The thousands of protesters expected at the Democratic and Republican national conventions can come armed with a lot more than signs and slogans: State law in Florida and North Carolina allows concealed weapons, including guns.
In Tampa, where the Republicans will hold their festivities this fall, officials are starting to worry about people toting guns in such a politically charged environment. The City Council voted Thursday to ask Republican Gov. Rick Scott to help them temporarily ban concealed weapons. Charlotte officials have yet to publically voice concern, but with both cities trying to balance public safety with First and Second Amendment rights, it's likely the host city for the Democratic convention will also have to address the issue.
The Tampa City Council wants Scott to issue an executive order, preventing people with concealed weapons permits from carrying guns.
"We believe it is necessary and prudent to take this reasonable step to prevent a potential tragedy," council member Lisa Montelione said in a draft letter to Scott.
Tampa city leaders have already proposed a host of banned items (lumber, hatchets, gas masks, chains and "super soaker" water cannons) - but they are prevented from outlawing concealed guns.
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said the state law has made the city "look silly," particularly because officials can ban water guns but not real ones.
"We're kind of constrained by the state law," he said.
The issue is a more complicated in Charlotte. The city in January adopted an ordinance allowing it to set up "extraordinary event zones" - designated areas where people won't be allowed to carry backpacks and other items.
The city wanted to ban guns in those zones. State law, though, allows people to carry concealed weapons - unless they're at a parade or protest.
"The zone is going to be far bigger than a demonstration area. So if I have a demonstration that marches us down main street, but the extraordinary event zone covers all of downtown, what about the area outside the demonstration? That's the piece that been hitting us here," said Mark Newbold, an attorney with the Charlotte police department.
Tens of thousands of delegates, journalists and political junkies will stream into the mid-sized cities for the multi-day conventions. Republicans hold their event at the Tampa Bay Times Arena Aug. 27-30. The Democrats' party is a week later at the Time Warner Cable Arena. Inside the arenas, the Secret Service has banned civilians from carrying guns.
Both cities have hosted large gatherings before - Tampa has held four Super Bowls and Charlotte has entertained the Atlantic Coast Conference basketball tournament and the National Rifle Association convention - but neither has really experienced an event such as this.
In the past 50 years, political conventions have become a magnet for protesters, and they have sometimes turned ugly.
In 1968, demonstrators tried to disrupt the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Scenes of police clashing with protesters on the streets played on TV screens in living rooms across America. Four years later, anti-war demonstrators disrupted the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach.
More recently, thousands of protesters descended on St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2008, when the city hosted the Republican National Convention. Some demonstrators smashed cars, punctured tires and threw bottles in a confrontation with pepper-spray-wielding police. Hundreds of people were arrested over a few days.
"Everything we are doing is based on something that happened at another convention or another national security event," Tampa City Attorney Jim Shimberg said.
The federal government has given $50 million each to Charlotte and Tampa to help them pay for new security-related equipment, training and officer salaries.
Tampa is proposing a "Clean Zone" protest area with portable toilets, water, a stage and a microphone for protesters. Outside that area, people will be allowed to march down an official parade route as long as they have a permit.
2012年4月27日星期五
2012年4月26日星期四
Enabling Engaging Web Experiences
Digital Asset Management (DAM) platforms are playing a critical role in marketing departments. Since more companies have turned to the Web as the primary marketing channel to accelerate revenue and build brands, managing a growing mountain of digital assets has become a challenge.
Once considered a simple application that operated as a vault to store corporate logos and images, DAM has evolved into a higher value, revenue-generating marketing activity designed to reach new audiences, increase engagement and generate demand with rich media.
Marketers must break through the day-to-day noise of the Internet to reach multiple customer segments with attention-grabbing and fresh content. As a result, organizations have created digital assets at a breakneck pace with the hopes of delivering an engaging and relevant experience.
Marketers are well aware of the value of delivering relevant and engaging experiences; however, managing and placing these assets in front of prospective customers can be difficult. Finding the right asset can be a challenge; rich media assets such as images, videos and animations are now sprawling across multiple Web properties, backend systems and organizational silos.
In many marketing departments, DAM started as a centralized location to store high-value logos and corporate images. At this early stage, DAM was used like a library. It was highly revered, but often ignored and rarely visited.
In some extreme cases, only a few key stakeholders within an organization were trained to access the system, which severely limited its widespread adoption. As a result, the majority of marketing assets were created, managed and utilized outside of DAM. Digital assets were expensive, slow to produce and often duplicated unnecessarily.
As marketing campaigns generated more content, marketing teams saw the need to work more efficiently and collaboratively. Marketers began to take advantage of DAM platforms that operated well within an interconnected system of applications, rather than standalone.
The goal of the system was to unify all of an organization's rich media assets and workflows under one roof to accelerate marketing activities. Backend IT systems such as Web Content Management (WCM) platforms, e-Commerce systems, Marketing Resource Management (MRM), enterprise content management (ECM) and creative tools were often integrated with DAM.
When the use of DAM spread within marketing departments, marketers began to interact more efficiently with internal and external teams when producing a digital asset.
A typical marketer can collaborate with creative professionals, Web producers, content licensing teams, application developers and many others in a single marketing campaign or product launch. By unifying digital assets under a single roof, marketers can connect with colleagues and drive seamless and interactive content production and delivery workflows.
Once considered a simple application that operated as a vault to store corporate logos and images, DAM has evolved into a higher value, revenue-generating marketing activity designed to reach new audiences, increase engagement and generate demand with rich media.
Marketers must break through the day-to-day noise of the Internet to reach multiple customer segments with attention-grabbing and fresh content. As a result, organizations have created digital assets at a breakneck pace with the hopes of delivering an engaging and relevant experience.
Marketers are well aware of the value of delivering relevant and engaging experiences; however, managing and placing these assets in front of prospective customers can be difficult. Finding the right asset can be a challenge; rich media assets such as images, videos and animations are now sprawling across multiple Web properties, backend systems and organizational silos.
In many marketing departments, DAM started as a centralized location to store high-value logos and corporate images. At this early stage, DAM was used like a library. It was highly revered, but often ignored and rarely visited.
In some extreme cases, only a few key stakeholders within an organization were trained to access the system, which severely limited its widespread adoption. As a result, the majority of marketing assets were created, managed and utilized outside of DAM. Digital assets were expensive, slow to produce and often duplicated unnecessarily.
As marketing campaigns generated more content, marketing teams saw the need to work more efficiently and collaboratively. Marketers began to take advantage of DAM platforms that operated well within an interconnected system of applications, rather than standalone.
The goal of the system was to unify all of an organization's rich media assets and workflows under one roof to accelerate marketing activities. Backend IT systems such as Web Content Management (WCM) platforms, e-Commerce systems, Marketing Resource Management (MRM), enterprise content management (ECM) and creative tools were often integrated with DAM.
When the use of DAM spread within marketing departments, marketers began to interact more efficiently with internal and external teams when producing a digital asset.
A typical marketer can collaborate with creative professionals, Web producers, content licensing teams, application developers and many others in a single marketing campaign or product launch. By unifying digital assets under a single roof, marketers can connect with colleagues and drive seamless and interactive content production and delivery workflows.
2012年4月25日星期三
Ekahau's First Quarter Results Predict Rapid Growth
Ekahau, the worldwide leader in high performance Wi-Fi-based Real Time Location Systems (RTLS), announced that its first quarter 2012 RTLS business doubled compared to the previous year. Ekahau's flagship RTLS asset tracking solution is sold in over 40 countries around the world. During the first quarter of 2012, the company added 27 major enterprise-wide RTLS customers, while over the last 12 month period the company provided solutions to over 800 small and large enterprise customers worldwide. The Ekahau Site Survey family of Wi-Fi tools had the best quarter since the product was launched in 2003.
"Our first quarter sales numbers exceeded all of our financial targets and presents a spectacular kick-off for the rest of the year," said Antti Korhonen, President and CEO of Ekahau. "The entire Ekahau team and I are very proud of this accomplishment. This performance by Ekahau clearly shows that the shift in the RTLS market is clearly towards Wi-Fi-based solutions."
A key business driver for Ekahau's growth has been the rapid adoption of RTLS by the healthcare industry. In the past year more hospitals have recognized the value of the RTLS in improving their operational efficiencies as well as staff and patient safety. Ekahau's customers typically achieve a 200% ROI over the first 12 month period. Since the Ekahau system does not require an enterprise-wide build-out of RTLS infrastructure to achieve broad coverage and precise sub-room location, Ekahau customers can begin generating a return on investment within weeks of signing a contract.
Ekahau RTLS is also gaining momentum due to its patented algorithms and its unique ability to use both Wi-Fi and Infrared signals in enabling a multitude of clinical applications, from enterprise-wide asset visibility to bed-level patient flow process monitoring. Hospitals often begin by installing an RTLS system for tracking and managing their assets and subsequently add applications such as staff duress, patient flow and environmental monitoring.
The healthcare industry is increasingly adding Wi-Fi capabilities to patient care equipment. Ekahau RTLS is capable of leveraging this built-in capability for tracking those assets providing customers an option to track their assets without having to use an RTLS tag. Ekahau also has partnerships in place today to track a wide variety of enterprise devices such as laptops, tablet computers, RFID and barcode scanners as well as Android devices and enterprise wireless telephony handsets.
"Our first quarter sales numbers exceeded all of our financial targets and presents a spectacular kick-off for the rest of the year," said Antti Korhonen, President and CEO of Ekahau. "The entire Ekahau team and I are very proud of this accomplishment. This performance by Ekahau clearly shows that the shift in the RTLS market is clearly towards Wi-Fi-based solutions."
A key business driver for Ekahau's growth has been the rapid adoption of RTLS by the healthcare industry. In the past year more hospitals have recognized the value of the RTLS in improving their operational efficiencies as well as staff and patient safety. Ekahau's customers typically achieve a 200% ROI over the first 12 month period. Since the Ekahau system does not require an enterprise-wide build-out of RTLS infrastructure to achieve broad coverage and precise sub-room location, Ekahau customers can begin generating a return on investment within weeks of signing a contract.
Ekahau RTLS is also gaining momentum due to its patented algorithms and its unique ability to use both Wi-Fi and Infrared signals in enabling a multitude of clinical applications, from enterprise-wide asset visibility to bed-level patient flow process monitoring. Hospitals often begin by installing an RTLS system for tracking and managing their assets and subsequently add applications such as staff duress, patient flow and environmental monitoring.
The healthcare industry is increasingly adding Wi-Fi capabilities to patient care equipment. Ekahau RTLS is capable of leveraging this built-in capability for tracking those assets providing customers an option to track their assets without having to use an RTLS tag. Ekahau also has partnerships in place today to track a wide variety of enterprise devices such as laptops, tablet computers, RFID and barcode scanners as well as Android devices and enterprise wireless telephony handsets.
2012年4月24日星期二
Engaging the world, in real time
It started as a trending Twitter conversation about fast food and became a marketing win for fast-food giant McDonald's and its public relations agency, GolinHarris, in a matter of hours.
Team members in GolinHarris' real-time monitoring centre at their Los Angeles office noticed the topic #fastfoodaddiction trending on Twitter. Staff in Dallas analysed it and learnt that McDonald's accounted for more than half the conversations when people talked about fast food they loved on #fastfoodaddiction.
This data was then shared with their colleagues in Chicago, who quickly produced and posted an infographic on #fastfoodaddiction. A few hours later, a second infographic was posted on the same stream highlighting the most popular McDonald's product on #fastfoodaddiction - French fries.
The result? These small exchanges - meant as virtual "thank yous" to their fans - helped McDonald's engage people, create new connections and boost its reputation online.
Said Mr Jonathan Hughes, president (international) at GolinHarris: "These kinds of activities - where a community feels a brand is engaged rightly - engenders a far more loyal and positive brand perception than anything else."
Welcome to the world of real-time marketing, where a PR firm's responsiveness is measured in hours and minutes, instead of days and weeks. This change has been driven to a large extent by changes in consumer behaviour brought about by the popularity of online platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. It's partly in recognition of this that GolinHarris has decided to break with the traditional model used by many PR agencies for years.
The new approach - which GolinHarris calls the g4 model - was first launched in its offices in the United States and United Kingdom last year.
Essentially, workers no longer have to be what the firm calls generalists - people who can do a bit of everything - and instead specialise in one of four areas.
Catalysts, people who secure partnerships and discover new opportunities, are at the core of the model. Strategists are business analysts who look at what will affect a client's future. Creators are storytellers who produce content, while connectors use various media platforms to reach out to target audiences.
Said Mr Hughes: "Where we've done this in London and North America, we've seen a huge improvement in the quality of the thinking we've done for clients.
"The area of real-time marketing is where we're seeing the biggest kind of impact. By that I mean the ability to look at what's happening both in the mainstream and print and broadcast media and what's happening in the social space.
"Because the two now cross so quickly, we can see what's trending in one side or the other and see how we can put a brand, comment or maybe a particular promotion or something that is relevant, directly into that conversation."
And the real-time marketing possibilities don't just end there. Discount websites like Groupon and location-based services mean it's possible to offer customers discounts on an item at a particular location - based on a conversation that's trending online. It isn't as far-fetched as it may sound.
Many retail companies already have computerised databases, which would make it possible to re-price items relatively easily.
Team members in GolinHarris' real-time monitoring centre at their Los Angeles office noticed the topic #fastfoodaddiction trending on Twitter. Staff in Dallas analysed it and learnt that McDonald's accounted for more than half the conversations when people talked about fast food they loved on #fastfoodaddiction.
This data was then shared with their colleagues in Chicago, who quickly produced and posted an infographic on #fastfoodaddiction. A few hours later, a second infographic was posted on the same stream highlighting the most popular McDonald's product on #fastfoodaddiction - French fries.
The result? These small exchanges - meant as virtual "thank yous" to their fans - helped McDonald's engage people, create new connections and boost its reputation online.
Said Mr Jonathan Hughes, president (international) at GolinHarris: "These kinds of activities - where a community feels a brand is engaged rightly - engenders a far more loyal and positive brand perception than anything else."
Welcome to the world of real-time marketing, where a PR firm's responsiveness is measured in hours and minutes, instead of days and weeks. This change has been driven to a large extent by changes in consumer behaviour brought about by the popularity of online platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. It's partly in recognition of this that GolinHarris has decided to break with the traditional model used by many PR agencies for years.
The new approach - which GolinHarris calls the g4 model - was first launched in its offices in the United States and United Kingdom last year.
Essentially, workers no longer have to be what the firm calls generalists - people who can do a bit of everything - and instead specialise in one of four areas.
Catalysts, people who secure partnerships and discover new opportunities, are at the core of the model. Strategists are business analysts who look at what will affect a client's future. Creators are storytellers who produce content, while connectors use various media platforms to reach out to target audiences.
Said Mr Hughes: "Where we've done this in London and North America, we've seen a huge improvement in the quality of the thinking we've done for clients.
"The area of real-time marketing is where we're seeing the biggest kind of impact. By that I mean the ability to look at what's happening both in the mainstream and print and broadcast media and what's happening in the social space.
"Because the two now cross so quickly, we can see what's trending in one side or the other and see how we can put a brand, comment or maybe a particular promotion or something that is relevant, directly into that conversation."
And the real-time marketing possibilities don't just end there. Discount websites like Groupon and location-based services mean it's possible to offer customers discounts on an item at a particular location - based on a conversation that's trending online. It isn't as far-fetched as it may sound.
Many retail companies already have computerised databases, which would make it possible to re-price items relatively easily.
2012年4月23日星期一
User-friendly 'Media' Series Links Patrons And Suppliers
Crane Merchandising Systems will unveil a new vending machine platform at the National Automatic Merchandising Association's OneShow this month in Las Vegas. The line features integrated cashless payment capability, wireless and Ethernet network access and contemporary user interface options, all "right out of the box."
The company is the vending and payment business unit of Crane Co. (Stamford, CT), with offices in Bridgeton, MO, and manufacturing facilities in Williston, SC. Crane explained that the Media concept was developed to bring the experience of shopping at vending machines in line with the expectations and desires of today's consumers.
The next-generation line of snack, cold beverage and food venders will be marketed under the "Media" brand. The series has been conceived to chart a new course in machine design that will deliver a more engaging, rewarding and reliable customer experience.
"The solution is long overdue," said Tom Edwards, Crane Merchandising Systems vice-president of global food and beverage initiatives. "It answers a need by being built around the consumer, who has never been linked into the equation effectively."
The new vending platform is the culmination of three years of development inspired by NAMA research that identified lack of consumer confidence in vending as a root cause of declines in same-store sales in recent years. Consumers cited high product cost, low value, worn and dirty machines and the lack of cashless acceptance, among factors that deterred them from using vending machines.
"We built the Media platform to attack those issues and to help restore consumer confidence," Edwards said. He added that the goals of the new equipment offering align with those of NAMA's Industry Growth Strategy, which aims to revitalize vending by engaging 18- to 27-year-old "Gen Y" consumers, communicating a positive message and changing obsolete paradigms.
"Media represents revolutionary change in technology, functionality, look and feel. These combined attributes are changing consumer perception and driving growth," Edwards explained. "There is opportunity to forge stronger relationships with current users, and to make a stronger appeal to nonusers."
Crane's Media machines are designed to turn heads and draw consumers with sleek, modern styling highlighted by a high-impact LED lighting scheme, which conveys high technology.
In the vanguard of the new line are the Merchant Media snack vender and BevMax Media drink machine. Both have larger cabinet footprints than their predecessors, permitting increased product variety to spur incremental sales. The added capacity also allows for more inventory on site, reducing out-of-stocks and service visits.
The new snack machines can support up to 50% more spirals than standard five-wide models, and the beverage venders can accommodate 10 additional selections, amounting to 80 more bottles (three-plus cases) of additional inventory. Both variations offer powerful product presentation through a wide glass front.
A new delivery door on the Merchant Media is one of several key consumer-focused improvements. When the user pushes the door downward, the bottom of the bin elevates to present the purchased product in full view, eliminating the need to fish around in a dark bin to retrieve a purchase.
The new BevMax Media uses the theatrical appeal of an XY-positioning robotic arm to conveniently deliver cold drinks, upright and in full view, through a newly designed delivery port.
The delivery mechanisms, along with the two machines' user interfaces and payment systems, comply with the new ADA requirements.
The company is the vending and payment business unit of Crane Co. (Stamford, CT), with offices in Bridgeton, MO, and manufacturing facilities in Williston, SC. Crane explained that the Media concept was developed to bring the experience of shopping at vending machines in line with the expectations and desires of today's consumers.
The next-generation line of snack, cold beverage and food venders will be marketed under the "Media" brand. The series has been conceived to chart a new course in machine design that will deliver a more engaging, rewarding and reliable customer experience.
"The solution is long overdue," said Tom Edwards, Crane Merchandising Systems vice-president of global food and beverage initiatives. "It answers a need by being built around the consumer, who has never been linked into the equation effectively."
The new vending platform is the culmination of three years of development inspired by NAMA research that identified lack of consumer confidence in vending as a root cause of declines in same-store sales in recent years. Consumers cited high product cost, low value, worn and dirty machines and the lack of cashless acceptance, among factors that deterred them from using vending machines.
"We built the Media platform to attack those issues and to help restore consumer confidence," Edwards said. He added that the goals of the new equipment offering align with those of NAMA's Industry Growth Strategy, which aims to revitalize vending by engaging 18- to 27-year-old "Gen Y" consumers, communicating a positive message and changing obsolete paradigms.
"Media represents revolutionary change in technology, functionality, look and feel. These combined attributes are changing consumer perception and driving growth," Edwards explained. "There is opportunity to forge stronger relationships with current users, and to make a stronger appeal to nonusers."
Crane's Media machines are designed to turn heads and draw consumers with sleek, modern styling highlighted by a high-impact LED lighting scheme, which conveys high technology.
In the vanguard of the new line are the Merchant Media snack vender and BevMax Media drink machine. Both have larger cabinet footprints than their predecessors, permitting increased product variety to spur incremental sales. The added capacity also allows for more inventory on site, reducing out-of-stocks and service visits.
The new snack machines can support up to 50% more spirals than standard five-wide models, and the beverage venders can accommodate 10 additional selections, amounting to 80 more bottles (three-plus cases) of additional inventory. Both variations offer powerful product presentation through a wide glass front.
A new delivery door on the Merchant Media is one of several key consumer-focused improvements. When the user pushes the door downward, the bottom of the bin elevates to present the purchased product in full view, eliminating the need to fish around in a dark bin to retrieve a purchase.
The new BevMax Media uses the theatrical appeal of an XY-positioning robotic arm to conveniently deliver cold drinks, upright and in full view, through a newly designed delivery port.
The delivery mechanisms, along with the two machines' user interfaces and payment systems, comply with the new ADA requirements.
2012年4月22日星期日
No shortcuts in counseling
It’s STAR testing time, and Valencia High School counselor Kathy Stroh seizes the opportunity to meet with larger groups of students than she can during regular class schedules.
The weeklong period of standardized testing slows the hustle and bustle of packed counseling centers throughout the William S. Hart Union High School District as regular academic programming goes on pause.
“The real challenge for counselors has become finding time to make face-to-face contact with students,” Stroh said of state budget cuts’ impact on her field.
Addressing basic requirements en masse is one way the district has tried to be more efficient with counselors’ time as their workload increases.
“Instead of meeting with every class, we’re giving group presentations,” Stroh said. “You spend all the rest of the time trying to meet the student.”
California’s budget crisis has led to some $20 billion in cuts to state public education over the past five years.
One effect has been shrinking college opportunities for students as state universities cut enrollments.
“Kids are needing to do more and more, and with the way our economy is, it’s so much harder to get into college,” said Stroh, a former Saugus High School teacher who has more than 20 years of experience at the Santa Clarita Valley’s only high school district.
“In the past, if you had a 3.6 (grade point average), I could guarantee there would be a spot somewhere for you. If you have a 3.7 now, there might not be a place that can take you.”
Counselors receive automated reports alerting them to poor classroom performances by the students assigned to them.
While the reports put counselors on notice of behavior that could lead to a failing grade, there is no mechanism for alerting them if students’ slipping performances could knock them out of the running for college admission.
Counselors’ one-on-one time with students, which has become increasingly sparse, is crucial for students as they set out on their individual academic paths, said Principal Sal Frias of Golden Valley High School.
“If a student wants to pursue a path of college, career tech, military or other, the courses our students are required to take vary,” Frias explained. “We need to make sure our plan is in place for the student’s goals to be realized.”
But counselors are facing more and more challenges.
“We have a higher counselor-to-student ratio now,” Frias said. “This means that each counselor has a caseload of more students. We also have less workdays. In short, we have less time to see and work with more students.”
The Hart district has 58 counselors to help approximately 23,000 students — a ratio of approximately 400-to-1, according to district spokeswoman Gail Pinsker.
A union contract stipulates that a school is allotted a counselor for every 450 students, and the school is required to hire an additional counselor if the remainder of that number of students comes out to at least 226, explained Bob Vincent, principal of West Ranch High School.
Since the public school funding crisis began, districts statewide have been forced to divert counseling funds elsewhere to save jobs.
Most recently, the Hart district eliminated a career adviser position, and the number of students each counselor serves has steadily risen.
“You want to keep things sensible,” Stroh said. “It’s really just a numbers game, but we have gone up in the last few years,” she said. “Where (Valencia) used to have 375 (students per counselor), now we’re at 450, which is our contractual limit,” noting the ratio can differ from school to school.
Counselor Karla Arriaran-Rodriguez has seen her job change radically in the past few years.
She was a full-time counselor at Hart High School last year, but then she received a pink-slip notification, meaning her position might be eliminated.
“It said, ‘returning — location to be determined,’” she said.
It wasn’t unfamiliar territory to the 16-year education veteran with a doctorate in the field from University of California, Santa Barbara.
She came to the Hart district after she was laid off from the Moorpark Unified School District due to budget cuts in 2009.
This year, Arriaran-Rodriguez works at four different schools within the Hart district: Sequoia Charter School; Hart at Home for home-schooling students assisted by the charter; and Golden Valley and Hart high schools.
In addition to counseling students at all four schools, Arriaran-Rodriguez also runs various career-advisement events, student-peer support groups, the bilingual Padres Unidos program and various other academic events hosted by all four schools.
It can create a real time crunch during periods when there tend to be more students in the counseling center, such as December registration and right around report-card time.
Counseling cuts have changed the landscape at every school and brought a new focus and urgency to the job, Stroh said.
“You have to work as a team,” Stroh said. “And it’s not that it didn’t used to be that way, but now it’s more of a concerted effort.”
The weeklong period of standardized testing slows the hustle and bustle of packed counseling centers throughout the William S. Hart Union High School District as regular academic programming goes on pause.
“The real challenge for counselors has become finding time to make face-to-face contact with students,” Stroh said of state budget cuts’ impact on her field.
Addressing basic requirements en masse is one way the district has tried to be more efficient with counselors’ time as their workload increases.
“Instead of meeting with every class, we’re giving group presentations,” Stroh said. “You spend all the rest of the time trying to meet the student.”
California’s budget crisis has led to some $20 billion in cuts to state public education over the past five years.
One effect has been shrinking college opportunities for students as state universities cut enrollments.
“Kids are needing to do more and more, and with the way our economy is, it’s so much harder to get into college,” said Stroh, a former Saugus High School teacher who has more than 20 years of experience at the Santa Clarita Valley’s only high school district.
“In the past, if you had a 3.6 (grade point average), I could guarantee there would be a spot somewhere for you. If you have a 3.7 now, there might not be a place that can take you.”
Counselors receive automated reports alerting them to poor classroom performances by the students assigned to them.
While the reports put counselors on notice of behavior that could lead to a failing grade, there is no mechanism for alerting them if students’ slipping performances could knock them out of the running for college admission.
Counselors’ one-on-one time with students, which has become increasingly sparse, is crucial for students as they set out on their individual academic paths, said Principal Sal Frias of Golden Valley High School.
“If a student wants to pursue a path of college, career tech, military or other, the courses our students are required to take vary,” Frias explained. “We need to make sure our plan is in place for the student’s goals to be realized.”
But counselors are facing more and more challenges.
“We have a higher counselor-to-student ratio now,” Frias said. “This means that each counselor has a caseload of more students. We also have less workdays. In short, we have less time to see and work with more students.”
The Hart district has 58 counselors to help approximately 23,000 students — a ratio of approximately 400-to-1, according to district spokeswoman Gail Pinsker.
A union contract stipulates that a school is allotted a counselor for every 450 students, and the school is required to hire an additional counselor if the remainder of that number of students comes out to at least 226, explained Bob Vincent, principal of West Ranch High School.
Since the public school funding crisis began, districts statewide have been forced to divert counseling funds elsewhere to save jobs.
Most recently, the Hart district eliminated a career adviser position, and the number of students each counselor serves has steadily risen.
“You want to keep things sensible,” Stroh said. “It’s really just a numbers game, but we have gone up in the last few years,” she said. “Where (Valencia) used to have 375 (students per counselor), now we’re at 450, which is our contractual limit,” noting the ratio can differ from school to school.
Counselor Karla Arriaran-Rodriguez has seen her job change radically in the past few years.
She was a full-time counselor at Hart High School last year, but then she received a pink-slip notification, meaning her position might be eliminated.
“It said, ‘returning — location to be determined,’” she said.
It wasn’t unfamiliar territory to the 16-year education veteran with a doctorate in the field from University of California, Santa Barbara.
She came to the Hart district after she was laid off from the Moorpark Unified School District due to budget cuts in 2009.
This year, Arriaran-Rodriguez works at four different schools within the Hart district: Sequoia Charter School; Hart at Home for home-schooling students assisted by the charter; and Golden Valley and Hart high schools.
In addition to counseling students at all four schools, Arriaran-Rodriguez also runs various career-advisement events, student-peer support groups, the bilingual Padres Unidos program and various other academic events hosted by all four schools.
It can create a real time crunch during periods when there tend to be more students in the counseling center, such as December registration and right around report-card time.
Counseling cuts have changed the landscape at every school and brought a new focus and urgency to the job, Stroh said.
“You have to work as a team,” Stroh said. “And it’s not that it didn’t used to be that way, but now it’s more of a concerted effort.”
2012年4月19日星期四
Go Green With Your Kitty Litter
“Kitty litter” is often found at the top of the cat lover’s shopping list. Sound like something weird to be concerned with? Not for cat owners that deal with the litter box twice per day!
However, today’s cat lover is not just concerned with absorbency, smell and ease of cleanup. Kitty litter has not escaped the “green” movement; more and more people are looking to go green by choosing eco-friendly litter for their kitty—and with good cause.
According to the ASPCA, the average owner of one cat will spend $165 per year on kitty litter. That amounts to each cat ultimately dumping 260-280 pounds of cat litter into landfills each year, plus a few gallons of cleaner and numerous plastic litter plan liners. Multiply that by the 33% of the U.S. population who own a cat and you can start to see the huge paw print kitty litter leaves on the environment.
So when faced with row after row of “all things litter” at the pet supply superstore—what’s the environmentally-conscious cat lover to choose? Let’s explore the history and the subsequent good, better and best of kitty litter—the doo’s (pun intended) and don'ts—in regard to how kitty litter impacts the environment.
Prior to World War II, most cats lived indoor/outdoor lives and their toileting areas were neighborhood backyards and gardens. For indoor needs, some families kept boxes of sand or ashes from the furnace for their cat’s use in the cellar. Housewives of the 1940s were none too enamored with cats tracking ashes or sand through their homes.
One day in 1947, an ex-sailor name Ed Lowe was approached by a neighbor who was tired of using ashes in her cat's box and dealing with sooty paw prints. She asked for some sand, and Ed suggested clay instead. Soon the neighbor would use nothing else, noting that the clay was much more absorbent than sand and didn't track all over the house. Ed had a hunch that other cat owners would love his new cat box filler and began selling the Kitty Litter Brand from the back of his 1943 Chevy Coupe. Cat owners all over America soon fell in love with this product's odor control and absorbency and in 1964, the kitty litter industry was born with Lowe’s Tidy Cat brand.
In the mid-1980s a particular type of clay—sodium bentonite —was introduced as clumping cat litter. Clay litter continues to be the dominant type of cat litter sold in the United States, largely based on its inexpensive price per pound, and more than 60 percent of clay litter is of the clumping variety. However clay-based litter, no matter if it is of the traditional or clumping variety, may be the most expensive in terms of its impact on the environment.
Clay, the main ingredient of traditional kitty litter, is obtained by a strip mining process, which destroys soil and vegetation, leaving the land virtually useless for future generations. The environmental impact of clay litter production, in addition to the mining itself, includes the transportation of the clay to the drying facility as well as the use of petroleum products to generate sufficient heat needed to dry the clay.
Of course, after it is used, kitty litter must be disposed of. Clay cat litter is sent to landfills where its sits for an eternity. The net result is that clay-based cat litter has a sizable environmental impact in both its manufacture and disposal. All in all, clay kitty litter is not helping go green, and doesn't seem to be very eco-friendly.
But do not despair. The shelves at local pet supply emporia also hold an array of kitty litters made from eco-friendly materials, including recycled newspaper, corn cobs, peanut shell meal, processed orange peel, wheat, beet-pulp, pine sawdust and shavings, and hardwood and cedar chips. All promise to be superior odor controllers, long lasting and earth-friendly.
Plant-based litter is probably the least environmentally offensive cat litter mainly because they are not mined, drilled or artificially produced. Products such as World’s Best Cat Litter is milled from renewable whole-kernel corn and it is 100% biodegradable. And because it disperses in water, it’s also septic-safe.
Swheat Scoop kitty litter is a safe clumping letter made from naturally processed wheat in which natural wheat enzymes work to neutralize litter box odor. Through the same process, natural wheat starches are exposed to form firm, solid chumps when they come in contact with moisture.
If you and your fur-bulous feline friend prefer that smell of the outdoors but don’t like the dust emissions of many wood-based litters, Feline Pine provides clumping and non-clumping litter options. Ranked number one for the least dust emissions by an independent research company, Feline Pine cat litter is made from kiln-dried shavings reclaimed from lumber production.
However, today’s cat lover is not just concerned with absorbency, smell and ease of cleanup. Kitty litter has not escaped the “green” movement; more and more people are looking to go green by choosing eco-friendly litter for their kitty—and with good cause.
According to the ASPCA, the average owner of one cat will spend $165 per year on kitty litter. That amounts to each cat ultimately dumping 260-280 pounds of cat litter into landfills each year, plus a few gallons of cleaner and numerous plastic litter plan liners. Multiply that by the 33% of the U.S. population who own a cat and you can start to see the huge paw print kitty litter leaves on the environment.
So when faced with row after row of “all things litter” at the pet supply superstore—what’s the environmentally-conscious cat lover to choose? Let’s explore the history and the subsequent good, better and best of kitty litter—the doo’s (pun intended) and don'ts—in regard to how kitty litter impacts the environment.
Prior to World War II, most cats lived indoor/outdoor lives and their toileting areas were neighborhood backyards and gardens. For indoor needs, some families kept boxes of sand or ashes from the furnace for their cat’s use in the cellar. Housewives of the 1940s were none too enamored with cats tracking ashes or sand through their homes.
One day in 1947, an ex-sailor name Ed Lowe was approached by a neighbor who was tired of using ashes in her cat's box and dealing with sooty paw prints. She asked for some sand, and Ed suggested clay instead. Soon the neighbor would use nothing else, noting that the clay was much more absorbent than sand and didn't track all over the house. Ed had a hunch that other cat owners would love his new cat box filler and began selling the Kitty Litter Brand from the back of his 1943 Chevy Coupe. Cat owners all over America soon fell in love with this product's odor control and absorbency and in 1964, the kitty litter industry was born with Lowe’s Tidy Cat brand.
In the mid-1980s a particular type of clay—sodium bentonite —was introduced as clumping cat litter. Clay litter continues to be the dominant type of cat litter sold in the United States, largely based on its inexpensive price per pound, and more than 60 percent of clay litter is of the clumping variety. However clay-based litter, no matter if it is of the traditional or clumping variety, may be the most expensive in terms of its impact on the environment.
Clay, the main ingredient of traditional kitty litter, is obtained by a strip mining process, which destroys soil and vegetation, leaving the land virtually useless for future generations. The environmental impact of clay litter production, in addition to the mining itself, includes the transportation of the clay to the drying facility as well as the use of petroleum products to generate sufficient heat needed to dry the clay.
Of course, after it is used, kitty litter must be disposed of. Clay cat litter is sent to landfills where its sits for an eternity. The net result is that clay-based cat litter has a sizable environmental impact in both its manufacture and disposal. All in all, clay kitty litter is not helping go green, and doesn't seem to be very eco-friendly.
But do not despair. The shelves at local pet supply emporia also hold an array of kitty litters made from eco-friendly materials, including recycled newspaper, corn cobs, peanut shell meal, processed orange peel, wheat, beet-pulp, pine sawdust and shavings, and hardwood and cedar chips. All promise to be superior odor controllers, long lasting and earth-friendly.
Plant-based litter is probably the least environmentally offensive cat litter mainly because they are not mined, drilled or artificially produced. Products such as World’s Best Cat Litter is milled from renewable whole-kernel corn and it is 100% biodegradable. And because it disperses in water, it’s also septic-safe.
Swheat Scoop kitty litter is a safe clumping letter made from naturally processed wheat in which natural wheat enzymes work to neutralize litter box odor. Through the same process, natural wheat starches are exposed to form firm, solid chumps when they come in contact with moisture.
If you and your fur-bulous feline friend prefer that smell of the outdoors but don’t like the dust emissions of many wood-based litters, Feline Pine provides clumping and non-clumping litter options. Ranked number one for the least dust emissions by an independent research company, Feline Pine cat litter is made from kiln-dried shavings reclaimed from lumber production.
2012年4月18日星期三
Fuel management for Asian offshore ships
The system was sold by Royston’s Singapore agent, Can Traders, to the Swiber Carina. It is being used to provide real-time fuel consumption details on board and simultaneously in the head office. In separate trials an enginei system has enabled users to achieve fuel savings of up to 20% and Swiber management is now hoping that similar savings will prove possible with its new support vessel.
The Swiber Carina was launched last year as the first in a building plan for 11-vessels that will provide oilfield support services around the Malaysian Peninsula. It is powered by two Cummins KT38 engines and the company management is hoping that the enginei system will enable its crew to operate them more fuel efficiently by maintaining a closer control of speed and power. It should also help the operations management deploy the ship in a way that avoids imposing instructions that adversely influence fuel demand.
The Royston enginei system can be applied to any diesel-powered vessel and works by accurately measuring fuel flow and matching the data with its GPS location. This makes it possible for the operator to continuously calculate a vessel’s ‘miles per gallon’ and to correlate the information with its activity and speed. Enginei is basically a measurement system that does not impose itself upon the vessel’s control systems in any way. However, by providing a simple bridge display it enables masters to be continuously aware of their fuel consumption. They are then able and to use their own judgment in setting their priorities and achieve an optimum balance between their speed and fuel consumed.
Data from the enginei system are made available to operations managers ashore who are provided with a more sophisticated display that makes it easier to deploy vessels in a timely and cost effective way. The data being used on the vessel, along with its GPS location, are relayed ashore where a satellite map display provides the ship’s superintendent with a real-time presentation of each vessel’s location and fuel consumption. Superintendents benefit from a graphic overlay that shows the amount of fuel being consumed at any point along its track. This enables them to deploy their vessels more efficiently and to avoid issuing instructions that might lead to unnecessary fuel consumption. It is also expected to prove attractive to ship operators in the region where fuel theft can be a problem.
The Swiber Carina was launched last year as the first in a building plan for 11-vessels that will provide oilfield support services around the Malaysian Peninsula. It is powered by two Cummins KT38 engines and the company management is hoping that the enginei system will enable its crew to operate them more fuel efficiently by maintaining a closer control of speed and power. It should also help the operations management deploy the ship in a way that avoids imposing instructions that adversely influence fuel demand.
The Royston enginei system can be applied to any diesel-powered vessel and works by accurately measuring fuel flow and matching the data with its GPS location. This makes it possible for the operator to continuously calculate a vessel’s ‘miles per gallon’ and to correlate the information with its activity and speed. Enginei is basically a measurement system that does not impose itself upon the vessel’s control systems in any way. However, by providing a simple bridge display it enables masters to be continuously aware of their fuel consumption. They are then able and to use their own judgment in setting their priorities and achieve an optimum balance between their speed and fuel consumed.
Data from the enginei system are made available to operations managers ashore who are provided with a more sophisticated display that makes it easier to deploy vessels in a timely and cost effective way. The data being used on the vessel, along with its GPS location, are relayed ashore where a satellite map display provides the ship’s superintendent with a real-time presentation of each vessel’s location and fuel consumption. Superintendents benefit from a graphic overlay that shows the amount of fuel being consumed at any point along its track. This enables them to deploy their vessels more efficiently and to avoid issuing instructions that might lead to unnecessary fuel consumption. It is also expected to prove attractive to ship operators in the region where fuel theft can be a problem.
2012年4月17日星期二
Real-time TOC tightens effluent control
A new continuous Total Organic Carbon (TOC) monitor has increased the capability of a food manufacturer to refine and improve its wastewater treatment process. As a result the plant is better able to quickly respond to changes in the influent.
The Greencore Foods site is operated on a continuous improvement basis with its own dedicated wastewater treatment plant to monitor and control effluent quality and minimise costly discharge fees. Its effluent can contain an array of inorganic salts and organic components which enter the waste stream in part from the intense wash down of processing tanks and lines during clean in place procedures for product changeover. Overload of organics on the effluent treatment plant will adversely affect the efficiency of the treatment process. If the waste is not treated to the required standard, the site would be unable to achieve the river discharge parameters set by the Environment Agency.
The effluent treatment plant at the facility is managed by a specialist team from Veolia Water Industrial Outsourcing. Raw feed water entering the facility, is analysed for TOC to control the strength of the feed transferred to the site effluent treatment plant.
Environment manager at Greencore, David Murtagh, takes up the story: “In the past samples were manually collected from the site drains pit and transported to the laboratory at a second location. Given the geographical distance between sites this led to significant waste, both in terms of time and resources. We had a small team in the laboratory who performed a number of analyses on the delivered samples, which was labour intensive and delayed results. Even state of the art laboratory techniques still took too long for pragmatic purposes, preventing prompt feedback on the process. It provided us with no direct information to control the effluent plant or provide an early warning of process issues. An alternative needed to be sought.
“A further key driver was the impending tightening of the consent to discharge to river by the Environment Agency. We needed more frequent, detailed, prompt, accurate and reliable influent TOC data to help manage the effluent treatment plant more efficiently and provide feedback on the process which is the source of the TOC. We were wary of on-line TOC instruments due to poor experiences in the past; while they worked well on cleaner, particulate-free effluent samples, the high solids, fats, oils and greases, and variable TOC loads coming from raw influent was a major issue for delicate fine capillary tubing and valves, which typically caused instrument seizure.”
Traditional methods for analysis of TOC/COD/BOD were developed as laboratory systems based on UV exposure, wet chemistry or more aggressive digestion by catalysed combustion. While these provide a good basis for spot sampling within the laboratory where sample pre-treatment is controllable, the systems do not often translate well in a real process environment.
Raw effluent presents a series of challenges. With UV based systems, high salt loads can cause scaling of the UV light column creating problems or organic recovery. In high temperature combustion systems, salt loads as low as 0.5% can inhibit the persulphate digestion mechanism and deteriorate the lifetime of the catalyst, demanding excessive maintenance by replacement of the column. Sample volume is commonly restricted to less than 10ul and sample pre-filtering is necessary to avoid particulate blockage of tubing and multi-port valves such that particle size is restricted to <200um. In a process environment, clogging of tubes with crystallised salts and particulates can demand instrument re-calibration every 2-3 days.
The Greencore Foods site is operated on a continuous improvement basis with its own dedicated wastewater treatment plant to monitor and control effluent quality and minimise costly discharge fees. Its effluent can contain an array of inorganic salts and organic components which enter the waste stream in part from the intense wash down of processing tanks and lines during clean in place procedures for product changeover. Overload of organics on the effluent treatment plant will adversely affect the efficiency of the treatment process. If the waste is not treated to the required standard, the site would be unable to achieve the river discharge parameters set by the Environment Agency.
The effluent treatment plant at the facility is managed by a specialist team from Veolia Water Industrial Outsourcing. Raw feed water entering the facility, is analysed for TOC to control the strength of the feed transferred to the site effluent treatment plant.
Environment manager at Greencore, David Murtagh, takes up the story: “In the past samples were manually collected from the site drains pit and transported to the laboratory at a second location. Given the geographical distance between sites this led to significant waste, both in terms of time and resources. We had a small team in the laboratory who performed a number of analyses on the delivered samples, which was labour intensive and delayed results. Even state of the art laboratory techniques still took too long for pragmatic purposes, preventing prompt feedback on the process. It provided us with no direct information to control the effluent plant or provide an early warning of process issues. An alternative needed to be sought.
“A further key driver was the impending tightening of the consent to discharge to river by the Environment Agency. We needed more frequent, detailed, prompt, accurate and reliable influent TOC data to help manage the effluent treatment plant more efficiently and provide feedback on the process which is the source of the TOC. We were wary of on-line TOC instruments due to poor experiences in the past; while they worked well on cleaner, particulate-free effluent samples, the high solids, fats, oils and greases, and variable TOC loads coming from raw influent was a major issue for delicate fine capillary tubing and valves, which typically caused instrument seizure.”
Traditional methods for analysis of TOC/COD/BOD were developed as laboratory systems based on UV exposure, wet chemistry or more aggressive digestion by catalysed combustion. While these provide a good basis for spot sampling within the laboratory where sample pre-treatment is controllable, the systems do not often translate well in a real process environment.
Raw effluent presents a series of challenges. With UV based systems, high salt loads can cause scaling of the UV light column creating problems or organic recovery. In high temperature combustion systems, salt loads as low as 0.5% can inhibit the persulphate digestion mechanism and deteriorate the lifetime of the catalyst, demanding excessive maintenance by replacement of the column. Sample volume is commonly restricted to less than 10ul and sample pre-filtering is necessary to avoid particulate blockage of tubing and multi-port valves such that particle size is restricted to <200um. In a process environment, clogging of tubes with crystallised salts and particulates can demand instrument re-calibration every 2-3 days.
2012年4月16日星期一
Aging transit systems grapple with repair backlog
Driven by high gas prices and an uncertain economy, Americans are turning to trains and buses to get around in greater numbers than ever before. But the aging transit systems they're riding face an $80 billion maintenance backlog that jeopardizes service just when it's most in demand.
The boost in ridership comes as pain at the gas pump and the sluggish economic recovery combine with a migration of young adults to cities and new technology that makes transit faster and friendlier than in the past. The number of transit trips over a 12-month period will likely set a new record later this month or next, say Federal Transit Administration officials. The current peak is 10.3 billion trips over a year, set in December 2008.
But decades of deferred repairs and modernization projects also have many transit agencies scrambling to keep trains and buses in operation. The transit administration estimated in 2010 that it would take $78 billion to get transit systems into shape, and officials say the backlog has grown since then. In some places, workers search the Internet for spare parts that are no longer manufactured. In others, trains operate using equipment designed, literally, in the horse-and-buggy era.
In Philadelphia, for example, commuters ride trains over rusty steel bridges, some of them dating back to the 19th century. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority - which operates subway, trolley, bus and commuter rail systems - is responsible for 346 bridges that are on average 80 years old. Officials said they may be forced to slow trains or even stop them from crossing one bridge that's 1,000 feet long and 90 feet above the ground if it deteriorates further, leaving stations on the other side without service.
A key power substation relies on electrical equipment manufactured in 1926. There's no hope for acquiring spare parts, so workers try to open the boxes housing the equipment as infrequently as possible to prevent damage from exposure to the environment.
"We're operating on a prayer on that line," Joseph Casey, the transportation authority's general manager, said in an interview. "If that fails, half of our commuter rail system would shut down." The system carries 125,000 passengers on weekdays.
The transportation authority doesn't have enough money to replace the bridges or outdated electrical equipment, Casey said. In recent years, the authority has spent $600 million on renovating elevated portions of a subway line that dates back to 1905, and $100 million to install a federally required rail safety system. Another $327 million was spent on new rail cars to replace 72 cars built in 1964. Some of the older cars - nearly 40 of which are still in service - are in such disrepair that passengers get soaked from leaks when it rains.
And yet passengers made 334 million trips on the transit system last year, the most in 22 years, despite a 9 percent fare hike. So far this year, ridership is up 3 percent, Casey said.
San Francisco's subway system, Bay Area Rapid Transit, faces many similar problems. Opened in 1972, BART was at that time the most automated subway system in the nation. But circuit boards and other electronic components for 449 original train cars - out of the system's total of 669 cars - are now 40 years old, no longer manufactured and often impossible to replace.
BART employees regularly scour eBay and other websites in search of after-market dealers who might stock the parts, said Tamar Allen, manager of BART's mechanical operations. When they find a dealer, they buy every useable part until "the well runs dry," she said.
And that's still not enough. Some cars have been cannibalized for parts in order to keep other cars working. Cars whose parts have been removed are still in use, but only when they can be sandwiched between other cars, Allen said. In some cases, employees have re-engineered parts when no replacements could be found, but it's a difficult process because there is no margin for error, she said.
BART plans to buy 775 new cars by 2023 at an estimated cost of $3.2 billion, but so far the agency has identified only about a third of the money - enough for the first phase of 200 cars, James Allison, a BART spokesman, said. Where will the rest come from? "We're working on that," he said.
The boost in ridership comes as pain at the gas pump and the sluggish economic recovery combine with a migration of young adults to cities and new technology that makes transit faster and friendlier than in the past. The number of transit trips over a 12-month period will likely set a new record later this month or next, say Federal Transit Administration officials. The current peak is 10.3 billion trips over a year, set in December 2008.
But decades of deferred repairs and modernization projects also have many transit agencies scrambling to keep trains and buses in operation. The transit administration estimated in 2010 that it would take $78 billion to get transit systems into shape, and officials say the backlog has grown since then. In some places, workers search the Internet for spare parts that are no longer manufactured. In others, trains operate using equipment designed, literally, in the horse-and-buggy era.
In Philadelphia, for example, commuters ride trains over rusty steel bridges, some of them dating back to the 19th century. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority - which operates subway, trolley, bus and commuter rail systems - is responsible for 346 bridges that are on average 80 years old. Officials said they may be forced to slow trains or even stop them from crossing one bridge that's 1,000 feet long and 90 feet above the ground if it deteriorates further, leaving stations on the other side without service.
A key power substation relies on electrical equipment manufactured in 1926. There's no hope for acquiring spare parts, so workers try to open the boxes housing the equipment as infrequently as possible to prevent damage from exposure to the environment.
"We're operating on a prayer on that line," Joseph Casey, the transportation authority's general manager, said in an interview. "If that fails, half of our commuter rail system would shut down." The system carries 125,000 passengers on weekdays.
The transportation authority doesn't have enough money to replace the bridges or outdated electrical equipment, Casey said. In recent years, the authority has spent $600 million on renovating elevated portions of a subway line that dates back to 1905, and $100 million to install a federally required rail safety system. Another $327 million was spent on new rail cars to replace 72 cars built in 1964. Some of the older cars - nearly 40 of which are still in service - are in such disrepair that passengers get soaked from leaks when it rains.
And yet passengers made 334 million trips on the transit system last year, the most in 22 years, despite a 9 percent fare hike. So far this year, ridership is up 3 percent, Casey said.
San Francisco's subway system, Bay Area Rapid Transit, faces many similar problems. Opened in 1972, BART was at that time the most automated subway system in the nation. But circuit boards and other electronic components for 449 original train cars - out of the system's total of 669 cars - are now 40 years old, no longer manufactured and often impossible to replace.
BART employees regularly scour eBay and other websites in search of after-market dealers who might stock the parts, said Tamar Allen, manager of BART's mechanical operations. When they find a dealer, they buy every useable part until "the well runs dry," she said.
And that's still not enough. Some cars have been cannibalized for parts in order to keep other cars working. Cars whose parts have been removed are still in use, but only when they can be sandwiched between other cars, Allen said. In some cases, employees have re-engineered parts when no replacements could be found, but it's a difficult process because there is no margin for error, she said.
BART plans to buy 775 new cars by 2023 at an estimated cost of $3.2 billion, but so far the agency has identified only about a third of the money - enough for the first phase of 200 cars, James Allison, a BART spokesman, said. Where will the rest come from? "We're working on that," he said.
2012年4月15日星期日
Traffic cops on roads during dark hours
These are Delhi’s extended witching hours. Between 11pm and 7am, speed demons, high on alcohol or adrenaline, rule the Capital’s mean streets and spill blood almost daily. At least 200 people have died on these roads during the first three months of this year during those dark hours. The toll
crossed 900 in 2011.
Last week, two lives were lost to cars running over 100 km/hour. On April 10, a police constable was mowed down by a speeding Mercedes. Three nights later, a 23-year-old management student crashed into a road divider.
Late in the night, Delhi’s broad avenues also become test tracks for high-speed super cars. There are at least 8,000 such cars registered in the city. Some of them boast a top speed of 400 km/hour and can do 0-100 km/hour in three seconds.
Unfortunately, Delhi’s corridors of death are under nobody’s watch during those deadly night hours. The traffic cops go home. Signals are put on blinker mode. Speed interceptors become useless metal boxes because of the dark.
Of course, traffic cops are out there in full strength to prosecute errant drivers. They have utilised 10 mobile speed interceptors on city’s accident-prone corridors and brought down the number of fatal accidents. But that is only during daytime when Delhi’s seven million vehicles leave little space for dangerous driving.
On an average, 800 speeding tickets are issued by Delhi’s traffic cops daily. Out of these, 650 are for over-speeding, that is, if a vehicle breaks the stipulated speed limit of 60-70km/hour, depending on the location. Only 150 persons are caught for dangerous driving over 90 km/hour.
Top cops say that they cannot afford night patrols because of staff crunch. The entire traffic police force, all 5,770 of them, works on day shifts, managing traffic and issuing tickets for various violations. When there are special drives against drunk driving, some stay on roads till 1am. On most days, cops are home by 10 in the night.
Surely, a section of traffic cops can be earmarked for night vigils when killers at wheel run amok on empty roads. Even the ones kept on reserve at traffic circle offices at night can be utilised for patrolling and surprise checks on the lines of drives against drunken driving.
Technology can substitute the boots on the ground. But even here, the so-called modernisation drives have been in a limbo. The police has been talking about their dream project — an IT-based Intelligent Traffic System — with a state-of-the-art signaling system, a variable messaging system to display real-time traffic situation on road, CCTV coverage of roads and traffic intersections and cameras that can detect signal, speeding and lane violations separately, and functions round the clock. But it has remained a dream for the last four years.
In these four years, planning, high-level meetings, feasibility studies and several rounds of bidding have escalated the cost of the project three folds. Mumbai and Bangalore have already taken the lead and their projects are in the final stages of implementation. Delhi’s officials are still conducting field trips.
Of course, the traffic police are promising to install the much-touted speed cameras at 70 locations within two months. These cameras, cops claim, can record vehicles for speed and photograph car number plates. While the Capital waits for the cops to deliver on yet another promise, stay indoors or hang by a prayer if you step out during those witching hours.
crossed 900 in 2011.
Last week, two lives were lost to cars running over 100 km/hour. On April 10, a police constable was mowed down by a speeding Mercedes. Three nights later, a 23-year-old management student crashed into a road divider.
Late in the night, Delhi’s broad avenues also become test tracks for high-speed super cars. There are at least 8,000 such cars registered in the city. Some of them boast a top speed of 400 km/hour and can do 0-100 km/hour in three seconds.
Unfortunately, Delhi’s corridors of death are under nobody’s watch during those deadly night hours. The traffic cops go home. Signals are put on blinker mode. Speed interceptors become useless metal boxes because of the dark.
Of course, traffic cops are out there in full strength to prosecute errant drivers. They have utilised 10 mobile speed interceptors on city’s accident-prone corridors and brought down the number of fatal accidents. But that is only during daytime when Delhi’s seven million vehicles leave little space for dangerous driving.
On an average, 800 speeding tickets are issued by Delhi’s traffic cops daily. Out of these, 650 are for over-speeding, that is, if a vehicle breaks the stipulated speed limit of 60-70km/hour, depending on the location. Only 150 persons are caught for dangerous driving over 90 km/hour.
Top cops say that they cannot afford night patrols because of staff crunch. The entire traffic police force, all 5,770 of them, works on day shifts, managing traffic and issuing tickets for various violations. When there are special drives against drunk driving, some stay on roads till 1am. On most days, cops are home by 10 in the night.
Surely, a section of traffic cops can be earmarked for night vigils when killers at wheel run amok on empty roads. Even the ones kept on reserve at traffic circle offices at night can be utilised for patrolling and surprise checks on the lines of drives against drunken driving.
Technology can substitute the boots on the ground. But even here, the so-called modernisation drives have been in a limbo. The police has been talking about their dream project — an IT-based Intelligent Traffic System — with a state-of-the-art signaling system, a variable messaging system to display real-time traffic situation on road, CCTV coverage of roads and traffic intersections and cameras that can detect signal, speeding and lane violations separately, and functions round the clock. But it has remained a dream for the last four years.
In these four years, planning, high-level meetings, feasibility studies and several rounds of bidding have escalated the cost of the project three folds. Mumbai and Bangalore have already taken the lead and their projects are in the final stages of implementation. Delhi’s officials are still conducting field trips.
Of course, the traffic police are promising to install the much-touted speed cameras at 70 locations within two months. These cameras, cops claim, can record vehicles for speed and photograph car number plates. While the Capital waits for the cops to deliver on yet another promise, stay indoors or hang by a prayer if you step out during those witching hours.
2012年4月12日星期四
Villagers in Almondsbury take legal action to keep access road open
A LEGAL battle is being waged by disgruntled villagers in Almondsbury after parish councillors put the only access road to their homes up for sale without warning.
Woodhouse Close residents first discovered that the lane and field at the back of their properties were up for auction when 'for sale' signs appeared on their street in March.
Alarmed Jean Cowan, Becky Chaplain and Brooke Stevenson immediately contacted the parish council, which owns the plot of land and path, appealing to members to grant them right of way on the road they drive on every day after the sale.
But, as their pleas fell on deaf ears, the dispute escalated and they felt they were left with no alternative but to take action and hire solicitors.
The group, who have shelled out 1,500 so far in legal fees, insisted that all councillors needed to do to put a stop to their nightmare was add a clause in the sale contract binding the buyer to allow them access.
Last Tuesday they turned up at a meeting of Almondsbury Parish Council begging councillors to hear them out.
Mother-of-two Mrs Chaplain, 32, called on members one last time to agree to a compromise before a sale went ahead.
She said: "What grounds have you for not putting a clause in the contract when it is causing so much distress to residents? We would pay for it, you would not have to spend any money."
Her neighbour Mrs Stevenson, 29, added: "You are meant to represent the people of Almondsbury and be our voice. We have always had access to that lane. We have no front access to our homes. What are we supposed to do? We are all worried sick."
Chairman Cllr Diane Wilson cut them short, saying the matter was now in the hands of solicitors.
She said: "You have not got a legal right to use it. You have had access free gratis as long as I can remember. This council has never charged you a penny for the use of that lane. You can get to your properties. You are exaggerating."
South Gloucestershire Councillor for Almondsbury and former parish council chairman Sheila Cook said she was "appalled" at the members' behaviour.
She said: "I’m very supportive of the residents’ case and I’m disappointed that the parish council are refusing to engage with them, which is why residents feel that they have no alternative but to go down the legal route – a route that will cost both the residents and the parish council."
Along with the residents, she set up a petition demanding that the sale, which was held on Tuesday evening, April 10, be postponed.
Yet, despite collecting 89 signatures, the auction went ahead and the land and lane were sold off for 74,000.
Woodhouse Close residents first discovered that the lane and field at the back of their properties were up for auction when 'for sale' signs appeared on their street in March.
Alarmed Jean Cowan, Becky Chaplain and Brooke Stevenson immediately contacted the parish council, which owns the plot of land and path, appealing to members to grant them right of way on the road they drive on every day after the sale.
But, as their pleas fell on deaf ears, the dispute escalated and they felt they were left with no alternative but to take action and hire solicitors.
The group, who have shelled out 1,500 so far in legal fees, insisted that all councillors needed to do to put a stop to their nightmare was add a clause in the sale contract binding the buyer to allow them access.
Last Tuesday they turned up at a meeting of Almondsbury Parish Council begging councillors to hear them out.
Mother-of-two Mrs Chaplain, 32, called on members one last time to agree to a compromise before a sale went ahead.
She said: "What grounds have you for not putting a clause in the contract when it is causing so much distress to residents? We would pay for it, you would not have to spend any money."
Her neighbour Mrs Stevenson, 29, added: "You are meant to represent the people of Almondsbury and be our voice. We have always had access to that lane. We have no front access to our homes. What are we supposed to do? We are all worried sick."
Chairman Cllr Diane Wilson cut them short, saying the matter was now in the hands of solicitors.
She said: "You have not got a legal right to use it. You have had access free gratis as long as I can remember. This council has never charged you a penny for the use of that lane. You can get to your properties. You are exaggerating."
South Gloucestershire Councillor for Almondsbury and former parish council chairman Sheila Cook said she was "appalled" at the members' behaviour.
She said: "I’m very supportive of the residents’ case and I’m disappointed that the parish council are refusing to engage with them, which is why residents feel that they have no alternative but to go down the legal route – a route that will cost both the residents and the parish council."
Along with the residents, she set up a petition demanding that the sale, which was held on Tuesday evening, April 10, be postponed.
Yet, despite collecting 89 signatures, the auction went ahead and the land and lane were sold off for 74,000.
2012年4月11日星期三
Girls Around Me App Is a Wake-Up Call
As far as I can tell, the app "Girls Around Me" wasn't violating any laws. But it was high on the creepy scale when, according to reports, women's identity, photographs and location were being revealed to strangers, even though the women never opted into the service. Although the developer, Moscow-based I-Free, hardly deserves any awards, the app's a good wake-up call for people to use the privacy settings of legitimate social networking and location services.
The app mashed together information people posted about themselves publicly on Foursquare and Facebook and created a map showing the location and photographs of nearby women. On its website, the company brags that the app can be used to "Browse photos of lovely local ladies and tap their thumbnail to find out more about them." It's offered for those "In the mood for love, or just after a one-night stand." An image that resembles a radar screen with a silhouette of an apparently naked woman adorns the home page.
Late last month Foursquare cut off access to the app so that it can no longer collect the company's publicly accessible data. In a statement, Foursquare said "This is a violation of our API (application programming interface)." Apple subsequently removed the app from its app store.
Foursquare is a location service typically used to share information about restaurants and other places people visit. It's common for people to use Foursquare to "check-in" to a location and share that information with their friends. Restaurant-goers often use it to recommend specific meals; and it's possible to use the service to let friends locate you in real-time, perhaps to stop by to say hello or share a drink or a meal.
Foursquare users can connect their account to Facebook and, when they do, they are asked to specify who can see their information. When I checked, it was set to "Friends." But you can also set it to Public, which means anyone can see it, or "only me," which hides it from everyone but yourself. It's also possible to link Foursquare with Twitter. Although it's possible to limit who can see your tweets, the default setting -- which very few Twitter users change -- is for tweets to be public.
The fracas behind the Girls Around Me app is a reminder that we all have a responsibility to protect our own privacy. I'm not condoning their tasteless and tacky service, but from everything I can tell, the company didn't hack into any servers or tap into anyone's private information. Everything it did was based on information people posted for public consumption.
Let this be yet another reminder for people to think about over-sharing. To me, it's obvious that connecting your Foursquare account with Twitter is tantamount to broadcasting your whereabouts. I've done that, but I did so knowingly. But it never hurts to remind people to put thought into whether they really want to publicly share where they are and, by implication, where they're not. And parents, this is yet another good opportunity to share a bit of digital literacy with your kids. "What's important in the 'Girls Around Me' story for parents and kids to consider together is that an app was using people's publicly available information without their knowledge," wrote my ConnectSafely.org co-director Anne Collier at NetFamilyNews. And, considering the number of mobile apps being created all the time, "this is not the last time that will happen," she added.
Aside from safety and privacy concerns, location can also be embarrassing, as I realized a few years ago when I went to a particular holiday party instead of another party that some people thought I "should" have gone to. Without thinking, I used Facebook to "check-in" to the party and then realized that my would-be hosts from the other party might see it. To save face, I quickly jumped in my car and drove 35 miles to put in an appearance at the other party.
The app mashed together information people posted about themselves publicly on Foursquare and Facebook and created a map showing the location and photographs of nearby women. On its website, the company brags that the app can be used to "Browse photos of lovely local ladies and tap their thumbnail to find out more about them." It's offered for those "In the mood for love, or just after a one-night stand." An image that resembles a radar screen with a silhouette of an apparently naked woman adorns the home page.
Late last month Foursquare cut off access to the app so that it can no longer collect the company's publicly accessible data. In a statement, Foursquare said "This is a violation of our API (application programming interface)." Apple subsequently removed the app from its app store.
Foursquare is a location service typically used to share information about restaurants and other places people visit. It's common for people to use Foursquare to "check-in" to a location and share that information with their friends. Restaurant-goers often use it to recommend specific meals; and it's possible to use the service to let friends locate you in real-time, perhaps to stop by to say hello or share a drink or a meal.
Foursquare users can connect their account to Facebook and, when they do, they are asked to specify who can see their information. When I checked, it was set to "Friends." But you can also set it to Public, which means anyone can see it, or "only me," which hides it from everyone but yourself. It's also possible to link Foursquare with Twitter. Although it's possible to limit who can see your tweets, the default setting -- which very few Twitter users change -- is for tweets to be public.
The fracas behind the Girls Around Me app is a reminder that we all have a responsibility to protect our own privacy. I'm not condoning their tasteless and tacky service, but from everything I can tell, the company didn't hack into any servers or tap into anyone's private information. Everything it did was based on information people posted for public consumption.
Let this be yet another reminder for people to think about over-sharing. To me, it's obvious that connecting your Foursquare account with Twitter is tantamount to broadcasting your whereabouts. I've done that, but I did so knowingly. But it never hurts to remind people to put thought into whether they really want to publicly share where they are and, by implication, where they're not. And parents, this is yet another good opportunity to share a bit of digital literacy with your kids. "What's important in the 'Girls Around Me' story for parents and kids to consider together is that an app was using people's publicly available information without their knowledge," wrote my ConnectSafely.org co-director Anne Collier at NetFamilyNews. And, considering the number of mobile apps being created all the time, "this is not the last time that will happen," she added.
Aside from safety and privacy concerns, location can also be embarrassing, as I realized a few years ago when I went to a particular holiday party instead of another party that some people thought I "should" have gone to. Without thinking, I used Facebook to "check-in" to the party and then realized that my would-be hosts from the other party might see it. To save face, I quickly jumped in my car and drove 35 miles to put in an appearance at the other party.
2012年4月10日星期二
Geographic information systems demonstrate links
The neighborhoods in which children and adolescents live and spend their time play a role in whether or not they eat a healthy diet, get enough exercise or become obese, concludes a collection of studies in a special theme issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Each of the six studies uses the latest concepts and methods in geographic information systems (GIS)-based research to determine how the geographic location affects physical health. A study titled “Spatial Classification of Youth Physical Activity Patterns” shows, for example, that while rural youth get the largest proportion of their physical activity while at school, urban and suburban youth are most active when commuting. Not only does this finding suggest that the walk to school might be just as important to some children’s health as is the physical education they receive as part of the school curriculum, it is also important given that adolescent health behaviors are predictive of behaviors in adults.
Another study by researchers in the United Kingdom concludes that adolescents in rural areas ate fast food more often when fast-food outlets were easily accessible, whereas the opposite was true for adolescents living in urban areas. The researchers, led by Lorna J. Fraser of the University of Leeds, conclude that although the need continues to exist for nutritional education regarding fast food, placing restrictions on the location of fast-food outlets may not decrease consumption of fast food in the same ways in all areas.
Brian E. Saelens and Lawrence D. Frank, along with their colleagues, authored two papers for the theme issue. “Obesogenic Neighborhood Environments, Child and Parent Obesity: The Neighborhood Impact on Kids Study” evaluated child and parent weight status across neighborhoods in Seattle and San Diego and ultimately found evidence that GIS-based definitions of obesogenic neighborhoods that consider both physical activity and the availability of healthy food options were strongly related to childhood obesity.
In a second study, the researchers used GIS-based measures to determine the ‘walkability’ and proximity to healthy food of certain neighborhoods in the San Diego and Seattle regions. The study recommends that such measures be used to study physical activity, nutrition and obesity outcomes.
In a paper titled “Obesogenic Environments in Youth: Concepts and Methods from a Longitudinal National Sample,” Janne Boone-Heinonen and colleagues describe the challenges inherent to longitudinal neighborhood environment research, as well as the insights they gained and the advances and remaining gaps in study design. The researchers note that understanding which neighborhood environment features influence weight gain in various age groups is essential to effectively prevent and reduce childhood obesity.
Two commentaries included in the theme issue examine the ways that computer-based GIS systems—which transform geospatial data into visual representations of the real world—can help prevent childhood obesity. “Thinking About Place, Spatial Behavior, and Spatial Process in Childhood Obesity” by Stephen A. Matthews, outlines the content of the theme, concluding that although GIS is not a panacea, it “offers an important means of better understanding and dealing with some of the most pressing problems of our time, and provides valuable tools for researchers and policymakers alike.”
Each of the six studies uses the latest concepts and methods in geographic information systems (GIS)-based research to determine how the geographic location affects physical health. A study titled “Spatial Classification of Youth Physical Activity Patterns” shows, for example, that while rural youth get the largest proportion of their physical activity while at school, urban and suburban youth are most active when commuting. Not only does this finding suggest that the walk to school might be just as important to some children’s health as is the physical education they receive as part of the school curriculum, it is also important given that adolescent health behaviors are predictive of behaviors in adults.
Another study by researchers in the United Kingdom concludes that adolescents in rural areas ate fast food more often when fast-food outlets were easily accessible, whereas the opposite was true for adolescents living in urban areas. The researchers, led by Lorna J. Fraser of the University of Leeds, conclude that although the need continues to exist for nutritional education regarding fast food, placing restrictions on the location of fast-food outlets may not decrease consumption of fast food in the same ways in all areas.
Brian E. Saelens and Lawrence D. Frank, along with their colleagues, authored two papers for the theme issue. “Obesogenic Neighborhood Environments, Child and Parent Obesity: The Neighborhood Impact on Kids Study” evaluated child and parent weight status across neighborhoods in Seattle and San Diego and ultimately found evidence that GIS-based definitions of obesogenic neighborhoods that consider both physical activity and the availability of healthy food options were strongly related to childhood obesity.
In a second study, the researchers used GIS-based measures to determine the ‘walkability’ and proximity to healthy food of certain neighborhoods in the San Diego and Seattle regions. The study recommends that such measures be used to study physical activity, nutrition and obesity outcomes.
In a paper titled “Obesogenic Environments in Youth: Concepts and Methods from a Longitudinal National Sample,” Janne Boone-Heinonen and colleagues describe the challenges inherent to longitudinal neighborhood environment research, as well as the insights they gained and the advances and remaining gaps in study design. The researchers note that understanding which neighborhood environment features influence weight gain in various age groups is essential to effectively prevent and reduce childhood obesity.
Two commentaries included in the theme issue examine the ways that computer-based GIS systems—which transform geospatial data into visual representations of the real world—can help prevent childhood obesity. “Thinking About Place, Spatial Behavior, and Spatial Process in Childhood Obesity” by Stephen A. Matthews, outlines the content of the theme, concluding that although GIS is not a panacea, it “offers an important means of better understanding and dealing with some of the most pressing problems of our time, and provides valuable tools for researchers and policymakers alike.”
2012年4月9日星期一
GPS Motorcycle Theft Recovery Device
Inilex, a leading provider of aftermarket telemetry solutions for vehicles, is extending its state-of-the-art vehicle theft recovery solution to the booming powersports market. The company today released SkyLINK PowerSport, an advanced vehicle recovery system that uses a combination of GPS, wireless and satellite technologies to track and recover stolen motorcycles, ATVs, watercraft, scooters, snowmobiles and other motorsport vehicles in real time.
SkyLINK PowerSport is a compact device that is discretely installed by a dealer on nearly any motorsport vehicle. The durable unit is water resistant, vibration resistant and dustproof to withstand even the toughest riding or storage conditions. Also, since it draws a negligible 4 microamps of power, it will not drain the battery.
As soon as a vehicle is reported stolen, SkyLINK’s 24/7 agents use cutting-edge GPS and cellular technologies to track it and provide its exact location to the police department. SkyLINK PowerSport works with all law enforcement agencies and, because it tracks powersports in real-time, the theft is reported to police as a high-priority crime. As a result, most SkyLINK-equipped vehicles are recovered within 24 hours, and many within minutes.
“Powersport vehicles have two strikes against them when it comes to theft – they’re easier to steal than cars because they can be placed in a truck bed, and they’re more difficult to recover because they can be easily hidden and their parts can be quickly altered,” said Michael Maledon, CEO of Inilex. “SkyLINK PowerSport tackles both of these issues by tracking its location whether it’s running or not, and ensuring the theft is reported as a crime in progress, triggering police to take immediate action.”
To help thwart theft, SkyLINK PowerSport automatically sets a Quick Fence early-theft detection perimeter around powersport vehicles when the ignition is shut off. If it moves without the owner’s knowledge, they are immediately notified by an email or text alert. The Quick Fence is disabled when the ignition is turned on. Additionally, SkyLINK Powersport offers an online dashboard called SkyLINK PROTECT that promotes safety by enabling owners to track their powersport vehicle’s location, speed and battery levels when others are using it. Using SkyLINK PROTECT, vehicle owners can set geographic and speed thresholds and receive text or email alerts when either is exceeded.
Dealers can also take advantage of SkyLINK PowerSport to track vehicles that are being test driven or used by employees, as well as to locate vehicles stolen from their lots. They can keep their inventory in check and account for every vehicle’s location at all times. Dealers using the SkyLINK monitoring service may also secure better terms from their bank lenders and insurance carriers because of the inventory management function.
SkyLINK PowerSport is now available through motorcycle, motorsports and car dealerships across the country at the time of vehicle purchase, and is good for the lifetime of the vehicle. The first year of the SkyLINK PROTECT subscription service is free of charge and it can be renewed for a low cost following that.
SkyLINK PowerSport is a compact device that is discretely installed by a dealer on nearly any motorsport vehicle. The durable unit is water resistant, vibration resistant and dustproof to withstand even the toughest riding or storage conditions. Also, since it draws a negligible 4 microamps of power, it will not drain the battery.
As soon as a vehicle is reported stolen, SkyLINK’s 24/7 agents use cutting-edge GPS and cellular technologies to track it and provide its exact location to the police department. SkyLINK PowerSport works with all law enforcement agencies and, because it tracks powersports in real-time, the theft is reported to police as a high-priority crime. As a result, most SkyLINK-equipped vehicles are recovered within 24 hours, and many within minutes.
“Powersport vehicles have two strikes against them when it comes to theft – they’re easier to steal than cars because they can be placed in a truck bed, and they’re more difficult to recover because they can be easily hidden and their parts can be quickly altered,” said Michael Maledon, CEO of Inilex. “SkyLINK PowerSport tackles both of these issues by tracking its location whether it’s running or not, and ensuring the theft is reported as a crime in progress, triggering police to take immediate action.”
To help thwart theft, SkyLINK PowerSport automatically sets a Quick Fence early-theft detection perimeter around powersport vehicles when the ignition is shut off. If it moves without the owner’s knowledge, they are immediately notified by an email or text alert. The Quick Fence is disabled when the ignition is turned on. Additionally, SkyLINK Powersport offers an online dashboard called SkyLINK PROTECT that promotes safety by enabling owners to track their powersport vehicle’s location, speed and battery levels when others are using it. Using SkyLINK PROTECT, vehicle owners can set geographic and speed thresholds and receive text or email alerts when either is exceeded.
Dealers can also take advantage of SkyLINK PowerSport to track vehicles that are being test driven or used by employees, as well as to locate vehicles stolen from their lots. They can keep their inventory in check and account for every vehicle’s location at all times. Dealers using the SkyLINK monitoring service may also secure better terms from their bank lenders and insurance carriers because of the inventory management function.
SkyLINK PowerSport is now available through motorcycle, motorsports and car dealerships across the country at the time of vehicle purchase, and is good for the lifetime of the vehicle. The first year of the SkyLINK PROTECT subscription service is free of charge and it can be renewed for a low cost following that.
2012年4月8日星期日
County residents will use voting centers for first time
Vanderburgh County residents who live outside the Evansville city limits will vote for the first time in the May 8 primary election at new voting centers.
The concept debuted during last year's city election with 15 centers. The centers enable Vanderburgh County residents to vote at any of the locations instead of only at their precinct polling centers. The primary will see the addition of seven new county locations.
Vanderburgh County Clerk Susan Kirk said she feels confident that duplicating last year's publicity efforts will inform voters about the change.
"We're just going to do like we did last year," she said about getting the word out, a year where she said everything went "just fine."
Kirk said the local media "helped out tremendously" in spreading news of new locations in print, on television and online, and she anticipates similar help this year.
She also said the candidates played a big role, as it was in their best interest that voters got to the right locations.
Kirk said candidates distributed literature that contained candidate information and vote center locations.
She expects that this year as well.
As a safeguard, Kirk said she plans to send flyers to the previous county polling places notifying voters of the new centers. She did that at previous city polling places last year, but she doesn't feel that's necessary again.
"I think the people in Evansville are savvy enough to figure this out," she said.
Kirk said no complaints from the public about the new centers came her way, and the few calls she got were questions about what the changes meant.
When asked about the long lines at popular centers like Washington Square Mall, Kirk responded: "Even with the old polling places, people had to stand in line."
Nevertheless, Kirk said election officials are going to place more voting machines and laptops with electronic poll books at city locations that proved popular or county locations expected to draw big crowds.
Other changes include the addition of one more vote center in the city and a change of location for another one.
A state law that took effect July 1, 2011, allowed local election officials to implement new voting locations.
Local election officials made the changes, and it proved to have two benefits: convenience for voters and a cost savings of about $85,000 per year for local governments.
"We had 132 polling precincts," said Kirk, adding that there was a Republican judge, a Democrat judge, a clerk for each and an inspector. "That's $500 just to pay those people to work."
Under the new system, there is an additional judge and clerk for each party, but they're at only 23 locations.
With respect to convenience, Kirk said Vanderburgh County has a mobile application that might be useful to voters.
It called "VC Election Office," and it allows voters to see locations and estimated wait times in real time.
The free application, available on Apple- or Android-based devices, was created by Mark Rolley Consulting, Inc., the company the city and county contracts with for several information technology services.
Kirk said, "We are the first county — period — to have this kind of an application." Matt Arvay, the city's chief information officer, said that's based on research by the leading geographic information systems (GIS) software company, ESRI.
The concept debuted during last year's city election with 15 centers. The centers enable Vanderburgh County residents to vote at any of the locations instead of only at their precinct polling centers. The primary will see the addition of seven new county locations.
Vanderburgh County Clerk Susan Kirk said she feels confident that duplicating last year's publicity efforts will inform voters about the change.
"We're just going to do like we did last year," she said about getting the word out, a year where she said everything went "just fine."
Kirk said the local media "helped out tremendously" in spreading news of new locations in print, on television and online, and she anticipates similar help this year.
She also said the candidates played a big role, as it was in their best interest that voters got to the right locations.
Kirk said candidates distributed literature that contained candidate information and vote center locations.
She expects that this year as well.
As a safeguard, Kirk said she plans to send flyers to the previous county polling places notifying voters of the new centers. She did that at previous city polling places last year, but she doesn't feel that's necessary again.
"I think the people in Evansville are savvy enough to figure this out," she said.
Kirk said no complaints from the public about the new centers came her way, and the few calls she got were questions about what the changes meant.
When asked about the long lines at popular centers like Washington Square Mall, Kirk responded: "Even with the old polling places, people had to stand in line."
Nevertheless, Kirk said election officials are going to place more voting machines and laptops with electronic poll books at city locations that proved popular or county locations expected to draw big crowds.
Other changes include the addition of one more vote center in the city and a change of location for another one.
A state law that took effect July 1, 2011, allowed local election officials to implement new voting locations.
Local election officials made the changes, and it proved to have two benefits: convenience for voters and a cost savings of about $85,000 per year for local governments.
"We had 132 polling precincts," said Kirk, adding that there was a Republican judge, a Democrat judge, a clerk for each and an inspector. "That's $500 just to pay those people to work."
Under the new system, there is an additional judge and clerk for each party, but they're at only 23 locations.
With respect to convenience, Kirk said Vanderburgh County has a mobile application that might be useful to voters.
It called "VC Election Office," and it allows voters to see locations and estimated wait times in real time.
The free application, available on Apple- or Android-based devices, was created by Mark Rolley Consulting, Inc., the company the city and county contracts with for several information technology services.
Kirk said, "We are the first county — period — to have this kind of an application." Matt Arvay, the city's chief information officer, said that's based on research by the leading geographic information systems (GIS) software company, ESRI.
2012年4月5日星期四
Top 5 Nostalgic Nights
What does midnight look like in the Paris of South America? For those of us cursed with a golden-age mentality, Buenos Aires can be a reprieve from all the baggage that comes with modern reality.
This city is captivated by nostalgia, and even if a venue wasn’t born decades ago, many owners pay close attention to details in the hope of capturing a little of the magic of bygone eras. The bar at the Sofitel hotel transports customers to Montmarte with themed evenings every Thursday, whilst Sunday strolls in San Telmo’s markets act as a gateway to the past.
But once all of yesteryear’s magic gets into your system, where does one go when the lights go down? And just where, prey tell, do you plan to wear that poodle skirt?
From the city’s shadowy jazz bars to sultry milonga halls to lively penas folkloricas, this week’s Top 5 brings you our pick of places to live out your dream era.
Legend has it that the 80s stunted the growth of Club 74. Born in 1958, the club progressed with the ages until deciding to remain in a disco time capsule a few decades ago. The white stucco walls match the white stucco couches, giving the whole place an igloo-like feel.
The Saturday night fever is still burning every weekend, with a DJ who pretends he’s never heard of Lady Gaga. A surprisingly mixed crowd boogies on the dance floor – some dancing to remember, and some channeling moves they’ve surely only seen on TV.
The club has a celebratory atmosphere – there are usually several birthday parties going on – and it’s a refreshing escape from the moody indie-rock scene of today.
Saturday is definitely the night to go, as it’s the only night of the week when the dance-floor lights up, in true retro fashion like a flashing Rubix cube. And really, what good are revolving mirror balls without the neon lights?
There’s more than one way to swing in Buenos Aires, and if you choose the kind on offer at San Nicolas’s quirky Teatro Mandril, cameras are even allowed.
A little alcohol helps to loosen up limbs as the crowd make eyes at each other around a dimly-lit, college fundraiser-style bar. Every brand of hipster seems to be gathered there on a Friday night; the retro hipster, the punk hipster, the popular girl-turned hipster, even the odd Dad hipster.
Around midnight everyone starts to gather in the back room, near the stage and dance floor. Drinks are abandoned and tables shuffled against walls to allow for the gyrations of 200 or so guests.
Guys and girls are split and line up facing each other as a male and female instructor teach the sexes their corresponding steps. After a few minutes of learning basic steps the couples grab a partner and the room transforms into a fire inspector’s nightmare. Patrons spill into every spare corner and the dance floor becomes a mere suggestion of where you should be. After about 10 minutes of practice, the sea of men and women splits again to learn more complex moves.
This city is captivated by nostalgia, and even if a venue wasn’t born decades ago, many owners pay close attention to details in the hope of capturing a little of the magic of bygone eras. The bar at the Sofitel hotel transports customers to Montmarte with themed evenings every Thursday, whilst Sunday strolls in San Telmo’s markets act as a gateway to the past.
But once all of yesteryear’s magic gets into your system, where does one go when the lights go down? And just where, prey tell, do you plan to wear that poodle skirt?
From the city’s shadowy jazz bars to sultry milonga halls to lively penas folkloricas, this week’s Top 5 brings you our pick of places to live out your dream era.
Legend has it that the 80s stunted the growth of Club 74. Born in 1958, the club progressed with the ages until deciding to remain in a disco time capsule a few decades ago. The white stucco walls match the white stucco couches, giving the whole place an igloo-like feel.
The Saturday night fever is still burning every weekend, with a DJ who pretends he’s never heard of Lady Gaga. A surprisingly mixed crowd boogies on the dance floor – some dancing to remember, and some channeling moves they’ve surely only seen on TV.
The club has a celebratory atmosphere – there are usually several birthday parties going on – and it’s a refreshing escape from the moody indie-rock scene of today.
Saturday is definitely the night to go, as it’s the only night of the week when the dance-floor lights up, in true retro fashion like a flashing Rubix cube. And really, what good are revolving mirror balls without the neon lights?
There’s more than one way to swing in Buenos Aires, and if you choose the kind on offer at San Nicolas’s quirky Teatro Mandril, cameras are even allowed.
A little alcohol helps to loosen up limbs as the crowd make eyes at each other around a dimly-lit, college fundraiser-style bar. Every brand of hipster seems to be gathered there on a Friday night; the retro hipster, the punk hipster, the popular girl-turned hipster, even the odd Dad hipster.
Around midnight everyone starts to gather in the back room, near the stage and dance floor. Drinks are abandoned and tables shuffled against walls to allow for the gyrations of 200 or so guests.
Guys and girls are split and line up facing each other as a male and female instructor teach the sexes their corresponding steps. After a few minutes of learning basic steps the couples grab a partner and the room transforms into a fire inspector’s nightmare. Patrons spill into every spare corner and the dance floor becomes a mere suggestion of where you should be. After about 10 minutes of practice, the sea of men and women splits again to learn more complex moves.
2012年4月4日星期三
Zhongtian explores US market at NPE
Taizhou Zhongtian Plastics Co. Ltd.’s small booth at NPE2012 is filled with large, hollow plastic items – pet houses and wheeled garbage totes of different sizes. The first time NPE exhibitor hopes to open up the U.S. market with its injection molded and blown molded products, backed up by ongoing expansions of two new factories in China.
Even with rising production costs in China, strengthening yuan and shipping cost of large hollow items, the company still is optimistic to give the U.S. market a try, said Susan Zhang, an export manger.
Exports already makes up 40 percent of its business, with Australia being the largest export destination.
“Some U.S. customers are already using our products,” she said, through Zhongtian’s contract production for U.S. manufacturers. But the company is hoping to sell directly into the market.
Part of the rationale behind the effort to expand U.S. sales is to compensate for the decline of export in other markets since the second part of 2011. “Our traditional markets are sort of saturated.”
Its investment on overseas expansion is backed up by fast-paced growth in China’s domestic market, esp. through government bids and contracts. Zhongtian’s total sales are around 300 million yuan (about $48 million). Zhang said its domestic sales are expected to grow 10 to 20 percent in 2012, while export is most likely to stay flat.
To add to its production capacity at its headquarters in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, Zhongtian is launching its second factory, located in Liaoning province in Northeast China. Zhang said the plant is built on a campus of 120 mu (about 20 acres).
Zhongtian is also building a third factory, on about 15 acres of land, in Taizhou, Zhang added. The new plant is scheduled to commerce production in 2013.
The privately owned company is investing 150 million yuan ($24 million) this year to build about 624,307 square feet of new manufacturing space, according to a report on its web site.
Zhongtian has about 50 injection molding presses, plus blow molding machines, welders and other equipment.
Its workforce of 300 is expected to grow about 20 percent with the new factories, but Zhang stressed that the company is increasingly adapting automation technologies and upgrading its existing machinery to increase efficiency.
Even with rising production costs in China, strengthening yuan and shipping cost of large hollow items, the company still is optimistic to give the U.S. market a try, said Susan Zhang, an export manger.
Exports already makes up 40 percent of its business, with Australia being the largest export destination.
“Some U.S. customers are already using our products,” she said, through Zhongtian’s contract production for U.S. manufacturers. But the company is hoping to sell directly into the market.
Part of the rationale behind the effort to expand U.S. sales is to compensate for the decline of export in other markets since the second part of 2011. “Our traditional markets are sort of saturated.”
Its investment on overseas expansion is backed up by fast-paced growth in China’s domestic market, esp. through government bids and contracts. Zhongtian’s total sales are around 300 million yuan (about $48 million). Zhang said its domestic sales are expected to grow 10 to 20 percent in 2012, while export is most likely to stay flat.
To add to its production capacity at its headquarters in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, Zhongtian is launching its second factory, located in Liaoning province in Northeast China. Zhang said the plant is built on a campus of 120 mu (about 20 acres).
Zhongtian is also building a third factory, on about 15 acres of land, in Taizhou, Zhang added. The new plant is scheduled to commerce production in 2013.
The privately owned company is investing 150 million yuan ($24 million) this year to build about 624,307 square feet of new manufacturing space, according to a report on its web site.
Zhongtian has about 50 injection molding presses, plus blow molding machines, welders and other equipment.
Its workforce of 300 is expected to grow about 20 percent with the new factories, but Zhang stressed that the company is increasingly adapting automation technologies and upgrading its existing machinery to increase efficiency.
订阅：
博文 (Atom)