text:
Hamán, (en hebreo: המן) según el relato bíblico de Ester, el visir del Imperio persa bajo el reinado de Asuero, (Jerjes I de Persia). Por los judíos, Hamán es percibido como el arquetipo del mal y el antisemitismo.

Libro de Ester
Según el Libro de Ester, Hamán era el hijo de Hamedata, un descendiente de Agag, un rey Amalecita. Aparece pues como un enemigo hereditario del pueblo judío. Los acontecimientos tienen lugar en la ciudad de Susa, en Persia en el   antes de Cristo. Hamán, primer ministro de la antigua Persia, preparó un complot para matar a todos los judíos instalados en el Imperio aqueménida. Hizo aprobar un decreto firmado por el rey, ordenando el exterminio de la población judía. El proyecto de Hamán fue descubierto por la Reina Ester y por su tío Mardoqueo, los planes de Hamán se volvieron contra él y su familia. Entonces Hamán y sus diez hijos fueron capturados y ejecutados por orden del Rey Asuero.

Fiesta de Purim
Para conmemorar estos acontecimientos, la fiesta de Purim fue instaurada, el Libro de Ester es leído en la sinagoga y el público hace ruido cada vez que el nombre de Hamán es pronunciado. Algunos dulces, como el Hamantash son comidos en esta fecha festiva. Unas cestas llamadas Mishloach manot son enviadas a familiares y amigos.

Bibliografía

Referencias

Judaísmo
Personajes del Tanaj

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Australians Ben Pullin and Chloe McConchie have a thing for vintage Airstream trailers.
The vibrant couple visited Marion last week to pick up a giant silver gem they'd been dreaming about.
They purchased a 1953 Flying Cloud model from Airstream Guy, a Marion business, about 18 months ago after seeing it online.
McConchie is from Malvern, and Pullin is from Darwin, or the Northern Territory, which is where "Crocodile Dundee" was filmed.
They flew into Los Angeles, just over three weeks ago, bought an SUV and tools, and set out on a road trip to Kansas.
They passed through the Mojave Desert, visited the Grand Canyon, and bought some cowboy boots and hats to "fit in" in Amarillo, Texas, before they arrived in Marion on Aug. 5.
She said Marion was one of the nicest towns that they have seen on their journey.
While browsing vintage trailers in Airstream Guy's lot, they may have felt as if they were in a silver version of Oz.
For them it was paradise. The couple couldn't help themselves. They bought another Airstream, this time a 1969 Overlander.
Their most recent purchase brings their collection to six. They keep their Airstreams near the beach in Darwin.
The couple spent their time in Marion getting the Flying Cloud road ready.
They left for Los Angeles on Sunday, needing to get to a port there, to ship the Flying Cloud back to Australia by boat, which takes 60 days to reach Australia, and costs twice as much as their plane tickets.
The couple will likely camp in their trailer when passing through Colorado and Nevada to save money, McConchie said.
However, they will return to Marion to repeat the whole process with their Overlander.


At AFA's Air & Space Conference, top officials discuss the constant challenge of doing more with less.
The expeditionary Air Force has experienced momentous shifts in the last year, the service's senior leadership told attendees at AFA's 2010 Air & Space Conference in September.
USAF surged forces to meet contingencies in Haiti, Pakistan, and elsewhere while removing forces from Iraq and repositioning much of its combat power to support the expanded war in Afghanistan. The expeditionary Air Force today, however, is severely strained after years of war. With the completion of the recent reduction of legacy fighter aircraft, it is a force flying expanding missions with significantly fewer combat aircraft.
The fatigued mood of the service's senior leadership was inadvertently illustrated by Lt. Gen. Harry M. Wyatt III, director of the Air National Guard, who didn't skip a beat when asked where he would make additional cuts in his force structure if told to do so.
"I'd probably take the cut on my wrist," Wyatt replied wearily, generating awkward laughter. "I'm at that point, at least in the Air National Guard, where I don't know that we can take any more cuts without sacrificing some capability or capacity." Without getting specific, Wyatt said the Air Guard would have to "step back" from a given mission or look for better and more efficient ways to carry it out.
"I think that's kind of where we're going to be coming to anyway with the fiscal situation like it is," he added.
Wyatt's view was echoed by several other senior leaders and combatant commanders. The service, like the rest of the military, is in the midst of balancing its assets and missions while moving as much combat power into Southwest Asia as possible. The service is making serious choices about its posture and composition in a time of war.
"We are about at a crossroads here again, as we try to terminate a couple of major combat operations," said Gen. Roger A. Brady, commander of US Air Forces in Europe, referring to Iraq and the desired future drawdown in Afghanistan. "We will have a considerable debate, … and as senior leaders, we need to make sure that the debate is shaped in the terms of our strategy and what we want to be in the world."
USAF pressed assets rapidly into combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. The reduction of approximately 250 legacy fighter aircraft freed up funds to invest in existing force structure, buy new munitions and modernization efforts, and acquire intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance aircraft such as the MC-12 Liberty Project Aircraft, said Gen. William M. Fraser III, head of Air Combat Command.
The push is having an effect, as approximately 9,700 ISR sorties were flown over Afghanistan from January to July, according to USAF figures. (Barely 3,600 sorties were flown in the same period in 2009.) Troops needing airborne ISR can thank Liberty Project Aircraft and the Predator and Reaper drones pouring into theater.
Fraser said all 37 MC-12s had been delivered to the Air Force by September. Thirty are forward deployed to Southwest Asia to aid USAF's buildup to the equivalent of 50 remotely piloted aircraft combat air patrols by the end of 2011.
The assets are making a real difference. Lt. Gen. Donald C. Wurster, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, singled out the "remarkable accomplishments" his airmen have achieved with the development and expansion of airborne special operations assets, such as the Reapers of the 33rd Special Operations Squadron and the addition of a second dissemination and analysis squadron, the 56th Intelligence Squadron. Air commandos are leveraging these tools to kill or capture many high-value terrorist and militant targets.
New capabilities for AFSOC must be adaptable and scalable to various scenarios, Wurster said, but the command will still pursue force modernization where appropriate. He noted the first AFSOC MC-130J was in production in September, destined to replace Vietnam-era MC-130Es and Ps.
New equipment has been slow to arrive, however, and the strain on existing forces is beginning to show.
Wyatt said it is difficult to see how the Air Guard can recapitalize its elderly F-16 Block 30 fleet before the aircraft reach the end of their service lives—making it essential for ANG to examine service life extension program options in the Fiscal 2012 budget. Wyatt said the fighters, which populate the bulk of the Guard's 16 air sovereignty alert sites, could last four to five years longer with lower wing skin replacements. If the F-16 program office confirms a SLEP could provide even more life (10 years or so), the case for upgrading radars, command and control, and avionics improves as well.
The strain is not just limited to the fighter force, said Fraser, pointing out that the service's fleet of HH-60 Pave Hawk rescue helicopters is being driven hard in combat.
"When I was there, I was starting to see cracks, and we haven't seen cracks before, in some of the bulkheads," Fraser said of his visits is deployed rescue units.
Wurster said the system holding down the highest crew deployments currently is AFSOC's fleet of MC-130P Combat Shadows, as the wing box repairs on the MC-130E/H fleet have pressed the remaining Shadows and MC-130W Combat Spear aircraft into service more frequently. MC-130Ws have been shifted to missions such as battlefield overwatch, Wurster noted, and limited strike roles. Some are now equipped with a basic strike package, a "gunship minus" upgrade, as he called it, leaving the tanker fleet to supply airlift.
In the next few years, the Air Force is also steering precious investment dollars into its nuclear enterprise, particularly assets now under Air Force Global Strike Command. Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz, Global Strike commander, and other USAF leaders involved in nuclear matters said much nuclear force investment and detail work remains. About 2,500 additional personnel have been moved into the nuclear enterprise, said Maj. Gen. William A. Chambers, head of strategic deterrence and nuclear integration on the Air Staff. But several of the systems now managed by AFGSC need a "significant influx of resources," he said. The personnel managing and maintaining the nation's fleet of nuclear weapons and delivery vehicles also need to be preserved.
Klotz anticipates a nuclear force funding increase over the next several years, to focus on efforts such as the modernization of B-52 components and life extension of the ICBM fleet. Other areas needing attention include the nation's missile field infrastructure, Klotz said—such as security systems, revetments, and silos—and a replacement program for the command's small fleet of UH-1 Huey helicopters.
While deliberations with Congress continue, Klotz told Air Force Magazine he expects a replacement program sooner rather than later—in the 2015 to 2018 timeframe.
Pentagon leadership has also pressed the Air Force to begin an analysis of alternatives next year on a successor to the fleet of AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missiles, the B-52's sole nuclear-capable cruise missile in the active inventory. The ALCM is due to leave service by 2020.
The Air Force's ICBM and bomber fleet will change in composition in the coming years—especially if the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty is approved, Klotz said.
To conform to New START limits, the US will maintain up to 60 nuclear bombers and 420 ICBMs. Klotz said he believes USAF can achieve this with little trouble. The command is still working on recommendations for managing the portion of the B-52 fleet that is to lose the nuclear mission and perform conventional tasks only (at least 36 of the USAF's 76 B-52s), but he said a final construct is being worked out within the Defense Department.
"I think we have a very good approach, which will have minimal impact on the training and operations of the B-52 force," Klotz told reporters.
The Air Force's mobility forces have been heavily involved in Afghanistan operations, and were crucial to the final stages of combat operations in Iraq and the transition of forces to the Afghan theater. Operations in and around Afghanistan have fully ramped up since President Obama ordered an additional 30,000 troops into the country in December 2009—and a drawdown of 80,000 troops from Iraq by Aug. 31. At the highest levels of DOD, said US Transportation Command's Gen. Duncan J. McNabb, the pressure to hit the August deadline to "close" out of Iraq was intense.
The combined efforts of Air Mobility Command and the other components of TRANSCOM pulled it off, McNabb said. "If we hadn't, I wouldn't have shown up here today," he joked in his presentation.
Beginning in December 2009, teams from TRANSCOM visited key transit nodes in Southwest Asia, from Kuwait to Bahrain to forward airstrips such as Camp Bastion in Afghanistan and the airport at Mazar-e Sharif. They looked for ways to improve throughput of aircraft such as C-17s to rapidly offload cargo—sometimes within 30 minutes of landing—and take off again. To get supplies and materiel to forward bases, different air-drop techniques were used, such as high-altitude container delivery system drops and low-altitude, high-speed passes.
The shift, with thousands of personnel and tons of materiel moving from the US, Iraq, and other points into Afghanistan, was difficult enough—but 2010 was an exceptionally busy year for air mobility. In January, mobility forces surged to the Caribbean to support relief efforts for the Haitian earthquake.
In February, a coup occurred in Kyrgyzstan, spurring TRANSCOM to suspend air tanker operations at the Manas airfield and reposition assets within 72 hours.
Tanker support to operations in theater continued largely uninterrupted, McNabb noted, and was moved back after the situation had stabilized.
In April, Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted and shut down European airspace for three weeks, affecting 423 total missions. Airmen acted quickly to reposition key medical evacuation routes from Germany to Spain, Iraq, and other stops that were not affected by the ash cloud.
July saw mobility forces move again, to support flood relief operations in Pakistan, as airmen helped set up distribution points and aircrews delivered food, water, and shelter supplies.
Much like the combat air forces, the mobility force is putting in hard hours in operations across Southwest Asia, and its equipment composition is on average slightly newer and healthier. With C-17 production slated to end at 223 airframes for the Air Force, Gen. Raymond E. Johns Jr., AMC commander, told reporters in September the command is going to push to bring all of its C-17s up to current production line standard, the Block 18.
This will improve the process of doling out missions to the fleet, since they will all have similar range and performance capabilities. Earlier aircraft will receive extended range fuel tanks, new computers, and other improvements standard on late model C-17s.
Once the fleet is up to the Block 18 standard, the command will start exploring fleetwide upgrades for an improvement program.
Johns also praised the performance of the three C-5M Super Galaxys currently in service, equipped with new engines and avionics. They are now able to deliver equipment to ground troops in Afghanistan via stops such as Rota, Spain. Before, use of the C-5 would have been limited in this type of mission, Johns said, because of reliability issues with earlier configurations. Crews told Johns, however, that when it comes to the Super Galaxys, "the airplane doesn't break."
With severe fiscal limitations now a reality and an expanded Afghan campaign under way, the military's global posture and forward basing is getting a hard look. USAF assets in Europe and the Pacific are in the mix, senior leaders noted.
Forces in both the Pacific and Europe deploy frequently to operations in Afghanistan, in addition to supporting treaty allies and partnership building exercises with other militaries—and any reduction of forward presence would affect these activities.
"I'm worried about it, and no, we can't handle it with [US-based] forces," said Brady, when asked if USAFE force structure could be filled by Guard and Reserve deployments.
"You get a lot out of forward forces," Brady said. In addition to building partnerships (such as the recent deployment of F-15s from RAF Lakenheath, UK, to support Baltic air policing efforts in Lithuania), forward forces from Europe are more readily positioned to assist in Afghanistan.
Fifty of USAFE's 148 fighters have been deployed to Southwest Asia in the past few months, Brady said in September, and in Afghanistan, more than 39,000 coalition troops are from NATO or European allies. "When we go to war, we go with our European allies," he added. "I think we do need to have a credible discussion about what the nature of our engagement overseas is going to be." Further erosion of forward presence will mean fewer training events and fewer opportunities to develop partner capability and capacity.
In the Pacific, however, activity has spiked in the last year. In response to the sinking of a South Korean frigate in March and rising tensions with North Korea, South Korean and US forces staged the Invincible Spirit combined air and maritime exercise on the peninsula and the Sea of Japan. Invincible Spirit featured the combat exercise debut of the F-22 Raptor in South Korea, Gen. Gary L. North, Pacific Air Forces commander, said in September.
Equipment upgrades are coming as well. Osan AB, South Korea, will soon be equipped with A-10C— the modernized version of the Warthog—with the 25th Fighter Squadron scheduled to receive its last C model in February 2011. This will provide a huge improvement in the air-to-ground combat capability on the peninsula, North added.
PACAF is seeing a great deal of investment, with a third Pacific squadron transitioning to F-22s. At JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, the Air National Guard accepted its first F-22s in July, and will eventually build to a total of 20 aircraft.
Basing the Global Hawk on Guam will help intelligence sharing partnerships, North noted. The 36th Wing at Andersen Air Force Base received the RQ-4 on Sept. 20.
Cooperation with the world's largest democracy—India—is "very comprehensive," North said. PACAF seeks more opportunity to build ties, as India continues to modernize its air forces. The nation will soon select an advanced new fighter, and has declared its intent to acquire C-17s. Despite the demands for forward presence over long distances within their own command, about 2,500 PACAF airmen are also consistently deployed to Afghanistan, North said, adding that two of his C-130s from Yokota AB, Japan, are consistently supporting CENTCOM operations.
Despite the tension created by expanding missions in conjunction with shrinking force structure, senior leadership needs to keep national strategy and goals in perspective while examining operations, Brady added.
"The budget will affect what we can do with the strategy, but we owe it to Americans to at least know what the right answer is and let other people figure out whether or not we can afford it," he said.
The number of airmen committing suicide has risen nearly 50 percent in just the last year, the Air Force's top enlisted leaders said at AFA's Air & Space Conference in September.
There were 71 airman suicides through mid-September, up from 56 through the same time last year. "The fact is, we're ... at an all-time high," said CMSAF James A. Roy. "No one is exempt from this—young airmen, very senior airmen."
The spike in suicides has caught officials' attention across the Air Force, and senior officers and enlisted leaders are trying to tackle the problem. A panel of command chief master sergeants from Air Force Global Strike Command, Air Force Reserve Command, Air Force Space Command, Air Combat Command, and US Air Forces in Europe all agreed they need to take action because even one suicide is too many.
"We have the highest quality of recruits in the history of the United States Air Force, especially if you test it by the [Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test]," noted Gen. Stephen R. Lorenz, AETC commander. "The law says we have to have at least 60 percent" from the top three categories on that test. On average, historically, USAF has about 80 percent. "Today, recruits coming in, 98 percent of them are in the top three categories. The quality is absolutely phenomenal."
ACC has adopted an approach dubbed the Comprehensive Airman Fitness program to keep the force healthy. It is based on four pillars: physical, emotional, and spiritual health and social fitness.
"We believe that if we have airmen operating within those pillars, then we will have some connected airmen, and they will feel like they are part of the team," CMSgt. Martin S. Klukas, ACC command chief, said. "We feel like we can reduce suicides on that front."
Every command also has adopted the wingman program, which encourages airmen throughout the ranks to look for signs of distress amongst their peers.
Some commands, such as USAFE, even stand down a couple times a year so they can spend time letting airmen and their families vent. The small group sessions give leaders a chance to see what's on airmen's minds. It also gives them new ideas for attacking the problem, said CMSgt. Pamela A. Derrow, USAFE command chief.
"The key is, give them the tools before they need them. It cannot be just another program. It has to be heartfelt," Roy said. "We have to instill resiliency."
Building resiliency also can help airmen deal with the long-term stress that comes with fighting two wars, Roy said. For some airmen, the deployment-to-dwell ratio has dipped below one-to-one, meaning they are deployed for six months and then are home for less than half a year. In high-demand career fields, such as "defenders" and special tactics personnel, airmen typically see their home time cut short, as training for the next deployment ramps up, he said.
Lt. Gen. Donald C. Wurster, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, said high optempo is one of AFSOC's biggest challenges. Wurster said he tracks, by name, the airmen who are nearly continuously deployed.
The 2011 Noncommissioned Officer Retraining Program, which is intended to fill stressed career fields, should help repair some of these imbalances in the force. Mandatory retraining for some airmen began in September, and the program will push more than 350 airmen into new career fields in the next few months, Roy said.
The chiefs also fielded several questions from the audience about the Air Force's new physical fitness program, implemented July 1. The chiefs acknowledged that building a new culture of fitness won't happen overnight, but all said it was a priority.
Space Command had an 82 percent pass rate in the first two months after the new fitness program was implemented. The 18 percent failure rate means there is plenty of room for improvement, but AFSPC's CMSgt. Richard T. Small, the command chief, said he is encouraged by the fact that Air Force-wide, the number of airmen who scored excellent on their physical training test has nearly doubled—jumping from the low 20 percents to the high 30 percents.
"That's a message that's not coming through," Small said. "This is about getting on board. Fitness is … about capability. It's a credibility issue with the joint team, and when I go to war with the joint team, I want them to know they can rely on me."


Since bursting into the scene for Leeds United back in 2012 as a fresh faced teenager, Sam Byram has gone on to become one of the most exciting young players around in England.
At just 20, Byram has already amassed over 100 appearances so far in his Leeds United career and it has been no surprise whatsoever to see the young man being courted by a host of clubs over the past few years.
It was widely expected that Byram would be leaving Elland Road this summer but a transfer to the Premier League did not come into fruition for the 20-year old.
Nonetheless, it has not stopped a host of clubs being linked with a move for Byram and the likes of Everton, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United are all said to be considering making a move for the youngster during the upcoming January transfer window.
Now as a huge boost to the clubs interested in signing Byram, it has been revealed that the defender will not be signing a contract extension at Elland Road.
Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino has gone on to state that Byram has already rejected the club's repeated offer to extend his stay and added that the defender has already made up his mind that he wants to make a move to greener pastures.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Cellino said, "Sam Byram is the only one that maybe thinks Leeds is too small for him. He maybe thinks he deserves to be in a bigger team and a bigger club, and maybe he's right.
"But when I hear that a player from Leeds, with his agent, that he thinks that Leeds is not big enough for him, that he wants something bigger, I felt really embarrassed.
Following Cellino's admission regarding Byram, it will be no surprise to see a host of clubs lining up to secure the services of the defender and according to recent reports, claims have been made that Manchester United are already plotting a bid in excess of £10million to sign the 20-year old.


Smart vent systems offer the possibility of room to room climate control.
This benefits you by allowing each room to be custom conditioned depending on the time of day or the preferences of the person in the room.
Before the smart home, this was only possible with expensive zoning systems or decentralized systems such as baseboard heat. Now, several companies are perfecting smart vent systems that will work to increase your comfort and decrease your energy bill.
1 Do Smart Vents Work With Smart Thermostats?
2 Do I Need To Replace All My Vents With Smart Vents?
3 How Much Can Smart Vent Systems Save?
5 What Do The Pros Think?
Do Smart Vents Work With Smart Thermostats?
Smart thermostats and smart vents are not competing products. In fact, smart vents have the potential to be the perfect compliment to a smart thermostat.
A smart thermostat only has the power to turn the heat on or off. It doesn't have the power to direct where the air goes.
However, a smart vent system can redirect air flow. When a vent is closed in one room, increased pressure in the system causes more air to be redirected to other rooms.
In a smart vent system, the thermostat controls the on/off of the HVAC system and the smart vents direct where it goes.
It's ideal but not necessary to have the two devices be able to communicate with each other.
Ecobee's smart thermostat comes with the ecobee sensors. The sensors allow you to get the temperature you want in a specific room. However, it will not even out uneven heating or cooling.
If you happen to have a room that is too cold, you can place a remote sensor in the room and tell ecobee to leave the heat on until that room is up to the temperature you want.
Well, it will turn the heat on until that room reaches the temperature you selected…and that'll be nice. But, it will also keep heating the rest of the house because it has no control over where the air goes.
How do you fix the problem? You need control over where the air goes, and that's where smart vents can fill the void.
Do I Need To Replace All My Vents With Smart Vents?
In most cases, the more vents you replace with smart vents, the more effective the system will be.
First, understand that smart vents can only restrict air flow.
If you happen to have one room that doesn't get enough air (cold in the winter and/or hot in the summer) that room would not need a smart vent.
Instead, you would need smart vents on many of the other vents in the house. Then, you could close some of those vents. That would increase pressure in the system, and force more air into the low flow room.
The second case is a room that gets too much air flow (too warm in the winter and/or too cool in the summer). This is much more easily solved with smart vents.
You would only need to put a smart vent in the problem room. The vent would restrict airflow in the problem room and the system pressure would get harmlessly distributed across all the other vents in the home.
I have a third floor attic that has been converted into a living space. My HVAC equipment is in my basement so it's a long run up to the attic. Not surprisingly, it doesn't get enough air.
I could install smart vents on all the other vents in my house which would force more air up there, but that would reduce the flow quite a bit and put a lot of pressure on the system.
Instead, I am going to get an inline booster fan (like this one) and install it in the duct that runs to the attic. The booster fan doesn't come with the same pressure related risks as restricting air flow with vents. It does the opposite. It reduces the pressure in the system.
How Much Can Smart Vent Systems Save?
Manufacturers of smart vent systems estimate as much as 20%-30% can be saved using smart vents. That may be true in a few cases, but I think most people may only see a minor reduction in cost, but an increase in comfort.
How much you can actually save will vary widely depending on your current system's performance and how you intend to use the smart vents.
If you want to use smart vents to even out poorly distributed air, you probably won't see much of a change in your energy usage. In that case, the benefit of the smart vents is increased comfort rather than cost savings.
However, if your intention is to "shut off" certain parts of your home for large periods, you may be able to achieve significant savings. Although only in rare cases would you be able to save 20%, a five to ten percent reduction seems achievable.
Let's say I keep my home at 70F all day every day and the average outside temperature is 20F. That's a difference of 50F.
In order to reduce the amount of energy used to heat the house by 20%, I would have to reduce the difference by 20%. 20% of 50F is 10F.
So that means if I reduce my home's temperature by 10F to 60F all day every day, I should be able to reduce my heating costs by 20%.
I doubt very many people would be comfortable keeping their home at 60F.
Let's break up the day into three 8 hour blocks and call them: Home, Work, and Sleep.
For the Home block, we want to keep 75% of our home at 70F. We keep a couple rooms that we rarely use at 60F, but most of the home at 70F.
During Work, no one is home so we want to let temperature get down to 60F for the whole home.
During Sleep, we only need to keep the bedrooms at 70F, so say 25% at 70F and 75% at 60F.
.25*1/3*.2 + 1*1/3*.2 + .75*1/3*.2 = about 13% savings, not bad.
However, the savings during work could easily be achieved without smart vents. Any programmable thermostat could be used to set back the heat while you're gone could do that.
If we subtract the benefit during our work time, we are left with about 6.5% savings from smart vents.
When you close vents, you cause pressure to increase in the ducts. The flow in the closed vent will be reduced, and the extra pressure will cause increased flow in open vents.
What you may not know is that when you increase the pressure, the overall amount of air that is being pushed out of vents will decrease.
If you close enough vents, you can restrict the air flow enough to cause mechanical failure with your expensive HVAC equipment.
Any smart vent you buy should have some mechanism to account for pressure. All the smart vent systems listed in this article have a pressure monitoring system that keeps air flow from becoming too low.
What Do The Pros Think?
If you search the web for advice on smart vents, HVAC pros will often advise against them. Their main concern is the pressure problem I mentioned above. While not wrong, most advice that I've seen is exaggerated.
It's true that usually, the best way to solve an uneven heating or cooling problem is properly sized ducts and HVAC equipment. However, in a home that's already built, that sort of renovation can be way too difficult or expensive.
Also, traditional zoning systems that are often recommended by HVAC pros will not be able to address individual rooms on the same level as smart vents.
Pressure Monitoring – This is essential. A smart vent system that doesn't monitor pressure will not be able to effectively distribute air flow and protect your expensive HVAC equipment at the same time.
Temperature Sensors – A smart vent needs temperature feedback to do its job. It needs to either come with its own, or be compatible with third party temperature sensors.
Battery Life – Very few people have wires running to their vents, so most people will be running their smart vents off batteries. If I've got ten plus smart vents scattered around the house, I definitely don't want to be replacing batteries very often.
Smart Home Integration – Is it compatible with your smart thermostat? Is it compatible with other smart sensors, or will I need to rebuy sensors that work with my vents? Can I control it with my voice or use IFTTT to customize my experience?
Correct Size – As I write this, the companies selling the smart vent systems are having a hard time keeping a variety of sizes of their products in stock.
Measure your vent sizes from the duct opening. This means remove the existing vent cover and measure the opening of the duct. Don't measure the outer dimensions of your existing vent.
I've found four companies that are working on smart vent systems for the home. Ecovent is the most complete system, but is the most expensive by far. Both Keen and Flair have shipped their products and are in the process of refining their products. Alea is the newest of the group and is getting ready to ship their first products.
The idea of a smart vent has only recently been made feasible by the rise of the smart home. As a consequence, the available smart vent companies and products are quite new. So, if you choose to buy in, consider yourself an early adopter.
Ecovent has what I would consider the most complete product in the space, but they're also priced about twice as much as their competitors. Their smart hub alone retails for $300, while Keen's is about $60.
They have a nicely designed vent with a silent open/close mechanism. The vents monitor system backpressure to make sure your HVAC continues to operate safely. The vents are powered by 4AA batteries that will last for 3-5 years.
The system needs at least one smart hub and a compatible smart thermostat. Each room requires a vent and a wall sensor.
The app allows you to view individual room temperatures and create and schedule scenes.
Ecovent's parent company is Emerson, the makers of the Sensi smart thermostat. It's no surprise then that Ecovent is compatible with the Sensi. However, it's not compatible with the two most popular smart thermostats, ecobee and Nest. Furthermore, Ecovent does not work with any third-party sensors or other home automation platforms.
As far as I can tell, Ecovent does not market towards the small customer. They don't list individual components for sale on their website. Instead, they only list complete home system packages (I suspect this is a business strategy to minimize the resources required to handle customer service calls, which is totally understandable).
However, you can buy individual Ecovent components from retailers like smarthome.com. Unfortunately, the in stock items are still pretty limited so you may have a difficult time getting the vent sizes and color you want.
To me, Flair has the most promising smart vent system. It has a few unique features that have the potential to set them apart from their competitors.
The Flair smart vent system consists of two components: smart vents and Pucks.
The Flair vents are unique. Unlike their plastic competitors, their vents are constructed with steel. Also, they can be battery powered or optionally wired for 24VAC power.
The Flair Pucks are especially unique. A single Puck is designed to be a dedicated thermostat for each room.
The Puck can control a smart vent located in the room. It uses its onboard temperature, pressure, humidity and occupancy sensors to manage each room's environment.
In addition, it has an IR blaster which gives it the ability to control window ACs and mini-splits.
Every system requires at least one gateway Puck which needs to be plugged in. The gateway will connect all your vents and any remaining Pucks to WiFi. Additional Pucks can be added to the system as needed with the option of battery power.
One of the necessities of a great smart home product is compatibility, and Flair understands this.
Flair's product is compatible with ecobee, Nest, and Honeywell Lyric smart thermostats. It also works with Alexa and Google Assistant, so you can use your voice to check or set the temperature.
Flair is especially compatible with ecobee. ecobee's sensors can be used by Flair and Flair Pucks can be used as temperature sensors by ecobee. Isn't it great when products from different companies and countries just work together and get along??
Keen Home has been around for a couple years. They got a big boost in publicity after making an appearance on Shark Tank. For many people, if there's one smart vent maker they've heard of, it's Keen.
However, they've had some ups and downs. They had some quality issues early on, but after a redesign they're back with some quality smart vent hardware.
The complete smart zoning system includes smart vents, external temperature sensors, and a smart bridge.
The vents work seamlessly with Nest and ecobee smart thermostats. They are also compatible with the Samsung SmartThings hub.
The Keen vents connect to your network through the Keen smart bridge. They use Zigbee communication which is low power and a widely used home automation protocol. The vents are battery powered and have a 2+ year battery life with 4 AA batteries.
Each vent includes embedded temperature and pressure sensors. The pressure sensors are used to monitor backpressure and make sure the vents don't put too much stress on your HVAC system.
External temperature sensors are also available for purchase. The external sensors detect temperature and humidity and run on a coin cell battery. It's not necessary to have an external temperature sensor in each room, but it will improve the accuracy of the room's temperature reading. Alternatively, ecobee's remote sensors also work with Keen smart vents.
Normally, I shy away from writing about companies that haven't officially shipped a product yet, but since there's so few smart vent makers, I decided to include Alea.
Like any good smart vent system, you can schedule your temperature preferences for each room, then Alea works with your thermostat to do the rest. Alea will initially be compatible with Ecobee, Nest, and Honeywell Lyric thermostats.
Beyond that, Alea vents will include a couple features that no other smart vents have.
Each smart vent includes air quality sensors. Cool, I can see integrations with smart air purifiers in the future.
The vent's main power source is 4AA batteries, but they are also equipped with a rechargeable battery which uses energy-harvesting to prolong battery life by 20-30%.
When I first heard "energy-harvesting", I imagined a tiny wind turbine running off the flowing air. It seemed pretty ridiculous to me so I investigated further.
Surprise! That's not how they do it. They actually use the temperature difference between the room and the air coming out of the duct to create a thermoelectric effect.
Thermoelectric effect?…Ahhh, that takes me back to my days as a young, nerdy engineering student. From one nerd to another, thanks for the nostalgia, Alea!
These smart vent systems have the ability to be a game changer for smart homes if they're done right.
A whole home smart vent system is a big investment, and because of that, I haven't had the opportunity to personally test these out yet.
After doing hours of research, I've found mostly mixed customer opinions from all brands.
I'd love to hear from anyone who has had experience with these products in the comments below.


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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 Jablonka, Eve & Marion Lamb (2002): 'The Changing Concept of Epigenetics' in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences #981 Jackson, Leonie (2018): 'Why Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood Speech still echoes in Brexit Britain' in Yorkshire Post (20 April) Jacobs, T J & E Charles (1980): 'Life Events & the Occurrence of Cancer in Children' in Psychosomatic Medicine #42 Jacobs, Jerry (1967): 'A Phenomenological Study of Suicide Notes' in Social Problems #15 Jacobs, Joseph (1887): 'Experiments in "Prehension"' in Mind #12 Jacobs, Patricia, Muriel Brunton, Marie Melville, R Brittain & F Mcclemont (1965): 'Aggressive Behaviour, Mental Sub-Normality and the XYY Male' in Nature #208 Jacobs, T J & E Charles (1980): 'Life Events and the Occurrence of Cancer in Children' in Journal Of Psychosomatic Medicine 42/1 Jacobson, Joseph & Diane Wille (1986): 'The Influence of Attachment Pattern on Developmental Changes in Peer Interaction from the Toddler to the Preschool Period' in Journal of Child Development 52/2 Jaffee, Sara & Janet Hyde (2000): 'Gender Differences in Moral Orientation: a Meta-Analysis' in Psychological Bulletin 126/5… Read More

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Bring the carnival to your layout with these colorful, easy-to-build kits that actually move. Enjoy the fun action individually, or create your own midway with all three. Assembly required. Power pack or battery operation.


That is one of the best questions I have seen posted. The Information Quality Act governs the standard of quality of information used to substantiate a federal rule making such as the Constrictor Rule. Because it was confirmed from scientists round the world that the USGS Constrictor Report was NOT the kind of quality scientific work to base policy or legislative changes on, USARK filed a formal challenge in 2010 of the Constrictor Report in the form of a Request for Correction of the myriad of errors, misstatements and inconsistencies within the document. USGS responded that they were not held to information quality standards under the IQA because their "Grey" paper was NOT deemed at the time of publication to be a "Highly Influential" document; meaning that their estimate of the economic impact of the rule it was supporting fell below the $100 million threshold that constitutes a major rule. Unfortunately for them USARK commissioned Georgetown Economic Services to do a comprehensive economic assessment of the reptile industry. They researched the entire industry and determined that the rule, in fact, reached beyond the threshold to approximately $104 million. This put the entire rule making process in jeopardy, because now USGS and FWS could be held to account in a federal courtroom for bypassing information quality standards under IQA. After USARK proved that this would indeed fall into major rule territory, White House oversight officials appeared ready to bury the rule.... Until HSUS, The Nature Conservancy and Defenders of Wildlife pressured Florida politicians to ask Obama to push rule through. Then government did what it always does, it compromised. They chose 4 snakes that would not carry the economic impact constituting a major rule and enacted this limited version avoiding the mandatory integrity in science demanded by going after all 9.


The second element of the marketing mix is pricing. We stated last week the marketing objectives for the proposed business. We will discuss in this article the pricing strategy that can contribute to attaining those objectives.
Businesses have to maximize profits as best as they could. This responsibility falls largely on the marketing team which is tasked with setting the final price for its product/service. Selecting the right pricing strategy directly impacts the profitability and long-term success of the business.
The best strategy is directed at finding the right price point that achieves both the financial objective of maximizing profit and the marketing objectives of gaining, maintaining, and growing sales and market share.
Let us go back to your furniture marketing business.
Market research will show you what price points your customers will likely consider in making a decision to buy your product.
You have positioned your products as high quality imported brands. In addition to your imported lines, you have developed also a high-quality local brand of furniture to suit the design and material preferences of the local market.
Your competition carries also imported brands and they have local brands as well that have very competitive prices.
The landed costs of your imported furniture are fixed already as you have at least a six-month inventory for your initial launch. You expect future landed costs to be higher due to the projected value depreciation of your local currency versus the currency of the exporting country.
The production cost of your local lines, for now, is stable. Barring any unforeseen situation that can adversely affect the cost of the wood raw material, you expect production cost to remain constant for at least a year.
This item includes your advertising and promotions costs, distribution costs (from your warehouse to your dealers/corporate clients), and sales costs (salaries, allowances, commissions/incentives of your sales personnel).
Your marketing cost would be relatively higher during the launch phase of your business and in the introduction stage of both your imported and local furniture lines.
Knowing the above factors, you are now ready to choose what pricing strategy to use.
This is used for products with highly unique features that create a clearly significant competitive advantage.
You may consider this pricing model for your imported brands if these products have unique features and benefits. These products may have technologically advanced materials or may use patented mechanisms, as in the case of office chairs lifting or tilting functions.
You may also use this model for your locally produced dining sets which may come in a variant that uses local hardwood which is highly sought and priced for its sturdiness and exotic wood grain and color.
When you use premium pricing for your unique products, you have to level up also the other elements of your marketing mix.
Your promotions and advertising messages should create a perception among customers that you are offering premium products with features clearly superior to competing products.
Your products should be available and attractively displayed in high-end furniture outlets.
High pricing is used during the launch phase and eventually reduced as you lose your competitive advantage due to new entrants in the market.
When competition gains access to imported furniture (other brands) with features similar to those products you initially launched and offers these competing products at lower prices, you consequently have to lower your prices to match competition and to prevent losing a sizeable market share.
Before competition came in, however, you were able to "skim the cream" i.e. made a substantial profit from the high price used during your initial launch.
Aside from recovering faster your initial operating costs, this pricing approach does not diminish the high-value perception of your products and can attract price-conscious customers.
In this model, prices are initially set at a very low level to acquire market share. Once sales volume eventually increases, the price is gradually adjusted upward to generate profit while trying to retain, or even increase, market share.
Penetration pricing often results in initial losses for your company in exchange for getting known and established in the industry. You have to eventually raise prices to a profitable level particularly when new inventories at higher costs start arriving to replenish your depleted stocks.
Using low prices by keeping marketing costs to the minimum. Often used for supermarket items and airline seats. This model is advisable only for businesses that have economy of scale.
An approach to pricing where customers are made to respond to prices in an emotional and non-rational manner. An example is pricing an item at 99 cents instead of $1 or putting a price tag of $199 instead of $200. This creates an illusion of low pricing when customers look at the first number.
Combining several of the same or related items into a bundle and using a single price that is lower than the total of the individual original prices. This is usually intended to dispose of slow-moving and old items.
As a customer, I am sure you have encountered other examples of pricing strategy.
The pricing element of the marketing mix directly impacts the profitability, market share, and long-term success of your business.
I welcome your questions, comments, or suggestions.
You may also check out what other business concerns I can help you with.


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*In the fan-made Toho Kingdom parody of Star Wars, King Caesar is an Imperial officer. He is one of the four people who talk at the meeting.
*Ironically King Caesar is the savior of Okinawa, but in Godzilla Final Wars he was intended to attack the city he thus protected for generations, it should be noted that [[Godzilla: Final Wars]] isn't apart of the [[Showa era|Showa]] continuity.
*In Godzilla Island, King Caesar personlity changed into intelligent and wise monster who teaching Godzilla to meditate and fights Gigan.
{{Template:Monsters}}
[[Category:Mystical Kaiju]]
In the Showa series, King Caesar was the guardian of the Azumi family. He could be awakened by fulfilling a prophecy and an ancient song. The Black Hole Aliens knew about King Caesar and that it would awaken to prevent them from attempting world domination. When their MechaGodzilla was repaired after being damaged, the aliens sent the mecha to conquer the Earth once more. King Caesar was awakened and he confronted the robot. At the beginning, King Caesar was able to successfully fight back by absorbing the mecha's eye lasers through his own eyes and then reflecting the projectiles back at his adversary. However, MechaGodzilla was too strong even for the guardian and almost killed Caesar. However, Godzilla arrived to aid King Caesar. Still, MechaGodzilla was more powerful than both of them and horribly outmatched the duo. Godzilla gained a magnetic attraction ability during the fight and used it to pull the robot towards him. Godzilla held his robotic doppelganger in place, allowing Caesar to ram the mecha repeatedly. Godzilla finished off the machine by ripping off its head, and fell into the sea when Mechagodzilla's body exploded. King Caesar then returned to the rock formation from where it came.
In the Millennium series, Caesar was one of the many controlled monsters of a race of alien beings known as Xilians. He appears in Okinawa (in a twist of irony, as he was its protector in the Showa series), an island part of the Kyushu archipelago in Japan. King Caesar stomps through a factory, crushing everything in his path. Suddenly, an enormous flying object arrives on the scene and removes the giant creature. The same thing happens to all the other monsters that were attacking the cities throughout the world. The Xilians come and tell Earth that they saw that the planet was under attack and destroyed the towering titans to save Earth and that a meteor is falling to Earth, threatening all life. However, it is discovered that the Xilians were controlling the kaiju and that Gorath does not exist. The Xilians then release the kaiju to finish destroying the cities. However, Gotengo freed Godzilla and lured him to the places where the controlled kaiju were so he could fight them. King Caesar, Anguirus, and Rodan are teamed up and released on Fuji to defeat Godzilla. Godzilla successfully defeated them and they were thrown on top of each other in a pile. Instead of being killed, Godzilla let them live and moved on to Tokyo. Caesar, along with Anguirus and Rodan is one of the three enemy Kaiju in Final Wars which Godzilla did not kill, in an homage to the Showa series, when all three monsters were his allies. Their fate is unknown however.
King Caesar possesses formidable speed, strength and agility, enabling him to use various martial arts techniques, making him a formidable foe in close combat. He is rock-solid, able to withstand a horrible beating before going down. It is possible that King Caesar is a golem-like monster, as his body seems to be made of rock with gems for his eyes and on his forehead. His most notable ability, however, is his ability to draw the energy beams of enemy Kaiju into his eyes, and fire it back at the target. He used this twice with great effectiveness against Mechagodzilla before the cyborg wisely changed tactics and used his missiles instead. However, this special ability of his is not shown in Godzilla: Final Wars for no energy weapons were used against him. In video games such as Godzilla: Unleashed, the Okinawan deity kaiju has to ability to transform raw solar energy into searing beams of heat from his eyes.
In Godzilla: Unleashed, King Caesar is one of the only two Kaiju who were directly being inspired by a mammal, (the other being Krystalak, who however seems to be combination of cat and reptile).
Ironically King Caesar is the savior of Okinawa, but in Godzilla Final Wars he was intended to attack the city he thus protected for generations, it should be noted that Godzilla: Final Wars isn't apart of the Showa continuity.
In Godzilla Island, King Caesar personlity changed into intelligent and wise monster who teaching Godzilla to meditate and fights Gigan.