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Journal of «Almaz – Antey» Air and Space Defence Corporation
Home > No 1 (2020) > Shestakov
Model-oriented design in the creation of a lifting mechanism and its drive
I. V. Shestakov, N. R. Safin
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A model of a crane-manipulator unit implemented in the MATLAB package is presented. The model includes hydraulic, mechanical, and electrical parts with a control system and allows transient processes in individual sections to be comprehensively studied. In the course of the research, a semi-realistic simulation was performed on a "real-time machine". The simulation results, including the output characteristics and transients of the operation of the crane-manipulator unit, are presented.
model-oriented simulation, crane-manipulator unit, system model, subsystems, hydromechanical part, electric drive, semi-realistic simulation
Shestakov I.V., Safin N.R. Model-oriented design in the creation of a lifting mechanism and its drive. Journal of «Almaz – Antey» Air and Space Defence Corporation. 2020;(1):64-76. https://doi.org/10.38013/2542-0542-2020-1-64-76
Model-oriented design (MOD) [1, 2] is an effective way of developing new products, debugging of control systems of complex and high-technology technical equipment, and also an effective tool for the performance check of systems (assemblies) that include components of different simulation domains (hydraulics, pneumatics, mechanics, thermodynamics, electromechanics, etc.). MOD allows to significantly reduce the time required for starting batch production of a product, reduce the number of prototypes and avoid major errors at the early stages of design. This paper gives an overview of experience gained during applying this method at experimental design bureau (EDB) of PJSC "Kalinin Machinery Plant, Yekaterinburg" (MZiK) by an example of developing a system (complete) model of a crane-manipulator unit (CMU) and HIL simulation of CMU operation.
In this paper, a crane-manipulator unit (RF patent for utility model No. 162251) shown in Figure 1 (view of geometrical model in Creo Parametric software (SW)) is the object under study. CMU consists of the following main kinematically interconnected components: base, rotary foundation, boom, jib, telescopic part and hoist.
Fig. 1. General view of the crane-manipulator unit: 1 - base; 2 - rotary foundation; 3 - boom; 4 - boom hydraulic cylinder; 5 - jib; 6 - jib hydraulic cylinder; 7 - telescopic part; 8 - hoist
CMU has a relatively wide field of application and the majority of such units is included in dual purpose machinery (civil and military). They can be used as [3]: transport and loading vehicles of artillery and missile systems, engineer vehicles for laying of cross-country routes and roads, construction of aerodromes, bridges and passages, equipping artillery and missile fire positions, command posts, communication posts, etc. In this paper, CMU means a military purpose traversing gear intended for series reloading of launchers (L) and launchers and loaders (LL).
The crane lifting capacity at outreach of 3,500 mm from the foundation turning axle equals to 6,350 kg (maximum 8,000 kg).
The objective of this work is to develop a virtual prototype of CMU article, model electrohydraulic drive control system, and test the system model in online mode. In the course of model-oriented design of a lifting mechanism, simulation was carried out in MATLAB SW.
Procedure of addressing research objective
Model-oriented design of a lifting mechanism includes the following stages: development of a hydraulic part model; development of a mechanical part model; development of an electrical part model; development of a system model; synthesis of control algorithms and launch of the system model on a real-time computer.
Thus, to develop the CMU system model, an object was broken down to subsystems. In the end, the system model is represented by subsystems (virtual rigs): hydraulic part; mechanical/hydraulic mechanical part and electrical part with the control system.
Development of the hydraulic part model includes five subtasks [4]: forming of a list of circuit components, simulation of individual components, verification and modification of units models, model compilation, and simulation of basic modes. The main components of the hydraulic part are as follows: pumping plant at the inlet of hydraulic system, hydraulic motors (hoists and foundations); cylinders (booms, jibs and telescopes); valves (safety valves and nonreturn valves); distributors; main lines.
The basic parameters of CMU foundation hydraulic motor are as follows: displacement - 16 cm3; rated speed - 3,000 rpm; inlet pressure
20 MPa. The basic parameters of CMU hoist hydraulic motor are as follows: displacement - 28 cm3; rated speed - 1,920 rpm; inlet pressure
20 MPa
The boom hydraulic cylinder piston diameter and stroke are 140 and 562 mm. The jib hydraulic cylinder piston diameter and stroke are 200 and 545 mm. The telescope hydraulic cylinder piston diameter and stroke are 100 and 2,490 mm, respectively.
In the distribution valves (hydraulic distributors), the equivalent diameter is 20 mm and the complete opening time is 2 s.
The following figures (Fig. 2 and 3) show the examples of block diagrams being part of the CMU simulation and mathematical model.
Figure 2 shows a block diagram of the boom hydraulic cylinder.
Figure 3 shows a block diagram of the boom mechanical part. The available hydraulic and mechanical parts of CMU were designed in a similar way.
Fig. 2. Block diagram of boom hydraulic cylinder
Fig. 3. Block diagram of boom mechanical part
The subsystem models were developed to sufficient detail to allow for further study of transient processes in certain sections, which were then used for the development of the CMU system model. At the stage of model development, component ratings were used. Some of these parameters will be defined more precisely later based on in-situ testing.
Electric motor DAT 15000 is used in the electric drive of CMU hydraulic drive (pumping plant at the hydraulic system inlet of the crane-manipulator unit) and is controlled by a power controller - KS-220 with the use of application software (Certificate of State Registration of PC Program No. 2016617322). Selection of an electric motor for operation as part of the variable speed drive is a very important factor having influence on the reliability of operation of the drive/ working mechanism and the whole article. A novel traction electric motor DAT 15000 is used in this project (RF patent for utility model No. 184734). The parameters of DAT 15000 equivalent-T are given in [5]. The electric motor is designed for operation with the power supply (among other options) from frequency converters (FC) and for use in severe operating conditions under the influence of various negative factors. To increase reliability of the electric motor, its design also includes a cooling circuit that consists of cooling channels axially passing through the rotor. The adopted solutions allow to improve the internal air circulation and thus enhance the heat transfer circuit.
Based on studies [5, 6], the principle of scalar frequency control is implemented in the control system of an asynchronous variable-frequency electric drive (AVFD). In the scalar control system of DAT 15000, the main controlled variables of electric drive state are the modulus of stator winding terminal voltage vector (Usy*) and the angular frequency (ωs*) of this vector rotation relative to the stator.
Based on the results of simulation [5] and spectral analysis [6] at DAT 15000 power supply from FC (power controller KS-220) with frequencies of pulse width modulation (PWM) of 1, 2, 4 and 8 kHz obtained using Powergui - FFT Analysis tool (FFT - Fast Fourier Transform), the optimum frequencies (with regard to the minimum coefficients of higher-harmonic voltages and stator current) are those with PWM fШИМ = 4 and 8 kHz. At that, it should be taken into account that due to an increase of the switching frequency, switching losses in an autonomous voltage inverter are proportionally increased and its allowable effective power is reduced. Hence in this project, for this electrohydraulic drive of CMU, it is assumed that the optimum PWM frequency at DAT 15000 power supply from KS-220 is fШИМ = 4 kHz.
As stated above, the detail model of the electric drive for CMU hydraulic drive control is specified in paper [5]. In DAT 15000 control system, stator current cut-off is used (Ismax = 2Iном) to ensure effective current limitation in transient modes of start, braking and changing of electric motor shaft load, including locking.
Figure 4 shows Simulink model of electrohydraulic drive, where the system of scalar frequency control is implemented.
In the end, the CMU system model was compiled of the subsystem models to check their functioning and interaction (a check for compliance with the requirements of the statement of work - SOW), as well as to debug the control algorithms. A general view of the system model is shown in Figure 5.
Two types of control can be implemented in the CMU system model: open and closed. An open type of control consists in the issuance of commands in the predefined order and in given time intervals, i. e. optimization of a conventional cyclogram. To assign commands, Signal Builder block is used.
A conventional cyclogram of open-type control system is shown in Figure 6. The following is marked on the same: Boom; Jib; Hoist;
Foundation; Telescope; Cargo; Pump_pwr - pumping plant. The conventional cyclogram of operation includes the following: boom lifting; jib lifting; extension of telescope; lowering of hoist rope; engagement of cargo; lifting of hoist rope; rotation of foundation; lowering of hoist rope; disengagement of cargo; lifting of hoist rope; rotation of foundation to its initial position; retraction of telescope; lowering of jib and boom.
To implement closed type of control, the finite state automaton method based on Stateflow module was selected. The control system with feedback relies on the information from end probes, presumably arranged on all CMJJ items.
The general view of the closed-type control system is shown in Figure 7. The following is marked on the same: IDLE - idle speed; Boom_UP - lifting of boom; Jib_UP - lifting of jib; Telescope_UP - extension of telescope; Hoist_DOWN - lowering of hoist rope (repeated twice); Cargo_LOADlNG - engagement of cargo; Hoist_UP - lifting of hoist rope (repeated twice); Foundation_LEFT - rotation of foundation to the left; Cargo_RELEASE - lowering (disengagement) of cargo; Foundation_RIGHT - rotation of foundation to the right; Telescope_DOWN - retraction of telescope; Jib_ DOWN - lowering of jib; Boom_DOWN - lowering of boom.
Fig. 4. Block diagram of CMU electrohydraulic drive
Fig. 5. CMU system model for machine-time simulation
Fig. 6. Cyclogram of open control system
Fig. 7. Cyclogram of closed control system
As a result, usage of the finite state automaton method implemented through Stateflow module allows to use standard algorithmic patterns, such as branches and cycles, in the control algorithm and try out emergency situations (for example, failure to fulfil commands within the specified time).
Figure 8 shows a 3D model of CMU imported to MATLAB package. The crane operates as per the conventional cyclogram (Fig. 7) with cargo weight of 8,000 kg. The model includes the main crane parts taking into account their weight and dimensions, and it is based on STL files assembly (Creo Parametric).
Figure 9 shows an example of curves of pressure variation at the inlet and outlet of the hoist hydraulic motor. The curve of pressure variation corresponds to the above data (the maximum pressure rating at the hydraulic motor inlet - 20 MPa).
Figure 10 shows the output parameters of the CMU system model operation with respect to speed and travels of certain units in machine time. In particular: S1, Boom, m - rod travel in the boom cylinder, m; S2, Jib, m - rod travel in the jib cylinder, m; V1, Hoist - rotation speed, rad/s - speed of hoist rope reeling on the cable drum, rad/s; S3, Hoist - coordinate, m - travel of hoist rope (lowering/lifting), m; V2, Hoist - speed, m/min - hoist rope lowering speed, m/ min; F, Foundation, deg - foundation rotation angle, °; S4, Telescope, m - rod travel in the telescope cylinder, m.
Fig. 8. CMU simulation in MATLAB (from left to right / from top to bottom): front view; right-side view; top view; isometric view
Fig. 9. The curve of pressure variation at the inlet (P_B) and outlet (P_A) of the hoist hydraulic motor
Fig. 10. Output parameters of CMU system model (in machine time)
Based on the results of CMU operation simulation, the speed of cargo lifting/lowering amounts to 3.4 m/min on average, which corresponds to the requirements of the statement of work for the design of the CMU end product.
The developed CMU system model may be considered a virtual prototype of the real article. The structure of the system model is relatively complex, which is basically explained by the fact that each block subsystem includes its own internal blocks containing their own blocks and elements inside, and so on, to the maximum possible degree of detail and considering the required factors. It can be used both for virtual experiments, related to functioning of the article itself, i.e. for building characteristics, studying dynamic modes, specifying ratings, and for further developments. Simultaneously, the control program of an asynchronous variable-frequency electric drive KS-220 can be fine-tuned (with respect to the adjustment of: acceleration amount, output voltage frequency, frequency of PWM and current limitation). It should be noted that the current CMU system model is developed with no regard for environmental conditions (temperature, wind speed, etc.).
In the future, system model testing in online mode will be implemented. For this purpose, a semi-realistic simulation (SRS) complex "RITM" and modules of MATLAB package were used: Simulink Real-Time, MATLAB Coder and Simulink Coder.
The specialized input/output modules installed in the real-time machine - SRS "RITM", allow to connect to external interfaces, such as analogue and digital inputs and outputs, PWM, and to work with industrial protocols, such as MIL-STD-1553, real-time UDP, RS232/RS422/RS485, etc.
Real-time models allow to approach the transition from simulation to full-scale specimens of the article, i. е., proceed to semi-realistic simulation. In the international engineering practices, the scenarios of semi-realistic simulation include, but are not limited to:
fast prototyping of control algorithms - automatic control systems (ACS), as a tangible object model;
Hardware-in-the-Loop simulation - HIL - the ACS is real, the object is represented by a model.
In this project, the system model was used for HIL simulation (HIL-testing) of the object. At computer simulation, real-time operation means fulfilment of two main conditions: each calculation step begins at a strictly defined time; each step of model calculation takes no more than the specified time. In practice, these conditions mean that the model calculation time is equal to the simulated process duration (to the accuracy of a calculation step).
Figure 11 shows the optimized (simplifications are implemented, among other things the finite state automaton module is excluded) system model of CMU for real-time operation. HIL-testing was performed for the control unit (power controller KS-220) connected to the semi-realistic simulation (SRS) complex "RITM". The appearance of the semi-realistic simulation rig is shown in Figure 12, including a PC, a semi-realistic simulation complex (real-time machine), a prototype of power controller and an additional monitor.
To ensure power controller and PC communication, RS-232 adapter is used. The power controller is supplied from the lab power source. Power controller and semi-realistic simulation complex communication is implemented as follows:
terminal board (analogue-to-digital module and its wires) connecting power controller KS-220 driver IGBT board with SRS;
terminal board (analogue-to-digital module and its wires) connecting power controller KS-220 current sensor board with SRS.
For data exchange, PC and SRS are connected by an Ethernet-cable.
Electric motor stator currents are transferred from the system model to KS-220 via SRS terminal board. PWM signals are transferred from the system model to KS-220 via SRS terminal board.
Figure 13 shows output parameters of the CMU system model operation with respect to speed and travels of certain units in real time. Apart from the output parameters shown as in
Figure 10, the curve is supplemented with V3, Foundation, rpm - foundation rotation speed, rpm.
Figure 14 shows a curve of electric motor rotation speed variation during operation as part of CMU electrohydraulic drive, obtained in real-time mode. During testing of power controller KS-22, rate of output voltage frequency variation was set by default to 10 Hz/s.
Fig. 11. CMU system model for real-time simulation
Fig. 12. Appearance of a semi-realistic simulation rig
Fig. 13. Output parameters of CMU system model (in real time)
Fig. 14. The curve of electric motor rotation speed variation, rad/s
The curve of electric motor rotation speed variation corresponds to optimization as per the conventional cyclogram (Fig. 6) and the rated rotor rotation speed of 611.42 rad/s.
Interpretation of findings and perspectives
The real-time CMU system model allowed to optimize the control program of power controller KS-220 for electric motor DAT 15000 in the absence of the corresponding test rigs at the initial stage, which also had a positive impact on the efficiency of experimental and design efforts in general.
During development of the system model, challenges associated with the absence of sufficient initial data were addressed, interaction and information exchange with third-party organizations took place, and several model subsystems were optimized for calculation speed standardization.
At the next stage of system simulation of the lifting mechanism, the possibility of importing 3D model assemblies directly from Creo Parametric to MATLAB was implemented (Simscape Multibody Link plugin was installed), which as a result allowed for the following:
automatic building of a detailed complete model of mechanics from the blocks (from Simulink/ Simscape Multibody library) in Simulink model window;
assembly in the sequence similar to the model tree in Creo Parametric;
rendering of dimensions, colours;
rendering of connections, coordinate systems, limitations, and hinged connections;
rendering of masses, mass centres, and inertia moments.
Besides, during import to MATLAB, a Data- File.m file with initial parameters (geometty, masses, etc.) is created automatically, which allows to introduce changes to the model when necessary and analyse any output data.
In the course of work, virtual rigs of CMU parts were built, as well as a complete system model of the object. A semi-realistic simulation rig was developed based on SRS "RITM'. The CMU system model in MATLAB package allows to study the characteristics and transient processes of a hydraulic drive (pressure, consumption); the characteristics and transient processes of mechanical part (travel trajectories, reactions in the hinges, cargo lifting speed, loading torque from the hoist); the electromagnetic characteristics and transient processes of an electric drive (power controller and asynchronous motor), optimize the KS-220 control program, etc.
The obtained results allow to select optimum parameters for the assemblies and elements and to analyse CMU operation in different conditions (including emergencies). Namely:
crane behaviour during operation with small- and large-weight cargoes;
crane behaviour during hydraulic drive electric motor speed adjustment;
crane behaviour during operation of one/ two pumps of a hydraulic drive;
crane behaviour during varying of its operation cyclogram;
variation of crane dimensions;
variation of boom, jib and telescope cylinder volume;
variation of KS-220 SW with respect to acceleration amount and output voltage frequency;
variation of hydraulic drive pumps volume;
variation of hydraulic motor displacement;
variation of hydraulic fluid density;
and other variations of crane parameters and operation modes.
Currently, model-oriented design is actively implemented during the development of new products at EDB of MZiK, PJSC.
1. Толстая В. А. Будущее российского космоса // Восьмые Уткинские чтения: труды общерос. науч.-техн. конф. / Балт. гос. техн. ун-т. СПб., 2019. С. 464–468.
2. Семенов А. В. ПАО «НПО "Алмаз"» им. академика А. А. Расплетина. Математическое моделирование в MATLAB как технология разработки и отладки сложных многоконтурных оптико-электронных угловых следящих систем // Доклад на Всероссийской конференции «Современные технологии разработки и отладки сложных технических систем» МГТУ им. Н. Э. Баумана 27–28 марта, 2019 г. 30 с.
3. Лагерев И. А. Сравнительный анализ гидравлических кранов-манипуляторов транспортно-технологических машин и гидравлических манипуляторов промышленных роботов // Научно-технический вестник Брянского государственного университета. 2016. № 3. С. 16–49.
4. Шестаков И. В., Сафин Н. Р., Брякунов С. В. Разработка имитационно-математической модели крано-манипуляторной установки // Восьмые Уткинские чтения: труды общерос. науч.-техн. конф. / Балт. гос. техн. ун-т. СПб., 2019. С. 167–172.
5. Шестаков И. В., Сафин Н. Р. Опыт создания системы управления асинхронным двигателем для гидропривода крано-манипуляторной установки // Вестник Концерна ВКО «Алмаз-Антей». 2018. № 4. С. 52–66.
6. Шестаков И. В., Сафин Н. Р. Модернизация системы частотно-регулируемого асинхронного электропривода // Вестник Концерна ВКО «Алмаз-Антей». 2019. № 2. С. 25–33.
I. V. Shestakov
Public Joint Stock Company "Kalinin Machinery Plant, Yekaterinburg"
Shestakov Igor Vladimirovich – Deputy Chief Designer for Science and Innovation of the Experimental Design Bureau
Research interests: theory of management of knowledge-intensive business processes, simulation, dynamics and strength of structures, adjustable electric drive.
N. R. Safin
Safin Nail Ramazanovich – Cand. Sci. (Engineering), Leading Design Engineer of the Bureau of Calculations and Computer Simulation of the Experimental Design Bureau
Research interests: simulation, dynamics, and strength of structures, adjustable electric drive.
Methodology for developing a conceptual design of radar stations for prospective air defence weapon systems
Methodology for estimating the specific fuel consumption of a two-circuit turbojet engine
High-temperature heat-shielding, ceramic and ceramic-metal composite materials for new-generation aviation equipment
An advanced new-look tactical air defense armament system
Development of a digital twin for an early-warning radar system
Use of lean manufacturing tools in an electroplating shop
Gennady Kozlov
Keywords 3D model ANSYS CFD MATLAB aerodynamic characteristics aircraft lean manufacturing mathematical simulation numerical simulation phased antenna array pulsating combustion radar cross-section radar station radiation pattern simulation stress-strain state vortex formation зенитный ракетный комплекс летательный аппарат оборонно-промышленный комплекс радиолокационная станция фазированная антенная решётка
41 Vereyskaya str., Moscow, 121471, Russian Federation
"Almaz – Antey" Air and Space Defence Corporation", Joint Stock Company
e-mail: antey@almaz-antey.ru


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Q: How many CPU cores should be in my MacBook Air? It looks like something's seriously wrong...
My Air should have 4 cores. However, I saw that the number of cores has sunk to 2 when I was going to make a new virtual machine...
I checked out what System Information says and the result doesn't match with the one I get by running htop in Terminal. Please, check out these screenshots:
htop:

System Information:

I don't understand... Any help is hugely appreciated!

A: Your MacBook Air has 2 independent processor cores.
When Hyper Threading is used, each core can act as two. In this case you will see four computational cores.
The EveryMac page for your MacBook Air explains why you are seeing four in some situations and two in the System Information application:

This model is powered by a 22 nm, 64-bit Intel Mobile Core i7 "Ivy Bridge" (I7-3667U) processor which includes two independent processor "cores" on a single silicon chip. Each core has a dedicated 256k level 2 cache, shares 4 MB of level 3 cache, and has an integrated memory controller (dual channel).
This system also supports "Turbo Boost 2.0" -- which "automatically increases the speed of the active cores" to improve performance when needed (up to 3.2 GHz for this model) -- and "Hyper Threading" -- which allows the system to recognize four total "cores" or "threads" (two real and two virtual).

A: Your MacBook Air has only two cores (4 threads). That is what htop is showing.

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Hello to all our lovely crafters and quilters! Can you believe it's the end of the year? Like they say, "time flies when you're having fun!" And boy, have we had fun creating so many FabScraps kits for you to play with. We hope you have loved them as much as we do. Today in our blog post, we have decided to share our 5 keys to a successful 2018!
It's that time of the year when we sit down and reflect on the year that's come and gone (SO QUICKLY) and come up with ways to make the following a year a successful and happy one. You know, the whole "new year, new me!" thing.
Today we are going to share FabScraps' New Year's resolutions and hope that they inspire you to breathe, live, love, laugh, and craft your heart out in 2018.
You are in control of your own life! You choose happiness. You choose sadness. You choose success. You choose failure. Remember that every moment and situation provides a new choice and therefore a perfect opportunity to do things differently. Make that craft! Quilt that blanket! Scrap that page! The sky is the limit!
2. It's Okay to Make Mistakes!
Making mistakes is how we learn and grow! We should look at our mistakes as stepping-stones, nothing else. We are all human! Realise your mistake, make amends, and move on. So that project didn't turn out how you expected? That's okay! Don't be so hard on yourself. Nobody is perfect. 🙂 Always learn to find joy in the mess, because that's when something truly spectacular emerges.
3. Set Realistic Goals for Yourself!
We were taught the 'SMART' method at school. It has stuck with me over all these years and I thought I had to share it! SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.
So, instead of your goal saying "to make a quilt", use the SMART method; your goal will be more powerful! Set your goal as: "to have completed a king size quilt by 31st of July 2018″.
4. Keep Trying Until You Get It Right — Do Not Give Up!
Try, try, and try again! In our "Why Do You Love Cardmaking?" Giveaway hosted by Create & Craft a couple of months ago, we were truly blown away by some of the responses we received.
What resonated with us most was how the common thread in some peoples stories was how they had gone through a hardship and it was cardmaking or crafting that got them through the dark days. Don't ever underestimate the power of crafting. Don't ever give up! Practise always makes perfect.
5. Start with a Smile and Always Have Fun!
Start every day with a smile. You have no idea how this will change your day for the better or even change someone else's. Always enjoy the little things in life and just have fun!
We want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for all your support this year. Be safe, be kind, and have yourself a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year surrounded by the ones you love!
With love from Africa — The FabScraps Team.


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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/TheMysteryOfEdwinDrood
Literature / The Mystery of Edwin Drood
ReferencedBy
Create New - Create New - Analysis Characters FanficRecs FanWorks Fridge Haiku Headscratchers ImageLinks Laconic PlayingWith Quotes Recap Synopsis Timeline Trivia WMG
The Mystery of Edwin Drood is Charles Dickens's last novel. As was usual for Dickens, the novel was written and published in serial installments; Dickens died after completing only six of the projected twelve installments, leaving the novel incomplete and the mystery unresolved.
The plot revolves around the disappearance (perhaps murder) of Edwin Drood, whose fiancée Rosa Bud is an object of attraction for several other characters, including his uncle, John Jasper, and the proud Neville Landless.
The solution of the mystery is actually known: Drood's uncle, John Jasper, is the murderer. Dickens had told several people whodunnit, and his friend John Forster later published a synopsis of the novel's planned conclusion bringing together various details Dickens had mentioned to him, including Edwin's fate, whodunnit, and the intended fates of other significant characters. This hasn't stopped multiple people writing their own endings, not all of them agreeing with Forster's account.
The novel provides examples of:
Abusive Parents: Helena and Neville Landless were raised first by a violently abusive stepfather, then by the obnoxious, neglectful Mr. Honeythunder.
All There in the Manual: As The Other Wiki points out, Dickens named Jasper as the murderer to at least three people (his son, his illustrator, and John Forster). He also mentioned Helena's marriage to Mr. Crisparkle and Rosa's to Mr. Tartar.
Ambiguous Disorder: Mr. Grewgious is described as a "particularly Angular man", with an expressionless face and voice, an awkward way of moving, and an inability to show even deeply felt emotions.
Ambiguously Brown: Neville and Helena Landless come from Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and are described as having a "dark complexion", but the details of their ethnicity are not clear. In any case, they are foreign enough to prejudice Edwin, Jasper, Mrs. Crisparkle and almost the entire town against them.
The BBC version specifies that they are Indian on their mother's side and white on their father's, and casts them as Indian actors.
Anguished Declaration of Love: Jasper bursts out with one to Rosa shortly after Edwin's death. She recoils in disgust, seeing his actions as a betrayal to Edwin, but he couldn't care less.
Arranged Marriage: Rosa Bud and Mr Drood are to enter into a marriage arranged by their late fathers.
Better as Friends: Rosa and Edwin amicably agree to call off their engagement.
Berserk Button: Neville is more or less in control of himself until Edwin insults his race.
Cut Short: One of literature's most famous examples.
Evil Uncle: John Jasper, especially in the versions where he's the murderer.
Good Shepherd: The Rev. Septimus Crisparkle, a friend and mentor to both Landless twins and an active peacemaker between rivals Neville and Edwin.
Heartwarming Orphan: Rosa and, to a lesser extent, Edwin.
Hot-Blooded: Neville is very easily provoked, a trait which Jasper cleverly exploits in order to frame him as Edwin's murderer and deflect suspicion from himself.
Hot for Student: Jasper is Rosa's music teacher, and obsessed with her. A more benign example is Mr. Crisparkle, who gradually bonds with Helena as he is indirectly teaching her through her brother.
I Kiss Your Hand: Helena to Mr. Crisparkle, in gratitude for his advice to her brother.
Left Hanging: Even with the summary of the ending recounted by Dickens to Forster, some bits are not resolved. The identity and motivation of Dick Datchery remains a complete mystery.
Light Feminine Dark Feminine: Rosa and Helena.
Meaningful Name: As in every Dickens novel. We have Rosa Bud, the Landless twins who are without a home, a sailor named Mr. Tartar, Mr. Crisparkle (the name suggests the words "crystal" and "sparkle", to suggest both his purity and his habit of swimming in cold water), "Stony" Durdles the gravestone carver, and the aggressive philanthropist Mr. Honeythunder. Septimus Crisparkle's given name is due to his mother having had six stillborn sons before him, which explains why she is so protective.
Mama's Boy: Mr. Crisparkle is this to his mother, although unlike most examples of this trope, it's portrayed as very endearing.
Names to Trust Immediately: Rosa Bud.
Never Found the Body: Edwin Drood's body remains unfound in the completed portion of the story; at least one continuation has him reappearing alive and well at a dramatically appropriate moment. According to Forster, Dickens' intention was that they would have Finally Found the Body, its location being a pointer to the identity of his murderer.
Opium Den: John Jasper visits one several times.
Parental Substitute: Mr. Grewgious, though eccentric, is a genuinely good and loving guardian to Rosa. Less so Mr. Honeythunder to the Landlesses. Then there are Jasper and Edwin, whose relationship is complicated to say the least.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Reverend Crisparkle delivers one to Mr Honeythunder that's about a page and a half long.
Servile Snarker: Bazzard is incredibly snarky and rude at all times. His employer is such a nice guy that he lets him get away with it, since he feels that Bazzard's going through a lot of trouble just working for him.
Stalker with a Crush: Jasper to Rosa.
Rosa: He has made a slave of me with his looks. He has forced me to understand him without his saying a word, and he has forced me to keep silence without his uttering a threat.
The Stoic: Helena, according to Neville, would have let their stepfather "tear her to pieces" before letting him see her shed a tear.
Twin Telepathy: Helena and Neville can understand each other without a word or even a look.
Notable continuations and adaptations include:
The 'James version', published in 1873. Written by an American printer, Thomas James, who claimed he had channelled Dickens's ghost.
The Trial of John Jasper, a one-off event staged by the Dickens Fellowship in 1914, and featuring several literary luminaries, including G. K. Chesterton as the judge and George Bernard Shaw as the foreman of the jury. Played very much for laughs.
The Mystery of Edwin Drood, a 1935 film starring David Manners as Edwin Drood and Claude Rains as John Jasper.
Drood, a musical adaptation with multiple possible endings, the murderer being determined in each performance by audience vote.
The D. Case, a parodic novel in which various famous fictional detectives each give their opinion on the case. Includes the text of Dickens' original spread throughout.
The BBC broadcast a two-part TV drama of The Mystery of Edwin Drood in 2012, with the first episode covering the installments written by Dickens, and the second based on an original ending written by Gwyneth Hughes.
Our Mutual Friend
Creator/Charles Dickens
The Mysterious Stranger
19th Century Literature
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
The Mysterious Mr Quin
Costume Drama


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Briefing Pack
Home > Press Office > News & Events > The 2018 Wool Carpet & Rug Awards - now open for entry
The 2018 Wool Carpet & Rug Awards - now open for entry
Sponsored by The Campaign for Wool, in association with British Wool, the awards are designed to celebrate excellence in wool carpet and rug manufacture. Now in its third year, the event has proven to be a great success, helping to promote the many benefits of wool flooring to a wide and varied audience.
Several of our award categories are sponsored by well-known consumer publications, providing further opportunities for your brand to reach consumers through print, online and social media.
Shortlisted entries will also be displayed as part of a high profile feature area at the Harrogate Flooring show.
Entry forms are available to download below and all entries must be submitted by Friday 17th August 2018 for judging in early September. For further information, please email awards@campaignforwool.org
Download the entry forms using the links below. You can also view last year's winners in our image library.
Awards Entry Form
Hall of Fame Entry Form
Alternative Flooring - Winner of the Wool Innovation in Carpet award 2017


— Douglas Unger, "On Inspiration: Thomas Wolfe, Jorge Luis Borges, & Raymond Carver." The Writer's Chronicle. Volume 42 Number 2.
I don't feel quite real these days since I was told I won the fall Orlando Short Fiction Prize from A Room of Her Own Foundation. I have been doing the proverbial pinching. Recognition: do I deserve it? Why did it come to me? Is my work truly worthy?
A chastising voice chimes in: How dare you, modern woman, doubt thyself? Look what thou hast wrought! It's absolutely divine!
The pendulum swing from self-deprecation to arrogance; a correcting mechanism in history and in hearts. I see this swing in me, a woman born in 1968, still finding herself in 2009.
The Japanese maple outside my window is fiery with the end days of fall, shaking leaves stained blood-red orange. The wind wrestles with tree limbs, and everything outdoors tremors, save the deep layer of damp leaves, sodden with three days of rain. When the house shudders, the wind surges through me, too. I am that hollow bone.
Suddenly, I remember where I came from. It isn't me who did this.
It was my parents. They surrounded me with books and museums and good conversation. They surrounded me with love. My mom read a draft and then gave advice about ratting hair and July flowers.
It was my sister. She delighted in our word play and laughed in spite of herself at the thousand bizarre nicknames I invented for her. At 10, I demanded she spell "simultaneously" when we played school; at 13; I told her we had a "plethora of toast"; at 15, not to "usurp the sink." We were partners making up stories and magazines and Christmas plays. Today she produces plays, and together we still talk literature and theater and film.
It was my English teachers: Donna Dunckel, who let my play become the class project, and Angela Connor, who challenged me with Macbeth and Mockingbird, who shepherded my obsessive leadership of the school paper.
It was my college fiction professor, Ehud Havazelet. He told me when my stories paled, dodged, and dragged, and he made the whole process of critique and revision funny. It was John L'Heureux, my advisor, who told me to give my writing time and let it find it's "moral vision." That it was okay to not have one yet, and that honestly, my writing wasn't ready for advanced fiction writing courses back in 1990. How precious and rare is such honesty.
It was my writing group members: those I used to meet with in 1994 San Francisco; then the group I shared with Delia and Mary Michaels; Peaceniks David and Nancy and Bob and Cornelia and Courtney; and now Marcia, Beverly, Susan, Laurie, Katie, and Carol, who search for sacred moments to write and celebrate what we create. My sisters (and you know your full name) heard a snippet about my character Ronalda and how she got her handle. Bob is my blogger partner in crime and Nancy, my cheerleader via email, and I'm thankful to them about the ongoing conversations about writing and submitting.
It was Chip and Nancy, my college buds whose honest and supportive critique of my novel in progress has kept me at it and believing I'll wrest a living thing from stone eventually.
It was Doris Betts. She saw the "forward momentum" in my novel and told me to keep going, yet not to race to the finish either. She created a writers' haven that summer at Peace College (Elizabeth Daniels Squire Residency), sponsored by the North Carolina Writers' Network, and left us thrilled to be alive and writing.
It was Greg Hawks, who heard the very first draft of the story, a tentative tale not sure of its reason for being, just a lot of characters barely colliding. He advised me on the early days of punk rock. He gave me space to shut my office door and write, write, write. He doesn't care if there are tumbleweeds of cat hair or cold burners sans dinner; he's got his own art to make, and he gets why I go underground.
It was Ruth Moose. She edited the story and helped me find the crisis and plumb the characters' backgrounds. She handed me the title right out of my own prose.
It is Hope Clark's weekly encouragements to press on and her listing of contests and opportunities. Don't stop, she counsels. Keep at it. Believe. Persist.
I know I'm forgetting someone in the proverbial village that grew this child.
And then, the Spirit, that which surges through me soft as breath and strong as wind. I didn't make me, and I'm not responsible for love of words, desire to revise, and dreams of speaking truth. I am energy, and I am soul after the body crumbles and the dust dissipates. Try to put a label on That and Who and What made me and now What I am. Divine indeed.
It's not all about me, and thank God for that.
This is an excellent post. You are a very gracious person to share the credit for your writing accomplishments. You will receive many more accolades as your Writer's Journey proceeds.
Congratulations on your recent award.
Don't EVER wonder whether or not you're deserving of an award that comes your way. There are tons of writers out there, and selections of one sort or another will never be other than some judge's taste. Like as not, you were in the running many times but never selected. You know, always a bridesmaid….
So just congratulate yourself on your writing meshing with the judge's taste this time, and wish all the others well for the next go-round.
I have realized in the last several years of submitting how much it is not only a journey of persistence and faith but also trust that your work will land where it's supposed to. I had goals to shop this story out in 2010, but I also had a good feeling about AROHO, because this foundation really honors stories about women's lives. Sometimes I think, MUST SUBMIT EVERYWHERE, CONSTANTLY! And then I calm down and think, No, submit to magazines and foundations you vet carefully, taking as much time as it should take.
Anon, I don't think we're alone, and you clearly have made connections with kindred spirits who share your values. May the mistakes of others help you act by standards higher than the sinners who taught you. Churches, schools, all institutions, religious or religious, are full of saints and less than. I agree with you on that point and I try to remember today to be thankful for all those who showed me how to treat my fellow human well.


Utilizing a theme already designed for an IT company, it did not require too much customization, and the project was completed in a very short amount time to the customer's satisfaction.
After employing site-wide SEO, submitting the site and its site map to search engines, we began monitoring its activity and health using Google and Bing Webmaster Tools.
We encouraged the client to utilize the blogging engine to produce additional and fresh content and share it with their social media audience and client-base on a monthly basis. Offering services to assist them with this weekly process, the client was comfortable enough to allow his staff take-over blogging and sharing duties completely within 6-months. Additionally, we ensured that all their social media profiles reflected their new brand to match to suit their new website.
East Bay Computer Services was founded in 2006 as a high quality, proactive computer support company. Their focus is the small office environment of 5 to 50 computers using a server centered network sharing internet, data and printing.
Don Mcleay has worked with different types of computers since he was a CNC machinist in the 1990's. He has been Microsoft Certified System Engineer since 1999 and has been working in the small business network environment ever since. When EBCS was founded in 2006 Don was the founding Manager and continues in that role today. He continues to make service calls and is often brought in for his area of expertise which is the routers, wiring and switches.
Contact Teejay to design, develop and maintain your website. Contact Donald if your East Bay-located office is in need of IT support and services.


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Colliers International sells 66 unit apartment complex in Mansfield
Boston, MA, May 10, 2019 – Colliers International recently announced that its Multi-Family Advisory Group represented prominent south suburban owner/developer/construction group, Turner Brothers, in the successful sale of the Village at Cedar Heights in Mansfield. Located at 10 Connors Avenue, the 66-unit apartment community garnered nearly $15 million dollars upon being purchased by Manhattan-based Corigin Real Estate Group. As the buyer's first foray into Massachusetts territory, they were particularly attracted to its commuter rail access, located less than one mile from the heavily trafficked Mansfield commuter rail station along the Providence/Stoughton line. "We continue to see investors aggressively chase value-add, commuter rail-centric product," noted Colliers International's Senior Vice President Christopher Sower. "As rents continue to soar in core-urban locations along Boston's subway lines, the commuter rail has grown in popularity and become more widely adopted as a reliable mode of transit from more affordable suburban communities."
In addition to its public transit appeal, the asset itself offers an attractive amenity package for residents, including a resident lounge, pool, fitness center, and business center.
Like the Village at Cedar Heights and further supporting the growing demand for value-add suburban multi-family product, the Colliers team also recently sold the 58-unit Dean Estates apartment community in Taunton to Seabrook Real Estate Partners for over $140,000 per unit. Slightly further southeast than the Mansfield product, Dean Estates also received incredible investor interest as a value-add play in a highly accessible location, both via the main Boston area highway arteries as well as nearby commuter rail hubs.
In addition to Sower, supporting transaction representatives from Colliers International's Multi-Family Advisory Group included Vice President Bruce Lusa, Assistant Vice President Jonathan Bryant, Associate John Flaherty, and Senior Client Services Specialist Maggie Collins.
About Colliers International Group Inc.
Colliers International (NASDAQ, TSX: CIGI) is a leading global real estate services and investment management company. With operations in 68 countries, our 14,000 enterprising people work collaboratively to provide expert advice and services to maximize the value of property for real estate occupiers, owners and investors. For more than 20 years, our experienced leadership team, owning more than 40% of our equity, have delivered industry-leading investment returns for shareholders. In 2018, corporate revenues were $2.8 billion ($3.3 billion including affiliates), with more than $26 billion of assets under management.
Learn more about how we accelerate success at corporate.colliers.com, Twitter: @Colliers or LinkedIn.
Jen Weber
InkHouse for Colliers
Email: colliers@inkhouse.com


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Expo 2016 Antalya
Floriade Expo 2012 Venlo
Expo 2019 Beijing
Türkiye & the BIE
Category A1 International Horticultural Exhibition
Flowers and Children
World Horticultural Exhibition Antalya 2016
Between 23 April and 30 October 2016, Türkiye organised a Horticultural Expo in the city of Antalya under the theme "Flowers and Children". Recognised by the 150th General Assembly of the BIE on 24 November 2011, the Expo was the first BIE-sanctioned International Exhibition to take place in Türkiye.
The Expo aimed to address global environmental issues, to share experiences in horticulture and agriculture, and to increase quality of life through the creation of green spaces and new job opportunities. With its "Flowers and Children" theme, and motto "A Green Life for Future Generations", the Expo encompassed four subthemes: History, Biodiversity, Sustainability, and Green Cities.
Inaugurated by President of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a ceremony on 22 April 2016, the Expo gathered 4.69 million visitors during its six-month run. Located in a popular tourist region and close to Antalya's international airport, the Expo was a popular destination for international visitors, with 29% of all visitors coming from abroad.
Developed on a 112-hectare site in Aksu, Antalya, the site was organised around the Expo Lake, with the 111-metre Expo Tower as the central landmark.
With over 26,000 trees, three million flowers and several hundred species of shrubs, cacti, geophytes and aquatic plants in the theme gardens, the site was a true festival of horticulture. The Turkish Biodiversity Theme Trail introduced visitors to the country's diverse phytogeography, while the Ottoman Garden showcased traditional Turkish landscapes inspired by art in Istanbul. A section was dedicated to plants and wild crops from the Fertile Crescent, while the Expo Greenhouse offered a wide range of tropical plants and trees from further afield. Visitors could also discover Türkiye's first Museum of Agriculture and Biodiversity, offering a journey through the history of agriculture over the past 12,500 years in an iconic building designed in the shape of an ear of wheat.
In addition to the Turkish gardens and exhibits, a total of 54 international participants took part in the Expo via indoor and outdoor gardens. Inspired by World Expo 2010 Shanghai, organisers also arranged an Urban Best Practices Area, showcasing innovations from different cities in favour of biodiversity, sustainability and green cities.
Echoing the "Flowers and Children" theme, Expo 2016 was also a playful and educational experience for younger visitors. In addition to several playgrounds, the Children's Island offered workshops and learning activities, while the Outdoor Cinema screened a range of animations aimed at children of different ages.
Every day at the Expos, a wide array of cultural events and performances took place, offering visitors a full entertainment programme until 2am. Alongside activities as part of the 26 national day celebrations, over 13,000 artistic and cultural events took place throughout the duration of the Expo. These included regular light and water shows on Expo Lake, theatrical shows, and concerts from Turkish and international artists. The Expo also showcased unique works of art, including 108 mosaiculture plant sculptures and artworks inspired by children's drawings.
Prepared in consultation with participating countries, the Antalya Declaration was made on the closing day of the Expo, with the stated purpose of increasing environmental awareness and promoting it to younger generations. Within the Declaration, the Turkish Government pledged to plant one tree for every child born in the country via the "Newborns Forests Project". The Declaration also stipulates that the Expo site is to be used as an international technology and training centre to promote international cooperation, to share knowledge in tackling agricultural problems and to raise awareness of key environmental issues.


Ready to scare yourself into writing? You can alter the settings on this website in ways that will force you to get writing. Sit in a quiet room and turn your volume up....if you take too long of a break and you will literally jump out of your skin. Once it happens one time you will NOT want to go through it again (I'm talking from experience).
It's a good website when it comes to the madman stage, or the free-writing stage. Because you're being timed and "watched" that you're continuously typing something, even if it's "I can't think of anything, I am just typing blah blah blah blah blah" you're forced to keep going to get those words on the page. The biggest challenge sometimes is just to get something down on the paper. Once you have something down, you can work within that, even if it's scratching it out and re-writing, you at least have a starting point.
If you don't already know about it and end up checking it out for the first time, please come back and let me know what your thoughts on it were!


Discussion in 'Olympus Cameras' started by SRHEdD, Jun 16, 2012.
Just got my first E-P1. WOW! It isn't nearly as bad as so many say! It feels great, is fast enough, and fits in nicely with my E-P3 and E-PL2. If I'd say ANYTHING negative, it is that the screen is a bit coarse.
...because it was $150 and in perfect condition with 4 batteries. An impulse buy from our m4/3 classifieds.
I love the E-P1 much more after the latest firmware update and sticking to newer MSC lenses (14-42 IIR, 12mm, and 45mm) with faster AF. My E-P1 isn't as fast to focus as my E-P3 but it's reasonably quick and the image quality is largely the same as the E-P3 so I feel fine going back and forth between the two.
I've been favouring my E-P1 over the G3 lately. It's just so nice to use and now I've finally got zone focusing sorted out (why did it take me this long!!) the AF lag doesn't bother me.
Ah, I understand that! Just wondered about how it "fit in" with the cameras you have, i.e., when might you opt for the E-P1 in lieu of the others?
I grabbed an E-P3 as an impulse buy, couldn't pass up $425 with three batteries. That gives me three bodies now, but I just can't bring myself to sell the E-P1. I like the look, the feel - for me it's a classic. I'll let my daughter use it if she wants but it's definitely a keeper for me.
I just used the E-P1 and my two boys' Summer football camp. It worked flawlessly and was certainly fast enough. I'll post a few pics later. I used the 14-42R and 40-150R, AF was fine.
SHRed you are on a buying spree! Saw you snag that great E-PL2 deal as well.
The E-P1 was my first entry into :43:, and despite the fact that I now have the PL-1 and P2, I still use it a lot, especially with the Oly 17 and 45. I love the solid build and feel of the body, it really reminds me of my Olympus Pen F half frame 35mm. Every now and then I wonder whether I should sell it, but I am very sentimental about my cameras, and do love it.
Congrats on getting a "classic".
Yeah, I only wanted the VF-2 and kit zoom, but took the kit. Once in hand, I'll post the E-PL2 body.
Now to find a VF-1!
Glad the ep1 still gets some love. Still the best looking camera IMO and the IQ is as good as anything from Olympus up til the omd. If the af doesn't bother you not a lot of reasons to upgrade!
Keep in mind, there is NO expiration date on this camera, it's still capable of producing "Exhibit Quality" photo's.
I just got an E-P1 kit with the 17mm and VF-1 for $350 shipped. I was planning on cannibalizing the kit to use the 17mm/VF-1 on my E-PM1, and get an extra battery and charger as a bonus.
However, I have been using the E-P1 more than my Mini since I got the kit. It's a fun camera.
Yep, those sub-$300 brand new E-P2s keep talking to me too!
I snagged a new E-p2 body from Cameta for $229 a month ago- crazy! Looking forward to 2014 when the E- M5 will be selling for that price.
Looking forward to 2014 when the E- M5 will be selling for that price.
I put the 17mm on it today and I CAN see the difference in AF speed vs. my E-P3 and even E-PL2. Not bad mind you, but very noticeably slower in that it racks forward and back to focus each time. Still love it though... hell, I'm slower too!
I started with an E-PL1 kit and then saw the sub-$250 E-P2 body and took the plunge. Although the E-PL1 is more capable in many ways, I prefer the E-P2, it just looks and feels more substantial. Since the E-P1s are so similar in form factor I can see why people tend to keep them.
I used a Pentax K1000 as my primary camera for over 20 years in spite of the advances in auto-exposure and the advent of auto-focus. The old manual camera may have been slower but I couldn't get away from the "look and feel" of a metal bodied classic, and my images did not suffer, so the E-P2 will be my primary m43 camera for a long time (my wife will love the E-PL1).


WASHINGTON, DC — Bulgaria is facing mounting criticism for its failure to adequately provide shelter, food and medical care to thousands of migrants who have entered the country over the past year, the majority of them Syrian asylum seekers. Aid and humanitarian groups are also worried about rising xenophobia, which, they say, has refugees living in a state of chronic fear. But some analysts say these criticisms aren't fair and that too much is being expected from one of the poorest countries in the European Union.
Boris Cheshirkov, spokesman for the UN Refugee Agency, (UNHCR) in Bulgaria, says up until recently, Bulgaria had only three refugee centers that could accommodate no more than 1,200 refugees. But these centers quickly filled up, and migrants were forced to sleep in hallways, tents and in the streets. So the government seized several dilapidated public buildings to house the overflow, but these lacked heat and hot water and staffing.
Registered asylum seekers are given no food, but the government does give them an allowance of about $1.50 per person per day--enough to buy a liter of milk or a kilo of potatoes.
Human Rights Watch Refugee Program Director Bill Frelick has just returned from Bulgaria where about 10 thousand Syrian refugees were staying at a camp at the Turkish border.
"It is so cold that refugees' only effort is to make their families survive," he told VOA Turkish.
The situation first came to public light in October, when Bulgarian National Television used a hidden camera to reveal conditions inside the Voenna Rampa center in the capital, Sofia. Their report got the attention of the European Commission, UNCHR and other humanitarian agencies, who came in November to see for themselves.
More than two and a half million Syrians have fled the country as refugees, settling in neighboring Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. As many as 6,000 have fled as far as Bulgaria, one of the poorest countries of the 28-member European Union and a gateway to Europe. There, say rights and humanitarian groups, they must cope with substandard living conditions and a rising xenophobia that is being fueled by the careless statements of nationalist politicians and right-wing media outlets. A poll conducted in early December 2013 showed that 62.2% of Bulgarians do not want any more refugees coming to the country. 15% agree Bulgaria should continue to accept refugees, and 22.7% have no opinion. A poll taken in late September 2013 showed that 83% of Bulgarians see Syrian refugees as a threat to national security.
Refugees also face another disturbing trend, says Amnesty International. The mass influx of migrants has triggered a wave of nationalistic fervor goaded by public statements of right-wing leaders and nationalist media outlets. There have been several attacks on migrants in recent months.
In November, several neo-Nazi factions, including the local branch of the international Blood and Honor Skinhead network, formed the Nationalist Party of Bulgaria, dedicated to cleansing Bulgaria of "foreign and alien immigrant scum." The party has organized so-called "civil patrols," which stop and check foreigners—and a portion of the general population thinks that this is a good idea.
In October, the government announced plans to build a wire fence along a 30-kilometer stretch of the border with Turkey where, it said, terrain was too rugged to patrol. The government also stationed an additional 1,160 officers along the border to prevent refugees from entering the country.
Last week, Bulgaria announced a delay in completing the fence, which it had hoped to complete by early February.
But some analysts say these criticisms are far too harsh. Bulgaria's geographic position in southeastern Europe makes it the first stop for Africans, Middle Easterners and others seeking a better life in the West.
Under an EU law known as the "Dublin Regulation," migrants can only apply for asylum in one country--the first EU country they enter. But many migrants who apply for asylum in Bulgaria travel onwards to France, Germany or Scandinavia, where jobs and welfare systems are better. "Dublin" permits those countries to deport these individuals back to Bulgaria.
The UNHCR has called on European participants to the Dublin Agreement to temporarily suspend transfers of asylum-seekers back to Bulgaria, saying they risk inhuman or degrading treatment in the country.
UNHCR's Cheshirkov says in recent weeks, the EU has provided €5.6 million ($7,650,00) to the Bulgarian government so that conditions can be improved, and several member states have made individual donations the help Bulgaria increase its response.
Bulgaria is a poor country. Corruption, a weak judicial system and organized crime have hindered its economy, which never quite recovered from the global economic and euro crises. Average wages are about $4.75 an hour and salaries stand at about $490 a month, with 12% unemployment.
"The situation is far worse in rural areas," according to Kristen Ghodsee, Director of Gender and Women's Studies Program at Bowdoin College and an expert in post-communist Bulgaria.
So when locals hear that the UNHCR is providing refugees one hot meal a day, says Ghodsee, they are resentful; that's more than many Bulgarians get to eat.
"It's not that people think that Syrians are animals or barbarians. It's that they are quite frustrated that the EU is treating these Syrian refugees better than ordinary Bulgarians and expecting the Bulgarians to take care of these Syrians, when, in fact, there are more resources available in the Western European countries," Ghodsee said.
HRW's Frelick says Bulgaria is certainly not the only country at fault.
"This is a very serious humanitarian crisis and so far the international community--including the United States--has failed to deal with it properly," he said.


"I'm a wearing a dress that's made with an extra large T-shirt [sewn together with] the the bottom of an actual dress I had at home saved. It didn't fit me well… It was very large. I tried making it smaller on the top but it didn't work out so I just cut the bottom off and attached it to the t-shirt… [I learned to sew] by myself by looking online and experimenting. Recently I also [took in] this jacket …it was really big."


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Q: How to manipulate parameters like @path with ForFiles I'm using forfiles in a batch-file to find all files changed within the last day and save them to an archive directory.
The script works perfectly to pull files from one directory to another, however it does not do the desired function when there are sub directories.
e.g. I have a Source location and an Archive directory. In the source directory there is the following structure:
C:\Temp\Source\test1.txt
C:\Temp\Source\Folder\test2.txt

The Archive directory is simply the below location with no files/sub folders in it:
C:\Temp\Archive

My current use of ForFiles picks up both test1.txt and test2.txt and dumps them into the Archive directory, which is an undesired result:
C:\Temp\Archive\test1.txt
C:\Temp\Archive\test2.txt

What I want to do is preserve the folder structure and get this result:
C:\Temp\Archive\test1.txt
C:\Temp\Archive\Folder\test2.txt

This is the code I'm currently using to achieve the undesired result is:
FORFILES /S /p %source_dir% /m *.* /d +%datedsub% /c "cmd /c copy @path %archive_dir%"

%datesub% is just my variable to decide what date to copy from.
I have noted that I could achieve this by using the @relpath parameter, removing the quotes and .\, then appending it to the %archive_dir% so that I'm specifying the entire destination path rather than just the Archive location.
My problem is that I do not know how to manipulate the @ variables whilst within a ForFiles command.


text:
Q: Printing a nested for-loop pattern in java Goal:
 1234
 2345
 3456
 4567
 5678
i have the pattern down but it doesnt println after length(4):
    int i;
    int a;

    for (i = 1; i <= 5; i++)
    {
      for (a = i;a<=i+3;a++)
      {
        System.out.print(a);
      }
    }

My output is: 12342345345645675678

A: Just add it after the second loop:
int i;
int a;

for (i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {
  for (a = i;a<=i+3;a++) {
    System.out.print(a);
  }
  System.out.println();
}

A: int i;
int a;

for (i = 1; i <= 5; i++)
{
  for (a = i;a<=i+3;a++)
  {
    System.out.print(a);
  }
  System.out.println(); // add this code
{

A: No need to have two for loops, try :
for (i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {
   int j = i;
   System.out.println(j++ + "" + j++ + "" + j++ + "" + j);
}

EDIT : I know this will limit the flexibility, but this is just a toy problem.

A: int i;
int a;

for (i = 1; i <= 5; i++)
{
  for (a = i;a<=i+3;a++)
  {
    System.out.print(a);
  }
  System.out.println();
}

A: Add System.out.println() after the inner loop.

A: Try:
int i;
int a;

for (i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {
    for (a = i;a<=i+3;a++) {

        System.out.print(a);
    }
    System.out.println(); // this will print a new line.
}

A: Add System.out.Println() after the inner loop. This will move the cursor to next line

A: Java Solution
  int f, g, h,T;
        f = 12345;
        h = 11111;
        for (g = 1; g <= 5; g++)
        {
         T = f + ((g - 1) * h);
         System.out.print(  T + "\n")
         }

A:   for(int i =1;i<=4;i++) {
        System.out.print(i);
    }
    System.out.println();
    for(int i =2;i<=5;i++) {
        System.out.print(i);
    }
    System.out.println();

    for(int i =3;i<=6;i++) {
        System.out.print(i);
    }
    System.out.println();
    for(int i =4;i<=7;i++) {
        System.out.print(i);
    }
    System.out.println();


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The Treasury Bulletin website was created in March of 1996 and, therefore, only 1996 issues of the Treasury Bulletin forward are available on-line. Those issues are available as single PDF files containing the entire issue.
The U.S. Government Publishing Office does stock a limited number of previous issues. You can call them at 202-512-1800 to ask about the availability of specific issues.
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text:
TCU's Gary Patterson wants to make some changes to the College Football Playoff
TCU head coach Gary Patterson prepares to enter the field with his players before an NCAA football game between the Arkansas Razorbacks and the TCU Horned Frogs at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas Saturday September 10, 2016. (Andy Jacobsohn/The Dallas Morning News)(Andy Jacobsohn / Staff Photographer)
By Ben Baby
4:10 PM on Jun 7, 2017
One of the nation's most tenured coaches wouldn't mind an expanded version of the College Football Playoff.
During an interview with 1310 AM-96.7FM KTCK The Ticket's morning show The Musers on Wednesday morning, TCU coach Gary Patterson said he's a "big advocate" for the CFP growing from the current four-team format to six or eight teams.
"I just think there's enough parity that any of those six to eight can beat anybody on any given day," Patterson said.
The TCU coach who has won 149 games in 17 seasons said he initially didn't feel that way about CFP expansion.
But it's worth noting that TCU's conference, the Big 12, hasn't had a CFP representative in two of the first three installments.
Patterson referenced the 2014 debacle that saw TCU and Baylor, the Big 12's co-champions, fail to reach the CFP. In response, the Big 12 added a championship game for the 2017 season that will feature the conference's two best teams, not just two conference teams from separate divisions.
And as Patterson noted on Wednesday with The Musers, just because a school has a Power Five conference title doesn't mean it guarantees a CFP berth.
"Everybody said we have to have a championship game," Patterson said. "Well, I just watched a team not be in a championship game in the Big Ten and get in the playoff."
Penn State won the Big Ten title in 2016, but Ohio State ultimately ended up representing the conference.
It sounds as if Patterson isn't convinced that the addition of a title game will automatically secure a CFP spot. If the playoff expanded, however, it'd be incredibly difficult for the Big 12 not to land at least one berth.
But as it stands, there are only four playoff berths. And we'll have to wait until to December to decide if the Big 12's changes will help one of the conference's teams reach the semifinals.
"There's a lot of scenarios [that] can be good or bad," Patterson said regarding the Big 12 title game. "The bottom line to it is we [the Big 12] need to keep upping our game and we need to keep getting better."
Ben Baby. Covers college football, sports for The Dallas Morning News.
bbaby@dallasnews.com @Ben_Baby
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Boston Homes
April 20, 2017 May 30, 2017 Mark Liguori 0 Comment Press Releases
By Marilyn Jackson
After years of debate among the Commonwealth, the city land commissioners and the Boston Water Company, the Commonwealth in 1859 first began filling the Back Bay tidal flats block by block from the Public Garden at Arlington Street to Clarendon Street. One of the earliest homes to be built on the new land was the Gibson House, now a Victorian house museum, constructed on Beacon Street in 1860.
This photograph of 7-9 Commonwealth Ave. was taken by Frederick M. Smith II, circa 1870.
A year later along the sunny north side of Commonwealth Avenue five elegant homes – Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 appeared on the first block from the Public Garden, all standing at least 20 feet back from the grand Parisian style boulevard.
The distinctive home at 7-9 Commonwealth Ave. was designed in the French and Academic style as a double house, with a grand recessed entry framed by Corinthian columns, three-story bays and a slate mansard roof with decorative ornamental ironwork. The architect is unknown.
All that changed, however, in 1937, when the building at 9 Commonwealth Ave. was butchered and converted to 13 apartments. Brick replaced the limestone façade, the front stairs were removed to create a new street level entry, a new floor was added, windows were enlarged and the mansard roof was altered.
Now, 77 years later in a joint venture of Boston Residential Development of Boston and Luzern Associates LLC of Westport, CT., Nine Commonwealth is being restored to its glory, creating five spectacular condominiums within and adding a limestone veneer to the facade that compliments the flanking buildings.
"It's a coveted address, location and block. Something special had to be recreated, and that's under way," said Kevin J. Ahearn, president of Otis & Ahearn Real Estate and a principal in the joint venture.
Nine Commonwealth has a pre-eminent, sunny location, as depicted in this aerial view of the Public Garden and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall.
Michael Durand, president of Back Bay Construction, the general contractor, is also a principal of Boston Residential Development. Michael Moran of Otis & Ahearn Real Estate is marketing the homes, and three of them – the penthouse duplex and Units 3 and 4 – are already under agreement. The homes will be completed next June.
Listed at $3.7 million, Residence 2 will comprise three bedrooms and three baths in a floor-through layout designed by noted Back Bay architect John Meyer of Meyer & Meyer Inc.
Unit 1, a four bedroom, four bath duplex with 3,880 square feet of living space, will be listed at $6.2 million. It is not yet on the market, said Moran.
"This is a boutique building, and the lobby will be intimate, with a marble floor, detailed picture molding and custom millwork, similar to the Carlyle Hotel in New York," said Moran.
The lobby will have an elevator with key fob access to each floor, he said. Next to it will be the staircase.
In Unit 2 the elevator will open into a small vestibule tiled with Calcutta radiance scallop marble and double doors that will swing into an expansive and open living/dining room with a large three window bay. A gas fireplace will have a wood mantelpiece and a marble surround, and the entire room will have American walnut flooring, laid in a her ringbone pattern.
The kitchen will feature a long, walnut-stained center island with breakfast seating that will be topped with Calcutta gold marble or Caesarstone.
The kitchen will be open to the dining room, which will be furnished with top-of-the-line Energy Star appliances, including a Wolf six-burner dual fuel range and a custom- designed range hood, a Sub-Zero refrigerator and a 24-bottle wine cooler, a stainless steel Sharp under counter microwave drawer and a Bosch dishwasher.
A long center island with breakfast seating will face the dining area, and perpendicular to the island will be a built-in china cabinet. The walnut-stained island, which will match the flooring, will be topped with Calcutta gold marble or Caesarstone, at the buyer's request. The countertops will match. The European style cabinetry, painted linen white, will have raised panels.
Beyond the kitchen will be a gallery, off which will be two bedrooms and a good sized laundry room. The master bedroom suite will be at the far end of the residence, with windows on two exposures. The suite will include a luxurious en suite bath with a deep cast iron clawfoot tub and a frameless glass enclosed shower with a rain showerhead and hand-held shower wand. The flooring will be tiled with Carrara marble and the vanity, at the buyer's choice, will be topped with dark Bardiglio marble or Caesarstone or will be a double washstand. The Toto toilet will be opposite the shower.
The master will have an abundance of closets as well as a built-in desk in a dressing area.
Closets in the second bedroom will occupy an entire wall. Its bath will feature a combination tub/shower with a Carrara marble surround and enclosed by frameless glass. This bath will have Waterworks features, a Toto toilet and a vanity cabinet with a single sink and topped with Carrara marble. The flooring will be a Carrara marble mosaic accented with dark Bardiglio.
Next to this bath will be a full-sized laundry with a side-by-side washer and dryer. An interior utility room for the mechanicals will be housed within this space.
The third bedroom, which could be a study, will be located at the front of the residence, off the living room. Adjacent to this room will be a full bath with a glass-enclosed shower tiled with basket weave Carrara marble with Bardiglio dot accents and a single, two-leg washstand. Or the buyer could choose a European-designed custom vanity topped with rich Nero Marquina marble or with Caesarstone. An outdoor deeded parking space will be included with this home.
Residence 1, listed at $6.2 million, has been designed for four bedrooms and four baths. Its floor plan on the upper level is similar to that in Residences 2, 3 and 4 with the same quality finishes and millwork, except that there will be an interior staircase open to the floor below, and the laundry room will be moved to the other side of the gallery, replacing the second bedroom.
On the lower level the front room, which has a bay window and a fireplace, will have built-in shelving and a desk and a double door closet. Outside this room will be two more closets and an exercise room. Toward the back of the building will be two bedrooms. The smaller bedroom will have an en suite bath that also can be accessed from the hallway and a second door into the gallery. This bath will have a glass-enclosed, marble-tiled shower.
The master bath will include a three-leg double washbasin, a marble-tiled floor and a deep cast iron clawfoot soaking tub. It also will have an oversized shower.
Opposite this bedroom will be a smaller laundry room with a side-by-side washer and dryer and a sink and a hallway with a built-in desk that will lead into an expansive bed- room, which could be a second master suite. It will have a huge walk-in closet, plus a second closet, and an en suite bath with an over-sized shower and a double vanity.
Two deeded garage parking spaces will be included with this condominium.
The penthouse, Residence 5, which is under agreement, will have three bedrooms, four baths and a magnificent, deep roof terrace that will span the entire 28-foot-plus width of the building. The top floor, which will be set back and clad in copper, will have an expansive eat-in kitchen with a center island that will hold two dishwashers and will have a built-in coffeemaker next to the range. On the far side of the kitchen will be a wine cooler.
A powder room will be next to the open dining/living room, where a wall of windows and a glass door to the roof terrace will fill this room with abundant natural light. Near the door will be a wet bar.
Converting Nine Commonwealth to exclusive condominiums has been complicated, but redesigning the exterior has been a bigger, multi-faceted challenge.
"We knew that we wanted to bring this building back to its original" appearance, said Moran.
"The new design required a stone that would match 7 Commonwealth Ave., plus a strong, two-story stone base had to be reassembled and then made to fit naturally over the shifted doors and windows," said Meyer in his architect's statement.
"New floors and floor heights had to be determined, and new windows cut and resized, then architectural details added to the new façade.
"The most difficult task was to recreate the stone horizontal banding of 7 Commonwealth Ave. and extend it across the new façade… New mansard, scalloped slate roofs and copper skylights had to be added as well.
"In the end, Nine Commonwealth is a statement of neighborhood respect and appreciation on the exterior and a thoroughly modern program of new systems and gracious living space within," Meyer wrote.
The building has been hidden by a green construction wrap for months but should be unveiled in December, said Moran.
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text:
Debate is O'Rourke's last shot
The last time Gov. Greg Abbott and Beto O'Rourke were in the same room, the two-term Republican incumbent didn't even bother looking his Democratic challenger in the eye.
When O'Rourke crashed a press conference at a high school auditorium in Uvalde four months ago, blasting Abbott for "doing nothing" in the wake of another horrific mass shooting, it might have been the high point for the former El Paso congressman's campaign, even if Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin thought it was pretty low at the time: "I can't believe you're a sick son of a bitch that would come to a deal like this to make a political issue," the mayor yelled.
After that moment, a video of which became viral, polls narrowed to within five percentage points, a sign that the public might finally be fed up with Abbott's trite statements of sympathy and Second Amendment fealty after 19 children and two teachers were senselessly murdered at Robb Elementary School.
O'Rourke's dramatic stand in Uvalde presented a fascinating contrast in leadership styles from Abbott, who appeared stoic, dispassionate, and completely unbothered by this righteous agitator seeing things with anger and frustration.
Tonight, O'Rourke will have a far more appropriate venue to make his points, and Abbott won't be able to ignore him when the two finally face off for their one and only debate at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg.
It's likely O'Rourke's last and best chance to make a case for himself in the gubernatorial race as recent polls have shown him trailing in ever-wider margins.
Abbott will have to stay on message
migrants! migrants! migrants! — avoid any embarrassing slip-ups, and deftly navigate any topics — ahem, abortion — where he is especially vulnerable. It's the debate version of the prevent defense: don't give up any big plays.
Also Read Chicago Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates preview, Monday 5/16, 6:40 CT
The stakes are far higher for O'Rourke. He has stumbled on the debate stage in the past, both during his 2018 Senate race and his short-lived presidential run in 2020. He thrives in off-the-cuff moments where he can make emotional appeals to an audience. Without the energy of a crowd behind him — Abbott reportedly
insisted on an empty room
— O'Rourke will have to figure out a way to stand out in a more scripted, hour-long format.
We'd like to hear from O'Rourke how he would govern from a position of weakness — what can he actually get done in a state where Republicans will retain control of the state Legislature? How would he work with a hostile leader of the state Senate if Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is re-elected? Can he prove he is more than the flash in the pan Democratic White Knight whose national ambitions got the better of him?
Yet the debate is also a unique opportunity to hold Abbott accountable on several crucial issues.
There was a time when gun rights seemed to be a major weak spot for O'Rourke. During his ill-fated presidential run in 2020, he infamously gave an unapologetic defense of his proposal to mandate buybacks of assault weapons. Then the Robb Elementary School massacre happened, putting Abbott on the defensive. Suddenly, even a notoriously intransigent Congress was moved to do something on gun control. Abbott has dodged a bare minimum measure that 71 percent of Texans support: raising the minimum age to purchase assault-style weapons from 18 to 21, reasoning that the Supreme Court might overturn it. Will Abbott break from his party's thralldom to the NRA and show a willingness to enact a reasonable gun control law? Will O'Rourke's past comments continue to haunt him? Anyone who knows Texas politics can take a good guess, but debates can sometimes surprise.
Also Read First Amendment advocates respond to Arizona law limiting recording of police : NPR
Abortion will also likely be a major topic. The ripple effects from the Supreme Court's seismic decision to overturn Roe v. Wade had forced something of a reckoning on Abbott's decision to sign the most restrictive abortion law in the nation. Anti-abortion candidates are backtracking on their support for an unequivocal abortion ban, including some Texas Republicans, yet Abbott has so far remained steadfast that not even the health of the mother or instances of rape and incest will alter his stance. Can O'Rourke pin Abbott down and show voters that his absolutist anti-abortion position is out of step with both the general public and members of his own party?
O'Rourke has hammered Abbott for months over his management of the electric grid. When the grid began to wobble after a May heat wave that led to energy conservation notices, he wrote on Twitter that "the governor of the ninth-largest economy on earth — the energy capital of the world — can't guarantee the power will stay on tomorrow." Well, so far, at least, the lights have stayed on. While we believe Abbott and state lawmakers did not go far enough in addressing the grid's vulnerabilities — to say nothing of his refusal to even investigate the profits gas pipeline companies made while we all froze — does the fact that we survived the summer rob O'Rourke of a key attack point?
Finally, at a time when Abbott is in a tit-for-tat with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on who can out-stunt the other on immigration, O'Rourke has a chance to expose the cruelty underpinning the governor's policies. Abbott has proven he is uninterested in actually solving the vexing border problems. He's more interested in expensive theatrics such as his $4 billion Operation Lone Star initiative to construct a border wall and send thousands of National Guard members to patrol the border. The return on that investment has been abysmal. The number of migrant officials encountering the Texas-Mexico border is higher today than it was before the operation began.
Also Read Georgia fake elector lied about her role in alleged voting equipment breach, records state
Yet simply pointing out Abbott's failures isn't enough. Most Texans still believe that Abbott is better equipped to handle the situation at the border. O'Rourke will have to show that he has a better plan to both help border communities dealing with an overflow of migrants, while maintaining some semblance of border security.
It's a tall task to try and win an election in an hour-long debate, particularly one scheduled, in time-honored tradition, at a time when many Texans would rather take in Friday night lights than Friday night political snipes. Perhaps just battling Abbott to a draw will give O'Rourke enough breathing room to try and win the ground game in the run-up to early voting on Oct. 24. But there's no bigger platform than the debate stage, with millions of Texans watching , either live or later online.
The reality in this hyper-polarized climate is that most people already have their minds made up. A recent poll — which showed Abbott leading by seven percentage points — found virtually no likely voters who were undecided. Tonight, the onus is on O'Rourke to change voters' minds.
www.houstonchronicle.com
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What is fast shutter speed photography?
The fast shutter speed photography could be anything more than 1/500th of a second. Yet, advanced digital cameras are speedier than this. On the off chance that you have a digital camera, you might as well have the capacity to choose shutter speeds up to 1/8000th of a second – unbelievably fast!
This means the screen opens for only 1/8000th of a second. In this brief minute, time is truly frozen. As a picture taker, you can utilize this brief minute inventively to catch movement.
However how fast is enough? There is something many refer to as the Reciprocal Rule intended to help you with that reply. This rule expresses that your shutter speed ought to be in any event the equal of the focal length. That sounds convoluted, yet don't stress it is anything but difficult to make sense of.
You simply put one over your focal length and that is your base shutter speed. Along these lines, for instance, if the focal length is exactly 60mm, simply ensure your shutter speed is about 1/60th of a second or quicker.
On the off chance that you are zoomed in and the focal length is approximately 200mm, ensure the shutter speed is 1/200 of a second or speedier. Any slower than that and the time has come to break out the tripod (or raise the aperture and also raise the ISO).
In times of high activity or dramatization, you can stop the movement by utilizing a fast shutter speed.
Fast shutter speeds are utilized to stop activity versus giving it a chance to blur over a photo. Speeding autos, plunging swimmers, mischievous kids, racing animals, and more can all be frozen through fast shutter speed photography.
The most powerful variable with regards to freezing movement is the rate and heading of the moving subject. On the off chance that the movement is moderate, similar to somebody waving his hand, you most likely can solidify that movement with a 1/100th-second shade speed. Be aware that, if the velocity of the movement is fast, similar to somebody swinging a baseball bat, you might require the 1/1000th second to capture the frozen activity.
At the point when the subject is near you, the scope of movement in the frame is much bigger than when your subject is more distant from you.
Therefore, when you are shooting a moving subject very close, the shutter speed should be higher than when you are shooting the same subject moving the same speed at a considerable distance.
The lens focal length that you are using and the amount of frame your subject is involving additionally influences how quick of a shutter speed you will require. A wide point lens requires to a lesser extent the shutter speed to stop movement rather than a telephoto lens.
Much the same as capturing a subject that is very close, when you zoom in with the lens or utilize a telephoto lens, the size and movement of the subject in the frame turn out to be more affirmed.
On the off chance that you are shooting a soccer match with a wide point lens, every player is traveling through a little space of the casing. In the event that you zoom in or utilize a telephoto lens, you will require a fast shutter speed in the examination to when you are utilizing a wide point lens.
At whatever point you are confronted with a moving subject and you need to stop the movement, you can expand the shutter speed. Despite the fact that we give the recommended least shutter speed for distinctive situations on the off chance that you can utilize a fast shutter speed and remunerate the exposure with ISO or aperture, then utilize it.
Thanks for reading, If you have any questions just post below & I will be happy to answer you.
Oh great description, for things to consider on fast shutter speed photography. Its amazing how much I can learn about photography and then promptly forget when I don't use it frequently. Great post for me thanks!
Hey, thanks for your comment & passing by my website.


This saucer is back marked "Salisbury Wild Rose" and "Made in England". According to my research, this pattern is relatively rare. It is a very pretty piece, with pink & blue wild rose floral design. The gold paint on the rim appears to be in good shape, and there are no cracks or chips.


At this time, you may have learned that roulette will come in two forms, the American and European, which can be took part an online on line casino; yet to give a touch of history, the diversion was initially took part many other countries, amid so it was referred to as a little wheel. This time, this kind of diversions tend to be known all over being obtainable online – and also talking about online, the particular online feel with the amusement may be upgraded through including a stay dealer with regard to online gamers to add to the sensible qq online fun. Along with live online gambling establishment dealers, 1 need not depend on upon haphazardly created figures, subsequent to the actual live seller is there to show the steering wheel. Then again, free roulette playing is presently accessible for every person.
Finding land based casinos and getting a spot once you get to one are two maddening projects for some individuals, which are the purpose numerous individuals are usually selecting to play on online on line casino dealers. Actively playing online permits individuals to dispose of the particular smoke and prattle, ordinary of area dependent venues, and in this way, online gaming has turned into a generally acknowledged design. With online game playing, despite whatever you can feel the authenticity in relation to the fact that an active dealer redirects the demonstrate way it's done at genuine locations you would not think there's actually a need to go to a block and mortar diversion venue.
Individuals playing online get yourself a comparative dash as individuals playing in an area primarily based online casino dealers, and more tend to be coming online to access the distractions like the reside dealer roulette amusement. The particular prizes are likewise genuine and the haphazardness of numbers and the tenets regarding likelihood are all around saved, therefore it is very safer to play reside dealer live roulette online than to check out an area dependent casino.


Peru Birding - Lima area-Pantanos de Villa-Ventanilla (Lima).
Birding Lima area-Pantanos de Villa-Ventanilla (Lima).
All visiting birders to Peru comes to Lima first and leaves from here too. This huge town has actually some nice wetlands within easy access. About half an hour north of the airport is the suburb Ventanilla. Turn left here to the beach and after 3 kms there is a fenced-in wetland on the right with a visitor centre and an observation tower. A nice selction of wetland birds can be seen here including migrants. Least Bittern, Wren-like Rush-bird, Many-coloured Rush-tyrant and Yellow-headed Blackbird are some. Continue another kilometre and you´ll come to the coast. There are some restaurants here and you can park here. There are some pools around here and the parking lot can sometimes be flooded and offers a fantastic opportunity to see migrating waders as well as the local Peruvian Thickknees. Pass the restaurants and you are at the beach where the usual selection of sea- and shorebirds can be seen like Inca Tern, Peruvian Boobies and gulls.
Pantanos de Villa is on the other side of town just south of Lima. It likewise has a visitor centre where you pay small entrance fee. Opposite the centre is a walkway to a tower where Great Grebes, ducks and gulls can be seen. The reed has Least Bittern, Wren-like Rush-bird and Many-coloured Rush-tyrant. Continue past the visitor centre and turn right and you will soon see a shallow pool and antoher tower. This pool is good for waders and from the tower you see the same birds as from the other tower. If turning left in the junction you´ll come to a gate with guards. Tell them you want to go to the beach for birdwatching, you may have to leave your passport here. A few hundred metres past the gate in the sandy area to the left is a reliable spot for Peruvian Thickknee. Another two-three hundred metres further on takes you to the beach and another lagoon which is good for gulls.
Very close to the airport is Callao and a narrow peninsula sticks out into the sea here. At the very point is a good place to view the sea and there are also some inlets called Laguna Arenillas here which are good for waders including Blackish Oystercatcher.