The Elephant Hotel - set in the bustling village of Pangbourne, beside the River Thames, is just minutes from the vibrant city of Reading. We're a boutique hotel with a dash of opulence and a lot of comfort. At the heart of a vibrant community, we invite you to escape, do business, relax, and unwind in style. Feet up or eyes down, you set the pace.
Stay in a beautiful boutique bedroom with handcrafted Indian furniture, rich fabrics, and a superbly comfy bed – four-posters are available. Dine in The Herd Restaurant where locally sourced steaks are matured on the bone for a minimum of 30 days, and are cooked to perfection on an open fire.
Our drinking den – Babar – is home to an eclectic collection of well worn bar fodder, designed with lounging in mind. Casual dining is available here, as is a collection of 60 handpicked gins. Chin chin!
Beautiful handcrafted Indian furniture, rich oriental rugs, delicate fabrics… each of our 22 bedrooms is individual in style, but all are identical in attention to detail. Superbly comfy, they have all the mod-cons you have come to expect, plus WiFi is free and easy to access.
Each bedroom has a tray of treats featuring cafetière coffee, speciality teas, and tasty biscuits. Toiletries are from British brand Noble Isle whose fragrances are inspired by the natural and cultural riches of the British Isles.
From cosy romantic getaways to pawfect staycations with your four-legged travel companions, foodie tasting deals & super saver rates, we have a selection of unique experiences for you to enjoy, all at great prices.
At 'The Herd' - our unique dining den - we are passionate about steak and have left no stone unturned in our quest to deliver the ultimate steak experience. This starts with the breed and feed, and goes all the way to the cut and cook. Furthermore, our chefs don't hide in the kitchen; they cook at the fire in the restaurant. For a special dining experience with a bit of theatre, and exquisite results, look no further.
For casual nights in with great food and wine, there's Babar. An eclectic bar loved by guests and locals alike, this is a great spot for Sunday lunch, post-dining drinks, or a low-key dinner.
Get your detective hat on for wicked nights of murder and misbehaving with our murder mystery nights. Join us for curated gin tasting experiences, featuring exquisite tipples and perfectly matched tonics. Love to laugh? Our comedy nights feature some of the best acts on the comedy circuit.
For unforgettable nights and events in Pangbourne, look no further! The Elephant is at the heart of the community, so whether you join us from near or far, you will feel at home.
Discover the beauty of the historic village of Pangbourne and county of Berkshire at The Elephant Hotel. Wander along the River Thames, explore stunning National Trust gardens and country mansions surrounded by rolling countryside or visit the magnificent Windsor Castle.
Situated at the heart of buzzing Pangbourne, our eclectic 22-bedroom hotel is a hidden gem with large beautiful gardens. We have had the pleasure of hosting many unforgettable weddings within our quirky walls. Licensed for up to 140 wedding guests, our elegant wedding suite and garden temple are unique and special spaces for your dream day.
The Elephant Hotel is the perfect venue to host your upcoming conference or business meeting. Delegates can focus, free from distraction of city life, surrounded by beautiful gardens. Our conference rooms provide flexible space for successful conferences and meetings for up to 60 delegates.
We're proud to be working in association with POD Point & be the first hotel in the local area to offer charging for your electric vehicle.
Further instructions on how to use Open Charge Points can be found on POD Point's website.


The price of photovoltaic (PV) systems in the United States (i.e., the cost to the system owner) has dropped precipitously in recent years, led by substantial reductions in global PV module prices. However, system cost reductions are not necessarily realized or realized in a timely manner by many customers. Many reasons exist for the apparent disconnects between installation costs, component prices, and system prices; most notable is the impact of Fair Market Value considerations on system prices. To guide policy and research and development strategy decisions, it is necessary to develop a granular perspective on the factors that underlie PV system prices and to eliminate subjective pricing parameters. This report's analysis of the overnight capital costs (cash purchase) paid for PV systems attempts to establish an objective methodology that most closely approximates the book value of PV system assets.
• $4.40/WP DC – 187.5 MWP DC one-axis utility-scale ground mount.
Significant variation (standard deviations of 5%–8%) exists in these estimates due to regional and site-specific cost factors. Most notable is the impact that the wide range of U.S. labor rates and installer productivity (experience) factors can have on installation costs. This uncertainty analysis excluded the impact of system size, which can also play a significant role in determining installed system prices.
• $1.91/ WP DC – 187.5 MWP DC one-axis utility-scale ground mount (modified-SunShot target: $1.20/WP DC).
As these results show, the evolutionary estimates of U.S. PV system prices fall short of the 2020 SunShot targets. This highlights the challenges that remain before solar energy can compete with incumbent electricity technologies without subsidy.
Unlike traditional energy-production technologies that have ongoing consumables costs, nearly all of the costs for photovoltaic (PV) systems must be paid at the beginning. Reducing those initial capital costs is crucial to reducing the cost of solar electricity. In addition to module price, many factors contribute to the price of a PV system, including installation labor, power electronics, permitting and other regulatory costs, and—in the case of ground-mount systems—site acquisition and preparation costs.
Under its SunShot Initiative, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has established very aggressive system price targets for each of the three major PV market sectors: residential rooftop, commercial rooftop, and utility-scale ground mount. Achieving these targets will require total system cost reductions of approximately 75% by 2020. Industry stakeholders must understand the ever-changing PV system cost structure. As module prices continue to fall, the contribution of non-module costs to the cost of solar energy will increase. There are also critical relationships between system components, such as the relationship between module conversion efficiency and non-module area-related costs and the relationship between module configuration and installation methods. Research and development (R&D) managers, policymakers, system installers, and component manufacturers must understand the current cost of PV systems in adequate detail to allocate effectively the resources needed for further cost reductions and to design effective market policies. The resolution into PV system price drivers that is required for these decisions is difficult to attain from surveys of system prices, or by retrospective means. Results deviate based on regional, installer, and job-specific details, making accurate price comparisons between systems very difficult, unless conducted from the bottom up.
This report presents detailed, bottom-up 2010 benchmark system prices for residential and commercial rooftop systems and utility-scale ground-mount systems. These results are intended to depict the installed price2 for U.S. PV systems in the second half of 2010, i.e., the unsubsidized cost (cash purchase) of the system from the owner's perspective. For each system type, the major cost drivers are identified, and the sensitivities to key assumptions (e.g., module efficiency, system scale) are presented.
Following the benchmark system price analysis, this report presents results of a bottom-up analysis of potential PV system price reductions through 2020, assuming an evolutionary path of technological and market improvement. These projections are compared with the 2020 system price targets established under the SunShot Initiative. The difference between the evolutionary projections and SunShot targets highlights the need for innovative system designs and installation methods to complement module-level cost reductions.
Because of the rapid U.S. PV system cost reductions resulting from global module price declines, market price data have become insufficient for providing policy makers and industry stakeholders with an accurate and current understanding of system-price drivers. A time-lag effect and the dynamics of a nascent industry disconnect reported system prices from underlying system costs. This report shows an objective methodology for approximating the underlying costs of PV systems with the resolution necessary for understanding system price drivers. Comparing these objective values with market price data provides valuable insights into the U.S. PV market's inefficiencies, which may be useful for developing policies and practices that address these inefficiencies. Understanding the forces driving PV system price reductions—and their limitations—is also important.
The price of U.S. PV systems has fallen by nearly 30% since the second half of 2010, and further near-term price reductions are likely as the U.S. market matures. Most PV system components are based on commodities that have global prices. Thus, installation costs are largely responsible for the disparities in PV system prices among different countries and regions. The diffusion of installation knowledge and expertise throughout the U.S. market, increased local competition, and consolidation of U.S. installation companies should reduce these disparities substantially. Based on evidence from the more mature German PV market, factors such as improved installer productivity, reduced installer overhead and profit (due to competition), lower supply chain costs, and lower regulatory costs could reduce 2011 U.S. benchmark PV system prices by an additional 40%.
The tight polysilicon supply and high prices during 2007–2008 may also help reduce PV system prices in the near term. Polysilicon is the feedstock for the dominant c-Si PV technology. The recent price spike caused new entrants to build polysilicon production facilities, many of which are now coming online. The resulting overcapacity of polysilicon—along with weakening European demand for c-Si modules—has driven polysilicon contract prices down by more than half compared with contract prices in 2008. In addition, the 2007–2008 polysilicon shortage encouraged larger-scale production of thin film alternatives to c-Si PV, which also has contributed to lower global PV module prices. At the same time, the larger polysilicon production base has reduced the likelihood of another polysilicon shortage/price imbalance as severe as the one in 2007–2008.
The abovementioned factors likely will contribute to lower U.S. PV system prices in the coming years. This report provides detailed roadmaps to evolutionary c-Si PV system price reductions and performance improvements, including substantial reductions in module and non-module costs. By 2020, these roadmaps would enable U.S. PV systems to approach—but not meet—DOE's SunShot Initiative price targets. To accelerate PV price reduction toward meeting these aggressive targets, revolutionary improvements to module and non-module system components and installation methods are needed.
"…Congressman Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) joined [retired Marine Corps Lieutenant General John Castellaw; Mike Breen, vice president of the Truman National Security Project; and Jeff Duff of Airstreams Renewables, a company that makes a point of hiring veterans] to talk about the importance and urgency of extending the federal Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind energy… The group discussed how critical renewing the PTC is to America's economic and national security.
"The PTC, they said, is an important federal policy incentive without which 37,000 jobs and $10-20 billion of domestic investment would be lost next year and thereafter…"
"Wind power is a critical part of America's energy independence. The growth of wind energy, which produces enough electricity to power 12 million homes, has been fueled by the PTC, wind power's primary, performance-based policy incentive…Breen, who served in both Afghanistan and Iraq...[said the U.S. would] need sources of energy [it] can rely on in the 21st Century…"
"…[T]he growing interest in smart cities and communities is putting the spotlight on the smarter government operations that must guide their development. Smart government can be defined as the use of innovative policies, business models, and technology to address the financial, environmental, and service challenges facing public sector organizations. Smart government encompasses strategy and policy definition, specific applications and technologies to help improve service delivery and the establishment of new platforms for communication, data sharing, and application development. "Smart government builds on the IT infrastructure investments made by the public sector over the last decade. Back-office systems have helped improve process efficiency and the integration of services. Front-office systems have been adapted to support multi-channel communication with citizens and a growing range of transactional services. Smart government continues this transformation and also embraces innovations happening in areas such as energy, transport, and waste management…"
"This Pike Research report analyzes the global market opportunity for smart government technologies. It assesses the business drivers, market forces, and technology trends that are transforming the use of ICT and related technologies in smart cities and communities.
"The study forecasts the size and growth of the market for smart government technologies through 2017, and it also forecasts the growth in smart government data analytics and cloud-based services between 2011 and 2017…"
"The city of Los Angeles has more than 12,000 acres of prime space for solar development on the rooftops of local homes, businesses and multifamily buildings, with the potential capacity to create as much as 5 GW of locally generated power, according to a study by the Los Angeles Business Council (LABC)…[A] solar-ready rooftop space…equivalent to nearly 20 square miles.
"The recent approval by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to move forward with the city's first feed-in-tariff (FIT) program - CLEAN LA Solar - provides the opportunity to create the first 150 MW of rooftop solar in the next three to four years, with a goal of reaching 600 MW by 2020."
"…[LA] must meet a state mandate requiring local utilities to generate 33% of their power from renewable sources by 2020. The solar FIT…[is expected] to help the utility meet that goal…in the limited time frame…"
"… Despite [a rush of new solar producers, including China, solar module oversupply, pressure on margins, demand exceeding supply, and governments scaling back solar support in the aftermath of the economic crisis], new McKinsey research indicates that the industry is suffering from growing pains rather than undergoing death throes. Solar is entering a period of maturation that, in just a few years, will probably lead to more stable and expansive growth for companies that can manage costs and innovate to tap rising demand from multiple customer segments.
"The Crown Estate, which controls the UK's territorial waters…plans to open up test sites in deeper waters in the North Sea… as part of the UK's study into lowering the cost of energy for offshore wind.
"The Japanese government will provide assistance to eight cities that were heavily damaged in last year's earthquake and tsunami to rebuild using 'smart city' technologies that use IT to cut dependence on traditional power sources.
"Japan is investing heavily in infrastructure projects that seek to use advanced networking technology along with power grids to efficiently track and control electricity use. Such infrastructure, which includes Internet-connected power meters in homes, and giant electricity "routers" that control where power is sent, is considered a key building block before alternative energy sources like solar panels and wind turbines can be used on a large scale.
"…Many of the world's poorest people are rural farmers with no connections to power grids or large-scale energy sources. Most of their day-to-day energy currently comes from the burning of wood and charcoal, practices that contribute to air pollution, deforestation, and the loss of precious time and energy collecting firewood…[but] five sources of renewable energy…are [also]…allowing them to improve their harvests and their lives.
"2. Wind Energy: …The organization Practical Action…helped villages in Sri Lanka install a wind turbine that provides electricity for the entire community…Villagers pooled their resources to install and manage the turbine…and as a result a number of steady jobs are created. Installing a local turbine also means people no longer have to travel long distances and pay large amounts to recharge batteries that they regularly use.
Candidate Romney's Energy Plan; Romney accuses the Obama administration of having an "unhealthy obsession with green jobs." Here's the Romney platform.
75,000 jobs is an unhealthy obsession?
US Grid Has $107B in Investment "Gaps" by 2020; The American Society of Civil Engineers finds that failing to spend on grid upgrades will end up costing U.S. homes and businesses nearly $200 billion by 2020.
U.S. wind power installations took a pronounced upturn in 2011, and the year's final numbers tell a multi-faceted story. Wind energy is now firmly established as a mainstream energy source, with a growing domestic manufacturing supply chain and ever-improving technology that has made U.S. wind power more competitive than ever.
Technological innovations and growing a domestic supply chain are pushing wind energy further down the cost curve. In addition to its other unique benefits, wind energy has zero fuel costs and locked-in electricity prices for decades.
The U.S. industry's continued march forward, evidenced by over $13 billion in investment in 2011, is particularly impressive given the short-term policy uncertainty under which the industry is currently operating.
In 2011 the wind industry installed 3,464 wind turbines across 96 wind projects for a total of 6,816 megawatts (MW) deployed in the U.S.
Despite challenges associated with policy uncertainty, a recovering economy, weak power demand, low electricity prices and dipping natural gas prices, the wind industry saw a 30 percent increase in new installations compared to the 5,214 MW installed in 2010.
Megawatts added in 2011 put total U.S. wind installations at 46,916 MW, a 17 percent increase that keeps the industry in the double digits for overall annual growth. Now at 2.9 percent of the overall U.S. generation mix as of 2011, and meeting over 10 percent of the electricity demand in five states, electricity from wind power capacity in the U.S. can supply the equivalent of the electricity used by over 12 million American homes.
Wind power comprised 31 percent of all new generating capacity deployed in 2011, second only to new natural gas. That contribution marks a continuation of a lasting trend, as wind has installed 35 percent of all new capacity over the past five years.
Even with wind energy's impressive growth rate here, which has now lasted years, America has barely begun to tap its wind resource. The country's wind resource is as diverse as it is great, with the 10 million MW of wind potential in the U.S. spread uniquely across the country. The most active states in 2011 for most megawatts of new installations were California, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Oklahoma. While some long-time staple states in the wind industry installed the largest number of megawatts, states seeing the largest growth rates in 2011 tell a different story: Ohio, Vermont, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Idaho all more than doubled or nearly doubled their installed wind capacity in 2011 alone. And Kansas is setting the stage for a strong 2012 with the most new capacity under construction of any state in the U.S.
The evolution of wind energy technology is evident just in turbines' nameplate capacities. The average turbine size, after years of steady increases, jumped further in 2011 to nearly 2.0 megawatts (MW) in 2011, up from 1.77 MW in 2010 and 1.48 MW in 2005. A closer look at those turbines reveals characteristics that have been critical factors in another industry trend: wind power's ability to access new regions and markets. Tower heights and rotor diameters (wingspan of the blades) are rapidly increasing, allowing developers to access better winds and capture more energy in areas previously not considered to have ideal wind resources. While the average hub height is 81 meters, hubs rising to 100 meters-plus—a threshold reached only in recent years—already comprises 5 percent of all turbines installed during 2011.
The top end of turbine rotor diameters also demonstrates wind's continued progress; rotor diameters for turbines installed during 2011 averaged 92 meters, while over 55 percent of turbines installed have rotor diameters of 90 meters or greater, and nearly 23 percent of turbines are at 100 meters or greater.
This technological evolution is directly related to the advancing domestic turbine market and an increasingly made-in-the-U.S.A. wind manufacturing supply chain. The turbine market saw continued diversification, with 23 active turbine manufacturers installing 31 turbines with different ratings during 2011, up from only 5 turbine manufacturers in 2005.
The U.S. wind supply chain that supports these turbine manufacturers already has a strong foothold in the U.S.: over 470 wind related manufacturing facilities, representing 30,000 wind manufacturing jobs, are now spread across the country. The growing manufacturing capacity here is reflected in the increasing domestic content of turbines, with 60 percent of U.S.-deployed turbines' value being manufactured domestically in recent years (2009-2010), up from less than 25 percent prior to 2005.
As wind energy slides down the cost curve and provides a stable-priced product for electricity consumers, electric utilities continue to show increasing interest in including wind energy as part of their power portfolio. One example: When utility Xcel Energy secured a wind power purchase in 2011, in approving the contract, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission stated that "the contract will save ratepayers $100 million on a net-present-value basis over its 25-year term under a base-case natural gas price scenario" while providing the opportunity to "lock in" a price for 25 years.
In 2011, electric utilities signed at least 39 new long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) for wind energy. Direct ownership of wind projects by utilities, meanwhile, increased in 2011 to reach 25 percent of all new wind capacity, up from 15 percent in recent years. Between new PPAs and direct ownership of wind power by electric utilities, 79 percent of all new wind capacity in 2011 was secured by some form of long-term power off take.
As electric utilities expand their use of wind power, the transmission grid is also expanding. Progress was made in 2011, with new transmission lines being completed and revised rules helping expedite the process of integrating wind into the power grid. In coming years, several new transmission lines are planned that will be able to carry more than 44,600 MW of new wind power.
The U.S. wind power industry's greatest challenge for 2012 is one with which the industry has lived for some time: short-term, unstable policy. The federal Production Tax Credit (PTC), a performance-based tax credit for kilowatt-hours produced by a wind farm once it is built, has typically been extended in only one- and two-year increments. The history of the PTC proves its effectiveness as a driver of billions of dollars of investment in the U.S., in the form of both project development across rural America, and a growing manufacturing sector for wind turbine components.
Stable policy—in the realm of what other energy sources have received for 90 years or more—would send the proper market signal that would allow U.S wind power to flourish to an even greater extent.
While federal policy uncertainty still holds back the U.S. industry, other stable policy drivers remain in place. State targets for renewable energy continue to drive wind installations in many areas of the country.
As many as 29 states have renewables requirements, and still more states have renewables goals. California leads the way in this area; in 2011, the governor of California signed into law legislation that increases the state's renewable electricity standard from an already strong 20 percent to an historic 33 percent by 2020.
The industry closed out last year with numbers that suggest a strong 2012, with 8,300 MW of wind power under construction as the year began. Meantime, with wind power now established as a mainstream energy source, the U.S. industry is ready and able to continue boosting the economy with investments in new projects across rural America, and greater demand for the supply chain that will expand this bright spot in America's manufacturing sector even more.
The wind industry installed 6,816 MW in the U.S. in 2011, over a 30 percent increase over the new wind capacity installed in 2010. The wind power capacity added in 2011 represents a solid 17 percent growth in total U.S. wind installations, which now stand at 46,916 megawatts (MW).
The industry's average annual growth for the past five years is now 33 percent. Equally impressive: electricity generated from wind power capacity in 2011 in the U.S. can supply the equivalent of over 12 million American homes.
Driving the growth of any industry is the customer; in wind power's case, that customer is the electric utility. Tellingly, the number of signed wind power purchase agreements was up in 2011, with an increasing number of utilities being attracted to (and publicly acknowledging) the benefits of the wind power. Unlike other forms of generation, wind power comes with affordable, guaranteed prices for a period of timing spanning decades. Wind power is immune to fuel price volatility, providing stability and risk protection within utilities' portfolios; more than ever utilities are drawn to wind power because of these attributes.
Because wind power is affordable and secure, 2011 saw PPAs being signed all over the country, even in regions where those unfamiliar with wind power might have assumed the clean, affordable energy source would be less likely to be used. In 2011, Alabama Power, a subsidiary of The Southern Company, made its first wind power purchase.
To understand the scope of wind power's growth and the achievements made by the maturing, now-mainstream industry during the last few years, it's useful to look back and consider wind power's growth numbers from when it was a mere emerging technology. It took nearly 25 years for the industry to reach 5,000 MW of capacity, from the early 1980s to 2003 (6,226 MW at the end of that year).
That's when wind power truly took off. After 2003, U.S. wind installations doubled in just three years, with the industry celebrating the milestone of exceeding 10,000 MW in 2006.
From there, the industry showed that it had only begun to ramp up. Within a mere two years, installations had doubled again, to 20,000-plus MW by 2008 and then, remarkably, two years later installations doubled still again, with 40,000 MW online by 2010. In just a few short years, wind power had become a major player on the energy landscape. In 2011, with another year of solid installation numbers under its belt, the industry further cemented itself as a primary contributor to the mix for newly installed electric capacity, accounting for 31 percent of all new generating capacity in 2011.
The U.S. wind power industry installed 3,446 MW in the fourth quarter, representing over 60 percent of total 2011 installations. The fourth quarter performance slightly exceeded the installations in the same period in 2010, and outpaced the first three quarters of 2011 combined. Strong fourth quarters are typical in the wind industry for reasons that include seasonal weather (i.e., developers want to finish projects before winter), the general business cycle and, in many years, impending expirations of the federal wind tax credit at the end of a given year.
New wind power capacity continues to make up a large share of all new generation in the U.S., second only to natural gas. The natural gas industry installed nearly 42 percent of the year's new electric generating capacity while wind power followed at roughly 31 percent, up from 26 percent in 2010.
Over the past five years, between 2007 and 2011, wind installed roughly 35 percent of all new generation capacity in the U.S.
All renewable capacity (wind, solar, biomass geothermal, and hydropower) combined for roughly 39 percent of all new generating capacity installed during 2011, similar to the amount of new natural gas added during the year.
SOLAR SHAKEOUT Surviving The Shakeout: With PV Stocks Plunging, Where Are We Headed?
"…[T]hin-film PV manufacturer First Solar…[anounced it] would cut 2,000 jobs and shut down its manufacturing operations in Germany …[and] the company's stock hit an all-time low as analysts questioned its core business model in an era of low polysilicon prices…[M]ost analysis indicates that First Solar's woes are representative of a broader corporate-finance trend in the solar sector. While many companies will survive and emerge as more competitive players, the worst may be yet to come for others.
"Goldwind is working on a 10MW turbine according to its annual report for 2011…Technically, this makes Goldwind the second manufacturer to be working on a 10MW turbine. Last year Sinovel also said it was developing one although it is believed this was largely based on AMSC's SeaTitan design.
This year's survey shows that in the EU ETS, the low carbon prices lead to emission reductions in fewer of the companies covered by the scheme and that the carbon price is a less decisive factor in investment decisions than previously. This underpins the need for political action, either through a deepening of the EU wide emission reduction target or through a reduction in the amount of allowances distributed to EU ETS companies. These issues are at the centre of discussions in the European Parliament, among member states and in the European Commission. This will be the main policy issue to drive carbon prices in Europe this year.
The assessments of the EU ETS cost-effectiveness and maturity show a stabilisation – this is also likely related to the current low price levels, as well as to thefts from registries in early 2011 and to the changes to the scheme which will kick in next year, when the programme enters phase 3. Forty-seven percent of respondents think the EU ETS is the most cost-efficient way to reduce emissions, and thirty-seven percent agree with the statement that the EU ETS is a mature market.
The EU ETS continues to be seen as more cost-effective and mature than the CDM. For instance, 36 percent of respondents think the largest Kyoto flexible mechanism is the most cost-effective way to reduce emissions in developing countries. Assessments of the CDM are more positive than last year, and this is 5 percentage points up from the 2011 survey.
As much as 28 percent agrees that the CDM market is mature – up from 19 percent last year. We think that the more positive assessments of the CDM come from more efficient project registration and issuance by the UNFCCC, greater use of standardised baselines and default values, and more frequent use of stakeholder consultations by the CDM Executive Board.
On a more negative note, the outlook for CDM investments and trading of CERs is gloomy. Much higher shares than last year plan to decrease or completely stop investing in CDM projects, trading primary and secondary CERs. These results are not surprising in a context of a bearish price outlook and poor outlook for demand for credits towards 2020. The results also show that the EU ETS restrictions on international offsets in phase 3 are starting to bit on investment plans.
In North America, of the respondents voicing an opinion, more thought that regulators will tighten the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative's cap in the coming years than did not. However, even more respondents didn't know or had no opinion on whether the cap will tighten, reflecting the state of uncertainty around the future of RGGI's current over-allocation.
In California, emitters prepare for the cap-and-trade scheme starting in 2013 mainly through preparations for allowance and credit purchases. A large majority of emitters in California participating in the survey have no plans to move production out of the state due to carbon costs. However, one fifth of respondents covered by the upcoming cap-and-trade scheme in the Golden State are considering to do so.
Nearly 70 percent of respondents in Australia think the national carbon scheme will go ahead as planned, while a quarter think it won't. This may reflect concern over threats from the opposition to dismantle the scheme if they win the elections in 2013. We think that the "flexible price" period of the carbon scheme will start as planned on 1 July 2015, but there may be changes to the price floor and ceiling.
Moving to the international scene, respondents were somewhat more dissatisfied with the outcome in Durban than in Cancun. Nearly forty percent of respondents think the global policy framework after 2020 will be a pledge-and-review system. Under such an international set up, countries pledge emission reduction targets reflecting decisions at national level, and the UN Convention on Climate Change merely gathers these pledges and coordinates reporting of emissions - without a Kyoto like compliance regime. Meanwhile, thirty-four percent of respondents think there will internationally binding targets for major emitters post- 2020. Finally, 18 percent think that countries will fail to agree.
FOREWORD As the California Air Resources Board (CARB) completes the final preparations for distribution of CO2 allowances to the State's largest industries, including an auction of about 10% of the allowances in the first compliance period under a broad cap and trade regulation, opponents of climate action are converging on Sacramento. Some object to having to buy allowances; others want to eliminate or expand the ability to use offsets; a few even question the need for action, citing continued challenges to the science of climate change or the perceived unfairness to California residents of placing a price on carbon when other states and countries are doing nothing.
In the face of a new round of well-funded efforts to overturn the program, renewed efforts are underway to educate policymakers, businesses and consumers about what to expect and why cap and trade makes sense. This is no easy task. While most voters understand that climate change is a real threat, and many are willing to support action, few people can explain cap and trade and even fewer believe it's the best way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So how do we go about building and maintaining the support necessary to carry us through the start-up of this new venture?
First and foremost, we are working on our own and with our partners in the Western Climate Initiative to make sure that when the (imaginary) bell rings for opening day there are no administrative glitches. We have carefully studied the experience of RGGI and the EU ETS, both good and bad, as well as the cautionary tale of California' disastrous experiment with deregulating electricity markets. Every aspect of allowance creation, tracking and use has been designed to deter fraud. We are retaining an independent market monitor whose job is to be on constant lookout for any symptoms of irregularity or problems in the trading of allowances that might be symptoms of abuse or market manipulation. A blue-ribbon market oversight committee will review and advise if action needs to be taken to correct problems.
Our goal, of course, is to launch a system that runs smoothly, that achieves the stipulated reductions in greenhouse gas emissions at a cost that is acceptable to the general public and that fits well within a set of policies designed to encourage investment in energy efficiency, renewable electricity generation, and rapid adoption of advanced technology vehicles and fuels.
Looking ahead, I see three major areas where we will need the help of creative business and financial thinkers.
1. Compliance-grade offsets. The demand for fully verified offsets developed under approved CARB protocols will grow quickly. The Board is eager to find offset types that fit our rigorous criteria. While there are no current plans to relax the geographic boundaries or numerical limits on offsets, these aspects will be under close scrutiny and may be revised if need be.
2. Voluntary offsets. As forward-looking businesses and state and local permitting agencies with responsibility for environmental impact review and mitigation begin to incorporate assessment of GHG emissions in all kinds of plans, project developers will need to find and lock in emissions reductions. Such offsets will be required both by law and public scrutiny to demonstrate that they are real, enforceable and exceed any current or likely future regulatory requirements.
3. Investment. Making sure that the benefits of free allowances and the proceeds of auctions are used wisely is emerging as a major political issue. Without losing the benefit of a price signal to those who can choose to reduce GHG emissions cost-effectively while at the same time protecting the general public against rate shocks requires careful calibration. For the public sector, the temptation to seize any new revenue to fill general budget holes may be irresistible. Any diversion of proceeds from the cap and trade program to non-AB32 purposes risks a judicial stop to the rule. But there are ample opportunities to think creatively about using the robust new revenue stream that will start flowing when transportation fuels and natural gas come under the cap in 2015.
We are already well into the last year of the EU ETS' phase 2 and of the first Kyoto commitment period as this report is published. In the EU ETS, the largest carbon market segment, we expect increased market activity this year. Compliance entities optimise their portfolio as the end of phase 2 approaches, while utilities gear up hedging activity in anticipation of the need to purchase all allowances in the market from 2013. The discussion around a possible intervention in the EU ETS through a withdrawal of allowances from the market is heating up. In North America, Quebec and California work on the launch of their markets, planned for 2013.
In this report, we present the results of our seventh annual Carbon Market Survey, which aims to gather the views of carbon market participants and observers across the globe. We have asked questions related to market participants' behavior and expectations, tailoring questions based on each respondent's market involvement. We cover the EU ETS, CDM, JI, New Zealand ETS, California and Quebec markets, emerging carbon markets in Asia and Australia, as well as international negotiations.
Some 3 149 respondents answered this year's survey, roughly 600 more than last year. The survey ran from 6 to 26 February 2012, and responses were garnered through a web based tool.
Among the respondents, around half were involved in trading of various compliance carbon allowances and credits, or owned such instruments. Looking at carbon market roles, the largest subset comprises consultants/ advisors (see Figure 1), while the second largest group was CDM project developers or investors (receiving CERs). Companies regulated by the EU ETS represented the third largest group. Twelve percent of the respondents were not directly involved in the carbon market.
Looking at geographical origin, the US is again the home of the largest share of respondents, with 14 percent of the total. The next countries are the UK (10 percent), India (6 percent), Germany (5percent), Australia (5 percent), China (4 percent), Canada (4 percent) and Norway (2 percent).
It should be noted that this survey is conducted among individuals that are significantly more than average interested in carbon markets and policy.
THE BACKING FOR NEW ENERGY Clean-energy subsidies are vanishing. What should replace them?
"The new report…is the first to examine in detail which policies are actually expiring and when. All told, Congress has created more than 92 different programs dealing with clean tech — everything from production tax credits for wind power to advanced manufacturing credits to loan guarantees for nuclear power…And, by 2014, 70 percent of these programs will have vanished."
"[T]he report suggests that Congress should rejigger its clean-energy subsidies in several ways. First, it should focus heavily on research and development. And second, the subsidies that are geared toward deploying new technologies — the credits and policies that help wind turbines sprout up and nuclear reactors get built — should be structured so that they reward improvements in performance…[Feed-in tariffs] for wind and solar power that get smaller over time…[force] the technology to keep improving in order to stay profitable…The ultimate goal of these policies…is to push clean tech so that it can eventually stand on its own and compete with older, more established fossil fuels…"
UTILTIES STILL BUYING WIND Two utilities take different paths to the top in wind; MidAmerican Energy is building vast wind farms. Xcel Energy has mostly purchased its wind power.
"Xcel Energy Inc… has the most wind power on its system of any U.S. electric utility…MidAmerican Energy Co…[is] the top utility in wind generation ownership…two distinct business approaches to harnessing wind power…MidAmerican owns almost all of its wind generation. Xcel…purchases much of its renewable power under long-term contracts from wind farm developers.
"There are pros and cons to each approach, as utilities weigh whether to tie up capital in wind technology or let others take the risks…Together, Xcel and MidAmerican Energy have a 17 percent share of the nation's wind power capacity…Most utilities have gone Xcel's way…[because] the companies didn't have any experience with wind power, especially in the 1990s, and turned to companies specializing in the technology…"
"…[The ownership, risk-management] strategy is to take advantage of the federal production tax credit…and carefully manage wind power with the rest of the company's generation…The risk of future greenhouse gas regulation is another argument for owning, rather than purchasing, wind power…[But] wind power prices have been dropping. When Xcel faces the expiration of its first wind power purchase contracts in 2018, it's possible the utility could get a better deal on its next long-term contracts…[and] wind farms also will eventually need to be upgraded…But for a few years, after projects are paid off, wind farm owners could face only operation and maintenance costs…"
"PV equipment revenues (covering c-Si ingot-to-module and thin-film) for Q1'12 fell to $1.75 billion, a 10-quarter low, down 27% Q/Q and 51% Y/Y. However, the CapEx downturn is forecast to finally bottom-out during Q2'12, following six consecutive quarters of negative growth."
"The rebound in spending will be characterized first by new order intake driven by a select group of tier 1 manufacturers. Positive Q/Q growth in new orders will emerge in 2H'12, as capacity expansion plans are revised to address market-share aspirations for 2013 and beyond. This will be reflected in PV book-to-bill ratios that will return above parity during 2H'12.
"The severity of the cyclic spending downturn is having a dramatic impact on PV equipment suppliers in 2012. Most leading equipment suppliers are now projected to see Y/Y PV-specific revenue declines in the 60-80% range…Suppliers that already serve market segments adjacent to PV (semi, display, and LED) have experience in how to manage capital equipment spending cyclicality, so they will be best positioned to cope with the PV downturn during 2012. However, equipment suppliers that had aligned their core business activities to focus mainly on the PV industry will be particularly affected, with further workforce adjustments and negative operating margins likely…"
The objective of the SunShot Vision Study is to provide an in-depth assessment of the potential for solar technologies to meet a significant share of electricity demand in the United States during the next several decades. Specifically, it explores a future in which the price of solar technologies declines by about 75% between 2010 and 2020—in line with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) SunShot Initiative's targets. As a result of this price reduction, solar technologies are projected to play an increasingly important role in meeting electricity demand over the next 20–40 years, satisfying roughly 14% of U.S. electricity demand by 2030 and 27% by 2050.1 In terms of technology, the SunShot Initiative and this report both focus on photovoltaics (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP). Details about how the SunShot Initiative is organized to achieve its targets and increase American competitiveness in solar energy can be found on the initiative's website (www.eere.energy.gov/solar/sunshot/).
The SunShot Vision Study uses the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) and Solar Deployment System (SolarDS) models to develop and evaluate a SunShot scenario and a reference scenario. In both scenarios, the models are used to develop a least-cost geographical deployment of solar technologies and other generating technologies (conventional and other renewable). The scenarios assume the federal investment tax credit (ITC) and production tax credit (PTC) run through their currently established expiration dates—end of 2016 and 2012, respectively—but that existing supports for conventional technologies that are embedded in the tax code or through other provisions continue indefinitely. Further, the scenarios do not incorporate any additional costs for mercury and air toxins, carbon emissions, or other environmental externalities associated most strongly with conventional generation technologies. Key variables evaluated by the models include solar resource quality, cost of electricity, transmission requirements, reserve requirements, variability impacts, and projected fuel prices. For the SunShot scenario, solar technology installed system prices are assumed to reach the SunShot Initiative's targets by 2020: $1/watt (W) for utility-scale PV systems, $1.25/W for commercial rooftop PV, $1.50/W for residential rooftop PV, and $3.60/W for CSP systems with up to 14 hours of thermal energy storage capacity.2 The reference scenario is modeled with moderate solar energy price reductions to enable comparison of the costs, benefits, and challenges relative to the reference case of achieving the SunShot price targets.
The SunShot Vision Study examines the potential pathways, barriers, and implications of achieving the SunShot Initiative's price-reduction targets and resulting market-penetration levels. Key factors examined include current and projected costs, raw material and labor availability, manufacturing scale-up, grid integration, financing, and siting and environmental issues.
The SunShot Vision Study does not prescribe a set of policy recommendations for solar energy in the United States, nor does it present a vision of what the total mix of energy sources should look like in the future. The SunShot Vision Study does, however, provide analysis and insights that could help policymakers design and implement measures aimed at optimizing solar energy's potential within an integrated national energy policy framework. The study's focus on both a 20- and 40-year time horizon allows sufficient time to implement and realize the benefits of policy changes. It also provides a framework for analyzing both the short- and long- term evolution of the U.S. electricity-generation system, and is long enough to envision substantial change to the system as a whole. Thus, this study provides insights about both the near- and long-term technology investments and policy changes that may be required to achieve the envisioned levels of market penetration.
Achieving the level of price reductions envisioned in the SunShot Initiative could result in solar meeting 14% of U.S. electricity needs by 2030 and 27% by 2050. However, realizing these price and installation targets will require a combination of evolutionary and revolutionary technological changes.
The SunShot Initiative aims to reduce the price of solar energy systems by about 75% between 2010 and 2020. Achieving this target is expected to make the cost of solar energy competitive with the cost of other energy sources, paving the way for rapid, large-scale adoption of solar electricity across the United States. Existing challenges can be addressed through technological advances—e.g., efficiency improvements, materials substitutions, and expanded material supplies—and planning. Significant manufacturing scale-up is required under the SunShot scenario, but solar manufacturers have demonstrated the ability to scale up rapidly over the past decade. The continued expansion and price reductions anticipated over the next decade should enable the required high-volume, low-cost production.
Achieving the SunShot price targets is projected to result in the cumulative installation of approximately 302 gigawatts (GW) of PV and 28 GW of CSP by 2030, and 632 GW of PV and 83 GW of CSP by 2050.
To achieve these cumulative installed capacities, annual installations must reach 25–30 GW of PV and 3–4 GW of CSP in the SunShot scenario between 2030 and 2050. By 2030, this translates into PV generating 505 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year of electricity or 11% of total U.S. electricity demand, and CSP generating 137 TWh per year or 3% of total demand. By 2050, this translates into PV generating 1,036 TWh per year or 19% of total demand, and CSP generating 412 TWh per year or 8% of total demand.
Annual U.S. electricity-sector carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are projected to be significantly lower in the SunShot scenario than in the reference scenario: 8%, or 181 million metric tons (MMT), lower in 2030, and 28%, or 760 MMT, lower in 2050.
This would provide carbon emissions reductions that are equivalent to taking 30 and 130 million cars off the road by 2030 and 2050, respectively. The emissions reductions are primarily a result of the displacement of natural gas and coal generation. Before 2030, solar primarily offsets natural gas generation, while post-2030, solar begins to significantly offset coal generation.
Both the SunShot and reference scenarios require significant transmission expansion. In the reference scenario, transmission is expanded primarily to meet growing electricity demand by developing new conventional and wind resources. In the SunShot scenario, transmission is expanded at a similar level, but in different locations in order to develop solar resources.
In the reference scenario, transmission capacity is projected to increase from about 88,000 gigawatt-miles (GW-mi) in 2010 to 102,000 GW-mi in 2030, and 110,000 GW-mi in 2050—a 15% and 25% increase, respectively. In the SunShot scenario, transmission capacity is expected to increase to 100,000 GW-mi in 2030 and 117,000 GW-mi in 2050, a 13% and 32% increase, respectively. Expanding transmission at these rates would require a level of investment well within the historical range of transmission investments during the past few decades.
The level of solar deployment envisioned in the SunShot scenario poses significant but not insurmountable technical challenges with respect to grid integration and could require substantial changes to system planning and operation practices.
The main grid integration challenges at the bulk system levels are expanding access to transmission capacity and dealing with the additional variability and uncertainty of solar generation. The impact and cost of variability and uncertainty can be reduced by improving access to flexible resources in the system (both generation and load) and optimizing their deployment. Improved solar production forecasts and better access to well-functioning electricity markets are two key enabling factors. At the distribution system level, the main technical challenges are related to control of voltage and system protection with high-penetration PV. In addition to technological advances, existing codes and standards must be revised, and better models and analysis techniques are needed.
The land area that is potentially suitable for solar deployment is enormous and thus land, per se, is not a constraint on meeting the SunShot scenario level of deployment. However, it is important to make careful selection of sites in order to provide access to available or planned transmission, and to minimize conflicts with environmental, cultural, and aesthetic interests.
otential for CSP is enormous: about 17,500 TWh of annual CSP electricity generation, which is more than four times the 2010 U.S. annual demand, could be sited in seven southwestern states on land that has been pre-screened to avoid prominent land-use issues and to meet technical requirements such as insolation and slope. About 370,000–1,100,000 hectares (ha) (900,000–2,700,000 acres) are required for utility-scale solar installations in 2030 under the SunShot scenario, and about 860,000– 2,500,000 ha (2,100,000–6,300,000 acres) are required in 2050. The required land area is equivalent to about 0.05%–0.14% of the contiguous U.S. land area in 2030 and about 0.11%–0.33% in 2050. Solar development in the SunShot scenario is greatest in the South and Southwest. Often the highest-quality solar resource areas are dry environments that are typically not well suited for cropland or offer little value for forestry and rangeland.
Siting poses significant, but not insurmountable, regulatory challenges to achieving the level of solar market penetration envisioned in the SunShot scenario.
The regulatory framework for siting utility-scale solar projects and associated transmission infrastructure is complex, costly, and time consuming. Similarly, distributed PV installers, both in the residential and commercial sectors, face the challenges and expense associated with complex and variable codes and permits, zoning ordinances, and restrictive covenants. Streamlining of siting and regulatory requirements for utility-scale and distributed solar projects, as well as electricity-transmission projects, would help to enable the rapid solar development envisioned under the SunShot scenario.
Water-use constraints will require CSP technologies to transition away from wet cooling toward dry and hybrid cooling.
Although PV requires very little water (for occasional panel washing), CSP with traditional wet cooling uses similar amounts of water as used by some conventional electricity-generation technologies. However, dry or hybrid CSP cooling technologies can reduce water use by 40%–97% compared with wet cooling. Because most land suitable for CSP is in the Southwest, where water availability is constrained, it is very likely that in order to achieve the level of deployment projected in the SunShot scenario, most CSP plants will need to use dry or hybrid cooling.
Financing the scale of expansion in the SunShot scenario will require significant new investments in the solar manufacturing supply chain and in solar energy projects.
Building out U.S. PV and CSP manufacturing capacity to meet the level of installations envisioned in the SunShot scenario would require cumulative investments of roughly $25 billion through 2030 and $44 billion through 2050. On an annual basis, the required level of investments would be on the order of $1–$3 billion, well below private sector investments in solar in the United States during the past couple of years. Investments in the solar supply chain have historically been financed by a mix of venture capital, private equity, public equity, and corporate debt. Financing solar project deployment under the SunShot scenario, however, will cost much more than financing the supply chain—on the order of $40– $50 billion per year between 2030 and 2050. On a cumulative basis, this translates into roughly $250 billion through 2030 and $375 billion through 2050. The primary financing challenge will be managing the transition from the pre-2020 period, when solar electricity is less cost competitive with other electricity sources, to the post-2020 period, when the availability of cost-competitive solar energy should stimulate private solar investment and facilitate use of mainstream financial instruments.
Achieving the SunShot scenario level of solar deployment would result in significant downward pressure on retail electricity prices. By 2030, the average retail price for electricity in the SunShot scenario is projected to be 0.6 cents/kilowatt-hour (kWh) less than in the reference scenario, which translates into a cost savings of about $6 per month, per household. By 2050, the average retail price of electricity is projected to be 0.9 cents/kWh less, which translates into a cost savings of about $9 per month, per household. Across all market sectors, the lower electricity prices in the SunShot scenario translate into about $30 billion in annual cost savings by 2030 and $50 billion in annual savings by 2050, compared to the reference scenario.
Achieving the SunShot scenario level of solar deployment could support 290,000 new solar jobs by 2030, and 390,000 new solar jobs by 2050.
These figures include direct and indirect jobs for the PV and CSP supply chains. The U.S. PV workforce is expected to grow from about 46,000 in 2010 to 280,000 in 2030 and to 363,000 in 2050. The U.S. CSP workforce is expected to grow from about 4,500 in 2010 to 63,000 in 2030 and to 81,000 in 2050. Labor requirements for manufacturing of PV and CSP components are readily transferable from other industries. Similarly, CSP power plant development can tap into the same skilled engineering and construction labor pool used for conventional fossil-fuel power plant development. The workforce to support distributed PV installations will require additional training and certification within the existing residential and commercial construction industries.
Sensitivity analyses indicate that a number of factors could influence the level of solar deployment envisioned in the SunShot scenario, including more aggressive cost reductions in other renewable and conventional electricity-generation technologies, fossil fuel prices, electricity demand growth, and other assumptions.
For example, sensitivity analyses indicate that there is a solar price threshold at which solar deployment increases non- linearly as price decreases. Similarly, sensitivity analyses show that assuming larger price reductions for non-solar renewable technologies in the SunShot scenario would result in higher penetration of those technologies, particularly wind. Some sensitivity analyses are presented in Appendix C. Additional sensitivity analyses will be published in supplementary technical reports. The SunShot Vision Study looks primarily at the implications of and challenges associated with a very low-cost solar future, and generally assumes much less aggressive improvements in other renewable technologies. There are, however, significant opportunities to reduce the cost of other renewable technologies and thus see additional benefits from their market penetration as well.


text:
Sam Craigie beats Kyren Wilson in Northern Ireland Open shock
This year's Northern Ireland Open may already have seen the breakthrough of the next star in the making after 24-year-old Sam Craigie produced his best performance yet to beat Kyren Wilson.
November 20, 2017 in News, Northern Ireland Open.
Judd Trump may miss Northern Ireland Open – because his cue has disappeared
Judd Trump's participation in this week's Northern Ireland Open appears to be in doubt after the airline he used to get home from China misplaced his cue.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
<?php
/**
 * PHP version 5.5
 *
 * This source file is subject to the license that is bundled with this package in the file LICENSE.
 */
namespace Application\Actions;

use EasyForms\Form;
use EasyForms\Validation\FormValidator;
use Slim\Http\Request;

class FormRequest
{
    /** @var Request */
    protected $request;

    /** @var Form */
    protected $form;

    /** @var FormValidator */
    protected $validator;

    /**
     * @param Request $request
     * @param Form $form
     * @param FormValidator $validator
     */
    public function __construct(Request $request, Form $form, FormValidator $validator)
    {
        $this->request = $request;
        $this->form = $form;
        $this->validator = $validator;
    }

    /**
     * @return boolean
     */
    public function isValid()
    {
        $this->form->submit($this->request->post());

        return $this->validator->validate($this->form);
    }

    /**
     * @return array
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    public function validValues()
    {
        return $this->form->values();
    }

    /**
     * @return \EasyForms\View\FormView
     */
    public function form()
    {
        return $this->form->buildView();
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Based on your enjoyment of "The Three-Body Problem" by Liu Cixin… You're likely* to like:
The Dark Forest
by Liu Cixin
This is the second novel in "Remembrance of Earth's Past", the near-future trilogy written by the China's multiple-award-winning science fiction author, Cixin Liu. In The Dark Forest , Earth is reeling from the revelation of a coming alien invasion — four centuries in the future. The aliens' human collaborators have been defeated but the presence of the sophons, the subatomic particles that allow Trisolaris instant access to all human information, means that Earth's defense plans are exposed to the enemy. Only the human mind remains a secret. This is the motivation for the Wallfacer Project, a daring plan that grants … (Goodreads)
Death's End
The story begins during the Fall of Constantinople , describing a prostitute who gains the power of retrieving objects and cutting out human organs without penetrating their enclosures. Constantine XI tasks her with killing Mehmed II , but her powers are mysteriously lost, and she is killed by Byzantine soldiers in retaliation. Next, the story shifts to the timeframe of the beginning of The Three Body Problem . The physicist Yang Dong, daughter of Ye Wenjie, having discovered her mother's conspiracy with Trisolaris, and witnessing the disruption of the particle-accelerators, is eventually driven to suicide. Prior to her death, she … (Wikipedia)
by N.K. Jemisin
In a prologue, an extraordinarily powerful orogene discusses the sad state of the world and laments the oppression of his race. He then uses his enormous power to fracture the entire continent along its length, threatening to cause the worst Fifth Season in recorded history. The story then follows three female orogenes across the Stillness from different time periods: Essun, Damaya, and Syenite. Essun is a middle-aged woman with two young children living in a small southern comm named Tirimo. Secretly, she is an orogene, a human with the ability to manipulate earth and stone by absorbing or redirecting heat … (Wikipedia)
Children of Time
by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The book's plot involves a planet inhabited by evolved spiders uplifted by human scientist Avrana Kern, and their much later discovery by the last humans alive in the universe. ,, ,, ,, The work plays off the contrast between the societal development of the spiders and the barbaric descent of the starship crew of the last humans. ,, … (Wikipedia)
Stories of Your Life and Others
by Ted Chiang
Ted Chiang's first published story, ",Tower of Babylon,," won the Nebula Award in 1990. Subsequent stories have won the Asimov's SF Magazine reader poll, a second Nebula Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, and the Sidewise Award for alternate history. He won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1992. Story for story, he is the most honored young writer in modern SF.,,,,Now, collected here for the first time are all seven of this extraordinary writer's stories so far-plus an eighth story written especially for this volume.,,,,What if men built a tower from Earth to Heaven-and broke … (Goodreads)
by Dan Simmons
In the 29th century, the Hegemony of Man comprises hundreds of planets connected by farcaster portals. The Hegemony maintains an uneasy alliance with the TechnoCore , a civilisation of AIs . Modified humans known as Ousters live in space stations between stars and are engaged in conflict with the Hegemony. Numerous "Outback" planets have no farcasters and cannot be accessed without incurring significant time dilation . One of these planets is Hyperion, home to structures known as the Time Tombs, which are moving backwards in time and guarded by a legendary creature known as the Shrike . On the eve … (Wikipedia)
by John Scalzi
Old Man's War is about a soldier named John Perry and his exploits in the Colonial Defense Forces (CDF). The first-person narrative follows Perry's military career from CDF recruit to the rank of captain . It is set in a universe heavily populated with life forms, in which the spacegoing species compete for the scarce planets that are suitable for sustaining life. As a result, Perry must learn to fight a wide variety of aliens. The characters in Old Man's War have enhanced DNA and nanotechnology , giving them advantages in strength, speed, endurance, and situational awareness . John Perry, … (Wikipedia)
Seveneves
by Neal Stephenson
In the near future, an unknown agent causes the Moon to shatter. As the pieces begin to collide with one another, astronomer and science popularizer "Doc" Dubois Harris calculates that Moon fragments will begin entering Earth's atmosphere, forming a white sky and blanketing the Earth within two years with what he calls a "Hard Rain" of bolides , causing the atmosphere to heat to incandescence and the oceans to boil away, rendering Earth uninhabitable for thousands of years. The world's leaders evacuate as many people and resources as possible to a swarm of "arklet" habitats called a "Cloud Ark" in … (Wikipedia)
The Forever War
by Joe Haldeman
,The monumental Hugo and Nebula award winning SF classic— Featuring a new introduction by John Scalzi,,,,,The Earth's leaders have drawn a line in the interstellar sand—despite the fact that the fierce alien enemy they would oppose is inscrutable, unconquerable, and very far away. A reluctant conscript drafted into an elite Military unit, Private William Mandella has been propelled through space and time to fight in the distant thousand-year conflict; to perform his duties and do whatever it takes to survive the ordeal and return home. But "home" may be even more terrifying than battle, because, thanks to the time dilation … (Barnes & Noble)
The Stone Sky
Following the events of ,The Obelisk Gate, , the former inhabitants of Castrima-under are moving north after damage by rival comm Rennanis has compromised the mechanisms of the geode and made it uninhabitable. Essun, who has been in a coma since opening the Obelisk Gate, awakens to find that her arm has turned to stone as a consequence of the massive magical energies of the Gate. She is nursed back to health, and finds that the Moon is approaching the closest point in its long, elliptical orbit, meaning that she has only a short time to return it to a … (Wikipedia)
by Ann Leckie
On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest. Once, she was the Justice of Toren - a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy. Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance. … (Goodreads)
Snow Crash
Hiro Protagonist is a hacker and pizza delivery driver for the Mafia. He meets Y.T. (short for Yours Truly), a young skateboard Kourier ( courier ) who refers to herself in the third person , during a failed attempt to make a delivery on time. Y.T. completes the delivery on his behalf and they strike up a partnership, gathering intel and selling it to the CIC, the for-profit organization that evolved from the CIA's merger with the Library of Congress. Within the Metaverse, Hiro is offered a datafile named Snow Crash by a man named Raven who hints that it … (Wikipedia)
Childhood's End
The novel is divided into three parts, following a third-person omniscient narrative with no main character. ,, In some editions, the short first chapter is a separate prologue rather than the beginning of the first part. In the late 20th century, the United States and the Soviet Union are competing to launch the first spacecraft into orbit, for military purposes . When vast alien spaceships suddenly position themselves above Earth's principal cities, the space race ceases. After one week, the aliens announce they are assuming supervision of international affairs, to prevent humanity's extinction. They become known as the Overlords. In … (Wikipedia)
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Librarian note: Alternate cover edition of ISBN ,9780061054884,. Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have isolated his planet of anarchists from the rest of the civilized universe. To do this dangerous task will mean giving up his family and possibly his life—Shevek must make the unprecedented journey to the utopian mother planet, Urras, to challenge the complex structures of life and living, and ignite the fires of change. … (Goodreads)
Neuromancer
by William Gibson
Henry Dorsett Case is a low-level hustler in the dystopian underworld of Chiba City , Japan. Once a talented computer hacker , Case was caught stealing from his employer. As punishment for his theft, Case's central nervous system was damaged with a mycotoxin , leaving him unable to access the global computer network in cyberspace , a virtual reality dataspace called the "matrix". Case is unemployable, suicidal, and apparently at the top of the hit list of a drug lord named Wage. Case is saved by Molly Millions , an augmented "street samurai" and mercenary for a shadowy US ex-military … (Wikipedia)
The Fall of Hyperion
The Hegemony is an interstellar governmental entity formed by many planets, most of which are connected by instantaneous farcaster portals. Some worlds, like Hyperion, have no farcaster portals and are sparsely settled; they are known as the "Outback". The farcasters are created and managed by the TechnoCore, an AI civilization. While the Core's physical location is unknown, they interact with humans through various virtual realities. The Hegemony is opposed by the Ousters, genetically modified humans that fled the Hegemony's growing influence even before Earth was destroyed. The Ousters have mutated physically, believing that they should adapt to their outer-space surroundings … (Wikipedia)
The Sirens of Titan
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Malachi Constant is the richest man in a future North America. He possesses extraordinary luck that he attributes to divine favor which he has used to build upon his father's fortune. He becomes the centerpoint of a journey that takes him from Earth to Mars in preparation for an interplanetary war, to Mercury with another Martian survivor of that war, back to Earth to be pilloried as a sign of Man's displeasure with his arrogance, and finally to Titan where he again meets the man ostensibly responsible for the turn of events that have befallen him, Winston Niles Rumfoord. Rumfoord … (Wikipedia)


text:
Creed | Sylvester Stallone, Michael B. Jordan, Phylicia Rashad, Tessa Thompson, Anthony Bellow | Review
More than the seventh installment in the Rocky series, Creed is intended to be a spinoff of the Rocky franchise.
Sylvester Stallone returns once again as Rocky Balboa, the role that catapulted him to movie stardom. But it has been 40 years since he first got in the ring as a contender in the original Rocky that won the Oscar for best picture in 1976. At 69 years old, the actor is way to old to fight in the ring. However, training someone who has what it takes is another thing and that is where Creed comes into the picture.
Directed by Ryan Coogler who co-wrote the script with Aaron Covington (the first Rocky film NOT written by Stallone) Creed reunites the filmmaker with his 2013's Fruitvale Station star Michael B. Jordan (who buffed up for the role) in a story that follows Apollo Creed's illegitimate son Adonis Johnson's quest to follow in the footsteps of the father he never knew.
After his birth mother died, Adonis "Donny" Johnson (Jordan) a troubled, angry kid prone to getting into fights, bounced from one foster home to another, eventually landing in juvenile detention facilities until Apollo's well to do widow Mary Ann (Phylicia Rashad) finds and takes him to live with her at her palatial Los Angeles mansion. Even though she adamantly disapproves of Donny wanting to be a prizefighter, because she doesn't want to see him suffer the same fate as her deceased husband, it doesn't take too long before the driven young man, quits his day job in finance to concentrate on his boxing career, as a way to unleash his pent up anger. Unable to get anyone to train him in Los Angeles, he packs his bags and travels to Philadelphia and approaches Rocky at the Italian restaurant he runs named after his wife Adrian, and asks him to be his trainer.
Coogler, is a big fan of the Rocky movies and doesn't sway from the tried and true formula that made Rocky such a huge success. The predictable factors are all in place. After Rocky turns Donny down as his trainer, asking why Donny would pick a fighter's life when he doesn't need to, there is no doubt that the aged, former heavyweight champ, who didn't want to get back into the game, eventually reconsiders. Donny moves in with Rocky, and before they begin a heavy training regimen, Rocky tells Donny to look in the mirror and see that the toughest opponent in boxing and life is himself. Soon, as expected, they develop a bond with Donny calling Rocky "Unc", as in Uncle.
Of course, Donny has have a love interest, and Tessa Thompson (seen in Dear White People earlier this year) fills the bill as the smart and strong Bianca, a pretty R&B artist with a progressive hearing loss, who says that singing makes her feel alive. As for his big chance to be a contender for the title, that comes in the form of "Pretty" Ricky Conlan, the British champ from Liverpool on his way to a seven year prison term (played by real-life boxer turned actor Anthony Bellow) for illegal gun possession. Donny has been fighting under the name "Hollywood Donny" because he wants to make it on his own. But, when Conlan's manager insists that Donny fights under his father's name Creed, Donny is afraid of taking on the name and losing. Needless to say, the climactic championship fight held at Liverpool's Goodison Park will prove, punch for punch, that Creed has his father's blood running through his veins.
Michael B. Jordan effectively shines as Apollo Creed's son, eager to build his own legacy. However, I was most impressed by Sylvester Stallone for what amounts to his best performance since the first installment of Rocky. No longer with a loving wife and best friend Paulie by his side, their deaths have left him lonely and living one day at the time, either at the restaurant, visiting their graves or reading the newspaper. That is until Donny shows up and injects new life into the worn and tired man, who as it turns out, is faced with his own personal fight.
For those who haven't seen Rocky and its follow up installments, Creed is essentially Rocky for a new generation, with similar plot elements kept in place. For the most part, having been there and seen that already, there isn't much of anything new, or original to rave about, so I can't can't call this film a knockout. I will leave it to new audiences to decide if the reboot really has what it takes to go the distance.
You are here: Home Movie Reviews Judy Thorburn Movie Reviews Creed | Sylvester Stallone, Michael B. Jordan, Phylicia Rashad, Tessa Thompson, Anthony Bellow | Review


Blending compression and stretch, the Varley 'Carmona' tights provide support and coverage during workouts. Made from the brand's soft and Lolux fabric with four-way stretch, the leggings are cut for a 3/4-length with a high-rise design that moves with your body during exercises.
Main: 71% Polyamide, 29% Elastane. Mesh: 77% Polyamide, 23% Elastane.


The middle class has learned a lot during this crisis period. They are treating it differently from past crises, when they would wait for the government to act or until the crisis ended. Now these people are much more aware of what is happening, of their own goals and of society. And I have seen research that says these people are optimistic about their own lives. I believe that they feel less dependent on the government than in the past. They believe that they've achieved success so far because of their own initiative, and the help of family or friends, not the help of government. They are determined to keep moving ahead regardless of what is happening with the country.


A Canton, North Carolina man faces charges in two counties following a lengthy pursuit which began in Cocke County just before noon on Saturday. Deputy Chris Barnes said Central Dispatch received a call from Joseph Robert Richardson, 28, Canton, North Carolina, saying an individual in another car had shot at him. Officers responded to West Highway 25/70, where they were told by an off-duty officer that the subject in a Chevrolet Cavalier, appeared to be intoxicated. Officer Barnes spotted the auto operated by Richardson and pursued it west, where the vehicle accelerated to 87 miles per hour.and crossed into the eastbound lane. Near the Jefferson County line, the driver turned around and "produced an object that appeared to be a small automatic handgun and subsequently pointed it at me," the deputy said. Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Coffey said his officers joined in the pursuit on Highway 25/70. His deputies engaged the vehicle and the pursuit went into Dandridge and onto North Highway 92 at speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour, into Jefferson City and then West on Highway 11E toward New Market. Richardson was holding a white piece of paper out of the driver side window during the pursuit and released it in the New Market area. "It was recovered from the roadway by Deputy Andrew Miller while the pursuit was still active, he advised via radio that the paper had the word 'bomb' written on it," the sheriff said. The pursuit continued West on 11E and at one point the suspect vehicle crossed the median for a short distance, and was traveling west in the eastbound lanes of travel toward on-coming traffic. At that point, Deputy Eddie Freeman used his patrol unit on two occasions to push the vehicle off the roadway for the safety of the general public. On the second attempt, the vehicle spun out near Bronze Lane which gave officers an opportunity to establish a rolling roadblock. Deputy Freeman, Seventh District Constable Frank Solomon and Cocke Deputy were able to stop the vehicle. Deputy Barnes said during the attempt to stop Richardson, his cruiser was hit twice and the Jefferson County cruiser also was struck at least twice. The suspect immediately began to resist and was shouting that there was a bomb inside the vehicle. Deputy Freeman used a taser to gain control of the suspect who was handcuffed and detained. Sgt. Donna Greer along with Deputy Miller began to close down US 11E and reroute traffic onto Old AJ Hwy until the suspect vehicle could be cleared. An explosive detecting K-9 along with a Explosive Technician (Bomb Tech) with the Knox County Sheriffs Office responded to the scene and swept the vehicle, finding no explosive. Jefferson County EMS responded to the scene to evaluate the suspect and draw blood to determine his blood alcohol level. Richardson was jailed in the Jefferson County Detention Center on charges of DUI, Aggravated Assault, Reckless Endangerment, Felony Evading Arrest by Motor Vehicle, Speeding and Disobeying a traffic control device. He also faces charges of DUI, Evading Arrest, False Reports, and Reckless Endangerment with a Deadly Weapon, in Cocke County.


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Energy Today
Wednesday, Sep 15, 2021, 18:00
EBRD lends support to Electric Networks of Armenia
Photo by Piotr Swat / Shutterstock.com
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is providing a loan of USD 70 million, including a B-loan from the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), to Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), the country's sole electricity distribution company and long-standing client of the bank, the EBRD said in a statement Monday.
The funding will support the large-scale modernization of the power distribution network in Armenia. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is co-financing this project with a USD 35 million loan.
The loan aims to strengthen ENA's distribution infrastructure, with a focus on the regions as well as the country's two largest cities, Yerevan and Gyumri, both of which are part of the EBRD Green Cities program.
EBRD Invested a Record EUR 2.3 bln in Central Europe, Baltic...
EBRD Approves EUR 55 mln Loan to Back Waste Management Syste...
Romania's Investments in 2022 Reach Record-high EUR 15 bln


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An international aviation legal practice with over 100 specialist aviation lawyers, including 20 partners accredited by the Chambers and Legal 500 directories as leading individuals in aviation. We regularly advise a number of regional aviation players including airlines, lessors, financiers, suppliers, regulatory bodies and manufacturers. We are noted for our practical and straightforward approach to solving problems and completing assignments. Our full range of industry-orientated and business-focussed services includes aircraft finance, aircraft leasing, sale and purchase of aircraft, general commercial contracts, and regulatory matters including competition issues, general aviation law, insolvency, restructuring and dispute resolution.


dock10, the UK's leading television facility, based in MediaCityUK today announced that its contract to provide the BBC with television studios, post production and media services has been extended until March 2023. This includes new commitments around CBeebies and CBBC presentation and long running shows Blue Peter for BBC Children's and Match of The Day for BBC Sport.
The BBC use dock10's extensive facilities to create hundreds of hours of programmes as varied as children's television, sports, factual and Saturday night primetime shows. Their programme makers have access to comprehensive post production services and ten purpose-built television studios.
dock10 is the UK's leading television facility. Based at the heart of MediaCityUK, The Studios and our specialist post production services are used to make everything from popular television shows, including the award-winning drama Happy Valley, prime-time spectacular The Voice, iconic children's favourite Blue Peter and the sports fan's essential Match of the Day – to outstanding VFX based commercials and corporate videos for leading brands.


Recent analyses (Havriluk, 2003) have shown wasted hand motion in the strokes of swimmers of all ability levels, even including world class. In addition to having a negative impact on performance, wasted motion can also stress the body in a manner that causes injury. The greater the wasted motion, the greater the average hand force that is necessary to swim at the same velocity, and the less effective the technique.
The purpose of this study was to determine if the active drag coefficient can serve as a measure for quantifying the effectiveness of swimming technique. Faster swimmers often display more effective technique than slower swimmers. Older age group swimmers are usually more skilled than younger swimmers. It was hypothesized that faster swimmers would have a lower drag coefficient than slower swimmers and that older swimmers would have a lower drag coefficient than younger swimmers.
A total of 562 male and female swimmers between the ages of 9 and 16 were analyzed with Aquanex. (The testing procedures were originally described and validated in Havriluk, 1988.) Average hand force and swimming velocity were calculated. The coefficient of active drag (Cd) was calculated from the equation: Cd = 2D/rAv2, where D is the drag force (assumed equal to the average hand force for constant velocity swimming), r is the mass density of water, A is the cross-sectional area of the body, and v is the swimming velocity.
The ten fastest swimmers in each of four age groups (9&10, 11&12, 13&14, 15&16) of both genders were assigned to the faster performance level group. The second ten fastest swimmers were assigned to the slower group. An ANOVA was applied with a performance level by gender by age group (2 x 2 x 4) design.
There was a significant performance level difference of .11 in the active drag coefficient (.46s), F(1, 144) = 17.233, p<.001. There was also a significant difference between the 9&10 and 11&12 age groups and between the 11&12 and 13&14 age groups.
The results support the hypothesis that faster swimmers have a more effective technique than slower swimmers. The results also show an improvement in technique with age. The coefficient of active drag was found to be a valid measure for the effectiveness of swimming technique.
The fact that there was no improvement in the drag coefficient of the teenage subjects is an indication that an additional focus on technique instruction is appropriate for these ages.


This recently remodeled Queen Anne Victorian (built in 1891) is a vintage gem. With vaulted ceilings, an open porch, and cupola, this unit celebrates San Francisco's famed architecture. Spacious and inviting, this home will provide an excellent space for entertaining. You'll enjoy expansive Downtown SF Views from almost every window in the house!
The large entry hall / dining room flows into the main living room with a wood burning fireplace. The chef's kitchen is complete with a cooking island, pantry, commercial 6-burner gas range with griddle, warming oven and 2 ovens, Sub Zero refrigerator, Bosch dishwasher and custom cabinetry throughout. There is a large breakfast space within the kitchen from which to enjoy City views as far south as Liberty Heights. Adjacent to the kitchen and accessed through French doors is a large, sunny deck that overlooks the back garden. The bottom floor is comprised of a bedroom, full bath and laundry room. There is also one reserved parking space.
The upper level features the master suite with a wood burning fireplace, Downtown City views and sitting area. There is an office alcove in the master bedroom. The main bathroom offers a stunning view of Downtown and a skylight. The third bedroom has Downtown views as well. There is a king size bed, 2 queen size beds and a single aerobed with legs that can be included in one of the bedrooms.
Close to Castro and the Mission, you are only a short walk away from great restaurants, parks and public transportation. Other amenities include hardwood flooring, zone heating, a security system, and plenty of storage. Short or long term.


1848 Ferdinand Hediard,the « stationary traveler »Ferdinand Hédiard was the son of artisans, and as a young man, seemed destined to perpetuate the family tradition. At the age of 14, he signed on as a carpenter's apprentice and embarked on the famous Tour de France as a journeyman to hone his skills.In 1848, this journey led him to the port of Le Havre, where one December morning, he discovered with wonderment the profusion of exotic products being unloaded on the quayside: Sacks of sugar and barrels of rum from Guadeloupe, crates of cocoa beans and coffee from Martinique, and fabulous fruit from the far side of the world.This spectacular scene changed the course of his life. He decided to give up carpentry and set up in Paris to sell these rare foodstuffs that captured his imagination. ..
1850 The merchantof the four seasonsStill a teenager, Ferdinand Hédiard was already thinking big. He began his Parisian venture with a modest cart that he acquired in 1850. Piled high with bananas, mangoes and other tropical fruit, he pitched it at the foot of the statue of Louis XIV in the Place des Victoires.He soon caught the attention of passers-by, who were intrigued by his unusual produce and quizzed him about its provenance. His gamble had paid off. He had a growing clientele of curious locals and artists, all in search of new flavours and keen to discover his latest marvels. Legend has it that Alexandre Dumas received his first pineapple from the hands of Ferdinand Hédiard. ..
1854 The « Comptoir »the first Hédiard storeEncouraged by this success, Ferdinand Hédiard took out a patent and decided to open a permanent store. He opened the first Hédiard store in Rue Notre-Dame-de-Lorette*, which he called Le Comptoir des Epices et des Colonies: the Spices and Colonies Store.His unique talent for sourcing products meant he only offered the very best. He also had an innate sense for display, presenting his goods with panache in wooden crates and wicker baskets. Parisian high society was drawn to this colourful, bountiful boutique with its stimulating aromas, all eager to sample Hédiard's latest finds.(The first Hédiard Boutique in Paris, on Notre Dame de Laurette street) ..
1867 Recognitionfrom his peersIn 1867, Napoleon III held the Universal Exhibition in Paris. Among the 43,000 exhibitors, the Maison Hédiard particularly stood out for the quality of its products. The newspaper L'Officiel published a letter from the Minister of the Marine, in which he praised the excellence of Hédiard's vanilla.This was the start of a tradition of official honours. Today, Hédiard has more than 120 medals recognizing its savoir-faire, a collection of national and international awards which underlines its leading place in the French fine grocery trade. ..
1870 Hediard opens onPlace de la MadeleineFerdinand Hédiard acquired a second store in 1870, on Place de la Madeleine. Since the end of the Church of the Madeleine restoration work, the neighbourhood had become very fashionable and the Place de la Madeleine a hub of Parisian gastronomy.In 1886, the store in Rue Notre-Dame-de-Lorette was sold. The store in Place de la Madeleine became the Hédiard flagship, which it still remains, a century-and-a-half later. The Hédiard store in the Place de la Madeleine offered a wide range of exotic products, which gave the premises a special atmosphere. Hédiard became a destination in itself, and Ferdinand's success was dazzling.Parisians flocked to this unique delicatessen, fascinated by the exceptional products on display and hungry to discover the new taste experiences offered by the store. A loyal clientele of celebrities contributed to Hédiard's reputation: Colette, Lucien Guitry, Marlène Dietrich, Charlie Chaplin, and Tristan Bern..
1890 Max Kusel: fruit jelliesto perfectionBy then, Ferdinand Hédiard's son-in-law Max Kusel had taken over running the store. It was during the Universal Exhibition of 1890 that Kusel first came across fruit jellies on the Brazil stand.At the time a genuine luxury product, Kusel first planned to import jellies from Brazil, but he then resolved to master the production process and make them himself. He and his team worked tirelessly to develop the perfect recipe: A melt-in-the-mouth jelly with an intense flavor. The fruit jellies were made and moulded on a daily basis in an adjacent workshop, using fresh ingredients sold in the boutique.Max Kusel continued to invent more original products: Spices, herbs and peppers were sold in little bottles; an old coffee machine was used to roast dried fruit which was then rolled in Arabic gum before being salted, dried and sold. The Hédiard store was a place for all kinds of discoveries.(Family portrait of Max Kusel, his wife and their childrens) ..
1935 Hédiard inventsthe art of the gift boxAfter Max, his son Jean Kusel took over the business and continued his father's pursuit of new products. He developed the production of fruit syrups and candied fruit.But it was the creativity of his sister Germaine which allowed Hédiard to innovate in a very particular sector: gifting. Her most influential creation was the Hédiard basket, an extravagantly exotic cornucopia which quickly established itself as the essential offering for any social invitation. These baskets were the precursor of the gift box in all its forms.Cocteau, Diaghilev and Paul Morand were among the first to gift these baskets, declaring themselves friends of the magnificent and sophisticated «Madame H.»Germaine Kusel's fruits hampers(Portrait of Jean Kusel and Germaine Kusel's fruits hampers) ..
1960 Hédiard,sets out to conquer FranceBuilding on more than a century of success, Hédiard started to develop its presence in Paris, opening stores in the capital's most prestigious neighborhoods. Then Hédiard opened in other French cities, giving a wider public access to its exceptional products.(Outside the Hédiard boutique at Place de la Madeleine)..
1970 Hédiard,International expansionDuring the 1970s, the Hédiard name was exported throughout the world, to the very places which inspired the young Ferdinand. This began with the runaway success of the Maison Hédiard in Japan in 1973, and was followed by stores in South Korea, Madagascar and Singapore, to name but a few.(Hédiard boutique in Singapour)..


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Q: Can Karaf download dependencies from maven repository on its own? I am trying to deploy my java modules on OSGI container. Through karaf 'feature' i am able to generate feature.xml which lists all bundles that are needed.
As we know each bundle is a dependency. Now we do have some dependencies that can be downloaded by maven from its repository.
How can i point karaf to download those dependencies from maven repo directly OR even from our local maven repo. For example like in a pom we write dependency and when we do maven clean install it downloads all jars to local m2 repo.
My feature xml contains these bundles of maven repo which are unresolved yet.
<bundle>mvn:org.springframework.data/spring-data-cassandra/1.2.2.RELEASE</bundle>
<bundle>mvn:org.springframework.data/spring-cql/1.2.2.RELEASE</bundle>
<bundle>wrap:mvn:org.springframework/spring-context/4.0.9.RELEASE</bundle>
<bundle>wrap:mvn:org.springframework/spring-aop/4.0.9.RELEASE</bundle>
<bundle>wrap:mvn:org.springframework/spring-beans/4.0.9.RELEASE</bundle>
<bundle>wrap:mvn:aopalliance/aopalliance/1.0</bundle>
<bundle>wrap:mvn:org.springframework/spring-beans/4.2.3.RELEASE</bundle>
<bundle>wrap:mvn:org.springframework/spring-core/4.2.3.RELEASE</bundle>
<bundle>mvn:commons-logging/commons-logging/1.2</bundle>
<bundle>wrap:mvn:org.springframework/spring-expression/4.2.3.RELEASE</bundle>
<bundle>wrap:mvn:org.springframework/spring-jdbc/4.2.3.RELEASE</bundle>
<bundle>wrap:mvn:org.springframework/spring-tx/4.2.3.RELEASE</bundle>
<bundle>wrap:mvn:org.springframework/spring-test/4.2.3.RELEASE</bundle>

A: In the $KARAF_HOME/etc folder edit the org.ops4j.pax.url.mvn.cfg  file to refer to the location of the local repository.
org.ops4j.pax.url.mvn.localRepository=<path to repository>

A: It depends on the karaf version. Karaf 2.x did not download to the local maven repository. It was able to read from the local repo though.
Karaf 3.x and 4.x download all dependencies to the local maven repo the first time they are accessed. So the following times the install works a lot faster.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Please note that this web page contains the most recent news releases of major incidents or incidents which have a high volume of media interest. We also regularly post news releases to our Facebook and Twitter accounts and the link to those pages is below. Please note that these releases and all other State Police news releases, not posted on this page, are available for viewing at the State Police Troop, in the area where the incident occurred.


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Fleetwood Mac are streaming a previously-unheard early version of their track "Monday Morning" ahead of the January 19 release of an expanded reissue of their self-titled 1975 album.
Written by Lindsey Buckingham, the tune was originally intended for the second Buckingham Nicks album but went on to become the opening track on Fleetwood Mac's tenth studio record when the guitarist and Stevie Nicks joined the lineup following Bob Welch's departure a year earlier.
"Monday Morning" joins a previously-unreleased version of "Landslide" as the latest preview to the project, which will be available in a variety of configurations including a 3CD/DVD/LP Deluxe Edition, an expanded 2CD package, a single CD edition, and via digital download and streaming services.
The 1975 release delivered Fleetwood Mac their first US No. 1 album while setting the stage for the monster smash, "Rumours", two years later, a record that went on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time with more than 40 million copies worldwide.
Following the "Fleetwood Mac" reissue, the group will become the first band honored as MusiCares Person Of The Year at the music industry charity's January 26 event at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
"It's a tremendous honor to be the first band to receive the MusiCares Person of the Year award," says Mick Fleetwood. "Independently and together, we all set off on a journey to spend our lives as artists, songwriters and musicians. None of us did it alone and there were plenty of helping hands along the way, so we applaud and celebrate MusiCares' guiding principles of giving musicians a helping hand and a place to turn in times of need."