text:
Q: Playing DRM protected content offline I need to play DRM protected content offline. I two files stored in local storage; a dash file that points to the an mp4 file in the same directory.
The file's key is also stored in a database and retrieved when playback is initiated.
However, after building the DRM session, the following error is thrown:
playerFailed [1.04]
com.google.android.exoplayer2.ExoPlaybackException
    at com.google.android.exoplayer2.mediacodec.MediaCodecRenderer.feedInputBuffer(MediaCodecRenderer.java:691)
    at com.google.android.exoplayer2.mediacodec.MediaCodecRenderer.render(MediaCodecRenderer.java:507)
    at com.google.android.exoplayer2.ExoPlayerImplInternal.doSomeWork(ExoPlayerImplInternal.java:466)
    at com.google.android.exoplayer2.ExoPlayerImplInternal.handleMessage(ExoPlayerImplInternal.java:300)
    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:98)
    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:148)
    at android.os.HandlerThread.run(HandlerThread.java:61)
    at com.google.android.exoplayer2.util.PriorityHandlerThread.run(PriorityHandlerThread.java:40)
 Caused by: android.media.MediaCodec$CryptoException: Error decrypting data: requested key has not been loaded
    at android.media.MediaCodec.native_queueSecureInputBuffer(Native Method)
    at android.media.MediaCodec.queueSecureInputBuffer(MediaCodec.java:2292)
    at com.google.android.exoplayer2.mediacodec.MediaCodecRenderer.feedInputBuffer(MediaCodecRenderer.java:682)
    at com.google.android.exoplayer2.mediacodec.MediaCodecRenderer.render(MediaCodecRenderer.java:507)
    at com.google.android.exoplayer2.ExoPlayerImplInternal.doSomeWork(ExoPlayerImplInternal.java:466)
    at com.google.android.exoplayer2.ExoPlayerImplInternal.handleMessage(ExoPlayerImplInternal.java:300)
    at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:98)
    at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:148)
    at android.os.HandlerThread.run(HandlerThread.java:61)
    at com.google.android.exoplayer2.util.PriorityHandlerThread.run(PriorityHandlerThread.java:40)

I use this block to check whether a given track has a key or not before requesting for a new one.
private DrmSessionManager<FrameworkMediaCrypto> buildDrmSessionManager(UUID uuid, String licenseURL,
                                                                           Map<String, String> keyRequestProperties) throws UnsupportedDrmException {
        HttpMediaDrmCallback drmCallback = new HttpMediaDrmCallback(licenseURL, buildHttpDataSourceFactory(false), keyRequestProperties);

        defaultDrmSessionManager = new DefaultDrmSessionManager<>(uuid, FrameworkMediaDrm.newInstance(uuid), drmCallback, null, mainHandler, eventLogger);

        if (track != null) {
            DrmKey key = realm.where(DrmKey.class).equalTo("trackId", track.getId()).findFirst();

            Log.e("TrackId", track.getId());

            if (key != null) {
                byte[] offlineKeySetId = Base64.decode(key.getRequestKey(), Base64.DEFAULT);
                defaultDrmSessionManager.setMode(DefaultDrmSessionManager.MODE_QUERY, offlineKeySetId);
                Log.e("Key", key.getRequestKey());

                Log.e(MusicService.class.getSimpleName(), "OfflineKeySet already defined, using the existing one : " + key.getRequestKey());
            } else {
                defaultDrmSessionManager.setMode(DefaultDrmSessionManager.MODE_DOWNLOAD, null);
                Log.e(MusicService.class.getSimpleName(), "Offline key not defined, retrieving a new licence");
            }
        }

        return defaultDrmSessionManager;
    }

For all the offline files I try to play, the key is always available. Why then is it that exoplayer fails to play any of the files?

A: I figured that I had a key mismatch hence the error. The file played when served with the correct key.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Indian Navy test-fired the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, from the Navy's stealth destroyer INS Kochi. The supersonic missile successfully hit a decommissioned target ship in Arabian Sea. Moreover, the second ship of Project 15-A 'Kolkata-class' guided missile destroyer test-fired advanced missile during a naval drill in west coast.
Earlier the BrahMos missile has been successfully test fired twice from INS Kolkata, (one in June 2014 and February 2015) and one successful test firing has been from INS Kochi in November 2015. The recent test firing from INS Kochi has now re-validated ship's precise strike capability.
About BRAHMOS Supersonic Cruise Missile
It has been jointly developed by India and Russia and has been in service with Indian Navy since 2005. It is world's fastest cruise missile and has a strike-range of over 290 km. It successfully hit decommissioned target ship with high precision after performing extremely complex manoeuvres.
BRAHMOS missile have supersonic speed of Mach 2.8. It also has a very low-cruising altitude of 10 metres at terminal phase and pin-point accuracy which has made the warship one of deadliest in Indian Navy fleet.
Brahmos as prime strike weapon will ensure Naval warship's invincibility by engaging naval surface targets at long ranges. This will thus make destroyer the another lethal platform of Indian Navy.
About INS Kochi
Indian Navy commissioned INS Kochi on 30 September 2015. It is a 7,500-ton warship which is indigenously designed and constructed. It incorporates new design concepts for improved manoeuvrability, stealth, survivability, and sea-keeping. Besides carrying other sophisticated weapons and sensors, the INS Kochi warship has enhanced capability of carrying a total of 16 BRAHMOS missiles in two 8-cell vertical launch systems.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Thank you very much to Tim Noah and his Thumbnail Theater in Snohomish, Washington. The website for his theater, "your cozy home for the performing arts," states: "Friday Nights are Open Mic @ The Thumb!" And that's where I debuted my first stand-up comedy performance.
It's a family-friendly venue. So at the end of our performance, the emcee gave me the biggest compliment. He said, "You have the ability to know right where the line was, and step up to it." But not cross over it.
I had been to the open mic at the Thumbnail Theater before, but not as a performer. So I knew that the performers almost always were musicians. I never saw a comic. That's why we included a musical theme in our act, because that's what the audience was expecting, and it was also a little reminiscent of the Smothers Brothers.
So when I was signing up for the open mic, I asked if it's all right to do stand-up comedy. Of course, they said, within certain guidelines; however, no comic had ever succeeded in finishing his act before getting removed from the stage – due to being too crude and vulgar.
That's why the emcee's comment to me was such a big compliment. I am the first stand-up comic not to get kicked off the stage of the Thumbnail Theater!
I definitely enjoyed it, but it was also hard work – the writing, refining and rehearsing. My son and I rehearsed every Tuesday night for about an hour for over a month. After I put together the original draft, then the rehearsals helped us either eliminate or polish the lame spots.
I was very pleased with this performance. While I was up there at the mic, I could tell from their responses that I really did have the audience with me.
This is a much shorter set because Curious Comedy's open mic has a three-minute time limit. It is completely different from the routine that I performed in Snohomish. But most people tell me that this performance is far better than my first one.
*I have launched my channel on YouTube, called Lee Cuesta Live, which looks like this: "leecuestalive." By typing this into the search-bar at YouTube, you'll easily be able to find my two comedy performances. And there will be more videos and performances coming from me on this channel!


text:
Q: Is GNU make wildcard able to match more complex patterns, like a regexp for example? Let's say I have the following wildcard matches in a makefile:
data-files = $(wildcard $(ptdf)/*.png) \
    $(wildcard $(ptdf)/*.gif) \
    $(wildcard $(ptdf)/*.bmp) \
    $(wildcard $(ptdf)/*.jpg) \
    $(wildcard $(ptdf)/*.ico) \
    $(wildcard $(ptdf)/*.dist) \
    $(wildcard $(ptdf)/*.html)

Can the wildcard syntax give me the power to match, for example, file names containing from 1 to 2 letters, as the regexp \w{1,2} would do? With no filename extension?
If not, how can I do that with other syntax with linux command (such as find, etc)?

A: Downloading the source code and grepping for wildcard, we find the definition of the function on line 1332 of function.c—wildcard calls string_glob, which just does globbing, not regular expressions. And grepping the source code for regex turns up nothing :/
Since make has no built-in regex function, we'll have to use an external command. grepping for regex on the find(1) man page shows that the following will work:
data-files = $(shell find . -regextype posix-extended -regex '.*\.\w{1,2}')


text:
Q: Sending a graphql response from Guardian error handler when using Absinthe I have a Phoenix app with Absinthe for a Graphql API.
Guardian is used to authenticate requests that provide a Bearer token in the header. This is all working great until an invalid token is provided. I have specified an error handler in my Guardian pipeline and it currently just responds with a 401 http response:
def auth_error(conn, {type, _reason}, _opts) do
    body = to_string(type)

    conn
    |> put_resp_content_type("text/plain")
    |> send_resp(401, body)
end

This is not friendly for any graphql client and my resolvers don't really care if the token is invalid as they have their own checks to see if the user is provided in the context.
Is there a way to continue the pipeline from the error handler if the token is invalid so I can just give a proper graphql response?

A: My suggestion is creating a Plug that will validate the Bearer token and set the current user on the context. Then you can write an Absinthe.Middleware to verify the current user presence and set an error if it is not present.
Also, take a look on blunder-absinthe for better errors.


text:
10-та окрема бригада спеціального призначення  — формування військ спеціального призначення Збройних сил Російської Федерації чисельністю у бригаду. Підпорядковується ГУ ГШ ЗС РФ. Дислокується на хуторі Молькін у межах муніципального району міста Гарячий Ключ Краснодарського краю у Південному військовому окрузі.

Історія
Бригада була створена в 2003 році, коли у Молькін було передислоковано особовий і командний склад військових частин 46266 і 11659. В Росії вона стала вважатися правонаступницею радянської 10-ї бригади спеціального призначення, хоча не має до неї відношення.

У 2004 році бригада вела бойові дії у Чечні. 2011 року бригаду нагороджено орденом Жукова.

На базі бригади на хуторі Молькін розташований тренувальний табір «Молькіно» приватної військової компанії Вагнера, де російські найманці готуються перед «відрядженнями», зокрема, до України та Сирії.

Склад
До складу бригади входять:
 85-й, 95-й, 104-й та 551-й окремі загони спеціального призначення (у кожному 3 роти),
 загін спецрадіозв'язку (2 роти),
 школа молодших спеціалістів (2 навчальні роти),
 рота спецозброєння (включно зі взвод БПЛА),
 рота матеріального забезпечення,
 рота технічного забезпечення,
 рота охорони й супроводу,
 рота медичного забезпечення,
 управлінські підрозділи.

Втрати
Із відкритих джерел відомо про деякі втрати бригади:

Російсько-грузинська війна:

Російсько-українська війна:

Озброєння
 25 од. БТР-80
 12 од. ГАЗ-233014 СТС Тигр
 Iveco LMV Рись
 10 од. Урал-63095 «Тайфун-У».

Джерела
 10-я отдельная бригада специального назначения ГРУ (в/ч 51532)
 Южный военный округ (ЮВО)

Примітки

Бригади спеціального призначення Росії
Південний військовий округ
Військові формування у Краснодарському краї
Гарячий Ключ
Військові формування, засновані 2003
Кадрові формування ЗС РФ у російсько-українській війні (з 2014)
Кадрові формування ЗС РФ у російсько-грузинській війні (2008)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Home » News » Novartis US Foundation Supports Telehealth Programs for Access for NJ's Vulnerable Communities
Novartis US Foundation Supports Telehealth Programs for Access for NJ's Vulnerable Communities
The Novartis US Foundation announced that a grant provided to the New Jersey Primary Care Association (NJPCA) made it possible to launch five new telehealth programs for community health centers in the state. These telehealth programs provide virtual primary and specialty care, including mental health services, to New Jersey's most vulnerable citizens, the underserved and the uninsured, and has enabled the centers to continue providing these services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Telehealth Innovation Pilot Grant Program was awarded in February to NJPCA, which represents 23 community health centers and 133 satellite healthcare facilities throughout New Jersey. Five community health centers awarded grants to implement pilot telehealth programs are now serving as guides for health centers across the state.
"Telemedicine is critical for Community Health Centers in New Jersey to meet the primary and specialty care needs of the over half a million patients we serve. The importance of telehealth programs has been underscored by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite a dramatic drop in patient volume due to COVID-19, our pilot centers are utilizing telehealth for 70-90% of their visits, in many instances," said Selina Haq, PhD, Interim Executive Director of the New Jersey Primary Care Association. "The grant from the Novartis US Foundation made it possible to get telehealth programs off the ground quickly since the five participating health centers already had robust plans in place and the necessary resources to implement them."


text:
UNITED STATES v. ROSS
UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Leroy ROSS, Appellant.
Before MURPHY, MELLOY, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges. Manvir Kaur Atwal, AFPD, Minneapolis, MN, for Appellant. Lee Ann K. Bell, AUSA, Minneapolis, MN, for Appellee.
Leroy Ross pled guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Ross appeals the district court's 1 ruling that his prior drug offenses were separate convictions triggering a mandatory minimum sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act ("ACCA"), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1). We affirm.
On September 20, 2007, while executing a search warrant on Ross's residence, officers from the Minneapolis Police Department found a Smith and Wesson, Model SW9VE, 9mm handgun. Police also found ammunition in his bedroom closet. A grand jury subsequently indicted Ross on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), to which Ross pled guilty on January 4, 2008. The Presentence Investigation Report ("PSR") determined that Ross was subject to the mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years imposed by 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1) as a result of a previous conviction for aggravated assault in Minnesota and convictions for two counts of first-degree drug trafficking in Kentucky. Ross conceded that his conviction for aggravated assault was a predicate offense for purposes of section 924(e), but objected that his convictions for drug trafficking should be counted as a single offense.
Ross's previous drug offenses stem from a conviction for two counts of first-degree drug trafficking in Kentucky in 2001.2 The two counts were charged in the same indictment and arose out of sales of crack cocaine to the same police informant on February 8, 2001, and February 11, 2001. On February 8, 2001, a police informant conducted a controlled buy of crack cocaine from Ross at the home of a woman named Sandra Brown in Warsaw, Kentucky. The informant had arranged the transaction through a man known as "Dre." Three days later, the same informant contacted Dre to arrange another narcotics transaction. Dre directed the informant to Brown's mother's home, where the informant purchased crack cocaine from Ross as he sat in the passenger's seat of a car driven by Brown.
The district court found that the drug offenses constituted two separate convictions. As a result of these two offenses and his conviction for aggravated assault, the court found that Ross had three previous violent felony or serious drug offense convictions. Accordingly, the court determined that Ross was an armed career criminal under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e) and sentenced him to the mandatory minimum of 180 months imprisonment.
"We review de novo whether a prior conviction is a predicate offense under the ACCA." United States v. Van, 543 F.3d 963, 966 (8th Cir.2008). Section 924(e)(1) provides that for a person unlawfully in possession of a firearm who "has three previous convictions ․ for a violent felony or a serious drug offense, or both, committed on occasions different from one another, such person shall be ․ imprisoned not less than fifteen years․" Ross contends the separate drug sales constituted a single offense because they were charged in the same indictment and the drugs involved "were sold to the same person (the same [informant] ), with the same participants (Mr. Ross and Dre), the same basic location (home and car of Sandra Brown), the same motive, modus operandi and during the same short time frame of three days." (Appellant's Br. 9-10.)
We have rejected this argument in virtually identical factual situations. As we stated in Van, "[w]e have repeatedly held that convictions for separate drug transactions on separate days are multiple ACCA predicate offenses, even if the transactions were sales to the same victim or informant." 543 F.3d at 966 (holding that narcotics sales to the same informant seven days apart were separate offenses). In addition, "[w]e repeatedly have held criminal episodes underlying convictions trigger application of the ACCA, not the date of the convictions or the number of trials or pleas resulting in those convictions." United States v. Mason, 440 F.3d 1056, 1057 (8th Cir.2006). Thus, the fact that Ross was charged with two counts of a "serious drug offense" in the same indictment does not affect the underlying separateness of the two offenses. Second, the prior drug offenses did not occur at "the same basic location" as Ross contends-one occurred in Brown's vehicle in front of her mother's residence, and one occurred at Brown's home. Third, Ross's claim that his prior drug offenses should be treated as the same episode because they involved the same motive and modus operandi is belied by the fact that many of the offenses we have treated as distinct criminal episodes involved the same motive or modus operandi. See Van, 543 F.3d at 966; Mason, 440 F.3d at 1058; United States v. Turner, 431 F.3d 332, 337-38 (8th Cir.2005) (holding that two robberies in different cities three days apart were separate criminal episodes); United States v. Speakman, 330 F.3d 1080, 1081-83 (8th Cir.2003) (holding that consolidated proceeding on three drug charges arising from sales within a one-month period constituted separate convictions).3 Thus, Ross's prior convictions for first-degree drug trafficking constitute separate convictions under the ACCA, and the district court correctly enhanced his sentence under section 924(e).
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment below.
1. The Honorable David S. Doty, United States District Judge for the District of Minnesota.
2. First-degree drug trafficking is a Class C felony in Kentucky carrying a maximum ten-year sentence. See Ky.Rev.Stat. §§ 218A. 1412(2)(a), 532.060(2)(c). Thus, a conviction for first-degree drug trafficking in Kentucky meets the definition of "serious drug offense" in 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(A)(ii) (defining "serious drug offense" as "an offense under State law, involving ․ a controlled substance ․ for which a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years or more is prescribed by law").
3. Ross's argument with regard to motive and mode of operation stems from his passing reference to United States v. Hessman, 493 F.3d 977 (8th Cir.2007), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 128 S.Ct. 1100, 169 L.Ed.2d 833 (2008), which outlines the factors relevant to determining separate offenses for the career offender provision in United States Sentencing Guidelines, Guidelines Manual, § 4B 1.1. 493 F.3d at 985 (noting that same motive and modus operandi of previous offenses are relevant factors for determining whether someone is a career offender under USSG § 4B1.1). However, Ross's reliance on Hessman is misplaced because the separateness of prior convictions is evaluated differently for purposes of determining USSG § 4B1.1 career offender and section 924(e) armed career criminal statuses. Compare USSG § 4A1.2 (outlining the factors relevant to separating prior convictions for determining career criminal status under § 4B1.1), with USSG § 4B1.4, comment. (n.1) (noting that § 4A1.2 is not "applicable to the determination of whether a defendant is subject to an enhanced sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)").
SHEPHERD, Circuit Judge.


Vital Signs (a program of Conservation International) gets government decision makers the ecological data they need to make good agriculture policy decisions. They collect and package the right data at the household, plot, and regional level to create a picture of the relationship among agriculture, nature, and human wellbeing. They also create relationships and processes to ensure that data informs decisions.
Alice joined Vital Signs in 2016 from the UNDP, where she led the Global Environment Finance Unit in Africa that raised $600M. She's worked at Uganda's Environment Management Authority, along with Sprint and Forest Trends. She has a Bachelors from Makerere University and a Masters in Agricultural and Applied Economics from the University of Wisconsin.


text:
Editorial : Features
David Michael Smith
by Scott Richards Contemporary Art, San Francisco
by Cherie Louise Turner
David Michael Smith, ''When Icarus Fell, It Was Spring,'' 2011, oil on linen, 29 1/2 x 49 1/2''.
Continuing through March 17, 2012
San Francisco painter David Michael Smith presents a truly beautiful and content-rich body of work in "Elegy," the artist's first solo gallery exhibition. On view are fourteen works (including two studies) that range greatly in size — from a petite 3" by 2 1/4" to a moderately sized 36" by 24," with all the rest of the works falling in between. This gives the show a lively rhythm that plays well off the intricacy and movement of the collection.
Exceptionally well painted, the works are finely detailed allegories that weave together abundant Catholic symbolism, endangered wildlife, and pop imagery to address the current topic of our changing environment — specifically climate change and threatened species.
The works are at times grand and dramatic, while at other times gently innocent, always stopping just short of becoming heavy-handed or outright sad. Smith is well versed in the effectiveness of the Catholic tradition of combining beauty and tragedy, and he wields it well here. Humor is also used effectively to lighten what could, in some cases, easily become a morose visual dirge. Not to be overlooked are the several instances in which the artist has presented his work in ornate handcrafted frames that give them a sculptural quality.
In the artist interview published in the exhibition catalog, Smith sums up a central driving force in his work when he states, "I think the traditional principles of beauty in art — like harmony, composition, line, color — still resonate with people on a subconscious level. I find people respond to the lushness, the sensuality of a beautifully painted surface." "Elegy" resonates and provides plenty to respond to.
Scott Richards Contemporary Art
Complete guide to fine art venues of the Western United States
By venue name:
# | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | ALL
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Estampa, one of the most vibrant junior apparel stores in Panamá, offering fashion forward merchandise, sought RGLA to redesign their stores and make a louder statement about their trendsetter position in the marketplace. With a literally edgy storefront featuring full height, folded glass, RGLA's design brings attitude and character to the store environment which makes a consistent statement to Estampa's edgy advertising campaigns. The design incorporates a horizontally folded wall in Shoes and a vertically folded wall in Denim to create a juxtaposed continuity from storefront to the environment. A dash of sparkle and luminescence, as well as bright colorful accents and unique fixtures create a trend focal at entry enticing customers in to experience the new Estampa.


text:
News J-WAFS announces 2022 seed grant recipients
The grants total over $1 million in support of research that addresses issues in the water and food sectors.
Carolyn Blais Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab May 20, 2022
The Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) at MIT has awarded eight MIT researchers with 2022 J-WAFS seed grants. The grants support innovative MIT projects that have the potential to make significant advancements in water and food.
The only program at MIT that is dedicated to water- and food-related research, J-WAFS has offered seed grant funding to MIT principal investigators and their teams for the past eight years. The grants provide up to $75,000 per year, overhead free, for two years to support new, early-stage research in areas such as water and food security, safety, supply, and sustainability. Past projects have spanned many diverse disciplines, including engineering, science, technology, and business innovation, as well as social science and economics, architecture, and urban planning.
Seven new projects led by eight researchers will be supported this year. With funding going to four different MIT departments, the projects address a range of challenges by employing advanced materials, technology innovations, and new approaches to resource management. The new projects aim to remove harmful chemicals from water sources, develop drought monitoring systems for farmers, improve management of the shellfish industry, optimize water purification materials, and more.
"Climate change, the pandemic, and most recently the war in Ukraine have exacerbated and put a spotlight on the serious challenges facing global water and food systems," says J-WAFS director, John H. Lienhard. He adds, "The proposals chosen this year have the potential to create measurable, real-world impacts in both the water and food sectors."
The 2022 J-WAFS seed grant researchers and their projects are listed below.
Gang Chen, the Carl Richard Soderberg Professor of Power Engineering in MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering, is using sunlight to desalinate water. The use of solar energy for desalination is not a new idea, particularly solar thermal evaporation methods. However, the solar thermal evaporation process has an overall low efficiency because it relies on breaking hydrogen bonds among individual water molecules, which is very energy-intensive. Chen and his lab recently discovered a photomolecular effect that dramatically lowers the energy required for desalination.
The bonds among water molecules inside a water cluster in liquid water are mostly hydrogen bonds. Chen discovered that a photon with energy larger than the bonding energy between the water cluster and the remaining water liquids can cleave off the water cluster at the water-air interface, colliding with air molecules and disintegrating into 60 or even more individual water molecules. This effect has the potential to significantly boost clean water production via new desalination technology that produces a photomolecular evaporation rate that exceeds pure solar thermal evaporation by at least ten-fold.
John E. Fernández is the director of the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative and a professor in the Department of Architecture, and also affiliated with the Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Fernández is working with Scott D. Odell, a post-doctoral associate in the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, to better understand the impacts of mining and climate change in water-stressed regions of Chile.
The country of Chile is one of the world's largest exporters of both agricultural and mineral products, however little research has been done on climate change effects at the intersection of these two sectors. Fernández and Odell will explore how desalination is being deployed by the mining industry to relieve pressure on continental water supplies in Chile, and with what effect. They will also research how climate change and mining intersect to affect Andean glaciers and agricultural communities dependent upon them. The researchers intend for this work to inform policies to reduce social and environmental harms from mining, desalination, and climate change.
Ariel L. Furst is the Raymond (1921) & Helen St. Laurent Career Development Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT. Her 2022 J-WAFS seed grant project seeks to effectively remove dangerous and long-lasting chemicals from water supplies and other environmental areas.
Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a component of Teflon, is a member of a group of chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These man-made chemicals have been extensively used in consumer products like non-stick cooking pans. Exceptionally high levels of PFOA have been measured in water sources near manufacturing sites, which is problematic as these chemicals do not readily degrade in our bodies or the environment. The majority of humans have detectable levels of PFAS in their blood, which can lead to significant health issues including cancer, liver damage, and thyroid effects, as well as developmental effects in infants. Current remediation methods are limited to inefficient capture and remain limited mostly to a laboratory setting. Furst's proposed method utilizes low-energy, scaffolded enzyme materials to move beyond simple capture to degrade these hazardous pollutants.
Heather J. Kulik is an associate professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT, is developing novel computational strategies to identify optimal materials for purifying water. Water treatment requires purification by selectively separating small ions from water. However, man-made, scalable materials for water purification and desalination are often not stable in typical operating conditions and lack precision pores for good separation.
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are promising materials for water purification because their pores can be tailored to have precise shapes and chemical makeup for selective ion affinity. Yet few MOFs have been assessed for their properties relevant to water purification. Kulik plans to use virtual high-throughput screening (VHTS) accelerated by machine learning (ML) models and molecular simulation to accelerate discovery of MOFs. Specifically, Kulik will be looking for MOFs with ultra-stable structures in water that do not break down at certain temperatures.
Gregory C. Rutledge is the Lammot du Pont Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT. He is leading a project that will explore how to better separate oils from water. This is an important problem to solve given that industry-generated oil-contaminated water is a major source of pollution to the environment.
Emulsified oils are particularly challenging to remove from water due to their small droplet sizes and long settling times. Microfiltration is an attractive technology for the removal of emulsified oils, but its major drawback is fouling, or the accumulation of unwanted material on solid surfaces. Rutledge will examine the mechanism of separation behind liquid-infused membranes (LIMs) in which an infused liquid coats the surface and pores of the membrane, preventing fouling. Robustness of the LIM technology for removal of different types of emulsified oils and oil mixtures will be evaluated.
César Terrer is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering whose J-WAFS project seeks to answer the question: how can satellite images be used to provide a high-resolution drought monitoring system for farmers?
Drought is recognized as one of the world's most pressing issues, with direct impacts on vegetation that threaten water resources and food production globally. However, assessing and monitoring the impact of droughts on vegetation is extremely challenging as plants' sensitivity to lack of water varies across species and ecosystems. Terrer will leverage a new generation of remote sensing satellites to provide high resolution assessments of plant water stress at regional to global scales. The aim is to provide a plant drought monitoring product with farmland-specific services for water and socioeconomic management.
Michael Triantafyllou is the Henry L. and Grace Doherty Professor in Ocean Science & Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He is developing a web-based system for natural resources management that will deploy geospatial analysis, visualization, and reporting to better manage and facilitate aquaculture data. By providing value to commercial fisheries' permit holders who employ significant numbers of people and also to recreational shellfish permit holders who contribute to local economies, the project has attracted support from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries as well as a number of local resource management departments.
Massachusetts shellfisheries generated roughly $339 million in 2020, accounting for 17% of U.S. East Coast production. Managing such a large industry is a time-consuming process, given there are thousands of acres of coastal areas grouped within over 800 classified shellfish growing areas. Extreme climate events present additional challenges. Triantafyllou's research will help efforts to enforce environmental regulations, support habitat restoration efforts, and prevent shellfish-related food safety issues.


Galactus, France's answer to SpaceX, has just launched a communications satellite into orbit, but the payload actually harbors a frightening weapon: a nuclear-triggered electromagnetic pulse.
When the satellite is in position, Galactus's second-in-command, Dr. Nevaeh Patel, will have the power to lay waste to the world with an EMP. A former astronaut, Patel believes she is following the directions of the Numen, aliens who saved her life when she space-walked outside the International Space Station. She is convinced that with the Holy Grail, just discovered by the owner of Galactus—eccentric treasure hunter Jean-Pierre Broussard—she can be reunited with the Numen, change the world's destiny, and become immortal with them.
With their signature "nonstop action with enough realism to keep you thinking and scare the daylights out of you at the same time" (Suspense Magazine), Coulter and Ellison have created a thriller to take you on a breakneck and breathtaking journey.
The Last Second is packed to the brim with break-neck speed and thrilling suspense.
Whether you love coding, FBI thrillers, space, or fantasy The Last Second has something you'll love. It amazed me how absolutely versatile it is.
One of the things I love most is the lack of steam and foul language, making this suitable for a much larger audience!


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What You Can Expect When School Reopens
Students will return to in-school learning this fall but don't expect a return to pre-pandemic procedures.
The California legislature made it mandatory for districts to offer in-person school as vaccine availability increased, though families will have the option to continue learning from home.
Masks are still required despite recommendations issued recently by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that made them optional for vaccinated people. The CDC also recommended three feet of distance in classrooms which the state department of education said was unrealistic.
Therefore, the California Department of Public Health is pairing mask guidelines with access to testing as their prevention strategy:
California continues to require masks be worn indoors in school settings, to ensure that all kids are treated the same.
Every California school has access to free testing through the state testing program.
COVID-19 in Kids
It's still unclear how many children have been infected with COVID-19 and how dangerous it is because testing has been focused on adults and those at risk for severe illnesses. There is evidence to suggest children can carry the virus just like adults and spread it to others.
It's important to make sure kids have good habits to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. That means reinforcing daily activities like:
Washing hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds
Wearing a mask over the nose and mouth when around people
Avoiding close contact with others, especially those who are sick
Covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue or the crook of an arm
If your children already practice this at home, they should have no problem doing this at school.
Getting Back into a Routine
Nothing has been routine for the last 18 months and it will be a while before we get back to pre-pandemic living. But going back to school means children need their normal school vaccinations. You child's school also needs your current contact information in case of an emergency.
But there will also be some new things to consider to keep your child and those around them, safe. You should:
Check children for signs of illness every day, especially a fever over 100.4, cough, diarrhea, vomiting, or body aches.
Be aware of whom children come in contact with, in case someone tests positive for COVID-19.
Learn whom to contact at the school if your child has been exposed.
Know the local COVID-19 testing sites should your child show symptoms.
Review and practice proper hand-washing techniques at home and explain why they're important.
Develop daily routines of what to pack for school (sanitizer, extra masks, a water bottle) and what to do when they get home (washing hands and masks immediately).
After school, you'll also want to ask questions that go deeper than, "How was your day?" Ask if everyone was in class and wearing their masks, including teachers and staff, and if anyone talked to them about staying safe and practicing good habits. Find out if anyone coughed a lot or had to leave the classroom or school. It's important to be aware of what is happening in their environment at school because it could affect your environment at home.
Coping with Change
AltaMed is available to help you with resources for dealing with COVID-19, including free vaccines. We also provide counseling services to help navigate the stress children may be coping with as they return to school.
Learn how to get started with AltaMed or call us at (888) 499-9303.
For more information about the vaccine or testing, please visit AltaMed.org or call our vaccine hotline at (888) 909-5232.
Get started with AltaMed
See how AltaMed Health Services can help your family grow healthy.
Don't Forget Vaccinations Are Needed for Back to School
Getting kids back in school is important for their emotional, intellectual, and social well-being. Doing that safely means getting your kids to their pediatrician to make sure they are up to date on their required vaccinations.
Vaccinations Matter
Vaccinations are essential services that protect not only the children being vaccinated, but others in their communities. Understandably, routine well-child visits, which usually include vaccinations, dropped dramatically during the early days of the pandemic.
Getting your child vaccinated between birth and six years protects them from 14 serious diseases, including measles, mumps, chickenpox, rotavirus, and polio. Vaccinating your child also helps protect your friends, family, and neighbors who cannot get vaccinated themselves because they are too young or have certain health problems.
Children are most vulnerable when they are born, and they depend on their parents to make the right choices to protect them. It is critical to stick to the vaccination schedule provided by your child's doctor. No matter the age, preventing dangerous diseases outweighs any possible side effects such as slight pain, swelling, or low-grade fever that your child may experience. These are important steps toward building your child's immune system during their critical developmental stages.
Routine vaccinations are also needed during the adolescent years. The CDC recommends four vaccines for almost all children ages 11-12:
Meningococcal vaccine protects against meningococcal diseases, which are rare but spread by sharing food and drinks or kissing.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine offers strong protection against HPV, which can cause genital warts, and is associated with cervical cancer in women and other types of cancers in both men and women.
The collective Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis) vaccine, a booster for the children's DTaP vaccine, is necessary for older children because the effectiveness of the first vaccine wears off over time.
Annual influenza (flu) shots are recommended by doctors for all children six months and older, because the flu virus changes rapidly.
It's the Law
Learning institutions from day care through college require immunizations. Anywhere children are together, there is a risk of infection for those who are not immunized or who may have compromised immune systems.
The state of California has an immunization law that requires children to have certain vaccinations to attend public and private elementary and secondary schools, childcare centers, family day care homes, nursery schools, day nurseries, and pre-kindergarten centers. Those facilities are required to enforce the law and keep immunization records.
Children 12 and older are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. Following clinical trials by Pfizer, the vaccine was determined to be safe and effective at preventing infection. The company is also starting trials on infants and young children. Evidence suggests that children can carry the virus just like adults and spread it to others. As of July, a majority of COVID-19 infections in the United States come from the Delta Variant, which is highly contagious and considered more dangerous than older strains.
There is a possibility that annual doses may be necessary to protect children from COVID-19, much like the flu vaccine. Parents are encouraged to consider the COVID-19 vaccination to safeguard their children's health as they return to school in the fall.
Free Vaccinations at AltaMed
We encourage you to follow the immunizations schedule into adolescence, so your children are protected during every stage of their life. Here at AltaMed, all the vaccinations the CDC recommends are available free of cost! We provide childhood, adolescent, and HPV immunizations for patients from birth to 17 years old.
It's more important than ever to stay safe and healthy. Call us at (888) 499-9303 to schedule an appointment with your provider to stay on track of your child's immunization timeline.
AltaMed can provide information to you and your family about the best way to protect yourself and your family from COVID-19. To receive the latest news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, sign up today.
Tips for Making Back to School Safer
Back-to-school preparations usually take place in the late summer or early fall. But across Southern California, preparing kids for in-person learning starts now.
Los Angeles County elementary schools have been eligible to open since Feb. 16. Middle and high schools could open later this month. Most school districts in Orange County are offering at least a hybrid version of in-person and distance learning with some providing all in-person learning at the elementary level.
After nearly a year of distance learning, some parents are eager to get their kids back into school while others are understandably hesitant. Regardless of where you stand, AltaMed has some resources for returning safely. While we're all optimistic about the virus being under control, these planned openings could change depending on the number of infections.
It's important to make sure kids have good habits to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. That means reinforcing everyday actions like:
Wearing a mask over your nose and mouth when you're around people
Deciding if Kids Should Go Back
Schools play an important role in supporting children's academic, emotional, social, and physical health. But the benefits of attending in-person should be weighed against the risks to the children and those at home. If a household member is at increased risk for severe illness, everyone in the house, including school-aged children, should act as if they are at increased risk.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides a tool that can help parents and guardians make an informed decision about whether or not to send their children back for in-person learning. There are checklists for assessing:
Household risk
A school's plan for in-person learning
Your capacity to continue at-home learning
Local Recommendations in LA and Orange County
Each school is responsible for providing a safe learning environment. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health created a detailed framework for schools to follow before letting students back in the classroom.
Parents can also visit LA County department's website to see which schools have been approved to open, see case rates by school district, and review the county's reopening requirements. Knowing these steps can provide some peace of mind.
The Orange County Health Care Agency has a page dedicated to COVID-19 information including guidance for school administrators and information for schools and youth sports. Several school districts in the county have tracking apps on their websites where parents can see the case counts for students, staff, and vendors.
A New Routine
Some things won't change if you decide to send your children back to school. You will want to make sure the school has your current contact information in case of an emergency, and kids need to be current on all their vaccinations.
But there will also be some new things to consider. You should:
Teach your child the importance of social distancing at school.
AltaMed is available to help you with resources for dealing with COVID-19, including vaccines when they become available. We lso provide counseling services to help navigate the stress children may be coping with as they return to school.


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Posted on April 15, 2018 April 15, 2018 by Graham van der Made
Having only discovered Dragon Quest (DQ) around two years ago, it has quickly become one of my favourite video game franchises. In fact, I sometimes kick myself for not trying it sooner. Because of this, I've been trying to hunt down all of the core entries in the series, which isn't at all easy when you live in South Africa. Thankfully, the Dragon Quest IV (DQ4) remake on the Nintendo DS – sub-titled Chapters of the Chosen – was one of the easier games to come across.
Having finished DQ4 quite a few months ago, I think it's finally time to put my thoughts down and review the game.
A story in five parts
DQ4 takes an unconventional approach to storytelling, especially when it comes to Role-Playing Games (RPGs). Instead of focussing on the protagonist and utilising mini quests to flesh out the party members, the bulk of the game is mainly about those members. It is broken up into five chapters (with a sixth, bonus chapter), with the first four covering the supporting party members and the fifth centring on the protagonist. It's an interesting way of portraying a story that might otherwise be generic. After all, how many chosen-hero-destined-to-save-the-world stories can you really sit through and play?
The first of these chapters is about Ragnar McRyan, a knight who needs to save some missing children. This plays out similarly to the original DQ as your sole playable character is a hard-hitter who explores a limited area. It's easily one of the best chapters due to its simplicity.
From here, the game's storylines become more complex with Tsarevna Alena and her companions journey to a fighting tournament, Torneko the merchant wanting to start his own store, and sisters Meena and Maya on a quest to avenge the death of their father. I love the fact that all of these individuals take centre stage for a few hours. Personally, Torneko has the best storyline as it's so unconventional – as an aside, he went on to star in and spawn the Mystery Dungeon series of video games.
Each of the four companion chapters has emotional ups and downs and unique dialects for the regions they hail from. Unfortunately, the fifth chapter is a let-down. It consists of your silent protagonist and the party eventually coming together, but their final confrontation with the game's antagonist – along with his motivations – is a low point for the game.
The sixth chapter didn't appear in the original Famicom and NES releases of the game. It tries to portray an alternate take on the final part of DQ4 but also falls flat due to how rushed it feels and lack of compelling narrative.
How does it play and feel?
DQ4 is very traditional in its gameplay. Like many JRPGs of its era (the original release, not the remake), your characters are able to attack, use spells, use items, and heal during battle. The more difficult the monster, the more experience points you'll gain, and new skills are unlocked as you gain levels. And while this may put some off, it's what the DQ series is all about. It has always stuck to its core roots while adding little touches here and there with each game.
Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation introduced classes to its core-gameplay for the first time in the franchise, giving players more flexibility in battle, but this wasn't carried over to DQ4. That's not to say it was a bad decision as the mechanics in DQ4 are as smooth as butter. Though building a game purely on character development means that the battle system wasn't as fully realised as it could be.
A graphical improvement
DQ4 was remade for the original PlayStation in 2001, which included tweaks and overhauled graphics. With the release of DQ4 on the Nintendo DS in 2007, the visuals were further refined to culminate in a gorgeous-looking JRPG on the system.
Instead of having a pure 2D look to the game, DQ4 utilises fully 3D environments in towns and dungeons with the characters being 2D sprites. This method removes unnecessary draw distances seen in other 3D RPGs on the Nintendo DS. It also enables the game to run at a decent frame-rate with minimal to no slow down during play.
Developer ArtePiazza did an amazing job of realising the world, making towns feel homey, and the dungeons threatening and grungy. It is a stellar-looking game that does well with the limited hardware it was programmed for. Each sprite has a unique charm that can convey enough emotion through a limited number of frames.
The final verdict for Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen
While this review may contain some bias due to my love of the DQ series, I fully stand behind the fact that DQ4 is one of the better JRPGs that I have ever played. It has its fair share of shortcomings, but looking back, it would have been a marvel during the original 1990 release.
If you're a fan of the franchise, or you're looking for an easy game, pick up DQ4 for the Nintendo DS. It's sure to keep you entertained for a few hours, but I wouldn't blame you for giving up after a few chapters.
Published by Graham van der Made
Hi there! I'm Graham and I'm a writer by day and a writer by night. I love video games, horror, science fiction, comics, and most things that are geeky. Enjoy the site.	View all posts by Graham van der Made
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aircraft fuel quantity
«aircraft fuel quantity» в словарях и энциклопедиях | перевод «aircraft fuel quantity»
запас топлива воздушного судна
aircraft fuel consumption
aircraft fuel supply
Смотреть что такое "aircraft fuel quantity" в других словарях:
Fuel starvation — and fuel exhaustion (sometimes referred to as fuel depletion) are problems that can affect internal combustion engines fuelled by either diesel, kerosene, petroleum or any other combustible liquid or gas. If no fuel is available for an engine to… … Wikipedia
Aircraft engine controls — provide a means for the pilot to control and monitor the operation of the aircraft s powerplant. This article describes controls used with a basic internal combustion engine driving a propeller. Some optional or more advanced configurations are… … Wikipedia
Fuel system — Kraftstoff Duchfluss Messer für Flugzeuge Das Kraftstoffsystem (engl. fuel system) eines Flugzeugs dient der Versorgung eines motorbetriebenen Flugzeugs mit Kraftstoff. Je nach Flugzeugtyp und dessen konstruktiver Auslegung, ob kunstflugtauglich… … Deutsch Wikipedia
Fuel efficiency — is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the efficiency of a process that converts chemical potential energy contained in a carrier fuel into kinetic energy or work. Overall fuel efficiency may vary per device, which in turn may vary per… … Wikipedia
Fuel tank — A fuel tank is safe container for flammable liquids and typically part of an engine system in which the fuel is stored and propelled (fuel pump) or released (pressurized gas) into an engine. Fuel tanks range in size and complexity from the small… … Wikipedia
Fuel injection — Fuel rail connected to the injectors that are mounted just above the intake manifold on a four cylinder engine. Fuel injection … Wikipedia
Fuel cell — For other uses, see Fuel cell (disambiguation). Demonstration model of a direct methanol fuel cell. The actual fuel cell stack is the layered cube shape in the center of the image A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a… … Wikipedia
fuel capacity — The quantity of fuel that can be stored in the aircraft's tanks … Aviation dictionary
engine fuel system — That part of the aircraft's overall fuel system that starts after the entry of fuel into the engine. For fuel injected and turbine engines, a high pressure (HP) pump takes fuel from the low pressure, or aircraft, fuel system and raises its… … Aviation dictionary
Ethanol fuel — is ethanol (ethyl alcohol), the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. It can be used as a fuel, mainly as a biofuel alternative to gasoline, and is widely used in cars in Brazil. Because it is easy to manufacture and process and can… … Wikipedia
Hydrogen-powered aircraft — In 2008, The Boeing Fuel Cell Demonstrator achieved straight level flight on a manned mission powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.[1] A hydrogen powered aircraft is an airplane that uses hydrogen as a power source … Wikipedia
Aircraft Fuel Systems, Martin Hewitt, All aspects of fuel products and systems including fuel handling, quantity gauging and management functions for both commercial (civil) and military applications. The fuel systems on board… Категория: Прочая образовательная литература Издатель: John Wiley & Sons Limited, Подробнее Купить за 10550.6 руб электронная книга (fb2, fb3, epub, mobi, pdf, html, pdb, lit, doc, rtf, txt)
R-4360. Pratt & Whitney's Major Miracle, Graham White, Aviation technology progressed at a blindingly fast pace during the first half of the 20th century. Aircraft were asked to fly higher, fly faster, carry heavier loads, take off and land on… Категория: Путешествия, путеводители Подробнее Купить за 5752 руб
R-4360, Graham White, Aviation technology progressed at a blindingly fast pace during the first half of the 20th century. Aircraft were asked to fly higher, fly faster, carry heavier loads, take off and land on… Категория: Воздушный транспорт. Космонавтика Издатель: Книга по Требованию, Подробнее Купить за 5725 руб
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text:
Aerosol (från , "luft" och , "lösning") är små partiklar som är finfördelade i en gas. Partiklarna kan endera vara fasta eller flytande, och aerosolen innefattar både gasen och partiklarna. Typiska exempel på aerosoler är rök, dimma och luftföroreningar.

En övre gräns för partikelstorleken sätts av att partiklarna ska befinna sig svävande några sekunder i gasen innan de faller ut vilket ger en storlek runt 100 µm, mätt som aerodynamisk diameter. Den undre gränsen dras när partiklarna börjar bli så små att de består av enskilda molekyler, några nanometer.

Små mängder aerosoler skapas med användning av en sprejburk.

Partiklarna i aerosol kan avskiljas med hjälp av ett partikelfilter.

Inom medicin
Infektioner i luftvägarna som influensa och förkylning sprider sig bland annat genom att de får den sjuke att hosta ut en virusrik aerosol som kan andas in av friska personer i omgivningen.
Aerosoler kan även användas för att bota eller lindra sjukdomar, exempelvis astma. Dessa andas in via en inhalator som finfördelar vätska eller ett pulver.

Se även
 Aerosolbomb
 Droppe
 Droppinfektion
 PM10

Referenser

Kolloidkemi
Galenik


Boutique PAF Clones...Worth it? Comparisons?
Discussion in 'Guitars in General' started by shred for sale, Apr 18, 2016.
It seems like more and more companies are putting out some excessively high dollar PAF replicas these days. Sometimes they are clones, sometimes they are true exact material replicas, Sometimes they are even just PAF influenced or nods to the past.
What sparked this question was OX4 pickups - the amount of Les Paul users I've seen putting them in their R's lately. Now I have heard nothing but incredible things about these pickups, but it has opened me up to this world of $500 replacement PAFs that I didn't know existed?! Throbaks, Doyle's Coils, etc.
Let's bring it back to the unofficial boss of incredible boutique PAF style pickups, Mr. Lollar. Now I'm pretty confident that this guy has wound, researched, and experimented with more PAF type things than 9 out of 10 people making these.
My questions to you guys are these: how do all of these stack up against each other? On one hand you have the imperials, very highly regarded and respected PAF style pick ups from an industry veteran and a guy that literally wrote a book on making them, then you have OX4s which seem to be from a somewhat newcomer by Lollars comparison, they are more expensive, made by a smaller operation, seem to be getting absolutely rave reviews, but at the end of the day don't necessarily have as much R and D and experience behind them? Keep in mind, in no way am I knocking this guy and mean no disrespect, I've been very interested in buying myself a set I'm just curious, did this guy just decide to make some PAF's and absolutely knocked it out of the park from the first shot?
As far as R and D and having the backing and scale to do whatever the heck they want, you would imagine that PRS and Gibson were at the top of the heap with their PAF re-creations? They are making more pick up than anyone out there and they're not even just to pick up company, not to mention have access to the original machines, wire, materials etc.
Gibson is a huge company and cuts corners where it can such as pickups.
I have OX4s in one guitar. I love them but they aren't my favorite set of all the ones I have/had, but then again, I also have not A/Bed them in the same guitar.
Lollar has been around for a long time. I think part of it comes from people always looking for the next best thing, hence the flavor of the month comment you often see when it comes to boutique pickups/pedals/amps.
johnh and cygnusx1 like this.
Lollar has been around for a long tim. I think part of it comes from people always looking for the next best thing, hence the flavor of the month comment you often see when it comes to boutique pickups/pedals/amps.
Sure, I know what you mean. It's almost a little refreshing to hear someone say that it's not the best thing they've ever heard in their life for the first time. What are your other favorite pickup sets? And what are those in?
It's just absurd to me that a company like Gibson is not making the best pick ups themselves sometimes you know? Taylor bought all of the necessary things to make their own expression systems and pick ups in house!? I have watched them wind them myself and they did it to ensure that they have the best quality parts Best suited for their instruments going into their guitars and they are made right there in house, so they know. PRS has essentially tried to do the same thing, and their 5708, DGT's, and new 5815's are all extremely highly regarded pick ups, Even if people seem to have a love hate relationship with their guitars or pick ups.
Duncan Seth Lovers and Antiquities are among the best PAF clones. Regardless of cost.
I've owned many top boutique winds that were great too.
It boils down to what one wants from the pickup.
GuitarNorton, strike3, Ayrton and 9 others like this.
It seems like more and more companies are putting out some excessively high dollar PAF replicas these days.
I wouldn't use the term excessively when describing true PAF replicas.
It's neither inexpensive nor quick to clone a genuine PAF Pickup.
IMO the most difficult aspect is determine which PAF sound to go after.
that seem to have touched the true mojo with his PAF Pickups.
Seymour Duncan has a few models out that are very very good too.
And are at a much different price point.
sounds like a true PAF? Do you have access to the genuine article?
amstrtatnut and shred for sale like this.
I would agree that there will be small differences in how various PAFs sound, but it would be hard for someone to convince me that a $500 set always sounded better than a $200 set. I currently have Duncan 59s and Lollar Imperials and have a set of 36th anniversaries on the way. Yes, the Lollars are my favorites so far, but the duncans and dimarzios are also great. I guess for me the price for lollars ($350 I think) is as high as I'd be willing to go. Anything more than that is just marketing imho.
Also, remember to compare apples to apples. For example, would you rather have a set of $500 pickups OR a set of 36th anniversary Dimarzios, ($150) a Klon KTR ($270) and 5 Fulltone Patch Cables ($15.95)?
cutaway and Kentano2000 like this.
#1 I don't want to start a 1 is better than other.
There are many flavors, and I like a bunch of them, but do have my preferences. We are lucky to have so many choices, and most are so good, that if a good sound isn't to be had, it might not be the gear.
I mainly like Low Output Alnico II. 7.6k-8.3k are what the 1s I use measure.
But as far as research, and taking them apart, Tom Holmes is the undisputed King of 59 PAFs... And yes I know they did vary, as did the magnets. But Toms are Only 59 PAF Recreations.
#2. Tom was Gruhns Repairman.... For 20 YEARS. We all know who Gruhn is Right ??? If not do some research. Hes probably had more 59s, and old guitars period, than anyone else, and is the king of authentication, appraisals.
Tom started his research on 59 PAFs in 1971, and was already building both guitars, and pups for Bo Diddly, Billy Gibbons, EVH, Lenny Breau, Tom Cotton, and others.
He first sent magnet samples to the original manufacturer. In 1971 !!! And originally used Alnico IV magnets.
#3 Later on in the 90s, Tom, and Bill Lawrence were hired by Gibson, and Tom Designed the NEW 57 PAF that Gibson would be coming out with, and Tom also Designed the Machines to Wind the new pickups for Gibson.
At this time Tom got to see all of the Original Order Sheets for Every Year from Gibson, from the Early 50s, all the way into the early 60s for their Magnet Orders.
At this point he switched over to Alnico II Magnets, and they were the most ordered/used magnet of 59, going by the Gibson Order Sheets, and Tom, and others also determined they preferred the sound of the Alnico II vs IV. This was also with input from pros like Billy Gibbons, among others.
Tom also requested that he stop being associated from the new 57 PAF, because they deviated to much from his original design, as to expensive.
Tom also turned Gibson on as to where to acquire magnets, and wire.
If I didn't get the Holmes... I would go for the Throbak.
For 100% Brand New Vintage Sounding Pups.... I like Throbak, and they offer many, many great winds, and also use the best materials available, and like Holmes, went to every possible trouble to make the pups right.
After those I would go with Fralin Pure PAFs.
Also 1 reason the Holmes are so expensive is because he is a 1 Man Operation.
He molds/stamps his own Base Plates, Bobbins, does all the electroplating himself, all hand polishing.
He had to learn to be both a Tool, and Dye Maker, and also learn Electroplating.
GuitarNorton, corn husk bag, jens5 and 6 others like this.
Diminished Marginal Returns: as total investment increases, the total return on investment as a proportion of the total investment (the average product or return) decreases.
Do $500 PAF clones sound better? Probably. Do they sound $2-300 better than a set of Manlius, Lollar, Zhangbuckers, etc. Probably not. But, as this site proves, there are people with the means and willingness to pay a premium to milk every ounce of tone out of their guitars, amps and pedal chains. More power to them. For us more mortal beings, I think the "Standard" boutiques more than adequately suffice.
waygorked, Cruciform, macmax77 and 3 others like this.
I do like the sounds I get from unpotted Alnico IVs. Not to say that other combos would sound as good. IMHO the Imperials are on the hotter end of the paf spectrum and potted. That said they sound great but clearly different than Ox4s in the same guitar. I have set of JS Moore v59s that are pretty inexpensive but sound great with alnico IVs. Still the best neck pickup i have is an old Wagner Goodwood which is probably a V magnet. just sounds sweet. Bottom line: I love all cool pickups; they are all my children.
Seth Lover pickups are my reference pickups that I compare all PAFs to. I don't think they're better than others, but I think they're every bit as good as other boutiques I own.
Mincer, newking70 and Tony Bones like this.
Did anyone ever reverse engineer the ones from The Beast ?............or have a close suggestion.
If this doesn't read like a plug for Lollar pickups, I don't know what does. Particularly, since while you pretend not to understand the PAF marketplace, you are pretty sure Lollar is the boss, and wound more pickups than 9 out of 10.
and these sound better than the Gibsons and totally comparable to the lollars.
Only you can decide whether pricey PAF replicas are worth it to you. Mainstream pickups will get you 90% or more there. Throbak, OX4 and Wizz go the extra mile on construction, and materials, which isn't cheap. That extra cost is passed on to the consumer. I've personally enjoyed both Throbak and Wizz pickups. I haven't tried the OX4.
What are your other favorite pickup sets? And what are those in?
The link in my sig has my guitars and what pickups are in each. Just easier this way.
My favorite set, as in how the guitar sounded before and after the swap, Dave Stephens 61HDs but I really like all of the ones I have.
wagz and shred for sale like this.
With the exchange rate what it is between the States and Canada check out Sanford Magnetics.
His P90's are really great. I just got some. He only does HB's and P90's.
He's got some nice magnet/wind variations and $500 would just about get you two sets.
I've used Highorder humbuckers for years....its a one man operation by Jeff Gay who has a military electronics background.
Outstanding build quality.......btw, Jeff only does humbuckers.
Good to hear Jeff is still winding. I have one of his in a tele neck.
I don't know what the best PAF clone is, but I know it doesn't have any wax potting. Not a single drop.
I can't answer the original question of whether or not $500 pickups are worth it because I haven't spent enough time with any.
johnh, transmaniac and vmjoe like this.


All over the world, architects, builders, and manufacturers are discovering the incredible advantages and brilliant creativity of decorative powder coatings and dye sublimations applied by Archi-Texture Finishing (A-Tex). A licensee of the Decoral System, A-Tex utilizes various processes with a broad range of applications creating decorative finishes on steel, iron, or aluminum, bringing your vision to life with functionality and design.
A-Tex Finishing is a family-owned, full-service custom powder coating, dye sublimation and finishing company with over 40 years of experience. We offer designs and powder coat materials to resemble authentic marble, deco wood grain, camouflage, tree bark, stone, and other faux finishes, resulting in any decorative motif you imagine. With aesthetic appeal, durability and fire retardant advantages, A-Tex finishes give you a practical solution without sacrificing the da Vinci in you.
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In a journal article published this summer, Dr. Deborah B. Gardner wrote of four myths that American voters are obsessed with, and are desperately clinging to at all costs.
Academics love to do postmortem studies on elections, using facts, figures, trends, and statistics to demonstrate any number of ideas or theories. More rarely, like this article, academics occasionally jump into the middle of a race with ideas and analysis.
In The 2016 Presidential Election: Reality vs. Myths, Dr. Gardner presents myths that every American should consider — because these myths can powerfully sway our thought process and political ideology.
Myth #1: The President of the U.S. is all-powerful.
This seems almost too obvious, but we still love to give the president much more credit and power (and sometimes criticism) than they deserve.
And political rhetoric thrives on this myth. From Donald Trump promising to have a wall built within 3 days to Bernie Sanders promising single-payer insurance and free-college for all, the president simply does not have the power or authority to operate in this manner without congressional oversight and/or approval.
Dubbed the 'Green Lantern' theory of the presidency, based on the comic superheroes the Green Lantern Corps, the president in the minds of many is only limited by his own willpower and by choosing the right political tactics to get the job done.
Myth#2: Voters directly select their political party's presidential candidate.
IVN spends a lot of time on this topic — a broken 'private' system of voting, run by private organizations, funded by taxpayer's money, which inevitably excludes huge swaths of the population from the entire process.
And yet people still 'buy-in' to the broken system of cronyism and contests to select the 'best party member,' not the best candidate for office.
Myth #3: Compromise is not a legitimate way for elected leaders to meet political or policy goals.
It's truly amazing that people actually believe this — that 'my way or the highway' politics is somehow a better alternative.
But these attitudes have damaged the parties, especially the Republicans, after different political stunts of shutting down the government, refusing up-or-down votes on judges, and refusing to bring bills with bipartisan support up for a final vote.
Like it or not, most of the significant legislation in our nation's history would not have been passed without compromise, with many needing some pork-barrel spending to grease the wheels of democracy.
We don't need dictators as our nation's leaders, we need statesmanship — men and women with great wisdom, understanding of the needs of our country, and can work within the system with others to create solutions.
Myth #4 You can't make a difference in this current political mess so simply stand back and watch it unfold.
Far too many see politics as a spectator sport, not an avenue to change America for the better.
It's always amazing how many people with the most radical, vocal ideas are non-voters — and seemingly proud of it.
Each of the myths discussed demonstrates a need to be cautious about the stories we hear and the ones we tell ourselves. Consider asking yourself, where and what are my frustrations truly focused on? What type of leadership skills and values do I want to see demonstrated in elected officials? On the issues you consider a priority, what are the facts leading me to this perspective or is it an interpretation? Keeping the myths in mind, be wary of political leaders who use apocalyptic rhetoric – who treat disagreements as scenarios of good versus evil – or who suggest they have the superpower of bringing about change single-handedly.
But most importantly, Dr. Gardner reminds us to get out and vote for men and women standing for 'something,' not just ones who are against an opponent's positions.
Because we need 21st century voters who will see past these myths of voting, voters that are willing to seize control of the ballot box at all levels of government by putting candidates willing to compromise and govern in office — and voters who are not willing to vote for next year's 'party member of the year' at the ballot box.


When it was first released back in January 2014, Vertcoin (VTC) sought to fulfill bitcoin's earlier promise of a decentralised currency that can be mined using ordinary computers. Dubbed the "people's coin", Vertcoin prevented big-time miners using application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) from monopolising the market with its innovative Scrypt-N hashing algorithm.
When ASICs capable of mining this algorithm came out and threatened the Vertcoin team's commitment to make the coin accessible to everyone, the team forked Vertcoin by changing its hashing algorithm. When a botnet threatened to control more than half of the Vertcoin network, the team changed the algorithm yet again.
Soon after its January 2014 release, Vertcoin breached the AUD$6 mark. Its price then dipped, reaching a low of AUD$0.10, before climbing back up again in May 2017. It peaked again after the coin's block rewards were halved from 50 to 25 in December 2017, when its value reached AUD$12.72. In January 2018, the price of Vertcoin is hovering just above AUD$6.
The peak price achieved in December 2017 mirrors the performance of altcoins prior to block reward halving events.
You will need to decide whether the recent halving of block rewards might bring a decline to the profitability of Vertcoin, although in the cases of bitcoin and Litecoin, which have already halved their own block rewards, this did not seem to be a long-term problem.
Another thing to consider is the commitment of Vertcoin's team to keeping the coin away from big-time ASIC miners. With Vertcoin, anyone with a computer is a potential miner. Thus, Vertcoin lowers the entry barriers to cryptocurrency mining (ASICs are far more expensive than CPUs/GPUs available on ordinary computers). The recent release of a new version of its GUI-enabled mining software further makes mining Vertcoin easier. As more people go into mining, there could be a corresponding demand for more powerful GPUs able to handle increased mining loads.
Another factor in that "segregated witness" has been enabled on its blockchain since May 2017, making the cryptocurrency compatible with the Lightning Network (note that the price of Vertcoin increased during that month). Segregated witness allows blockchains to handle even greater transaction volumes. This innovative approach has gained almost universal approval in the crypto community.
The Lightning Network will enable the instant transfer of Vertcoin to the bitcoin and Litecoin blockchains. Traders will need to decide is this will be advantageous to Vertcoin, given the increased attention it might bring to the coin from people who have purchased the two other cryptocurrencies.
Litecoin and Vertcoin developers are also working together to make atomic swaps between the two coins possible. Traders will need to consider whether the higher price of Litecoin will drive up demand for Vertcoin as people look for a cheaper gateway to the Lightning Network.
Just like every other cryptocurrency, the price of Vertcoin is volatile and there is no guarantee that the price will maintain its current stable trend. It could rise up or plummet down.
Vertcoin was introduced in January 2014 and the very first Vertcoin transaction took place on 20 January. Price at the start of trading was AUD$0.07 and it closed at AUD$0.25.
Vertcoin didn't break the AUD$1 barrier until February, peaking at AUD$6.85 that month. The price would not go down to less than AUD$1 until June. By the end of the year, the price of Vertcoin had dropped below its release price.
The price of Vertcoin didn't make much headway this year. It would remain under AUD$1 and hover between AUD$0.02 and AUD$0.10 for much of the year.
The story for much of 2016 was almost the same as 2015. Prices hovered between AUD$0.01 and AUD$0.10 for much of the year.
The past year would prove to be the breakout year for Vertcoin, with technology improvements driving much of the coin's growth. However, the coin would not break past the AUD$1 barrier until June. It fluctuated between AUD$0.60 and AUD$1 in July, then breached the AUD$1 barrier again a month later. By 18 December, a few days before the block reward halving event, it had reached AUD$12.07, its highest price since February 2014.The price dropped again soon after 22 December, when it halved its block rewards.
As of 11 January 2018, Vertcoin is priced at AUD$7.14. Traders will need to decide whether the price might drop again based on the coin's past performance.


Our client is a well-established, leading independent Birmingham Estate Agents. We are seeking an experienced Property Manager to manage their own portfolio of around 100 rental properties.
You'll no doubt be self-motivated with a strong team ethic, excellent customer focus and a good understanding of the rental property market!
So, if this is you... organised, calm, a strong communicator and a natural within a Client facing role...then I want to hear from you now!
If you are interested then please respond ASAP to Julie.
Please do apply for future roles that match your skills and experience - or if you are already registered with PLUM PERSONNEL, please contact us directly to discuss this role.


TAIL LIGHT LED DESIGN W/CHROME TRIM 667180. 0 Miles (0 = not available or unknown).
It is of average miles and normal condition for its age. The third level quality part. It has high miles and/or light damage. A part that has not yet been graded. To learn more about Parts Grading click here.
The item "13 14 DODGE RAM 1500 PICKUP R. TAIL LIGHT LED DESIGN WithCHROME TRIM 667180" is in sale since Tuesday, June 23, 2015. This item is in the category "eBay Motors\Parts & Accessories\Car & Truck Parts\Lighting & Lamps\Tail Lights". The seller is "domsauto" and is located in Courtice, Ontario.


text:
1. Decontamination - system process that listens for events from other actors, which are:
 - command line tool `qrt -- git clone git@github.com/LongLiveCHIEF/decontamination`
 - Native OS client with html5 interface for installing deps, or pointing to a manifest and installing/managing manifest
 - IDE Plugin that binds to the system process
2. Calls out to the quarantine proxy to check against blacklist
3. Quarantine is an admin dashboard that
 - lets admins search/explore for installed software by user, machine
 - configure blacklists by url, name, license
 - set whitelists by url, or for users on a package/url
4. The Quarantine API:
 - hashes files to look for malicious software
 - looks for README's, LICENSE, and VERSION files, or manifest entries

## Stories

## Contributing

Contribution is open to all. For feature requests, please open an issue. PR's accepted, but must follow the following javascript style rules:

- no use of es6 classes - period
- use commonjs style require only
- any new dependency must come with a description of why the dependency is required or useful enough to be included

### Development Setup

Requires React DevTools for the full debugging experience

1. Fork the repo
2. Clone your fork
3. Run `npm install` from inside the cloned project
4. Run `npm start` to build and open the app in dev mode

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The international real estate organisation of over 25 years – has joined the Considerate Constructors Scheme as a Client Partner.
Welcoming Vastint UK as a Client Partner, Considerate Constructors Scheme Chief Executive Edward Hardy said: "Vastint is a hugely successful and internationally recognisable real estate developer. The Scheme is delighted that Vastint UK has become a valued Client Partner and in doing so pledging to deliver projects with considerate construction at their very core.
"We are excited to work with Vastint UK and are looking forward to sharing our expertise, experience and mutual ambition to improve the image of construction.
The Scheme currently has over 60 Client Partners. To see who they are and where they are located click here.
Aarsleff Ground Engineering have invested in a state-of-the-art virtual reality room to develop and enhance the knowledge and skills of its estimators and engineers. With technology already transforming how people interact and live their lives, Aarsleff Ground Engineering is taking the virtual reality (VR) technology to a whole new level.
Within Aarsleff's head office in Newark Nottinghamshire, the Virtual Reality room – now known by its employees as the 'VROOM', uses three-dimensional simulation and data mapping technology to bring project drawings to life. Currently, the technology aids Estimators in their project proposals, allowing staff to visit project sites, observe site access points to determine appropriate rig type, and see the surrounding environment before ever having to step foot on site.
Aarsleff Ground Engineering have teamed up with leading UK 3D technology and software development studio Luminous Group to develop a virtual reality application that will enable Aarsleff's clients to "virtually" visit their construction site. Users will be able to experience and interact with the ground engineering specialist's disciplines, from the stabilisation of a slope with ground anchors and soil nails and the installation of a steel sheet or king post wall, to the driving of a precast concrete pile and the filling of an abandoned coal mine with drilling and grouting. Soon, the new application will allow Aarsleff's existing customers and potential clients to understand the process on site. The benefits are hoped to be three-fold – the customer's confidence in the product should increase, as should they feel part of its production process, new employees can benefit from an engaging induction and existing staff members can be inspired by exemplary experiences within the workplace.
"The possibilities of VR are endless, and it's really important that we engage with it now. We're utilising the technology internally first to bring a new dimension into our estimating process, however we envisage the technology being used for company marketing, Health and Safety inductions, site training and other applications in the near future. Watch this space".
'We're delighted to be working with Aarsleff Ground Engineering, they're a terrific company who are ahead of the curve in embracing virtual reality for their sites.
The construction industry has seen a decrease in productivity in recent years. Aside from labor shortages and outdated safety standards, ineffective project management is a huge obstacle to a more efficient workflow.
According to PlanGrid's report on construction productivity, an alarming 37% of respondents reported wasting too much on administrative tasks. That's partially due to a reliance on paper-based processes.
Constantly monitoring a team's progress consumes a huge chunk of the project managers' time and effort. On top of that, owners and managers have to make sure that every hour is accounted for, and that the project doesn't go over the budget.
From a bird's-eye perspective, it's easy to see that not making use of modern digital tools can cause major setbacks to unlocking better productivity.
This is why time tracking and productivity software like Hubstaff was created: to help construction teams overcome these challenges and increase their work efficiency.
Manual time tracking methods are unreliable. Not only are they difficult to organize, but they are also susceptible to discrepancies caused by human error.
At the core of Hubstaff is an accurate time tracking app. It easily eliminates the trivial and draining task of going through paper time cards to make sure that everyone is clocking in eight hours per day. Track time from your browser, desktop, or mobile, even when you're offline.
Hubstaff's time tracker is remarkably simple to use. It's a start-stop button with a list of all the tasks assigned to that team member. With Hubstaff, you can view specific team members' work hours, along with all time tracked toward a project, and everything in-between. Streamlined time tracking ensures that every hour worked is recorded and paid.
Scheduling is a central component of construction projects. It dictates how quickly you can get a job done, and who is available without hitting overtime. Scheduling can also become time-consuming if not closely monitored.
You can create team schedules right in Hubstaff. These include one-time and recurring work hours, as well as holidays. Hubstaff also sends alerts when anyone is late or has missed their shift.
The online timesheets that Hubstaff generates are easy to understand. They can be accessed by account owners or managers anytime they need verification on which employee has worked how many hours. Hubstaff's online timesheets remove the guesswork from the process, which is often one of the more stressful aspects of being a manager.
Checking in to see what the construction team is doing throughout the day will burn through precious work hours. And asking each and every team member what they have accomplished for the day is a tedious task.
Due to the nature of work in construction, team location tracking is an ideal time-saver. Hubstaff monitors where everyone on the team works or has worked via GPS location services. This can then be accessed by the business owners and the project managers at any time.
For business owners, a history of where the contractors have worked can assure them that schedules are being met and a project is on track. For contractors, on the other hand, location data and time tracked gives a clear, easy record for their workday. They don't have to keep mental track or remember to fill out a paper timesheet at the end of the day. Hubstaff takes care of it for you.
The inconveniences that come with outdated time cards and paper-based processes extend beyond inaccurate hours. Per this article by Zlien, it takes an average of 73 days for construction companies to get paid. That's more than two full months.
With Hubstaff, the payment contractors will receive is based on their hourly rate and the hours they have worked. This is processed automatically by the app. You can even add timesheet approvals so that you see every timesheet before it's paid.
Invoicing with Hubstaff is also organized and accurate. It allows contractors to create a list of their clients and set unique billing rates for each. From there, Hubstaff will automatically compute the total charges. All that's left is for the contractor to send the invoice and the work is done.
It's important to constantly check if the team is operating well within the budget. However, keeping track of time and expenses can become more difficult over time. This leads to miscalculations, which can lead to delays in schedule.
Equipped with a fully automated budgeting capability, Hubstaff makes project cost management easier. Contractors can set expense and hourly limits, effectively preventing employees from working excess and unnecessary hours. The time limit can be overridden in case someone in the team is required to put in extra work.
Hubstaff will send notifications if the project is nearing its budget limit. Instead of constantly worrying about the project costs, managers can instead pay closer attention to the team and make sure that they are working efficiently.
A lot of the work in construction project management is time-consuming, tiring, and repetitive. Hubstaff automates these processes and delivers quicker, more precise results. It ensures accuracy in the time and work put in by the team, simplifies payments, and mitigates budgeting problems.
With its features built for contractors, Hubstaff is a complete team management software that's excellent for mobile teams. Hubstaff enables project managers to focus on more relevant tasks, while streamlining the way a construction team works.
By having more time to invest in more impactful responsibilities, construction teams can operate more smoothly and take a significant step toward better productivity.
If you are looking to create a bespoke course for your clients, it is understandable that you turn to the professionals in the field. There are many ways to present a crazy golf experience to your audience but if you want to be seen as unique, providing a mini-golf experience like no other, an architect designed course is likely to be a fantastic option.
When you think about the number of top crazy golf courses in London, some are working hard to stand out from the crowd. There are many ways that a mini-golf business can differentiate itself, look at plonkgolf.co.uk to see a business which offers fun and excitement, and the layout of the course is one of the variables.
Hiring a well-regarded architect to design a mini-golf course could be expensive, but it all depends on what you deem to be value for money. If you think that the experience created by the architect will see people choosing your golf course over rival courses, it could be money well spent.
Aficionados of mini-golf may know the names of the leading architects and the best-designed courses, but it is likely that a challenging or fun golf course will sell itself. In the social media era, you will have people lining up to share images and video content of a fantastic golf course, and this will provide you with the chance to reach new people and market yourself.
User-generated content is fantastic for many businesses and if your mini-golf course has content provided by your customers, you should take advantage of it. Share this content and tag the customers into the post, as this will make it more likely they will share your posts. This will place your golf course in front of more people while acting as a personal recommendation.
In the social media era, it is natural that many people are wary of promotional claims and activities. However, there is a lot to be said for word-of-mouth reviews or praise which appears to come from a person. User-generated content fits this bill and having a fantastic looking or challenging mini-golf course can provide you with a greater level of interest that you would have received from a standard mini-golf course.
One time when London came alive with crazy golf courses designed by famous names and leading architects happened in 2016 for the London Design Festival. This event saw famous design names like Zaha Hadid, Mark Wallinger, Tom Dixon and Paul Smith create a hole of their own.
Given the respect that these names are held in, many people would attend just to see what they have created. However, given that these are names of people highly regarded for their design skills and strengths, there is no doubt that people will want to play on golf courses devised by these people.
You may not necessarily associate architects with designers but there are some fantastic mini-golf courses that have been designed by famous names and highly skilled professionals.
Winter is upon us, Christmas looms and many sites are preparing to shut down for an extended break. Then January and February come round with the worst of the weather, especially in the northern part of the country, which can cause temporary site shutdowns in a freeze or snowy conditions. But are you prepared??? Leigh Hooper of site security experts, Clearway, has some simple reminders to keep your site secure and protected over the holiday break or through a winter freeze when work might be put on temporary hold.
Did you know, according to the last survey by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB)1, two of the most common forms of crime in the construction industry are theft and vandalism? These crimes contribute to the sector suffering millions of pounds' worth of losses every year, not just due to the financial cost of replacement or reparation, but also the resulting extra penalties such as increased insurance premiums and project delays.
Theft alone is estimated to cost the UK construction industry more than a staggering £800m annually4 according to statistics from insurer Allianz Cornhill at the end of last year, although it's hard to get an accurate figure as the CIOB believe many of these crimes go unreported. However, the CIOB survey highlighted theft as the most common construction industry crime with one fifth of responders experiencing it weekly and a shocking 92% affected weekly, monthly or annually. Most responders were unable to put a specific cost on theft and vandalism to their individual business but 1 in 10 reckoned it was at least £100,000 pa.
With the uncertainty of Brexit causing fluctuations in the financial markets and on the Pound, thus impacting on the cost of materials, and concern around the future availability of skilled foreign tradespeople in the workforce, and the deadline for withdrawal almost upon the UK, the impact that losses such as this could have on some companies in the construction business, and the tight margins common in the industry, could be the tipping point for some.
Thieves target materials like copper and other metal supplies as much, if not more than they do equipment, although tool theft is currently at an all-time high according to the Federation of Master Builders in their latest report in October 20183 and there are over 7,000 reported metal related thefts per month.
No matter what they are attempting to thieve, most criminals have been conditioned to believe that construction sites are easy targets. The sad truth is that, for the most part, they're correct. If you don't want your site becoming a costly statistic, you might want to try implementing some of these preventive measures either over the Christmas break, anticipating possible restricted working in January or February bad weather, or indeed for the duration of the development.
Thieves count on being able to remain inconspicuous. They like dark, unprotected jobsites where they can get in and out undetected. Bear in mind that most construction site thefts are committed by employees or other people with enough access to the site to know their way around in the dark. Even if they think someone might be watching, most thieves will seek out easier targets, especially knowledgeable employees, so don't make life easy for them.
Don't keep an excess of supplies sitting around. If you can, purchase or delay delivery of what you need for when you need it so it isn't sitting there waiting to be stolen for weeks at a time. This obviously requires good planning and communication between you and your suppliers but why leave temptation lying around?
Ensure your perimeter fencing and access gates are strong and as secure as possible and carry prominent warning signs that CCTV is in operation. The fewer access gates, the better.
Lock all tools and small or valuable equipment or materials away securely, or remove from the site to safe storage if possible.
Consider temporary concrete barriers to block entry to the site. This will prevent ingress of vehicles and make it more difficult to load any heavy or bulky materials. They can be easily and quickly positioned and removed and are such a simple solution for a closure of a couple of weeks or so.
Install a mobile CCTV camera tower. There has been endless ongoing debate about the value of CCTV in the prevention and solving of crime but there is no doubt it definitely works. In fact the College of Policing reckons it can be most valuable in deserted or open spaces, e.g. car parks2, where figures have shown a demonstrable reduction in vehicle break-ins and theft, and it's most effective in partnership with good site lighting. Why would thieves target a difficult to access site that is well lit, with remote cameras and movement sensors surveying everything, when they can find a dark, unsecured alternative?
For construction sites, mobile surveillance units using solar powered camera towers are an ideal solution for temporary use and MSUs can be moved as the construction site transforms throughout the project. For more extensive sites, designate areas to park vehicles and store equipment and materials and target those locations with the camera tower. The cameras give virtually 360? coverage with movements sensors and those from Clearway run with an extensive battery life and are remotely monitored 24/7 so any intrusion is immediately spotted and reported to either police or mobile security patrol units to deal with.
Managers and owners are entitled to a peaceful break, or any time away from their sites without having to worry about what they'll find, or rather not find, when they get back to work… and having a sense of security is so easy to achieve. There's a simple security solution for everything, you just need to consult the experts!
TIMco, one of the UK's largest independent wholesale suppliers of screws, fixings, ironmongery and power tools accessories, has become the UK supplier of Paslode nails and fuel cells, for use in nail guns.
Paslode, a division of Illinois Tool Works (ITW), is a manufacturer of innovative fastening solutions and services. As the pioneer of fuel powered cordless tool technology and patented fastener technology, Paslode delivers a broad range of performance-proven, high quality fastening solutions.
The partnership stems from TIMco's desire to provide a wide range of product alternatives, taking both competitive price points and system driven solutions into account.
Paslode will be available to purchase from November 2018 and will feature in TIMco's 2018/19 catalogue.