You can find these boxes all over the internet. Some are very cleverly made but they are most of the time over-engineered. This version went back to the time that electronics was just wires and a few switches to get thing done.
The most useless machine in it's most simplest form.
This is my version of a Mendocino motor. As you can see the motor is running in poor light conditons too. For this build i used 2 ring magnets and 5 disk magnets. The solars cells are rated at 0.5V and 330mA. For each coil i used 17 meters of emailled copper wire which resulted in 100 windings per coil.
We wanted a nice looking side table to go with the two canadian chairs i made previously. For this i used a glass top that i saved earlier from the garbage bin. As frame i used a large bucked normaly used for mortar. I covered the outside with the same wood as i used for the seats of the chairs. Inside the bucked i placed a few hedra plants to cheer things up.
We love these type of chairs. They are very comfortable to sit in but have also a few drawbacks.
Because my wife and i are reasonable tall most chairs have a seat that is to short for us. And when the seat is long enough for our lenght then they aren't affordable anymore. 500 Euro a chair seemed to be a normal price. Another discussion point is that these chairs are huge meaning they aren't easily stored during wintertime. So here it is how i tackled these three issues.
I found a model on the internet that i liked and scaled that one to fit our needs in seat lenght. Next i adjusted the design to make the chair foldable to reduce storage space during the winter. To check if i had planned things right i first made one in pine. That chair already turned out to be a nice chair. I was nearly completly right with my design. I only had to adjust one pivot hole 3 centimeter down to make the whole chair completly foldable.
My wife too was pleased with the result and ask for a more durable version of the chair. "And, make two of them please! She said."
For the next chair i used hardwood. Overhere we use bankiri wood as affordable hardwood in the garden. It is also suitable for making these chairs. I used the first chair to make a mold on paper. That mold was used to cut the pieces for the second chair. The hardwood version is a much more solid chair then the pine version. More stable, robust and and also more heavy. As a bonus I also made a detachable footstool to go with it.
Actually this one i didn't make but my wife did. But i find the lamp so good looking that i would like to mention it here. I saw an image of this lamp somewhere on the internet and my wife adored it so much that she made one.
The base is a 5 liter plastic waterbottle covered with about 220 cut off spoons. A power saving type lamp is used to prevent heating up when lit.
I had some scrap material left over ready to throw away or.. make something usefull with it.
It took me about a year to collect all the materials and building this nice passage in the garden. It's build completely from recycled materials except for the mortar.
This passage leads into a scrubwood area in the back of my garden. The path lead you between two large trees and you will walk through a tunnel carved the branches of the trees.
The entrance is a small gate with a roof made of 240 wooden roof tiles. Into the roof i made on both sides a birdnest.
At the end of the year it's usually time for paperart. I made this nice paper automation of Santa riding his sledge through the air. Many things are moving. Santa is waving and the sledge rocks forward and backwards.
The old gramophone players always have fascinated me. I am specially very fond of their design, the big flower shaped horn and the sound they make due to this horn. For a very long time i had this idea of making one my own but with a modern twist. This twist comes in the form of a CD playing gramophone. I am fully aware that CD's becoming more and more rare and the DVD is taking over the market, that's fine.
I took an old computer CD rom drive (a 16x speed model) and took it apart. I removed all unnecessaryparts and grinded the drive as flat as possible. With grinding it flat i mean it literally. I cut of the side and remove everything with a grinder to the point that if you put the drive underneath of a piece of plywood the top of the CD is just above the top side of the plywood. Then the appropriate switches on the drive where glued in such position that the drive would spin up and start playing music as soon as power was applied to it. I also have taken care of the parking position of the laser reader head so it won't occur.
I made the top and bottom part out of plywood. For the sides i used pertinax glued together and strengthen with aluminum strips glued to the inside. I used a lot of glue in this project mostly because i didn't want to have holes in sight.
Let's talk about the horn, the most recognizable part of a gramophone. I made one from thick paper. At first i used a normal 90 grams A4 sized paper to make a template. That i used to cut out the 12 segments used for the horn. I glued every thing together in the shape i wanted. This crude shaped horn formed the base of a new template but now with the correct measurements. For the final model i used 210 grams A4 sized paper. The first horn was kept aside so i could do some testing on it with paint, lacquer and other stuff. That way i didn't ruined the horn i wanted to use.
Because i use just one horn i can only deliver mono sound. The sound is lacking severely in lower frequencies (no bass) but it sounds right. However i am using a modern CD drive capable of producing stereo sound so why not make that available too. I wired the drive up with some extra wires to an output jack on the back. Added a volume control to it and a track skip button. The whole thing is powered with an external adapter. Any adapter in the range of 15-30V will do.
I've taken safety also in consideration. The player is started by moving the arm above the CD, just like a normal record player. But if you want to remove the CD you have to move the arm out of the way and turn up a secure plate that is above the CD but more importantly also above the path the the laser moves at. While this plate is up you can't start the player with the arm because it's blocking it. If you do start the player without inserting a CD then the plate will block the path of the laser so it never can do any harm.
The shed needed a cleanup and amongst all the dust and dirt i found this tool again. It's a metal detector that i made about 10 years ago. This metal detector works around a beat frequency oscillator or BFO for short. The performance of this metal detector isn't that great but it is a functional detector. This type of detector uses two coils. Both coils are trimmed to the same freqency. One coils is fixed and is used as the detector coil, better known as the disk that is close to the ground. The other coil is adjustable so you can fine tune the two coils. The two frequencies cancel each other out so nothing is heard. When the disk is near a metal object the frequency of that coil will shift a little. If for example the two coils are tuned at 43KHz you hear nothing but because a metal object shifts the frequency of the disk to 42Khz then you got a signal at 43 - 42 = 1Khz which can be heard clearly by the human ear.
I am a big fan of Zelda, a game figure from Nintendo. I have all the game cartridges, CDi's and CD roms however the boardgame was still missing till i found a few pictures of the game. With these pictures and additional information from the internet i re-created the Zelda boardgame.
Doing the laundry is a recurring event. The washing machine and dryer are located on the first floor while our livingroom is at ground level. This means that my wife have to go upstairs from time to time to check of either one is finished yet. Walking those stairs up and down for nothing isn't doing her bad knees good so this would be a great project to automate. I first made two detectors, one for the washing machine and one for the dryer to detect if they are on and to see if they have finished their program. I keep an eye on their status light indicators with an LDR connected to a circuit that will trigger a DS10 door sensor. This DS10 then signals the status to my domotica system. Although this was working i wasn't pleased with this setup. To many components, to many batteries. I removed the two DS10's and i took one MS13 motion sensor. This sensor can detect motion but has also day/night detection build in. I already had changed the transmitter of this sensor to 433MHz (Europe) from it's original 310MHz used in the US. I removed the PIR sensor and the day/night sensor. Instead if those i connected the two circuits with the LDR's, reduced the batterij count to just one (later i just connected a power adapter) and let my domotica system sorted out which signal was in use for what. This is what my domotica system can do with this setup. - It will give me an announcement by speech throughout the whole house when the washing machine is finished. - It will do the same for the dryer. But by including some settings, a clever script and an additional virtual device to track status i can do even more. - When the washing machine is finished then normally the laundry goes into the dryer but if the dryer isn't turned on within 40 minutes then usually it is the case that the laundry is hanging outside to dry. (based on behavior) If that happens then i start to gather extra local area weather data. If this data tells me that there will be rain within 15 minutes then an announcement is made again by speaker. This gives us 15 minutes time to get the laundry inside before the rain comes. But what about the laundry that is hanging to dry? Well i made a new sensor for it based on a comparator chip and (again) a DS10. This sensor is clipped to the wet laundry and a signal is send to my domotica system notifying that the laundry isn't in the dryer and still wet. When the moisture level has reached the preset level then another trigger goes off iand is send to my domotica system and again an announcement by speaker is made. This last step rounds up the whole 'doing the laundry' process and adds me 20 point on the WAF scale.
As i am doing every year i make one special Chrismas card just for my wife. For last year i made this nice card.


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Q: Invalid redeclaration of 'rollButtonPressed' I have this error that keeps popping up. I tried cleaning the build folder and it didn't solve this problem. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? Here's my code.Image of my code

A: I'm not sure why you want two same IBActions, but from the image, I can see there are two same IBAction functions, so remove one or rename one of them.

A: I have checked your code and you have created two IBActions , which are of same names. Delete one of them or try renaming one of them.

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The Next 7 Steps in Convergence of Technology, Business—and Humanity
By: Dennis McCafferty | February 04, 2019
eWEEK DATA POINTS: In its "IT Industry Outlook 2019" report, CompTIA identifies the key developments to impact organizations as we continue to explore what's possible in the "Fourth Industrial Revolution."
Things are looking good for tech workers: The global IT industry will grow in value by at least 4 percent to $5 trillion—with an upside of 6.4 percent—over the next year. Emerging tech alone is expected to more than double over the next several years, accounting for a $1.4 trillion market by 2022. In 2018, there were 250,000 IT job openings posted every month, and we should only expect this to increase in 2019.
To take a closer look at what will drive this seemingly relentless wave of innovation and optimism for the year ahead, CompTIA has published its "IT Industry Outlook 2019" report, examining trends and shifts that will significantly impact enterprises and the tech teams that support them. The trends lend insights about the latest developments in the cloud, edge computing, the internet of things (IoT), automation and robotics. In addition, they offer viable solutions to ongoing issues such as the talent shortage. They even ponder how IT can change our world—for better and worse.
In this eWEEK Data Points, we highlight the following seven trends for 2019 from the report.
Case Study: Upgrading Tech on a Working Farm
Top Five Reasons Tech Pros Should Earn Professional...
Data Point No. 1: Cloud, edge and 5G form the modern economic infrastructure.
To make a successful transition in the "Fourth Industrial Revolution" (with the current digital revolution following the uses of water and steam power for mechanical production and our railroads; the generation of electrical power to support mass, factory production; and the early tech developments that brought us the personal computer and internet), organizations are building upon three pillars: cloud computing for greater flexibility and control over IT activities; edge computing to extend cloud principles from a central location to places where data is captured, such as devices; and 5G networks to establish fast, dynamic connections between nodes.
Data Point No. 2: IoT and AI open new possibilities in ambient computing.
Thanks to the internet of things (IoT), every single object on Earth has the potential to be a computer. With artificial intelligence (AI), we automate tasks to reduce complexities and understand context. Combine the both, and we arrive at ambient computing, in which an endless array of processes "start themselves" and otherwise operate on their own—like smart lighting—to minimize user interaction.
Data Point No. 3: Stackable technologies supercharge digitization efforts.
"Stackable technology" is a relatively simple concept, really, referring to the ability to piece together (or stack) technology components to reach an end goal. Sales and marketing departments do this, for example, when they combine mobile pay, augmented reality (AR) and virtual agents to create an engaging, seamless customer experience (CX). CIOs and their teams, however, could find that all of this may get somewhat complicated, as they attempt to connect all of the stacking dots across a vast range of existing and emerging tech.
Data Point No. 4: Partnerships bridge gaps in the new tech ecosystem.
Older infrastructure companies are struggling with skills gaps for software needs, while newer software-as-a-service (SaaS) businesses frequently lack hardware, networking and security know-how. Partnerships enable these players to address the shortcomings without hiring new staffs or learning new disciplines. In fact, nearly two-thirds of infrastructure firms reported partnering within the last year with a SaaS company, independent software vendor or vertical industry app specialist. In the process, they're benefiting from expanded business opportunities while shrinking the talent gap.
Data Point No. 5: Persistent tech worker shortages fuel new, creative solutions.
The U.S. unemployment rate for IT occupations now amounts to less than one-half of the overall national unemployment rate. Frankly, it's gotten brutal to find qualified talent, especially in emerging fields related to data analytics, app development, etc. That's why industry leaders like Apple, Google and IBM are no longer requiring four-year college degrees for certain open positions, investing in self-learning, community college courses, IT certifications, knowledge-sharing and on-the-job training to bring promising recruits up-to-speed.
Data Point No. 6: Digital-human models begin to shape the workplace of tomorrow.
This is a more businesslike way of saying, "Robots are taking over the universe!" But there's no need to panic, actually. True, automation and robotics will displace a certain kind of worker. But, in a broader sense, we can expect humans and machines to work collaboratively as teams, in both deploying intelligent tech to take over mundane tasks while expanding the possibilities of high-level functions such as predictive modeling.
Data Point No. 7: Technology professionals take the lead in anticipating, well, bad things happening.
More than ever, we are confronted with the potential societal—and even ethical—outcomes of technology. Hardware choices, after all, aren't just about productivity and cost—they're about environmental impact. Data management extends beyond simply analytics to pose complex questions about privacy and transparency. Traditionally, CIOs have pondered these issues. But expect everyday IT pros to also increasingly contribute to discussions about unintended consequences and how to address them.
Previous Why U.S. Firms Are Less Cyber-Secure Than They Think
Next eWEEK's Top Vendors: Web and Mobile Analytics Providers
IMPRES Receives $19M Award to Provide Dell Laptops...
DAILY VIDEO: IMPRES will provide Dell rugged laptops to federal agencies, and Azure cloud customers...
StackPath Rolls Out Secure Edge Platform for Containers,...
DAILY VIDEO: Edge computing pioneer StackPath launches a platform for containers and VMs, and...

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PeterKuntz.com
A Website for The Kuntz Family � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � Updated 1/19/2019
Leaves from the Tree
The Kuntz Foundation
Matching Gift Form
Charitable Legacy Spanning Three Centuries
Peter Kuntz Illustrated Story
The Kuntz Mausoleum
Mausoleum Prints
Chapel Cars
Family Photos 2nd Generation
Sundays with Wonie
Photos From An Illustreated
Peter Kuntz Associates & Lumber Yards
Isabel Kuntz Schaeffer
SCHAEFFER, Isabel K. age 94 passed away Friday August 22, 2014 at Walnut Creek Nursing Home. She was born January 23, 1920 in Dayton, Ohio to the late Martin and Isabel Kuntz. She was preceded in death by her husband Robert Schaeffer, her sister Marianna Brown and brother Martin Kuntz. She is survived by her brother Peter H. Kuntz (Marge), her daughters Lucia Kunst (Jeff) of Dayton, Diane Fisher (Hart) of Bradenton, Florida, and sons, Matt Schaeffer of Clearwater, Florida, Mark Schaeffer (Karen) of Lebanon, 10 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren; two sisters-in-law; Paula Schaeffer and Patty Kuntz; and many nieces and nephews. "Izzy" graduated from Oakwood High School and Georgian Court University, New Jersey. She was a member of Holy Angels Church, Oakwood Register, Junior League of Dayton and Sugar Valley Country Club. She was an avid sportswoman and private pilot in the early sixty's. She loved golf, bridge, mahjong and her book club. Izzy worked many years as a volunteer at Maria Joseph Nursing Home. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to St. Vincent DePaul . Mass of Christian Burial 10:30 am Friday September 5, 2014 at Holy Angels Catholic Church 218 K Street Dayton, Ohio 45409. Interment in Calvary Cemetery.
Rosemary (Kuntz) Huston
HUSTON Rosemary K. passed away June 29, 2014. She was born in Dayton, Ohio, on January 25, 1908. The daughter of John J. Kuntz and Rose Barlow, she was raised in San Antonio, Texas, made her debut there, and was Queen of the Order of the Alamo in 1930. She was a Kappa Kappa Gamma at the University of Texas and a 50 year member of the Moraine CC in Dayton, Ohio. Although Dayton was always home, she and her husband also lived in Bronxville, NY, Wynnewood, PA, and Kansas City, MO. Until her death, she was the oldest living alumna of the University of Texas at Austin, and one of the few women in the class of 1928. A life-long volunteer with the Junior League, she served on the Board of Education in Yonkers, N.Y., and worked with inmates at Sing-Sing Prison also during her New York years. Rosemary was preceded in death by her husband, Robert Huston, who died in 1972, and her son Robert, Jr. who died in infancy, along with most of her bridge groups. She was the oldest living member of the Peter Kuntz, Sr. family and is survived by sons Ed (Jane) and John (Kathy); grandchildren Brian (Chrissy), Brady (Becky), and Sara (Michael Herford); 9 great Grandchildren; and hundreds of nieces, nephews, and cousins – after all, she was a Kuntz. The family will receive friends at St. Albert the Great Catholic Church, 3033 Far Hills Ave. Kettering, Ohio from 10 am until Mass of Christian Burial at 12 noon on Monday, July 7, 2014. Interment will be in Calvary Cemetery.
Martin Charles Kuntz Jr.
KUNTZ, Martin C. age 91, of Dayton, passed away Wednesday, January 23, 2013 at Miami Valley Hospital with his loving family by his side. Martin was born in Dayton on October 14, 1921 to parents Isabel and Martin Kuntz, grew up at 111 W. Thruston, and was a member of Holy Angels Parish. He attended Oakwood High School, Georgetown Prep, Notre Dame, and ended his studies at University of Dayton, prior to joining the Army Air Corps. He was a B-24 pilot with the 10th Air Force in the China, Burma, India Theater. Upon his return, he went to work for his family's business which was the Peter Kuntz Co. He ended his career as president upon the sale of the company in 1986. Martin was an avid skier, tennis player and nationally ranked in squash, because of these pursuits, he earned the name of "Sport" by his grandchildren. He leaves to cherish his memory his beautiful bride of 69 yrs., Patricia (Ewing); his sons, Mick Kuntz (Rose) and George Kuntz (Carol); his daughters, Mary Pat Marques (John) and Dottie Sullivan (Chick). He also leaves 10 precious grandchildren; 5 great-grandchildren; a brother, Peter and a sister, Izzy Schaeffer. Private interment Family Mausoleum at Calvary Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the The Kuntz Foundation. 500 Kettering Tower, Dayton, OH 45423�� �
Edward J. Kuntz Jr.
KUNTZ Jr., Edward J. (Eddie) 83, of Powell, OH, formerly of Dayton, died on Tuesday, April 2, 2013, at Zusman Hospice at Wexner Heritage Village. Eddie was born December 16, 1929; he was the son of Edward J. Kuntz ans Leona (Kling) Kuntz of Dayton. Eddie attended Holy Angels School, The Canterbury School, New Milford, Ct and graduated from St. Francis Preparatory School, Spring Grove, Pa. He was an alumnus of the University of Dayton and served in the United States Army as a military policeman in Korea. He is survived by his wife of 53 years Jane (Shipman) Kuntz, twin daughters Lee K. Caira (Steve) of Clarksville, TN and Martha K. Schenck (Don) of Ashburn, Va, and younger daughter Anne S. Kuntz (Richard J. Farley) of Powell, brother David Kuntz (Marianna) of St. Simons, GA, as well as grandchildren Katherine, Lauren and Cole Schenck and Scott Eckerman. Eddie was a devoted father and grandfather and loved spending time with his family. He was an avid outdoorsman, enjoyed his Labrador retrievers and was an exellent shot at skeet. He became a realtor in 1960 and sold both residential and commercial properties until his retirement in 2002. He was a longtime member of Holy Angels Catholic Church, Dayton. Eddie sat on the board of the Kuntz Foundation, was a former member of the Miami Valley Hunt and Polo Club and the Moraine Country Club of Dayton and Columbus Beach Club, Indian River, MI. A memorial service will be held Saturday, April 20, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Henry's Chapel, Calvary Cemetery, 1625 Calvary Drive, off south Kettering Blvd. in Dayton. The family will greet friends prior to the service at 10:00 a.m. in the Chapel. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to two charities close to Eddie's heart: Zusman hospice at Wexner Heritage Village, 115 College Ave., Columbus, OH 43209 or the Powell Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) P.O. Box 211, Powell, OH 43065.
Marianna Kuntz �Brown
BROWN, Marianna Kuntz Age 91, died Monday, May 5, 2008 at Sunrise of Oakwood in Dayton, Ohio. Born on September 20, 1916, she was the daughter of Martin and Isabel Kuntz. Marianna grew up in Dayton, where she was a member of Holy Angels Catholic Church. She was past president of the Christ Child Society and a member of the Dayton Junior League and Moraine Country Club. Marianna attended Georgian Court College, Lakewood, NJ, and the University of Dayton. Marianna loved sports, especially golf, which she played her whole life both in Dayton and Sanibel Island, Florida, her home of many years. She was always proud of her holes-in-one at Moraine Country Club where she had many golfing friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, Steffen S. Brown. She is survived by her loving family, a sister, Isabel Schaeffer and two brothers, Martin C. Kuntz, Jr. and Peter H. Kuntz, all of whom live in Dayton; four children, Carolyn Griffith of Denver, CO, Marianna Young of Gainesville, FL, Steffen A. Brown of Denver, CO, and Martin K. "Bo" Brown of Dayton; ten grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Mariannas spirited and warm personality allowed her to make many friends. She enjoyed life to the fullest and loved traveling and gardening. She will be truly missed by all who knew her. Mass of Christian Burial will be held 10:00 a.m. Thursday, May 8, 2008 at Holy Angels Catholic Church. Private burial will be at Woodland Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The Steffen Brown Scholarship Fund, University of Dayton, 300 College Park Dr., Dayton, OH 45469 or the Christ Child Society of Dayton, Inc., 301 E. Sixth St., Dayton, OH 45402. Arrangements in care of the Meyer-Boehmer & Reis Funeral Home, Dayton, OH.�
Citadel72@aol.com �� George Kuntz 2018


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Americans for Tax Reform Applauds the House for Passing H.R. 699, the Email Privacy Act
Posted on Wednesday, April 27th, 2016, 4:14 PM PERMALINK
Washington, DC- After a long battle, the House voted to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 through passing H.R. 699, the Email Privacy Act.
The following can be attributed to Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform:
"American privacy was the big winner when the House passed the Email Privacy Act! They send the bill to the Senate after a 419 -0 vote. If the Senate concurs the government will need a warrant to read your e-mails—just as they have always needed a warrant to read your snail mail.
This should pass the Senate easily where there are over 25 co-sponsors including both Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders."
Katie McAuliffe, ATR's Federal Affairs Manager and Executive Director of Digital Liberty said,
"Passage of the Email Privacy Act was a large bipartisan effort and a major victory in securing American's digital privacy. Updating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act is absolutely necessary in order to secure the privacy of emails and other items stored in the Cloud."


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eleMMent – Futuristic Truck By Marchi Mobile
Marchi Mobile is showing an exclusive limited a lot of world class recreational vehicle sequence called eleMMent, featuring a distinctive combination of yachting, aviation and motor sports aspects. The futuristic and also extraordinary design of the particular RV has been reached through contemporary elements uniting in a beneficial way. The cutting edge design along with fantastic combination of exterior coloration has given the automobiles a notable streamlined appearance. Besides, the windshield as well as the driver's pickup's cab is something you have never even imagined. The interior provides you with baroque stylistic elements of Austrian-Italian interior buildings that gives the riders a unique experience of luxurious, comfort and elegance. Operated by a 510hp, automatic tranny engine, the Twelve meter long car can produce sensible speed for long distance transportation.
Citroen Tubik
The design lines involving Citroen Tubik are a nod on the Citroen TUB (from the France acronym for lower front-wheel drive commercial car or truck) and its ingenious up grade, the Citroen Type L, whose versatility and style made it a best-seller of their times (half a million units in 34 many years on the market). Sporting an identical body shape to it's illustrious predecessor, Tubik is big enough (2.08m wide, 2.05m tall, 4.80m lengthy) to carry up to 9 passengers. Citroen design teams gave Tubik distinctive, offbeat style, with colors and materials in which aim to meet the greatest standards in class and comfort. To make travel enjoyable again, Citroen Tubik produces a lounge-style cocoon dedicated to comfort and also relaxation. The lift-up seats have been designed in away to enable them to always be arranged in many different techniques (semi-reclined, face-to-face, etc.), and the on the machine technology (including a giant, semi-circular screen, and high-definition spatialized audio) turns the vacation cabin into an area with regard to living and expressing. The journey becomes as critical as the destination.
Volvo Ants By Alex Marzo
Alex Marzo has envisioned our future long-haul transportation with Volvo Ants, an aero neumatic transport systems. Through extensive research in biomimicry, this industrial designer has come up with transportation system inspired by ants. It implements ants behavior as a cohesive system as you know their ability to communicate with each other, distribute food, and all responsibilities in their community is intriguing. The overall concept starting from its models, systems, processes and elements take inspiration from ants in order to solve our problems.
Chrysler TR Ram Truck
In order to strengthen its league of powerful and niche cars, Chrysler, the renowned automobile manufacturer, will soon launch TR Ram Life Style Truck. The production of this power truck is rumored to start in Chrysler assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario by 2013. Chrysler is keen to set these vehicles rolling in the market as soon as possible, thus, will run the production process at its maximum in three shifts. Termed as spiritual successor to Dodge Dakota, this truck will give a tough time ahead to Honda's Ridgelines.
ARCadia V2 By Vil Tsimenzin
We have discussed numerous times about the high intensity of carbon emitted by cars, but what about the significant amount of polluting emission caused by their bigger and heavier counterparts? Yes, we are talking about the trucks and their gas guzzling cousins like the haulers and tractors. According to an alarming figure, carbon dioxide emissions from transportation sources increased by 20 percent from 1990 to 2003, despite improvements in vehicle fuel efficiency. Now logically some of this can be attributed to the trucking section (especially if we consider the paradigm shift towards sustainability in the automobile section). And this is where the ARCadia V2 concept comes into the lackluster picture, in a righteous endeavor to counter the severe progression of rampant yet inefficient fossil fuel driven mechanisms.


Ukulele Underground Forums > Ukulele Boards > Ukulele Building / Luthier's Lounge > Bridge width?
View Full Version : Bridge width?
The saddle length doesn't get that much bigger but the wings seam to increase from Soprano to Concert to Tenor (big jump) Baritone and I'm not familiar enough with Bass as it is a new comer.
Tried a search but had too much to wade through.
One will be for the look. Small bridge on a larger lower bout looks a bit odd.
As you increase the string length, you increase tension, so a larger gluing footprint helps out here.
The bridge is probably the most important brace on a soundboard. Careful thought into what you are doing with it as per your other bracing underside of the soundboard, and how you want the assembly as a whole to react should also play a part in how you approach it's size.
This issue of bridge size on an ukulele I think is another design black box. From what I can tell, the ratio of lower bout size to bridge footprint has been copied directly from classical guitar sizes and has been imported and downsized to the smaller ukulele. Does it work? Hell yes it works pretty darn good good. But is it the final solution? Maybe not. I'm feeling the bridge is too small proportionally to the top, but I'm not an acoustical instrument designer. I've always missed a real designer on this forum who could show with mathematics what the best area to footprint the bridge should occupy. It should be a simple X is to Y solution ratio.
As Allen mentions, we have to consider the bridge as a brace, but its really just an unyielding lump that I'd like to get rid of. Jay Hargreaves has made some beautiful sculpted bridges for his acoustic bass guitars, but cleaning the finish off of the bridge foot print must be a nightmare. I've thought of slotting the bottom of the bridge front to back between the strings and out onto the wings to let the bridge flex with the top. This would maintain a foot print that is easy to clean the finish off of, as well as something of a conventional look. My tenor for the 2x4 project utilizes a bridge/tail piece concept that eliminates at least half of the bulk of a conventional bridge since the tail piece is very low, and this instrument has a wonderful voice. The uke bridge has always been stuck with a classical guitar-type bridge, yet as has been oft repeated on the forum, the uke is not a guitar.
I like the different approaches presented here. I'm designing a bridge to accommodate D-Walker Acoustic Bass Strings (short Scale) on a Baritone sized Body. Bridge pin or through the body won't work as there is those steel bushings. A tail piece and floating bridge present problems with the overall length to the tuner. I seems I must have a fairly large bridge something like what is used on the Box Bass pictured in that post, when my sensibilities would prefer Mainger's offering.
Has any seen larger bridge pins used? Underneath is a bridge plate and Kasha style bracing.
when my sensibilities would prefer Mainger's offering.
Checked out the Antica Ukuleleria site. Hey the side port on the lower bout will allow me to use a through the body bridge system.
Thank you so much. The build will progress along conventional lines now.
The ukulele on the Antica Ukuleleria link certainly pushes design in directions I wasn't considering. Food for thought (Dreams to).


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HomeIndia News
Complete Shut Down In Puducherry
Gokul Saravanan (Author) Published Date : Feb 20, 2018 12:48 IST
Puducherry bundh against tax hike
Puducherry traders have taken up one day complete shutdown of their shops against the tax hike.
Puducherry Municipality had recently hiked the tax rates for some sectors like Industrial Seigniorage, Income Tax, Commercial Corridor Line, and Garbage Tax. Traders and shop keepers of Puducherry Municipality and Karaikal district had declared one day complete shutdown to marking their opposition against the tax hike on Tuesday February 20, 2018.
Most of the Shops were closed down and fishermen of Karaikal district had refused to sail in today to mark their support for traders shut down. Only the government transport unions are in active state, most of the private transport unions stayed off the road to show their support to the shut down. Most of the schools and colleges of private sector had declared holiday regarding to the shut down.
Puducherry government will face a strong revenue lose today, regarding to the shut down. Most of the shopping complexes, malls and small stores are closed. Normal lives of the people of the Union State seem affected severely and the government had lost its one day's revenue Rs. 7 crores due to the complete shut down. The union territory had leaped in to a severe lose by its own by hiking the Tax.
Tags : Puducherry Bandh, Puducherry complete shut down, Puducherry shops closed, February 20 Puducherry, Puducherry Tax Hike, Puducherry Tax Hike bandh, Karaikal Bandh, Puducherry News
Warning! Tamil Nadu And Puducherry Fishermen Advised To Avoid Entering Arabian Sea
Dec 03, 2017 12:47 IST


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Ivy VIP Asset Strategy
Market Sector Update
The quarter was defined by a marked turn in central bank policy. Global central banks abruptly turned dovish, with the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) expressly foretelling additional easing during a policy speech in mid- June. This was followed by dovish rhetoric from the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) and several emerging market central banks cut interest rates.
The changes caused interest rates globally to drop – in some cases to record low levels. The 10-year U.S. Treasury fell toward 2% and yields in Europe fell precipitously, with 10-year points on multiple euro-denominated curves falling into negative territory. The Bank of Japan indicated that its yield curve control, which had been targeting 10-year yields around 0%, no longer had a lower boundary. Roughly $13 trillion of debt globally had negative yields at quarter-end.
The market started fully pricing-in rate cuts by the Fed and ECB before the end of the summer, with additional rate cuts from the Fed by year end. Credit spreads rallied as the market started to expect that quantitative-easing programs could be restarted and central bank balance sheets expanded.
Equities generally welcomed the dovish tilt by central banks and added to first-quarter performance, despite softening economic data. Softer data from the Institute for Supply Management and on capital goods as well as uneven employment data added to concerns about the global economy. Chinese equities were a notable underperformer, even as the G20 Summit meeting in late June prompted a temporary truce in ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and China.
Gold was a big beneficiary during the quarter of the tilt in central bank policy and rose to its highest level since mid- 2013. Other commodities such as oil, gas and copper did not perform well, as weakening economic data hurt prices. The one exception was iron ore, which benefited from several mine closures which constrained supply.
Through all of this, the U.S. dollar remained fairly stable as expectations of lower U.S. rates were offset by dovishness of other central banks and weakening economic data.
The Portfolio had a strong positive return during the quarter and outperformed its all-equity benchmark. Gold was the best-performing asset class. The equity portfolio outpaced the benchmark, while the fixed income portfolio slightly lagged the benchmark.
Within the equity portfolio, performance was driven largely by stock selection, especially in the technology, industrials, consumer staples and health care sectors. Qualcomm was one of the Portfolio's strongest performers, driven by its settlement with Apple, Inc. We felt the likelihood of that result was underappreciated by the market. We trimmed that position after the event. Microsoft Corp., which we also trimmed, continued to contribute as well.
Within industrials, the Portfolio's tilt toward aerospace and defense continued to provide a tailwind given renewed rumblings in the Middle East as well as further Chinese activity in the South China Sea. In addition, Schneider Electric SE (France) and Larsen & Toubro (India) added to the sector's performance.
On the negative side, Philip Morris International suffered along with its industry after standout first-quarter performance, and Glencore International plc continued to underperform mining peers because of low iron ore exposure and nagging regulatory issues. While the performance of Asia-Pacific holdings exceeded the benchmark, the Portfolio's position in China Unicom Ltd., a mobile and fixed-line operator, detracted amid concerns about higher capital expenditures, which we think are overblown.
The fixed income portfolio lagged the benchmark but still provided positive returns for the quarter. Global interest rates rallied, which helped holdings in longer-duration Treasuries and investment-grade fixed income positions. The investment-grade credit positions were helped by the rally in spreads, which also benefited high yield and emerging market fixed income exposure in the Portfolio. The one detractor was in the bank loan holdings, which generally underperformed as the market shifted towards pricing-in Fed rate cuts.
Gold rose more than 9% and again reinforced the large position in the Portfolio as a risk diversifier against global macro risks and central bank policy that is intended to combat them. We tend not to place too much emphasis on technical factors, but it is noteworthy that gold has broken through persistent resistance to rise above $1,400 per ounce.
While we were expecting further support from global central banks, the timing and magnitude of the dovish tilt was not expected. We thought the shift would be more gradual, especially given the fact that the Fed was hiking interest rates as recently as December and the ECB just started trying to normalize policy.
Uncertainty remains elsewhere in the global backdrop with tariffs and trade wars representing a wildcard with an unpredictable outcome, despite the apparent truce that was agreed to during the G20 meeting.
As a result we have been operating near the bottom end of our risk budget of 70-90% of the expected risk of the benchmark and expect to remain there for the foreseeable future. We are exploring how to adjust the nature of some of our risk-diversifying assets. Given very low interest rates, we are increasingly uncomfortable holding a number of assets that we have traditionally held to diversify risk, mainly long-duration Treasuries. We are exploring replacements mainly in the mortgage market, which could provide similar diversification without exposing the Portfolio to as much interest-rate risk.
Our outlook on the global economy remains subdued and we are skeptical about a recovery in the second half of the year, as many had predicted. As a result, risk in the equity portfolio has been reduced and we have slightly taken down credit risk in the fixed income portfolio.
The opinions expressed are those of the Portfolio's managers and are not meant as investment advice or to predict or project the future performance of any investment product. The opinions are current through June 30, 2019, are subject to change at any time based on market and other current conditions, and no forecasts can be guaranteed. This commentary is being provided as a general source of information and is not intended as a recommendation to purchase, sell, or hold any specific security or to engage in any investment strategy. Investment decisions should always be made based on an investor's specific objectives, financial needs, risk tolerance and time horizon. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
Top 10 equity holdings as a percent of net assets as of 06/30/2019: Microsoft Corp., 3.13%; Airbus SE, 2.22%; Nestle S.A., Registered Shares, 1.90%; Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 1.83%; Fiserv, Inc., 1.83%; AIA Group Ltd.,&br;1.58%; Adobe, Inc., 1.56%; Visa, Inc., Class A, 1.51%; Pfizer, Inc., 1.36%; Sampo plc, A Shares, 1.33%.
Risk factors: The value of the Portfolio's shares will change, and you could lose money on your investment. An investment in the Portfolio is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The Portfolio may allocate its assets among different asset classes of varying correlation around the globe. The Portfolio's Equity Sleeve typically holds a limited number of stocks (generally 50 to 70). As a result, the appreciation or depreciation of any one security held by the Fund may have a greater impact on the Portfolio's NAV than it would if it invested in a larger number of securities. International investing involves additional risks, including currency fluctuations, political or economic conditions affecting the foreign country, and differences in accounting standards and foreign regulations. These risks are magnified in emerging markets. The Portfolio's Diversifying Sleeve includes fixed-income securities, that are subject to interest-rate risk and, as such, the net asset value of the Portfolio may fall as interest rates rise. Investing in high-income securities may carry a greater risk of nonpayment of interest or principal than higher-rated bonds. Loans (including loan assignments, loan participations and other loan instruments) carry other risks, including the risk of insolvency of the lending bank or other intermediary. Loans may be unsecured or not fully collateralized may be subject to restrictions on resale and sometimes trade infrequently on the secondary market. The Portfolio may seek to hedge market risk via the use of derivative instruments. Such investments involve additional risks. Investing in commodities is generally considered speculative because of the significant potential for investment loss due to cyclical economic conditions, sudden political events, and adverse international monetary policies. Markets for commodities are likely to be volatile and the Portfolio may pay more to store and accurately value its commodity holdings than it does with the Portfolio's other holdings. These and other risks are more fully described in the prospectus.
Fund Prospectus
Quarterly Fund Commentary PDF
Chace Brundige, CFAPortfolio Manager
W. Jeffery Surles, CFAPortfolio Manager
Related Funds


WHERE CAN I FIND AN ATM MACHINE/ CURRENCY EXCHANGE?
DO YOU PROVIDE BEACH/POOL TOWELS?
Beach Towels are provided by the hotel free of charge and can be changed every two days.
A local bus service operates on a daily basis. There is a bus stop just outside the hotel. A taxi pick-up can be arranged at the Front Desk.
Check-out time is at 12:00 hrs (noon). Late check-out is possible upon availability and on request; please contact the Front Desk should you require late check-out.
There is a dress code at dinner time at "Dionysos" Main Restaurant and at the "Venus" Pool Restaurant. It is smart casual for both ladies and gentlemen. Smart jeans or nice shorts with fully covered shoes are allowed, but please refrain from wearing sportswear, tracksuits, and swimwear or ripped clothing. Ladies are kindly asked to dress modestly.
In case you depart before breakfast, we can arrange early breakfast for you. Please contact the Front Desk two days in advance.
WiFi internet access is available in all areas and is free of charge.
There is a fast internet option available with extra charge.
An Internet corner is available with extra charge.
For restaurant reservations please contact our reception desk. Kindly note that for your convenience, a reservation is required 1 day in advance.
Car rentals may be arranged at the car rental desk, situated at the lobby of the hotel. The hotel has its own parking lot.
In the unfortunate even of not feeling well, there is a doctor on call, 24/7 (extra charge). Also, there is a pharmacy near the hotel.


November 22, 2012, 12:27 pm -- /EPR NETWORK/ -- It is fascinating how the increases and changes in technology can turn a system that seemed to have passed its heyday into a completely different and thriving system. The Elnur storage heaters systems are one of the most surprising elements in the distribution of energy used in the heating of household residences. Central Heating became just that, with a central boiler feeding a number of satellite radiators to supply heat throughout the house. Gas boilers became particularly cost effective due to the low price of gas compared to oil and electricity and bottled or tankered gases and the gas boilers have become very energy efficient units. Electrical Counter remembers when the storage radiator started as a pile of refractory bricks in a box which were heated by electrical heaters overnight and slowly released their heat as the cooled down. The system was effective to a certain level but temperature control and cost efficiency were limited.
The systems that Electrical Counter supply today have completely changed all this and the latest systems can be all singing and all dancing with a great temperature control and heat on demand. The heat input into the Elnur units which Electrical Counter supply is still carried out overnight to take care of using power in the low cost period that runs from about midnight until the early hours. The latest Elnur Heaters are excellently insulated with modern materials and heat losses from wastage are minimal. The control of heat release has now changed out of all proportion and the units are often fitted with the latest fan systems which control heat release but also allow a quick heat release. The days when a person comes home to a cold house and had to wait for hours to get warm have long since gone. The usage of a dynamic storage heater has now allowed the systems to be fitted to digital programmers so that the whole house can be warmed according to the demands of the users. This is a far cry from the system where the heaters were heated at night and slowly released the heat during the full day at a steady slow rate. The Electrical Counter systems encompass the whole house and the programming entails a full central heating system which can match the best gas heated systems without any of the waste gas products and flue problems associated with such units.
The cost of power being very low assists the viability of the system and if the reduced cost of the installation is taken into account the Electrical Counter supplied Elnur system becomes quite attractive. In many cases people use the dynamic heater systems in the sitting room and the kitchen but may well use a static system in the bedrooms. Whatever the mixture of heaters the options are very much more attractive than they were and the introduction of solar panel systems have brought another even more attractive option into play where cheap power can be obtained during the day. A look at the Electrical Counter website or a telephone call to the office will answer all the questions and give a full range of the available units for Elnur heaters, Hyco Heaters, underfloor heating, towel rails and many more products.


Wonderful review!! This was one of the best books I have read this year!
Thanks for reading my review! It was such an original concept and Emika was a GREAT character. Loved learning about her world through her eyes.


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Q: Reordering input fields during localization I have inherited a product coded using AngularJS and I have a question regarding localization.
There's an HTML section that specifies two input fields of type input-number, one for a number of days and another for a number of months. As part of localizing the product we need to change the order in which the input fields appear, but only for certain languages.
Something like:

*

*English -> Number of days [#Days], number of months [#Months]

*Japanese -> Number of months [#Months], number of days [#Days]

What would be a good way of doing this? This is rather straightforward if you want to rearrange text but I haven't been able to find how to rearrange fields. We could have two different HTML sections, one for each of the orderings, but I'm hoping there's a better way to do it.

A: Answering my own question:
Ended up defining the different fields as separate ng-template items. Then loaded the right input field using ng-include, after parsing the localized string and identifying the input field order.


With the onslaught of paparazzi, fans, and anyone trying to get their piece of celebrity action – celebrities have a lot of things to worry about. International Armoring Corporation in Utah has created several armoring solutions for celebrities to make their famous luxury cars stronger and safer. Using the original vehicle as the frame, International Armoring adds anywhere from 300+ lbs. (for B4 handgun protection) to 1400+ pounds (for B7 presidential package) of armor protection to their custom built and specialized armoring protection packages. With a variety of specialty options as well that celebrities love from electric door handles to smoke screen clouds at the flip of a switch it's easy to see why these vehicles are becoming more and more popular around the world.
The interiors of these vehicles can be upgraded with conversion and plush options such as movable televisions, gold plated trim, and custom leather seats with specialized embroidery.
Cadillac Escalade: The Cadillac Escalade can be custom armored armored vehicle with a diesel-powered V8 6.6L turbo 300hp diesel. Many celebrities and pro-athletes love this vehicle because of the luxury finish and size to fit all their friends and family comfortably.
BMW 7 Series High Security: A BMW is already considered high-class. An armored BMW? That's a class of its own. This vehicle can shrug off projectile weapons and chemical attacks. Even the gas tank is designed to seal itself in case it's hit by a bullet.
Despite its armor, BMW boasts that the additional weight does not compromise its speed. It can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in just six seconds to make sure you can get away, thanks to its V12 6-liter, 535hp gasoline engine.
Maybach 62: Maybach manufacturers boast that despite the added security features and armor by Swiss armorer Rijck, the Maybach 62S is still a beauty to behold, both inside and out.
The 62S can reportedly withstand a shot from a high-powered sniper rifle from ten meters and its AMG V12 Biturbo 5980cc 620-hp gasoline engine can let it accelerate from zero to 60 mph in just five seconds.
Mercedes Benz S-Guard 600: Mercedes Benz is one of the most used cars when securing foreign dignitaries or other VIPs around the world, so it's not so strange that Mercedes would be a top choice for celebrities as they travel and promote their movies and causes abroad.
This model is designed to resist close-range sniper fire, rocket propelled grenades and high velocity projectiles. It has a twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V12 517hp gasoline engine can accelerate it from zero to 60 mph in just four seconds.


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Kenney, crude, and COVID-19: Crisis in Alberta
Laine Sheldon-Houle | Apr 16, 2020
On March 31, while reeling from low oil prices, an economic downturn, and the COVID-19 pandemic, Jason Kenney announced a handout of $7.5 billion for the Keystone XL pipeline. This announcement came only three days after the UCP laid off 26,000 education workers—the largest layoff by a single organization in Canada's history. Jason Kenney has demonstrated exactly what his function is: saving the oil companies at any cost.
Even before oil prices hit rock-bottom, Alberta's economy was in crisis. 2019 was the lowest year for investment in the province in the past decade. The Alberta Advantage is now a long-lost dream. Despite a global effort to implement the largest crude oil production cut in history, oil prices have stayed at historic lows. More layoffs are expected as oil giants have slashed their capital spending budgets by hundreds of millions or more. Suncor cut $1.5 billion of its capital budget, which amounts to more than 2.5 percent of all investment in Alberta. Before March, unemployment in Edmonton was higher than in any other city in Canada, and Alberta led all provinces in the same department. Even though the UCP named their corporate tax giveaway the "Job Creation Tax Cut," it has not lived up to its name. Now on the brink of a global slump, Alberta faces a staggering 25 percent projected unemployment rate.
It was in this context that the UCP decided to dole out an effective $7.5 billion; not for unemployment relief, not for health care, but rather for a pipeline. The premier described the handout as "a solid bet" for a number of reasons. However, the fact that the oil barons were unwilling to fund Keystone XL on their own is a confirmation that it is not in fact "a solid bet." Kenney himself remarked that he has "always been skeptical about government intervention in the market," and yet no degree of skepticism stopped him from gambling an enormous sum of public money on a project that billionaires were not willing to go "all in" on.
Keystone XL: A "safe bet"?
The United States Gulf Coast (USGC), the terminus of Keystone XL is the world's largest market for heavy, sour crude. While Alberta's oil sells at a deep discount to Texan oil at most major crude hubs, in the USGC, it sells at a premium. When the price for a barrel of Alberta's oil fell below the cost of a pint of beer, in the Gulf Coast, it was selling for as much as two cold ones at US$16!
The idea that this pipeline could end Alberta's economic woes is laughable. The fact is that there is no guarantee that it will be built at all. The demand for heavy oil in the USGC is only high because of suppressed production from it's traditional suppliers, Venezuela and Mexico. All over the world there is a glut of crude oil, and world capitalism is facing the prospect of a prolonged slump. Lower demand resulting from the COVID-19 slowdown has meant low prices for oil, which in turn means the profitability of the oil patch has dried up. In addition to this, Keystone XL has faced challenges in American courts in the many states where it is planned to be constructed, and was even rejected by the Whitehouse under Obama. There is also the certainty that the project will face fierce opposition from environmentalists and Indigenous people, like the Dakota Access pipeline did. For these reasons, capitalists and oil barons did not invest in Keystone. They did not have enough confidence to put their money on the line because they did not think the returns would be worth the risk. By backing Keystone with effectively $7.5 billion in public money, Kenney is passing those costs, risks, and losses on to Alberta's working class, while still passing the profits on to billionaire oil bosses.
Who pays for the crisis? Who pays for the pipeline?
When the question of funding for education, healthcare, or childcare comes up, right wing governments like the UCP are fond of saying that there is no such thing as a free lunch. But when a multinational oil and gas corporation approaches the government with its hands out, it is given a full buffet, to the tune of billions of dollars. That money will have to be made up somewhere. Jason Kenney plans on continuing to take it from the working class, through cuts to social programs, as has been the case for the past year. Post secondary tuition has risen seven percent, tens of thousands of people have lost provincial drug coverage, and 26,000 education workers are out of a job. Now, workers will have to pay billions to build an unprofitable pipeline—and that sticker price could very well increase. After the federal government bought the Trans Mountain expansion, the cost of building that pipeline rose from $7.4 billion to $12.6 billion.
The cost to workers of constantly funneling money into the oil corporation's pockets is deadly. Before COVID-19, Kenney's original plan for 2020 was to pay for corporate tax cuts by laying off 750 nurses, while the province's population ages and 69,000 people await surgery. Although those layoffs have been temporarily postponed, reports from Alberta hospitals attest to just how stretched the healthcare system is, and ill-equipped to deal with the pandemic. One Alberta Health Services (AHS) worker said of the situation, "Equipment, bed, and staff shortages were a crisis even before COVID-19. Nurses are crying every day in the break rooms praying for relief." The pandemic is going to get worse. It is expected to peak in mid-May, and the Alberta government's own modelling data suggests the worst-case scenario would result in 6,600 deaths. Even while people were dying from COVID-19, the UCP continued to ram through austerity measures, severing contracts and cutting compensation to doctors on April 1. This has already led to some physicians closing their practices and leaving the province. These cuts will result in more needless deaths. Jason Kenney and the UCP have blood on their hands.
In addition to cutting public spending in order to fund tax breaks and cheap loans to the oil corporations, there is one more way that the UCP hopes to make the oil patch more attractive to investment. It is perhaps the most dangerous attempt to save Alberta's oil industry: Kenney's proposal for a North America crude import tariff. The logic is that because North America is now a net energy exporter, the NAFTA countries should shield domestic production from world market convulsions with protectionist measures, forcing other crude producing countries to pay for access to North American markets. What Kenney doesn't seem to understand is that he is playing with fire.
At the end of the day, protectionism means buying a more expensive, lower-quality product from home rather than a cheaper, better product from abroad. If it was more economical for North America to exclusively consume its own supply of crude, private companies would pursue that goal. But it's not. That is why the Energy East pipeline was quashed. For Montreal to refine Alberta oil would require the construction of complex heavy oil refineries, cross-continental pipelines, and a mammoth amount of environmental risk. All of these things come with a price, while importing oil from countries like Algeria is extremely cheap.
Even more important is the fact that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. A tariff of the magnitude that Kenney proposes would mean a breakdown in world trade, as other countries would retaliate with tariffs of their own. That means an increased cost of other imported goods, reducing the efficiency of the entire economy. Protectionist measures like this were used by countries in the 1930s in an attempt to export unemployment, to no avail. In fact they had the opposite effect, worsening and prolonging the slump.
The crisis has eliminated the middle ground
While the UCP has been busy using the pandemic as an excuse to tear up labor laws and give public money to oil giants, the NDP and the labour leadership have been noticeably quiet. On the topic of Keystone XL, Rachel Notley said, "We support this project." Her only criticism of the government was that it needed to be more "transparent" about the details of the $6.5 billion dollar loan. After the UCP laid off 26,000 education workers, CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill only argued that it was a poor decision, saying, "You can't just fire thousands of Educational Assistants and expect them to all run back to the system in the fall," and, "This is a recipe for a massive brain drain." He promised to review the legality of the lay-offs. Although he may have a point, no amount of rational argument or appeal to legality will convince the UCP to reverse course. Nor will platitudes from ATA president Jason Schilling who said, "I appreciate we are in extraordinary times, but laying off tens of thousands of workers at this time is the wrong direction." Unfortunately, while the heads of the largest trade unions in Alberta voiced "concerns" over the cuts—tempered, of course, with an "appreciation" of the government's position—their words were not backed up by any threat of labour action. They seem to accept the cuts as if they are set in stone.
In fact, these cuts can be defeated, and this government can be brought down. When Jason Kenney was sworn-in as premier, he had an approval rating of 61 percent. By the beginning of March 2020, it had fallen to 47 percent. Since COVID-19 began spreading in Canada, almost every single premier has enjoyed increased approval ratings as they appear to be acting quickly to curb the virus. Alberta is the only major province where the government's approval rating is falling. And this is only going to continue.
The downturn in oil prices has blown an enormous hole in Alberta's provincial revenue. When presenting their budget for 2020, the UCP admitted that almost all projections hinged on oil prices averaging US$58 a barrel (WTI) or higher. Kenney himself said that every dollar decrease from US$58 (WTI) means $200 million less in provincial revenue. Even if crude is sold at a generous US$16, that's $8.4 billion the UCP will try to cut from healthcare, education, childcare, etc. On a capitalist basis, there is no future for working people in Alberta.
While hospitals fill up, the UCP is only interested in handouts for oil and gas, attacking workers, and planning more austerity. There is no appetite for this among the workers, and there is a desire to fight. COVID-19 has exposed the UCP government and shown what their priorities are: attacking workers to benefit the oil barons. When AHS tried to pinch pennies and claimed that nurses did not need N95 masks to conduct testing swabs, some Edmonton nurses refused to work until they had them. This is the way forward. We do not need platitudes, we need to fight.
On April 18, join us for an online public discussion on this topic. Click here for details.


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Overture Center for the Arts is a performing arts center and art gallery in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. The center opened on September 19, 2004, replacing the former Civic Center. In addition to several theaters, the center also houses the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.

History
The center was commissioned by Jerome "Jerry" Frautschi and Pleasant Rowland (founder of American Girl) and designed by César Pelli. Pelli's most famous work is likely the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the world's tallest twin skyscrapers. Pelli also designed the Brookfield Place, formerly named the World Financial Center complex, in downtown Manhattan.

The entire building costs were covered by multiple gifts totaling $205 million from Fraustchi and Rowland. The Overture Center for the Arts building replaced the Madison Civic Center, which was located on the same block on State Street.

Since opening in 2004, the Overture Center has had five Presidents and CEOs. Bob D'Angelo, the first President and CEO, resigned in 2005 following an Overture Center employee's allegations of sexual harassment. Following his resignation, D'Angelo served 10 months of a one-year prison term for tax evasion and misusing his city office. More recent Presidents and CEOs of the Overture Center include Michael Goldberg, Tom Carto, Ted DeDee and Sandra Gajic.

Venues

Overture Hall
The 2,251-seat Overture Hall is the cultural center's largest theater. Consisting of four levels of seats, it has a striking architectural style and was designed for acoustics (no center aisle). The balconies have "continental-style" seating arrangements, where aisles other than those on the sides of seat rows are omitted in order to provide greater seat size and acoustics. It houses the Pleasant Rowland Concert Organ, a large, custom-built organ, by the German organ builder Orgelbau Klais. This theater hosts the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Opera, and Madison Ballet.

Capitol Theater
During Overture construction, the Oscar Mayer Theater (originally the 1928 Capitol Theater and movie palace) was restored, downsized, and re-christened the Capitol Theater. The theater's inaugural performance, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, upon reopening took place in November 2005. The theater seats up to 1098 people on the main floor and balcony. The theater features an organ built by Oshkosh's Barton Organ Company. Resident companies include the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and CTM Madison Family Theatre, including regular performances from traveling shows and concerts.

Playhouse
This smaller, intimate performance space replaced the former Isthmus Playhouse. It was renovated with the Madison Repertory Theatre in mind as its resident company and was occupied by Madison Rep until its closure in March 2009.

Promenade Hall
The Promenade Hall is a smaller room, featuring bleachers in the walls which can convert it into a performance space seating up to 300. Kanopy Dance is its resident company.

Rotunda Stage
This room, located on the lower level, is used primarily for the center's Kids in the Rotunda performances. The only venue accessible to the public during regular hours, it features a color scheme of fuchsia walls and floors, as well as permanent audience riser seats. It is also a venue for banquets, meetings, and other performances.

Wisconsin Studio and Rotunda Studio
These two venues are used mainly for rehearsals and meetings. They are also fully equipped black box theater spaces seating up to 200 guests, depending on their configuration.

Visual art galleries
The center contains four visual art galleries. The Overture Galleries present exhibits by local and state artists and organizations. The center houses the James Watrous Gallery, which is operated by the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. The Watrous Gallery displays larger exhibits and installations from regional artists. Both galleries are free and open to the public.

Controversies

Financial controversies
After Frautschi and Rowland's initial gift of $100 million, the philanthropists donated another $100 million to ensure it would be a "state-of-the-art" venue. Some citizens complained that the City of Madison's priorities were skewed. Some critics argued the project would hurt the image of nearby State Street. Still, others believed that the cultural center would only be accessible for the wealthy while limiting access to local and smaller acts and artists.

After the initial construction of the center, concerns were raised over additional funding. Citizens became concerned that Overture's reserve funds would decrease as the economy slowed. During the Great Recession, the potential was raised for the City of Madison to step in to maintain funding levels. Some citizens worried that a private project would grow to become an unnecessary burden to taxpayers.

These fears were exacerbated by the liquidation of the trust fund that was set up to pay the construction debt for the building as well as provide some operating income. The liquidation left some construction debt that was paid for by Jerry Frautschi, Pleasant Rowland, and a number of their friends and associates. The endowment liquidations forced the center to cut staff because of the loss of operating income. The Overture Center continues to be a privately owned facility and is now run by a non-profit; it is no longer a City of Madison agency. The Center receives an annual subsidy from the city approximately equal to the amount subsidized to the Madison Civic Center, a facility owned by the city.

With an estimated operating budget of $18.4 million, the Overture Center seemed to have emerged from its financial difficulty in fiscal year July to June 2012–13. Staffing levels now exceed the level before the forced endowment liquidation.

2019 Miss Saigon controversy

Background on Overture's Racial Equity Initiative
After a presentation of the Race to Equity Report, published by the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, the Overture Center started the Racial Equity Initiative in 2014. The Race to Equity Report indicated significant racial disparities in Dane County. To help fulfill the "Race to Equity" initiatives, the Overture Center hired Ed Holmes as the center's first director of diversity and inclusion in August 2016.

Public objections, panel discussion and teach-in
When the Overture Center scheduled a touring production of Miss Saigon in April 2019, local scholars and members of the Asian American community voiced their concerns about the controversial show.

In his 2019 essay on the Overture Center's production of Miss Saigon, Dr. Timothy Yu wrote, "It continues a tradition that views the Asian woman as a sexual object to be conquered by the white hero–a stereotype highlighted by the fact that the Vietnamese women in Miss Saigon are all prostitutes. They are, as scholar Karen Shimakawa puts it, "either hypersexualized Dragon Ladies in string bikinis or Kim, the single Lotus Blossom—shy, passive, virginal in an ersatz Vietnamese wedding gown."

Following public objections, the Overture Center staff worked with a group of scholars and members of the Asian American community to organize a free, publicly accessible panel discussion called "Asian American Perspectives on Miss Saigon: Stereotypes, History and Community." This panel was intended to center Asian American perspectives on Asian American portrayals in media and entertainment.

The days leading up to the event were marked by disagreements and repeated restructuring. The Overture Center replaced one of the panelists with a local theater producer, whose company staged a concert version of Miss Saigon in 2007. This new panelist replaced scholar Lori Kido-Lopez, who had contributed significantly to the panel's development. The event was then re-titled, "Perspectives on Miss Saigon: History and Community". In addition, a critical essay written by Dr. Timothy Yu — composed at the Overture Center's request — would no longer be included as a program insert.

Shortly after, the Overture Center informed the panelists that the questions prepared by scholar and moderator Leslie Bow would no longer be included. Instead, the Overture Center would "ask their own questions." Bow's original set of questions included: "How do plays like this impact American impressions about Vietnamese people?"; "Do you think that the southeast Asian community will find this show appealing?"; "Who is responsible for bringing diverse stories and productions to the stage?"; and "How might theatre contribute to racial awareness?" President and CEO Sandra Gajic described these questions as "inflammatory." Gajic argued that the tone was "adversarial... blaming Overture and me personally for having Miss Saigon in our season put us in an unfair position." She continued: "Vietnamese, Asians — many of them love the show."

On the morning of the planned event, the panel was delayed indefinitely by the Overture Center. Holmes explained in a press release that "the center canceled the panel out of concern that it was 'becoming more of a lecture than a dialogue.'" In response to the sudden cancellation, the Asian American panelists held a "teach-in" protest outside of the Overture Center. Several weeks after the production closed, the Overture attempted to reschedule the panel; the original panelists declined to participate.

Public apologies & outcomes
Following the controversial cancellation, President and CEO Sandra Gajic published a public apology on social media. She wrote, "We apologize for postponing last night's event. That was a mistake and sent the wrong message. It was never our intent to shut down dialogue but rather ensure that the environment we were creating actually fostered a productive discussion."

Regarding the removal of Yu's essay, Gajic told the press that a program insert was never an option.  "We can't put anything in our program books," Gajic explained. This claim was disputed by Yu, who publicly shared an email establishing that Overture had offered to include a two-page insert in the Miss Saigon program to provide further context. Overture's vice president of sales, Lex Poppens, confirmed that the Overture Center had offered Yu "the opportunity to write two pages in the program book … and he did submit the pages." Poppens clarified that the production company, Broadway Across America, did not approve of the program insert.

In response, Gajic published a second apology in The Cap Times newspaper on April 1, 2019. She wrote, "Moving forward, I am focusing on what we can do differently and better, and how we can look more critically at our programming and the criteria we use to select it. This includes how we can better foster discussion with diverse voices in our community and incorporate feedback."

Later that day, Edgewood College canceled a planned trip to the production due to increased awareness of the show's content. In a statement, they wrote: "This cancellation is due to the ongoing protests taking place throughout the Madison Community. The play romanticizes the Vietnam War and perpetuates common stereotypes about Asian women. We in OSII will not support anything that shows any person of gender, color, nationality, creed, sexual orientation, in a negative portrayal." Edgewood College's cancellation notice also directed to the commissioned essay written by Dr. Yu.

Notable performers

Following is a partial list of notable performers that have staged concerts at the Capitol Theater and Overture Center:

See also
 List of concert halls

References

External links
 Official Overture Center site
 Madison Museum of Contemporary Art

César Pelli buildings
Performing arts centers in Wisconsin
Culture of Madison, Wisconsin
Art museums and galleries in Wisconsin
Theatres in Wisconsin
Tourist attractions in Madison, Wisconsin
Buildings and structures in Madison, Wisconsin
Public venues with a theatre organ
Orientalism

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Bosnia and Herzegovina are relatively unknown to many tourists, which is a pity. Besides some nice historic cities, it's great for walking and cycling, but also snow sports and mountain climbing.
City with a very rich past.