So no ones been accepted off the waitlist yet?
Yea I have. I have an offer already from them which I will take if TD don't get their act together. I'm with TD rn and would prefer to stay with them. I just like their apps and services alot more.
Just wondering if anyone here has successfully negotiated with TD for a PSLOC for western? Im in the lower mainland and dealing with reps that arent seemingly familiar with the process. Ive emailed with the scotiabank rep for western and had a seamless offer through email but am looking to negotiate with TD for similar terms. Is there a TD rep for western like there is for scotiabank?
Not necessarily. Some schools will, like uoft, but don't think most will just because of the deadline. Queens last year didn't get back to me until July for example.
Five weeks after you wrote is about a week or two after scores are released so that sounds about right. I got it about a month after the scores were released.
Uvic and Ubc are probably the best bang for your buck if your not a quebec resident.
They won't look at individual courses maybe but they definitely look at things like patterns, course load, course selection etc. @Sasha7 it depends on the school really. Some schools do look at your cumulative GPA but others also do just your last 2, best 2 or even best 3 (years). Some schools even allow going to drop a certain number of courses from their gpa calculation. Generally I doubt the two courses will really have a significant impact. Otherwise, I would double check your gpa calculation. You can't really do overall percentage to gpa conversion. It won't work. You have to do course by course conversion. And some schools have different methods of doing that so your gpa calculation might be different at different and so you will have to calculate accordingly. Hope that helped. Good luck!


pre-CBS Fender Bass VI in its original custom color Olympic White finish with a matching headstock. The neck dates to 1963, but the bass was completed at the Fender factory in 1965 as it has '65 pots. It has a great neck with good frets. It's all original and 100% complete with the exception of the tremolo arm. It even has its original hardshell case. The finish has been heavily buffed in an attempt to buff out the yellow discoloration in the finish. There are nicks + dings, light finish checking, and other cosmetic wear. Everything remains structurally sound with no cracks, breaks, or repairs. All electronics work and sound great.


2. Meanwhile, in a container or resealable bag, combine all marinade ingredients. Add shrimp and toss to coat. Seal and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes, or up to 1 hour.
3. Meanwhile, in a blender, blend all sauce ingredients until combined and smooth.
4. Prepare stir-fry: In a large skillet on medium, heat oil. Add mushrooms and broccoli and stir-fry until tender, 10 minutes. Drain shrimp and discard marinade. Add shrimp and bell pepper to skillet and stir-fry until shrimp is opaque, 3 to 5 minutes. Add chard, onions and sauce; stir-fry until chard is wilted, 3 to 5 minutes.
5. Divide rice among 4 plates and top with stir-fry and cilantro.


Give Twin Peaks an inch and they'll take a stretch of the road. Having careened across America and beyond, sharing their staggering energy, the band made their third album the best way they know how: by themselves. The same group that produced the scuzzy squalor of their debut 'Sunken' and had legions of fans screaming along to their anthemic sophomore effort, 'Wild Onion,' now swings and serenades with 'Down In Heaven' (out on Grand Jury on May 13, 2016).
Co-produced by the band and longtime collaborator R. Andrew Humphrey, and mixed by new confidant John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr., Kurt Vile, Sonic Youth), the record is by turns raw, polished and wise beyond its years. The diverse new songs beg the listener to sway slowly, bang their head wildly and question what they were doing wasting emotional time on anything less. It is a marked, and some may say mature, development for a band that doesn't know how to play it safe. They aren't here to tell you what youth is like or what being a little older now means, though; they want to join you in a conversation about why we hurt, love and tug at each other.
While Twin Peaks is a bit older, they're not necessarily calmer; their restlessness endures. Born of Chicago's league-leading DIY scene and with several of them remaining friends since elementary school, Cadien Lake James, Clay Frankel, Connor Brodner, Jack Dolan, and most recent addition Colin Croom share an enthusiasm, authenticity and passion their audiences have found contagious. In the three years since dropping out of college to support their debut album 'Sunken,' the band has covered a lot of ground. They've played to ever-increasing crowds, bigger and rowdier each time they come barreling into a city; they were anointed "Best New Band" by NME and countless other blogs, and they have performed for (and partied with) more than hospitable masses at festivals in the states and Europe, including Pitchfork, Lollapalooza, Reading & Leeds, and Roskilde. In between all this action, the group set up camp in the summer of 2015 amidst the solitude of a murky lake in Western Massachusetts, where they could experiment and record on their own terms in the warm living room of a good friend's house.
Recording on reel-to-reel with the band learning studio tricks on the fly, Twin Peaks set out to a make an LP that reflects how far they've come and how much of life is left, trusting themselves to make a record they'd want to hear. James explains, "I've been particularly drawn to records that have a more personal feel, not necessarily lyrically, but in sonic aesthetic, like The Kinks' 'Village Green Society,' Beatles' 'White Album,' and Rolling Stones' 'Beggars Banquet.' We wanted to make a record that employed the restraints of our favorite artists from yesteryear. It was about trying to simplify and hone in on the things that are important to our music and ethos." In considering the development of the band's sound from 'Sunken' to 'Wild Onion' and now to 'Down in Heaven,' Frankel adds, "The bands we admire are the ones who change drastically over the course of their span, like The Velvet Underground, where no two records of theirs sound the same."
Whether sneering or pleading, aggressive or impatient, the thirteen tracks of 'Down In Heaven' are a continuation of the bands path and an eschewing of previous comparisons. It is a record all about feel: heartbreak, forgiveness, anger, jubilation, re-invention, growth. Album opener "Walk To The One You Love," written by James about letting someone close to you go is immediately followed by Frankel's song "Wanted You," with lyrics about not getting the one that you yearn for. With "Stain," perhaps the biggest departure for the band on the record, Frankel says, "I didn't want another love song, so after a while I got what it is, how you suffer for your art but you put up with it because you don't wanna do anything else. It's a song about the love of music." Even though four of the five members contribute lyrics, there are obvious connections both thematically and musically across the record and the band's voice rises unified.
'Down in Heaven' will bring old fans and new Twin Peaks most complex record to date, encompassing elements only teased on their previous efforts. Frankel says, "I don't know yet what kind of band we are, since we keep changing with every year. I guess we are a band unafraid of new influences and changes." Put simply, 'Down In Heaven' makes it increasingly hard to call their sound "classic." It's rock new and old, it's a little bit of country, it's a whole lot of punk attitude, and it's something to get excited about. Twin Peaks is here to stay, and they aren't going to get pinned down.
Like most band's in Chicago's inclusive music community, Post Animal got their start playing DIY basements and small rock clubs. With their wavy and warped first project 2015's Post Animal Perform The Most Curious Water Activities EP and then 2016's memorable singles collection The Garden Series, the band showcased mesmerizing and infectious pop melodies. Between their impressive early releases and their wild live shows which feature the band members sharing lead vocal duties, Post Animal have unquestionably solidified themselves as one of Chicago's most exciting up-and-coming acts. Having taken that intensity across the country, touring with bands like Twin Peaks, Wavves, White Reaper, and more, Post Animal have found they are happiest when playing to a room full of fellow music-lovers. As a result, they are road tested and stronger than ever.
The Chicagoans' debut full-length When I Think Of You In A Castle, out 4/20 via Polyvinyl, is the product of six friends creating music they love, even if the circumstances weren't always in their favor. "Before this album, we weren't sure what the future of the band was going to look like. I was considering moving to Los Angeles and Joe [Keery] was off filming Stranger Things. We didn't know where we were all going but we knew we wanted to make an album with all of us in the same room," explains Toledo. Being the first time all Post Animal members recorded together, the album's collaborative spirit is more-than-evident throughout its 10 carefully curated tracks. Even Keery, who's no longer an active touring member of the band due to his skyrocketing acting career, was integral to the album's inception.
Of course, not all of the magic on When I Think Of You In A Castle can be pinned on the supernatural. Following the lake house trip, the band finished the album at their house in Chicago with Allison perfecting the mix over the next year; even while on their 48-city summer tour in their beloved van (RIP Shannon). Take the first single "Ralphie," which finds Keery and Allison gleefully trading lead vocals while sounding like what would happen if Jeff Lynne fronted Thin Lizzy. Though Post Animal's live shows have long proven that swirling riffs are the band's bread-and-butter, it's earworms like "Ralphie" that show how easily they can churn out an infectious pop melody.
"Ralphie" isn't the only song that finds the band sharing lead vocal duties. In fact, each band member contributes vocals like Hirshland's mesmerizing turn on "Castle" or Williams' punchy performance on "Heart Made of Metal." Other songs, like the dynamic "Gelatin Mode," shift from a lighthearted experience in dueling lead guitars to a face-melting dose of sludge with ease. It's such a transportive track that when Keery menacingly intones, "Below, traveling slow out on your own / Your mind gelatin mode time to explode" it's a welcome invitation.
Elsewhere, a longtime live staple "Tire Eyes" finds new life on the LP. It's a swaggering ode to a timeless classic rock song with Allison's falsetto beckoning, "So forget about your day and let this record float you away / As your mind is winding, finding cause to be easy." The finished album, which was mastered by Jake's brother, Jared Hirshland, is a truly collaborative continuation on the band's kaleidoscopic and sprawling early beginnings.
But most importantly, When I Think Of You In A Castle is a testament to not only the brotherly connection that these friends share, but also to the power of collaboration between like-minded musicians who just get one another. "Before we recorded it, it was an uncertain time for us as a band, but we all just had a magical time at this lake house in the middle of summer," explains Toledo. Almost impossible to describe, the Post Animal bond is best observed while foolin' at the merch table after a sweaty show. They look forward to seeing you there and, naturally, becoming your new best friends.


text:
Learn how the World Bank Group is helping countries with COVID-19 (coronavirus).
Published on Let's Talk Development
Different scenarios for global growth, in five charts
Justin-Damien Guénette
With the COVID-19 pandemic still looming, global economic activity could unfold any number of ways this year. Depending on the spread or containment of COVID-19, the pace of vaccine dissemination over the next two years, and the level of global financial stress, three alternative outcomes to the baseline forecast in the January 2021 Global Economic Prospects are possible.
Different outcomes, and the factors that influence them, are described in the following charts.
Vaccine rollout
Global growth scenarios depend heavily on the course of the pandemic. In the baseline scenario, vaccination campaigns in advanced economies and major emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) achieve widespread coverage in the second half of 2021. Vaccination would occur two to four quarters later in other EMDEs and low-income countries (LICs) partly due to logistical impediments. Failures in vaccine deployment could delay this process by more than a year (Figure 1). That said, a faster rollout of vaccines is also a distinct possibility.
The course of the pandemic
Vaccination and pandemic control measures, such as requirement of mask-wearing, can sharply reduce infections. The baseline scenario assumes that a drop in caseloads in the first half of 2021 is made possible by a combination of non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing and vaccination. Delays in vaccine rollout could result in persistently higher caseloads, while an accelerated deployment could meaningfully reduce the pandemic's spread (Figure 2).
Averting financial stress
Under the baseline scenario, central banks will continue to be able to avert financial market stress. While prompt resolution of the pandemic may further support global financial conditions, financial stress could mount if the pandemic lingers and economic activity fails to recover. In the direst case, mounting bankruptcies would raise risk premia and borrowing costs and overwhelm bank balance sheets, causing a sharp tightening of global financial conditions (Figure 3).
Global growth outcomes
Under the baseline scenario, global economic activity would recover to 4% in 2021 and 3.8% in 2022 (Figure 4). If the pandemic is not contained promptly, in a downside scenario, the global economy could face another year of below-potential growth before a rebound in 2022. And in a severe downside scenario, in which financial crises erupt, the global economy could contract for a second consecutive year—something that has not occurred since the Second World War. Alternatively, in an upside scenario, global growth could average nearly 5% over the next two years if effective pandemic management efforts and prompt widespread vaccination lead to a dramatic decline in COVID-19 transmission.
Emerging market and developing economy growth outcomes
Even in the baseline scenario, while growth in EMDEs would average about 4.5% in 2021 and 2022, output would remain below pre-pandemic trends in 2022 (Figure 5). In a downside scenario growth could weaken to around 3 percent in 2021, and in a severe downside scenario, in which financial crises erupt, EMDEs might face a year of stagnation before a rebound in 2022. In contrast, if the pandemic is brought under control at an earlier date, growth in EMDEs could average nearly 6 percent over the next two years.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-damien-gu%C3%A9nette-4b5a001b/ twitter.com/intent/[email protected]
Senior Economist, Prospects Group, World Bank
More Blogs By Justin-Damien
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly
Legal Privacy Notice Access to Information Jobs Contact

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Bills will help protect construction workers
by Fix MI State | Mar 3, 2022 | Work Zone Safety
As construction workers push to get Michigan's roads in better condition, they have to deal with enough on-the-job hazards—they definitely don't need drivers creating new ones. That's why a pair of Michigan representatives have come together from across the aisle to try and protect them.
State Rep. Sara Cambensy, D-Marquette, and state Sen. Wayne Schmidt, R-Traverse City, have introduced legislation that would allow for the placement of automated speed cameras in construction zones.
The proposed bipartisan pieces of legislation, House Bill 5750 and Senate Bill 874, were both introduced last week, state Legislature records show.
Rob Coppersmith, executive vice president of the Michigan Infrastructure & Transportation Association, issued a statement recently urging support for the bills.
"We support this common sense bipartisan legislation that would ensure our construction workers are protected while they're hard at work fixing Michigan's roads. Construction sites are dangerous places, especially when working on the side of highways with traffic moving at high rates of speed and distracted driving. By adding automated speed cameras to construction zones, we can help protect our construction workers by strictly enforcing work zone speed limits," Coppersmith said.
House Bill 5750 and Senate Bill 874 state that under the proposed legislation, if a driver violates a posted speed limit by 6 miles per hour or more in a work zone while workers are present—on the basis of a recorded image produced by an automated speed enforcement system—all of the following apply:
• For a first violation, the individual must be issued a written warning using a form that is authorized by state police.
• For a second violation, the individual is responsible for a civil infraction and must be ordered to pay a civil fine of not more than $150.
• For a third or subsequent violation, the individual is responsible for a civil infraction and must be ordered to pay a civil fine of not more than $300.
Coppersmith said the proposed legislation can help improve safety for workers.
"In 2020, there were 4,035 work zone crashes alone in Michigan that resulted in 14 work zone fatalities and 1,050 work zone injuries. Keeping our road workers safe is a top priority for MITA. Ensuring our construction workers have safe work zones is a big reason why we are heavily involved with the Michigan Work Zone Safety Task Force, an effort between the highway construction industry, MITA, and the Michigan Department of Transportation focused on making work zones safe across Michigan. MITA works tirelessly to make sure the safety of our work zones is a top priority, and this legislation is a part of that effort," Coppersmith said in the statement. "Let's put the lives and safety of our construction workers first and make sure they are protected while on the job site. We look forward to working with the Legislature to ensure our construction workers have a safe day in the office fixing Michigan's roads."
Any Michigander, regardless of locale, would agree—a good portion of our roads could use some work. We applaud this legislation and remind our readers to always use caution when driving through construction zones. These people are just trying to do their jobs, and they shouldn't have to be concerned about making it home safely after their shift.
This article originally appeared in the Marinette Menominee Eagle Herald. For more, click here.


text:
Richland College 'Anatomage Table' Helping Students Learn Anatomy Digitally
Science and technology have merged in the anatomy and physiology classes at Richland College, and health professions students are taking advantage of the opportunity to perform digital dissections on an Anatomage Table.
The Anatomage Table is a 6-foot-long 3-D visualization tool that is fully interactive and features the most accurate human anatomy and patient data of any technology currently available. Its touch-screen display allows students to use a finger like a scalpel to make an "incision" anywhere on the "cadaver" to examine its physiological structures. To create realistic images, CT and MRI scans were taken every few millimeters on four cadavers, two men and two women, whose bodies had been donated for this project.
"The Anatomage Table is great for identification of bones, muscle, blood vessels and more," said Jackie Reynolds, professor of biology at Richland College. "It also shows spatial relationships among organs. In addition, it is great for case studies because it allows students to see the MRI or CT scan and the 3-D image that has been produced from the scans side by side."
Richland College students have been using the table in classes for approximately two years, and Reynolds has already received many positive responses to the machine from students, many who can see the real-life value of learning on the table.
Kassandra Agundizandmy has been working with the Anatomage Table for two semesters and has found it a useful tool as she prepares for a nursing degree.
"The Anatomage Table has been beneficial for me as the 3-D images with different views give me a better understanding of the anatomy of the human body," said Agundizandmy. "This table has helped prepare me for my future, as it allows me to view positions of organs, vessels bones and more. My most memorable experience was when we did a case study about a man who was shot in the head and were able to learn about him through the Anatomage Table. I felt like I was a real forensic pathologist examining the skull of the man."
Experiences like Agundizandmy's showcase the value of offering digital dissection as an option to health professions students because it allows them to learn about unique conditions or abnormal structures that may not be available on standard cadavers. It also allows students instantly to compare the abnormalities to a normal example.
"Students really enjoy using the Anatomage table," said Reynolds. "We don't have real cadavers in a classroom, but this is as close as you can get. It makes studying anatomy and physiology more fun. Having this machine makes Richland College more advanced than some four-year universities in the area that don't have the same technology as we do."
Mildred Garcia is also pursuing a nursing degree and has worked with the Anatomage Table for two semesters. "I really find the Anatomage Table beneficial," Garcia said. "We get to see an entire body from skin to blood vessels, bones and organs. I think it's a great for everyone to use, especially visual learners."
The Anatomage Table provides a multi-faceted learning experience for students with a variety of tools allowing users to visualize structures of the body. The virtual cadaver can be peeled back in layers for users to learn about muscles, organs and bones, or students can study individual systems such as the cardiovascular or nervous systems. The cadaver can be viewed and worked on from any angle, such as on its back or sitting up, to simulate potential positions a patient may be in. Specific body parts can be highlighted or removed from view, and more than 1,400 pathology images are also available on the table for students to examine. By allowing students also to revert to a previous view of the structure, layer or system on which they are working, it also gives students the chance to approach their learning from an angle of discovery and curiosity without the threat of costly mistakes such as an accidental cut.
As part of the setup for the Anatomage Table at Richland College, a double screen was added to the wall of the anatomy and physiology lab classroom to ensure that all students in a class would be able to view the work being done by peers at the table.
Anatomage is a medical device company that has been developing creative, leading-edge products for the medical and dental industries since 2004. For more information about the Anatomage table, visit anatomage.com. For more information about the health professions programs at Richland College, visit richlandcollege.edu/cd/instruct-divisions/rlc/mshp/hp/pages/default.aspx.
This entry was posted in STEM, Technology and tagged anatomage table, anatomy classes, Dallas County Community College District, DCCCD, health professions, Richland College on May 23, 2018 by Katie.
Two Richland College Computer Information Technology Faculty Members Named Expert Level Instructors by Cisco Networking Academy
Richland College computer information technology faculty members Rod Lamb and Rich Park were recently honored by Cisco Networking Academy with the Expert Level Instructor Excellence Award, a distinction that recognizes Lamb and Park as being in the top 10 percent of the academy's instructors globally.
Lamb, also the computer information technology program administrator, has more than 18 years of experience as a Cisco Networking Academy instructor and has been previously awarded the Expert Level Excellence Award in 2014, 2015 and 2017. In addition, he has also twice received the Advanced Level Excellence Award, recognizing the top 25 percent of instructors globally.
Park also has more than 18 years of experience as a Cisco Networking Academy instructor and was previously awarded the Expert Level Excellence Award in 2013, 2016 and 2017. He also has twice previously received the Advanced Level Excellence Award.
"It's nice to get the recognition," said Lamb. "I think it shows the quality of the instructional faculty we have here, and I think that's what spoke to me the most when I got it: the level of knowledge and expertise we have at Richland College." Lamb went on to explain that very few other colleges had more than one instructor on the list of Expert Level Excellence Award winners.
Cisco Networking Academy program awards are determined using an instructor recognition score based on several factors, including participation in regional instructor online groups; participation in Cisco professional development opportunities; attention to student needs, measured by satisfaction with lab facilitation and student interest in the courses; student performance on the first attempt of the final exam; and instructor use of Cisco resources such as assessments.
Richland College offers courses that prepare students for the Cisco Certified Networking Associate and Cisco Certified Networking Professional exams. In this training, students learn how to design, build and secure intelligent networks while developing other skills such as leadership and collaboration. The CCNA certification is a foundation-level networking certification, while the CCNP is more advanced and shows that the certificate holder has the networking expertise to meet the needs of varying IT and networking job roles.
Cisco Systems, Inc. develops, manufactures and sells networking hardware, telecommunications equipment and other high technology services and products and is the largest networking company in the world.
Cisco Networking Academy program began in 1997 when Cisco donated networking equipment to a local school, but it sat unused because no one was trained on it. Realizing this gap, Cisco stepped in and trained the staff to build their network, and Cisco Networking Academy Program grew from a single school to an ever-expanding community of students, educators, employers, non-governmental organizations, Cisco employees and customers. Cisco Networking Academy has impacted more than 7.8 million students in 180 countries, partnering with 22,000 educators and instructors at 10,400 academies.
This entry was posted in Award/Honors, Employee Success, News, Technology and tagged ccna, ccnp, cisco, cisco networking academy, Dallas County Community College District, DCCCD, expert level excellence award, Richland College on April 27, 2018 by Katie.
Richland College Receives $523,089 Grant from Texas Workforce Commission in Check-Signing Ceremony
Richland College, Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), City of Richardson and local Richardson information technology industry representatives participated in a check-signing ceremony March 22 at Argo Data Resource, Inc. Richland College was awarded a $523,089 Skills Development Fund grant by the Texas Workforce Commission to train 197 IT employees, totaling more than 8,334 training hours, for Richardson's first IT Consortium, consisting of Richardson employers Argo Data Resource, Inc., a financial and healthcare software company; GXA Network Solutions, an IT help support company; and the Wilkins Group, a telecommunication support company.
Training under the grant includes business technical, general technical and non-technical training in subjects ranging from specific software applications to accounting to customer service and more. In addition to training incumbent employees, this grant will add 21 new jobs to the IT Consortium companies.
"This training, delivered by Richland College Garland Campus, empowers employees through enhanced skill development and provides the companies with a competitive edge in an ever-changing global IT market," said Richland College president Kathryn K. Eggleston, Ph.D.
At the ceremony, Eggleston also spoke about the impact this training will have on their employers and the local economy, as well as applauding each company involved for their dedication to enhancing the skills of their workforces and expanding the economic base of Richardson, the North Texas region and the state of Texas.
"Richland College appreciates the ongoing confidence the Texas Workforce Commission, the Richardson business community and company partners place in us as a dependable, experienced, high-quality, results-focused training provider," Eggleston said. "We remain ready and willing to serve."
"Everything requires IT. That's what makes what you're doing here so impressive," Texas Workforce Commission commissioner representing labor, Julian Alvarez, said. He addressed the gathered crowd and discussed technology's rapid growth and change and how businesses statewide in all sectors require employees with IT skills, noting that Richland College has been listening to the local business community and providing customized training to fit the needs of these employers.
"The regional impact of this training, and the commitment by our three entities today, is $4.4 million in the local community, and that's just one grant that we're doing," said Alvarez.
At Argo Data Resource, Inc., GXA Network Solutions and the Wilkins Group, training is already underway, with additional courses to be taught during the coming months.
"We've gained skills that we're going to use to implement better IT projects and better IT solutions that will help build stronger Texas businesses," said George Makaye, president of GXA Network Solutions.
Upon completion of this training, Richland College hopes to continue working with the Texas Workforce Commission to receive additional Skills Development Fund grants to offer training opportunities to additional Richardson-based IT businesses every six months.
"We are very thankful for the continued partnership between Richland College and the Texas Workforce Commission," said Richardson mayor Paul Voelker. "During the past several years, their combined efforts have created millions of dollars in training opportunities for Richardson businesses, and this latest investment will serve as another prime example we will use to retain and attract jobs to our Telecom Corridor® area."
The Richardson Economic Development Partnership, a joint initiative established by the City of Richardson and the Richardson Chamber of Commerce dedicated to building a vibrant and thriving local economy, has now assisted Richland College in facilitating Skills Development Fund grants totaling nearly $3 million to five Richardson companies since 2014.
"We're thrilled that connections made through the chamber helped bring together Richardson businesses with this highly technical training," said Richardson Chamber president Bill Sproull. "We're proud of Richland College's partnership in preparing our workforce for the valuable technical opportunities we continue to attract to Richardson."
For additional information about the Skills Development Fund program with Richland College and the TWC, visit https://www.richlandcollege.edu/aboutrlc/garland-campus/pages/skills-development-fund.aspx.
This entry was posted in Community and Economic Development, Corporate Services, News, Technology and tagged argo data resource inc, city of richardson, Dallas County Community College District, DCCCD, gxa network solutions, it consortium, richardson, richardson chamber of commerce, Richland College, Richland College Garland Campus, Texas Workforce Commission, wilkins group on March 23, 2018 by Katie.
Richland College Looks Back at Accomplishments from $3.25 Million U.S. Department of Labor Grant
When Richland College was awarded the $3.25 million Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant from the U.S. Department of Labor in Sept. 2014, the potential impact on local industry was evident. The funds from this grant, along with multiple partnerships with employers in Dallas, Richardson and Garland, would equip Richland College with the tools and technology needed to train local veterans and others seeking to enter or re-enter the high-demand technology job market. In turn, local companies would receive qualified employees ready for immediate employment and trained on industry-recognized equipment.
Richland College's Technology, Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing (TEAM) Center is a very tangible result of the TAACCCT grant funds. The space is fully equipped with leading edge, industry-quality technology that allows engineering and manufacturing students to have relevant, hands-on experience and career-focused training. It features an advanced manufacturing center, electronics engineering equipment, a robotics training lab and multiple classrooms for additional technology training.
It is in this innovative, technologically advanced place that the other tangible results of the grant have been taking shape as students prepare to enter the workforce.
Cisco Iturbe is an electrical engineering technology student at Richland College and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. He has been attending Richland College for several semesters and is looking forward to graduating soon with one course remaining. His immediate goal is to get a job in the electrical engineering field, and he hopes eventually to own his own business.
After completing four years of active duty and two years in the reserves, Iturbe came to Richland College because of the equipment he saw set up in the labs, which he felt allowed students the opportunity to learn in an industry-standard environment and gain vital hands-on experience. As a student, the variety of equipment available has also provided Iturbe the opportunity to enhance his electronics technology education with experience in other areas that may help him in the future, such hydraulics, manufacturing and robotics.
"For me, doing things hands-on is very important," said Iturbe. "Once you get your hands on something, it makes a world of difference because if you've never touched it, you don't know what it feels like or what it does. If you don't know that, then how are you going to do anything with it? So Richland College gives me the opportunity to learn and embed it as a muscle memory, not just an educational memory."
"I would recommend Richland because of the different areas they teach you," said Iturbe. "I'm here for electronics, but I've learned a few other things that have helped. Richland is here to help in a lot of ways—so many people want to help you. The staff is really uplifting, and the professors really know their stuff."
According to Garth Clayton, Ph. D., Richland College's dean of resource development, Iturbe is one of approximately 50 veterans who are now involved in the advanced manufacturing or electronics technology programs in the TEAM Center.
"One of the things we offer here is the replication of the real experience," said Clayton. "We have invested a great deal of our resources in offering different brands of the same equipment that people use in real life. And what happens is that [the students] learn to do everything here to walk into the job, able to work with whatever the employer provides. So they are hitting the ground running whenever they obtain one of our degrees or certificates."
Advanced manufacturing student Monica Lee has watched the TEAM Center develop around her and become a thriving learning space as she has studied at Richland College during the past three years.
"I was looking to do something with 3D modeling and design, things like AutoCAD and industrial design. I live here in Dallas, and I was doing research and saw that Richland had those classes offered here," said Lee. "I came down and checked out the campus and was really impressed with what was available. Even though the lab wasn't finished when I started, I got to see it come to fruition, and it's just an amazing facility."
To prepare Lee and other advanced manufacturing students, the program at Richland College teaches them each step of the process, starting with designing a part on a computer that will later be manufactured. From there, students design how the machine will cut the part, and once that is complete, they simply walk down the hall to the lab and actually create what they designed, cutting the metal and setting up the machines themselves. Lee describes this start-to-finish education as hands-on support to what students learn in the classroom, which to her is key to understanding what goes into the technical requirements of manufacturing.
Lee will graduate this May with not only her class experience, but also on-the-job training through an internship obtained via Richland's corporate partnership with Raytheon Precision Manufacturing, where she hopes to continue working and growing in her career after graduating with an associate degree.
"All the technology at this internship was the same, and all the skills that I learned here [at Richland College] were immediately used from day one," said Lee. "It helped me be able to shine in the job because I knew firsthand what was going on. So it was actually really seamless to go from Richland to my internship."
While Iturbe and Lee are studying in different programs and have different goals, both of them, along with many other students, have benefited from the TAAACCCT grant and Richland College's TEAM Center.
"Cisco [Iturbe] is a great example of someone who likes our program and can see a future for himself in it, and Monica [Lee] is also an example of the way that our students are able to transition into the workforce very quickly and very easily," said Clayton. "As part of this community, which includes a very vibrant advanced manufacturing and electronics technology group of corporations and shops, we are pleased to be able to support them in this way."
As a direct result of the grant, Richland College's accomplishments to date include: 14,500 square feet of renovated space; $1.3 million worth of capital equipment and $400,000 worth of minor equipment, all installed and now operating since 2016; three additional faculty members and three additional staff members hired; two credit certificate and one continuing education certificate offerings added; 37 Associate of Applied Science degrees and 39 certificates in electronics and manufacturing awarded; 32 Associate of Applied Science degrees and 136 certificates in computer information technology awarded since that program's inclusion in the grant; 292 students enrolled in electronics and manufacturing programs and 464 students in computer information technology programs in the 2018 spring semester; and 277 passed NIMS credentials in eight different credential exams. In addition, Richland College has also completed a cognitive task analysis and received new courseware for wire EDM, another common manufacturing process.
Even though the grant has ended, Richland College will continue to offer the curricula that were promised in the grant; offer credit for prior learning; add and replace additional equipment such as hydraulics, motor controls, modular assembly systems and programmable logic controllers; and will be adding new automation courses for aerospace, defense and communication needs.
Prior to installing the new equipment in the TEAM Center, Richland College donated all its previous, usable equipment to the Richardson Independent School District and the Garland Independent School District. Richland College also has technology-based early college high school programs with Dallas Independent School District's Hillcrest High School and Emmett J. Conrad High School, giving high school students the opportunity to earn both their high school diploma and an Associate of Applied Science degree in just four years.
A recent event at Richland College celebrated these accomplishments and the student success that came as a direct result of the TAACCCT grant funds. At the event, Richardson mayor Paul Voelker spoke about the impact the grant had upon Richland College, and as a direct result, the impact of those workforce-ready students entering the local job force, specifically in Richardson's Telecom Corridor.
"I'm keenly aware of what you're doing here and the value added," Voelker told the crowd. "It's so important today that our employers know that their talent is here, and if it's not here, we can create it here, or we can reinvent it here because we are always constantly learning."
"Coming full-circle and seeing the advanced manufacturing capabilities that we can do right here, not only in the USA, but in north Texas, is pretty cool. We can compete with anybody in the world, at any level, because we have the talent and what it takes to make those businesses successful."
For more information about Richland College's School of Engineering and Technology or the TEAM Center, visit richlandcollege.edu/et.
This entry was posted in Events, News, STEM, Student Success, TEAM Center, Technology and tagged advanced manufacturing, Dallas County Community College District, DCCCD, electronics engineering, Richland College, team center, Technology, telecom corridor on March 7, 2018 by Katie.
Richland College Offers Amazon Web Services Academy Curriculum Classes for Spring and Summer I Terms
Richland College has two upcoming Amazon Web Services (AWS) Academy curriculum classes, beginning March 19 and May 14, designed to prepare students for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate certification exam.
Taught by Richland College information technology and cloud computing faculty member Juli Hart, AWS solutions architect students will develop technical expertise in cloud computing and will have access to course manuals, online knowledge assessments, hands-on labs, a free practice certification exam and a discount voucher for the actual certification exam.
The classes are Monday and Wednesday evenings at 5:30 and last for eight weeks each.
"Cloud technology is the future," said Hart. "Having familiarity with it, in some degree, is going to be a requirement for anyone wishing to be successful in IT."
Cloud services platforms such as AWS provide rapid access to flexible and low-cost IT resources. Using cloud services allows companies to avoid the large, upfront expenses associated with servers, storage and applications, in addition to the heavy lifting and high cost of managing and maintaining that hardware. Cloud computing offers easy access to servers, storage, databases and a broad set of application services over the Internet, allowing users to retrieve and use resources they need almost instantly and only paying for what they use.
With AWS being the industry leader in cloud computing, AWS certification holders are extremely relevant and valued in today's IT job market. According to the Global Knowledge 2017 IT Skills and Salary Survey, the average salary of AWS-certified professionals is 27.5 percent higher than those without an AWS certification.
For Hart, creating a rapport with her students at Richland College is easy. Hart used to be a Richland College student herself before becoming an instructor. Since then, she has alternated teaching at Richland College with consulting, all the while amassing an impressive list of software certifications, including but not limited to AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate, Linux+ and Network+, in addition to multiple certifications from Microsoft, VMWare, Cisco, Sonicwall, Citrix and Novell. Through this extensive experience, Hart is able to offer her students a real-world perspective as to how the class curriculum will assist their careers in the future, providing first-hand examples of real situations and tying together theories with practical experience.
Hart also recently taught an AWS apprenticeship program, in which military veterans learned about cloud-based solutions while also completing paid internships with Amazon. Through Hart's instruction and guidance, every student in the first cohort successfully passed the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate certification. Hart will be soon teaching a second cohort of veterans, scheduled to start later this spring.
To register for classes at Richland College, visit richlandcollege.edu.
This entry was posted in Amazon Web Services, News, Technology and tagged amazon dallas training, amazon web services, aws, aws certified solutions architect associate, Dallas County Community College District, DCCCD, Richland College on March 5, 2018 by Katie.
Richland College Unveils Innovative 'Technology, Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing' Center on Campus
Dr. Joe May and Dr. Kay Eggleston speak at the opening of the Richland College TEAM Center, April 21, 2016. Photo by Keenan Cobb.
The Richland College Technology, Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing (TEAM) Center had its grand opening yesterday, advancing the college's mission of teaching, learning and community building. The new TEAM Center also addresses the need to contribute to the growth of the current and future Dallas economy by developing human capital success of key regional industries and employers.
With leading edge, industry-quality technology, the Richland College TEAM Center offers students hands-on learning experiences and delivers career-focused training leading to high-demand jobs in engineering, electrical engineering technology, electronics technology and advanced manufacturing.
Funding for the TEAM Center design, renovation and equipment was made possible through the $1.5 million portion of equipment funding provided by a $3.2 million Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant from the U.S. Department of Labor; more than $2.7 million from the Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) Chancellor's Career Ladder Funds; $1.6 million from Richland College's institutional funds; and a gift of $500,000 from Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) to fund the newly-redesigned electrical engineering technology programs at Richland, Eastfield and Mountain View colleges.
"The TEAM Center is fully equipped to provide students exceptional hands-on, industry-specific, degree-focused, problem-based learning experiences and career training with stackable industry-recognized certifications," said Kathryn K. Eggleston, Ph.D., Richland College president.
President Eggleston and Dr. Joe May, DCCCD chancellor, presided at the open house and ribbon cutting, with special guests including Dr. Peter Balyta, president of Texas Instruments Education Technology, and Edgar Garcia, Workforce Development Specialist with the U.S. Department of Labor.
"The leadership of Dallas County Community College District Chancellor Dr. Joe May has been paramount in the success of the significant public-private partnerships necessary to make this TEAM Center possible," said Eggleston. "Chancellor May is deeply committed to improving the Dallas economy by helping to grow middle-class jobs to jump start new economic investment and job creation."
The TEAM Center was designed by Aaron Farmer, Yvette Jarvis and Fred Peña of Booziotis & Company Architects. Also involved in the design and construction process were David Boon and Ken Fulk, project engineers with Reed, Wells, Benson and Company; Jacob Williams, project manager, and Danny Purselley, project superintendent, with Byrne Construction Services; Judy Lembke, construction manager with Lemco Construction Services; and Clyde Porter, DCCCD associate vice chancellor/district architect, and Jean Hill, DCCCD project manager.
The advanced manufacturing program at Richland College prepares students for entry-level manufacturing positions through an associate degree, three certificates and two skills achievement awards. The electrical engineering technology degree and electronics technology degree prepare students for technician-level employment in semiconductor, electronics and related industries through an associate degree or a certificate.
This entry was posted in Community and Economic Development, Events, News, STEM, TEAM Center, Technology and tagged advanced manufacturing, Dallas County Community College District, DCCCD, electronics technology, Richland College, STEM, team center, technology engineering advanced manufacturing center on April 22, 2016 by Katie.
Richland College Partners with Vicon to Give Students Access to Cutting-Edge Motion Capture Software
Motion capture technology specialist Vicon recently announced that it has partnered with Richland College's Interactive Simulation and Game Technology department to provide all students in the department's motion capture (mocap) class with industry-standard Blade software. Designed for a future where motion capture and live-action shooting become indistinguishable, Blade will enable Richland's students to capture performances effortlessly and deliver robust, reliable data that enables creativity.
The Interactive Simulation and Game Technology program at Richland gives students the opportunity to work with the current software programs and sophisticated gaming technology that professionals use. The motion capture class gives students hands-on experience in everything from organizing a shoot with multiple actors and a shot list to post processing the data, using Blade software for capturing, labeling, tracking/cleaning and solving.
"Vicon is a leader in motion capture systems—you get better quality data, cutting-edge hardware and software, and good customer service," said Richland College's motion capture instructor, Brian Mckee, who has used Vicon systems throughout his career at top studios including Gearbox Games, Blur Studios, and House of Moves. "The ability to work with and learn Blade will give students a major advantage as they try to enter a small and competitive industry."
"Richland College is located in the heart of Dallas, which is considered one of the top cities for game development," said Jeffrey Ovadya, sales and marketing director, Vicon. "By partnering with Richland, we're helping future generations of mocap professionals on their path to success in their real-world careers."
About Vicon
Academy Award®-winning Vicon is the world's largest supplier of precision motion tracking systems and match-moving software. It serves customers in CG animation, engineering and life sciences industries. As well as those in film, visual effects, video games and broadcast television sectors.
Vicon is a subsidiary of OMG (Oxford Metrics Group – LSE: OMG), plc., the technology group providing Computer Vision products and services for the entertainment, life science, engineering industries and consumer electronics markets. Other holdings include: OMG Life, our IP licensing business; and Yotta, a provider of software and services for infrastructure asset management.
Among many others, Vicon global clients include:
Engineering: European Space Agency, BMW, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – South Africa, ETH Zurich, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, NRL, UPENN GRASP, MIT, Ford and General Motors
Entertainment: Framestore, Audiomotion, The Imaginarium, Quantic Dream, SEGA, Konami, Activision, Sony, Dreamworks, ILM and USC
Life Sciences: Imperial College – London, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre – Oxford, Headley Court, University of Western Australia, Adidas, Digital Human Research Centre – Japan, Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare, Shriners, Marquette, UMich and Red Bull
For more information about OMG and its subsidiaries, visit: www.omgplc.com, www.vicon.com or www.yotta.co.uk.
This entry was posted in News, Technology and tagged Dallas County Community College District, DCCCD, interactive simulation and game technology, motion capture, Richland College, vicon on April 13, 2016 by Katie.
Richland College Gets Interactive with New Motion Capture Lab
Richland College recently unveiled its new marker-less motion capture lab, the first of its kind in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.
The technology, created by Organic Motion, allows users to use the lab without the need of reflective markers at their joints like traditional motion capture labs require. The Organic OpenStage2 system has 18 cameras that surround the user and capture motion, feeding the data into a computer algorithm that detects the skeletal resemblance of human motion.
This technology was recently used in the creation of the "Batman: Arkham Origins" video game, released in 2013 by Warner Bros.
"The technology is very similar to the Xbox Kinect, but on steroids!" said Dan Dao, Richland College multimedia lead faculty member. "When a person moves, it's not just about hands and wrists. It's about all of you: arms, legs, knees, waist, and hips."
In the motion capture lab, students are able to calibrate the machines in just a few minutes, allowing for a low-maintenance system and the ability to do independent work.
"Students don't have to worry about wearing special suits," said Dao. "Within just a few minutes, students can work by themselves and do self-recording."
Dallas is considered one of the top cities in the U.S. for game development and currently has more than 30 game companies employing 1,000 workers. Dallas is also home to Bottle Rocket Apps, a large mobile app and game developer, that has produced more than 50 apps and is ranked number five in the top 100 places to work in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Being situated so close to the industry gives Richland College students an advantage in providing gaming students special opportunities to visit companies to playtest games soon to be released, industry tours and interaction with industry leaders in the gaming and interactive simulation fields. The growing industry provides an array of employment opportunities for Richland College program completers.
Richland College will begin teaching classes in motion capture technology during the spring 2015 semester, with additional classes being added in subsequent semesters. For more information on Richland College's Interactive Simulation and Game Technology program, click here.
This entry was posted in Technology and tagged batman arkham origins, Dallas County Community College District, DCCCD, motion capture, motion capture lab, openstage2, organic motion, Richland College on December 17, 2014 by Katie.
Richland College Awarded $3.25 Million Grant From U.S. Department of Labor
DALLAS – Richland College, of the Dallas County Community College District, is one of only two Texas institutions awarded a Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant from the U.S. Department of Labor during a ceremony hosted by Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in Washington, D.C., on Mon., Sept. 29.
This $3.25 million grant will help equip Richland College train Texans who require new job skills for immediate employment. By leveraging Richland's existing manufacturing and electronics technology programs, partnerships with 14 Dallas employers, the City of Garland, the City of Richardson and the Metroplex Technology Business Council with TAACCCT grant funds, the Veterans-Focused Engineering Technology Project (VFETP) will meet the needs of local veterans and others who seek training to enter or re-enter the local job market.
The VFETP offers associate degrees (with credit-applicable education or experience) in manufacturing and electronics technology. The program also will offer certificates in electromechanical maintenance, advanced design for manufacturing, and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). The curricula will follow national credentialing standards from the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) and the International Society of Certified Electronic Technicians (ISCET). Richland College's employer partners include Alexandria Industries; Atlas Copco; the City of Richardson, Texas; DW Distribution; Garland Power & Light; Kenney Industries; Oncor; QT Manufacturing; Raytheon; Romeo Engineering; Smart GeoMetrics; Texas Instruments; the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; the North Texas chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association; and the Metroplex Technology Business Council. Richland College will collaborate with Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas to identify potential students, including veterans, as well.
The employer partners have committed to hiring program completers, supporting curriculum development, offering internships and providing on-the-job training for students.
Dr. Kathryn K. Eggleston, president of Richland College, said, "With TAACCCT funds, Richland College is strategically positioned to bridge critical gaps of two kinds: one between the workforce and specialized employment training and the other between that workforce and local employer needs. The VFETP is designed to help Texans access training, to help them succeed in completing training and to match program completers with jobs in growing industries."
Dr. Joe May, DCCCD's chancellor, said, "The Dallas County Community College District focuses on job-driven training and and partnerships that can help rebuild America's middle class. The grant received by Richland College means that we can train students – veterans, in particular – in fields that will continue to grow and which offer jobs now in the fields of advanced manufacturing, mechatronics and electronics manufacturing. We support economic and workforce development, and this grant enables Richland College to involve industry partners, support our communities and assist veterans as they seek good jobs and re-enter the workforce."
Richland College's grant funding is part of the larger TAACCCT competitive grant program co-administered by the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and the U.S. Department of Education. ETA announced 71 new grants under this program to single-institution applications and intra-state consortiums across the nation. The purpose of TAACCCT grants is to close educational gaps between potential employees and employers in growing industries, such as advanced manufacturing.
"Community colleges play a vital role in training Americans to meet the needs of employers today," said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. "As our economy continues to rebuild, businesses are looking for employees with the skills their company needs to stay competitive….These grants help meet those demands, providing critical investments in education and supporting key partnerships."
Watch the grant announcement ceremony:
For more information about Richland's manufacturing and electronics technology programs, visit http://www.richlandcollege.edu/engineeringtech/ and http://www.richlandcollege.edu/certs/manufacturingTechnology and or contact Martha Hogan, executive dean, Richland College School of Engineering, Business and Technology, by email at mhogan@dcccd.edu or by phone at (972) 238-6210.
This entry was posted in Community and Economic Development, Institutional Effectiveness, News, STEM, Technology on September 30, 2014 by Keenan Cobb.
Student Leaders are Student Role Models, LeCroy Scholars
LeCroy Scholar Joseph Marble
Students need role models, whether they are enrolled in K-12 or college. Often, students don't realize that they themselves can be role models, but that's what happens when a select group of Dallas County Community College District students are named LeCroy Scholars every year. Those individuals, who are campus leaders among the seven colleges in the DCCCD system, also serve as role models for their peers, volunteers in their communities and organizers who work to serve others.
Some have served as mentors, team captains, officers in academic honor societies, band members, tutors, student ambassadors for their colleges, and volunteers for church and community-based organizations such as the American Red Cross and the Family Place.
They have inspired other students, as well as DCCCD faculty, staff and administrators; as a result, eight students have been named 2014-2015 LeCroy Scholarship recipients by the DCCCD Foundation for their outstanding leadership and academic achievements.
The program honors one of DCCCD's former chancellors, Dr. R. Jan LeCroy, who served in that capacity from 1981 to 1988. Students selected as LeCroy Scholars receive full tuition and books for up to four semesters. All recipients may attend any of the seven colleges in the DCCCD system: Brookhaven, Cedar Valley, Eastfield, El Centro, Mountain View, North Lake or Richland.
The LeCroy Scholars fund was established with a grant donated by Mike A. Myers and the Mike Myers Foundation in 1988 to honor his longtime friend, Dr. Jan LeCroy, who passed away in 2013. The program was the first major student recognition and incentive scholarship created for DCCCD.
Myers, who currently serves as chairman and president of Myers Financial Corp., took an active role with LeCroy, when he was still living, in the selection process. Myers will continue to carry on his personal involvement with the program: he will interview finalists and help with the selection of the scholarship recipients, as well as personally mentor those students throughout the year – providing valuable insight and advice to help LeCroy Scholars succeed in school and in their communities. Myers and LeCroy previously hosted a number of events during the year that provided opportunities for scholars to network with other recipients, including a yearly gathering of former and current LeCroy Scholars. Myers plans to continue that tradition as well.
The scholarship recipients, the colleges they attend and their chosen fields of study are:
Taryn Allen of Rowlett, Eastfield College, general studies;
Kym Gonzalez of Dallas, Mountain View College, business and Spanish;
Michael Heggie of Garland, Eastfield College, psychology;
Benjamin Kellogg of Flower Mound, North Lake College, electrical engineering;
Joseph Marble of Dallas, Richland College, criminal justice;
Rachel Quiroga of Dallas, Eastfield College, nursing;
Elisabeth Tuttass of Flower Mound, North Lake College, psychology; and
Brian Weidinger of Rowlett, Eastfield College, general studies.
Five DCCCD students are returning LeCroy Scholars for 2014-2015:
Edith Barajas of Garland, Richland College, accounting;
Tiffani Coleman of Dallas, Richland College, social work;
Cody Dziak of Mesquite, Eastfield College, biology/kinesiology;
Victoria Livingston of Dallas, El Centro College, science; and
Itzel Ruiz of Dallas, El Centro College, criminal justice.
For more information, contact Kathye Hammontree in the DCCCD Foundation office by phone at (214) 378-1536 or by email at khammontree@dcccd.edu.
This entry was posted in Institutional Effectiveness, News, Student Success, Technology on September 26, 2014 by Keenan Cobb.


I know I've been falling behind on updates and picture posts especially, but today I put up about a 100 megs of photos into my image dump and I have some hours to sort out the next few weeks while entertaining the dwindling few who check this site for what they thought was exotic photos of exotic lands. To fill your belly with the bits of cities I've been through recently, check out Cork, Dublin, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Rome here. I'm in Rome now staying near the dog and cat parks here , about 5 minutes from the Borghese Park.
Yesterday I saw the pope speak in his huge pope plaza filled with popeheads then strolled into the Vatican Church in the middle of a service after walking past all the pope tombs.
The food here is so good it makes me weep, but the best part about living here is the fact that I have an apartment and a real mattress to sleep on and the fine company of Boston College friends Hayley and Jen.
Its sad that I don't know how to speak Italian, but I can easily get around the city and get what I need.
If you walk down any street in Stockholm, you're guaranteed to see three things. A beautiful copper-domed 6+ story building, an H & M store, a girl who should be a supermodel, and a hundred Volvos. Sadly this picture only has one. It is looking East on Hantverkargatan in Kungholmen, Stockholm.
With Halloween tonight, I hope to relive the magic I've only experienced in California so far. Hopefully this article doesn't speak for Rome's people.
I think I'm learning mostly about the common structures of cities than anything else. Show me a 7-Eleven, and I'll tell you the top 5 most likely stores nearby.
Which reminds me… there haven't been any Tim's Diary entries lately! I hope he's still rockin somewhere. Click here if you don't know what I'm talking about.
It begins by introducing 3 cute Swedish girls. They're probably in high school, but aren't too young. They giggle, play around in their suburban paradise, but then you see them looking very nervous on the top of a hillock far from any building. They are gathered around a phone texting something very serious to someone. You then see a low shot of their feet walking through a dark tunnel towards an opening. They exit the tunnel, and wait for something, their feet dangling over the concrete ledge they are sitting on. A black Volvo station wagon, circa 1998 pulls up. The trunk pops, and you see a man from the waste down take cans of beer out of the back from a large pallet of 6 packs and takes money from the girls as they stuff the cans into plastic bags.
That sequence was very bright and cheery, and lasted about 25 seconds. Now comes the horror show: In the next 2 seconds we see quick flashes, all yellow-tinted and in near-darkness, like the blair witch, or a very well made horror film. These flashes show these scenes: 3 Girls running mad near the loading docks of a supermarket….. An extreme closeup of a girl with bloody teeth gritting with pain….a posh-dressed girl face down in a forest.
At first I was like holy WHAT, thinking it was the beginning of an Alias show or some crap like that. I expected the girl's mother to come into the Law and Order Special Victims Unit office and scream…. but the entire commercial is a public message to parents to make sure their kids don't go rabid in the streets after buying underground beers.
It's an entirely different culture than Ireland, where I most definitely saw 14 year olds taking shots of Jameson triple distilled whiskey with pub owners… mothers and daughter walking through parks on Sunday mornings with Pints…. and such stuff.
Apparently I look like this guy. Magnus Norman, a Swedish tennis star… I was putting on my shoes and a wide-eyed man started speaking to me in Swedish. I said 'Sorry, English?' and he said he thought I was someone else, a Tennis player named Magnus Norman, and he had only asked me what I was doing in Stockholm.
The city is unbelievable, but it seems to close on Sunday and also drop in temperature by 10 degrees due to the fact that there are no vikings breathing the air around me. I got some addresses of some second hand shops today, and locations of a Salvation Army chain equivalent. I'm not much of a shopper, but I could really use a huge jacket. My fleece+windbreaker doesn't quite work in this Icy Island archipelago city. The windbreaker gets brittle, and the change in my pockets freezes my pants off.
For years, governments all over the world have secretly been collaborating with the high-end color laser printer industry in order to track the origin of every color copy made. They're doing it by programming the printers to create specific patterns of yellow dots — not visible to the naked eye — on every copy. These dot patterns are codes for the serial number, the make of the printer, and possibly even the time and date when the print was made. By cross-checking this information with printer company databases of people who have purchased the printers, federal agents can figure out who made a given color copy (of, say, an antiwar rally flyer) and when.
Xerox has openly admitted it shares its customer lists with the US Secret Service if asked. And both the US Secret Service and the Dutch government told PC World in a recent article that they asked printer companies to create the yellow dot patterns to help law enforcement track down counterfeiting suspects. Because color laser copies are so good, counterfeiters frequently use them to create fake money, as well as fake train tickets and other valuable items.
Right now, the system works because most people don't know about it, and you can only see the yellow dots if you look at the paper under a blue light (to highlight the yellow). Generally you need a magnifying glass or a weak microscope too. It also works because color laser printers are high-end enough that most people buy them using credit cards. That's how the laser printer companies generate their lists of purchasers associated with specific printer serial numbers.
Robert Lee, a computer science student, spent the summer after graduating from Yale researching these yellow printer dots, trying to figure out which companies were using them and what they might mean. My coworkers at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) helped him along, giving legal and technical pointers along the way. The result of two months spent peering at color laser copies with a blue LED was the discovery that only one model in his study doesn't use the yellow dots: the Xerox TekTronix Phaser 7700. But most other Xerox models do, as do all the ones he tested by Canon and Toshiba.
Because so little is known about what the yellow dots mean (aside from containing the make and serial number) and how governments are using them, many disturbing questions arise. For example, how do we know they're only using these printer marks to track counterfeiters? What if they're also tracking people who copy what they think are anonymous political flyers or pamphlets? Or people who post flyers announcing meetings of Muslim groups?
One of the fundamental ways the First Amendment works is by protecting anonymous free speech. These dots undermine your ability to make a color copy anonymously. The government can most likely track the document back to you. Even if you pay cash for color printouts at Kinko's, your purchase or visit to the store will probably be recorded by a security camera. It appears that the dots may contain a time stamp, so it would be relatively easy to cross-reference video of a 5:15 p.m. purchase with some copies made at 5:12.
How can this happen? Shouldn't there be a law? Yes, there should be, but as of now there are absolutely no regulations or laws that stop printer companies or copy shops from giving information about their customers to the government. Phone companies and Internet service providers, by contrast, are forbidden to give the government data about you unless served with a court order. But this isn't true for credit card records kept by laser printer companies. Sure, these companies could demand court orders, but none of them have. Xerox told Lee that it has always been happy to comply with the government when asked for this kind of data.
But there is something you can do about it, besides writing angry letters to your local congresscritter. Seth Schoen of the EFF is continuing Lee's work, gathering as many color copies as he can (see EFF's page on copiers), and he's received 200 responses so far, from all over the world. He's analyzing the patterns of dots, trying to crack the code to figure out what they say. Most of all, he and Lee want the public to know what they're getting when they print color copies.
Each time you create something on a color laser printer, you're sending a little message to the government: Here's who I am, and here's how to find me.
Annalee Newitz is a surly media nerd who prefers blue dots.
© 2005 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
To see the entire gallery, click here. Click on Edinburgh, or take a stroll through the other cities.
You can also see photos I've put up on Flickr here.
And I've uploaded all my videos to Youtube here.
LovemeasIloveyou.com= Strange Graffiti in Edinburgh.


In 2007, the Elephant Valley Project was launched as an elephant sanctuary developed to create a home for injured and overworked elephants and is now ELIE's centerpiece for elephant conservation, which is located within Putrom's community land. ELIE is unique in terms of its primary source of funding, which comes directly from donations made by local and international visitors to the EVP. Since 2006 the NGO has evolved and grown, with the development of the EVP as a tourist attraction, providing a sustainable financing mechanism for funding all ELIE programs.
A true work in progress, the Elephant Valley Project has become the central location for our works in Mondulkiri.
The Elephant Valley is 1,500 hectares of natural elephant habitat that is surrounded by farms and protected forest. It allows us to simulate the same environment that mahouts look after and care for their elephants, while providing a large area of forest for elephants to escape human activity for the longest period of time possible during a normal working day. We are lucky that we can combine the support of volunteers and tourists, which in turn allows us to realize our aims.
Ecotourism facilities for volunteers and visitors including four self contained bungalows, a big backpacker bungalow, a group house, lounge room, dining room and kitchen.
Seed collection and replanting the elephant forest with elephant edible plants and trees.
Elephant and Forest Education Centre – partly completed, we plan to finish building this building that will be able to house school group and education groups to learn about the elephants and forest conservation.


During this upcoming holiday season Community Emergency Corps of Ballston Spa will again be an official drop off point for donations for the Toys for Tots program sponsored by the United States Marine Corps. This campaign has reached out and assisted needy and deserving children all around the capital region for over 45 years. A significant addition to the program for 2015 is the addition of the Ballston Spa Holiday Parade on December 4th at 6:30pm as a point of collection. In lieu of a grand marshal this year, the parade will spotlight the Toys for Tots campaign, in partnership with Community Emergency Corps, the Saratoga County Sheriff's Department, the Ballston Spa Rotary, and the U.S. Marine Corps. Volunteers from these organizations will be on hand to collect donations of new, unwrapped toys from spectators along the parade route as well as at the tree lighting. Even just one toy from each family would be tremendously helpful.
Our program has grown incredibly over the years, through your donations, and we are hoping by adding this event we will see a significant increase in donations with the additional exposure. New, unwrappedtoys, games, books, puzzles, sport balls, dolls, snow toys, and anything for kids from infant to teens are all appreciated. Stuffed toys are the only exception.
We have already started to receive donations and will be accepting toys at our station at 78 Thompson St., Ballston Spa, NY until December 15th. You can drop them off anytime, days or evenings. If we are not at the building due to answering emergency calls, we hope you will return at another time with your contribution. As a reminder, toys collected in this area are redistributed right back into this area to those in need.
For further information or if you have any questions, feel free to contact Ray Otten, Executive Director of CEC, at 885-1478.


Ahoy - this time we're talking about serial compression - exactly what's going on, and why you shouldn't be too scared of using multiple compressors in series.
Serial compression can be very straightforward: it's simply 2 or more compressors in series, one after another, with each compressor carrying a little (or a lot) of the workload. It can be used on individual tracks, on the master, or on any busses - in fact it would be rare that any song released these days wasn't run through a few compressors in series, during mastering.
Essentially, the reason to be aware of/understand serial compression is because you can achieve results with it that you just can't get with a single compressor.
For example, when mixing individual tracks, I'll often use a fast-reacting compressor with a higher ratio first to catch the higher transient peaks and increase the 'short-term consistency' of the audio. Then I'll follow it up with a slower compressor at a lower ratio to deal with more long-term level variations. This way, the second compressor has a smoother, more balanced signal to work on and won't 'pump' or 'breathe' due to a sudden burst of energy on signals with occasional loud peaks. I find it really helps with dynamic vocals and inconsistent bass guitar. The classic chain for this kind of thing is an 1176 into an LA2A.
This can often result in a more transparent, natural sounding compression, as well as reduce potential negative artefacts caused by heavy compression, such as treble loss, and/or plugin aliasing - some plugins can sound okay when doing gentle compression but kind of 'fall apart' when being pushed. You can also benefit from the colouration or 'character' that both compressors will impart on the sound.
Consider a vocal that's been recorded through a hardware compressor using a 12:1 ratio, followed by two more compressors used in serial during mixing, with a ratio of 8:1 and 2:1. Now let's say there's also an SSL bus compressor on the master bus applying a 4:1 ratio (which is a totally reasonable scenario for a mix I might do). What's the full potential compression ratio that this vocal track goes through?
Given that any ratio above 10:1 is considered limiting, 768:1 seems a 'little extreme', and that's before mastering with more compression and limiting. Even with no compressor used during tracking, there's still potentially a 64:1 compression ratio being applied to the vocal. So yeah… it's easy to over-compress using serial compression.
To break it down and really help us understand it: imagine two compressors in series, both set at a threshold of -10dB, and both with a ratio of 4:1. Theoretically, this should result in a potential 16:1 ratio using serial compression.
So yeah, going from 8dB (initial signal above threshold) to 0.5 gives a 16:1 ratio (because 8 divided by 0.5 is 16).
But these figures don't tell the whole story as, in reality, serial compression is rarely (if ever) done by setting the thresholds of the two compressors identically, so the aggregate ratio of compression is much more 'fluid'. Additionally, both compressors probably wouldn't have the same attack and release times, the same knee, and so on, so they wouldn't always be acting on the same part of the signal.
I've never even used a Fairchild on a track that ended up getting released, yet here they are, in a picture, on my website.
Some of the signal maybe be uncompressed, some parts compressed by only one compressor, and some by both. Often the second one is releasing while the other is holding, sometimes one can be attacking while the other is attacking or releasing, so the interplay becomes quite complex.
So, the result of two compressors in series and both set to 4:1 - while theoretically identical to one compressor doing 16:1 - is usually an extremely non-linear form of compression, and one that could never be achieved by a single compressor set to 16:1.
Sonically, serial compression tends to be more transparent because the attack of the second compressor is often masked by the simultaneous movement of the first - and because the compression thresholds aren't the same, the multiplied-ratio compression is performed on a smaller part of the signal than it would be if a single compressor were doing all the work. Read that again and you'll see that it does make sense!
Obviously, there are no rules – you can place the slower compressor first, letting transients slip though, and then deal with them with a second, faster compressor! I do this all the time when tracking in my own studio, using a DBX 160XT (in over-easy mode) first as an insert, followed by an 1176. Or use two fast compressors, two slow ones, whatever. Take care not to over compress using this technique, just experiment and have fun.
As a parting bonus: you might find that when using serial compression on a vocal requires more de-essing than you're used to applying. But that's okay! It doesn't necessarily mean you've 'over-compressed' if that's what sounds good to you, and you want a really upfront sound. Just use the method described here to go in and turn down the sibilant parts - and you might even find that you need to use a de-esser somewhere towards the end of your plugin chain, as well. Don't worry, if you think it sounds cool, then it's all good.
Good afternoon to you - I recently mixed/mastered some tracks for The Caress - an alternative five-piece based in London, and they've released the first two tracks 'Bruiser' and 'Oh God (I'm So Lonesome)'. There are Soundcloud steaming links below, but you can also check them out on Spotify, iTunes and YouTube. And all the rest.
These guys write beautiful songs and I can't wait to be able to share more soon!
This post is long overdue - but I've been really busy (washing my hair, mainly). Here's a track I engineered/produced/mixed/mastered by amazing songwriter and musician Michael Jablonka. He's an amazing guitarist (he's the touring guitarist for Michael Kiwanuka) and I love that the song has amazing hooks as well as a ridiculous guitar solo. At the end of the day if you have a gold sparkle guitar you better be able to play.
We tracked the drums and bass and some of the rhythm guitars at Press Play in London, the rest at my studio.
There's a Soundcloud player below, and here are links for iTunes and Spotify. Michael is so talented and has a new EP coming really soon, can't wait to hear it!
And of course, voyamusic.co.uk is coming soon. We do hope you join us on our journey.
Yes, I do realise that it's been a while since I posted, but I've been very busy recording an album. Isn't that nice?
Anyway, when it comes to compression, the truth is that even some experienced engineers and producers can feel frustrated when trying to set a compressor – especially the attack and release times. A technique popularised by Michael Paul Stavrou in his book Mixing with your Mind (a very expensive but highly recommended book!) helps to overcome this.
Loop up a piece of audio, such as a snare sample or drum loop you're familiar with, and start to adjust the attack time until you can hear the transients poking through, and really understand and get a feel for the way that the attack works on the particular compressor you're using. Try to ignore the distortion and extreme compression and just focus on the attack transients; pay attention to when there's too much 'clamping down' on the transient.
I was going to included a screen capture video of myself, following the process with the built-in Logic X compressor, to show you how quickly it can be done - then I thought, you know what? Nah - you do it. You know? Okay, PERHAPS I recorded it several times, only to realise it wasn't capturing the screen audio and would be useless to everyone, but let's pretend that this is a lesson in tough love and DIY ethic.
Anyway, once you have the attack set to your taste, you can move onto the release. Listen for when it's too fast and there's too much distortion, or when extreme pumping occurs. Once the release is set move onto the ratio, and finally back the threshold down to give a more reasonable amount of gain reduction, and then set the make-up gain. How does it sound?
Next up, we'll talk about serial compression - chaining these lovely things together in a row for further awesomeness and sonic beautification.
I'm over the moon to have had a small part to play in the creation (mastering) of this amazing, new track from my buddies BuzzardBuzzardBuzzard - the band so good, they had to name it three times (or something?). Wonderful video by the good folks @ On Par Productions.
You can listen here on Spotify or Apple Music or click the video below (he gets naked in it so you may as well).
They just returned from a UK tour with Goat Girl, and will be playing @ The Lexington on 28th November.
I'm quite sure that this is just the beginning of a wonderful future for them.... more to come soon….
Happy to reveal the latest Boy Azooga track that I recorded/produced/mixed and mastered (ooh la laa) - it's a cover of The Table's, comic book dead body dance floor classic 'Do The Standing Still'.
The video (by Toby Cameron) features Kliph Scurlock, a polar bear and some confused members of the public. Have a good day. Long live The Table.
Catch the Azoogas on their UK and US tour on these dates - I'll be at the Scala gig tomorrow (Weds 17th Oct).
Don't have much to post; finishing vocals for the last track of my (and Linford Hydes') album. The band name is VOYA. We're keeping our heads down and keeping on. More exciting stuff coming soon though - I promise!
Ahoy there - I've been so swamped recently, I've barely had time to post. Here with new music though - and one of my favourites off the record, which, by the way, is out now: http://smarturl.it/BA_12KF. The video was once again done by Toby Cameron of ON PAR Productions, shot on Super 8mm film.
The video was once again done by Toby Cameron of ON PAR Productions, shot at Cardiff Dogs Home, (please donate here) and the single is out on Heavenly Recordings. It will be available on your radio dials soon.
New Boy Azooga Single/Video - Longer Boogie!
So happy to finally show you another track from the Boy Azooga album I produced/recorded/mixed - one of my favourites - LONER BOOGIE!!! It's a song about how it's scary outside and sometimes you want to stay inside. You got the Loner Boogie. Gorgeous video by Toby Cameron of the mighty On Par Productions.
I do hope you enjoy?


Duration: 40 min. 42 sec.
Susten Pass (el. 2260 m.) is a mountain pass in the Swiss Alps. The pass road, built from 1938–1945, connects Innertkirchen in the canton of Bern with Wassen in the canton of Uri. A 300 metres long tunnel crosses the pass at 2,224 metres.
The pass is popular with tourists, especially for the views of the Stein Glacier on the south side.
Wassen is a municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland.
Innertkirchen is a village and municipality in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.


Description: Designed as an elegant lighting design for a wall in any room, this Sienna sconce features 2 Amber faux candlelights that are perched on bobeches with scrolled accents. This lovely fixture features luxurious hardware in a Smoke finish. Quality hand detailed American craftsmanship is perfected by years of time honored artistry, passed down from generations of highly skilled artisans. This fixture is available in custom sizes, styles, colors and dimmable energy efficient lamping options such as LED. Sienna is UL and cUL listed for dry and damp locations.


text:
Bradenham conservation area
This conservation area is designated in 1971. Bradenham village is a small settlement nestling at the foot of the Chilterns just off the main Wycombe to Risborough Road. The land rises to the east and the road through the village links the valley road with the Naphill Road on the top of the Chiltern Scarp. The hillside above the village is a Chiltern Beech hanger which forms a picturesque backdrop.
The village itself is characterised by clusters of dwellings along the roadside, and on tracks around the large green at the centre of the village. Bradenham Manor faces on to this and is a large Jacobean Manor House dating from 1670. It was once owned by Isaac Disraeli, father to the former prime minister. Adjacent lies a pretty church. Most of the buildings in the village are listed and it is extremely picturesque. Additional controls over development are in the form of National Trust Covenants.
map-of-Bradenham - [PDF 374kb]


For Apple, the release of two new iPhone models has already resulted in nearly double the sales of previous releases.
Apple said on Monday it sold nine million new iPhones over the first weekend that the phones, the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, went on sale.
That compares with five million iPhone 5 smartphones sold last year in that model's first weekend.
Friday's release marked the first time Apple released two new iPhones instead of one. It was also the first time it released iPhones at the same time in multiple countries around the world, including China.
The company did not say how many of each model was sold, but it had expected the iPhone 5S, the more expensive one, to be the more popular. Apple allowed customers to place early online orders for the cheaper 5C but not the 5S because of expected supply constraints.
Sales of the new iPhones topped analysts' expectations. They had predicted Apple would sell between five million and eight million.
The strong sales should give Apple a much-needed boost. Over recent quarters, its revenue has been flat and its profit growth has slowed. And its stock has taken a beating on Wall Street amid investors' concerns that the company had lost its ability to innovate after the death of its visionary co-founder, Steven P. Jobs. Its stock opened Monday with a gain of about 5 percent.
"Remarkable. The rumors of Apple's demise are clearly wrong," said Laurence Isaac Balter, chief market strategist at Oracle Investment Research, which has clients that own Apple shares.
The sales figures apparently exceeded even Apple's expectations. After announcing the numbers, the company issued updated financial guidance for investors. The company said that while it had previously forecast between $34 billion and $37 billion in revenue, it now expects revenue to be toward the high end of that range.


What Sinus Surgery is Right for Me?
Once you've identified structural problems or allergens, it's time to begin treatment. Dr. Zadeh offers a variety of treatment options, ranging from non-invasive treatments to surgical procedures. Your treatment will vary based on your specific nasal structure and the severity of the obstruction.
In general, Dr. Zadeh will usually recommend non-surgical methods as the first step in treatment so you can avoid surgery if possible. He will closely monitor your condition to determine if surgery is necessary. Dr. Zadeh aims to treat the underlying causes of your sinus and breathing problems and will help you navigate all available treatment options.
There are several medications available to cope with the uncomfortable symptoms of obstructed nasal passages. Antihistamines, antibiotics, or decongestants can alleviate certain symptoms and reduce infections to improve nasal function. Occasionally, medications only provide temporary relief and continued use is needed. Medications have health side effects, and a more thorough treatment may be necessary.
Nasal or Saline Sprays. In addition to medication, nasal sprays can relieve symptoms by keeping the sinuses clear. Saline sprays simply flush out the sinuses to keep them clear and reduce the risk of infection. Some nasal sprays contain steroids, which can effectively reduce congestion.
Lifestyle Changes. If you find that you are allergic to a certain type of food, pollen, or other irritants, avoiding contact with that allergen will reduce your symptoms. Maintaining a clean home can also reduce the amount of dust or other particles in the air. Quitting smoking can also be effective, as the number of harmful pollutants introduced to the air you breathe will be reduced.
It is important to maintain your treatment regimen for four to six weeks before determining if it has been effective. If you have tried one or more non-surgical methods, it may be time to consider surgery if you are still experiencing difficulties in breathing, or suffer from snoring, sleep apnea, headaches, or other symptoms.
If a structural problem or a growth (polyp) occurs within the nose, non-surgical methods may not be effective and the underlying structural abnormality must be treated with surgery to reshape your nose and remove the obstruction.
If you opt for surgery, choosing the right surgery is vital to safe and effective treatment. We offer many surgical options, each appropriate to resolve specific issues.
Choosing a surgical procedure must first begin with an accurate diagnosis. We use a variety of testing methods to determine the cause of your sinus problems. From allergy testing to CT (computed tomography) scans of your internal sinus structure, we use advanced technology to get an accurate picture of your sinuses and nasal passageways.
The most common form of surgery, endoscopic sinus surgery removes tissue and bone to open nasal passages. The procedure doesn't involve any visible incisions and does not leave visible scarring. The endoscope used during the procedure contains a fiberoptic lens to locate and effectively treat the obstruction.
The entire procedure takes approximately one to three hours depending on the severity of the obstruction. Learn more here.
This method of endoscopic sinus surgery is minimally invasive and does not require any incisions. A device with a tiny balloon is inserted into the sinuses via the nasal cavity, and the balloon is gradually inflated. The inflation of the balloon compacts the tissue, clearing the airways and reducing congestion.
The tissue is not removed during the procedure, so those with nasal polyps or other growths may require a different surgical treatment. Balloon sinuplasty surgery procedure has a much quicker recovery time than traditional endoscopic sinus surgery as it does not involve any incisions that require time to heal. Learn more here.
Turbinates, the small bones that extend into the nasal cavity, can become enlarged due to allergies, infections, persistent inflammation, hormonal changes, or other issues. Medication or other non-surgical methods can be effective in treating the enlarged area if caused by allergies and bacterial or viral infections. However, if inflammation persists, surgical reduction may be necessary. This type of surgery also does not require any incisions that will leave visible scars and is performed within the nose structure. Learn more here.
Polyps, or growths on the nasal passages and sinuses, cannot be reduced with medication or non-surgical methods. Small polyps may not cause a problem, but larger polyps can block nasal passages and cause sinus infections, snoring, headaches, or a diminished sense of smell.
As polyps can only be treated with surgery, accurate diagnosis is vital to treatment. However, polyps are easily identified by Dr. Zadeh's advanced imaging technology, allowing you to avoid trial-and-error with medication and get the correct procedure to treat this condition. Learn more here.


The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth rugby union world cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World Cup Limited. The pre-event favourites were England and New Zealand, with France, South Africa and defending champions Australia all expected to make strong showings.
*"See also: 2003 Rugby World Cup drop goal scorers."


We'll be opening at 10am to host the Hendersonville transition point for runners!
The Ville to Ville Craft Brew Relay will be held April 13, 2019. The first flight of 6-member teams will start the relay around 5:00 am. Over the next few hours, additional teams will depart on their journey through the Carolinas. Each team will consist of six runners who will split 12 legs ranging from 3-9 miles (ultra teams will consist of three runners). Each team will provide their own race vehicle to drop off and pick up runners at designated transition areas along the course route. Ville to Ville teams will begin arriving in Greenville, SC between 3:00-8:00 pm that afternoon for a finish line celebration which will include music, food, and of course, craft brews.