What are the services available under Property Management?
Managing Tenants, Rental Assistance, Plot Monitoring, Property Monitoring, Renovation, Refurbishing, Follow up and Payment of Utility Bills, Inventory Check at the time of vacating, Painting and Cleaning Homes when tenant vacates, Periodic Property Inspection and reporting, Document Procurement, Facility Management, Finding tenants, Rent Collection, New Construction, Space Management, payment of property tax and metro water tax.
We also undertake tenant fixing, assistance in property tax assessment, name transfer with corporation, metro water and EB , Carpentry work, Modular Kitchen etc., at additional charge.
What are the steps taken in Real Estate Selling and Buying Assistance?
We are interested in buying a property. We also need to sell our old property. Can you assist in Real Estate ?
360 Property Management offers Real Estate Buying and Selling Assistance in Greater Chennai, Chennai Metro and Coimbatore.
People who are interested in Real Estate and want to buy or sell property finds the going tough as they are not able to evaluate local market conditions due to poor access to legal information. This is where reliable Real Estate company like 360 Property Management Services comes handy. With our analysis and information that we share, we will make sure you make highly informed choice every time.
360 Property Management provides world class service to its valuable clients where consumers would be not only able to buy and sell real estate but also find financial and legal assistance, all under one roof.
Please visit our Real Estate page where we have listed step by step process in Real Estate Selling and buying that 360 follows. Our experienced team will guide our clients at every stage. We have also listed few properties that are available for sale and for buying.
Can Property Management Company find tenants for my property?
Finding Tenants is part of Property Management Services. This service is available only for clients who are our availing our property management services in Chennai and Coimbatore. Renting is easy. But, renting to a qualified tenant is much harder. In our qualification process, we take several measures to ensure that the applicant is a good quality tenant. First, the Property will be inspected and market rental values will be suggested before looking for tenants. Potential tenants will be searched through paper and online advertisements. Credit check will be performed on the potential tenant. Rental Lease agreement will be drafted and the agreement between the owner and tenant will be finalized.
Tenant deposits rent amount in our bank. Then why do I need Property Management?
Collecting rent is not the only service Property Management Company offers. Many home owners think that Property Management Company just collects rent from the tenant and their charges are high for this service. They think the rent amount is deposited directly in the bank every month. They need help only when the tenant vacates and they can get a real estate broker for the same. But the job of the Property Management Company does not end with just collecting rent. They act as the representatives of the property owner. They make sure all the utility and other dues related to the property are paid on time. They keep a watch on the property on a regular basis and inspect them and inform the property owner of any issues. When a tenant vacates the property the property management company accepts possession of the property and takes an inventory check. Property Management company also helps in getting the place ready for letting out for rent. They also assist in finding tenants. These are some of the work done by the Property Management Services.
Many landlords manage properties on their own, while for others, a resident manager or a property management company makes good business sense. If you plan to manage rental property, you'll need organizational and management skills, along with a good working knowledge about real estate matters.
Advertise vacant property for rent. Show available property for rent and interview prospective tenants. Screen the best candidates for your rental property by requiring written applications with references. Evaluate prospective tenants by investigating their backgrounds, credit histories, personal references and employment histories.
Conduct periodic inspections. Help to maintain a good tenant landlord relationship.
Why should I hand over my property to a professional for Property Management?
Well, there are several reasons to hand over your property to a professional for Property Management. The most important one is the multiple skill levels in all areas including Labor resource and maximize productivity among other things. You will end up gaining in multiple ways. First and foremost you will have peace of mind. You need not have to disturb or request those unwilling relatives or friends. What you need is service. You pay for it and get it. If there is any lapse on the part of the Property Management Company you can ask them straight away. You have the right because they are your service providers. But, the same is not possible when you are obligated to ask your friends or relatives and you have to beat around the bush.
What you will pay your Property Manager as Property Management Fees will vary depending on what services you require, the type of property you own, and where your property is located. In general, hiring a property management company is more economical than most people expect, especially when you consider what you get in return without the time commitment of managing a property.
Please fill out the inquiry form in our web page with property particulars and 360 will get back to you with a quote.
360 offers property management services in Greater Chennai, Metro Chennai and Coimbatore.
How often will the property be inspected?
Since the tenants will be living in the property we cannot disturb their privacy too often. But we routinely visit the property at least once in 6 months with prior information to the tenants. We check for any property damage and any other developments concerning the property.
We also keep in touch with the tenants over phone.
Most of us at some point in our lives have lived in a rental property, whether alone or with friends/colleagues/family. Selecting and living in a rental property is not an easy task. We tend to overlook important things which often come back to haunt when the lease ends.
1. Thorough research of the locality and the rented property:The first task in the renting process is to check the safety quotient of the locality and its neighbouring areas. You can do so by speaking to residents of the locality. If the exercise seems tedious to you then you can log in to www.advice.magicbricks.com and find out locality information under 'Locality Reviews'. Also, check what safety measures the prospective landlord is providing. It is advisable to get all information incorporated in your lease document.
2. Be prepared with documents: Accumulate all required documents such as identification, proof of employment and income, etc. before meeting the landlord. Having all documents handy can help in closing the deal fast. Usually, this helps when the prospective landlord has other tenant parties to choose from.
3. A written lease: A written document is a proof of what you and your landlord mutually agree upon. A verbal agreement does not offer much protection to a tenant and landlord. Words cannot be used as proof in future but a documented can.
4. Know what your lease says: Understanding the lease is very important for a tenant. It is wise to take the advice of an expert once all the points and clauses are documented. Make sure you check the lease and local tenant privacy laws. It helps you understand how and when your landlord can enter your property. If a landlord starts entering your apartment without notice, you'll know what your rights are. Apart from this, a tenant should know how to end the tenancy and what can happen if you don't follow the rules. Understanding the lease documents also helps you know the rules about the return of the security deposit.
5. Maintenance and fixes: A tenant should know which repairs your landlord is responsible for and which fixes he/she need to pay for. A landlord is required to provide a habitable environment, which means that the property that you are renting should be such where one can shift and live immediately. Adequate air ventilation, heat, water and electricity, and a safe structure are certain basic requirements. Landlords should also replace or repair things such as the walls, loose floor tiles that can trip residents before handing over the keys to the tenant. However, once tenant takes over, he will have pay for any breakage and repair.
6. Keep communicating: It is good to be in touch with your landlord once a while. Keep communicating your concerns about the home like about the faulty wiring or no water issues so that it can be handled properly. Apart from this, a regular communication can help you build a bond/relationship with your landlord. If you have that, a landlord will understand you when sometimes you get late in paying the monthly rent.
7. Know when to fight an eviction notice and when you should move out: There is no point fighting an eviction if you have not followed the rules mentioned in your rent agreement and your landlord has asked you to move out. You can attempt to set things right with your landlord, but if you can't, it is time to move on. If you are legally in the right, a lawsuit still may not be your best bet. But you still have a chance to deal with your landlord.
Courtesy: Times of India / Neha has written on industries such as real estate, franchise, and outdoor advertising.
How frequently will I receive reports from Property Management Company?
How are the vacancies handled?
We will try fill them ASAP using various publicity methods. We have paid for premium accounts with various leading property web sites. If required we will also go through other normal practices like releasing classified ads in local newspapers and local real estate net work. We post the properties in our web site and also in social networks. We also put sign boards in and around the property for walk in clients.
What are the methods for handling repairs and maintenance?
First we assess the problem and take quotes from our own network of professionals (mason, carpenters, electrician, painters etc.,) and send a quote to the owners for approval. The rates are very competitive. We also detail the types of repairs we can and cannot do. Only after getting the approval from the property owner and payment for the same, we start the work. We will also let the property owner know the exact time frame it will take to complete the job. We report the progress to the owners and if necessary we send photos and videos. On Completion, all the statement of accounts and details of work executed will be given to owners.
What is a Patta? How important is a Patta and how do we obtain it?
A Patta is the most important document for any property Assessment. It is an account of assessment of a property. It is a legal document issued by the Government in India in the name of the actual owner of a particular plot of land. The patta can also be issued for lands having buildings or individual houses etc. constructed on them. It records the details about the property. It will also contain the exact location of the property, size, built up area. This is mainly for the payment of the property tax. This also determines who is responsible and liable for the payment of Property tax.
Other details to be noted – For properties with buildings or houses, it can be shown that the property is being continuously occupied which is not possible for any barren tract of land. In most cases, it can be obtained from the Revenue Administrative Officer in the concerned administrative district. In some cases there may be several owners for a single property. Separate Pattas will not be issued in such cases and there will be one Patta with the name of all the co-owners mentioned clearly. Patta will not be issued for lands having undivided shares.
How do we obtain a Patta?
The standard procedure is to apply at the concerned Revenue Administrative Office or Tahsildar office or any other appropriative administrative office. The application should be in the format which is prescribed by the Revenue Department. Relevant documents related to the property needs to be enclosed along with details of the owners. The officer might request an interview with the applicants if there is any necessity. When there is any legal dispute for the land for which a patta is requested, the officer could also make an onsite visit.
How important is a Patta?
Patta is the most important ownership record. It could be used to establish the right of the ownership in a court of law. If there is no will drafted by a person before his death, the successors or next of kin are automatically entitled for the patta. They can apply for the name transfer in their name. The renewal of a Patta must be done only after a transfer or a transaction has taken place with respect to the concerned property.
What is Encumbrance certificate and where to apply ?
Encumbrance certificate, popularly known as EC, is a certificate issued by sub-registrar of the area in which the property is located. All the details of any transaction on the property will be listed in it. It is important for you if you decide to buy the property, take out a loan against the property.
What are the documents required for applying EC?
Schedule of property as in the registered document along with document number, Name of the present owner. Some offices requests for the Xerox copy of the document.
Is there any specific time period for which the EC has to be obtained?
It depends on the purpose for which it is required and what was the last transaction registered in the property. Generally banks ask for 13 years and in some cases it is said 33 years is safe.
The records are computerised from the year 1987 in the Registration department. If one applies for EC for a period after 1987, EC can be applied with sub-registrar, anywhere with in the state. Prior to computerisation period, one has to apply with respective sub-registrar under whose jurisdiction the property lies.
What is time period to obtain EC?
For computerised period, that is after 1987, EC can be obtained in 2 working days. Prior to 1987, one has to find out the proper sub-registrar office for the property concerned. Sometimes, identifying correct sub-registrar office it self will take time, since bifurcation of certain offices, amalgamation of certain offices and creation of new offices have happened. Once proper office is identified, EC is issued with in one week after application is filled.
There are certain documents that need not be registered with sub-registrar office. And legally, sub-registrar can not be held responsible for issuing defective EC, as they issue the certificate with a foot note to that effect.
How to choose a Real Estate Rental Agent or Property Management Company in Chennai?
You may be confused and not sure whether you want to hire a property management company or a Real Estate Rental Agent. You're not alone in your confusion. Most people use both these terms to describe someone who leases rental units, manages the ongoing tenant relationship, and maintains the properties under his care.
It is generally assumed that many rental property landlords or owners hire someone to mange lease only and it makes sense to refer to that person as rental agent or leasing agent rather than as a property manager. In Chennai they are also referred as Rental or Real Estate Brokers.
The Property Management company usually does both. They also have the flexibility to create a need based contract for you based on the specific services you need. Some Property Managers do specialize in leasing. These companies are particularly adept at marketing properties, showing them, and working with prospective tenants to get vacancies filled. Other property managers may excel more at other aspects of rental management, such as establishing a rapport with tenants, building relationships with vendors, being proactive with maintenance, and working to quickly resolve any issues.
A rental agent or a real estate broker who specializes in leasing only can generally get a property rented within 30 to 45 days. Of course, this totally depends on the market. It also depends on the location of the property. There are talented rental agents who can generally fill vacancies twice as fast as their counterparts Meanwhile, a property manager who is more expert at maintenance can often get projects done for about half the going market rate. When renting your house, it is very important to understand the rental market conditions where the property is located. You should also consider your personal priorities. Only then you can hire the professional whose strengths best suit your needs.
When we are far away how can we rely on some third party to manage my property?
The cost that comes along with outsourcing property management makes people wrinkle their noses. But it's possible to soothe your objections if you consider the overall advantages of hiring professionals – and hire the right ones. When you are considering people to hire, you should consider the recommendations of friends, relatives and other referrals. Jot down all your queries, doubts and contact the company and ask questions. Just as you would screen any business decision, you want to feel confident and trust the person you choose. Talk to them over phone and in person a couple of times if possible. The caveat to all this is obviously that outsourcing will prove a crummy decision if you trust the wrong folks to do it. You want to hire a reliable and an expert company who will do the job right. To manage your property – If you pick the right kind of people who can take care of your property and run it well, who wouldn't outsource?
What are the Checklist for NRI's buying a property?
We need Property Tax Assessment for our property. Do Property Management companies do this service?
Yes. We assist in getting Property Tax Assessment for your property. We offer this service for our Clients in Chennai and Coimbatore. Building plan approval and document copies has to be provided along with the request for Property Tax assessment.
How to keep the tenants happy?
1. Being professional: Be friendly and flexible and your tenants will likely return the favor. You like to deal with a tenant who is really reliable and respectful and communicative—and your tenant expects the same thing from you.
2. Maintaining good relationship with clear agreement: Clear rental agreement sets the stage for a trouble-free landlord and tenant relationship –other than the monthly rent and utilities. The agreement should tell very clearly who's responsible for what in the event that repairs are needed. If the property you are renting includes a empty space or a garden you need to be clear about who will maintain it.
3. Dealing with problematic tenants promptly: If you are managing a multi family residence – like an apartment for example – dealing with tenants who are undermining the resident's ability to live together peacefully is very crucial. Having troublesome neighbors will drive ideal tenants away from your building more quickly.
4. Answering calls: Most tenants prefer to deal with professional property management companies for the simple reason that they know it is someone's job to quickly help them resolve any issues that may arise. Making it a priority to take your tenants phone calls or to return their calls within 12-24 hours is very essential for the business.
5. Take care of repairs: In addition to answering the calls, let your tenant know that they're important to you by taking care of any needed repairs without delay and in a timely manner.
6. Making some cosmetic improvements: If you are really fortunate enough to have a long-term tenant, be sure to offer them fresh paint or some minor upgrades once every two or three years.
7. Send Cards or Gifts: If there are some renters who do not give any problems and you want to appreciate, you should let them know. A Festival card with a personal note with some small gift is a good example. When some receives unexpected gesture- that could help go long way- toward encouraging tenant loyalty to you.
8. Respecting renter's privacy: We need to Respect the privacy of the tenants. They don't want to see or hear from you unless they have a problem. We need to totally respect that. You'll occasionally need to gain access to the property for one reason or another, but when you do, be sure to give proper notice, and try not doing so more than twice a year.
9. Go easy when raising rents: If you rent your property in a weak rental market and find your tenant's lease ending in a stronger market, it can be tempting to raise rents by the maximum legal amount. However, good tenants should be offered a rent that is slightly below market rates. This can be a powerful retention tool, which will potentially save you a lot in turnover costs.
10. Offer incentives to tenants who help you fill vacancies: This will assist you in searching for new tenants. Also you will increase your chances of retaining the ones you already have if you end up placing their friends in the same building.
Legal Heir certificate - Why is it required and how to apply?
Why is Legal Heir Certificate required?
To transfer properties, investments, shares, insurance policy benefits, retirement benefits if the deceased was in govt employment, name transfer of vechicles of a deceased person who have not left a will. Legal heir certificate has to contain the purpose for which it is obtained. If a legal heir certificate for example did not mention shares, they need to re-apply or get an endorsement to that effect in the legal heir certificate.
Who is the Authority to issue legal heir certificate?
Thasidar of the area where deceased lived.
Death certificate of the deceased, proof evidencing the relationship between the legal heirs and the deceased such as ration card, birth certificate, passport, voters id, marriage certificate etc.
Apply for legal heir certificate to Thasildar along with application form with Rs.2/- court fee stamp affixed on it. After an enquiry through Revenue inspector or VAO in the area where the deceased lived, Thasildhar will issue a legal heir certificate.
Any person who believes that he too is a legal heir, will always be entitled to ignore such Legal Heirship Certificate and institute appropriate proceedings before a competent court.
What are the Concierge Services Offered ?
There are different types of event management. Business and Family are the main. NRI's who like to conduct important family events like marriages are totally dependant on their relatives and friends. When they hire a professional management company they are taken care of in all aspects. They need not worry about anything and just concentrate only on receivng and taking care of the visitors. We provide event management services for our clients in Chennai, Coimbatore and other major places in Tamilnadu. Our event management services covers all areas of the event from Marriage Hall booking to food.
1. The full and proper screening or testing of an applicant's credit, rental history and ability to pay.
2. Lease contracting or accepting rent using legal documents approved for the area in which the property is located.
3. Mitigation and remediation regarding any maintenance issues, generally within a budget, with prior or conveyed consent via a Limited Power of Attorney legally agreed to by the property owner.
There are many facets to this profession, including managing the accounts and finances of the real estate properties.


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Multi-level go-kart racing coming to Niagara Falls, Ontario
By: WKBW Staff
www.bransontracks.com
Get ready for a multi-level go-karting experience in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
HOCO Entertainment and Resorts tells 7EWN that construction on the new "Niagara Speedway" is nearing completion. The spiraling track is being built on Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls and is inspired by "Heavy Metal High Rise" which is a go-kart track in Branson, Missouri. (Picture above from www.BransonTracks.com)
Joel Noden, the Director of Marketing for HOCO, tells us the 1/3 of a mile track is the largest elevated track in North America and the only one of its kind in Canada. The track spirals up 40 feet into a roller coaster like ramp building speed near the bottom before transitioning into a formula race format course. The track should open in spring of 2018.
(Photo courtesy: HOCO Entertainment and Resorts)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
The JAMS is a weekly seminar with talks given by junior researchers on a topic in all areas in Mathematics. It is a great opportunity to share research, get feedback from other students and to become more confident in presenting work. We also provide drinks and snacks!
This year, there are two different types of talks:
Classic JAMS: Short talks, somewhat specialised and more focused on new results. A great opportunity to get know what fellow PhD students' research is about.
Introductory JAMS: Longer talks, but more accessible and educational. These are meant to introduce you to the basic ideas of active research fields, and give you a broader picture of modern Applied Mathematics.
If you are interested in giving a talk (of either type) or have further questions, please email us at imperialsiam@gmail.com. You can also sign up to our Mailing List to receive regular updates on these events!
Venue: Huxley 130
Time: Wednesday 4pm-5pm
(11/04/18)Supersonic Flow over a Film flow
Faezeh Khoshsepehr
As a result of rainfall during the ascent or descent stages of the flight or de-icing operation, usually a thin layer of viscous liquid is formed or rain droplets are left above the aircraft wings. The presence of the droplet leads to significant changes in boundary-layer behaviour.
In this talk we are going to demonstrate a modified tripe-deck model which accounts for the presence of a droplet and its effects on the air flow. Analytical solutions are obtained for the linearised flow's velocity field, pressure and skin friction.
(11/04/18)Reflection of Rossby Waves in the Stratosphere: The Role of Critical Layer Nonlinearity
Imogen Mhari Dell
There exists a two-way coupling between the troposphere and the stratosphere; atmospheric waves are generated through a variety of mechanisms in the troposphere and they propagate upwards in to the otherwise stable stratosphere. Here, they may break down or they may be reflected downwards back in to the troposphere, thereby influencing tropospheric dynamics and forming a closed loop two- way coupling. Placing this coupling in an appropriate mathematical framework is crucial to improving climate and weather predictions, and this is investigated by first understanding the reflection of Rossby waves.
The mechanism by which Rossby waves are reflected is studied in terms of a nonlinear critical layer. Critical layers exist where the base flow velocity equals the phase speed, and it is here that nonlinear effects may become significant, and Rossby waves reflected. This work takes in to account the presence of all harmonics within the critical layer, and attempts to identify the reflected and transmitted waves as well as the consequential disturbances within the critical layer using multiple-scale techniques.
(24/01/18) Natural Language Processing with messy datasets
José Luis Ricón
[Slides] Abstract
In this talk, I will introduce basic Natural Language Processing ideas and the machine learning approaches that are generally used for dealing with the problem of text classification. After this I will highlight the particular challenges posed by this particular project.
(07/02/18) The problem with turbulence: how can air travel be made more sustainable?
Eleanor Johnstone
"When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: Why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he will have an answer for the first."- Werner Heisenberg.
It is thought that one transatlantic flight can add as much to your carbon footprint as a typical year's worth of driving. Why are planes so inefficient? Well, part of the reason is turbulence, which causes drag on the aircraft. Therefore one of the most important questions to ask is how can we control the flow so turbulence is less prevalent? Not only could this save the aerospace industry millions of pounds in fuel, but it would also have a huge impact on the sustainability of air travel, and help reduce the dependence on oil which is expected to run out within the next century.
This talk will cover a brief introduction to the equations governing fluid flows, and the emergence and structure of turbulence in basic boundary-layer flows. Specifically, the talk will cover what structures emerge in the transition from laminar to turbulent flow and how these can be described mathematically. These structures can help to provide an understanding of the underlying 'scaffold' of turbulence. This knowledge could be implemented to reduce their prevalence and therefore reduce turbulence/drag on an aircraft.
Keywords: fluid dynamics, turbulence, boundary layer, laminar flow control
(21/02/18) Numerical tsunami simulation using goal-oriented mesh adaptivity
Joe Wallwork
A mesh adaptive shallow water solver is created for solving tsunami modelling problems. This builds upon previous work at Imperial College in the Firedrake and Thetis projects. The former project provides efficient, finite element solving software and the latter specialises this for coastal, estuarine and ocean modelling on unstructured meshes. An anisotropic mesh adaptivity library is created which is capable of adaption both to fields related to the flow (such as free surface displacement) and as guided by adjoint solution data. Applying mesh adaptivity to shallow water problems, enables the efficient generation of numerical solutions to tsunami wave propagation problems. The case study of the tsunami which struck Fukushima, Japan, in 2011 is considered, wherein leading tsunami waves reached the coast in just ten minutes. Numerical results indicate computational cost can be reduced, whilst retaining a sufficiently high accuracy, under mesh adaptivity. Through establishing a highly efficient approach to numerical tsunami simulation, sufficient warning could be provided in future scenarios, allowing for evacuation and damage mitigation in those coastal areas determined to be most at risk.
(28/02/18) Mode Interactions in Spherical Rayleigh-Bénard Convection
Paul Mannix
The critical Rayleigh number $Ra_c$ for thermally convective instability depends on the wave-length of the disturbance.
In an annular spherical domain with separation d, there are degenerate points $(Ra_c , d _c )$ at which instability to two different sets of thermal-rolls occurs simultaneously.
This study provides a weakly non-linear analysis of the multiple-bifurcation problem, demonstrating that four distinct coupled amplitude equations govern the non-linear evolution of these interactions. The choice of which can be predicted from the inherent symmetry of the interacting modes. Considering a variety of $\ell:m$ mode interactions at different values of the Prandtl number $\sigma$, it is found that mixed mode solutions can exist only within certain regions of the parameter space. While for special resonant mode interactions a stable-period solution is found at low Prandtl number $\sigma$. In each case the weakly non-linear prediction is verified using direct numerical simulation.
(14/03/18)Long time behaviour and phase transitions for the McKean-Vlasov equation on the torus.
Rishabh Gvalani
We study the McKean-Vlasov equation on the flat torus which is obtained as the mean field limit of a system of interacting diffusion processes enclosed in a periodic box. The system acts as a model for several real world phenomena from statistical mechanics, opinion dynamics, collective behaviour, and stellar dynamics.
After commenting on the well-posedness of the equation, we study its long time behaviour and convergence to equilibrium. We then focus our attention on the stationary problem – under certain assumptions on the interaction potential, we show that the system exhibits multiple equilibria which arise from the uniform state through continuous bifurcations. This relates closely with previous work on phase transitions for the Mckean-Vlasov equation (cf. Chayes and Panferov, J. Stat. Phys., 2010). Finally, we attempt to classify continuous and discontinuous transitions for this system and show how this work, in conjunction with previous studies of the system, can be used to recover classical results on phase transitions for the noisy Kuramoto model. This is joint work with José Carrillo, Greg Pavliotis, and André Schlichting.
(14/03/18)Finite element methods as geometric integrators
James Jackaman
For long time accurate numerical integration, it is of paramount importance to preserve certain geometric structures
associated to the underlying system. This has been a key area of research in numerical analysis, known as geometric numerical integration, over the past few decades. In this talk we investigate the continuous Galerkin method as a geometric numerical integrator. We will also introduce a new discontinuous finite element method and discuss what geometric properties this method possesses.
(21/03/18) Population dynamics in heterogeneous environments
Yong Sul Won
We study a nonlinear reaction-diffusion system undergoing a logistic type competition. The diffusivity of species depends on the ratio of their population density and the resource distribution (nourishments). Such a feature provides us with not only a more realistic model of population dispersals but also interesting mathematical challenges. We will present some existence theorems together with a mollification strategy.
(21/03/18)The wonder of the Rado graph
Yibei Li
The countable random graph, also referred to as the Rado graph, is a very interesting mathematical object as it appears in many different areas of Maths. It can be constructed using ideas from probability and number theory (more precisely the Dirichlet's Theorem). It possesses nice properties in logic, group theory, the Ramsey theory and topological dynamics. We will touch upon all these areas to see why the Rado graph makes a fascinating structure.
(28/03/18) Mathematical and numerical modeling of swimming at the micrometer scale: the case of flagellated microswimmers.
Dr. Cecilia Rorai(QMUL)
Many cells and microorganisms are motile: they are capable of navigating fluid environments to accomplish tasks required for survival or specialized functions. I will describe the physical principles obeyed by swimming at the micro scale and the mathematical models used to describe them. I will present numerical results for a sperm cell-like swimmer in an unbounded domain and compare several models of different fidelity based on the Stokes flow approximation. The models include a Regularised Stokeslet Method, a 3D Finite Element Method, the Resistive Force Theory versions of Lighthill and Gray and Hancock, as well as a simplified approximation based on computing the hydrodynamic forces exerted on the head and the flagellum separately. I will discuss applications that may arise from our ability of modeling and manipulating microswimmers and the challenges that lie ahead.
Dr Cecilia Rorai earned her Ph.D. from the Doctoral School in Environmental and Industrial Fluid Mechanics, University of Trieste, Italy. She conducted her doctoral research at University of Maryland in collaboration with Professors D. P. Lathrop, R. M. Kerr and under the supervision of Professors K. R. Sreenivasan and Michael E. Fisher. She defended her thesis entitled "vortex reconnection in superfluid helium" in April 2012. Later, she moved as a visiting scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, Colorado, where she worked on turbulence in stratified flows in collaboration with Professor Annick Pouquet, Dr D. Rosenberg and Professor P. D. Mininni. In 2013 she joined the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and the Nordic Institute of Theoretical Physics (NORDITA) Stockholm, Sweden, as the recipient of the postdoctoral fellowship from the Göran Gustafsson foundation. Her project dealt with the motion of elastic capsules in Stokes flows and involved Professor Luca Brandt, Dr Dhrubaditya Mitra and Dr Lailai Zhu. In 2016 she was awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellowship and she joined Queen Mary University where she works in collaboration with Dr Sergey Karabasov. Her current research focus is on biological fluid dynamics, more specifically, swimming at the micrometer scale. Her approach is theoretical and computational.
(28/03/18)A fluid-mechanical analogy for multi-resolution simulation of liquids at multiple scales.
Jingyi Hu (QMUL)
A triple-scale simulation of a molecular liquid is presented where atomistic, coarse-grained, and hydrodynamic descriptions of a liquid matter are consistently coupled. In the previous dual-scale model in the literature, which we will briefly overview, the continuum and discrete representations of the same substance are coupled together in the framework of conservation laws for mass and momentum that are treated as effective phases of a nominally two-phase flow. The effective phase distribution in space defines the computational domain decomposition for the low-resolution and the high-resolution zones of the model as defined by the user. The continuum representation is based on the Navier-Stokes Fluctuating Hydrodynamics (NS-FH) equations, which use stochastic fluxes to model the effect of the Brownian motion at the small scale. Building on the dual-scale model, which used the classical molecular dynamic (MD) dynamics as a model for the discrete state of the fluid, the current triple-scale multiscale model replaces the pure MD model with an adaptive resolution scheme (AdResS). AdResS is a state-of-the art discrete particle method developed in the literature, which smoothly connects the atomistic and the mesoscopic scales. The new combined AdResS-NS-FH model is shown to perform more accurately and be less sensitive to the calibration parameters compared to the previous dual-scale model when the high-resolution zone is made to move arbitrarily for a stationary uniform medium test. We also present test results to show how the combined triple-scale model can correctly preserve the amplitude and the phase of a high-frequency acoustic wave that propagates across the continuum hydrodynamic, the mesoscopic particle, and the microscopic particle layers of the hybrid computational domain.
Jingyi Hu currently is a third year PhD student of Dr Sergey Karabasov in the School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London. Prior to becoming a PhD student, Jingyi got the bachelor degree in applied mathematics from Central South University, China in 2014. Focusing on the multiscale modelling in hydrodynamics, her PhD project aims at developing a new triple-level system that smoothly connects atomistic, mesoscale and continuum representation of liquids in application to shear effects in complex fluids.
Autumn 2017: [Archive]
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Nature Religion Connection
Life reconsidered with the help of Biology, Philosophy and Nature
Our Sacred World: The Tree of Life and Its Distinctions
The Connection (varied topics)
Folk Religion
What is a Philosopher?
Emergence and the Work of Sean Carroll
Stuck in The Middle, Resolution: We Generally Do What We are Supposed To Do!
January 15, 2023 ~ GregWW
(A Dog "can" bark and a Coin Toss "can" come up heads. That's the kind of "looseness" we need to seem to be FREEEE! But unlike dogs, the coin toss never barks and "can" have a head and a tail—at best— consecutively. For more profound insights please continue reading!)
(The start of this essay is in the previous post. That post is situated temporarily below this one in The Menu under the category, The Connection, varied topics. Please start there for a more complete understanding.)
In the previous post, "All the World in the Flip of a Coin," philosopher Dan Dennett explored the curious truth that a Coin Toss has two apparently contradictory characteristics. One, it is "Open" to diverse results—heads or tails. Two, it is obviously totally determined by causal forces near and far; the result ("Heads!") had no "Elbow Room," it had to be what it was determined to be and therefore never "Open."
Dennett concludes that a coin toss exists on two different levels for us. Our Limited Knowledge and Powers make it seem flexible, a head or tail were possible; yet if we knew much more no mystery as to its outcome would exist. A more powerful intelligence ("Laplace's Demon") would have understood each of the many factors that compose its "sufficient cause," but to us more limited knowers, we need and search for "a necessary cause," one or two or three factors that play a more prominent role in the event. Among a world full of contributors to it (the event's sufficient cause), sometimes a more prominent cause is apparent.
How is this possible, this co-existence on these two levels at once? It is here that Dennett applies "a promised" Third Form of Causation: Final Causes or Purposes. We are limited in our Powers of Knowing and Doing so therefore we are merely theoretically aware of the world as a massive interconnection of sufficient causes, and most often are satisfied only by the discovery of a smaller set of necessary causes that some events possess. This introduction of Purposes as a form of causation is his (and some other philosophers as well) attempt to "Resolve"—as in the title—this tangled idea of "causation": sufficient, necessary, final.
In "All the World in the Flip of a Coin," a coin toss was Dennett's brilliant example of an event ("a thing") that was both caused and not caused at the same time. Its outcome is "sufficiently" caused by a great variety of factors but "necessarily" caused by no one or two of them, that is why we have so much trouble controlling it. Will it be Heads or Tails? We don't know, and in this case we don't want to control all the diverse input. The open outcome of the coin toss is useful to us, its Purpose.
(The famous Willie Mosconi as a young man. In 1954, Mosconi "ran" 526 balls—over 35 racks!—at an exhibition match; still considered the record. Photo from the NYTimes.)
Consider coin-tossing in comparison to pool. Pool is designed to maximize the role of skill, not luck. In pool, the field of play is isolated and constructed to allow the player almost total control of the outcome. The vast number of contributing factors (its sufficient cause)—or potentially contributing factors—are manipulated and utilized to allow the necessary cause for the outcome of each shot to be clear and almost singular. For example, pool is never played outside in a howling storm. Quite in contrast to coin-tossing, it's a situation with a very different design and purpose.
Other examples given of events without Necessary Causes are many of the movements of the Stock Market. Even World War One, that war was going to happen and any number of events without the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand could have, would have, set it off. But this way of saying it, "event without necessary causes," is not the best way—only a first attempt—to describe a curious character within our tangled sense of "causation."
Dennett focuses on Designed Events, Designed Objects that Function, as the most important examples of occurrences in this tangle. They all exhibit the importance of Purposes and Goals, and the "openness" they create.
Returning to the Original Theme
Coin-Tossing is a human convention. It would not still be around if it did not serve some useful (and important) purpose to us. It is a good way to make a decision, when a decision is needed and there are no reasonable or necessary deciding considerations. Coin-tossing is a great tie-breaker, that is its purpose or goal.
To call "purposes and goals" causes, is an old way of talking. To call them "Final Causes" is even more suspect. Aristotle 'coined' (pun intended) that term, "final." We moderns tend to not want to understand a goal as a cause, except when we are talking about subjective motivations. Otherwise, we like to keep our "causes" more public and observable, like pool balls bumping for all to see.
But to the ancients, all the things here on earth were striving (like a person)to attain the Harmony of The Spheres, an eternal perfection and an unrelenting constancy that lays outside and beyond each individual earthly thing. The Spheres were self-enclosed, circular; all that was to them was within them, we might say. And this is the character of goal-driven, purpose-guided objects. The ancients thought The Universe was goal driven, but we still recognize that organisms, artifacts, and persons "can" be.
(The Harmony of The Spheres: Value and Purpose enter The Universe with the idea of Design. Image from Jerry Brotton.)
How Purposeful Things Behave
"Generally" is how things constructed for a purpose work, in our world. Especially by contrast to the Harmonious Spheres which lay in the background, objects with purposes are not forever, not consistent every time, but only generally they do what they are designed to do. Purposes are always limited and from a particular point of view. A coin-toss results in heads or tails at generally an equal rate; a dog generally barks in certain situations; a bridge generally stands; I generally pick the shirt that I rather simply "want" each morning; at least from our point of view.
To do so, each designed situation or "thing" must simplify its situation. It cannot function in the world of total causal interaction like Laplace's Demon or the world as displayed in physics. Designed things are limited things and as such, Dennett says, they are "an information processor" in the sense that each must 'make decisions' about what is important to it, and keep track of that information or that stimuli, only. All the other massive and multiple factors must be somehow relegated to "The Background" for it. "The Background" is a kind of holding pen for significant things (sufficient causes) but things not of primary importance (the necessary causes) to the purpose.
Dennett explains how this is possible. The Coin-Toss is designed to "amplify' all the sufficient causes, he says, and then 'interpret' them ("push the digitizer") into one of two modes—heads or tails. A dog barks when all the causes around it are interpreted, and this means many of them ignored, and undoubtedly to the dog many causes simply cancel each other out,—but in the end "the digitizer" (The Dog) is pushed by "its stimuli," "its information," into "Bark" or "No Bark" mode.
The game of pool is an excellent example of that kind of highly controlled and manipulated environment. When Willie Marconi lined up a shot, he did not think about gravity, though it was one of the most vital components of the game. Even less did he think of atomic decay or fields of electrical attraction—though present and operative they were relegated to the deep background for this purpose. Much more to Marconi's concern where the very the levelness of the table and the smoothness of its surface, the lack of debris and the chalk on his stick's tip. Pool is a highly designed situation, and it gave Marconi the "Elbow Room" to focus on true lines, appropriate momentums, and effective angles and contact. The game of pool—like much in Our World—is a limitation that allowed him the freedom to attain his goal.
This may not seem like much, but it is! At particular points, "all the world" comes to either a head or a tail for a coin toss, or a bark for a dog, or a particular shirt for me this morning, or a bank shot for Marconi.
(Alfred North Whitehead, the old Oxford philosopher. One of my initial favorites, he argued that for any significant event, all the world was a coming together in that thing's design: It was "a concrescence.")
Back to My Old Dog
In "All the World in a Flip of a Coin," I started this essay joking about a congregation of atoms that I keep as a pet and how confusing it is to also talk of them as a dog that I have bonded to electrically, neurally, emotionally? I don't know, but that's the point.
So, this is how it is possible for a thing to be more than just one thing, by it having having wide-ranging "significance." In other words, it is a "sign" of things beyond. This outcome—a bark, or the head of a coin—is a summation of the forces around it, expressed through the situation of—the design of—" a dog," or "a coin toss," contends Dennett.
In all purposive objects and events, its structured design sums up and counter-balances most causal forces around it and they are relegated to the background of sufficient causes. By doing so, its purpose has 'the space,' "the Elbow Room," to operate through a few necessary causes.
An automobile, for example, stands against gravity and bares an additional load, it corners and it propels itself. When we speak of autos, we generally do not mention the expansion of the universe or the drifting of the continents; we speak of "the brakes," "the starter," "the chassis," "the traction of the tires…" But this a new way of talking is not arbitrary; it is, and has been, tested against the physical background. It has proved itself. We have found some Necessary Causes in the massive background of Sufficient Causes that surround us, and made them work for us. They have a Purpose To Us.
It is a way of talking of a situation that from some points of view is a bit contrived, in the case of The Auto we call it "transportation." Relative to the physical background that is apparent to "The Demon" (and that is the focus of the physicist), nothing is "really" being 'carried through' ("transported") from one sub-atomic moment to the next. Each massive background is a total connection of (sufficient) causes shifted in its relation to the next total background of causes.
It is us, in our limited capacities, that focus on some specific set of particles and "see" some continuity from moment to moment, from background to background, and understand some purpose for that specific focus. Why, to "the demon," Time is not even an essential element of "reality"! To it, past and present and future are all one!
Each automobile is a summation and balance of the forces and conditions around it; just as is each coin toss, and so for every other designed thing or situation. They are an abbreviated representation of the environment around it, for the sake of carrying out a purpose embedded in their physical structure. Whether an organism or other designed object or situation, each is a system with a purpose, even if as minimally as the tossing of a coin for a method of human choice.
"There is a familiar way of alluding to this tight relationship that can exist between the organization of a system and its environment: you say that the organism continuously mirrors the environment, or that there is a representation of the environment in—or implicit in—the organization of the system. "
Dan Dennett, The Intentional Stance, 1987
(The organism "mirrors" the environment, and the environment "mirrors" the organism. It's a reflective relationship. "Day and Night" by MC Escher, used without permission because it is not old enough.)
One of Dennett's main objectives is to understand how many of our ordinary and basic concepts are very useful, even ingenious. Ideas like "person," "reasons," "can," and "rationality" are not just subjectively real but objectively grounded against their background. The same can be said for "dog," "skyscraper," and "Mississippi River." It just goes to show that in our world—the world as it seems to us—Whole Things and Situations "can" be as Real as the Parts that Compose Them. Physics does not always have the last word. My dog came to a lot more than just atom-talk!
And we are lucky that our world has come to so many interesting, even if often tragic, outcomes.
My pet dog was a loveable animal. For over ten years, she showed great enthusiasm for life. Always an avid eater, very day she chased squirrels—a related kind of creature—and never caught a one. She even loved snow; it seemed to fascinate her that beneath it lay smells—signs of other things she "savored." But she got old, and both she and I have limits. She declined faster than I. At about the age of thirteen, we "put her down."
I sat next to her as her atoms lost the orientation we call life. Soon, she (they) stopped functioning completely. We cremated her remains and still have those ashes, somewhere. Her specific structure and purposes are gone. My pet dog is now clearly just atoms. No more squirrel-chasing for them! I think I will find those remaining carbon compounds, and release them from that plastic bag and from that tin canister, and return them to the Earth where someday soon they will be free to mingle with my own. Like they say, "From dust to dust."
Logo by Marty
Stuck on this song!
STUCK BETWEEN SUFFICIENT CAUSES AND NECESSARY CAUSES—Stuck In The Middle with some kind of PURPOSE!
Posted in The Connection (varied topics)
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Hayes Roth has spent the past 40 years navigating the branding and marketing world. As Chief Marketing Officer at Landor Associates, Roth and his team(s) worked with some of the most successful brands in the world. Last year, he started is own consultancy that specializes in strategic positioning, brand development, and client/agency relationship building. Over the past couple months we've talked about brands and brand storytelling with folks from a variety of backgrounds, and in today's episode, you're going to hear from a true expert on the subject. What questions must be asked to achieve remarkable results? How do brands evolve, adapt, and, maybe most importantly, stay on course through a constantly-evolving market? What does it take to build a world-class brand?
HA Roth Consulting Building a Best-of-Class Branding Consultancy Brand Landor Associates Nonprofits in Jeopardy. Can Better Branding Help?


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OJCCC
Student Christian Organization
Skeptics, Village Walls, and the Need for the Prophetic
Posted on December 8, 2015 February 27, 2019 by ElizabetWid
OJCCC recommends you to read this story. There once existed a village, heavily populated, that was entirely self-contained within four tall wooden walls. Though the village occasionally had dealings with those outside the walls, most of the villagers themselves did not. Rather, they spent their lives simply living and communing with each other, taking solace in the consistency of their community. And they were reasonably content.
Now in this village lived a young boy who had existed within the four walls since his birth. He too, was reasonably content. Even so, one day in a fit of curiosity he climbed to the top of the wall and sat upon it to watch the comings and goings of the outside world, the people living beyond his village. He was only there a short amount of time, but found himself sitting atop it again before long. In time it became a daily habit of his to climb the wall and watch, despite the disapproving glances of his elders. Still he went, watching the world in longer and longer stretches, finding it at times utterly pointless and at times fascinating, in either case unable to break his gaze from it.
Eventually, he simply decided not to come down anymore. Day and night, damp and cold, he sat by himself in his post atop the wall. Observing, listening, guarding: the lonely sentinel.
Life below carried on without him, and often he'd hear the sounds of their feasts and celebrations beckoning him back down. But as he looked over his shoulder at them considering, he realized something strange. From a distance and up high, the lives of the villagers seemed absurd. Their celebrations were hollow, their laughter dishonest,and their daily lives seemed futile. He found he did not miss it; there was nothing there for him. So he stayed on the wall.
I am the boy, and there are many like me.
In the periphery of the American church exist a segment of people who, like the boy with his village, have found themselves very disenchanted with both the church and Christianity itself: the skeptics. It is widely acknowledged that there has been a large exit of Christians from the church in the last decade. A study of deconversion narratives indicate that the majority of these began their exodus as skeptics. While the causes of such skepticism vary, theme analyses of deconversion narratives point to two conflicts that have often been the nail in the coffin for ex-Christians (Simmons 117):
First is the belief that God is a moral monster. Hell exists. Evil is pervasive. And yet God, who is sovereign over all, still claims to be loving and benevolent. Many simply cannot come to terms with how this could be so, or how such a mass of people could find reason to worship him without being monsters themselves. One analyzed narrative recounted, "Once I began to study closely, I started noticing that 'God' was nothing like the being Christians project it to be. From condoning mass slaughters of Israel's enemies to torturing Job just to fulfill his own twisted ego, the God of the bible seemed more evil than the supposed Satan? (Simmons 133). And another: "The ultimate end of my faith was the fact that I couldn't just believe that any loving, benevolent creator would send us to hell for such minor, petty offenses? (Simmons 132).
Second is the belief that the church is impotent, hypocritical, hurtful. Rather than taking up Christ's call to love their enemies and go to all people, they sit within their village walls, scratching their own backs and fighting amongst themselves. One deconvert described it, "I've seen the way [God's] people act and the way other people act, and according to God's peoples' own standards, the atheists are more likely to be saved and get to Heaven (if Heaven even exists)? (Simmons 131). Certain among them propagate more hostility than love, leaving many feeling "burdened by the arrogance, racism, and hatred that came from these people? (Simmons 130).
Sitting on the wall I found myself burdened by these as well. This skepticism, unmet and rooted in such weighty concerns can be lethal to one's spiritual life, especially mixed with doubt, forming a toxic cynicism. I have spent many nights lying awake hoping that God does not exist. While I'm not yet convinced he doesn't, there are times when I find myself so disenchanted and disturbed by the whole ordeal that it seems to be the most freeing possibility. The absence of God would mean no more ties to the village; abandoning its absurdity would be justified. Skepticism unmet leads to cynicism. Cynicism unmet leads either to years of misery or to disengagement and deconversion.
Many of the villagers watched the boy with a wary eye, seeing his loneliness and how often he gazed at the world beyond. They invited him to climb down from his perch and rejoin the life of the village, but he could not. The boy could not abandon his post to be a part of their trivialities again. His conscience would not allow it. His sense of duty called him to watch from the wall. His sense of dignity could not bear to rejoin the absurdity of the village life.
To date, most American churches are doing little to bring the boy down from the wall or to even understand what makes the village so contemptible to him. Most often, skeptics are met with shallow answers that the church expects to satisfy them or trite statements about how Jesus and mere faith will resolve all their woes. In the worst cases, skeptics are derided and reproached for daring to question authority in the first place. Because of this, people like myself who have found themselves so disenchanted also feel isolated, stuck upon the wall, observing at a distance. They find themselves trapped between their conscience and their community.
So the boy stayed and he watched, ever contemplating when it would be that he slipped himself over the edge of the village walls, leaving the pettiness of his home behind him forever to venture into the world beyond.
If the American church ever hopes to ebb the flow of skeptics making their exodus from the church, they must find a healthy way to bring the boy down from the wall and re-incorporate him into the village life. But in doing so they cannot simply tell the boy to forget what he has seen and learned sitting up so high. They must never encourage him to crush his conscience, for that will make him even more hardened.
The church must also be willing to agree that much of what skeptics see is valuable and true.The villagers need the boy as much as the other way around. The church is in many ways ailing, and yet the members and leaders are usually slow to realize this, having become preoccupied by maintaining their standard of living. Walter Brueggemann coined this as the "official religion of optimism? (37), the intentional ignorance of certain realities that in time become impossible to see while a part of the community. The skeptics, standing at a distance from the church, belonging neither fully to the village nor to the world, are in the place to recognize such shortcomings. Marshall McLuhan makes this point in his work The Medium is the Massage, "Whoever sharpens our perceptions tends to be antisocial; rarely "well-adjusted? for he cannot go along with currents and trends.? They see and understand environments "as they really are? (88). If the church then needs the skeptics to refine its practice, and the skeptics need the church to help them re-engage with their community, the question is this: How does the village bring the boy down from the wall and engage him in the life of their community without forcing him to compromise what he has learned?
The American church, on both a local and global scale, must make room for prophetic media arts. Prophetic media is the voice of the skeptic, meeting them where they are, telling them that they are not alone, and breaking the silence to dialogue about what pains them, what they see as needing change.
For our purpose, I define prophetic media as creative media arts that fulfill one of two functions within the context of the local church and moves toward progress, healing, and change.
The first function is lament, the recognition of pain caused either by the monstrosity of God, the hurtfulness of the church, or the evil of the world we live in. Such pain is a part of life, but often comes with severe bitterness towards God. Annie Dillard, observing the long torment of a young girl, asked, "Who are we to demand explanations of God? (And what monsters of perfection should we be if we did not?)? (Holy the Firm). In the Old Testament, Job weeps for his own existence and finds himself questioning whether God has failed him. Such words and meaning have the power to break the church from it's pacified state of hapless optimism and understand that change may be needed. "The real criticism begins in the capacity to grieve because that is the most visceral announcement that things are not alright? (Brueggemann 11). It should be noted that lamentful media must not always be absolutely true (intense pain rarely leads to clarity of thought) but it must be absolutely honest. Only then can it penetrate the apathy of the church.
The second function of prophetic media is to call for change. The prophetic agent, after declaring that the world is not alright, makes the case for revolution within the church in its hypocrisy, in its dealings with pain or its failure to address it. It is the call to set aside petty issues and practice selflessness and self-awareness. The writings of Amos in the Old Testament are precisely such a call, criticizing the people for their self-satisfaction and crying for justice. The call for revolution cannot merely be critical, however, it must also be energizing (Brueggemann 4). Criticism without energy to push forward will only fall back into cynicism, the death of faith. But also, calling for change without direct and potent criticism will merely glance off of the veneer of optimism that pacifies the village.
Though these two functions are distinct, they are also inexplicable. Though they do not necessarily need to come from the same mouthpiece, they both need to be present in the life of the church, or they will serve neither the boy nor the village.
As the boy sat, a voice floated up to him and asked why he could not come down. When the boy explained that he could not bear to rejoin the absurdity of the village, the voice did not reply. Silence was his answer, like every other invitation. But a minute later it spoke again, agreeing that at times it did seem absurd and it asked the boy if he could help it understand why. So they conversed for a time on what the boy had seen, and when they had finished both went back to their lives. Two days later the voice was back. They spoke again, the boy mostly speaking, the voice mostly listening. And in the midst of their speaking, for the first time in months, the boy cautiously began to descend the wall.
Prophetic media recognizes the skeptic and shares in his frustration, his pain, and his concerns intently. It gives value and significance to them. It provides the platform for him to speak rather than shutting him down. The benefit also extends to the church, for it provides critical voices to make it aware of its deficiencies. Church leadership must be willing to promote the creation of prophetic media and conversation, but it must be very careful in doing so. As an institution, the church must be wary of controlling or directing the content itself, or it will become mere propaganda and unable to bring change. Rather, it should open the platform for prophetic voices to be heard and be willing to hear them uncensored. This will undoubtedly mean that there will be things spoken unfit for the ears of children, things that make stomachs churn. But the world we are born into is also unfit for children, and pain cannot be censored. Honesty must be honored, or the religion of optimism that leaves so many feeling alone will prevail. Follow ojccc.org and always stay updated about all christian news journal.
Their conversations continued, and as they did the boy spent more and more time down in the village and less on the wall. And as he did, more voices joined in to speak and to listen and to think about their life in the village and what it actually meant. The boy slowly found himself able to re-engage in the life of the village, which though still absurd in many ways, was gradually becoming more intentional. And the boy gradually found that, though he did occasionally still climb the wall to look to the outside world, he needed to less often. And although he didn't know for certain that he would never slide down the other side and leave his community at some point, he found value in his village and felt that it was something he could invest in without completely eradicating his convictions or frustrations.
Prophetic media can be a powerful tool, a help to both skeptics and their church. But first steps are the hardest and honesty is a painful thing to exercise. To that end, let me close with my own prophetic expression: a lament that I wrote to process honestly and fully the rage I felt at the hurt of those I loved.
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Henry Banks (14 juni 1913 - Indianapolis, Indiana, 18 december 1994) was een Amerikaans Formule 1-coureur. Hij reed drie races in deze klasse; de Indianapolis 500 tussen 1950 en 1952.

Amerikaans autocoureur
Formule 1-coureur

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


PhET Simulation: http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/greenhouse In this video Paul Andersen explains how the greenhouse effect and greenhouse gases keep our planet warm enough to be habitable. He explains how greenhouse gases keep heat closer to the surface. He finally shows how increases in greenhouse gases may lead to dangerous global warming.


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Q: Adding very small probabilities—How to compute? In some problems, probabilities are so small that they are best represented in computational facilities as log-probabilities.  Computational problems can arise when you try to add these small probabilities together, since some computational facilities (e.g., base R) can't distinguish very small probabilities from zero.  In these cases it is necessary to solve the problem either by finding a workaround that avoids the small numbers, or by using a computational facility that can deal with very small numbers.
The archetypal problem of this kind is as follows.  Suppose you have log-probabilities $\ell_1$ and $\ell_2$, where the corresponding probabilities $\exp(\ell_1)$ and $\exp(\ell_2)$ are too small to be distinguished from zero in the initial computational facility being used (e.g., base R).  We want to find the log-sum of these probabilities, which we denote by:
$$\ell_+ \equiv \ln \big( \exp(\ell_1) + \exp(\ell_2) \big)$$
Assume that we are—at least initially—working in an environment where $\exp(\ell_1)$ and $\exp(\ell_2)$ cannot be computed, since they are so small that they are indistinguishable from zero.
Questions: How can you effectively compute this log-sum?  Can this be done in the base R?  If not, what is the simplest way to do it with package extensions?  (See this related question for extension to the vectorised case).

A: Some preliminary mathematics: As a preliminary matter it is worth noting that this function is the LogSumExp (LSE) function, which is often encountered when performing computation on values that are represented in the log-scale.  To see how to deal with sums of this kind, we first note a useful mathematical result concerning sums of exponentials:
$$\begin{equation} \begin{aligned}
\exp(\ell_1) + \exp(\ell_2)
&= \exp(\max(\ell_1,\ell_2)) + \exp(\min(\ell_1,\ell_2)) \\[6pt]
&= \exp(\max(\ell_1,\ell_2)) (1 + \exp(\min(\ell_1,\ell_2)-\max(\ell_1,\ell_2)) \\[6pt]
&= \exp(\max(\ell_1,\ell_2)) (1 + \exp(-|\ell_1 - \ell_2|)). \\[6pt]
\end{aligned} \end{equation}$$
This result converts the sum to a product, which allows us to present the log-sum as:
$$\begin{equation} \begin{aligned}
\ell_+
&= \ln \big( \exp(\ell_1) + \exp(\ell_2) \big) \\[6pt]
&= \ln \big( \exp(\max(\ell_1,\ell_2)) (1 + \exp(-|\ell_1 - \ell_2|)) \big) \\[6pt]
&= \max(\ell_1, \ell_2) + \ln (1 + \exp(-|\ell_1 - \ell_2|)). \\[6pt]
\end{aligned} \end{equation}$$
In the case where $\ell_1 = \ell_2$ we obtain the expression $\ell_+ = \ell_1 + \ln 2 = \ell_2 + \ln 2$, so the log-sum is easily computed.  In the case where $\ell_1 \neq \ell_2$ this expression still reduces the problem to a simpler case, where we need to find the log-sum of one and $\exp(-|\ell_1 - \ell_2|)$.$^\dagger$
Now, using the Maclaurin series expansion for $\ln(1+x)$ we obtain the formula:
$$\begin{equation} \begin{aligned}
\ell_+
&= \max(\ell_1, \ell_2) + \sum_{k=1}^\infty (-1)^{k+1} \frac{\exp(-k|\ell_1 - \ell_2|)}{k} \quad \quad \quad \text{for } \ell_1 \neq \ell_2. \\[6pt]
\end{aligned} \end{equation}$$
Since $\exp(-|\ell_1 - \ell_2|) < 1$ the terms in this expansion diminish rapidly (faster than exponential decay).  If $|\ell_1 - \ell_2|$ is large then the terms diminish particularly rapid.  In any case, this expression allows us to compute the log-sum to any desired level of accuracy by truncating the infinite sum to a desired number of terms.

Implementation in base R: It is actually possible to compute this log-sum accurately in base R through creative use of the log1p function.  (Alternatively, one can even use the log1pexp function in extension packages, which is essentially just a shifted version of logsumexp; here we will use only the base functions.)  This is a primitive function in the base package that computes the value of $\ln(1+x)$ for an argument $x$ (with accurate computation even for $x \ll 1$).  This primitive function can be used to give a simple function for the log-sum:
logsum <- function(l1, l2) { max(l1, l2) + log1p(exp(-abs(l1-l2))) }

Implementation of this function succeeds in finding the log-sum of probabilities that are too small for the base package to deal with directly.  Moreover, it is able to calculate the log-sum to a high level of accuracy:
l1 <- -3006
l2 <- -3012

logsum(l1, l2)
[1] -3005.998

sprint("%.50f", logsum(l1, l2))
[1] "-3005.99752431486240311642177402973175048828125000000000"

As can be seen, this method gives a computation with 41 decimal places for the log-sum.  It only uses the functions in the base package, and does not involve any changes to the default calculation settings.  It gives as high a level of accuracy as you are likely to need in most cases.
It is also worth noting that there are many packages in R that extend the computational facilities of the base program, and can be used to deal with sums of very small numbers.  It is possible to find the log-sum of small probabilities using packages such as gmp or Brobdingnag, but this requires some investment in learning their particular syntax.

$^\dagger$ From this result we can also see that if $|\ell_1 - \ell_2|$ is itself large (i.e., if one of the probabilities is very small compared to the other) then the exponential term in this equation will be near zero, and we will then have $\ell_+ \approx \max(\ell_1, \ell_2)$ to a very high degree of accuracy.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Regular check-ups not only help to prevent plaque and tooth decay, but have a number of other benefits too.
Modern dentistry can often feel very impersonal, with dental practices putting your needs a firm second to fitting appointments around their own rigid schedules. You may think that there are no other options than this unaccommodating approach when it comes to dental care. Lakeside Dental Practice is here to prove to you that simply isn't true.
Since Lakeside Dental Practice first opened its doors in 1990, founder Mark Wright has built his practice around the belief that the person who provides your dental care is just as important as the qualifications they hold. Working as a single-handed practitioner, Mark will always be the face you will see as you sit in our chair for any dental procedure.
At Lakeside Dental, we pride ourselves on the friendly and individual service you will always receive whenever you visit us. Having cared for the dental and oral health of Godalming and the surrounding area for over 26 years, we are well placed to offer you the high quality dental care you deserve.
Our team of staff has worked together for many years at Lakeside Dental, meaning you will always be welcomed into practice by familiar faces who genuinely know and care about you.
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This service was meeting all CQC national standards.
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If this sounds like the high-quality and personal approach to dental care you have been looking for, we'd love to hear from you. Please give us a call on 01483 421376, email us at info@lakesidedentalpractice.co.uk or simply come into practice to register with us and book an appointment.


A group of photographers covering technology events, trade shows and conferences, recently launched a website to ease the pain of content publishers looking for editorial images. Integrated with a database featuring interesting event photos available for download and sale, Posters.org acts as a comprehensive platform for anyone who is interested in buying an image to enrich website content, but isn't quite sure where or how to start. The website can be also useful to photographers looking for gigs and event coverage opportunities. The database behind the platform offers detailed EXIF information for every photo taken as well as type of camera and lens used which helps to photographers to optimize settings and choose the right gear for specific photo op circumstances.
With categories defined based on the content subject, users of the website can view exactly what they need without wasting time with options that do not interest them.


It's a custard pie that's kind of like baklava but without the nuts. The name is a combination of Greek and Turkish: "galakto" means "of milk" in Greek, and "börek" is Turkish for a filo-filled pastry. This is a family recipe that I modified to remove milk and eggs.


text:
Home » Security » Flying while female? 5 things to remember at the airport
Flying while female? 5 things to remember at the airport
By Christopher Elliott | January 16, 2013 January 16, 2013
Pan Xunbin/Shutterstock
On her last four trips through U.S. airport security, Anita Nagelis says she's been pulled aside and subjected to a more thorough search by TSA agents, including an aggressive pat-down.
Nagelis, who works for a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., doesn't know why. She never set off a metal detector, isn't on a no-fly list, and no suspicious items are ever discovered in her luggage.
"It's so odd," she says. "I don't fit the profile."
Or does she?
Even though the TSA and other organizations that handle transportation-related security claim they don't engage in profiling, they are known to single out certain passengers, a vast majority of which pose zero security threat.
One of their favorite targets are women — attractive women.
The most famous incident happened in April 2011, when former Miss USA Suzie Castillo was subjected to what she described as an invasive pat-down by TSA agents that reduced the beauty queen to tears.
The issue gained prominence last month when another female passenger, Hyunjoo Kim, struck back at a TSA agent after experiencing an "enhanced" pat-down in Orlando. The South Korean woman reportedly was upset about the manual screening and allegedly slapped an agent. She was arrested and charged with two counts of battery on transit agents.
If you think these air travelers were overreacting, think again. The TSA has a thing for female passengers, a fact that any employee would be hard-pressed to deny. Agents have a disturbingly extensive vocabulary to describe beautiful passengers, including words like "Alfalfa," "Code Red," and "Hotel Bravo" (get it — Hot Babe?).
TSA agents apparently don't flirt with attractive females, they "engage." And when they talk about an "X-ray" they aren't necessarily referring to a controversial full-body scanner; "X-ray" is screener-speak for, you guessed it, an attractive female passenger.
It's a troubling contradiction, one of many TSA oddities I deal with every week on my consumer advocacy site. Agents are supposedly trained not to profile passengers — to treat each one in exactly the same way — yet they also do profile passengers because of the TSA's institutional locker-room culture.
This problem probably can't be undone by an act of Congress or a few protests. But you have the power to stop it. Here's what you should consider doing if you're part of the 51 percent who, like Nagelis, is vulnerable to being profiled in this unfortunate way.
Take a few sartorial precautions. I asked my better half, who is a woman, how to avoid getting ogled at the screening area. Watch what you wear, she advised. Far be it from me to tell anyone how to dress. But loose-fitting clothes and shoes tend to be more comfortable on a plane, and they generally draw less attention from the blueshirts, at least according to my well-traveled partner.
Avoid private screenings. There's no telling what goes on behind closed doors. It's better to have the whole world watching your "enhanced" pat-down. At least you'll have witnesses if something goes wrong.
Know your rights. You do have rights when you're being screened by the TSA (even if they're not always respected). The most important one to remember is: You have the right to be screened by someone of your sex. Here are a few other frequently-asked questions about the process.
Say something now. If your pat-down is making you uncomfortable, then step away and ask for a supervisor. Sometimes, the best solution is for another screener to finish the pat-down.
Report it. The TSA benefits from the fact that it operates primarily at airports, and the passengers it screens usually just want to make it to their flight without delay. Screening incidents often get swept under the rug. Don't let that happen. Here's where to file your complaint.
Like many TSA critics, I believe the agency should stop pretending it doesn't profile passengers. Instead, it should focus on the air travelers who are likeliest to present a threat to flight safety and leave the rest alone. Actually, most of the screening work should be done long before anyone arrives at the airport, but that's a concept that the reactive, slow-to-change, institutionally sexist TSA can't seem to get its latex blue gloves around.
At least not yet.
Should the TSA engage in profiling, if it improves security?
Posted in Security Tagged AIRPORT, DISQUS, LIVEFYRE, TSA


text: Q: Copy issues using vscode I downloaded a document "initializr". I created a directory Git-Class on Desktop. I get into Git-Class and I'm trying to copy initializr from the Download directory to past it where I am in Git-Class using vscode on my Mac by running " cp -r initializr /users/administrator/Downloads ." I keep getting the "No such file or directory and on the directory's name and on the path's name. However when I run the "ls" command in Git-Class it will show nothing and when I run the copy command again "ls" will show the "Downloads directory" instead of just "initializr" that I'm looking for and that's in "Downloads"


Super Mario Brothers have a lot of different artwork, designs and toys created for it, and this beautiful Matryoshka dolls set is not an exception to good quality of NES art. It is a wonderful art creation that gives a sense of Low Tech to the different Nintendo art we are used to, including some old fashion style and a definite vintage touch.
Cmsturmhous has posted this handmade Matryoshka dolls set (aka Russian dolls) showing the great colors of all the different characters we know so well. From Mario and Luigi leading the clan, the princess is present, along with Bowser, Toad, the turtle, and the additional enemies we become fond of.
At some of the closeups, it does look as if these truly open up and swallow the smaller doll up inside, thus storing all of the dolls within Super Mario. I am waiting to see if this kind of art will also be made for other classic such as Zelda, though Mario's belly really makes these as a convenient storing place.


Tribe-owned land off State Road in Aquinnah is planned site for bingo hall.
Aquinnah selectmen sent a letter to the chairman of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) this week requesting a meeting to discuss the tribe's plans to build a bingo hall.
"The town, in order to fulfill its regulatory and public safety functions, needs to understand the proposed scope and size of the facility and its potential impacts, including expected traffic volumes, whether the tribe intends to serve any form of alcohol and other related issues," the letter says in part.
At a meeting Wednesday attended by two of the three selectmen, board members announced they would send the letter to chairman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais.
On Friday morning, town administrator Jeffrey Madison said the letter had been hand delivered to tribal headquarters.
Selectmen said the letter was written by town counsel Ronald Rappaport following an executive session on August 28.
Last month the gaming arm of the tribe announced plans to partner with an Oklahoma Native American gaming operation for the bingo hall.
Global Gaming Solutions, a hospitality enterprise owned by the Chickasaw Nation, is the new partner in the venture, the brief announcement said.
Few details were offered about the venture, but according to reports from tribal members who attended a membership meeting last month, Global Gaming Solutions has agreed to an initial investment of $12 million to build a 10,000-square-foot bingo facility that will employ 100 people.
Plans reportedly call for the bingo hall to be open year-round and located on a 17-acre piece of land that abuts State Road between Moshup Trail and Black Brook Road. The land was purchased in 2014 and accepted into trust on behalf of the tribe last year by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The property is still undeveloped.
The letter delivered to Ms. Andrews-Maltais on Friday makes it clear that this is not the first time the town has requested a meeting with the tribe to discuss the bingo hall.
At the meeting Wednesday selectmen said that they had received no communication from the tribe regarding their course of action.
Two Aquinnah residents who attended the meeting expressed confusion about the latest developments regarding the proposed bingo hall.
"So you don't know what the intention of the tribe is?" asked Marsha Shufrin.
Another person asked about assessing the proposed facility's environmental and financial impact on the town.
"Well, I don't mean to be trite, but their business plan is really none of our business," Mr. Newman replied.
"At this point in time, it remains to be seen what we can ask for. This is a sovereign nation, this is federal land, so my belief would be that they will uphold federal standards," he added.
Selectman Juli Vanderhoop did not attend the meeting but did later sign the letter along with Mr. Newman and selectman Gary Haley.
The tribe was cleared to operate a class II (bingo) gambling facility by a federal appeals court early this year after a protracted legal battle with the town and a taxpayer group came to an end. At the time Ms. Andrews-Maltais said a bingo facility would be up and running by this summer.
The press release from the tribe last month noted that the Chickasaw Tribe has designed and opened more than 30 casinos, including with electronic games.
On its website, Global Gaming Solutions features two multimillion-dollar horse racing resorts it has developed in Oklahoma and Texas.
How is this going to be good for anyone in Aquinnah, MA? If we "follow the money," we see a bunch of dead end jobs and gamblers drawn to a remote location. What productivity will be there? Who expects a net benefit after weighing in the community challenges that come with gambling development?
10,000 square feet? ha! If this happens, it will be a very strange sight.
Is there no end to the insanity? As Native Americans (for those few of you local Wampanoag Tribal Members misguided enough to be for this ridiculous idea of a gaming hall on Martha's Vineyard) your prime objective ought to be PRESERVING the spirit and original nature of your land. Sacred Land which you have been given the honor of stewarding for future generations. Clearly, you have lost your way. This proposal of a gaming hall on island will destroy the pure character of Aquinnah which true Wampanoags cherish and all islanders love so dearly. Is that what you want? To destroy the last precious piece of sanctity we have on Martha's Vineyard where many who love her believe the true soul of the island dwells? I urge you to rethink this. Think very carefully. This is wrong for so many reasons and simply should not happen. To not protect the peace and beauty and sacredness of Aquinnah is a violation of what it means to be Native American. This gaming hall no more belongs on the Vineyard than does McDonald's. The gaming hall belongs on the mainland, not in our beloved Aquinnah. STOP. THINK. DO THE RIGHT THING. THINK OF YOUR ANCESTORS AND YOUR CHILDREN AND YOUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN. PROTECT AQUINNAH NOW. AS NATIVE AMERICANS WHO HAVE LIVED HERE AS THE ORIGINAL PEOPLES WITHOUT INTERRUPTION FOR MANY MANY GENERATIONS, YOU ARE GUARDIANS OF THE SPIRIT OF AQUINNAH. PLEASE COME TO YOUR SENSES.
This whole thing is an abomination and must not be allowed to happen.
I cannot believe that a sane person, or community, would contemplate such a development. Years and years have been expended to preserve the beauty of Moshup Trail for everyone. But the primary beneficiaries of this effort have been the residents of Aquinnah, who get to enjoy the unique beauty of their town 24/7. The proposed monstrosity outdoes all other Big House pretensions on Martha's Vineyard. FOR SHAME. Is this the kind of development that the Tribe thinks will prove its "nation" status to the rest of the world? Why else befoul one's own nest?
Either there is extreme apathy on the part of island online Gazette readers or someone isn't doing their job over at the Gazette making sure comments to this critical island issue get posted in a timely fashion. Which is it?
The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) may go into the gambling business.


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Overwatch • Nov 01, 2018
Does this monster Overwatch statue hint at big news coming at BlizzCon?
Bill Cooney
This year at BlizzCon, there will be a nine-foot-tall D.Va mech made out of thousands of Lego bricks watching over the proceedings.
LEGO constructed the gargantuan statue out of 145,276 LEGO bricks, of which, 48,853 are pink and altogether the monster weighs a whopping 1,256 lbs. That's a lot of D.Va.
With such a massive homage to Overwatch on display, it would make sense for Blizzard to announce some big Overwatch news as well, just what that news could be though has been the subject of intense speculation leading up to this weekend.
One theory is that there will be a new PvE story mode introduced, which could follow D.Va on a mission with the MEKA squad, introduced with the Busan map and D.Va's "Shooting Star" cinematic short.
Read More: The name of the Paris Overwatch League franchise might have been leaked
There wouldn't be better a way of introducing a new D.Va-focused game mode then to have a massive D.Va statue watching over BlizzCon.
There's bound to be some big things announced at BlizzCon, but fans will have to wait until Friday and the start of BlizzCon to find out what they actually are.
Read More: 3 Overwatch announcements we could see at BlizzCon 2018
BlizzCon begins at 11 am PT with the Opening Ceremonies, and there's a block of time from 1:30 pm to 2:15 pm PT especially for Overwatch news. Only fans who purchase a virtual ticket will be able to stream the event after the opening ceremony.


Team: Burton, Smith, Phillips, Holmes, Westray, Carpenter, Musslewhite (Fletcher 75), Stephenson (Evans 45), Richards (Anderson 59), Easthope, Molineux.
Good result and a clean sheet, we should be happy but!!
The tempo that we played at was far too slow therefore not allowing us to gain momentum and control the game. Both sides were limited to view attempts in the first half with only Molineux shooting over on 15 minutes and Vale hitting the bar on 26 minutes from a soft attempt was the story of the first half.
Changes at half time slightly changed the tempo but overall a poor slow game throughout summed things up. Burton made one very good save when the Vale striker was through 1v1 and inevitably it was a mistake from the Vale defence to release Sam Molineux through down the right for him to calmly go round the stranded keeper and slot into an empty net for the only goal of the game on 76 minutes.
Overall the boys know they can perform better which they will need to do this Saturday v Hull at the Sports Village (12 noon kick-off) but will increase confidence with another win.


Started by Marisa Lomonaco. Last reply by Marisa Lomonaco Mar 4, 2010.
Started by Sai Corson Oct 23, 2009.
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Hi...wondering if there's a problem with the website or ??
Does anyone know what has happened to the elevator key, the lift key, the key to the moving room?


Mali Mish – Days 49-53: Las Vegas, Nevada.
Days 49-53: Las Vegas, Nevada.
We left Zion after dark and made the 150 mile drive to Las Vegas for a night of boondocking before checking into one of its many cheap, full-hookup RV parks for a few days while we take things a little slower before heading back to Southern California for a friend's wedding.
There are a handful of places to boondock in Las Vegas. With as many casinos as there are, only a couple of them offer overnight parking for RVs.
We have often camped at the side parking lot of the Orleans Casino but this time, we opted to be just off the strip behind Bally's.
It is not a real glamorous spot as many tour buses and big rigs are also here. If you are just passing through for the night and wanted to spend some time walking around the strip, this is a pretty good spot.
The next day, we drove over the Sam's Town RV Park and got a full hookup site for a few nights. This is our first full hookup site since we left Bozeman and we needed it. It is hot here in Las Vegas so we plan on running the AC for most of the days.
We pretty much switched right into Vegas mode the moment we got here. Instead of hiking, exploring and learning, we just eat, eat and eat some more. This is Luka's second time at a Steak N Shake but first time big enough to eat anything here.
We also went to more buffets than we could count. There are lots of awesome buffets in town but even more mediocre ones at ridiculously cheap prices. For breakfast, we hit up a few of them for only $4.99 per person. With Luka being free, that means all five of us eat for about $20. We'd spend more money eating fast food.
Warm weather also means swimming. This is the girls' favorite thing to do. They have been askied by many people where their favorite place to visit is after seeing most of the country. It is a little embarrassing that they say Las Vegas 9 times out of 10.
Do you think Luka has had a little too many trips to the buffet? He is having trouble keeping that belly in his shirt.
Our stay in Vegas does not involve a whole lot of exploring. When we are not eating and swimming, we are inside enjoying our rare full hook up site either working or watching TV.
Along the route we also missed a lot of great places but we will make sure to eventually go back for them.
We are making our way back to California to attend a friend's wedding for a week but will be shortly departing to attend the 2013 Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.
After learning how to repack bearings from Josh's accident in Yellowstone, I also bought all of the parts needed to repack my own bearings while we are here. It is a really handy skill to have as an Airstream owner and when I have some extra time, I will write a post with step-by-step instructions of what I learned.
As we checked out of Sam's Town to begin our way drive back towards Los Angeles, we stopped at Costco and got new tires for the Airstream. We got new tires in Cedar City in 2012 and have driven across to the east coast and back and now up to Canada and back again. Instead of replacing them with standard trailer tires, we decided to try Michelin LTX light truck tires instead. Because they are not the recommended tires from the manufacturer, Costco will only install them if I bring the wheels in. It's a bit of a hassle but I just run each axle up 3 leveling blocks and remove two wheels at a time and got it done. So far they are running great. I will give a long term report once I have more miles on them.
We decided to go for one more swim before we hit the road for the long drive. The girls have always loved the pool at the Silverton Casino not for any particuar reason except that we have been known to stay entire weeks there during the summer for their cheap midweek room rates.
Of course they also have the coolest bowling alley in all of Las Vegas made of a custom Airstream.
We finally wrapped up our summer trip to Canada as we started to make our way back in the evening. Next up, Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque!
An Introductory Guide to Boondocking.
5 Responses to Days 49-53: Las Vegas, Nevada.
You'll like the Michelin LTXs, I think. Mine are going on six years old and well over 30,000 miles, and still look new. Not one puncture, tread separation, or other problem. Tread is still deep. It seems a shame, but they'll need to be replaced this fall just for age. Otherwise they look good for many more years.
I am loving them so far. I have probably 3-5,000 miles on them so far and like yours, I am seeing no noticeable wear. I have not thought much about my trailer tires since I got them which is not something I can say about my previous sets. I don't believe I will be wearing them out before the rubber goes bad on them either but I will try.
I am looking forward to your instructions on repacking the bearings. I have paid for this service at Jackson Center for the past four years and am getting to the point where I need to man up and do the job myself. I was just in Jackson Center this morning dropping off my Airstream to address a leak below my shower. That should be cheap. Well at least they do good work. Chris from Airstrean says hello. I think you are his favorite Dan.