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Home Article Jimmy Smits was Divorced from Ex-wife Barbara Smits Before Dating Girlfriend Wanda de Jesus
Jimmy Smits was Divorced from Ex-wife Barbara Smits Before Dating Girlfriend Wanda de Jesus
Updated On 01 Aug, 2021 Published On 01 Aug, 2021
Once upon a time, American actor Jimmy Smits was married to his high school sweetheart. But, that ship turned out to be too weak and eventually sank. However, Jimmy's fortune changed after meeting a top-notch veteran actress Wanda De Jesus, who is also known for her role in RoboCop 2.
Jimmy Smits - Divorced from Barbara Smits
The Emmy-award-winning actor Jimmy Smits rose to fame as a co-star on the popular NBC television series 'L. A Law'. Jimmy was once a married man and shared marital bliss with his former late wife, none other than his high school sweetheart, Barbara Smits. The two started dating while attending the same university for few years before making the relationship official with marriage in 1980.
The former wife of Jimmy Smits, Barbara Smits, with her daughter. SOURCE: Pinterest
While the actor was only 19, Barbara gave birth to their first child, Taina Smits. The arrival of the second child, a son, Joaquin Smits, brought immense happiness to the family. Everything seems to be going fine in the marriage.
But the tension began to rise among former husband & wife after Barbara discovered Jimmy's infidelity with another actress. Barbara decided to file for divorce that got finalized in 1987. The divorce papers filed also indicated that the actor would not seek custody of the two children.
Jimmy Smits receives a star for the Hollywood walk of fame. SOURCE: Instagram(jimmy smith)
Sadly Jimmy's former wife, Barbara, is no more with us. The complication of her illness- pneumonia took her life on April 16, 2010. She is survived by her children & loving grandchildren. Before her last breath at the age of 54, Barbara used to work at Cornell Cooperative Extension-New York(CCE-NYC) for almost three decades. Barbara lived the rest of her life in Brooklyn, N.Y, with the couple's two children.
Jimmy Smits - Dating Wanda De Jesus
Following the divorce, Jimmy lived together with his long-time companion & girlfriend, Wanda De Jesus. The two first met in New York in the early 1980s while Wanda was shooting for a film. Jimmy came closer to the Ghost of Mars actress after their daily meet-up, both having a common interest in the Hollywood industry. Eventually, friendship with Wanda later transformed into a passionate affair.
Jimmy Smits together with his soulmate Wanda de Jesus at some event. SOURCE: Getty Image
Further, it's been over 35 years since their romance blossomed. Jimmy Smits looks quite happy with his life and regularly makes public appearances with his partner. However, Smits and Jesus still aren't engaged & are yet to start a family.
Apart from all these, Jimmy made headlines with the scandalous event on August 9, 1987, along with Wanda De Jesus. Both were convicted on a charge of battery and assault for an alleged attack on three police officers. Actually, police authorities arrived at his West Los Angeles home after the reports came from a woman screaming for help. Later on, Smits and DeJesus faced probation for 18 months in Country Jail and were fined $150.
How rich is actor Jimmy Smits?
The American actor, Jimmy Smits, best known for his detective roles, came to the limelight for his role as NYPD Detective Bobby Simone in NYPD Blue, Matthew Santos in The West Wing, and Senator Bail Organa in the Star Wars. Jimmy is still active in the entertainment sector. Jimmy now plays the character of lawyer Victor Sifuentes on the NBC drama Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a hit in its second season.
Check out the video of Jimmy Smit appeared at GMA's shown below.
The Brooklyn native Jimmy Smits definitely is blessed with a successful career. From his many years of contribution as an actor, Jimmy managed to amass a whopping net worth of $25 million. The Starwar cast receives an annual paycheck of $150,000 per episode through a series like NYPD Blue. Jimmy relishes a lavish lifestyle with his love of life and resides in a 4,405 sq ft California home, which he bought for $1.5 million in 1993.


The weekend is here and this Sunday the Billboard music awards will air on TV complete with live performances from all genres of music including the country music world.
Set to perform are Florida Georgia Line and Mr. Sam Hunt. There are a bunch of country music categories with hardware up for grabs. Here are the artists up for awards this Sunday night.
Also Luke Bryan is nominated for the Billboard Chart Achievement award. The 2017 Billboard awards is this Sunday, May 14th and will be televised on ABC at 7:00 p.m. Central Time.


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Свинцо́во-кисло́тный аккумуля́тор — тип аккумуляторов, получивший широкое распространение ввиду умеренной стоимости, неплохого ресурса (от 500 циклов и более), высокой удельной мощности. Основные области применения: стартерные аккумуляторные батареи в транспортных средствах, аварийные источники электроэнергии, резервные источники энергии. Строго говоря, аккумулятором называется один элемент аккумуляторной батареи, но в просторечии «аккумулятором» называют аккумуляторную батарею (сколько бы в ней ни было элементов).

Аккумуляторная батарея, состоящая из свинцово-кислотных аккумуляторов, также сокращённо именуется АКБ (аккумуляторная кислотная батарея).

Классификация

AGM (от ) — аккумулятор, в котором между пластинами установлены абсорбирующие электролит маты из стекловолокна в роли сепараторов. Эти сепараторы не только предупреждают короткое замыкание пластин в случае их разрушения, губчатая конструкция сепараторов удерживает в них электролит за счёт капиллярных сил, и электролит не вытекает из батареи ни при каких обстоятельствах. Такие губчатые сепараторы, удерживая электролит, предупреждают его расслоение (стратификацию), что продляет срок службы аккумулятора. Также в аккумуляторах AGM работает цикл рекомбинации кислорода, что имеет как преимущества, так и недостатки. За счёт рекомбинации кислорода в аккумуляторах AGM расход воды меньше, чем в простых АКБ.

EFB (от , улучшенная наливная батарея) — аккумуляторная батарея со свободно плещущимся жидким электролитом, пластинами повышенной толщины в сравнении с простыми АКБ (такие же пластины, как в AGM)  и c более плотной в сравнении с простыми АКБ конструкцией сепараторов. Среди прочих, у EFB встречаются сепараторы из стекловолокна (подобно AGM). Аккумуляторные батареи EFB занимают промежуточное положение между простыми АКБ и батареями AGM.

История
Свинцовый аккумулятор изобрёл в 1859—1860 годах Гастон Планте, сотрудник лаборатории Александра Беккереля. В 1878 году Камилл Фор усовершенствовал его конструкцию, предложив покрывать пластины аккумулятора свинцовым суриком. Русский изобретатель Бенардос применил покрытие губчатым свинцом для увеличения мощности батарей, которые использовал в своих работах со сваркой.

Принцип действия

Принцип работы свинцово-кислотных аккумуляторов основан на электрохимических реакциях свинца и диоксида свинца в водном растворе серной кислоты.

При подключении к электродам аккумулятора внешней нагрузки начинается электрохимическая реакция взаимодействия оксида свинца и серной кислоты, при этом металлический свинец окисляется до сульфата свинца (в классическом варианте аккумулятора). Проведённые в СССР исследования показали, что при разряде аккумулятора протекает как минимум ~60 различных реакций, порядка 20 из которых протекают без участия кислоты электролита.

Во время разряда происходит восстановление диоксида свинца на катоде и окисление свинца на аноде. При заряде протекают обратные реакции. При перезаряде аккумулятора, после исчерпания сульфата свинца, начинается электролиз воды, при этом на аноде (положительный электрод) выделяется кислород, а на катоде — водород.

Электрохимические реакции (слева направо — при разряде, справа налево — при заряде):
 Реакции на анод (разряд):

 PbO2 + SO4^{2-}\ + 4 H^{+}\ + 2 e^- -> PbSO4 + 2 H2O.

 Реакции на катод (разряд):

 Pb + SO4^{2-}\ - 2 e^{-} -> PbSO4.

При разомкнутой внешней цепи на аноде накапливаются свободные электроны, которые притягивают из электролита ионы H+. В тонком слое вблизи анода формируется электрическое поле, которое препятствует доступу ионов SO4^2- к электроду. По мере накопления отрицательного заряда разность потенциалов на таком тонком слое растёт, доступ отрицательных ионов к аноду замедляется, устанавливается равновесие, и заряд прекращает накапливаться на аноде. Аналогичная ситуация происходит на катоде: положительный заряд катода притягивает ионы SO4^2-, оттесняя ионы H+, реакция замедляется. При замыкании внешней цепи электроны анода перетекают на катод и нейтрализуют положительный заряд на нём, что способствует возобновлению химических реакций на электродах.

При разряде аккумулятора из электролита расходуется серная кислота и выделяется относительно более лёгкая вода, плотность электролита падает. При заряде происходит обратный процесс. В конце заряда, когда количество сульфата свинца на электродах снижается ниже некоторого критического значения, начинает преобладать процесс электролиза воды. Газообразные водород и кислород выделяются из электролита в виде пузырьков — так называемое «кипение» при перезаряде. Это нежелательное явление, при заряде его следует по возможности избегать, так как при этом вода необратимо расходуется, нарастает плотность электролита и есть риск взрыва образующихся газов. Поэтому большинство зарядных устройств снижает зарядный ток при повышении напряжения аккумулятора. Потери воды восполняют доливкой в аккумуляторы дистиллированной воды при обслуживании аккумуляторной батареи (некоторые автомобильные батареи не имеют открывающихся/отвинчивающихся пробок).

Устройство
Элемент свинцово-кислотного аккумулятора состоит из электродов и разделительных пористых пластин, изготовленных из материала, не взаимодействующего с кислотой, препятствующих замыканию электродов (сепараторов), которые погружены в электролит. Электроды представляют собой плоские решётки из металлического свинца. В ячейки этих решёток запрессованы порошки диоксида свинца (PbO2) — в анодных пластинах и металлического свинца — в катодных пластинах (здесь анодом при заряде аккумулятора считается положительный его электрод, ибо при разряде аккумулятора — он становится катодом, — как электрод к которому направлено движение электронов во внешней цепи). Применение порошков увеличивает поверхность раздела электролит — твердое вещество, тем самым увеличивает электрическую ёмкость аккумулятора.

Электроды вместе с сепараторами погружены в электролит, представляющий собой водный раствор серной кислоты. Для приготовления раствора кислоты применяют дистиллированную воду.

Электрическая проводимость электролита зависит от концентрации серной кислоты и при комнатной температуре максимальна при массовой доле кислоты , что соответствует плотности электролита  Чем больше проводимость электролита, тем меньше внутреннее сопротивление аккумулятора, и, соответственно, ниже потери энергии на нём. Однако, на практике в районах с холодным климатом применяются и более высокие концентрации серной кислоты, до  это связано с тем, что при снижении концентрации из-за разряда электролит может замёрзнуть, а при замерзании образуется лёд, который может разорвать банки аккумулятора и повреждает губчатый материал пластин.

Существуют экспериментальные разработки аккумуляторов, где свинцовые решетки заменяют пластинами из переплетённых нитей углеродного волокна, покрытых тонкой свинцовой плёнкой. При этом используется меньшее количество свинца, распределённого по большой площади, что позволяет изготовить аккумулятор не только компактным и лёгким, при прочих равных параметрах, но и значительно более эффективным — помимо большего КПД, заряжается значительно быстрее традиционных аккумуляторов.

В аккумуляторах, применяемых в бытовых ИБП, систем охранной сигнализации и др. жидкий электролит загущают водным щелочным раствором силикатов натрия (Na2SiO4) до пастообразного состояния. Это так называемые гелевые аккумуляторы (GEL), имеющие длительный ресурс. Другой вариант исполнения − с пористыми сепараторами из стеклоткани (AGM), допускающими более жёсткие режимы заряда.

Электрические и эксплуатационные параметры
 Удельная предельная теоретическая энергоёмкость около 133
 Удельная энергоёмкость: 25—40 .
 ЭДС одного заряжённого аккумулятора  рабочее напряжение  (3 или 6 аккумуляторов в итоге дают в батарее стандартные  или  соответственно).
 Напряжение полностью разряженного аккумулятора  Ниже разряжать их нельзя.
 Рабочая температура: от
 КПД около  (по току заряда-разряда). КПД по энергии .

Применение
Чаще всего свинцово-кислотные аккумуляторы применяются в составе аккумуляторной батареи с номинальным напряжением 4, 6 и , реже с другим напряжением, кратным . Отдельные двухвольтовые элементы почти не применяются. Промышленность выпускает варианты обслуживаемых (заливание электролита, дистиллированной воды, контроль плотности электролита, его замена) и необслуживаемых аккумуляторных батарей (в герметичном корпусе, исключается проливание электролита при изменений наклонах и переворачиваниях). Обслуживаемые аккумуляторные батареи могут выпускаться сухозаряженными (без залитого электролита), что увеличивает их срок хранения и не требует периодического обслуживания при хранении, заливка электролита производится перед вводом батареи в эксплуатацию.

Эксплуатационные характеристики
 Номинальная ёмкость, показывает количество электричества, которое может отдать данный аккумулятор. Обычно указывается в ампер-часах, и измеряется при разряде малым током (1/20 номинальной ёмкости, выраженной в А·ч).
 Стартерный ток (для автомобильных аккумуляторов). Характеризует способности отдавать сильные токи при низких температурах. В большинстве случаев измеряется при   в течение 30 секунд. Различные методики замера отличаются (главным образом, допускаемым конечным напряжением) поэтому дают различные результаты.
 Резервная ёмкость (для автомобильных аккумуляторов) — характеризует время, в течение которого аккумулятор может отдавать ток  до конечного напряжения  согласно ГОСТ Р 53165-2008.

Эксплуатация

При эксплуатации «обслуживаемых» аккумуляторов (с открываемыми пробками на банках) на автомобиле при движении по неровной дороге неизбежно происходит просачивание электролита из-под пробок на корпус аккумулятора. Через электропроводную не высыхающую, из-за гигроскопичности, плёнку электролита происходит постепенный саморазряд аккумулятора. Во избежание глубокого саморазряда необходимо периодически нейтрализовать электролит протиранием корпуса аккумулятора, например, слабым раствором пищевой соды или разведённым в воде до консистенции жидкой сметаны хозяйственным мылом. Кроме того, особенно в жаркую погоду, происходит испарение воды из электролита; также количество воды в электролите уменьшается при перезаряде аккумулятора за счёт её электролиза. Потеря воды увеличивает плотность электролита, увеличивая напряжение на аккумуляторе. При существенной потере воды могут оголиться пластины, что одновременно увеличивает саморазряд и вызывает сульфатацию батареи. Поэтому необходимо следить за уровнем электролита и при необходимости доливать дистиллированную воду.

Эти меры вместе с проверкой автомобиля на паразитную утечку тока в его электрооборудовании и периодической подзарядкой аккумулятора могут существенно продлить срок эксплуатации аккумуляторной батареи.

Работа свинцово-кислотного аккумулятора при низких температурах
По мере снижения окружающей температуры параметры аккумулятора ухудшаются, однако, в отличие от прочих типов аккумуляторов, у свинцово-кислотных аккумуляторов это снижение относительно мало, что и обуславливает их широкое применение на транспорте. Эмпирически считается, что свинцово-кислотный аккумулятор теряет  отдаваемой ёмкости при снижении температуры на каждый градус от  То есть, при температуре  свинцово-кислотный аккумулятор покажет примерно  ёмкости.

Снижение ёмкости и токоотдачи при низких температурах обусловлено, в первую очередь, снижением скорости химических реакций (закон Аррениуса). Единственным способом повышения отдаваемой ёмкости является подогрев холодной батареи, как вариант — встроенным подогревателем (6СТ-190ТР-Н).

Разряженный аккумулятор в мороз может раздуться из-за замерзания электролита низкой плотности (близкой к 3) и образования кристаллов льда, что приводит к необратимому повреждению свинцовых пластин внутри аккумулятора.

Низкие температуры электролита негативно влияют на работоспособность и зарядно-разрядные характеристики аккумулятора:
 при температуре от  до  снижение зарядных и разрядных характеристик несущественно влияют на работоспособность аккумулятора;
 при температуре от  до  происходит снижение тока в стартерном режиме и ухудшение заряда;
 при температуре ниже  аккумуляторные батареи не обеспечивают надежного пуска двигателя и не способны принимать заряд от генератора.

Из-за большего внутреннего сопротивления, присущего современным аккумуляторам закрытого типа (т. н. «необслуживаемым», герметичным, герметизированным) при низких температурах по сравнению с обычными аккумуляторами (открытого типа), для них эти вопросы ещё более актуальны.

Для эксплуатации транспортных средств при очень низких температурах предназначены конструкции аккумулятора с внутренним электроподогревом.

Хранение

Свинцово-кислотные аккумуляторы следует хранить только в заряженном состоянии. При температуре ниже  подзаряд аккумуляторов должен проводиться постоянным напряжением 2,45 вольта на элемент 1 раз в год в течение 48 часов. При комнатной температуре — 1 раз в 8 месяцев постоянным напряжением 2,35 вольта на элемент в течение 6—12 часов. Хранение аккумуляторов при температуре выше  не рекомендуется.

Слой грязи, солей и плёнки электролита на поверхности корпуса аккумулятора создаёт проводник для тока между электродами и приводит к саморазряду аккумулятора, при глубоком разряде начинается сульфатация пластин с образованием более плотного сульфата, который меньше и труднее потом вступает в реакцию, чем сульфат, образующийся при нормальном рабочем разряде, что и является причиной потери ёмкости. Поэтому поверхность аккумулятора необходимо содержать в чистоте. Хранение свинцово-кислотных аккумуляторов в разряженном состоянии приводит к быстрой потере их работоспособности.

При длительном хранении аккумуляторов и разряде их большими токами (в стартерном режиме), или при уменьшении ёмкости аккумуляторов, нужно проводить контрольно-тренировочные циклы, то есть разряд-заряд токами номинальной величины.

При подготовке аккумуляторной батареи к зимнему хранению, что актуально для автомобилей, не эксплуатируемых в холодное время года, специалисты старейшей лаборатории НИИАЭ рекомендуют следующие действия:

1. Правильно и до конца зарядите аккумуляторную батарею.
2. Нанесите на положительный вывод АКБ пластичную смазку (допускается только технический вазелин, так как он имеет нейтральную кислотность, и ни в коем случае не использовать литол, солидол и тому подобное, так как они имеют небольшую кислотность и со временем такие смазки разъедают выводные клеммы АКБ), так как плёнка электролита способна абсорбировать влагу из атмосферы, что может приводить к повышенному саморазряду.
3. Хранить аккумуляторы на холоде при температуре  так как при низких температурах саморазряд намного ниже. Замёрзшая вода приводит к повреждению пластин аккумулятора, поэтому нельзя хранить аккумуляторы при температуре ниже

В случае необходимости поездки в морозы следует перенести аккумулятор в отапливаемое помещение, и в течение 7—9 часов (например, за ночь) он придёт в пригодное для пуска двигателя состояние.

Износ свинцово-кислотных аккумуляторов
При использовании технической серной кислоты и недистиллированной воды ускоряются саморазряд, сульфатация, разрушение пластин и уменьшение ёмкости аккумуляторной батареи.

Основными процессами износа свинцово-кислотных аккумуляторов являются:
 сульфатация пластин, заключающаяся в образовании крупных кристаллов сульфата свинца, который препятствует протеканию обратимых токообразующих процессов;
 коррозия электродов, то есть электрохимические процессы окисления и растворения материала электродов в электролите, что вызывает осыпание материала электродов;
 слабая механическая прочность или плохое сцепление активной массы с электродными решётками, что приводит к опаданию активной массы;
 оползание и осыпание активной массы положительных электродов, связанное с разрыхлением, нарушением однородности.

Хотя батарею, вышедшую из строя по причине физического разрушения пластин, в домашних условиях восстановить нельзя, в литературе описаны химические растворы и прочие способы, позволяющие «десульфатировать» пластины. Простой, но чреватый полным отказом аккумулятора способ предполагает использование раствора сульфата магния. Раствор сульфата магния заливается в секции, после чего батарею разряжают и заряжают несколько раз. Сульфат свинца и прочие остатки химической реакции осыпаются при этом на дно банок, это может привести к замыканию элемента, поэтому обработанные банки желательно промыть и заполнить новым электролитом номинальной плотности. Это позволяет несколько продлить срок использования устройства.

Вторичная переработка

Вторичная переработка для этого вида аккумуляторов играет важную роль, так как свинец, содержащийся в аккумуляторах, является токсичным тяжёлым металлом и наносит серьёзный вред при попадании в окружающую среду. Свинец и его соли должны быть переработаны для возможности его вторичного использования.

Свинец из изношенных аккумуляторов используется для кустарной переплавки, например, при изготовлении грузил рыболовных снастей, охотничьей дроби или гирь. Кустарное извлечение свинца из аккумуляторов серьёзно вредит как окружающей среде, так и здоровью плавильщиков, поскольку свинец и его соединения с парами и дымом разносятся по всей округе.

См. также
 Автомобильный аккумулятор
 AGM
 Метод заряда аккумуляторной батареи IUoU
 Нагрузочная вилка

Примечания

Литература

Ссылки

  :  : видео. — Science, 2010.
  : Достоинства и недостатки кислотных аккумуляторных батарей : видео. — Автопортал, 2020.

Электрические аккумуляторы
Устройство автомобиля

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Basically I'm in need of 2 certain character pictures. If anyone has any pictures of what I am looking for or if you know where i can find them please let me know. What I am looking for is a picture of a strong jedi wookie (male) and a picture of a sly looking Farghul (female). The Farghul is the felineoid species. I'm not too picky on how they should look. I just want some kind of picture reference. The artist that normally draws my groups RPG pictures can't draw fur so I'm kind of out of luck. Also the pictures can be in color or black and white, it doesn't matter. If you can just keep your eyes open incase you find any of the pictures I'm looking for. Thanks a lot!
Toward the end the subject shifts to character portraits and the like, and there 's a file download that lists art sites to check out, and a couple other website links to scan.
This request gets passed around every so often, so if you dig far enough back through the archives (in the general, and d6 and d20 forums, too) it'll save you some time compared to searching the entire web for character pics.
Actually, the file probably won't help you much, it's almost exclusively human characters (it's my file, which is why I know this). I think there's one Wookiee, but he's no Jedi.
However, I do have a suggestion on where to find feline type species. Elfwood (http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/elfwood.html) has a bunch of feline/human sort of pictures on it. I stumbled across most of them by accident when just doing a general search of "Star Wars" under the sci-fi section. Don't ask me how they qualify as SW, but apparently they do (the search engine at Elfwood isn't all that great). You could try checking them out.
As for Wookiees, you could try any number of the other sites on the thread Gulmyros pointed out. TheForce.Net (http://www.theforce.net) has an extensive fan art library, which probably has some Wookiee Jedi in it somewhere.
Ok, there are two pics of Wookie Jedi involved in The Living Force book. The first is on the cover, and the second is on page 58. Although they aren't anything spectacular, they will probably suffice for what you need. (man, I hope those aren't supposed to be pics of Kirlocca, but they probably are!?!).
Try the Star Wars Artists Guild.
You may even find someone willing to draw you a pic.


Q. How do I declare a major?
What happens if I want to change my major?
Applicants for first-time admission or readmission must choose a major when applying to the college.
To receive financial aid, students must declare a major.


Traitor's Blade is excellent. I picked this up as I'd seen it doing the rounds on Instagram and Goodreads and thought it sounded interesting. I am so glad I did.
We follow Falcio Val Mond in a first person narrative as he and his two best friends, Kest and Brasti, attempt to stay honourable in a world where the once illustrious Greatcoats are considered the worst kind of traitors, untrustworthy and barely worth the spit it takes to call them 'tattercloaks'. All 150 of the Greatcoats disbanded after they let the Dukes of Tristia kill their king. Once revered as wandering magistrates who ensured the King's law was adhered to across the land and are so well trained every one would think twice before challenging them, Falcio won't allow his friends let their name down by stealing from the rich, even if they are in pretty dire straits. Five years after the death of his king, Falcio is still trying to fulfil his last request: to find the king's Charoites.
My favourite aspect of this swashbuckling story is the friendship and banter between the three men. It's immediately evident that they have been through so much together and know each other inside out. This makes their quips and banter personal and hilarious. They tease each other in ways only great friends can and their witty retorts contrast wonderfully with some of the bleaker aspects of their quest. The camaraderie is so realistic, the characters and their individual personalities almost jump from the page. The crudeness of their repartee works particularly well as they are no green boys looking for their first taste of adventure; firmly in their thirties they've endured a great deal of hardship and have surfaced firm friends who are ready to put the world to rights. All the characters are well developed but Falcio, Kest and Brasti are especially complex protagonists. Although we learn early on their strengths and weaknesses I know there's still much more to their pasts that we are yet to discover. De Castell had me laughing out loud early on and didn't let up throughout. I found the humour very refreshing as a high fantasy reader I rarely get a giggle out of the characters.
That's not to say the plot is light-hearted and frivolous. This is definitely an adult novel, not only can the humour be quite salacious, the characters face their fair share of tragedy and danger. That the darker aspects sit so well alongside the humour helps make it feel more realistic and showcases the author's skill. It is evident in the fantastic fight scenes that Sebastien De Castell know his stuff. His passion and knowledge of swordplay is tangible in the details. I wouldn't say I generally enjoy military battles and war but I was never bored when they fought and was often on the edge of my seat. He knows exactly how long the scenes need to be so we don't lose interest and every move feels natural and realistic. I never felt that the characters were invincible, despite knowing how extensive their training had been.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found the writing and characters incredibly immersive and I can't wait to carry the series on. I've heard the second instalment is even better! I highly recommend Traitor's Blade to anyone who enjoys fantasy fiction with well developed characters and engaging storylines.


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Salmiakki - a foodstuff so loved by Finns and Scandinavians, it's hard to think that many people in the UK have never heard of it. Fortunately for me, I have.
I've been a big liquorice addict since my Mum bought me sickly sweet panda sticks to chew on, in the vain belief they were healthier than sweets, just because the health food shop sold them. Over the years I moved on to harder stuff - the catherine wheels with their brightly coloured centres, the Bassets sticks so hard you can chip a molar on them and finally on to liquorice root. A chance encounter with a Finnish Landscape Architect on a train to Liverpool (true story) introduced me to the wonder than is Salmiakki - or salty liquorice as it's known (or as it's easier to pronounce!).
Salmiakki and vodka - what perfect combination!
Salmiakki isn't just liquorice and salt, it's actually flavoured with aluminium chloride - hence the moniker, a take on sal ammoniac, which is the chemical's Latin name. The addition of the chloride has been described as 'like licking the sea' 'stinging' and 'tongue stripping' amongst other things. It's definitely an acquired taste, I'm just happy I acquired it.
I'm actually a huge fan, something that tickles my Finnish friends as they're not used to Brits liking this - indeed our first night in Helsinki was rounded off by them buying us salmiakki shots and laughing to themselves as they expected us to spit it back out. They weren't too pleased when I a) already knew what it was (thanks Finnish Landscape Architect) and b) really enjoyed it, ordered another round and beat them in a drinking competition. Whoops.
Visiting or living in Finland you see there's more than just salmiakki in vodka and chewing gum - it's in ice cream, chocolate, drinks, sweets and probably lots of other things I don't realise because I don't read Finnish very well. If you're in Helsinki, pop along to the little coffee hut on the lush green corridor of the Bulevardi and pick up a salmiakki cone, the cream sweetness balances out the salt perfectly. However if it's the middle of winter with a thick blanket of snow of the ground then you can just pop in to the local supermarket and pick up a salmiakki ice lolly - yes indeed - but unless you're a salmiakki addict this might be a step too far, as for me this gets overpowering and almost tastes like licking hair dye once you're about half way through.
There's a lot to be said to the astringent salty tang, especially when paired with the milky sweetness of chocolate - we had a brilliant dessert at Mami in Turku, which paired chocolate ice cream with salmiakki sauce and toffee shards - inspired. So much so I've created my own Salmiakki sauce at home, so I can recreate this pudding and many others like it.
I started off using Signe Johansen's (Scandilicious) recipe for salmiakki caramel - which includes melting down salmiakki sweets and adding them to the caramel recipe. However I'm not very patient and these took forever, plus they didn't yield the right flavour for me, so I reverted back to my Mum's recipe for caramel (which is actually my grandma's and could actually be my great-grandma's) and then popped in salmiakki vodka and some salt to get the right taste.
8. Enjoy over ice cream or on bananas or with chocolate mousse - or however you fancy it!
NB - the sauce will keep in a jug in the fridge (covered) for about two weeks, but will solidify a bit, so you may have to take it out a long time before you want to use it and then pop it back on the heat for a minute or so.
I'm an ex-pat Briton documenting her move to Helsinki with the food I find and the things I eat, plus the mishaps I make!


Six people have been arrested in central India after a church was vandalised, allegedly by right-wing Hindu activists.
It is the latest in a series of attacks on India's small but influential Christian minority.
The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder reports from the central Indian state of Chattisgarh on the growing insecurity that is gripping the Christian community.


text:
Gender Studies Under Attack Here…Finally
I concede that, as a "math person," I don't see the world the same way as most folks. The Gender Studies people I'd see on campus, always yelling about something, would get a shrug from me. "I favor reason," I'd think to myself, "but maybe raw emotion is worth something in academia." I'd give the groups a wide berth, of course…but this was still a form of tolerance.
Thing is, these groups kept getting larger, more difficult to avoid, and Gender Studies turned from a splinter subject into a mandatory subject…every student had to take this stuff, even as courses in Logic were being permanently removed from campus (the last time I taught even basic Logic on campus was 1989).
My (and others') tolerance became our undoing, as Gender Studies became too big on campus to stop. Well, almost:
Gender Studies' Value Is Under Question—And for Good Reason
We should always be willing to question our courses…even in mathematics, I acknowledge there's room for questions about relevance (granted, the answer is always "yes, we need this," but I'll still allow it to be questioned). Of course, Gender Studies doesn't allow such questioning, the "gender studies nod" is a phrase for a reason.
"Class discussions trend towards group-therapy sessions…absurd intellectual alcove where objective truth is subordinate to academic theories used as political propaganda."
The above jives with my own investigations. When this stuff first started infesting campuses, I was curious what went on in those courses. Since, at that time, students in math classes could also take Gender Studies courses, it was easy enough for me to ask the students. Time and again they'd tell how little went on in the courses, how they would just sit and talk and be angry about things, while the professor nodded encouragement.
Women's Studies Isn't a Traditional Academic Discipline
Hungary's prime minister wasn't alone when he told the international news agency Agence France-Presse that gender studies is "an ideology, not a science."
I covered Hungary's resistance to this ideological course before. When I talk to my Leftist friends about this (bear with me, I'm in higher ed, I like to be friends with coworkers, so I'm going to have Leftist friends…), they assure me Hungary is just turning into a Nazi country or the like.
Perhaps, although I do tire of any challenge to the narrative invariably reducing to "Nazis!"
Yet this criticism is based in fact: Unlike other academic disciplines, gender studies and its antecedent, women's studies, are explicitly linked to an ideological movement with a specific political purpose. The National Women's Studies Association's constitution, passed in 1982, described the relationship between the academic women's studies field and the feminist movement.
The above is why I concede History is as critical as Mathematics. Knowing that it's a historical fact that this stuff is political, ideological, and not academic in origin, means even if Hungary is turning into a Nazi country, it doesn't change the validity of their criticism of Gender Studies.
Granted, the latest Left-Wing media darling assures me facts aren't nearly as important as being morally right. I respectfully disagree.
Not Liberal Arts, But Extreme Leftist Indoctrination
Perhaps it goes without saying that the ideology advanced through the women's and gender studies disciplines is progressive. Women's and gender studies programs aren't merely encouraging political engagement and activity, but for the advancement of social changes that including expanding government redistribution and oversight of society in the name of promoting equality and inclusivity.
Yeah, this isn't what an academic subject is supposed to be about. There's supposed to be knowledge and understanding, and instead this department is about advancing (devastatingly murderous) political causes.
A study conducted by the National Association of Scholars of 8,688 tenure-track professors at 51 top-ranked liberal arts colleges found overall more than 10 registered Democrats for every 1 Republican professor. But gender studies, along with Africana studies and peace studies, was the most heavily slanted. The study's author concluded, "I could not find a single Republican with an exclusive appointment to fields like gender studies."
I totally respect people, even academics, are going to have political views, but when it's this one-sided, to the point that one's political views precludes one's academic inquiry, then it's a severe problem.
In short, my (and others') tolerance to Gender Studies has been met with a virulent intolerance. While I generally lean towards tolerance of a great many things, I'm firmly of the opinion that I (and others) will need to be fundamentally intolerant of intolerance in the future. We can't let this happen again, assuming we ever overcome our mistake of tolerating this "subject" on campus.
Being under attack, Gender Studies gets to respond, of course:
Premilla Nadasen, president of the National Women's Studies Association, told Inside Higher Ed that the reason for hostility to gender studies is concerns about changing society and a desire to protect traditional power structures:
I think what they suggest through this phrase "gender ideology" that this is somehow contrary to family values…But women and gender studies scholars are not rooted in a "gender ideology." They think about gender as a frame of analysis for understanding the way in which the world works. I think if there's any ideology that has been manifest in this debate, it's the right-wing ideology that is attempting to return to a heteronormative patriarchal society.
Ah, "right-wing ideology," the code phrase for saying only Nazis can question them.
Sorry, no. I consider another new academic subject on campus, Computer Science, which is just about as old as Gender Studies. I don't believe anyone questions the validity of studying computers, core machines to human civilization for the foreseeable future. Yes, the inclusion of Computer Science departments means other departments must be diminished…but we get it, and even if someone questioned why we should study computers, I doubt representatives of Computer Science would just call them a Nazi and assume that would end the discussion.
Ultimately, the effect on the student forced into "learning" this ideology must be considered:
…the one-sized indoctrination as "cruel," writing "Nothing is more oppressive than having your professors teach you that you're a victim." Other students who invest their time in higher education on debates about whether the entire discipline is too "vagina centric," thus leaving out women without vaginas, may ultimately wonder if this was really the best use of their finite time at university to gain skills and knowledge that will help them in life, post-college.
Indeed, wondering if Gender Studies is bad for supposedly leaving out "women without vaginas" just doesn't strike me as nearly as academically important as learning how the physical universe works, studying the history of our planet, reading the greatest works of literature we have, or considering the philosophical musings of Aristotle.
So, yes, bring on the attacks of Gender Studies. These days, most everyone is a Nazi anyway so I'm not sure there's much to lose doing so.
Mike S March 1, 2019 at 8:12 PM
Gender studies, or "how to profit by being a victim".
coco de mogombo March 2, 2019 at 3:42 AM
Oh Eve you just bit the apple again!!!
McChuck March 3, 2019 at 5:33 AM
This. A thousand times this.
"Women without vaginas" are merely insane men. Only the insane or deliberately wicked would insist otherwise.
English Tom March 2, 2019 at 8:30 AM
Women without vaginas. Society without reason.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Does Attacking Animal Charities Help Animals?
Perhaps you've seen the disgruntled kitty on the subway, in Times Square or in The Dodo.
A little-known group with deep pockets runs advertisement after advertisement online, in print, on television and elsewhere. Look out, the ads say. There's something you need to know about The Humane Society of the United States.
Isn't attacking the Humane Society of the U.S. like attacking mom, or apple pie? I've lost track of the number of conversations I've had with friends, family members and even strangers, confounded by the idea that our organization would have adversaries. But it's true.
Since 1954, The HSUS has been attacking large-scale mistreatment of animals nationally and globally. Our founders knew local shelters weren't able to do this kind of work, because their mission is to help animals in their community find homes. Together with our affiliates, we do rescue and provide direct care to tens of thousands of animals every year. But our primary mission is to prevent cruelty to millions more before they end up in distress.
This work has drawn fire from industries that involve animals, such as notoriously cruel puppy mills, factory farms and the wildlife trade. What we do is a threat to industries that benefit from the status quo of mistreatment of animals. So they've become the benefactors of a Washington-based front group that does their dirty work.
The attacks on us come from HumaneWatch, a project of the misleadingly named "Center for Consumer Freedom." This is an organization that serves no public purpose. It is anonymously funded by large corporations to pursue their agendas, mostly through distorted advertising and histrionic opinion pieces. CCF got its start in defending big tobacco, and has moved on to such dubious causes as tanning beds, high-fructose corn syrup and trans fats.
Led by Rick Berman, a man 60 Minutes dubbed "Dr. Evil," CCF has attacked Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other organizations, including ours. Meanwhile, Mr. Berman and his PR firm have profited handsomely.
The most cynical of Berman's many attacks was the made-up "Humane Society for Shelter Pets." It ran attack ads for a few years, then dissolved, without having helped a single animal in a single shelter as far as we can tell. It did pump a few hundred thousand dollars into the Berman coffers before going dark, only to resurface again this spring.
Berman's spider web of astroturf organizations has improved his own wealth, but not the lives of animals in shelters or anywhere else. He is trying to divide the animal welfare movement and tell people the only animal protection work worth supporting is the sheltering of dogs and cats – but what about the 99 percent of animals at risk who never set foot into a shelter?
For 60 years, The HSUS has been extraordinarily effective at stopping large-scale animal abuse that some corporations would rather keep hidden. Berman's attacks are actually a testament to that effectiveness. After all, why would anyone bother to put tens of millions of dollars into attacking a poorly-run and ineffective animal charity?
You can read more about Berman and how he operates here. Then, join us in our successful strategy to build a more humane society.
Alan Heymann: Heymann is vice president of communications for The Humane Society of the United States.


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text:
Q: Asus Sabertooth 990FX RAID - Drives disappear Just got a 990fx 2.0. I'd like to setup two Seagate 1TB drives in a RAID 1 config and same thing: Detected under AHCI but as soon as the SATA ports are config'd to RAID, they aren't detected. I don't have CTRL+F as an option during POST.
Going round in circles and am not seeing the solution.
Am I expecting too much? Used to server class RAID hardware config's, so do desktop RAID controllers not operate similarly? In the sense that the hardware presents a logical drive to the OS, abstracted from the physical?
Should just work, so what am I missing?
Thanks.

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text:
Home Bali News Bali`s hotel room occupancy rate down 1.13 pct in May
Bali`s hotel room occupancy rate down 1.13 pct in May
Star-rated hotels in Bali saw their average room occupancy rate fall 1.13 percent to 62.90 percent in May from 64.03 percent in April.
"The room occupancy rate is closely related to the number of foreign and domestic tourists visiting Bali," Head of the Bali Provincial Statistics Office I Gede Suarsa said here on Sunday.
More than 1.05 million tourists visited Bali in the first five months of 2011, up 6.61 percent from 992,335 in the same period last year, he said.
In May alone, 209,058 tourists visited the resort island, up 2.79 percent compared to the same month last year. But it fell 6.96 percent from April 2011.
Gede Suarsa said Denpasar took the lead in terms of hotel room occupancy rate with 65.31 percent, followed by Gianyar 56.87 percent, Karangasem 49.49 percent, Tabanan 41.11 percent and Buleleng 25.12 percent. The other three districts, Jembrana, Bangli and Klungkung do not have star-rated hotels.
He said foreign tourists` length of stay at star-rated hotels averaged 3.27 days, longer than that of domestic tourists which reached 2.86 days.
Four-star hotels recorded the highest room occupancy rate of 64.94 percent, followed by two-star hotels 63 percent, five-star hotels 62.49 percent, three-star hotels 62.29 percent, and one-star hotels 60.26 percent.
Non-star hotels meanwhile had an average room occupancy rate of 32.53 percent, with the highest room occupancy rate of 55.94 percent recorded in Badung, followed by Jembrana 29.84 percent,Tabanan 26.80 percent, Gianyar 30.50 percent, Klungkung 44.37 percent, Bangli 17.99 percent, Karangasem 17.66 percent, Buleleng 23.44 percent and Denpasar 32.99 percent.
Source: Antara
Jeremy Gilbert July 22, 2011 at 10:45 PM
"This five star Bali hotel is located on South Sea Island, and features inspired traditional-style architecture, a two-tiered saltwater pool, an aquatic seawater therapy pool, and a ballroom for major functions!


Quote Reply Topic: Are membership fees correct?
Over that time we have had ups uPS UPS and downs, yet we are still here as intended, a community and not a commercially run forum. and now days we face a lot of pressure from commercial forums who are not run by members or owners but are set up only to make commissions from adverts and then sell the forum on to a commercial company.
Indeed in the last few years I have been approached by many companies wanting to offer sums of money to sell up. Those who know me personally will not that is of little interest to me.
But (there is always one) I do recognise that the forum is a bit untidy, needs a good clean up, needs a better membership upgrade system, and more importantly needs actual hands on to keep at bay the spammers, and offensive materials. The problem is that these do not come for "free" (I don't make a living here). Almost all of the voluntary membership fees goes on costs, which on our current model will see us have more costs than "income".
Recently I have been looking at other forums which I know are run by owner member and seeing how they operate. We all share the same problem of people, time, and volunteers.
I am asking each of you to think of the value of this forum, and what it really means to you.
To me it will always remain a community, but I would really like to be able to reward people for their time, and I can only do so by contributions from members in a more stable fashion than has been the past.
I welcome comments and votes on your thoughts.
My personal opinion is the wealth of knowledge that is available through this forum is excellent and has saved me many pounds after only being a member for a short while,and like most clubs,associations,etc we you have to pay yearly to be members,and I see this as in the long run an inexpensive outlay to access this forum exclusively for paid up members.
I have been a member for quite a few years now and have received a lot of help and advice which in turn I now give to others. I think an annual fee is fair given the work done behind the scenes by Frankie and all the Mods.
Not just in the running and upkeep of the forum but the organisation of events,trips to the factory and meets.
On the down side recurring membership may drop when members move to other makes of car and have to rejoin if they come back to the QQ.
I think the mods do a great job .
I cannot vote in this poll but would be interested to know how many people currently are registered to login to this website?
Of those how many currently pay a membership fee?
I ask this because the critical point is would those unable to vote want to pay a fee?
Agree with geejay38, however if you leave the same access as now I can't see that as an issue.
In addition how would the yearly subscription work? Yearly on the day you joined or yearly from the 1st Jan?
I know these are not the amounts but for easy sums lets say the yearly subscription is £12 and I renew on the 1st Jan it will be £12. If someone then joins in March then theirs would be £10 pro-rata for the year or would it be the full £12 and then renews again at £12 the following 1st Jan? The problem with a full rate charge is if someone joins late in the year may think they lose out and may hang off paying to the new year or not pay at all.
Might be worth looking on PocketGPSworld.com to see how they operate registration fees.
Their fee is paid annually from the date you sign up, via Pay Pal. Also renewed automatically so I assume less admin involved.
However, not sure how much PayPal charge PocketGPSworld for this service, but worth a look.
In my opinion there isn't enough activity on here to warrant an annual fee for membership. A one off is spot on to give you the full membership and access to the discounts and for sale sections. I've been a member of some very large car communities in the past and the activity and information on those have been phenominal. The level of active members and the number of relevant posts helps to justify the cost.
As much as I like the QQ and enjoy tinkering with my car, there just isn't that much of a following for it (yet?) from those who are willing to get their hands dirty. A few of us have done a few bits, or solved a few problems, but most would sooner go to the dealer or garage to get a problem solved. Its quite easy to look at the first page of a section and find that some posts are years old.
No, we believe that discounts to members are more important than commissions to us.
All memberships would be "soft" reset on or around Jan 1st, the hard reset on Feb1st giving members a month to renew... or that's the first thoughts anyway!
Pro Rata hadn't been thought about but a point taken.
As the age of the car is growing more manual work is taking place by members, we would certainly look at a better YouTube how to section etc.
Plus we are eager to get an annual get together, or factory visit etc organised, and other "world record beating" event we have been invited to, I think that attendees to such things ought to be at least something more than a free member (as a reward).
I would also like to introduce a membership pack, accepted by Nissan dealerships etc for discounts, and further club benefits (such as discounted entry to relevant shows), but research takes man hours, and having a very busy work life already its difficult to organise, hence being able to reward helpers.
I'd like to see us here for the long term, but we need space and time to grow or funds to enable us to invest.
I will look at the permissions and make it so you can vote.
Looking at voting so far not a lot is happening.
There are 10,600 active login memberships.
9075 of those are free to access.
Around 130 have free upgrades as "helpful members"
Leaving around 1400 paid memberships in 9 years.
Best £6 I spent on my qashqai and worth that alone for the reassurances it gives you asking questions that get answered . Didn't think twice about the fee and I'm a tight git!
Was looking at the options on the poll and went sort of Middle ground to what I think ( remember I'm a tight git, just so u know how tight, I sweat buying a 500 ml bottle of coke for a pound for workmates, knowing I could get 1.75 l for £1.65) !
I would happily pay a one off fee (£10 acceptable in my eyes) and then a smaller annual fee (£2.50 is acceptable in my eyes) . I really would not think twice about that, it's worth it and don't feel a big amount that would feel like a bill or insurance lol.
so for me that £6 I spent on membership was a no brainer and would happily pay a small annual fee as I think it's well worth it, people give a £5 tip to their hairdresser every few weeks or takeaway bloke, etc, surely this forum is worth a small annual fee!
I'm new here, but am a member of another fairly large forum, supposedly run as a club... You can be a free member, and browse most forums, but not sell anything or reply to any ads in the for sale sections, and can't access special discounts from certain traders, and the PM inbox will only hold 10 messages.
Or you can pay a £10 subscription per year, which allows access everywhere, sell things (within reason, no breaking cars out or anything that would interfere with the traders businesses), and get an increased PM inbox (100 messages).
The wealth of knowledge of little tricks to fix things yourself, heads up on good deals on cleaning stuff etc is well worth the £10, which I was completely happy paying at 1 time.
I hope it's not seen as out of place, as I'm so new here (and not yet subscribed, but we've had a bad couple of months, maybe next month), but just saying what seems to work elsewhere.
Another point actually, I don't know if you already have, but Eurocarparts seem to sponsor a lot of car forums, the discount code is next to useless as they've always got a sale on, but I don't know if maybe they'd offer a discount code and some sort of subscription, in return for a banner at the top of the site?
I just joined your forum and would like to offer a little of my own experience.
I am admin for another forum, (nothing to do with cars) and I have run it since 2003 - so a similar time to yourselves.
I initially "fronted" all the hosting and domain names costs myself...and until recently, it had cost me close to 500-600 pounds.
So, I then thought about membership fees and concluded that this would stop people joining the forum as well as being a bit of an "afront" to the existing membership - which has over 400 members.
So, I asked for voluntary donations (between £5 and £10) and on the website that hosts the forum, all the donations and costs are listed so that members can see how the "accounts" of the forum are, at any point in time.
This then means anyone can join for free and if people feel they have gained something from the thousands of postings on the forum, then they can send a PayPal donation.
As of now, all expenses have been recouped and those who have donated are happy.
Hopefully this might be of help to the admins where?
It's been 2 years since the above way posted and I see you now have over 12,000 members.
So, well done for that !
Can you advise what the "split" is now between free access and helpful memberships and "paid" memberships as I'd be interested to learn if your "paid up" membership has increased since a fee/donation system was introduced. (I'm an admin of another forum so I'm interested to see if this "worked" for you).
Do you actually publish your accounts for the forum income and expenditure?
Hi, The forum is open to all for free, there are no restrictions I lifted them, the donations are voluntary, and hopefully cover my costs.
Off the members on here over 11,200 had always had free access.
The forum has been running for 11 years.
Average income around £400 per year, costs currently £360 per year.
Thanks for the kind reply, Pr07phet.
The (non-car) forum I run hasn't got as many members as here, so the bandwidth used is much less...and my annual costs are quite a bit lower.
I think the volumtary donation route does make more sense - a bit like an "honesty jar" and those who get more out of "fora" such as this do tend to be thanksful and will make a contribution to keep it ticking over.
This is what I've found and it seems your forum is similar.
In time, as I "discover" my Qashqai's features and quirks, I will check here first and see if others have had the same issue.
never use forum much then.
I am fairly new here and yet I've found a lot of useful information already, and big thank you to the entire community for that.
And thank you Frankie for all your efforts in keeping the forum live!
I'd say it's absolutely reasonable even to have a yearly membership fee to help out running the forum. Speaking as someone who's been working in IT/hosting industry for quite a while now, I know the costs of running a forum with member base of this size and this amount of traffic.


What could be better than attending a concert under the stars at Red Rocks Amphitheatre? Attending a concert after having a creek-side dinner in adjacent Golden, Colorado. Colorado's first capital city is located only a 15 minute drive from Red Rocks, making it the perfect stop before or after a concert. The compact historic town is centered around beautiful Clear Creek, which flows right through the middle of Golden. The fast moving stream is popular with kayakers and tubers and is lined with restaurants, picnic benches, and bike trails.
Golden is the beer brewing capital of the world. Coors Brewery, which sits majestically beneath the rocky buttes of South Table Mountain, is the largest single brewing site on the planet. But Golden has three other craft breweries and a distillery all within easy walking distance, and two other breweries nearby.
For dining, if you desire a community-focused restaurant dedicated to seasonal fresh local produce, organic meats and sustainable fish, try Abejas restaurant, recently selected as one of the top dining experiences in metro Denver. Woody's Wood-fired Pizza is a local legend with one of the best Western views in town. The New Mexico adobe style architecture of the Table Mountain Grill & Cantina brings all the flavors of the Southwest to life, while great pub fare and Old West history can be found at the Old Capitol Grill, located in the building that served as Colorado's first state capitol.
Speaking of atmosphere, nothing tops the Sherpa House Restaurant & Cultural Center, serving Himalayan fare in a house dotted with artifacts and done up to resemble a traditional home in Nepal. More international fare can be found at the creek-side Grappa Mediterranean Bistro & Café, serving delicious French and Italian dishes in an intimate setting, or in the marvelous Old World-looking Briarwood Inn Restaurant, which resembles a German lodge set in pine trees and offering opulent Continental dishes. Or just grab a buffalo or elk sandwich at D'Deli (consistently ranked as the No. 1 sandwich shop on the Front Range) and head to a picnic table along the creek.
After the concert, grab a cold craft beer at Mountain Toad Brewery or Barrels & Bottles, continue the night with more music taking in the closing set at the funky Buffalo Rose, or stop for a cocktail at the always eclectic Ace Hi Tavern. Or check out the Golden Moon Speakeasy, a cool cocktail lounge and distillery tasting room, featuring classic and modern craft cocktails, pre-prohibition style punches and long drinks, all made solely with the spirits produced by Golden Moon Distillery.


The history of mantou is closely linked with the Three Kingdoms Period (AD 220-280). Strategist, Zhu Geliang, is said to have led the armies of Shu in the south Campaign, and, after defeating King Meng Huo, he came across a fast-flowing river on his way back. Local barbarians told him that the river spirits could be appeased by the sacrifice of 50 men, each of whom would have their heads cut off and thrown into the river. Exhausted by the campaign and proud of the low number of casualties, Zhu Geliang therefore decided to fake the men's heads by stuffing some dough balls with meat and throwing them into the river. As the waters of the river grew calm, he and his army were able to cross. The meat-filled dough balls thus became known as "Barbarian heads" or mantou in Chinese.
The first known uses of sodium bicarbonate in steamed buns date back to 1206. The steamed bun was the only type of bread eaten in Asia until 1866, the year in which the first European buns (mianbao 面包/麵包) were introduced into the country, mainly via Hong Kong and Guangzhou. In 1970 yeast was imported into the Guangzhou region for the first time to replace the traditional sourdough (laomian 老面/老麵). The first local yeast factory (Danbaoli 丹宝利/丹寶利) was built in Guangdong in 1985.
Historically and culturally, mantou is a staple in northern China, as a main source of protein, especially in the grain-producing Shandong province. The northern mantou is eaten with all 3 meals of the day. Consisting of only flour, water, and a fermentation agent (yeast or traditional sourdough), an alkali (baking soda, i.e. sodium bicarbonate) is often added to neutralize the pH created by the lactic ferments, to lessen the sour taste of the finished product. It is typically white, round, and ball- or cylinder-shaped, with a smooth, even surface. It has a dense, elastic, grainy texture and weighs between 50 and 150g.
The southern mantou is a traditional product (snack or dessert) that supplements rice, the main staple crop grown in southern China. The southern mantou often has a sweet taste, 5 to 20% sugar to the weight of flour, sometimes with a trace of salt and shortening, and is usually softer than its northern counterpart.
Mantou, in its northern and southern variations, belongs to the steamed bun family, which clearly differs from other western bread families in its production method and in the end-product itself: steaming (at high humidity and a temperature of no more than 100°C) does not allow browning or the release of associated aromas to occur, since the temperature required to generate the famous Maillard reactions and caramelization is never reached. Unlike European bread, mantou has no crust or experience a loss of weight through evaporation during baking. The resultant steamed bun is soft, smooth and white.
Appearance: must be smooth and even, white in the north, a slightly creamy color in the south, shiny, consistent (i.e. symmetrical, not wrinkled, blistered, or patchy).
Texture: should be dense in the northern mantou, slightly more aerated in the southern version. The crumb should be fine, consistent, elastic, chewy (not sticky), and more aerated in the south.
Aroma and taste: these should be natural, if not neutral (especially in the case of the northern mantou), expressing the ingredients used for the dough or the fillings; the fillings can be sweet (azuki bean, custard cream, black sesame seeds) or savory (vegetables, meat, seafood).
The basic ingredients for a mantou are flour, water, and a fermentation agent. These may be enriched with sugar, salt, and shortening for the southern mantou (nanfang mantou), and even stuffed (many types according to a secret recipe) in the case of the baotzi (包子).
The flour used is always a wheat flour with a low ash content (0.35 to 0.55%) and thereby results in a white color with no speckling. The protein level is medium to low with a consistency profile yielding an elastic dough (little or no extensibility) with high tenacity. The flour is increasingly corrected to guarantee constant regularity, despite the ever-changing grain quality, and to make it especially suited to mantou production (machinability and impact on finished product). The falling number (FN) is often over 300 and the damaged starch rate is below 8% (in excess, it can result in stickiness and speed up starch retrogradation). Moisture content is quite low at around 40 to 55%, depending on the flour (protein level, damaged starch content). The dough is therefore stiff and the lamination stage is crucial in the dough's development.
The fermentation agent can be sourdough or yeast (or indeed both, as in a yeast-based dough left to rest and ferment for a day or more). The traditional fermentation agent is laomian, which is often prepared in a liquid form based on rice or fruit; the micro- organism fermentation culture is mainly wild yeasts and lactic bacteria, hence the high acidity of the dough created during the process. In order to neutralize the low pH, baking soda or a similar alkali is commonly added in moderate doses to prevent yellowing and a strong soda flavor. Yeast tends to replace these sourdoughs for its ability to control activity and taste and make the end product more consistent. Compressed yeast or instant dry yeast can be used, with a low-sugar profile being common in the northern mantou and a high- sugar profile in the sweet mantou and baotzi.
Other ingredients include: salt for taste and shelf-life, sugar for taste and texture, shortening for taste, as well as texture and shelf-life.
Improvers/correctors can include: oxidants (generally ascorbic acid); enzymes for the consistency, machinability, gas retention and finished characteristics, such as volume and texture; emulsifiers for gas retention, texture and shelf-life; and preservatives.
There are two ways of making steamed buns: the traditional way and the direct method. The traditional method aims to develop the aroma, limit the use of yeast, improve dough working and the finished product characteristics by means of a long process (and often not easily reproducible). An initial dough is made with yeast and incorporated after a day of "free" fermentation into another dough (10 to 50%), often the main dough of the day before. Another method would be to make a starter culture, which is refreshed several times in order to increase the bacteria population, then incorporated into the main dough (this kind of sourdough is called laomian).
The direct method is based on a much shorter process (1 to 3 hours) with the use of yeast and allows better control over taste consistency and fermentation activity. It yields a better-looking and more consistent end product, but also gives a more neutral taste and a shorter shelf-life. This method is widely used in automated production, which has boomed in recent years.
The automation of production methods goes hand-in-hand with the increasing requirements governing raw materials: more specific flours (grinding process, flour blends, flour improvers), yeast with very constant performance and stability over time, and specially formulated improvers. Automation, reduced production time and the increase in hourly volume all make higher demands on raw materials in order to prevent variations on the production line at inspection points. Meanwhile, equipment has also changed enormously. It started out by reproducing human gestures, but is now more specific, offering line laminating, continuous filling, automated tray loading, etc. The concentration of production sites has also meant that products must have a longer shelf-life and to be able to travel longer distances, in order to reach catchment areas and meet distribution demands. Freezing technology and new packaging techniques (i.e. modified atmosphere) have also contributed a great deal to these developments.
Using either method, the products can then be sold directly (after steaming), kept hot and moist inside bamboo boxes with steam generated from below, and kept fresh to be subsequently reheated, or frozen (after being fully steamed).
Nutritional value: rich in slow-burning carbohydrates, contains a fair amount of proteins, low lipid content; it is also a source of some vitamins and minerals.
Presentation: adapted to the increasingly nomadic working lives of people looking for a ready-to-eat product (no equipment, no cutlery or other constraints), pre-packed in individual portions, easy to personalize (shaping and filling), easily accessible (mantou makers are popping up everywhere), very fresh.
Production method: enables the concept to be adapted to 'hot corners' thanks to centralized production: concentration of human, technical and financial resources on the same site, with easy access to transportation. The products are then extra fresh all day long, easily reheated and losses due to unsold products are limited. These spots are typically small: minimal or no storage area, no need for heavy goods vehicle access, power, and safety constraints (baking).


text:
Home Departments Construction Revolutionizing Deep Offshore Wind Turbines
A concrete floating foundation offering durability and scalability would support three generations of generators.
Andy Filak
A concrete replacement floating foundation developed for deep-water wind farms far off the coast could last up to 100 years. Designed for durability and scalability, it would be capable of supporting up to three consecutive generations of wind-turbine generators of 7 MW or higher.
The expansion of offshore wind-turbine power generation is inevitable and growing due to the ready supply of high quality wind energy, and the elimination of many of the restrictions of generation on land. To date, one of the major hurdles has been the development of reliable floating foundations with a long service life and that can be easily installed in deep water.
Current concrete technology is not robust enough for the long-term exposure experienced in an ocean wind farm, and steel technologies require complicated shoreside construction and at-sea installation procedures with multiple large crane barges. The Marine Advanced Composite Concrete (MACC™) material and newly developed assembly/erection ocean-going deck barge (OGDB) has solved both of these issues. The breakthroughs to achieve this are three-fold:
The first is changing the ordinary Portland cement (OPC) binder in the concrete. The second is replacing the coated steel rebar with a material that will achieve a non-metallic reinforcing structural frame. The third is forming, ballasting, and launching the foundation's floating spar, and then installing the wind-turbine generator (WTG), in a completely novel way. The combination of these advances will increase the longevity of the system while simultaneously reducing construction, installation, and maintenance costs.
Deep Offshore Advantages
The beauty of deep offshore wind is that it does not consume real estate or block views while using a steadier and more predictable wind. This condition allows for the use of larger turbines. A new spar buoy foundation system with its new construction and deployment processes will enable erection for a fraction of the current foundation cost for deep-water wind farms. This concept will have a lower installation cost due to the way it is produced and deployed. The floating displacement substructure and WTG topside are constructed and assembled in parallel on an OGDB while tied to the quay, which is then released and towed to the wind farm for final assembly and deployment.
The Marine Advanced Composite Concrete (MACC) and cost opinion are based on a 100-unit floating offshore wind system (FOWS). Each FOWS unit will consist of a floating substructure (spar buoy) and a large offshore WTG. The units are stationed approximately 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) apart to minimize the wind-shadow effect. Each 6 MW WTG stands 656 feet above the mean sea level. The FOWS will maintain station-keeping via six synthetic ropes tethered to three anchors on the ocean floor.
Material Improvements
The revolution in materials is the basis of this new technology. In existing marine concrete structures, the greatest threat is water, either fresh or salt. Through time, water penetrates into concrete through unseen cracks and the natural porosity and rusts the rebar skeleton. Even protected rebar has coating failures and deterioration that eventually allows the steel failure.
Seawater also directly attacks the chemistry of OPC, causing rapid failure. What causes the OPC binder to fail at sea is the high percentage of calcium compounds (approximately 70 percent) that come under attack by the sulphur compounds in seawater. This rots the concrete. The binder, in a concrete mix design, can occupy up to 20 percent of the mass of the concrete. Replacing the OPC in the concrete mix design with a geopolymer binder will foil this degradation scenario by minimizing the calcium compounds in its chemical composition.
The geopolymer cement binder is made up of four inexpensive and widely available components: type-F fly ash, fresh water, waterglass (sodium-silicate), and lye (sodium hydroxide). With the type-F low calcium fly ash, the binder can have as little as 2 percent calcium, producing a saltwater-resistant material. Geopolymer cement binders are used commercially elsewhere in the world due to their superior performance to OPC binders. In general, these cements are stronger and both fireproof and waterproof. They bond well to most materials, have minimal expansion or contraction, are formable, and are resistant to salts, acids, and alkalis. The production process for geopolymers has an approximately 80 percent smaller carbon footprint than standard OPC.
To replace the steel rebar, a nonmetallic bar made from readily available basalt is used for reinforcement. Basalt stone is found all over the Earth and is a key component enabling the hundred-year durability of the substructure. The basalt stone, when heated to a temperature of 1,800 degrees, turns to a liquid that is run through a palladium die that produces soft flexible threads.
The threads are laid in parallel and locked together with an epoxy, producing basalt rebar: a water-proof, chemical-resistant, fireproof material with a tensile strength several times stronger than steel. The geopolymer binder in the concrete binds to the basalt rebar on a chemical level in addition to the mechanical bond. The basalt bar is extremely light and also fairly flexible, lending to easy placement in the structure. Cut basalt fiber additives, much like nylon fibers, also are used in the mix design for added strength. The substructure will have a minimum of a 100-year life due to the low porosity, high-strength, and heat-cured technology found in the geopolymer binder in the concrete mix design.
Forming the Foundation Substructure
The selection of the type of floating foundation substructure was based on a survey of wind-farm developers. Their choice, to meet the rigors of offshore deep-water wind-turbine operating requirements, is the spar buoy based on more than two years of full-scale testing. The current construction and deployment of a spar buoy (approximately 400 feet long) consists of a steel fabrication plant, horizontal move out, and horizontal launch into the harbor water, tow out to 100-meter water for rotation to vertical, tow out of the ballast placement barge for fixed ballast placement, mating of the substructure to the topside structure, and final tow out to the wind-farm site. All of these operations have long open-water residence time and are significantly affected by ambient sea states.
But there is an alternative to this construction and deployment that will substantially reduce "port-to-site" cost and time. To develop a new construction method of building a concrete spar buoy, a wide variety of formwork systems used around the world were studied, including pre-cast/post-tensioned incremented structures for their simplicity. All but one were dismissed as unable to improve overall port-to-site time and cost. The only method to show significant promise in reducing timelines and cost was slip forming.
The major problem encountered was forming a large round structure with internal struts tied to a second internal round, made particularly difficult with struts in a perpendicular mode for rebar and concrete placement. Additionally, placement of the final structure in the water horizontally calls for further structural requirements built in to the design. The best production time frame, of all the formwork systems, was 41 days. Slip forming produced the most cost effective solution with a heat-cured formwork that can achieve a 2-foot-an-hour slip to complete spar formation in only seven days, at a saving of 500 crew hours.
Slipping the spar uses all of the standard methodology except for the heated formwork and the tremie trunk placement of the geopolymer concrete. (The mix design cannot be pumped due to the friction heat generation.)
The spar buoy, slip formed as a seamless concrete displacement structure, will have its steel jack rods extracted at the end of the slip, producing a concrete structure with no steel in its make-up.
Ocean-Going Deck Barge
The cost to slip on land and achieve a lay down of the structure becomes uneconomical due to the weight of the spar and the cost of the ballast placement operation at sea. Therefore, the ocean-going deck barge (OGDB) concept was developed as a solution. To simplify the overall process, the OGDB serves as a construction platform, transportation, and erection platform, all in one. With the barge moored to the quay with ready access to materials and resources, the spar is slipformed at one end while simultaneously the WTG is assembled at the other.
When substructure construction and topside assembly are complete, the barge is towed out to the wind-farm site with both components onboard. At the site, the spar is deployed into the water, water-ballasted down, and moored into location with traditional mooring methods. The barge is rotated to position the WTG over the spar, which is then de-ballasted, joined, and mechanically locked to the WTG topside.
The barge overall dimensions are 440 feet long by 148 feet beam by 27 feet deep. This, less deck well cuts fore and aft, results in 60,120 square feet of deck area. The weight of the barge per square foot, including the extra hard point structural framing, ballast system pumps, and piping is estimated at 600 lbs/ft2, for a total of 18,036 short tons. With a foot of draft displacing 1,924 short tons, the unloaded barge will have a draft of 9.4 feet. The estimated deck load (with no spar or WTG loads) adds 3,700 short tons. Prior to the spar production and WTG assembly, the ballast tanks will be filled with 12,084 short tons of water at the quay, bringing the total to 17.6 feet of draft. The total weight before production at the quay is 33,800 short tons.
During the 12-day slip and WTG assembly, the ballast management system will pump out the 12,084 short tons of ballast to maintain a steady draft and level deck surface as construction and assembly materials are loaded and positioned on the barge. At tow-out, with the spar construction and the WTG assembly complete, the OGDB draft will remain 17.6 feet, with a tow-out freeboard of 9.4 feet.
There are two towers on the OGDB. The first is for the spar buoy. This multi-functional structural tower is made up of high-strength man lift mast sections. The port side, forward leg of this tower supports a rack-and-pinion man lift. All four legs of this tower support two lift-up gripper-retention systems. These gripper rings are raised up and engaged after the slip formwork stage has passed the half and three-quarter points on the finished spar buoy. Integral with the tower is a lowering and receiving structure (LRS). The LRS frame is designed to support the end bell (constructed ashore, and shown in graphic on page 47) for the spar buoy, its weight, the spar buoy's weight, and the stone ballast. The LRS is held in the tower over the aft well of the OGDB by eight Dyneema tendons (designed for salt-water immersion). At the other end of the barge is the tower supporting the WTG as it is assembled.
On-Barge Construction
The construction is supported and executed on the OGDB at the quay. The first component (built on the land side) is the end-bell starter section. It is 40 feet in diameter by 30 feet high and is lifted down and set into the LRS well, with an indexing pin into the center of the bottom of the end bell. Fine sand is placed in order to stabilize the set between the concrete end bell and the galvanized steel LRS. The next operation is placing stone ballast in the first 20 feet for added stability.
Next, the slip formwork and formwork staging is placed in four pie-shaped quadrants onto the end-bell starter. The spar is slip-formed another 70 feet and then paused to place the remaining permanent ballast stone. The slip is then continued to the 330-feet level where the formwork is removed from the outer hull, allowing the stem framing to be released from the final stage for continued slipforming of the last 60 feet of the stem. Simultaneously with the spar slip-forming, the WTG is assembled at the other end of the barge. The WTG support structure, built around and cantilevered out over the bow well, is designed to support the transition component with its lock and release system for mating to the substructure. The WTG will be assembled atop this transition component, again with close attention to the water-ballast management.
Once the construction is completed on the barge, it is towed out of the harbor to the installation location. With the high windage of the spar buoy, WTG, and associated towers, weather will be watched carefully to ensure conditions are right for a safe transit.
Dynamic Positioning
Critical to a safe and efficient operation, the OGDB is equipped with eight thrusters controlled by a dynamic positioning system to quickly position and hold the OGDB as the components are deployed. The dynamic positioning will have active wind and current compensation, thruster selection and enabling, power management, automatic heading hold, and other pertinent sensors. All of the information sensors, data readout, video feeds, and manual and joystick controls for the entire OGDB will be housed and displayed on the control console in the third level of the superstructure.
Deploying the Spar Buoy
Upon arrival at the installation site, the spar buoy is deployed into the water. The total weight of the spar buoy, stone ballast, and LRS will require eight linear winches to lower it into the water. Each linear jack is rated at 1,405 short tons with a 2.5 minimum safety factor. All are operated simultaneously from a single computer platform.
All are attached to Dyneema tendons that have a proven long life in salt water; they in turn are attached to steel jacking strands that do not enter the water. There are 84 steel jacking strands in a bundle weighing in at 100 lbs/foot going through the jack. To keep the bundle tensioned, a synthetic rope is attached to a 25-ton counter weight and then to a lifting winch. During the spar buoy lowering operation, the water ballast management system again controls the deck leveling system, in direct reverse to the construction and assembly phase.
After a small lift to release the LRS' hold and lock system, the Dyneema tendons lower the LRS, with the spar buoy, into the water. Upon reaching a free-floating condition, and then ballasting to a designated level, the station-keeping crew will tether it to the ocean bottom anchors.
WTG Placement and Support
The OGDB dynamic positioning system is then used to position the WTG topside over the substructure for an accurate lift-up and locking of the substructure into the WTG transition assembly. The bow well, under the top support structure, is designed to receive the outer hull of the spar buoy. The substructure is then slowly de-ballasted to lift it up and insert the stem on top of the spar into the transition section. This component is equipped with a lock-and-hold system for securing the substructure to the topside.
This assembly method eliminates the need for expensive heavy marine cranes, minimizes open water residence time, and provides a means of changing out the turbine at a later date or for returning the WTG to the quay for repairs. Turbine replacement is required every 25 to 30 years, according to the University of Maine. This reuse of the foundation, up to four times minimum, becomes extremely cost effective. The reinstallation of the turbine, by design, has been made completely reversible without affecting the station keeping of the spar buoy substructure.
Construction Cost Opinion
This opinion, with accurate input, identifies the unit cost at $6.9 million per turbine spar (excluding the cost of the WTG itself) for assembly and delivery to a station-keeping crew in the 100-unit FOWS. This installation cost is a fraction of the current floating foundation cost and includes the following: MACC construction, in-harbor construction and assembly without intermediate transfer to a barge, self-deployment, and WTG assembly.
The MACC spar buoy and associated ocean-going deck barge are revolutionary approaches to greatly reduce offshore WTG capital and O&M cost. From the new material selection, which enables novel fabrication techniques in the offshore industry, to the unique barge enabling simplified transportation and WTG deployment logistics, these advances challenge the status quo in offshore wind-farm development.
Additionally, the geopolymer concrete cement binder supports aggressive global carbon reduction goals by producing 80 percent less CO2 and in a much shorter fabrication process. It is stronger and has a longer service life in saltwater, which extends the life span and reduces overall costs.
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is a principal with AMF Concepts. He can be reached at amfconcepts@gmail.com or 310-373-5004.
Conversation with Jana Adams
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November 2, 2014 Lianna Patch 0
Natural Salesman
Chris Pham's healthy body products go more than skin-deep.
Some entrepreneurs wait years for a great idea to strike. Chris Pham grew up with inspiration right under his nose — and it smelled wonderful.
Pham is the founder of Menkoi, a Baton Rouge-based hair-and-body product line made with natural ingredients. "The majority of these products, my grandma used to make," he says. "Her hair was always so silky and smooth. She passed away, and I decided to turn it into a business."
In Jan. 2013, Pham launched the Menkoi line, which now includes a cooling shampoo; leave-in conditioner; styling wax and clay products; a scented hair mist; and a creamy, almond-scented body-milk moisturizer made with argan, camelina and jojoba oils. The process of converting his grandmother's natural recipes involved some creativity. "I had to mix in a few new ingredients," he says. "She didn't use any preservatives, but my products can last two-plus years."
What's in a name? "I just came up with it," Pham says of the Menkoi moniker. "It means 'free and untrammeled,' or 'untouched.'" Menkoi products are free of chemicals, parabens and artificial coloring, underscoring Pham's commitment to his environmentally sound beauty business. The body milk in particular smells scrumptious enough to eat — but Pham doesn't advise that. "It probably doesn't taste good," he laughs.
A business degree from the University of New Orleans, and years of experience in sales and food service, prepared Pham to move into his full-time career creating and selling Menkoi products. Earlier this year, he opened Menkoi Hair Studio, a full-service hair salon based around his line. Now, he spends as much time as possible learning from his expert stylists. "I'm learning about different ingredients all the time," he says. "I want to know what the next big thing is."
Though Pham spends a lot of time at the salon, he also enjoys representing his products in person. "I don't have any sales reps yet, so I'm going out there and introducing my products to stores," he says. "It's tough, but, once you go out there and do it a couple times, it's like second nature."
Along with expanding the Menkoi brand, Pham aims to appeal to customers across cultures; he notes that his products work for all hair types. "I'm trying to make this brand a lifestyle movement," he says. "We have a lot of multicultural clients."
Menkoi Hair Studio stylists regularly create video tutorials to teach customers how to use the line — and recently, the salon kicked off its in-person events calendar. On Nov. 3, Menkoi stylists will hold an airbrush makeup class, including equipment, plenty of practice opportunities and a portfolio-building photo shoot.
Pham says that a major benefit of running his own business is getting to spend more time with his family. He moved to Baton Rouge to be closer to his fiancée, with whom he has a 1-year-old son. "I'm trying to be there as much as I can for him," he says. "When I was working full-time as a salesman, I had to be at work from 8 am to 9 pm — so whenever I came home, he was always sleeping." The young father sees himself setting an example for his son.
"Entrepreneurship is in everybody," he says. "Anyone can start a business." menkoi.me
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