conférence de presse, à l'issue de la rencontre: " Il y a toujours un goût...
Body of former NFL player James Hardy found in Indiana river
Michael Joyner, FWPD Public Information Officer, said an employee with the City's water Filtration Plant conducting his regular rounds made the discovery as he walked along the catwalk and called poli...
Spain, Colombia battle to 2-2 draw in international football friendly
Manchester City playmaker David Silva slotted home his 31st goal for Spain midway through the first half before Edwin Cardona equalised for the South Americans on 39 minutes. The starters in the...
Polls open in United Kingdom election after campaign marred by attacks
An exit poll has projected that Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party will win the biggest share of seats in Britain's Thursday election, but could fall short of a majority in Parlia...
Major League Baseball to investigate Chicago Cubs' Addison Russell after domestic violence claim
In a post on Instagram , Melisa Russell accused her husband of adultery on Wednesday and indicated she was exiting the relationship. According to ESPN, a comment on the post, made by one of Me...
Quelle équipe contre la Suède — Equipe de France
A la veille du déplacement en Suède pour les éliminatoires du Mondial 2018, l'entraînement de l'équipe de France a donné quelques indices sur le onze tricolore qui débutera la partie vendredi (20h...
Florida woman gives birth to baby girl weighing 6 kgs (See Pictures)
Carleigh's doctor said in the past couple of years, babies have been born with a higher birth weight, due to an increase in diabetes. A Florida woman says she knew her stomach was undeniably huge as...
Spurs player makes Forbes' 'World's Highest-Paid Athletes' list
Last year, Conor McGregor was ranked #85 in Forbes' Top 100 Highest Paid Athletes list after having 3 successful pay-per-view bouts with the UFC. Last year was a good year for Conor McGregor, to...
Cavs not making any lineup changes for Game 3 of the Finals
I don't think LeBron is stat counting or anything, but he basically had a triple-double before the fourth quarter started in Game 2, and it's not a stretch for him to do it again. After Golden State w...
Julian Edelman, Patriots Reportedly Agree to Contract Extension
Plenty of outlets close to the Patriots had been asking similar questions over the last few months. Edelman has been with the Patriots since being drafted by the organization in the seventh round...
Walker won't commit future to Tottenham
The player has since been linked with a move to Manchester City , where the 27-year-old can expect to double his current £70,000-a-week wage. Manchester United , Chelsea and even Barcelona are...
Le programme complet de mardi 6 juin avec Mladenovic — Roland-Garros
Sa compatriote Caroline Garcia peut imiter Marion Bartoli, dernière Française en demi-finale à Paris. Le match a débuté sur un court central balayé par le vent et a ensuite été interrompu deux f...
Here's how you can get free Taco Bell next Tuesday
Well, for those of you who haven't been paying close attention, you should know that those free tacos are all yours. And if the away team wins one game during Games Four through Seven, we still get ...
Indians place Danny Salazar on DL, reactivate Lonnie Chisenhall
He will assume his spot in right and hit eighth in the order. The Indians activated Chisenhall from the seven-day DL on Tuesday afternoon after the platoon specialist went 1-for-7 with one walk and ...
Cavs' best effort not good enough to beat the Warriors
Even if the two teams are different. Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant , center, celebrates with teammates after the Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 118-113 Wednesday nig...
He tells Cleveland.com, "I got out of the shower and my phone was buzzing". I did not tweet that. And while many National Basketball Association spectators thought it was too much, it did give high ho...
Svitolina advances to French Open quarterfinals
Despite all the talk before the tournament that the women's singles draw was more open than ever, the second semifinal at the French Open has worked out perfectly as planned with fourth seed Simo...
Scooter ends HR spree, but Reds rally to beat Cardinals 6-4
Reds: RHP Anthony DeSclafani is behind schedule in recovering from a strained elbow that has sidelined him since spring training. "We're trying to get a little more room". It was kind of surprising, t...
Pepe Bids Farewell To Real Madrid
Real Madrid's offer: "They didn't offer me a one-year extension with the possibility of a second". "I finished my time at Real Madrid giving it all I had". he can improve, he knows where the goal i...
With World Cup looming, Chelsea's Batshuayi wants more playing time
Asked on global duty with Belgium whether he could accept another season of sitting on the bench, 23-year-old Batshuayi replied: "No, no, no". However, Costa told reporters on Wednesday, after an ...
Rafael Nadal en demi-finale après l'abandon de Pablo Carreño-Busta
L'Espagnol Rafael Nadal , 4e mondial, s'est qualifié mercredi pour les demi-finales de Roland-Garros après l'abandon au 2e set de son compatriote Pablo Carreno , touché aux abdominaux. Il a profité ...
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 729 730 731 732 733 734 735 736 737 738 739 740 741 742 743 744 745 746 747 748 749 750 751 752 753 754 755 756 757 758 759 760 761 762 763 764 765 766 767 768 769 770 771 772 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 780 781 782 783 784 785 786 787 788 789 790 791 792 793 794 795 796 797 798 799 800 801 802 803 804 805 806 807 808 809 810 811 812 813 814 815 816 817 818 819 820 821 822 823 824 825 826 827 828 829 830 831 832 833 834 835 836 837 838 839 840 841 842 843 844 845 846 847 848 849 850 851 852 853 854 855 856 857 858 859 860 861 862 863 864 865 866 867 868 869 870 871 872 873 874 875 876 877 878 879 880 881 882 883 884 885 886 887 888 889 890 891 892 893 894 895 896 897 898 899 900 901 902 903 904 905 906 907 908 909 910 911 912 913 914 915 916 917 918 919 920 921 922 923 924 925 926 927 928 929 930 931 932 933 934 935 936 937 938 939 940 941 942 943 944 945 946 947 948 949 950 951 952 953 954 955 956 957 958 959 960 961 962 963 964 965 966 967 968 969 970 971 972 973 974 975 976 977 978 979 980 981 982 983 984 985 986 987 988 989 990 991 992 993 994 995 996 997 998 999 1000 1001 1002 1003 1004 1005 1006 1007 1008 1009 1010 1011 1012 1013 1014 1015 1016 1017 1018 1019 1020 1021 1022 1023 1024 1025 1026 1027 1028 1029 1030 1031 1032 1033 1034 1035 1036 1037 1038 1039 1040 1041 1042 1043 1044 1045 1046 1047 1048 1049 1050 1051 1052 1053 1054 1055 1056 1057 1058 1059 1060 1061 1062 1063 1064 1065 1066 1067 1068 1069 1070 1071 1072 1073 1074 1075 1076 1077 1078 1079 1080 1081 1082 1083 1084 1085 1086 1087 1088 1089 1090 1091 1092 1093 1094 1095 1096 1097 1098 1099 1100 1101 1102 1103 1104 1105 1106 1107 1108 1109 1110 1111 1112 1113 1114 1115 1116 1117 1118 1119 1120 1121 1122 1123 1124 1125 1126 1127 1128 1129 1130 1131 1132 1133 1134 1135 1136 1137 1138 1139 1140 1141 1142 1143 1144 1145 1146 1147 1148 1149 1150 1151 1152 1153 1154 1155 1156 1157 1158 1159 1160 1161 1162 1163 1164 1165 1166 1167 1168 1169 1170 1171 1172 1173 1174 1175 1176 1177 1178 1179 1180 1181 1182 1183 1184 1185 1186 1187 1188 1189 1190 1191 1192 1193 1194 1195 1196 1197 1198 1199 1200 1201 1202 1203 1204 1205 1206 1207 1208 1209 1210 1211 1212 1213 1214 1215 1216 1217 1218 1219 1220 1221 1222 1223 1224 1225 1226 1227 1228 1229 1230 1231 1232 1233 1234 1235 1236 1237 1238 1239 1240 1241 1242 1243 1244 1245 1246 1247 1248 1249 1250 1251 1252 1253 1254 1255 1256 1257 1258 1259 1260 1261 1262 1263 1264 1265 1266 1267 1268 1269 1270 1271 1272 1273 1274 1275 1276 1277 1278 1279 1280 1281 1282 1283 1284 1285 1286 1287 1288 1289 1290 1291 1292 1293 1294 1295 1296 1297 1298 1299 1300 1301 1302 1303 1304 1305 1306 1307 1308 1309 1310 1311 1312 1313 1314 1315 1316 1317 1318 1319 1320 1321 1322 1323 1324 1325 1326 1327 1328 1329 1330 1331 1332 1333 1334 1335 1336 1337 1338 1339 1340 1341 1342 1343 1344 1345 1346 1347 1348 1349 1350 1351 1352 1353 1354 1355 1356 1357 1358 1359 1360 1361 1362 1363 1364 1365 1366 1367 1368 1369 1370 1371 1372 1373 1374 1375 1376 1377 1378 1379 1380 1381 1382 1383 1384 1385 1386 Próximo →
Clemson RB Travis Etienne staying for senior season, won't enter National Football League draft
Seven thoughts on Todd Monken and what his hiring means at Georgia
Saracens face continuing uncertainty as threat of relegation intensifies
Ranking Boston Celtics Second Round Picks
Golden State Warriors see Kevin Durant healthy before NBA Playoffs
Manchester United identify £18m Spanish midfielder as top January transfer target
The player has reportedly agreed on a Manchester United contract until 2025 worth £5milion-a-year ahead of a £51m transfer in the January transfer window. Pogba is expected back in action early next month after suffering another ankle injury, while McTominay could be missing until April with a knee problem.
No. 10 Kentucky upset on the road at SC
Ireland stun world champion Windies in T20 opener
India vs Australia | Rajkot Not Happy Hunting Ground for India


Welcome to the website of Plankton Records which, since 1978, has been one of the UK's few independent grassroots Christian based record labels.
With over 70 releases under our belt, we primarily aim to offer a platform to artists whose music has something to say about and to the world and the human condition – songs which may in the past have come under the wide encompassing banner of 'protest songs'.
Belfast born Liz is a truly gifted songstress. Recorded in Nashville, Liz released "The Dream" in 2009 and because of our now close working relationship we are pleased and honoured to make it available on our site. To quote one (of many) glowing reviews, "The quality of production and musicianship shows from the opening chords of 'Rain Down Righteousness' right through to the strident bonus track hidden at the end". The understated arrangements and playing highlight Liz's rich and pure voice. Covers of two classic Celtic hymns coupled with Liz's original songs produce the overall gentle Celtic feel of this class album that have garnered well deserved high praise.
Welcome to the website of Plankton Records which, since 1978, has been one of the UK's few independent grassroots Christian based record labels. With over 70 releases under our belt, we primarily aim to offer a platform to artists whose music has something to say about and to the world and the human condition – songs which may in the past have come under the wide encompassing banner of 'protest songs'.


text:
Home Biography Caroline Wozniacki
Caroline Wozniacki Biography
Updated On 26 Nov, 2017 Published On 26 Nov, 2017
Facts of Caroline Wozniacki
July 11 , 1990
Family Name :
Wozniacki
Birth Country :
Birth Sign :
Relationship short Statistics of Caroline Wozniacki
What is Caroline Wozniacki marital status ? ( married,single, in relation or divorce):
How many children does Caroline Wozniacki have ? (name):
Is Caroline Wozniacki having any relationship affair ?:
Yes2 affair
Is Caroline Wozniacki Lesbian ?
2 Affair
Caroline Wozniacki, 27, is a Danish professional tennis player. She is the first woman from a Scandinavian country to hold the top ranking position and 20th overall. In 2009, she reached the finals of 2009 US Open and then the semifinals in the 2011 Australian Open. Wozniacki finished in 3rd place in the world rank in 2017 after reaching the Tour-high 8 singles finals and winning her 26th and 27th Tour titles. She also ranked number 1 on the WTA tour and held the position for 67 weeks.
Caroline Wozniacki was born on 11 July 1990, Odense, Denmark to Piotr Wozniacki and Anna Wozniacka. Her parents were Polish immigrants, they moved to Denmark in 1909 when Piotr signed for the Danish football club Boldklubben.
Regarding her nationality, she is Danish and is of White ethnicity. Wozniacki was raised along with his brother, Patrik Wozniacki who is a professional footballer played for IF Skjold Birkerød. She fluently speaks, Danish, English, Russian and Polish.
Her father is her first coach since she was 14 and later she got trained by Sven Groeneveld. She then was coached by Ricardo Sanchez, Thomas Johansson for a short period.
Caroline Wozniacki is active in tennis since her early days. In 2005 she won several junior tournaments like; Orange Bowl tennis championship. The same year, she debuted in WTA Tour at Cincinnati's Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open. In 2006, she won the Wimbledon girls' singles title and many other reputed matches.
In 2007, she won a $75,000 ITF singles title and made her Tier I debut with wildcard entry for the Pacific Life Open. The following year, she won her first WTA Tour title at the Nordic Light Open and subsequently won other two WTA tiles also.
At the 2009 U.S. Open, Wozniacki reached the final but failed to win the title. However, her excellent performance in 2009 helped to qualify her for the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha for the first time.
In 2010, she ranked world's number 1 female tennis player after advancing to the semifinals of the 2010 U.S. Open. She also became the first Danish player to ascend at the top of the world rankings.
Wozniacki lost with Li Na in the semifinals of Australian Open 2011, but she won other titles like WTA Championships and ended the year with world No. 1 tennis player for the second consecutive year. The year 2012 wasn't fruitful for her as she failed to win all matches of that time, but she made a great comeback in 2013 and won BGL Luxembourg Open. She qualified for the WTA Tournament of Champions, but she chose not to participate and finished the year with ranked world no.1.
On October 2, 2014, she qualified for the WTA Final and won a match against Maria Sharapova in three sets but she lost to Serena Williams in semifinals. The same year, she ran the New York City Marathon and recorded a time of 3 hours, 26 minutes and 33 seconds.
The year 2015-16 wasn't the year for Wozniacki as she suffered from several illness and injuries.She even dropped from the World Top 10 rank and ended the year at no.19.
In 2017, she won the title of WTA Finals beating Elina Svitolina for the first time after losing to her twice in finals in straight sets. With the virtue of her WTA Finals crown, she jumped from world no. 19 to world no. 3 in 2017. However, she would be counted as world no. 1 player using the ATP ranking system.
Caroline Wozniacki became an endorser in 2009 for the line of tennis apparel designed by Stella McCartney for Adidas. In 2009 US Open she wore her first 'Adidas by Stella McCartney' tennis dress. She also has partnership agreements with Babolat, Rolex, Adidas, USANA, The Players' Tribune and Mundipharma.
In 2010, Wozniacki signed a three-year contract deal to endorse Turkish Airlines' business class service. She also endorses many brands like; Compeed BlisterPatch, Godiva Chocolatier and many other.
As per the June 2011 edition of SportsPro, she is the world's ninth most marketable athlete. In 2015, Wozniacki appeared in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
Caroline Wozniacki recently got engaged to her longtime boyfriend, David Lee, a former NBA champion, on November 2, 2017. She announced this news through her Instagram posting the engagement ring and captioning with,
"Happiest day of my life yesterday saying yes to my soulmate"
The duo dated for a long time but made her relationship public on the valentines day on February 14, 2017, through her social media accounts.
Priorly, she was dating Northern Irish professional golfer Rory Mcllroy. The duo ended their three years relationship in 2014 at mutual understanding. Wozniacki also announced her engagement on her Twitter page, but it didn't happen. Mcllroy took all the blame for his unsuccessful relationship with Wozniacki as he said,
"The problem is mine. The wedding invitations issued at the weekend made me realize that I wasn't ready for all that marriage entails. I wish Caroline all the happiness she deserves and thank her for the great times we've had."
Wozniacki is very close to her fellow Danish tennis player, Malou Ejdesgaard and regards her as her best friend. She also shared good bonds with Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska and Angelique Kerber.
She is a huge fan of Premier League team Liverpool, and in 2011 Qatar Ladies Open she wore a Liverpool shirt signed by footballer Steven Gerrard to support her favorite team.
Caroline Wozniacki is one of the highest-earning athletes and considered as the second highest-earning female athlete in the world in 2011 by Forbes. Wozniacki's net worth is estimated to be $20 million, while some online sources have mentioned the figures but official confirmation has come about it.
In 2006, she won the $25,000 prize amount in ITF tournaments. The following year she won $75,000 amount in ITF single. Till the date, she has succeeded to collect the prize amount around US$26,834,69.
Wozniacki is quite interested in owning property also. In May 2014, she bought the Fisher Island home in Miami Beach costing around $1.7 million. She gets a handsome sum for her endorsement to various reputed brands as well as she charged impressive amount for her cover shoot.
Caroline Wozniacki Affairs
First Affair with Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy is a Northern Irish professional golfer. He was world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking for 95 weeks.
Second Affair with David Lee
David Lee is an American former professional basketball player. He used to play for college basketball for the Florida Gators before he was drafted 30th overall by the New York Knicks in the 2005 NBA draft.


Traction elevators are the most common type of elevators. Elevator cars are pulled up by means of rolling steel ropes over a deeply grooved pulley (sheave). The weight of the car is balanced by a counterweight. Sometimes two elevators are built so that their cars always move synchronously in opposite directions, and are each other's counterweight.
Geared Traction Elevators are driven by AC or DC electric motors. As the name implies, the electric motor in this design drives a worm-and-gear-type reduction unit, which turns the hoisting sheave. While the lift rates are slower than in a typical gearless elevator, the gear reduction offers the advantage of requiring a less powerful motor to turn the sheave. These elevators typically operate at speeds from 38 to 152 meters (125-500 ft) per minute and carry loads of up to 13,600 kilograms (30,000 lb). An electrically controlled brake between the motor and the reduction unit stops the elevator, holding the car at the desired floor level.
Contemporary cheaper installations, such as those in residential buildings and low-traffic commercial applications generally used a single or two speed AC hoist machine. The widespread availability of cheap solid state AC drives has allowed infinitely variable speed AC motors to be used universally, bringing with it the advantages of the older motor-generator based systems, without the penalties in terms of efficiency and complexity. The older MG-based installations are gradually being replaced in older buildings due to their poor energy efficiency.
Gearless Traction Electric Elevator first invented in 1913, first installed in Woolworth Building in New York City, and the Majestic Building in Chicago. This type of drive system could be employed in buildings of any height and operated at much higher speeds than steam-powered elevators. This design has proven so durable that even now when a building is modernized—while the elevator control system is replaced with the most up-to-date electronics—it is rarely necessary to replace a well-maintained gearless machine. These elevators typically operate at speeds greater than 500 feet per minute.
In a gearless traction machine, five to eight lengths of wire cable, known as hoisting ropes (or wire ropes), are attached to the top of the elevator and wrapped around the drive sheave in special grooves. The other ends of the cables are attached to a counterweight that moves up and down in the hoistway on its own guide rails. The combined weight of the elevator car and the counterweight presses the cables into the grooves on the drive sheave, providing the necessary traction as the sheave turns.
To reduce the load on the motor, the counterweight is calculated to match the weight of the car and a half-load of passengers. As the car rises, the counterweight descends, balancing the load. This reduces energy consumption because the motor is required to lift no more than the weight of half a carload at any time. The grooved sheave in this traditional gearless system is quite large, from 0.6 to 1.2 meters (2–4 ft) in diameter. The electric motor that runs it must be powerful enough to turn this large drive sheave at 50–200 revolutions per minute in order to move the elevator at the proper rate.
Safety is provided by a governing device that engages the car's brakes, should the elevator begin to fall. A powerful clamp clutches the steel governor cable, which activates two safety clamps located beneath the car. Moveable steel jaws wedge themselves against the guide rails until sufficient force is exerted to bring the car to a smooth stop.
Contact us for all your Elevator needs.


At Disney Studios, which already has the Star Tours ride, the new 14-acre Star Wars land will have two major new attractions — an interactive attraction that will put guests in the middle of a climactic battle between the First Order and the Resistance, and a ride on the Millennium Falcon, where guests will be at the controls. Disney did not say when the new rides would open.
▪ The existing Star Tours motion-simulator ride will be updated this year to include locations and characters from the upcoming Episode VII, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
▪ Star Wars Launch Bay, an interactive experience, will have special exhibits and peeks behind-the-scenes at Episode VII, character meet-and-greets, special merchandise and food offerings. It will open this year.
▪ The existing Jedi Training Academy will be reimagined with a new experience that includes new characters and a new villain to battle from the Disney XD series Star Wars Rebels.
▪ Season of the Force, a new fireworks spectacular set to the score of the Star Wars movies, will begin early next year.
The new Toy Story Land, in Florida only, will be 11 acres of Andy's backyard with two new attractions, plus the existing Toy Story Mania! ride is being expanded to include a third track. "Guests will think they've been shrunk to the size of Woody and Buzz as they are surrounded by oversized toys that Andy has assembled using his vivid imagination," Disney said in a press release.
The new additions will be a family-friendly roller coaster on the back of Slinky Dog, and a ride on flying saucers with the little green aliens from the Toy Story movies.
In the past, a theme park land generally served as an umbrella for multiple stories, such as Fantasyland, which had rides based on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Peter Pan, Dumbo and other characters. These new themed lands, in contrast, consist of multiple attractions, shops, eateries, even specialty merchandise and drinks, all based on a single franchise or story.
All of Florida's theme park operators have built at least one such land in recent years. The two Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potter made the biggest splash, but Universal also expanded its standalone ride based on The Simpsons TV show into its own land with a second ride, midway area, brewery and specialty foods. At Legoland, the World of Chima has a water ride, an arena for racing Lego Speedorz, a water play area, a 4D movie experience and character meet-and-greet sessions; the new Heartlake City also has several attractions based on the Lego Friends line of toys. At Animal Kingdom, Disney is building Pandora — The World of Avatar, with a flying banshee ride, a boat ride, floating mountains and a bioluminescent forest.
At Busch Gardens and SeaWorld, instead of entertainment franchises, themed areas are based on animals — usually a ride paired with animal habitat plus specialty food and merchandise. SeaWorld has Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin; its Mako roller coaster, scheduled to open next summer, will be part of a shark-themed land. Busch Gardens' Cheetah Hunt coaster is complemented by Cheetah Run, a habitat with live cheetahs.


When I was a little girl, I sometimes tried to imagine what it would feel like to lose somebody I loved.
I could imagine only the sketchiest approximation, though. I knew I would be very sad, but had no weight or measure of that sadness and couldn't imagine its nuances. All I knew is that it was likely to be a grief so enormous, I might not survive it.
A lot of years have passed since then, and I've lost a brother, several close friends, and my parents. And in a way, I've been granted one of the secrets of the universe: the knowledge that as terrifying as grief is, we almost always survive it.
We fear grief as much as we feel it, which only makes our burden heavier. But grief cannot kill us (without our cooperation) so we don't have to add to our pain with fear.
That we will never emerge from it.
That the pain will always be as intense as fresh grief.
That the feelings are irrevocably changing us.
That we will never feel safe again.
That we will be haunted by regrets.
That the new void in our life will never be filled.
With time we can emerge from the other side of it.
The pain usually eases from a hot poker to the heart to a dull ache and finally to just occasional wistful melancholy.
Our life may be irrevocably changed, but we remain who we are.
The world is no more or less safe than it ever was and we will forget to be afraid.
We might be haunted by regrets. It happens. All we can do is use them for positive growth.
While no void can be perfectly filled, other things will come along to fill the space nicely when we are open to them.
The holidays are difficult if you're facing a fresh loss, and in light of our national grief over the tragedy in Newtown. But we can't hide from grief and don't have to.
Sometimes we have to just force ourselves to succumb to grief rather than try to flee it, trusting that our fears will not come to pass, and that we will feel joy again.


Let's face it—calling a garage door repair & service company is probably not on your list of favorite things to do. However, there are just some things that you should not attempt on your own and a serious problem with your garage door is one of them.
Finding the right custom garage doors for your home does not have to be difficult if you take the time to do a small amount of preparation. The effort is worth it because garage doors can add an incredible amount of charm to the overall curb appeal of your home, raise resale value, and even increase its value.


From Main Street to Times Square, overstock electronics are now big business. But with so many manufacturers unloading surplus and so many retailers selling it, how can either side be sure they're getting the best deal? By using the efficient mechanism of online auction buying, this complicated process can be reduced to far simpler, more efficient one.
The Internet is truly the new global marketplace, and the overstock market is no exception. If you know where to look, you can find yourself in an efficient, centralized online marketplace that rewards both sides of the transaction. By allowing a broad market of buyers to set a fair price through competition, an auction makes sure the buyers receive a great deal while manufacturers receive the fair value for their overstock merchandise.
In this high-tech world, everyone seems to be looking for a deal on that new digital camera or portable phone. Increasingly, businesses and consumers alike are turning to the Internet to find these deals. What this means is that overstock electronics can now have a second (or third!) life online.
Long gone are the days where if a hot new product undersold the manufacturers had to swallow the loss. In an online world, that scenario can now be avoided. Now, a manufacturer's potential loss can be turned into a fairly valued gain!