text:
Local topicals
Advertising the 'Empire Kinematograph and Grand Concert Party' at the Victoria Halls, Campbeltown, in October 1900, the Campbeltown Courier asks,
Have you been cinematographed? Come and see yourself as others see you.
Promising 'Miles of Animated Pictures', the show is to include:
Interesting Local Subjects specially taken for this Entertainment. The Kintyre Cattle Show, Parade of Prize Stock, Horses, etc.; The arrival of the "Davaar" at Campbeltown, Return of Local Volunteers from Camp.
The combination of the local and the personal was a key marketing device for early cinema exhibition. Deriving from the exotic topicals that had been filmed from the earliest days of cinema by travelling operators for the Lumière Brothers, for Méliès, or for Pathé, the local topicals offered local audiences familiar localities and everyday activities, and they anticipated the 'selfie' with an animated picture of oneself on the screen. Cinema showmen famously would film audiences queuing for their shows with the promise that they would see themselves on the screen next week. The strangeness of cinema and its still surprising life-likeness made this a cunning attraction, bringing audiences to the cinematograph and bringing them back again.
Apart from the possibility of 'seeing yourself as others see you', the locally produced film, featuring local events and annual local fairs as well as everyday life, was an important element of early cinema programmes, establishing itself in the 1900s before the rise of the feature film but continuing, particularly in small towns, into the 1960s. Several companies offered a topical film service, shooting local events by request of exhibitors, and making a single film print. The Blackburn-based company, Mitchell & Kenyon, is the best-known example, as hundreds of their films have survived, some of them from Scotland. These include factory-gate films, street scenes, and parades, commissioned by travelling exhibitors like George Green. As permanent cinemas became more common, some managers continued to use local films as a way to offer something unique and up-to-date - from the latest big football game to the children's galas and charity sports days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtrsAcybrj0
Besides specialised services like Mitchell and Kenyon's or Lizars, newsreel camera operators could also be hired in Glasgow from Gaumont and Pathé offices. In Campbeltown, for instance, Fred Randall Burnette commissioned Gaumont operators to film the arrival of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlander Territorials for training at Clochkiel camp, only days before the outbreak of the First World War. Populated with holiday crowds and cheerful, kilted volunteers, the film unwittingly captures this poignant moment more directly than newsreel footage. The border between these two non-fiction genres (the local topical and the newsreel) is more blurred in the case of Green's Topical Productions, the company set up in connection with George Green's cinemas and fairgrounds to produce local topicals on commission. In 1917, as the company tried to expand, their activities developed into the Scottish Moving Picture News which produced local newsreels into the 1920s.
Cinema managers or projectionists with some technical affinity could also produce their own local films. In the West End of Glasgow, James Hart made Grosvenor Topical News for the Grosvenor Cinema, and in Dundee, C.F. Partoon, a photographer, made 'Partoon's Pictorial of Local Events' for the Kinnaird Picture House. Topicals are, however, particularly associated with exhibitors and photographers in small towns. Louis Dickson, the proprietor of the Hippodrome in Bo'ness, made a number of local topicals, including an annual record of the Bo'ness Children's Fair; W. P. Gaylor, an optician in Hawick, made topicals through the Borders Kinematograph Company, including films of the annual Hawick Common Riding; Tommy Timmons made or commissioned topicals for the Cinema de Luxe in Lochgelly; and Harry Kemp made topicals for the Regal Cinema in Saltcoats.
Many of these films are held in the Scottish Screen Archive. There are records of films in other locations — J.D. Ratter, for instance, made films of bird-life in Shetland — but these are not held in the collection. On the basis of the surviving films in the Scottish Screen Archive, the evidence is that as many local topicals were made around Hawick or in Saltcoats, Rothesay or Bo'ness as were made in Edinburgh, Dundee or Aberdeen.
These were films of Ardrossan School Sports Day, Broxburn Children's Gala Day, Peebles War Memorial, the Camperdown Works, Great Western Road (1915, 1922), Lochgelly Old Age Pensioners, Saltcoats Flooded, or Wishaw Co-op Gala Day. Made before people knew how to behave in front of the camera and before Grierson had made documentary an art, they are unpolished, accidental and, oddly, with subjects gazing back at the camera, intimate; films of record with no apparent value outside the community in which they are filmed.
The social historian, G.M Trevelyan, says in his autobiography in 1949
The poetry of history lies in the quasi-miraculous fact that once, on this earth, once, on this familiar spot of ground, walked other men and women, as actual as we are today, thinking their own thoughts, swayed by their own passions, but now all gone, one generation vanishing into another, gone as utterly as we ourselves shall shortly be gone, like ghosts at cockcrow._ftnref1">[1]
The continuing significance of the local topicals for the present day is the way they seem to sit between memory and history, evoking a local past that is not yet 'another place' but is still resonant and populated; different, but not yet absolutely different; familiar and modern in a way in which the 'modern' early feature films never seem to be. In the terms of Walter Benjamin, they have awakened from the nineteenth century in which many early twentieth-century films still seemed to slumber._ftnref2">[2] Curiously, it is when one comes to look at the local topicals in the Scottish Screen Archive, about 300 titles filmed between the 1890s and the 1920s, most of them less than ten minutes long, that cinema seems new again. It is in these topicals, in the fascination of the amateurs with the new technology, in the experience of seeing their lives recorded, in their unmediated behaviour, in the immediacy of their localities caught on film, in the commonplace, the everyday, and the accidental, that cinema, again, seems most modern.
_ftn1">[1] G.M Trevelyan, 'Autobiography of an Historian', in An Autobiography and Other Essays (London: Longmans, Green, 1949)
_ftn2">[2] Walter Benjamin, The Arcades Project (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1999), p. 464. Also Convolution K, pp. 388-404.
Wishaw Co-op Gala Day
Arrival at Whitehart Hotel, Cambeltown
Bo'ness Fair 1912
Glimpse of the Camperdown Works, A
Great Western Road 1915
Hawick Scenes, 1909 - 1910
Saltcoats Flooded
Scottish Moving Picture News: Tank Bank Aberdeen, Aerial Display Edinburgh
Earl Haig Unveils Peebles War Memorial
Broxburn Children's Gala Day, 1924
Ardrossan Sports Gala
Grosvenor Topical News: Grosvenor Topicals, no. 1
Lochgelly Old Age Pensioners' Drive to Crook O' Devon
Kinnaird / Kinniard Hall
Cinema De Luxe
George Green
Harry Kemp
Louis Dickson
Fred Randall Burnette
C. F. Partoon
Tommy Timmons
W. P. Gaylor
Green's Film Service
Lizars
Empire Kinematograph and Grand Concert Party...


text:
Driverless truck meant to improve safety in work zones
August 25, 2015 / 11:50 AM / AP
BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Roving construction crews - the kind you see blacktopping a road, painting lines, inspecting a bridge or installing a traffic signal - are often protected from oncoming traffic by a specialized truck outfitted with a crash barrier.
The crash trucks, fitted with a device called a truck-mounted attenuator, have been credited with saving lives. But the workers who drive them are inevitably placed in harm's way, "literally waiting to be struck," said Robert Roy, president of Royal Truck & Equipment Inc. in Coopersburg.
On Monday, Royal demonstrated its new driverless crash truck that it hopes will some day improve safety at work zones around the country. Two of the autonomous vehicles will make their debut at highway construction sites in Florida by the end of the year under a state Department of Transportation demonstration program.
"Any time a driver can be removed from these vehicles in a very dangerous situation, and if the vehicle's struck, there's nobody inside of it to receive the damage or the injuries, that's measuring success," Roy said.
Truck-mounted attenuators have been around for 30 years. One study, published this year in the Journal of the Transportation Research Board, found they cut work-zone injuries and fatalities from rear-end crashes nearly in half.
Royal Truck & Equipment Inc., demonstrates its self-driving crash truck, Monday, Aug. 24, 2015, in Bethlehem, Pa. The company's self-driving truck will make its debut at highway construction sites in Florida by the end of the year under a state Department of Transportation pilot program. AP Photo/Michael Rubinkam
There is considerable interest in autonomous truck-mounted attenuators, both for their potential to reduce risk and as a way to save on labor costs, one of the study's authors, Gerald Ullman of Texas A&M's Transportation Institute, said Monday.
"Connected and autonomous vehicles in general are viewed as the future of surface transportation, and this technology may be one of the first ways in which it gets commercialized," he said.
Google and traditional car companies have been developing self-driving vehicles, while Daimler Trucks North America LLC recently demonstrated the first self-driving tractor-trailer to be licensed on public roads. Daimler said it would be years before a self-driving truck hits the market.
In Monday's demonstration, a lead truck beamed information to Royal's attenuator truck. The crash truck followed the lead truck around the parking lot of Bethlehem's municipal swimming pool, perfectly mimicking its movements, speed and braking.
Royal, the nation's largest manufacturer of truck-mounted attenuators, is partnering on the driverless crash trucks with Micro Systems Inc. of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, which supplies unmanned vehicles to the military and developed the technology.
Royal said the terms of the agreement with Florida's transportation department are still being negotiated.
First published on August 25, 2015 / 11:50 AM
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Millions across America are voting in the 2018 midterm election. But, not everybody. If you're one of those people who are passing on the polls, we want to know why.
Share your story about why you're not voting on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook by tagging it #abc7now. We may share your story online or on TV.


Just made these, they came out just like your pictures and are delicious! So easy and pretty for Christmas.
I'm so happy Darlene! We just love these!
Making these tonight with my girls, can't wait to see how they turn out! Thank you so much for sharing.
So easy to make AND so very yummy to eat! Made these with my daughter and we had a great time. Thanks for sharing your recipe. Can't wait to try more from you.
1 box of red velvet mix is how many grams?
Have you ever tried cream cheese frosting on these?
I haven't but that sounds delicious Tory.
Made these last year for my Christmas baking gift trays. Huge hit!!
I didn't flatten mine when I made them and loved the puffiness they had. Super quick and easy recipe made easier with the scoop to make balls.
Would these be good with chocolate/white chocolate chips mixed in?
Just made these and they are delicious! Just wondering how to store them?


text:
Hydrogen as Fuel? An Italian Pasta Factory Shows How It Could Work
CONTURSI TERME, Italy — In the hills near Naples, something unusual was taking place at a pasta factory one day in February. In a nearby olive grove, engineers in safety gear had hooked up tanks of a hydrogen and natural gas mixture to an existing gas line. It fed the boiler that provided the heat to dry and sterilize the noodles being produced.
Inside, regional specialties like orecchiette and thick, rich paccheri kept rolling out as employees in white coats and head coverings supervised. But because hydrogen fuel is free of emissions, the operation was sending less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than one using just natural gas, an emitter.
Mixing hydrogen and pasta-making is a gambit in a multifaceted campaign by Marco Alverà, the chief executive of Snam, an operator of natural gas networks in Italy and across Europe. Mr. Alverà, who took the job in 2016, is trying to keep his company on the right side of growing pressures, especially in Europe, for energy companies to change their business strategies to tackle climate change. Snam, whose Italian operations are valued at 20 billion euros, or about $21.9 billion, chose an industrial area that is home to Orogiallo, a pasta company, for an early trial.
Mr. Alverà has embraced hydrogen as a clean substitute for natural gas. Hydrogen has some major virtues. It is emissions-free and, he hopes, can be carried in Snam's existing 25,000-mile web of transmission lines.
When used as a fuel, hydrogen's only byproduct is water. But the most common way to produce hydrogen requires fossil fuels, themselves heavy emitters, which would zero out the benefits of hydrogen use. There are clean ways to make hydrogen, with renewable energy — but then why not just use those clean energy sources as fuel on their own?
The answer is storage. Excess renewable energy from wind and sun is often wasted. Using it to create hydrogen, which can be saved for later, is like having a large, relatively cheap battery, advocates say.
Mr. Alverà said his epiphany about the element came in late 2017, when his strategists persuaded him late one evening that, despite concerns about safety and cost, hydrogen could win a substantial portion of the energy market of the future. It could become a winning ticket for Snam. The company estimates that in three decades, about a quarter of Italy's energy could come from hydrogen.
That night, Mr. Alverà said, he called home to say he wasn't going to make it to dinner and ordered pizza for his advisers instead. As his confidence in their model grew, "I decided we would go to the board," he said.
He began building a team of hydrogen experts. Aiming to win converts to his plan, he hosted a conference in October featuring the Italian prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, and attended by dozens of corporate executives. He even wrote a book on the subject, "Generation H."
At 44, Mr. Alverà is a seasoned veteran of the energy business. After a stint at Goldman Sachs, he worked at Enel, a large electric utility, and Eni, the Italian oil giant. Paolo Scaroni, a former chief executive of both companies, said that of all the young executives who had worked for him, Mr. Alverà was "the most talented."
Mr. Alverà is willing to bet on his convictions. He wants to spend around €2 billion, or about $2.2 billion, on efforts like testing and upgrading Snam's network to make sure it is safe to carry hydrogen, and on seeding new applications for hydrogen technologies.
Jonathan Stern, a distinguished research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, said Snam was a "really decently proactive company" that was "actually doing things."
Snam, whose home city of Milan has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, has managed to keep the gas network humming throughout the country's lockdown, partly by having key control room technicians spend 15-day shifts living in isolated accommodations at the company's headquarters.
While natural gas emits less carbon dioxide when it is burned than other fossil fuels, like coal and oil, many experts still say that its use in countries like Britain, Italy and the Netherlands may need to be sharply reduced if governments are to meet their increasingly ambitious climate targets.
Replacing gas with something else — electricity from renewables is the oft-mentioned candidate — will be challenging. In the winter, demand for gas can be more than double what it is in the summer.
"It is not easy to replace all that gas with electricity," said Meike Becker, an analyst at Bernstein, a market research firm.
Mr. Alverà's enthusiasm for hydrogen comes at a time when the fuel is attracting attention as a means for moderating climate effects from both industry and governments.
Signs of this new enthusiasm can be seen in a flurry of deal-making as major companies load up on hydrogen expertise.
Cummins Engine bought a Canadian fuel-cell maker, Hydrogenics, last year, while CNH Industrial, which owns the Italian truck maker Iveco, invested $250 million in Nikola, a company based in Phoenix that is developing hydrogen-powered trucks and that has also attracted investment from the auto-parts maker Bosch.
Even though a group of companies, including Royal Dutch Shell, are installing hundreds of hydrogen filling stations in Germany, California and elsewhere, there are still only a tiny number of hydrogen cars. .
"I remain disappointed with the number of vehicles that are in the market," said Oliver Bishop, Shell's general manager for hydrogen, about Germany, Europe's key car production center.
Trucks, though, are looking like a better bet. For those carrying heavy loads long distances, some experts say, a tank of hydrogen is better than battery power.
"Pure battery trucks are good for up to about 250 miles," said Dale Prows, head of hydrogen supply at Nikola. To go farther, he said, batteries must be so large and expensive that it makes more sense to run the truck off hydrogen, which is lighter and requires less space. Essentially, hydrogen vehicles are electric models that obtain power through a chemical reaction in their fuel cells.
Anheuser-Busch has agreed to buy up to 800 of the vehicles for hauling its Budweiser beer. Angie Slaughter, the company's vice president of sustainability procurement, said she figured that the trucks would be competitive with conventional models.
"If they build them, we will buy them," she said.
Efforts to reduce emissions have so far focused on the electric power industries and passenger cars, but if countries are to achieve the climate change targets of the 2015 Paris agreement, then measures will need to be taken in some more challenging areas. Those include notoriously polluting industries like steel and cement. Hydrogen-fired boilers may also prove useful substitutes for gas boilers that are used to heat homes.
Bernd Heid, a senior partner in the German office of the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, said that hydrogen could play a role in reducing carbon dioxide in industries that account for nearly 60 percent of Europe's economy.
"That is not minimal," he said.
But for hydrogen to become a major factor in the energy system, the costs of making it using an emission-free process will need to be substantially reduced, experts say. Hydrogen is already widely used in industries like oil refining, but it is almost always derived from fossil fuels.
So-called green hydrogen is more expensive. It is produced using electricity from sources like wind and sun to separate hydrogen from water, a process called electrolysis. Costs are coming down, but some industrialists still say there is much work to be done to prove that hydrogen can be effective.
Mr. Alverà, the natural gas network executive, wants to accelerate the reduction of costs by blending hydrogen into the pipeline network, as Snam is doing in Contursi Terme, creating demand for machines called electrolyzers to make the gas. As bigger machines are built, prices will drop sharply, as they have for solar and wind energy, which now compete with fossil fuels in much of the world.
The owners of the pasta company Orogiallo, which has been operating with reduced shifts during the pandemic, would not have a problem with that. Just participating in Mr. Alverà's trial has burnished its green credentials with customers like supermarkets, which increasingly want suppliers that are responsible on environmental and social issues.
"Our clients are happy about this experiment," said Vincenzo Milito, 72, who started the €10 million-a-year business 50 years ago. He now runs it with his children, including his daughter Antonella, who is the chief executive. "Our clients worry about the environment."
Tagged factory, fuel, Hydrogen, Italian, Pasta, Shows, work
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MSI-P414 Analog Input Card - a low cost, high performance 12-bit analog input card with 1/2 LSB linearity and 1 MegOhm input impedance. Two models provide 8 or 16 channels that operate from +5V only. Programmable input ranges are 0-5V, 0-10V, -5V/+5V and -10V/+10V. Low span and offset errors result in no adjustments being required for these functions. Conversion time of 12 us provide up to 166 ksps for a 16-channel unit. Interrupt processing for IRQ4 thru IRQ9. Two programmable power down modes. Operates from -25° to 85°C.
MSI-P415 Differential Input Analog Card - a low cost, high performance 12-bit differential input analog card with 1/2 LSB linearity and 1 MegOhm input impedance. Two models provide 8 or 16 channels that operate from +5V only. Software programmable input ranges are 0-5V, 0-10V, -5V/+5V and -10V/+10V. Low voltage input ranges are also available for 0-100 mV, 0-200 mV, -100mV/+100mV and -200mV/+200mV. Low span and offset errors result in no adjustments being required for these functions. Conversion time of 12 us provide rates up to 166 ksps for a 16-channel unit. Interrupt processing is provided for IRQ4 thru IRQ9. Two programmable power down modes. Operates from -25° to 85°C.
MSI-P416 Isolated 16-bit Analog Input Card - a 2-channel isolated 16-bit analog input card designed specifically for measuring analog signals in harsh electrical environments in all PC/104 embedded systems. The unit is particularly useful in low frequency measurement applications requiring a high resolution such as those encountered in battery charging, RTU, SCADA, and industrial monitoring and control applications. Commonly encountered ground loop currents and large common-mode voltages associated with analog data acquisition are eliminated by onboard circuitry. Jumper selectable input ranges are 0-50 mV, 0-5V, 0-10V, -50 to +50 mV, -5 to +5V, -10 to +10V, and 0-20 mA. The mA range has an isolated 20 mA source for exciting tranducer transmitters. An isolation voltage of 750V is provided for input-to-input and input-to-bus with surge suppression at each input of 100V. The card operates from +5V @ 200 mA. Operates from -25°C to 85°C.
MSI-P460 PC/104 Analog Output Card - an 8-bit analog output card with 4 models for either 8, 16, 24 or 32 output channels. Output ranges are jumper selectable for 0-5V or 0-10V. A single potentiometer adjustment provides spans of 4 to 6V or 8 to 10V for the two output ranges. Nonlinearity and relative accuracy are ±1 LSB with a settling time of 5 us and a slew rate of 2 V/us. Onboard buffer amplifiers provide output currents of ±10 mA. Operates -25°C to 85°C. Requires +5V and ±12V.
MSI-AX10420 PC/104 48-Line Digital I/O Card - provides 48 TTL level input/output lines arranged in two 24-bit digital I/O groups. Each emulates a 8255 PPI with a higher drive capacity. I/O by two 50-pin connectors that are OPTO-22 compatible.
MSI-AX10450 PC/104 Opto-Isolated Input Card - a 16-channel opto-isolated digital input card for monitoring 16 inputs in applications such as industrial ON/OFF status, limit switch monitoring and valve/solenoid OPEN/CLOSE status. Interrupt capability is provided on the first channel. The input range is from 5V to 24V with an isolation voltage of 1000 Vrms. Inputs via a 50-pin connector. Requires +5V only.
MSI-AX10455 PC/104 Relay Output Card - an 8-channel relay card designed for industrial control type applications. The relays are SPDT which can be set or reset directly by I/O write instructions. Each relay is rated at 1.5A @ 125 VAC or VDC. The NO, NC and Common contacts of each relay are provided by a 50-pin connector. A LED, adjacent to each relay, gives indication of relay state. Breakdown voltages from coil-to-contact and contact-to-contact are1500 Vrms and 1000 Vrms, respectively. Requires +5V and +12V.
MSI-NC911 PC/104 Digital I/O and Counter/TimerCard - a general purpose PC/104 I/O card which provides 24 parallel TTL I/O lines using a 82C55A-Type PPI (programmable peripheral interface) with a high sink/source current of 24mA. Digital I/O is via a 50-pin connector that is Opto-22 compatible. Three 16-bit counter/timer channels are implemented using a 82C54 interval timer. A 20-pin connector provides for counter or timer I/O. The unit is an 8-bit stackthrough PC/104 with I/O mapped 16-bit addressing for which addresses and interrupt options are jumper selectable. Requires +5V only.
MSI-P560 96-Line Digital I/O Card - provides 96 TTL level input/output lines arranged in four 24-bit digital I/O groups. Each group emulates a 8255 PPI (programmable peripheral interface) operating in mode 0. Each group is divided into three 8-bit ports ports A, B and C. Ports A and B can be configured as 8-bit input or output. Port C can be configured in two groups of four as input or output. I/O is provided by two 50-pin connectors. The unit is an 8-bit stackthrough PC/104 with I/O mapped 16-bit addressing for which addresses A5 thru A15 are jumper selectable. Operates -25°C to 85°C. Requires +5V only.
MSI-P563 PC/104 Universal Input/Output Card - a general purpose PC/104 I/O card which provides 24 parallel TTL I/O lines using a 82C55A PPI (programmable peripheral interface) with a 50-pin connector that is Opto-22 compatible. A serial port selectable as a RS-232C, RS-422 or RS-485 is provided by a 16550 PC compatible UART. Three 16-bit counter/timer channels are implemented using a 82C54 interval timer. Requires +5V only. Operates -25°C to 85°C.
MSI-DMP1800 PC/104 4-Port RS-232C Card - a 4-port serial I/O card with four full duplex RS-232C serial ports using 16550 UARTS. I/O addressing from 100 to 3C0 hexadecimal. Interrupts are selectable for IRQ 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7. Includes cables. +5V only.
MSI-P602 PC/104 Trimble Lassen iQ GPS Card with Digital I/O - a low cost, high performance global positioning system which uses the Trimble Lassen iQ module. It provides 12-channel GPS functionality that is fully compatible with Trimble's popular Lassen SQ module using Trimble's FirstGPS® architecture which delivers complete position, velocity and time (PVT) solutions for the host application. It features two GPS signal sensitivity modes: Standard and Enhanced. With Enhanced mode enabled, the module automatically switches to higher sensitivity when satellite signals are weak. The module also supports TSIP download of critical startup information for fast acquisition. This aided GPS (A-GPS) startup provides hot start performance for each power-up. The module supports the four most popular protocols: DGPS (RTCM), TSIP (Trimble Standard Interface Protocol), TAIP (Trimble ASCII Interface Protocol) and NMEA 0183 with an MTBF (mean time between failures) figure of 60 years. The card provides two serial ports for processing the GPS data. The primary port gives TSIP input and output data at a default BAUD rate of 9600. This port is also selectable for the TAIP protocol. The secondary port provides DGPS (RTCM) input and NMEA output at a default BAUD rate of 4800. Software selectable NMEA protocols using the secondary serial port are GGA (default), GLL, GSA, GSV, RMC, VTG (default) and ZDA. Baud rates are selectable from 2400 to 38,400. The DGPS protocol is RTCM SC-104. The serial ports are standard IBM PC compatible UARTs. Similarly, the secondary port is selectable at COM2, COM4 or an offset address. A time mark of 1 PPS is available as an interrupt or as input into modem status line DCD of the secondary UART for synchronizing events. The primary UART interrupt is also provided for allowing interrupt processing of GPS data. Interrupts are jumper selectable for IRQ3 thru IRQ7 and IRQ9. Four TTL level digital inputs are provided by status lines CTS and DSR of the primary and secondary UARTs. Four TTL level outputs are provided by OUT1 and OUT2 of these UARTs. The card is supplied with an active antenna having a 5 meter (16.5 ft.) cable and a spacer kit. A sample test program is supplied that illustrates programming of the UARTs for various NEMA protocols and data transfer rates. Operates from -40° to 85° C.
MSI-NC811 PC/104 Network Card - an inexpensive 16-bit Ethernet PC/104 Module which offers users the highest performance in Full-Duplex architecture. It is a plug & play + jumperless + Full-Duplex Ethernet card that uses enhanced drivers provided for LAN cards, as well as Novell NE2000 drivers. Furthermore, by using a single Ethernet chipset, this card consumes only 10% of the power of a typical Ethernet card satisfying your computer's "Energy Star Logo" requirement. The card uses a RJ-45 connector and allows users to configure the hardware by using software, or Plug & Play mode with the auto-setup feature that makes the card truly "Plug & Play".
MSI-NC812 PC/104 Network Card w/Boot ROM & DiskOnChip Flash Disk Socket - a star topology, CSMA/CD protocol, BNC and RJ-45 connectors, Boot ROM & DiskOnChip flash sockets, IEEE 802.3 10 Base-2 and 10 Base-T, 10Mbps or 20Mbps, Novell NetWare 3.X, 4.X, NDIS driver for Microsoft LAN Manager, Windows for Workgroups, Microsoft Windows NT, Packet driver for TCP/IP. Win9XX, SCOUNIX driver, Artisoft Lantastic driver. Operates 0°C to 60°C.
MSI-P402 PC/104 32-Bit Quadrature Decoder/Counter Card - a 32-bit quadrature decoder/counter card designed for monitoring quadrature encoder inputs used in determining motor shaft positions and rotations in machine control and robotic applications. The card can be supplied with 2, 4, 6 or 8 channels. Each channel provides a 32-bit binary up/down counter with selectable 1X, 2X or 4X decoding and latched count outputs using Agilent HCTL-2032 decoders. For each input channel, connector J1 provides quadrature inputs with 10K pull-ups and surge suppressors for operation in harsh environments as well as +5V and ground for powering of user's encoders. Interrupts selection for IRQ3 thru IRQ9 are jumper selectable for managing counter roll-overs, if required. The unit is an 8-bit stackthrough PC/104 with I/O mapped 16-bit addressing for which the card base address is jumper selectable. A count reset to zero is provided for each individual channel. Operates from -40°C to +85°C. Requires +5V.
MSI-P404 PC/104 32-Bit Quadrature Decoder/Counter Card with Index Inputs - a 32-bit quadrature decoder/counter card with index inputs designed for monitoring encoder inputs used in determining motor shaft positions and rotations in machine control and robotic applications. The card can be supplied with 2, 4, 6 or 8 channels. Each channel provides a 32-bit binary up/down counter with selectable 1X, 2X or 4X decoding and latched count outputs using Agilent HCTL-2032 decoders. For each input channel, connector J1 provides quadrature inputs with 10K pull-ups and surge suppressors for operation in harsh environments as well as +5V and ground for powering of user's encoders. Connector J2 provides index inputs with 10K pull-ups and surge suppressors. Each index channnel can be indivdually disabled. Interrupt selection for IRQ3 thru IRQ9 are jumper selectable for managing counter roll-overs, if required. The unit is an 8-bit stackthrough PC/104 with I/O mapped 16-bit addressing for which the card base address is jumper selectable. A count reset to zero is provided for each individual channel. Operates from -40°C to +85°C. Requires +5V only.
MSI-P406 PC/104 32-Bit Quadrature Decoder/Counter Card with Differential Inputs - provides differential encoder and index inputs that are RS-422 compliant designed for monitoring quadrature encoder inputs used in determining motor shaft positions and rotations in machine control and robotic applications. The card can be supplied with 2 or 4 channels. Each channel provides a 32-bit binary up/down counter with selectable 1X, 2X or 4X decoding and latched count outputs using Agilent HCTL-2032 decoders. Four connectors (J1-J4) provide differential quadrature inputs for operation in harsh environments as well as +5V and ground for powering of user's encoders. A shield ground is also provided for each input cable that is capacitively coupled to the PC/104 Bus ground. Each index channnel can be indivdually disabled. Interrupt selection for IRQ3 thru IRQ7 and IRQ9 are jumper selectable for managing counter roll-overs, if required. The unit is an 16-bit stackthrough PC/104 with I/O mapped 16-bit addressing for which the card base address is jumper selectable. A counter reset to zero is provided for each individual channel. Operates from -40°C to +85°C. Requires +5V only.
MSI-NC0070 AC/DC Power Supply Card - provides +5V @ 2A, -5V @ 0.2A, +12V @ 1A and -12V @ 0.3A via the PC/104 bus from a PC/104 form factor card. The input voltage range is 90-264 VAC @ 47-63Hz. The unit provides an excellent supply for PC/104 systems. Built-in line filter. Meets FCC, CE, TUV, UL 478 and CSA 22.2 certifications. Operates 0°C to 55°C.
MSI-NC0072 DC/DC Power Supply and 24-Bit Digital I/O Card - provides +5V @ 3A to the PC/104 bus and to an onboard 2-terminal strip for external connections. The input voltage range is +8VDC to +48VDC. Overload and Overheat protection are provided. The unit also provides 24 digital I/O lines via a 50-pin connector that is OPTO-22 compatible. The digital I/O ports emulate a 8255 PPI in mode 0. Operates from -20°C to 60°C.
MSI-P900 I/O Prototyping Card - an 8-bit I/O mapped prototyping card for simple rapid design implementation. Provides a fully decoded bi-directional 8-bit data bus (D0-D8), five low-enable selects (CS0-CS4) from jumper selectable addresses A4 thru A15. Also provides jumper selectable IOR*, IOW*, SA0-SA3, IRQ3 thru IRQ9, +5V, -5V, -12V, and +12V. Sixty percent of the card accommodates wire-wrap 8-pin thru 40-pin DIPs, SIPs, and up to 40-pin 0.1" spacing I/O connectors. Solder pads are provided on the bottom surface for easy connections of devices to +5V and ground.
The unit is an 8-bit stackthrough PC/104 with I/O mapped 16-bit addressing for jumper selectable card addresses and interrupt options. Operates -40°C to 85°C. Requires PC/104 Bus +5V only.
The unit is an 16-bit stackthrough PC/104 with I/O mapped 16-bit addressing for jumper selectable card addresses and interrupt options. Operates -40°C to 85°C. Requires PC/104 Bus +5V only.
MSI-PM1033 PC/104 LCD/VGA Card w/DiskOnChip Flash Disk Socket - a high performance LCD or VGA display and a socket for M-System's DiskOnChip for 2 MB up to 144 MB of flash disk. LCD and VGA display can be simultaneous. The card employs a TP6508IQ chipset and 1 MB of onboard VRAM. CRT monitor resolutions are selectable for up to 1024x768 for 256 colors. LCD resolutions are up to 800x600 for 16M colors. Supports TFT and DSTN LCD panels for 18/24-bit data signals. Provides +/-40V Vee for flat panel requirement. See the User Manual for hardware and software descriptions, compatible LCD panels, and card specifications. Includes software driver utilities, PC/104 spacers, and cables for VGA connections.
MSI-P710 PC/104 ZigBee Wireless Card with Analog In and Digital I/O - a low cost, high performance wireless card providing the ZigBee protocol using a XBee ZB or XBee-PRO ZB modules operating at an rf frequency of 2.4 GHz. With advanced mesh networking functionality, XBee and XBee-PRO ZB modules improve data traffic management and allow for greater node density. The card is configurable for Transparent or API operation. Uses simple AT commands with a standard COM port provided by an onboard UART. The card can function as a Coordinator, a Router or an End Device in the ZigBee mesh topology.
A 16C550 UART interfaces the XBee module to the PC/104 bus. The UART provides a 16 byte transmit and receive FIFO and baud rates are programmable from 1200 to 115,200 bits/s. Automatic hardware RTS and CTS flow control is used to prevent overflow of the local receiver and remote receiver FIFOs. The card I/O address is jumper selectable for COM1 thru COM4 with an optional 16-bit offset address. Ten interrupts are jumper selectable for ranges contained in IRQ2 thru IRQ15. The ZigBee I/O provides 4 lines of analog inputs individually selectable for 0-5V, 0-10V or 0-20mA with 10-bit resolution, and 5 TTL selectable as input or output. A fused 5V@0.5A is provided on the I/O connector is available for powering analog and digital sensors connected to the card. All I/O lines have varistor surge suppressors for transient voltage (lightning, etc.) protection.
Inventory management problems? Visit our web site for a complete, no-nonsense solution for $595!
See our descriptions under the ISA BUS section of the journal.


text:
Geddes, John. "Military to Investigate Illnesses". The Canadian Encyclopedia, 13 June 2014, Historica Canada. www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/military-to-investigate-illnesses. Accessed 31 January 2023.
Geddes, J. (2014). Military to Investigate Illnesses. In The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/military-to-investigate-illnesses
Geddes, John. "Military to Investigate Illnesses." The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Article published April 28, 2003; Last Edited June 13, 2014.
The Canadian Encyclopedia, s.v. "Military to Investigate Illnesses," by John Geddes, Accessed January 31, 2023, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/military-to-investigate-illnesses
Military to Investigate Illnesses
Article by John Geddes
Published Online April 28, 2003
Last Edited June 13, 2014
Everybody agrees it was a dirty job. When Canadian Peacekeepers arrived in Croatia in 1993, many had to work near abandoned industrial sites destroyed during the war that had torn apart the old Yugoslavia. Some got covered in reddish grit while filling sandbags.
This article was originally published in Maclean's Magazine on August 9, 1999
Everybody agrees it was a dirty job. When Canadian Peacekeepers arrived in Croatia in 1993, many had to work near abandoned industrial sites destroyed during the war that had torn apart the old Yugoslavia. Some got covered in reddish grit while filling sandbags.This article was originally published in Maclean's Magazine on August 9, 1999
Everybody agrees it was a dirty job. When Canadian PEACEKEEPERS arrived in Croatia in 1993, many had to work near abandoned industrial sites destroyed during the war that had torn apart the old Yugoslavia. Some got covered in reddish grit while filling sandbags. Others recall that the locally supplied bottled water was often cloudy. Last week, Defence Minister Art Eggleton and Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Maurice Baril established a board of inquiry to look into claims that grimy conditions left some peacekeepers chronically ill - and how a doctor's note warning of possible exposure to toxic substances came to be removed from the medical records of up to 1,000 soldiers. But many of those who served in Croatia are skeptical that the inquiry means their health worries are finally being taken seriously by the top brass. "I'm sorry I didn't get my leg blown off on the beaches of Normandy," says Kelly Carter of Calgary, who was a master corporal in Croatia and is now retired from the army. "But there are new types of injuries they are going to have to learn to deal with."
Baril has promised that answers will come soon. The board expects to discover who altered medical records, and make the findings public in an interim report in October. A final report might take a few more months. But some embittered rank-and-file veterans doubt the inquiry will get to the bottom of the controversy. "I certainly don't trust the military to investigate itself," says Sean Breckenridge, a former army reservist in Calgary who served as a radio operator in Croatia. Opposition politicians, too, are demanding outside investigators. On the inquiry's other key aim - finding out if soldiers were exposed to toxic hazards - political pressure will be less intense but the scientific challenge is daunting. Doctors have been stymied in the past when faced with trying to sort out the causes of elusive medical syndromes associated with troops who came home from tough overseas assignments like Vietnam and the Persian Gulf.
The inquiry's credibility was being questioned within minutes of its five members being announced at a July 29 news conference. Col. Howard Marsh, the officer named to lead the board, turned out to be one link in the long chain of delays and indecision that left Baril apologizing for the military's lax handling of the affair up to now. Questioned about when he learned of the issue, Marsh said he was told about it by Col. Jim Calvin in late May, 1998. Calvin commanded Canadian peacekeepers in Croatia and later wrote an internal memo raising both the health question and his own grave concerns about the apparent altering of medical records. About three months after his chat with Calvin, Marsh took over as the army's command inspector, but said that for a few months he was too busy to look into what Calvin had told him.
The panel's legal counsel, Lt.-Col. Roger Strum, resigned citing a conflict of interest - he was prosecutor in a controversial court martial of Lieut. Eric Smith, a military doctor and key figure in the health controversy. But Marsh shows no inclination to bail out of the mission. Bristling at the suggestion that he could not properly probe a process in which he played a small part, he vowed to follow his investigation wherever it leads - even if his findings cause embarrassment in corner offices at department of national defence headquarters in Ottawa. In a brief interview with Maclean's, he predicted that "central agencies" of the Canadian Forces will have some explaining to do. Marsh downplayed the importance of documents, released to the Reform party under the Access to Information Act, that have prompted speculation that a military lawyer in Calgary might have given the key advice to remove the notes from soldiers' medical files. He believes the final decision must have come from higher up. "I would surmise that it came from a central agency," Marsh said, suggesting the top medical officers in the Forces as possible targets for investigation. "If it goes to the surgeon general, that's where I'll go."
Marsh clearly has his hunches. But he also stresses that the task ahead of him is far from straightforward. After all, the facts of the case stretch back more than six years; the trail is cold and the players are scattered. The saga began in 1993, when soldiers from the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry were sent to Croatia. In June, 1994, Smith, then-senior medical officer with the peacekeeping contingent, was worried enough to note in a report his concern about polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, that had leaked out of ruined electrical transformers in an old industrial plant where Canadian troops were deployed. By early 1995, Smith was urging that a note be put in soldiers' files stating that they had been exposed to PCBs as well as bauxite - the mixture of minerals that is the main source of aluminum, and that was used to fill sandbags. Other officers persuaded Smith to soften his original wording on "exposure" to "potential exposure." Some time later, the note was removed entirely from many files.
The order to take out the note - whoever issued it - may well turn out to be indefensible. But that does not mean the substance of Smith's warning was grounded in solid science. Some leading experts take issue with his assumptions. Much attention has focused on the now-infamous bauxite-filled sandbags, the source of the red dust that one military report says covered some soldiers for weeks on end while they served in Croatia. "They lived in it, slept in it, ate their lunches in it," says Reform defence critic Art Hanger. Sounds unpleasant, but not necessarily harmful. Dr. Graham Gibbs, an Edmonton epidemiologist who has studied health risks in the aluminum industry, says bauxite poses no special threat. "There have been a sufficient number of miners involved in bauxite mining around the world that if there were indications of these kind of effects, we would have heard about them," Gibbs says.
Canadians are more attuned to the notion that PCBs are extremely dangerous. Many remember the uproar when a transport truck spilled PCBs on the Trans-Canada Highway near Kenora, Ont., in 1985, and the panic when a warehouse full of stored PCBs exploded into flames in Saint-Basile-le-Grand, Que., in 1988. Yet Prof. Allan Okey, chairman of the University of Toronto's pharmacology department and an expert on toxic substances, says studies have not shown any clear health risk, beyond a skin condition similar to acne, among industrial workers who were routinely exposed to PCBs for decades before the substance was banned in1979. "The majority of the published research doesn't really support the notion of a high degree of toxicity," he says.
Okey suggests one way to give soldiers quick answers - and perhaps peace of mind - would be to order immediate blood tests. He estimates that for $1,000 to $2,000 per person, the army could find out if peacekeepers who served in Croatia have higher than normal PCB levels. There is a strong chance the findings would be reassuring. Okey says that merely being near a PCB spill, which seems to have been the case in Croatia, suggests no reason to suspect the soldiers ingested much of the chemical. "From what I know of the situation, it is unlikely there has been sufficient exposure to constitute a major health problem," he said.
Still, even those who doubt PCBs and bauxite are the culprits are not discounting the possibility of genuine health problems. Okey said military zones are notorious for combining "the stress of combat, with infectious diseases, with the possibility of a lot of different chemicals." Matt Stopford of Peterborough, Ont., a former platoon warrant officer who served in Croatia, insists the effects are all too real. He says he has lost most of the vision in his right eye and suffers pain and swelling of his joints, and knows of about 50 other soldiers who were in Croatia who now complain of similar symptoms. Many others, like Carter and Breckenridge, feel fine now, but worry about the future. As well, RCMP Const. Tom Dolan, one of 250 Mounties who served in Croatia in the same area as the military peacekeepers, went public last week with his concern that pain in his arms might be related to the ills soldiers are reporting. The RCMP launched its own review of the situation, and a member of the national police force was added to Marsh's inquiry board as an observer.
Marsh dismissed PCBs and bauxite as likely "red herrings" for his inquiry. But he vividly described how conditions in Croatia in 1993 provided plenty of other candidates for causing future poor health. "It is fully possible that it is the scorched earth, the burning human flesh, the burning animals, it is the blown up sewers, it is the downed transformers, it is the incoming shells, that have created a toxic soup in the air," he said. But then, the soldiers already know what they faced in the field. What they want to find out is what went on back home in the filing cabinets.
Maclean's August 9, 1999
Indigenous Peoples' Medicine in Canada
Canada's Opioid Crisis
Indian Hospitals in Canada


The Dark Ranger: Capitals Sign Michael Nylander.
The Washington Capitals have announced a four-year deal acquiring Nylander from the New York Rangers -- terms have not been released.
This is a surprise for most, as we all believed he was assisting the now barren team once referred to as the Edmonton Oilers. Nylander played for the Caps during the 2002-2003 season - so I can imagine he must have received something in the range of $20 million to support those six kids.
Ah, the wild ride of free agency.
UPDATE: He signed for 4 years for $19.5 million. Not bad Dark Ranger....my original guess off by 500K.


This is the music-scores Malats sheet music section for Clarinet. We currently have 2 files available for download.
Serenata Espanola, the composers most well known piece, arranged as a duo for Clarinet and Guitar in Capo I position.
We have Malats Clarinet sheet music for the following skill levels.


What if there was an angel among us?
A different kind of fantasy series, romantic and funny, putting a smile on your face, Angel Aid books depict a world in which in addition to humans and their never-ending problems, there is the kingdom of heaven with a legion of angels. But frankly, things don't seem to be any less messy up in heaven than what they are down on Earth.
Then one day a mischievous angel called Aaron becomes a human being. The highest celestial authorities entrust him with setting up a charity, Angel Aid, in a sleepy Tuscan village. Yet are Aaron and his friends able to assist those who are lost or discouraged? Can they spread the message of optimism and hope, and help people become who they really are? Or is the whole project a recipe for a divine disaster?


Being appointed as an executor can be a daunting experience. It is an important job which needs to be carried out at a difficult and emotional time.
Contact Centrelink or the Department of Veterans Affairs if they were in receipt of a pension.
Ensure all items of dollar and sentimental value are adequately secured, including considering whether locks to buildings need to be changed if there is a risk to the security of those items.
Ensure that insurance is maintained/taken out over property such as buildings and cars.
Contact a solicitor to arrange an appointment to obtain advice in relation to the estate. You should note that there is not a "reading of the will" like is seen in movies. It may not be appropriate to have beneficiaries accompany you to the appointment and this should be discussed with the solicitor by phone prior to the appointment if you are considering it.
Details of the deceased's assets, liabilities and superannuation membership.
Details of any beneficiaries of the estate.
Details of the deceased's accountant or financial planner.
Details of any insurance policies relating to the deceased's assets.
Details of any managing agent for investment properties.
Being an executor doesn't have to be a stressful job. By being prepared and obtaining legal advice regarding your role and responsibilities, the process of administering an estate is made much simpler.
You may want to wait to see a solicitor until after the Death Certificate issues (anywhere between three and eight weeks after death). That way you have had the time to collect the information which may be relevant to the estate and can provide the Death Certificate at the time of the appointment. It can also give you time to gather yourself emotionally. You may however prefer to see a solicitor as soon as possible so that things can get underway. It can also be prudent to obtain advice sooner rather than later if there is disharmony in the family. It is really up to you when you would prefer to make the appointment.
Lana Black is a Senior Solicitor at Mullane & Lindsay Solicitors and practices extensively in Estate Planning and Administration. If you require any assistance in this area please contact Lana Black to arrange a consultation or contact our Newcastle office.


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HomeTrendSearch NotesWebsite Seeks Class Action Against Google for Blacklisting
Website Seeks Class Action Against Google for Blacklisting
Mar 17, 2006 08:32 pm admin Search Notes Comments Off on Website Seeks Class Action Against Google for Blacklisting
Google Inc. and Yahoo! maintain a lot of secrecy about how websites and web pages are ranked to produce search results. Google was named in a lawsuit accusing the online search engine leader of ruining scores of Internet businesses that have been wrongfully banished from its index.
The civil complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose by KinderStart.com, seeks to be certified as a class action representing the owners of all Web sites blacklisted by Google's Internet-leading search engine since January 2001.
KinderStart, a Norwalk-based Web site devoted to information about children, says it was dropped from Google's index a year ago without warning. Large changes in search results for many websites were seen from Yahoo and Google results last fall.
KinderStart claims that Google has engaged in anti-competitive behavior and misled the public by positioning its search engine as an objective source for finding Internet content. The suit seeks unspecified financial damages and a court order that would require Google to change its ways.
Google claims its system attempts to elevate the Web sites with content most relevant to a request. Since PageRank, Google's ranking system can make or break websites, adminsitrators are upset over Google and Yahoo business practices. To make matters worse, some sites resort to dirty tricks ('black hat techniques') to try to fool Google into elevating their web links on search results. This makes it harder for search engine companies to manage legitimate website and web page results, and it sometime hurts the website with legitimate content.
Yahoo! and Google are known to eliminate websites or web pages from their indices, a process which is known as being sent to "the sandbox."
KinderStart's lawsuit alleges Google's policing efforts have penalized Web sites that have done nothing wrong. It is even possible that some website owners use 'Black Hat' techniques to sabotage competitor websites — again a situation where innocent websites are penalized by search engines. The lawsuit also alleges that the administrators of banished sites can't determine how they can restore their standings because Google doesn't explain its actions.
Google has previously defended its business practices. In 2003, Google persuaded a federal judge to dismiss a case filed by Oklahoma City-based Search King Inc. after its search ranking abruptly fell. Google argued its search ranking formula represented an opinion protected by the First Amendment, which U.S. District Judge Vicki Miles- LaGrange agreed.
KinderStart said its traffic plunged by 70 percent after Google dropped it. At its peak, KinderStart's visitors viewed more than 10 million Web pages per month, according to the suit.
Kinderstart will argue that Google has become an "essential facility" that should be required to warn Web sites before dropping them from the index. Imagine that your electric company cut your power because you didn't use electricity properly and then the power company refused to explain how to prevent the cutoff in the future.
Google maintains its secrecy is essential to its success.
Arlington Heights Weather Blog
Beware: Your Future Employer Could Google You


text:
Federal Government Nears Completion of its CX CAP Goal
Based on the most recent Cross-Agency Priority (CAP) Goals update released June 20, the Federal government is nearing completion of its Improving Customer Experience (CX) With Federal Services CAP Goal.
The CAP Goal, which is part of the President Trump's March 2018 President's Management Agenda, is intended to "provide a modern, streamlined, and responsive customer experience across government, comparable to leading private-sector organizations." The leadership team tasked with advancing the CAP Goal includes leaders from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), U.S. Digital Services, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and General Services Administration.
To measure progress towards the Goal, the leadership team broke down the process into three strategies: improve digital services, increase transparency to drive accountability, and apply proven practices to raise the standard of service of high impact service providers.
The CAP Goal update called attention to three key areas, each tied to one of the goal's strategies, and identified both progress wins and setbacks:
Identification of Customer Experience Challenges Across Agencies: "The CX CAP Goal Team has written a summary of their findings from the 25 HISP Self-Assessments and Deep Dive conversations that took place in Q1 and Q2."
Completed Governmentwide Customer Experience Journey Map Pilot: "The CX CAP Goal team is piloting using 'journey mapping' to document the perspective of individuals navigating Federal services irrespective of how the government is organized, which is necessary to identify some of the most critical bottlenecks and high-impact areas for improvement. A journey map of a Service member transitioning to civilian employment has been finalized, crossing [Department of Labor], [Department of Defense], VA, [Office of Personnel Management], and [Small Business Administration] programs. Recommendations are now being developed for priority areas for improvement pilots, and a research and synthesis report is being produced to support replication for other customer groups.
Conclusion of the U.S. Forms System Project: The US Forms System (USFS) project intended to create an open-source tool that simplifies the process of creating accessible web forms and reduces the amount of custom design and coding required to build forms. In mid-2018, the VA switched to using the USFS repository and became the library's first client. During the second half of 2018, the USFS team worked on making the library more general and less tied to the VA's software and design environment. In doing so, the team began connecting with prospective library adopters but found it difficult for other agencies to successfully adopt USFS. Building a general solution while actively addressing custom feature requests became increasingly complex. While the original solution may have worked for the VA, the assumption that the same implementations work for other agencies could not be validated. As such, the program has been suspended, but USFS remains an open-source library for others to build upon and learn from."
While the U.S. Forms System Project was canceled, more broadly speaking, the CX Cap Goal is nearing completion. Of the 29 key milestones identified for the goal, 23 have been completed, four are on track, one is on hold, and one has been canceled.
Tags: CAP Goal, CAP Goals, Improving Customer Experience (CX) With Federal Services CAP Goal, PMA, President's Management Agenda


text:
What's a nice idea like yours doing in a place like this?
Vacuum cleaner tube with integral brush
Vacuum Cow Catcher
Vacuum Cow Catcher II
Vacuum goggles
Vacuum hairdryer
Vacuum packing vacuum cleaner
Vacuum Vacuum
Voodoo Hoover
Wet/Dry Vacuum Adapter
home:vacuum
Free perfect vacuum cleaner - no power needed
Recently, several space satellites have been experimenting with lowering a line towards earth... I say, lower a vacuum cleaner hose to earth from a geosychronous satellite and 'clean house'. The surface side of the hose can be capped off until ready to use. Tow the surface side of the hose to the job site, uncap it, and stand way way back. That baby will suck everything and anything into it - shoot it up the vacuum cleaner hose and eject it into outer space - way out where the geosychronous satellite is parked. It won't use ANY power or electricity. It won't cost a thing to operate, once in place, and it will be the most perfect vacuum we could achieve on earth. No bags to change, no worries about what we suck up... water, food, dirt... doesn't matter - it's GONE! It could double as a weapon... suck the enemy country into space. It could also act as a launching device for small projectiles. You could literally change weather patterns with it. You could run a 'wind generator' from it - free electrical power (at least until the earth runs out of air). No end of things you could do... and I have a list of more ideas you could use this for. Remember, you saw it here first...
— gorn_the_great, Aug 19 2001
collaberative web fiction http://www.halfbake...ive_20web_20fiction
[RobertKidney, Aug 19 2001, last modified Oct 17 2004]
watertube http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/watertube
Closable giant chimney vacuum cleaner to space Closable_20giant_20...leaner_20to_20space
Making it a chimney [caspian, Oct 29 2018]
um .... there is no way this would work. Even if you could make tube that long there would be no suction because the earth's atmosphere would simply push up into the tube as you lowered it.
It would work for a space ship-- but it'd suck out more precious air than trash.. (and there's be no way to get the air back-- unlike in a normal vacuum where the air simply passes through the filter.)
— futurebird, Aug 19 2001
read the coments on my water tube idea and the link on vacuum cleaners from colaberative web fiction...
— RobertKidney, Aug 19 2001
Like all such ideas, one should try to figure out from where the energy is coming.
Here, there are two sources: the energy required to lift the tube, and the energy required to overcome its buoyancy on the way down. Try submerging an air-filled straw in your drink; it takes force to hold it down. And while some of that force is provided by the weight of the tube, that weight must be overcome when lifiting it in the first place.
Also, you won't eject it into outer space; you'll just fill the tube until the pressures equalize. Then you have to figure out what to do with the tube and its contents.
— bookworm, Aug 20 2001
If you shove a straw down into a glass of water - the straw fills up. Sure, and that is the end of that. But there, the comparison ends - because you must remember liquid is pulled up through the straw by the vacuum you create in your mouth. As long as you suck, the liquid gooes up. The vacuum in space will never fill up and hence will always be a vacuum - and therefore, this would work like a CHAMP, Chump!
— jim_brain, Aug 20 2001
jim_brain: then what holds us and our atmosphere down?
— sirrobin, Aug 21 2001
//'liquid is pulled up through the straw by the vacuum you create in your mouth'//
Sorry, wrong. The liquid is *pushed* up by atmospheric pressure on the surface of the liquid *outside* of the straw. It rises in the straw because that pressure is not present in your mouth. Stuff would rise up [gorn]'s hose only if the pressure inside were lower than that outside at the same altitude, which is not the case.
— angel, Aug 21 2001
still just because it doesnt work properly doesn't mean we should vote against it (I want more votes for my water tube - please take the hint)... there must be a way to work around these small technical problems...
you could put something resembling a real vacuum cleaner at the top of the tube for example...
Using what Angel said, restated in a different way: Stuff is *pushed* up by atmospheric pressure on the air at and around the bottom of the sky-tube. Stuff and air then rises in the tube because that pressure is not present in outer space. Stuff would rise up tube because the pressure inside is lower than that outside the end of the tube in space. So, this would work!
gravity stops it getting into space... some sort of energy must be used... the "antigravity vacuum vacuum" is born...
[jim_brain]: You're right, stuff *would* rise up the tube, but only as far as it extends *outside* the tube.
<Einstein-type thought experiment>You have a bucket of water with a hose in it. Apply a vacuum-cleaner to the open end of the hose. Water is sucked up the hose into the vacuum-cleaner. So far, so good, but what you want to do is to apply the vacuum-cleaner to the entire bucket. Either everything is sucked up or nothing is sucked up. Guess which.</Einstein-type thought experiment>
Gurggh! If you have a perfectly rigid tube without no leaks and a perfect vacuum inside it then water will rise in the tube only 10.5 meters or 34 feet whichever it pleases! Not a penny more! If you wish to eject trash into space you will have to pay to catapult it! You cannot suck it! Oooooh my brain hurts...
— Dog Ed, Aug 22 2001
Imagine a bucket of water. Tiny little people live at the bottom of the bucket, struggling to move under the high water pressure. To clean the bottom of the bucket they have little "Air Cleaners" which work by generating a little pocket of air which sucks water in through a dirt filter etc.
They make a tube, filled with air and raise it through the water in the bucket until it reaches the air above the bucket. By remote control, they take the lid off the top of the tube. Water from the bottom of the bucket quickly rushes into the tube. What happens next?
(a) Water carries on being sucked into the tube, fountaining out the top until the bucket is drained?
(b) Water rushes into the tube and stops when the level in the tube is the same as the level of the water in the bucket? (ignoring the tiny capillary effects).
— hippo, Aug 22 2001
I think we're well on the way to establishing that this idea might have one or two tiny flaws.
What about momentum? If the velocity of water in the pipe is great enough initially, then perhaps a little bit of water will spurt out the top, or at least rise a little further, before it settles at a level. To remove an object from the surface of the earth into space will require the object to be set in motion by a rush of air up the pipe greater than or equal to the object's escape velocity. If you could get a capped, vacuum-filled space pipe in place (the tricky bit), it might be possible to use it to hurl something into space, maybe. Probably not though.
— stupop, Aug 22 2001
How about a variation on the *siphoning* principle to make this idea feasible? [angel]'s bucket of water demonstrates the intrinsic flaw in this idea, but with a tiny additional suction, and by extending the exit of the tube below the bottom level of water, gravity will act to empty the bucket as long as the tube is kept open. So <scratches chin, pondering>, I'm no physicist but what we need is surely a way to make the other end of the tube *further down* than the end inside the atmosphere - perhaps attach it to one of our handy neighbourhood gas giants like Saturn or Jupiter with a heavier gravity. We'd still have to provide an initial suck to get the air from the bottom past the top of the atmosphere, far enough for the heavier gravity to take over - just like getting the water over the top curve of the siphoning hose - but how hard could this be? <blinks, wide-eyed and innocent> And once we get it started it'll just keep going till we close the tube. All seems perfectly reasonable to me. ;)
— Guy Fox, Aug 22 2001
Now we're talking about using the gravity of Saturn to move stuff, not the vacuum of space. You'll need to push your stuff beyond the 'thingy'-point (LeGrange? Something like that. The 'equal-gravitational-pull-from-two-bodies' point.) so that Saturn's gravity takes over, and once again you're talking big rockets.
Hmm. I can think of a minor logistical point here. The earth travels round the sun much quicker than Saturn, and the distances between them vary tremendously, so not only would the tube have to be very flexible, but we'd have to work out a method to stop it wrapping itself several times around the sun.
— Lemon, Aug 22 2001
I'm getting a picture of the hose Klein-bottling in on itself so the inside becomes the outside. Not sure what's supposed to happen after that though.
Maybe we could get some of those tiny people at the bottom of the bucket to help prevent the hose from getting tangled up with other heavenly bodies.
— beauxeault, Aug 22 2001
Why, Lemon, you're a genius. Forget Saturn; we use the sun itself. That's heavier still, so the thingy point that angel's talking about should be closer to Earth, plus we don't have to worry about out-of-phase orbits. All we have to do then is have the hose curve slightly out of the plane of the planet's orbits so Venus and Mercury don't slam into it. Am I wrong?
"The heat-sink had a mass of some two thousand billion tons and was contained within a black hole mounted in an electromagnetic field situated half-way along the length of the ship, and this heat-sink enabled the craft to be manoeuvred to within a few miles of a yellow sun, there to catch and ride the solar flares that burst out from its surface."
One of these might come in handy....
I'm voting for this simply on the basis that it could result in all the air being sucked out of the atmosphere. If someone left the end off of the tube we could all suffocate in days.
— CasaLoco, Aug 22 2001
You obviously have different criteria from me as to what makes a good idea...
— -alx, Aug 22 2001
And if it does get pulled into the Sun, we'd better let go of our end pretty quickly...
the hose would not be pulled into the sun becaused it is atatched to the earth which is in orbit around the sun... after reading the siphon anotation I wanted to vote for this idea but then realised that I already had... not fair, I want another vote...
This wouldn't work. Why does the earth's atmosphere stay with us? Gravity!!
— -----, Nov 04 2004
//You're right, stuff *would* rise up the tube, but only as far as it extends *outside* the tube.//
Unless the air in the tube was lighter, because it was warmer. Options: electrically heat the tube. Make the tube black to absorb solar energy. Use tube as a chimney for a fire. Heat the air as it goes into the tube. It may help to insulate the tube, but the air inside will cool as it expands so I'm not sure.
It's a closable giant chimney as vacuum cleaner. I'm posting this as it's own idea, there's probably plenty of problems with it to point out.
— caspian, Oct 29 2018


text:
traductions wikipedia anagrammes mots-croisés Ebay
définition - Sunningdale Agreement
Sunningdale Agreement
The Sunningdale Agreement was an attempt to establish a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland. The Agreement was signed at the Civil Service College (now the National School of Government) in Sunningdale Park located in Sunningdale, Berkshire, on 9 December 1973.[1] Unionist opposition, violence and a loyalist general strike caused the collapse of the Agreement in May 1974.
1 Northern Ireland Assembly
2 Power-sharing Executive
3 Council of Ireland
4 Reaction to the Agreement
5 Collapse of the Agreement
On 20 March 1973, the British government published a white paper which proposed a 78-member Northern Ireland Assembly, to be elected by proportional representation. The British government would retain control over law, order and finance, while a Council of Ireland composed of members of the executive of the Republic of Ireland, the Dáil Éireann, the Northern Ireland Executive and the Northern Ireland Assembly would act in a consultative role.[2] The assembly was to replace the suspended Stormont Parliament, but it was hoped that it would not be dominated by the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in the same way, and would thus be acceptable to nationalists.
The Northern Ireland Assembly Bill resulting from the White paper became law on 3 May 1973, and elections for the new assembly were held on 28 June. The agreement was supported by the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), the unionist UUP and the moderate unionist and cross-community Alliance Party. The pro-agreement parties won a clear majority of seats (52 to 26), but a substantial minority inside the Ulster Unionist Party opposed the agreement.
Republicans boycotted the elections,[clarification needed] and the IRA continued its campaign of opposition throughout the outcome.
Power-sharing Executive
After the Assembly elections, negotiations between the pro-White Paper parties on the formation of a "power-sharing Executive" began. The main concerns were internment, policing and the question of a Council of Ireland.
On 21 November, agreement was reached on a voluntary coalition of pro-agreement parties (unlike the provisions of the Belfast Agreement, which establishes the D'Hondt method for the election of Ministers, proportionally to the main parties in the Assembly). Prominent members of the Executive included former Unionist Prime Minister Brian Faulkner as Chief Executive, SDLP leader Gerry Fitt as Deputy Chief Executive, future Nobel Laureate and SDLP leader John Hume as Minister for Commerce and leader of the Alliance Party Oliver Napier as Legal Minister and head of the Office of Law Reform. The UUP was deeply divided – its Standing Committee voted to participate in the executive by a margin of only 132 to 105.
Council of Ireland
Provisions for a Council of Ireland existed in the Government of Ireland Act 1920, but these had never been enacted. Unionists resented the idea of any "interference" by the Republic of Ireland in their newly established region. In 1973, after agreement had been reached on the formation of an executive, agreement was sought to re-establish a Council of Ireland to stimulate co-operation with the Republic of Ireland. Talks were held between 6 December and 9 December in the Berkshire town of Sunningdale between the British Prime Minister Edward Heath, the Irish Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave and the three pro-agreement parties.
The talks agreed on a two-part Council of Ireland:
The Council of Ministers was to be composed of seven members from the power-sharing executive, and seven members from the Irish Government. It was to have "executive and harmonising functions and a consultative role".
The Consultative Assembly was to be made up of 30 members from Dáil Éireann and 30 members from the Northern Ireland Assembly. It was to have "advisory and review functions" only.
On 9 December, a communiqué announcing the agreement was issued, which later became known as the "Sunningdale Agreement".
Reaction to the Agreement
A unionist poster from 1974
It was eventually agreed that the executive functions of the Council would be limited to "tourism, conservation, and aspects of animal health", but this did not reassure the unionists, who saw any influence by the Republic over Northern affairs as a step closer to a united Ireland. They saw their fears confirmed when SDLP councillor Hugh Logue publicly described the Council of Ireland as "the vehicle that would trundle unionists into a united Ireland" in a speech at Trinity College, Dublin. [3] On 10 December, the day after the agreement was announced, loyalist paramilitaries formed the Ulster Army Council — a coalition of loyalist paramilitary groups, including the Ulster Defence Association and the Ulster Volunteer Force, which would oppose the agreement.
In January 1974, the Ulster Unionist Party narrowly voted against continued participation in the Assembly and Faulkner resigned as leader, to be succeeded by the anti-Sunningdale Harry West. The following month a general election took place. The Ulster Unionists formed the United Ulster Unionist Council (UUUC) as a coalition of anti-agreement unionists with the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party to stand a single anti-Sunningdale candidate in each constituency. The pro-Sunningdale parties, the SDLP, the Alliance, the Northern Ireland Labour Party and the "Pro Assembly Unionists" made up of Faulkner's supporters, were disunited and ran candidates against one another. When the results were declared, the UUUC had captured eleven of the twelve constituencies, several of which had been won on split votes. Only West Belfast returned a pro-Sunningdale MP (Gerry Fitt). The UUUC declared that this represented a democratic rejection of the Sunningdale Assembly and Executive, and sought to bring them down by any means possible.
In March 1974, pro-agreement unionists withdrew their support for the agreement, calling for the Republic of Ireland to remove the Articles 2 and 3 of its constitution first (these Articles would not be revised until the Good Friday Agreement of 1998).
Collapse of the Agreement
Main article: Ulster Workers Council Strike
Following the defeat of a motion condemning power-sharing in the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Ulster Workers' Council, a loyalist organization, called a general strike for 15 May. After two weeks of barricades, shortages, rioting and intimidation, Brian Faulkner resigned as Chief Executive and the Sunningdale Agreement collapsed on 28 May 1974.
The strike succeeded because the British were reluctant to use force at an early stage and later the use of force was vetoed by the unionists in the Executive.
The most crippling aspect of the strike was its effect on electricity supply — the Ballylumford power station controlled Belfast's electricity and that of most of Northern Ireland. The workforce was overwhelmingly Protestant and effective control was firmly in the hands of UWC. John Hume's plan to cut the Northern Ireland electricity grid in two and rely on the power generated by Coolkeeragh Power Station (where many Catholics worked) to keep Derry and environs in business while undermining the unionist strikers in the east was rejected by the British Secretary of State Merlyn Rees.
In later strikes the security forces were prepared to use force immediately and so intimidatory barricades — essential to the success of the UWC strike — were suppressed from the outset.
Anglo-Irish Agreement
Downing Street Declaration
Belfast Agreement
^ "1973: Sunningdale Agreement signed". BBC News. 9 December 1973. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/9/newsid_2536000/2536767.stm. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
^ The Sunningdale Agreement — full text of the agreement, from the CAIN project's website
^ CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1974
The Sunningdale Agreement — full text of the agreement, from the CAIN project's website
The Sunningdale Agreement — Chronology of Main Events — from the same site
Northern Ireland Constitutional Proposals — text of the British government white paper which led to the agreement
Ulster Workers' Council Strike — events and background to the UWC general strike, from the CAIN project
Steps in the Northern Ireland peace process
Sunningdale Agreement (1973)
Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985)
Downing Street Declaration (1993)
Establishment of the IICD (1997)
Good Friday Agreement (1998)
Amendment of Articles 2 and 3 (1999)
Establishment of the Independent Monitoring Commission (2003)
IRA Ceasefire & Decommissioning (2005)
St Andrews Agreement (2006)
Hillsborough Castle Agreement (2010)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sunningdale_Agreement&oldid=499934051"
1973 in Northern Ireland
1970s in Irish politics
General strikes
History of Berkshire
History of Northern Ireland
Home rule in the United Kingdom
The Troubles (Northern Ireland)
Windsor and Maidenhead
Toutes les traductions de Sunningdale Agreement
synonyme - définition - dictionnaire - define - traduction - traduire - traducteur - conjugaison - anagramme - dictionnaire Littré convertisseurs - nombres en lettres - chiffres romains en chiffres arabes - - Di


Do you currently own more than one mobile phone and detest the fact that every single one has its own different power adapter? Well, we've got some good news for you. It looks like 17 wireless operators and handset makers have agreed to standardize chargers by 2012. The mobile phone industry group, GSM Association, has stated that cast-off chargers currently generate more than 51,000 tons of waste a year. The standardization would also reduce the amount energy being depleted from unused power adapters attached to wall outlets not being used. On top of that, some consumers can become frustrated with having lots of wires hanging from wall outlets all over the place. Chargers would become interchangeable, making it easier to use alternate adapters for multiple phones. Some big names include AT&T, Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and Qualcomm.
This is actually a really good idea, should've been done before, but at least it will get done. 2012... 3 years from now... I'm hoping technology will develop enough to charge all cell phones wirelessly by then. Also, what will the standard be??? Mini-usb? I'm guessing micro-usb... Phones will get thinner and it will be a matter of time before some get too small for mini-usb.
I thought this had already happened to a degree. I thought I read somewhere that manufacturers like LG, Samsung, Motorola had all agreed that micro-USB would be the charging standard? IDK...Good idea nonetheless.
Yeah I read on CNET that it was micro USB. And they also mentioned that Apple is not part of the agreement. So this is probably a no-go for the iPhone.
It's understandale why Apple wouldn't want to do this. By changing the iPhone to the universal specs they lose the ability to interact with all of the iphone/ipod accessories.
Thank goodness this is happening. My only regret is that it hasn't been discussed and put into practice sooner! I'm reminded of an old Simpsons dialogue exchange between Moe and Homer as Moe is upgrading his hole-in-the-wall bar to a family style restaurant and installing an industrial sized deep fryer, which he bought from the U.S. Navy... Moe: Yeah, I got this fryer from the U.S. Navy. It can fry a buffalo in about 40 seconds! Homer: 40 seconds?! ::homer groans in frustration:: AWWWW but I want it now!