Shane Therrien has three uncles who work in Windsor’s currently thriving mould, tool, die and machining sector.
“They always told me never get into the trades,” said the 21-year-old.
He is not the first Windsor area kid to get that message from family members who have ridden the highs and lows of the auto industry. Now that he’s working full time as he completes his apprenticeship as a computer numerical control machinist, he is glad he decided to check it out himself.
These days the Windsor area shops that feed auto parts suppliers and car factories are hiring machinists, welders, industrial electricians and other skilled tradespeople at a frantic pace. Many of these shops were laying workers off not long ago and had almost stopped taking apprentices as the industry shrank for a decade.
Now they’re desperate for young blood, but many lack dedicated staff, time and money to train new hires. One exception is Valiant Corp., where Therrien landed almost by accident.
After graduating from St. Thomas of Villanova High School in LaSalle, he was ready to go to university to take math and sciences with the aim of getting into the medical field. After one semester at the University of Windsor, Therrien knew it wasn’t for him.
He found it difficult to hit the books after class, but he is smart and good with his hands. He’d built decks and fences with one of his uncles in the summers since he was 14 years old and helped his dad with maintenance work at his mom’s hair salon.
“My family is a hard working family. Everybody is always working,” he said.
A Grade 12 diploma, motivation and reliability are the three things Mike Ouellette looks for in the young trainees he hires at the Valiant Training and Development Centre. Therrien is one of 83 students the company has taken in to date. They are paid $12-$12.75 an hour and given benefits while they train for 46 weeks.
So far, Therrien and 50 others have then been hired by Valiant as apprentices after completing the program. Their wages start at $14 an hour as they complete their apprenticeships through night classes at St. Clair College and climb to $24 an hour and beyond when they are seasoned journeymen. Other smaller shops are asking Valiant to train for them, said Ouellette, the centre’s skilled trades training co-ordinator.
“We’re hoping to grow to train for bigger numbers, but we need help from the government,” he said.
If Windsor wants to maintain its leadership in the tool, mould, die and machining sector, it needs thousands of young skilled workers like Therrien, he said. “This is what Canada has to wake up and see. We’re going to lose the work to offshore people…. If we don’t start training all these people will be retiring.”
Therrien said he had no idea what he was getting into. He quickly learned Ouellette, who ran his own shop for 33 years, had a good eye for potential. In 2011, Therrien was awarded an apprentice of the year bursary by the Canadian Tooling and Machining Association.
“It’s good. I’m enjoying it now,” he said of running the mammoth machines and computers that produce tooling and parts used in manufacturing. “I don’t know if my body can handle it for a long time…. Hopefully, eventually I’ll move up into engineering or something like that.”
He’s heard the cynical view that it’s a dying trade but, the way he sees it, no matter how technology changes, the work will have to be done by those who can learn and adapt.
“Everything we have requires a mould, requires some kinds of designing to it.”
Plus, he is getting a paycheque with his education, he said. “They’re offering to pay you while you’re training. Why wouldn’t you take that opportunity?”
2012年12月27日 星期四
2012年12月26日 星期三
Idaho Power is obstacle to wind generation
Brian Jackson, a scrappy, eternally optimistic engineer who believes that community wind projects can be built—projects that are good long term for ratepayers, good for the environment and good for the counties that receive property taxes—partnered with an Idaho farmer, Ben Bartlett, to build projects outside of Burley, Idaho, on the family’s scrubby piece of land where they can barely raise cattle in the harsh winter winds.
Unfortunately, the engineer and the farmer are up against a monopoly utility, Idaho Power, which has spent the last 10 years doing everything in its power to kill wind projects—from lobbying for state wind energy moratoriums to public anti-wind energy campaigns. Idaho gets about half its power from coal plants. The acid rain from mercury and sulfur dioxide from these coal plants just happens to fall on other people’s kids and milk cows in the Pacific Northwest.
After working with Idaho Power diligently for five months in 2010 to draft an acceptable contract for it to purchase the power from these renewable energy projects (a Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act contract), Brian signed the contracts and handed them back to Idaho Power in its building’s lobby. Idaho Power sat on the signed power purchase contracts and refused to sign them until one day after the Idaho Public Utilities Commission deadline limiting wind projects, and then said it didn’t have to honor the contracts.
The problem for Idaho Power and the Idaho PUC is that this is not legal under federal PURPA laws. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently has initiated a federal court action against the Idaho PUC for its lack of enforcing PURPA in a similar case. The federal government created the PURPA laws in 1978 exactly to encourage small, renewable energy projects over dirty power plants. Brian, who used to work for Idaho Power, thought he could work with the company peaceably to resolve this. He has been shocked by its blatant disregard for federal law and “so-sue-us” attitude. This honest engineer still can’t believe that companies would operate this way.
This old-style utility would rather build coal plants because it’s easier to dispatch coal-generated energy than work with the intermittency of a renewal resource. We’ve come so far with technology—many countries and states have up to 20 percent of their energy coming from wind energy these days. Wind can be modeled, predicted and integrated as an energy source with software and with smart meters—meters that Idaho Power got federal funds to install all over Idaho. Coal leaves poisonous tailings ponds in communities and significantly contributes to carbon and pollutants in our air.
There are many in the United States who objects to wind turbines, most notably the energy industry which sees the development of alternative fuel sources as a threat to their survival. Now it seems that there are aliens who feel the same way.
In a video posted on UFOsightingsdaily by founder and manager Scott C. Waring, a UFO seemingly shoots something, at a group of wind turbines. The location is not identified and the men who filmed the video refer to remain anonymous, but there are clues. The narrator of the video speaks in Spanish most of the time, but twice says “Oh my God”. It is not a great leap of imagination, therefore, to place them in the American Southwest where many people speak Spanish but are also conversant in English. Turbines are another clue pointing to this area.
A UFO is clearly visible in the video, taken with a simple point and shoot camera. What is not so clear is the contention that the UFO was shooting at the turbines. One has to wonder why aliens (presumably) would be threatened by windmills. A UFO is an unidentified flying object. Could this one have been sent by an alien race with highly advanced technology, or could it have been a low-tech ploy by fossil fuel companies to put turbines out of business?
Unfortunately, the engineer and the farmer are up against a monopoly utility, Idaho Power, which has spent the last 10 years doing everything in its power to kill wind projects—from lobbying for state wind energy moratoriums to public anti-wind energy campaigns. Idaho gets about half its power from coal plants. The acid rain from mercury and sulfur dioxide from these coal plants just happens to fall on other people’s kids and milk cows in the Pacific Northwest.
After working with Idaho Power diligently for five months in 2010 to draft an acceptable contract for it to purchase the power from these renewable energy projects (a Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act contract), Brian signed the contracts and handed them back to Idaho Power in its building’s lobby. Idaho Power sat on the signed power purchase contracts and refused to sign them until one day after the Idaho Public Utilities Commission deadline limiting wind projects, and then said it didn’t have to honor the contracts.
The problem for Idaho Power and the Idaho PUC is that this is not legal under federal PURPA laws. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently has initiated a federal court action against the Idaho PUC for its lack of enforcing PURPA in a similar case. The federal government created the PURPA laws in 1978 exactly to encourage small, renewable energy projects over dirty power plants. Brian, who used to work for Idaho Power, thought he could work with the company peaceably to resolve this. He has been shocked by its blatant disregard for federal law and “so-sue-us” attitude. This honest engineer still can’t believe that companies would operate this way.
This old-style utility would rather build coal plants because it’s easier to dispatch coal-generated energy than work with the intermittency of a renewal resource. We’ve come so far with technology—many countries and states have up to 20 percent of their energy coming from wind energy these days. Wind can be modeled, predicted and integrated as an energy source with software and with smart meters—meters that Idaho Power got federal funds to install all over Idaho. Coal leaves poisonous tailings ponds in communities and significantly contributes to carbon and pollutants in our air.
There are many in the United States who objects to wind turbines, most notably the energy industry which sees the development of alternative fuel sources as a threat to their survival. Now it seems that there are aliens who feel the same way.
In a video posted on UFOsightingsdaily by founder and manager Scott C. Waring, a UFO seemingly shoots something, at a group of wind turbines. The location is not identified and the men who filmed the video refer to remain anonymous, but there are clues. The narrator of the video speaks in Spanish most of the time, but twice says “Oh my God”. It is not a great leap of imagination, therefore, to place them in the American Southwest where many people speak Spanish but are also conversant in English. Turbines are another clue pointing to this area.
A UFO is clearly visible in the video, taken with a simple point and shoot camera. What is not so clear is the contention that the UFO was shooting at the turbines. One has to wonder why aliens (presumably) would be threatened by windmills. A UFO is an unidentified flying object. Could this one have been sent by an alien race with highly advanced technology, or could it have been a low-tech ploy by fossil fuel companies to put turbines out of business?
2012年12月25日 星期二
NextEra to sell hydroelectric power assets
A subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources LLC is selling it stake in White Pine Hydro Investments LLC, which has operations in Maine and New Hampshire, to Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners L.P.
The assets consist of 19 hydroelectric generation plants and equity interests in eight reservoirs in Maine and New Hampshire, NextEra said in a deal made late Friday.
The system generates 351 megawatts of power, which is more than twice the 158 megawatts of solar power NextEra had at the end of 2011. NextEra Energy Resources is the national leader in solar power and wind power, the latter having 8,569 megawatts of capacity.
"While this is an attractive portfolio in many respects, this transaction enables us to further optimize our power generation portfolio and concentrate our resources on areas with greater growth potential for our business," said Armando Pimentel, president and CEO of NextEra Energy Resources, a unit of Juno Beach-based NextEra Energy.
The sale is based on an enterprise value of $760 million, including $700 million in debt. The price was not disclosed.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter and provide a gain for NextEra Energy Resources, but it is not expected to have a material impact on its financial position or future financial results, a press release said.
Brookfield's website say it is one of the largest pure-play renewable power companies, mainly by hydroelectric rather than solar or wind. Its systems in Canada, the Brazil and the U.S. generate enough power for 2 million homes, the website states.
Brookfield, which trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "BEP.UN," said the portfolio includes the two largest hydroelectric facilities in Maine, and adds to its existing 103 megawatts of capacity on the same river systems. The electricity is sold into the New England wholesale power market. NextEra has upgraded and modernized some of the plants.
Brookfield Renewable said it expects a private fund sponsored by Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM) to invest up to 50 percent in the transaction.
The project, located in Wellington County, Ontario, is comprised of 10 Siemens wind turbines and is capable of generating enough power for approximately 5,700 homes in an average year. All of the power from the project is being sold to the Ontario Power Authority under the Feed-In-Tariff program. Conestogo Wind, LP, an indirect subsidiary of NextEra Energy Canada, owns and operates the project.
"We are pleased to have completed our first wind project in Ontario," said Mike O'Sullivan, NextEra Energy Resources senior vice president of development. "In addition to generating clean, emission-free energy, this project will have a positive impact on the local economy through the jobs created, taxes paid, lease payments to landowners, and goods and services sourced throughout the region."
The Conestogo Wind Energy Centre is the first of eight wind projects NextEra Energy Canada plans to bring into service by the end of 2015 in Ontario. Combined, NextEra Energy Canada's eight Ontario wind projects represent a capital investment in the province of approximately $1.5 billion.
In addition to the Conestogo Wind Energy Centre, affiliates of NextEra Energy Canada own and operate the 20-MW Moore Solar Project and the 20-MW Sombra Solar Project both located in Lambton County, Ontario.
The assets consist of 19 hydroelectric generation plants and equity interests in eight reservoirs in Maine and New Hampshire, NextEra said in a deal made late Friday.
The system generates 351 megawatts of power, which is more than twice the 158 megawatts of solar power NextEra had at the end of 2011. NextEra Energy Resources is the national leader in solar power and wind power, the latter having 8,569 megawatts of capacity.
"While this is an attractive portfolio in many respects, this transaction enables us to further optimize our power generation portfolio and concentrate our resources on areas with greater growth potential for our business," said Armando Pimentel, president and CEO of NextEra Energy Resources, a unit of Juno Beach-based NextEra Energy.
The sale is based on an enterprise value of $760 million, including $700 million in debt. The price was not disclosed.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter and provide a gain for NextEra Energy Resources, but it is not expected to have a material impact on its financial position or future financial results, a press release said.
Brookfield's website say it is one of the largest pure-play renewable power companies, mainly by hydroelectric rather than solar or wind. Its systems in Canada, the Brazil and the U.S. generate enough power for 2 million homes, the website states.
Brookfield, which trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "BEP.UN," said the portfolio includes the two largest hydroelectric facilities in Maine, and adds to its existing 103 megawatts of capacity on the same river systems. The electricity is sold into the New England wholesale power market. NextEra has upgraded and modernized some of the plants.
Brookfield Renewable said it expects a private fund sponsored by Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM) to invest up to 50 percent in the transaction.
The project, located in Wellington County, Ontario, is comprised of 10 Siemens wind turbines and is capable of generating enough power for approximately 5,700 homes in an average year. All of the power from the project is being sold to the Ontario Power Authority under the Feed-In-Tariff program. Conestogo Wind, LP, an indirect subsidiary of NextEra Energy Canada, owns and operates the project.
"We are pleased to have completed our first wind project in Ontario," said Mike O'Sullivan, NextEra Energy Resources senior vice president of development. "In addition to generating clean, emission-free energy, this project will have a positive impact on the local economy through the jobs created, taxes paid, lease payments to landowners, and goods and services sourced throughout the region."
The Conestogo Wind Energy Centre is the first of eight wind projects NextEra Energy Canada plans to bring into service by the end of 2015 in Ontario. Combined, NextEra Energy Canada's eight Ontario wind projects represent a capital investment in the province of approximately $1.5 billion.
In addition to the Conestogo Wind Energy Centre, affiliates of NextEra Energy Canada own and operate the 20-MW Moore Solar Project and the 20-MW Sombra Solar Project both located in Lambton County, Ontario.
2012年12月24日 星期一
Law enforcement, staff receive special awards
Sill’s first award, the Chief’s Award, was given to Captain David Odle and Deputy Fire Chief Skeety Poulton following the public tribute the two helped organized following the passing of commissioner Bob Carlile. The two also received Commendation Awards for their efforts.
A Commendation Award was also given to Captain Jon Antrim following a motorcycle crash which claimed the life of Chad McIntire, who worked as a paramedic and shift supervisor for the Seward County Emergency Medical Services. Sill said that Antrim came to the aid of EMS employees by watching over their night shift and allowing them to grieve the loss of their friend. Antrim then arrived for work the next morning to fulfill his regular duties. He also spent many hours with McIntire’s family in helping to coordinate funeral services. Sill added that Antrim grew up with Chad.
“This was a sign of true compassion for your colleagues,” Sill said. “I was so moved by this that to me, this deserves a lot of recognition. He did this all on his own, on his own time. It was his friend, but he did this with the utmost professionalism and I was absolutely in awe over how he managed to hold himself together and make all emergency service personnel proud.”
Commendation Awards were also given to more than a handful of officers, detectives and investigators who helped uncover several strings of burglaries throughout the year. Corporal Wade received an award as well for dedicating time to uncover a counterfeit scheme on his own.
Sill also announced that Captain David Odle, who went on to receive several awards, has been accepted into the FBI National Academy to attend in April 2013.
“This is huge, this is just as big for him as it is for the Liberal Police Department,” Sill said. “I was just as happy as he was to receive that letter.”
Detective Aaron Harvey also received a Commendation Award for training he has already completed in interviewing child victims in abuse cases. Sill commented that while these cases are the most difficult and stressful to work, Harvey has completed an astounding 40 interviews this year – each of which can take weeks to a month to complete.
A Commendation Award was also given to Sergeant Dallas Ryan for his work in coordinating with grant-writer Catherine Byrd to fund the purchase a piece of equipment used to map out crime scenes using laser technology. The tool saves extensive time for the department, which used pencil and paper mapping beforehand.
Staff member Catherine Byrd was recognized with a Meritorious Service Award for her work in applying for and securing grants for both the LPD and other agencies in the county – grants which Sill mentioned are hard to come by. Byrd’s work has resulted in several new technology systems, equipment upgrades and funding for the School Resource Officer program. In total since 2008, Sill said Byrd has gathered $713,625 dollars in funds for the department.
Meritorious Service Awards were also given to staff members and officers for their dedication to the National Night Out campaign and the Shop with a Cop program.
Finally, Chief’s Awards were given to Officer Josiah Smiddy for the most improvement in his running time, and to Sergeants Franka Jiminez, Jared Ratzlaff, Mark West and Dallas Ryan for their leadership on the force.
Crime Analyst Sandy Castaneda won employee of the year for her service. Sill noted that Castaneda has done a tremendous job in improving the flow of intelligence information throughout the department and partnering agencies across the state.
A Commendation Award was also given to Captain Jon Antrim following a motorcycle crash which claimed the life of Chad McIntire, who worked as a paramedic and shift supervisor for the Seward County Emergency Medical Services. Sill said that Antrim came to the aid of EMS employees by watching over their night shift and allowing them to grieve the loss of their friend. Antrim then arrived for work the next morning to fulfill his regular duties. He also spent many hours with McIntire’s family in helping to coordinate funeral services. Sill added that Antrim grew up with Chad.
“This was a sign of true compassion for your colleagues,” Sill said. “I was so moved by this that to me, this deserves a lot of recognition. He did this all on his own, on his own time. It was his friend, but he did this with the utmost professionalism and I was absolutely in awe over how he managed to hold himself together and make all emergency service personnel proud.”
Commendation Awards were also given to more than a handful of officers, detectives and investigators who helped uncover several strings of burglaries throughout the year. Corporal Wade received an award as well for dedicating time to uncover a counterfeit scheme on his own.
Sill also announced that Captain David Odle, who went on to receive several awards, has been accepted into the FBI National Academy to attend in April 2013.
“This is huge, this is just as big for him as it is for the Liberal Police Department,” Sill said. “I was just as happy as he was to receive that letter.”
Detective Aaron Harvey also received a Commendation Award for training he has already completed in interviewing child victims in abuse cases. Sill commented that while these cases are the most difficult and stressful to work, Harvey has completed an astounding 40 interviews this year – each of which can take weeks to a month to complete.
A Commendation Award was also given to Sergeant Dallas Ryan for his work in coordinating with grant-writer Catherine Byrd to fund the purchase a piece of equipment used to map out crime scenes using laser technology. The tool saves extensive time for the department, which used pencil and paper mapping beforehand.
Staff member Catherine Byrd was recognized with a Meritorious Service Award for her work in applying for and securing grants for both the LPD and other agencies in the county – grants which Sill mentioned are hard to come by. Byrd’s work has resulted in several new technology systems, equipment upgrades and funding for the School Resource Officer program. In total since 2008, Sill said Byrd has gathered $713,625 dollars in funds for the department.
Meritorious Service Awards were also given to staff members and officers for their dedication to the National Night Out campaign and the Shop with a Cop program.
Finally, Chief’s Awards were given to Officer Josiah Smiddy for the most improvement in his running time, and to Sergeants Franka Jiminez, Jared Ratzlaff, Mark West and Dallas Ryan for their leadership on the force.
Crime Analyst Sandy Castaneda won employee of the year for her service. Sill noted that Castaneda has done a tremendous job in improving the flow of intelligence information throughout the department and partnering agencies across the state.
2012年12月19日 星期三
Methuen crash victim, 70, remains critical
A 70-year-old city woman remained in critical condition at Boston Medical Center yesterday, one week after she was struck by a car crossing Pelham Street, police said.
Manok Leach, a resident of the Methuen Housing Authority at 22 Mystic St., suffered a shattered pelvis, brain bleeding and other internal injuries as a result of being hit by a 2002 Toyota Camry driven by John F.J. Sullivan, according to a prosecutor.
Sullivan, 46, of 23 Laurel Ave., has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident with personal injury. Yesterday, police Chief Joseph Solomon said Sullivan is not expected to face additional charges.
"We are awaiting review with the District Attorney to see if there's more charges, but it doesn't appear there will be," said Solomon. "It looks like it was just an unfortunate accident."
Sullivan hit Leach on Dec. 11 as she attempted to cross Pelham Street at Mystic Street at 5:36 p.m. Manok's late husband, Richard Leach, was hit by a car in the same area six years ago.
Sullivan is a self-employed freelance writer and a former night news editor most recently at The Salem News. He was also a former editor at The Eagle-Tribune. He was released on personal recognizance at his arraignment in Lawrence District Court last week and is due back in court Feb. 13.
Sullivan told police he was driving west on Pelham Street after picking up his dry cleaning and initially thought he hit a deer. He then drove to the Methuen Police Department at 6:03 p.m. after realizing his windshield was cracked and his front right headlight was smashed.
In a statement to police time stamped at 6:13 p.m., Sullivan wrote, "I figured I might have hit a person because of the extent of the damage." Police found Leach lying, injured in the westbound lane of Pelham Street.
Witnesses reported seeing Leach fly into the air after she was hit. Another driver thought someone had tossed a garbage bag back out of a car, before realizing a pedestrian was hit and lying in the street, she told police.
During his arraignment last week, attorney Andrew Goldstein said Sullivan never saw Leach in the street. Goldstein said Leach was dressed in a black down jacket, jeans and gray shoes as she tried to cross Pelham Street.
Police said Sullivan was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the crash. Goldstein said Sullivan does not having a texting plan on his cellphone, nor was he talking on his cellphone when the accident occurred.
Goldstein said Sullivan's driving record is nearly impeccable, with only one minor accident in 2011, but no speeding tickets or traffic violations.
Run by the Maplewood Concierge Company (MCC), the initiative offers services for commuters including drop-off/pick up dry cleaning and shoe repair, jitney and other permits, holding packages, hailing taxicabs and connecting customers to businesses and services throughout town.
"Whatever they need from me, I provide it," said Candy Naraine, assistant manager. Naraine has even helped commuters find their cars when they have forgotten where they parked.
Now, the MCC is in a public bidding process with New Jersey Transit, from which it leases the space, that will determine whether the company will continue to operate the service it helped pioneer.
Manok Leach, a resident of the Methuen Housing Authority at 22 Mystic St., suffered a shattered pelvis, brain bleeding and other internal injuries as a result of being hit by a 2002 Toyota Camry driven by John F.J. Sullivan, according to a prosecutor.
Sullivan, 46, of 23 Laurel Ave., has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident with personal injury. Yesterday, police Chief Joseph Solomon said Sullivan is not expected to face additional charges.
"We are awaiting review with the District Attorney to see if there's more charges, but it doesn't appear there will be," said Solomon. "It looks like it was just an unfortunate accident."
Sullivan hit Leach on Dec. 11 as she attempted to cross Pelham Street at Mystic Street at 5:36 p.m. Manok's late husband, Richard Leach, was hit by a car in the same area six years ago.
Sullivan is a self-employed freelance writer and a former night news editor most recently at The Salem News. He was also a former editor at The Eagle-Tribune. He was released on personal recognizance at his arraignment in Lawrence District Court last week and is due back in court Feb. 13.
Sullivan told police he was driving west on Pelham Street after picking up his dry cleaning and initially thought he hit a deer. He then drove to the Methuen Police Department at 6:03 p.m. after realizing his windshield was cracked and his front right headlight was smashed.
In a statement to police time stamped at 6:13 p.m., Sullivan wrote, "I figured I might have hit a person because of the extent of the damage." Police found Leach lying, injured in the westbound lane of Pelham Street.
Witnesses reported seeing Leach fly into the air after she was hit. Another driver thought someone had tossed a garbage bag back out of a car, before realizing a pedestrian was hit and lying in the street, she told police.
During his arraignment last week, attorney Andrew Goldstein said Sullivan never saw Leach in the street. Goldstein said Leach was dressed in a black down jacket, jeans and gray shoes as she tried to cross Pelham Street.
Police said Sullivan was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the crash. Goldstein said Sullivan does not having a texting plan on his cellphone, nor was he talking on his cellphone when the accident occurred.
Goldstein said Sullivan's driving record is nearly impeccable, with only one minor accident in 2011, but no speeding tickets or traffic violations.
Run by the Maplewood Concierge Company (MCC), the initiative offers services for commuters including drop-off/pick up dry cleaning and shoe repair, jitney and other permits, holding packages, hailing taxicabs and connecting customers to businesses and services throughout town.
"Whatever they need from me, I provide it," said Candy Naraine, assistant manager. Naraine has even helped commuters find their cars when they have forgotten where they parked.
Now, the MCC is in a public bidding process with New Jersey Transit, from which it leases the space, that will determine whether the company will continue to operate the service it helped pioneer.
2012年12月18日 星期二
Marysville farmers turn to tilapia to diversify product
Some farmers get by growing row crops like soybeans and corn. Others make their way raising cattle, hogs and poultry. Some grow hay and grain.
The Bayes family in Marysville used to be like other farmers, and in a lot of ways, it still is. Jeff Bayes oversees 300 acres of soybeans and corn, and 300 acres of hay each growing season. But year-round in a building that used to house pigs, churning tanks filled with hundreds of gallons of water serve as the pens for thousands of tilapia, with about 300 pounds of the fish sent live to market each week.
“We went and toured some farms in Illinois before we went into this and found out that tilapia was about the fastest-growing fish in popularity out there, and they were very, very hard to kill,” Bayes said. “We thought with those two things, that might be something in our favor. So that’s why we decided to go with tilapia.”
Native to the Middle East and parts of Northern Africa, the Tilapia has gained popularity in recent years among seafood lovers and foodies in general. The freshwater fish is hardy and survivable in warm climates, and the lack of a fishy taste to its meat makes it a more accessible dish to those with picky palettes.
What used to be a hog building on a farm owned by Duane Bayes, Jeff Bayes’ father, houses three large finishing tanks in what used to serve as the building’s manure tanks. The tanks have been modified, lined in rubber and extending a few feet upward from the floor. Hoses containing water heated by a wood-burning stove outside run through the tanks to keep the water at the right temperature, while motors housed in the middle of the building keep the water in the tanks well-oxygenated and filtrated.
Every few months, about 4,000 fry — or babies — are shipped in from a supplier in New Mexico and kept in a five-foot-tall drum. When they’re large enough, the fry are moved into two adjacent tanks. When they’re big enough and there’s room in the finishing tanks, they move on.
“We have found it’s not worth our time for the expense and everything to mess with any breeding stock or anything like that,” Jeff Bayes said.
All told, about 20,000 fish of varying ages and sizes are under the roof, and the Bayes plan to expand the building to accommodate another finishing tank and an expanded nursery for the babies.
“It’s unbelievable. We can’t keep up with the demand,” Jeff Bayes said. “That’s why we’re trying to expand, because there are more people wanting fish than we can supply.”
It all started about 3 1/2 years ago. Jeff Bayes got the idea from a soybean digest, and the rest of the family was on board. It took some convincing to get the bank to help out with financing the equipment, along with a lot of trial and error in getting things running smoothly. The first batch of babies reached maturity in tanks at New Washington High School, but since then, the nursery has been tended to in-house.
Rodney Bayes, Jeff’s brother, was the mastermind behind getting the building ready to house a fishery. The building needed to be completely rewired to house the motors that run the filtration and oxygenation systems. The fish rely on those to survive, so a kerosene generator to protect against outages was a must. The building’s roof was in need of repair after years of disuse, and then, of course, there were the tanks.
In addition to expanding the operation, the Bayes are examining ways to cut costs by installing equipment to take advantage of renewable sources of energy like solar and wind. The family uses a nearby pond to finish a group of fish in cages each summer, where the tilapia thrive at a lower operating cost. The water from the tanks runs is partially filtered by an adjacent water garden.
When the garden was first introduced, the Bayes tried using plants like lettuce to filter the water, but as the water became more rich with nutrients, the plants’ roots couldn’t handle the fine particulates. In search of a solution, Bayes’ employee Mike Hawkins discovered a solution in an unlikely form — duckweed.
The Bayes family in Marysville used to be like other farmers, and in a lot of ways, it still is. Jeff Bayes oversees 300 acres of soybeans and corn, and 300 acres of hay each growing season. But year-round in a building that used to house pigs, churning tanks filled with hundreds of gallons of water serve as the pens for thousands of tilapia, with about 300 pounds of the fish sent live to market each week.
“We went and toured some farms in Illinois before we went into this and found out that tilapia was about the fastest-growing fish in popularity out there, and they were very, very hard to kill,” Bayes said. “We thought with those two things, that might be something in our favor. So that’s why we decided to go with tilapia.”
Native to the Middle East and parts of Northern Africa, the Tilapia has gained popularity in recent years among seafood lovers and foodies in general. The freshwater fish is hardy and survivable in warm climates, and the lack of a fishy taste to its meat makes it a more accessible dish to those with picky palettes.
What used to be a hog building on a farm owned by Duane Bayes, Jeff Bayes’ father, houses three large finishing tanks in what used to serve as the building’s manure tanks. The tanks have been modified, lined in rubber and extending a few feet upward from the floor. Hoses containing water heated by a wood-burning stove outside run through the tanks to keep the water at the right temperature, while motors housed in the middle of the building keep the water in the tanks well-oxygenated and filtrated.
Every few months, about 4,000 fry — or babies — are shipped in from a supplier in New Mexico and kept in a five-foot-tall drum. When they’re large enough, the fry are moved into two adjacent tanks. When they’re big enough and there’s room in the finishing tanks, they move on.
“We have found it’s not worth our time for the expense and everything to mess with any breeding stock or anything like that,” Jeff Bayes said.
All told, about 20,000 fish of varying ages and sizes are under the roof, and the Bayes plan to expand the building to accommodate another finishing tank and an expanded nursery for the babies.
“It’s unbelievable. We can’t keep up with the demand,” Jeff Bayes said. “That’s why we’re trying to expand, because there are more people wanting fish than we can supply.”
It all started about 3 1/2 years ago. Jeff Bayes got the idea from a soybean digest, and the rest of the family was on board. It took some convincing to get the bank to help out with financing the equipment, along with a lot of trial and error in getting things running smoothly. The first batch of babies reached maturity in tanks at New Washington High School, but since then, the nursery has been tended to in-house.
Rodney Bayes, Jeff’s brother, was the mastermind behind getting the building ready to house a fishery. The building needed to be completely rewired to house the motors that run the filtration and oxygenation systems. The fish rely on those to survive, so a kerosene generator to protect against outages was a must. The building’s roof was in need of repair after years of disuse, and then, of course, there were the tanks.
In addition to expanding the operation, the Bayes are examining ways to cut costs by installing equipment to take advantage of renewable sources of energy like solar and wind. The family uses a nearby pond to finish a group of fish in cages each summer, where the tilapia thrive at a lower operating cost. The water from the tanks runs is partially filtered by an adjacent water garden.
When the garden was first introduced, the Bayes tried using plants like lettuce to filter the water, but as the water became more rich with nutrients, the plants’ roots couldn’t handle the fine particulates. In search of a solution, Bayes’ employee Mike Hawkins discovered a solution in an unlikely form — duckweed.
2012年12月17日 星期一
Slapshot bots
Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" blared from the sound system. The crowd, many of them zonked from pulling repeated all-nighters, was in a state of near-delirium.
This was Robockey 2012 - hockey played by wheeled robots. It is the culmination of a notoriously tough engineering course at the University of Pennsylvania - taught every fall by Jonathan Fiene, the man in the gray suit - and it is a wild scene.
You thought the Palestra was loud? For sheer concentration of energy, it would be hard to top Robockey. More than a hundred spectators crammed into an auditorium at Penn's Levine Hall on Tuesday night to watch the violent clash of machine on machine. They spilled into the aisles, alternately whooping, fist-bumping, jumping up, and yelling themselves hoarse.
"Fraternity brothers," explained Justin Starr, a member of the team that the bare-chested guys were supporting. (Starr himself sported a coat and tie for the occasion. Who says engineers don't know how to dress up?)
The class, a mix of undergraduates and grad students, was divided into 17 teams of three or four people from various disciplines, such as mechanical engineering, computer science, or robotics.
He does Robockey because it motivates his students, and because he likes the power of learning by doing. Robockey is just a game. But by taking part in the tournament and in other projects over the course of the semester, students get an intense dose of electronics and mechanics that several said made it the toughest course they'd taken at Penn.
Several students said they spent well over 100 hours on the Robockey project alone, wrapping up in the last week with 14-hour overnight sessions in the lab.
Some of the matches Tuesday night, consisting of two 60-second periods, were more even than others. Team 16 jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead against Team 14. Fiene respectfully averted his gaze from the bloodbath.
By the end it was 7-0, one of the goals coming when a Team 16 forward simply drove the opposing goalie backward into the goal. Brutal.
"It was tough," said Team 14 member Rafi Pelles, slipping easily into the role of a cliche-spouting athlete in a post-game interview. "You go out there and you try your best."
He attributed the team's loss to a few bugs in its computer code, along with unspecified issues in the "interface between hardware and electronics."
Before his team's first match of the evening, Nick Parrotta bounced on his feet a few times to warm up, as if he were the one about to step into the rink, not the robots.
Dubbed the Avengers, after the comic-book superheroes, Parrotta's team lost its match Tuesday. But it finished with a respectable record of five wins, three losses, and a tie, counting preliminary rounds. Fellow Avenger Vivienne Clayton was not feeling downcast.
"Adrenaline rush!" Clayton said afterward. "That was so much fun."
Easily tops in the spirit category was Starr's team, dubbed Team 'Murica, as in the faux down-home pronunciation of "America." Like Starr, the rest of the team wore blazers. Starr also wore a red-white-and-blue baseball hat backward, while Tarik Tosun sported a red-and-black-checkered hunting cap.
Their robots had presidential names: Millard Killmore, Martin van Bruisin', and Grover Cleaveland.
There was substance to go with the flash. Many teams' robots got stuck in a fierce scrum from time to time, wheels spinning madly. But if one of 'Murica's robots got stuck, it was programmed to back up and allow its teammate to attack from a different angle. "It was beautiful to watch," Fiene said later.
Another strong contender was Team 8, whose members were clad in neon-yellow T-shirts. They started each match by placing their three robots in single file, so the wheeled combatants could plow forward as one. "That's our train formation," said team member Ian Rafter.
It was a good strategy, until they met Team 10 in the finals. That team consisted of Central High grad Wenbin Zhao, Daniel Chabolla, and Sean Gowen, all seniors in mechanical engineering.
Designing the robot required making decisions, and one of the biggest was selecting a motor. Speed or brute force? Claude Giroux or Chris Pronger?
This was Robockey 2012 - hockey played by wheeled robots. It is the culmination of a notoriously tough engineering course at the University of Pennsylvania - taught every fall by Jonathan Fiene, the man in the gray suit - and it is a wild scene.
You thought the Palestra was loud? For sheer concentration of energy, it would be hard to top Robockey. More than a hundred spectators crammed into an auditorium at Penn's Levine Hall on Tuesday night to watch the violent clash of machine on machine. They spilled into the aisles, alternately whooping, fist-bumping, jumping up, and yelling themselves hoarse.
"Fraternity brothers," explained Justin Starr, a member of the team that the bare-chested guys were supporting. (Starr himself sported a coat and tie for the occasion. Who says engineers don't know how to dress up?)
The class, a mix of undergraduates and grad students, was divided into 17 teams of three or four people from various disciplines, such as mechanical engineering, computer science, or robotics.
He does Robockey because it motivates his students, and because he likes the power of learning by doing. Robockey is just a game. But by taking part in the tournament and in other projects over the course of the semester, students get an intense dose of electronics and mechanics that several said made it the toughest course they'd taken at Penn.
Several students said they spent well over 100 hours on the Robockey project alone, wrapping up in the last week with 14-hour overnight sessions in the lab.
Some of the matches Tuesday night, consisting of two 60-second periods, were more even than others. Team 16 jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead against Team 14. Fiene respectfully averted his gaze from the bloodbath.
By the end it was 7-0, one of the goals coming when a Team 16 forward simply drove the opposing goalie backward into the goal. Brutal.
"It was tough," said Team 14 member Rafi Pelles, slipping easily into the role of a cliche-spouting athlete in a post-game interview. "You go out there and you try your best."
He attributed the team's loss to a few bugs in its computer code, along with unspecified issues in the "interface between hardware and electronics."
Before his team's first match of the evening, Nick Parrotta bounced on his feet a few times to warm up, as if he were the one about to step into the rink, not the robots.
Dubbed the Avengers, after the comic-book superheroes, Parrotta's team lost its match Tuesday. But it finished with a respectable record of five wins, three losses, and a tie, counting preliminary rounds. Fellow Avenger Vivienne Clayton was not feeling downcast.
"Adrenaline rush!" Clayton said afterward. "That was so much fun."
Easily tops in the spirit category was Starr's team, dubbed Team 'Murica, as in the faux down-home pronunciation of "America." Like Starr, the rest of the team wore blazers. Starr also wore a red-white-and-blue baseball hat backward, while Tarik Tosun sported a red-and-black-checkered hunting cap.
Their robots had presidential names: Millard Killmore, Martin van Bruisin', and Grover Cleaveland.
There was substance to go with the flash. Many teams' robots got stuck in a fierce scrum from time to time, wheels spinning madly. But if one of 'Murica's robots got stuck, it was programmed to back up and allow its teammate to attack from a different angle. "It was beautiful to watch," Fiene said later.
Another strong contender was Team 8, whose members were clad in neon-yellow T-shirts. They started each match by placing their three robots in single file, so the wheeled combatants could plow forward as one. "That's our train formation," said team member Ian Rafter.
It was a good strategy, until they met Team 10 in the finals. That team consisted of Central High grad Wenbin Zhao, Daniel Chabolla, and Sean Gowen, all seniors in mechanical engineering.
Designing the robot required making decisions, and one of the biggest was selecting a motor. Speed or brute force? Claude Giroux or Chris Pronger?
Reforming gun control is essential
The impression that this leaves on the average person is remarkably different from other mass shootings in the United States: this involved a new level of innocence and a new tier of destruction that had not been experienced in this manner.
Why was this preventable? While gun control could have easily prevented this from happening, the bigger issue is the fragmented and greatly flawed mental health system in the United States. The only more powerful stigma than dealing with guns in any meaningful manner is the stigma attributed of living with mental health issues in North America.
Federal regulations of the retail sale of guns are the weakest in the industrialized world, there is little to no accountability to those who sell firearms due to loopholes and a lack of teeth to legislation. The logical first step is the elimination of the legality of high capacity magazines and assault rifles. The defence of these by hunters as necessary for shooting deer is simply disingenuous and unrealistic.
Just because you have a right to own firearms does not mean you should have the right to own a killing machine with a laser sight that shoots 150 rounds a minute. These kind of weapons were designed for war and killing people, not hunting.
Stopping criminals and underage youth from buying guns is important, but this does not stop someone with documented or undocumented mental illness from purchasing or gaining access to firearms (this is not to compare those living with mental illness to criminals).
Putting teeth in the regulations of firearm sales and possession to mandate necessary psychological testing to purchase handguns would be an important step to reform. You have to provide a police check and are typically interviewed for certain types of jobs, why shouldn’t an even higher level of responsibility be required to possess firearms? If you can prove you have a clean bill of mental health, you should be granted the purchase of a firearm. This is not meant to bolster the stigma against mental illness in North America, but rather is a practical public policy method.
But critics would note the killer’s mother was the legal owner of the firearms. Indeed she was, but reforms should extend to this as well. If you have dependents suffering from mental illness, your gun possession rights should be restricted. If you cannot understand the irresponsibility of owning multiple pistols and assault rifles while sharing a house with somebody diagnosed with a mental illness with violent implications, there should be safeguards in place to prevent this from happening.
The diagnosis of mental illness and living with it is a totally different beast though. In a country with skyrocketing prices for medical and clinical aid, access to diagnosis and the resources to deal with mental illness fall by the wayside every passing day. Millions live with personality disorders and the more extreme schizophrenia and sociopathic behaviour, which many live undiagnosed with every year.
Typically, they are more at risk to themselves than others, but the exceptions can result in tragedy. True, there are many cases of mass murders being committed by people who are simply loners, socially isolated and angry towards the world. But many would consider this form of depression to be just as important to diagnose.
However, simple mental screening methods could potentially identify people at a higher risk of violence and not leave people applying hindsight judgments that they should have noticed the behaviours. Mental illness is not just confined to thoughts, the issue of chemical imbalances is also key to conceptualizing this. Too much testosterone is anything but a good thing for the male mind.
Why was this preventable? While gun control could have easily prevented this from happening, the bigger issue is the fragmented and greatly flawed mental health system in the United States. The only more powerful stigma than dealing with guns in any meaningful manner is the stigma attributed of living with mental health issues in North America.
Federal regulations of the retail sale of guns are the weakest in the industrialized world, there is little to no accountability to those who sell firearms due to loopholes and a lack of teeth to legislation. The logical first step is the elimination of the legality of high capacity magazines and assault rifles. The defence of these by hunters as necessary for shooting deer is simply disingenuous and unrealistic.
Just because you have a right to own firearms does not mean you should have the right to own a killing machine with a laser sight that shoots 150 rounds a minute. These kind of weapons were designed for war and killing people, not hunting.
Stopping criminals and underage youth from buying guns is important, but this does not stop someone with documented or undocumented mental illness from purchasing or gaining access to firearms (this is not to compare those living with mental illness to criminals).
Putting teeth in the regulations of firearm sales and possession to mandate necessary psychological testing to purchase handguns would be an important step to reform. You have to provide a police check and are typically interviewed for certain types of jobs, why shouldn’t an even higher level of responsibility be required to possess firearms? If you can prove you have a clean bill of mental health, you should be granted the purchase of a firearm. This is not meant to bolster the stigma against mental illness in North America, but rather is a practical public policy method.
But critics would note the killer’s mother was the legal owner of the firearms. Indeed she was, but reforms should extend to this as well. If you have dependents suffering from mental illness, your gun possession rights should be restricted. If you cannot understand the irresponsibility of owning multiple pistols and assault rifles while sharing a house with somebody diagnosed with a mental illness with violent implications, there should be safeguards in place to prevent this from happening.
The diagnosis of mental illness and living with it is a totally different beast though. In a country with skyrocketing prices for medical and clinical aid, access to diagnosis and the resources to deal with mental illness fall by the wayside every passing day. Millions live with personality disorders and the more extreme schizophrenia and sociopathic behaviour, which many live undiagnosed with every year.
Typically, they are more at risk to themselves than others, but the exceptions can result in tragedy. True, there are many cases of mass murders being committed by people who are simply loners, socially isolated and angry towards the world. But many would consider this form of depression to be just as important to diagnose.
However, simple mental screening methods could potentially identify people at a higher risk of violence and not leave people applying hindsight judgments that they should have noticed the behaviours. Mental illness is not just confined to thoughts, the issue of chemical imbalances is also key to conceptualizing this. Too much testosterone is anything but a good thing for the male mind.
2012年12月12日 星期三
Siemens increases revenue from green technologies
The company's ecofriendly products and solutions are now generating faster revenue growth than its other businesses. Green technologies, which have been consistent growth drivers at Siemens since 2008, now account for 42 percent of the company's total business. In fiscal 2012, offerings from Siemens' Environmental Portfolio enabled customers to cut CO2 emissions worldwide by 332 megatons – an amount equal to 40 percent of Germany's total annual CO2 emissions.
"As the revenue development of our Environmental Portfolio over the last few years demonstrates, the market for green technologies offers attractive business opportunities. In fiscal 2012 alone, revenue from our Environmental Portfolio increased ten percent to over 33 million – a new record. Since 2008, the Portfolio has grown by over 50 percent. We're extremely pleased to have been ranked the most sustainable industrial company in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index as well as by the recognition that our sustainability strategy is receiving from other important external organizations," said Barbara Kux, member of Siemens' Managing Board and the company's Chief Sustainability Officer.
Siemens' Environmental Portfolio includes products and solutions from all four of the company's Sectors: Industry, Energy, Healthcare and Infrastructure & Cities. Enhancing energy efficiency is a major driver for sustainable development worldwide. And here Siemens is making a key contribution with products and solutions for the entire energy chain – offering everything from systems for energy production, power generation in highly efficient combined cycle power plants and wind farms to power transmission technologies, power distribution systems and energy-saving solutions for consumers in industry, cities and the field of transportation. The company's future-oriented solutions also include the intelligent management of energy flows via smart grids and systems to improve energy efficiency in buildings.
Siemens' pioneering role in ecofriendly technologies is illustrated by the following examples. Since July 2012, the company has received 16 orders for a total more than 270 onshore wind turbines in Europe and South Africa. In Düsseldorf Harbor, Siemens is building the world's most efficient and ecofriendly gas-fueled power plant for the Stadtwerke Düsseldorf, a public utility in northwestern Germany. Partnering with Siemens, Taipei 101 – the tallest building in Taiwan and the second tallest worldwide – has been awarded LEED Platinum certification. As Siemens AG said, the company is also participating in the modernization of Carnegie Hall in New York, one of world's most famous concert venues.
The revenue volume of 33 billion generated in 2012 and the revenue of 3.9 billion from Osram have already put Siemens well on the way to achieving the Environmental Portfolio's growth target for 2014. Initiated portfolio adjustments and innovation-driven impacts have, of course, not yet been taken into account here.
In September 2012, Siemens received two awards for its performance in the area of sustainability. For the first time ever, it was ranked the most sustainable industrial company in the Industrial Goods and Services category of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, a grouping that includes more than 200 enterprises. Siemens also captured a leading position in the rankings of the Carbon Disclosure Project.
"As the revenue development of our Environmental Portfolio over the last few years demonstrates, the market for green technologies offers attractive business opportunities. In fiscal 2012 alone, revenue from our Environmental Portfolio increased ten percent to over 33 million – a new record. Since 2008, the Portfolio has grown by over 50 percent. We're extremely pleased to have been ranked the most sustainable industrial company in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index as well as by the recognition that our sustainability strategy is receiving from other important external organizations," said Barbara Kux, member of Siemens' Managing Board and the company's Chief Sustainability Officer.
Siemens' Environmental Portfolio includes products and solutions from all four of the company's Sectors: Industry, Energy, Healthcare and Infrastructure & Cities. Enhancing energy efficiency is a major driver for sustainable development worldwide. And here Siemens is making a key contribution with products and solutions for the entire energy chain – offering everything from systems for energy production, power generation in highly efficient combined cycle power plants and wind farms to power transmission technologies, power distribution systems and energy-saving solutions for consumers in industry, cities and the field of transportation. The company's future-oriented solutions also include the intelligent management of energy flows via smart grids and systems to improve energy efficiency in buildings.
Siemens' pioneering role in ecofriendly technologies is illustrated by the following examples. Since July 2012, the company has received 16 orders for a total more than 270 onshore wind turbines in Europe and South Africa. In Düsseldorf Harbor, Siemens is building the world's most efficient and ecofriendly gas-fueled power plant for the Stadtwerke Düsseldorf, a public utility in northwestern Germany. Partnering with Siemens, Taipei 101 – the tallest building in Taiwan and the second tallest worldwide – has been awarded LEED Platinum certification. As Siemens AG said, the company is also participating in the modernization of Carnegie Hall in New York, one of world's most famous concert venues.
The revenue volume of 33 billion generated in 2012 and the revenue of 3.9 billion from Osram have already put Siemens well on the way to achieving the Environmental Portfolio's growth target for 2014. Initiated portfolio adjustments and innovation-driven impacts have, of course, not yet been taken into account here.
In September 2012, Siemens received two awards for its performance in the area of sustainability. For the first time ever, it was ranked the most sustainable industrial company in the Industrial Goods and Services category of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, a grouping that includes more than 200 enterprises. Siemens also captured a leading position in the rankings of the Carbon Disclosure Project.
2012年12月11日 星期二
High-end, High-tech
Many luxury carmakers are leveraging the latest technology to help their vehicles stand out in a crowded market and give motorists a compelling reason to trade in their existing rides for the latest posh models.
“The competition is particularly intense among the German automakers,” said Clifford Atiyeh, senior news editor at MSN Autos. “When one of them offers something, the others follow with remarkable speed. New technology, if marketed correctly, increases vehicle prices and profit margins, especially when desirable features are bundled in option packages costing thousands of dollars each. To get a backup camera, for example, you may also have to buy adaptive cruise control and upgraded seats.”
The race among high-end manufacturers to incorporate new high-tech features is so aggressive, in part, because many less-expensive models now offer features previously only available in really expensive cars.
For example, the 2013 Honda Accord and Ford Fusion both offer lane-keeping systems and blind-spot detection. Hyundai made heated front and rear seats standard on the 2012 Elantra Limited, along with a power moonroof and mirror-embedded turn signals.
With lower-end vehicles hijacking much of their tech cachet, luxury automakers have been forced to find “the next big thing” to stimulate the luxury end of the market. They’re pulling out all the stops to offer new innovations that justify premium prices.
Mercedes-Benz is offering what amounts to the world’s most sophisticated windshield wiper/washer system in its 2013 SL-Class hardtop roadster. Called Magic Vision Control, it squirts washer fluid onto the windshield (via channels embedded into the wiper blade) in both directions of travel to avoid any oversplash. And the SL’s onboard computer allows web browsing while the vehicle is stationary, so you’re never far from Facebook.
The new Rolls-Royce night vision system can identify human forms up to 300 yards away (a greater distance than headlights can reach) and relay a warning to the driver. This warning is displayed on the windshield via a “heads-up” display system that also includes information like vehicle speed and navigation instructions, reducing the need to take one’s eyes off of the road.
Other new safety features on Rolls-Royce vehicles include LED headlamps that can change direction to cast more light into turns, as well as adjust beam intensity and pattern depending on vehicle speed and orientation.
GMC’s redesigned 2013 Acadia SUV claims to be the first vehicle on the market with a front-center air-bag system, created to protect drivers and front passengers in far-side impact crashes where the affected occupants are on the opposite, non-struck side of the vehicle. The air bag deploys from the inboard side of the driver’s seat and positions itself between the driver and front passenger.
Standard on GMC’s upscale Acadia Denali version is a heads-up display that monitors your speed and other critical driving information continuously, as well as Side Blind Zone Alert and Rear Cross Traffic Alert systems that use radar to watch blind spots the driver may not be able to see and then issue visible and audible warnings.
Luxury automakers are also upgrading their multimedia systems. One of latest is CUE (Cadillac User Experience) in the Cadillac XTS and ATS luxury sedans. The system integrates entertainment and information data from up to 10 Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices into a cutting-edge infotainment system. CUE reduces (from around 20 to just four) the number of buttons traditionally found in luxury cars to control the radio and entertainment functions.
“CUE doesn’t replace your smartphone or your iPod,” said Micky Bly, executive director of global electric systems, infotainment and electrification at Cadillac. “Rather, it allows consumers to securely store those mobile devices while channeling the information on those devices — along with your navigation tools, weather maps, AM/FM and XM radio, instant messages and emails — through a central portal in your Cadillac, keeping hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.”
Even more sophisticated luxury cars are just around the corner. The BMW i8 Concept is fast, fuel-efficient and also intends to lead the way in innovative vehicle light technology. The Munich-based company claims that the vehicle’s laser headlights are more efficient than LED lights, 10 times smaller and easy on the eyes.
“The competition is particularly intense among the German automakers,” said Clifford Atiyeh, senior news editor at MSN Autos. “When one of them offers something, the others follow with remarkable speed. New technology, if marketed correctly, increases vehicle prices and profit margins, especially when desirable features are bundled in option packages costing thousands of dollars each. To get a backup camera, for example, you may also have to buy adaptive cruise control and upgraded seats.”
The race among high-end manufacturers to incorporate new high-tech features is so aggressive, in part, because many less-expensive models now offer features previously only available in really expensive cars.
For example, the 2013 Honda Accord and Ford Fusion both offer lane-keeping systems and blind-spot detection. Hyundai made heated front and rear seats standard on the 2012 Elantra Limited, along with a power moonroof and mirror-embedded turn signals.
With lower-end vehicles hijacking much of their tech cachet, luxury automakers have been forced to find “the next big thing” to stimulate the luxury end of the market. They’re pulling out all the stops to offer new innovations that justify premium prices.
Mercedes-Benz is offering what amounts to the world’s most sophisticated windshield wiper/washer system in its 2013 SL-Class hardtop roadster. Called Magic Vision Control, it squirts washer fluid onto the windshield (via channels embedded into the wiper blade) in both directions of travel to avoid any oversplash. And the SL’s onboard computer allows web browsing while the vehicle is stationary, so you’re never far from Facebook.
The new Rolls-Royce night vision system can identify human forms up to 300 yards away (a greater distance than headlights can reach) and relay a warning to the driver. This warning is displayed on the windshield via a “heads-up” display system that also includes information like vehicle speed and navigation instructions, reducing the need to take one’s eyes off of the road.
Other new safety features on Rolls-Royce vehicles include LED headlamps that can change direction to cast more light into turns, as well as adjust beam intensity and pattern depending on vehicle speed and orientation.
GMC’s redesigned 2013 Acadia SUV claims to be the first vehicle on the market with a front-center air-bag system, created to protect drivers and front passengers in far-side impact crashes where the affected occupants are on the opposite, non-struck side of the vehicle. The air bag deploys from the inboard side of the driver’s seat and positions itself between the driver and front passenger.
Standard on GMC’s upscale Acadia Denali version is a heads-up display that monitors your speed and other critical driving information continuously, as well as Side Blind Zone Alert and Rear Cross Traffic Alert systems that use radar to watch blind spots the driver may not be able to see and then issue visible and audible warnings.
Luxury automakers are also upgrading their multimedia systems. One of latest is CUE (Cadillac User Experience) in the Cadillac XTS and ATS luxury sedans. The system integrates entertainment and information data from up to 10 Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices into a cutting-edge infotainment system. CUE reduces (from around 20 to just four) the number of buttons traditionally found in luxury cars to control the radio and entertainment functions.
“CUE doesn’t replace your smartphone or your iPod,” said Micky Bly, executive director of global electric systems, infotainment and electrification at Cadillac. “Rather, it allows consumers to securely store those mobile devices while channeling the information on those devices — along with your navigation tools, weather maps, AM/FM and XM radio, instant messages and emails — through a central portal in your Cadillac, keeping hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.”
Even more sophisticated luxury cars are just around the corner. The BMW i8 Concept is fast, fuel-efficient and also intends to lead the way in innovative vehicle light technology. The Munich-based company claims that the vehicle’s laser headlights are more efficient than LED lights, 10 times smaller and easy on the eyes.
2012年12月10日 星期一
Suguna group JV with Israel's Shatal Engineering
Pumps and motors major Suguna group has tied up Israel-based Shatal Engineering, with manufacturing base in the city, for marketing light construction machinery in the domestic market, top company officials have said.
Shatal Engineering, which manufactures light machinery like tiles cutting and levelling machine, was exporting its entire production of four types of machinery, so far.
It would now earmark 25 per cent of its production for Indian market, initially for the Southern markets, V Lakshminarayansamy, Chairman, Suguna Group and Josef Levy Chairman, Shatal Engineering told a joint press conference here.
The joint venture, Suguna Shatal, would be officially launched tomorrow and Suguna would manufacture motors for the entire machinery, Lakshminarayanasamy said.
Stating that the company would be targeting a conservative share of the huge Indian light construction machinery market estimated at about Rs 9,800 crore, he said that it was expected that it would sell 4,000 machineries in the first year, with markets expanded to Northern and Western parts of the country.
The products would be distributed through a wide network of dealers and an extensive service network was also being put in place, Josef said.
Josef said the company, which started 18 months ago, has so far invested $1.5 million and considering the new venture, it would pump in more investment.
All the machinery would have advantage over manual machines, at present used by the, as it would have two to three times more productivity, he said.
With Indian construction equipment market ranging at four billion dollars, the company would also enter into larger machinery manufacture in the near future, L Anishkumar, Director, Suguna Shatal said, adding that Suguna would produce and additional 10,000 motors to meet the machinery requirement.
LAI, a strategic supplier of precision components and subassemblies for original equipment manufacturers, has combined its three Arizona facilities—its manufacturing plants in Phoenix and Tucson, and corporate headquarters in Scottsdale—into the 32,400ft2 Tempe facility, expanding the size of its production space in the state by one-third. LAI operates additional manufacturing plants in Minneapolis, MN., Westminster, MD, and Scarborough, ME.
“Our new center of excellence spotlights LAI's precision manufacturing processes and innovations in advanced manufacturing technology,” says Patrick Gruetzmacher, CEO and president of LAI International. “Plus, we have available space to expand our manufacturing capabilities for producing make-complete components in our strategic markets.”
Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) capabilities have been added to complement the facility's complete-part manufacturing capabilities. The facility features the company's core machining capabilities of advanced waterjet and laser machining in separate production areas, in addition to secondary machining operations, including metal fabrication and finishing areas, tool shop, and a larger assembly area.
“The facility is producing product now and will be fully operational Dec. 24, after we complete our moves from the Phoenix and Tucson locations,” says Joe Wagner, V.P. of Manufacturing Excellence, LAI International, and site leader for Arizona Operations. “The production floor is configured and workstations laid out for efficient material throughput and increased production-line capacity.”
Shatal Engineering, which manufactures light machinery like tiles cutting and levelling machine, was exporting its entire production of four types of machinery, so far.
It would now earmark 25 per cent of its production for Indian market, initially for the Southern markets, V Lakshminarayansamy, Chairman, Suguna Group and Josef Levy Chairman, Shatal Engineering told a joint press conference here.
The joint venture, Suguna Shatal, would be officially launched tomorrow and Suguna would manufacture motors for the entire machinery, Lakshminarayanasamy said.
Stating that the company would be targeting a conservative share of the huge Indian light construction machinery market estimated at about Rs 9,800 crore, he said that it was expected that it would sell 4,000 machineries in the first year, with markets expanded to Northern and Western parts of the country.
The products would be distributed through a wide network of dealers and an extensive service network was also being put in place, Josef said.
Josef said the company, which started 18 months ago, has so far invested $1.5 million and considering the new venture, it would pump in more investment.
All the machinery would have advantage over manual machines, at present used by the, as it would have two to three times more productivity, he said.
With Indian construction equipment market ranging at four billion dollars, the company would also enter into larger machinery manufacture in the near future, L Anishkumar, Director, Suguna Shatal said, adding that Suguna would produce and additional 10,000 motors to meet the machinery requirement.
LAI, a strategic supplier of precision components and subassemblies for original equipment manufacturers, has combined its three Arizona facilities—its manufacturing plants in Phoenix and Tucson, and corporate headquarters in Scottsdale—into the 32,400ft2 Tempe facility, expanding the size of its production space in the state by one-third. LAI operates additional manufacturing plants in Minneapolis, MN., Westminster, MD, and Scarborough, ME.
“Our new center of excellence spotlights LAI's precision manufacturing processes and innovations in advanced manufacturing technology,” says Patrick Gruetzmacher, CEO and president of LAI International. “Plus, we have available space to expand our manufacturing capabilities for producing make-complete components in our strategic markets.”
Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) capabilities have been added to complement the facility's complete-part manufacturing capabilities. The facility features the company's core machining capabilities of advanced waterjet and laser machining in separate production areas, in addition to secondary machining operations, including metal fabrication and finishing areas, tool shop, and a larger assembly area.
“The facility is producing product now and will be fully operational Dec. 24, after we complete our moves from the Phoenix and Tucson locations,” says Joe Wagner, V.P. of Manufacturing Excellence, LAI International, and site leader for Arizona Operations. “The production floor is configured and workstations laid out for efficient material throughput and increased production-line capacity.”
2012年12月6日 星期四
Will there be an encore for the Montclair Arts Council?
It's been almost two years since the Montclair Arts Council, known as MAC, turned in its final annual report, in December 2010. In that report, MAC noted that since the municipal government had canceled its $80,000 yearly contract, it would be unable to continue.
Though moribund, MAC has maintained its 501(c)3 status, legally remaining a tax-exempt nonprofit organization. That interim, comatose status will soon be over.
At the end of this year, the group will legally cease to exist, unless dedicated volunteers come forward to take over MAC. They would have to run MAC without its former funding, however.
Second Ward Township Councilwoman Robin Schlager brought up MAC during the Township Council meeting on Nov. 20. Her council colleagues, Schlager said, were "pretty unanimous that they could not find money in the budget for it."
Schlager said that she raised MAC's status at the meeting in the hope that someone would want to "come forward in the nick of time. I wish there was funding in our budget.
"I would like to see it revived, but doubt I could get the others to agree," noted Schlager, who said she feels strongly about the arts in Montclair. "They are a big piece of what makes our town so special."
Phoebe Pollinger, a former chair and one of the co-founders of MAC, said that when the group stopped operating two years ago, its members decided to wait to see what would happen with a new council, and keep the initiative alive on paper.
Among its accomplishments, the report states, MAC commissioned $150,000 in public art projects, including a laser-cut metal sculpture by Tom Nussbaum in Edgemont Memorial Park, and mosaics by Anne Oshman on the Crescent Parking Deck. MAC sponsored collaborative projects with Montclair seniors, including the Creative Aging Initiative, as well as with Montclair State University. One of MAC's most significant projects was the website Destination Montclair, which has continued to operate, supervised by municipal Communications Director Katya Wowk. The site, Pollinger said, was originally developed through a grant MAC received from the department of New Jersey Tourism.
MAC's 26-member Board of Trustees included representatives from Montclair State University, the Montclair Art Museum, the Montclair Public Library, the Wellmont Theatre, the Montclair Center Business Improvement District, the Montclair Historical Society, the Montclair Board of Education, and other organizations.
Pollinger said that she had hoped the township would be able to use the 501(c)3 in some way, if not reconstituting the arts council as it was, perhaps to use it for parades or for First Night Montclair.
"We made the offer, and it was declined," she said.
While arts programs are often cut during budget crunches, this is a false economy, according to Pollinger. Many studies, she said, have shown how the arts benefit young people, seniors and the business community by bringing in revenue via taxes, parking fees, restaurants and shopping.
"Historically, you see many examples of communities looking to the arts and to artists to help them revive themselves. Artists come in, take over warehouse spaces and places that need rehabilitation. They bring vibrancy and vitality and commerce."
Then, as a town becomes popular, it becomes to expensive for artists to stay and work there, Pollinger noted. "What you have here in Montclair is really no different."
Luna Stage, said Pollinger, was Montclair's only Equity theatre, in town for 16 years. When the cost of staying in town became prohibitive, "the mayor of West Orange made it his business to make the move attractive," said Pollinger.
Such a group could make recommendations to the council about the arts. "For instance, coming up in the next year, we will have a piece of public art that we will be getting as part of our agreement with the CentroVerde development. We have no idea where to put it."
Montclair does not have a fulltime events coordinator, either, Schlager said. In addition to overseeing the 4th of July Parade and First Night Montclair, an arts committee would be very helpful in coordinating efforts for Montclair as a Super Bowl destination.
Though moribund, MAC has maintained its 501(c)3 status, legally remaining a tax-exempt nonprofit organization. That interim, comatose status will soon be over.
At the end of this year, the group will legally cease to exist, unless dedicated volunteers come forward to take over MAC. They would have to run MAC without its former funding, however.
Second Ward Township Councilwoman Robin Schlager brought up MAC during the Township Council meeting on Nov. 20. Her council colleagues, Schlager said, were "pretty unanimous that they could not find money in the budget for it."
Schlager said that she raised MAC's status at the meeting in the hope that someone would want to "come forward in the nick of time. I wish there was funding in our budget.
"I would like to see it revived, but doubt I could get the others to agree," noted Schlager, who said she feels strongly about the arts in Montclair. "They are a big piece of what makes our town so special."
Phoebe Pollinger, a former chair and one of the co-founders of MAC, said that when the group stopped operating two years ago, its members decided to wait to see what would happen with a new council, and keep the initiative alive on paper.
Among its accomplishments, the report states, MAC commissioned $150,000 in public art projects, including a laser-cut metal sculpture by Tom Nussbaum in Edgemont Memorial Park, and mosaics by Anne Oshman on the Crescent Parking Deck. MAC sponsored collaborative projects with Montclair seniors, including the Creative Aging Initiative, as well as with Montclair State University. One of MAC's most significant projects was the website Destination Montclair, which has continued to operate, supervised by municipal Communications Director Katya Wowk. The site, Pollinger said, was originally developed through a grant MAC received from the department of New Jersey Tourism.
MAC's 26-member Board of Trustees included representatives from Montclair State University, the Montclair Art Museum, the Montclair Public Library, the Wellmont Theatre, the Montclair Center Business Improvement District, the Montclair Historical Society, the Montclair Board of Education, and other organizations.
Pollinger said that she had hoped the township would be able to use the 501(c)3 in some way, if not reconstituting the arts council as it was, perhaps to use it for parades or for First Night Montclair.
"We made the offer, and it was declined," she said.
While arts programs are often cut during budget crunches, this is a false economy, according to Pollinger. Many studies, she said, have shown how the arts benefit young people, seniors and the business community by bringing in revenue via taxes, parking fees, restaurants and shopping.
"Historically, you see many examples of communities looking to the arts and to artists to help them revive themselves. Artists come in, take over warehouse spaces and places that need rehabilitation. They bring vibrancy and vitality and commerce."
Then, as a town becomes popular, it becomes to expensive for artists to stay and work there, Pollinger noted. "What you have here in Montclair is really no different."
Luna Stage, said Pollinger, was Montclair's only Equity theatre, in town for 16 years. When the cost of staying in town became prohibitive, "the mayor of West Orange made it his business to make the move attractive," said Pollinger.
Such a group could make recommendations to the council about the arts. "For instance, coming up in the next year, we will have a piece of public art that we will be getting as part of our agreement with the CentroVerde development. We have no idea where to put it."
Montclair does not have a fulltime events coordinator, either, Schlager said. In addition to overseeing the 4th of July Parade and First Night Montclair, an arts committee would be very helpful in coordinating efforts for Montclair as a Super Bowl destination.
2012年12月4日 星期二
GibbsCAM Becomes Member of Okuma Partners in THINC
Gibbs and Associates, developer of GibbsCAM software for programming CNC machine tools and a Cimatron company, announced that it has been selected for membership in Okuma America’s Partners in THINC, a collaborative network of over 40 companies that service the metal-cutting and manufacturing industry with specialized software, equipment, expertise and a commitment to solve problems and increase productivity for end users. With Okuma’s open architecture, PC-based THINC-OSP control as its nucleus, Partners in THINC strive to provide the best possible integrated solutions to end users.
“We are pleased to be recognized for our expertise in providing a highly efficient, productive, and easy-to-use CAM system to industry, and for the service and support we provide our customers,” said Bill Gibbs, founder and president of Gibbs and Associates.
“We have been supporting Okuma machinery for over thirty years, and the THINC-OSP controls since their introduction in 2004. We look forward to participating in the delivery of integrated solutions that help manufacturers increase efficiency and profitability with the latest and most sophisticated machine tools from Okuma.”
GibbsCAM is well known in the industry for its easy-to-use graphic interface, and its extensive capabilities, providing a modular solution for programming all Okuma machine tools, from their 3-axis mills and 2-axis lathes, to their multi-axis and multi-task machines (MTMs). GibbsCAM is especially renowned for its support of Okuma MTMs, because it programs turning and milling operations from a single interface, and provides error-free postprocessing, that results in machine-ready programs that require no editing.
These capabilities extend to all of Okuma’s machine tools. With a library of over 11,000 postprocessors, including over 1,000 for MTM machines, Gibbs has many postprocessors for Okuma CNCs, including the MU, Millac, Multus and Macturn series.
Mr Gibbs was recently the speaker at the Okuma “Go Beyond Productivity to Profitability” open house, in Houston, Texas, on November 15, where machine-tool distributor Hartwig used GibbsCAM to program all of the Okuma machine tools on display and in operation, including four 4-axis, double-turret vertical and horizontal lathes, three 4-axis vertical and horizontal mills, plus the Okuma LB3000 EX, a double spindle, single turret, Y-axis lathe, and the MULTUS B400, a multi-function horizontal lathe with B-axis head.
The current GibbsCAM product line supports 2 through 5-axis milling, turning, mill/turning, multi-task simultaneous machining and wire-EDM. GibbsCAM also provides fully integrated manufacturing modeling capabilities that include 2D, 2.5D, 3D wireframe, surface, and solid modeling. GibbsCAM is Compatible with Windows 7 and Certified for Windows Vista.
GibbsCAM’s data exchange capabilities are able to access the broadest range of native and industry standard CAD data formats. GibbsCAM is certified under the Autodesk Inventor Certified Program, is a Siemens Solution Partner Program-PLM for Solid Edge product, and is a SolidWorks Certified CAM Product. GibbsCAM is either offered or endorsed by a number of leading worldwide control and machine tool manufacturers. Gibbs and Associates distributes its products worldwide through a network of international Resellers. In January 2008, Gibbs and Associates merged with Cimatron Ltd., and is now operating as a wholly owned subsidiary.
“We are pleased to be recognized for our expertise in providing a highly efficient, productive, and easy-to-use CAM system to industry, and for the service and support we provide our customers,” said Bill Gibbs, founder and president of Gibbs and Associates.
“We have been supporting Okuma machinery for over thirty years, and the THINC-OSP controls since their introduction in 2004. We look forward to participating in the delivery of integrated solutions that help manufacturers increase efficiency and profitability with the latest and most sophisticated machine tools from Okuma.”
GibbsCAM is well known in the industry for its easy-to-use graphic interface, and its extensive capabilities, providing a modular solution for programming all Okuma machine tools, from their 3-axis mills and 2-axis lathes, to their multi-axis and multi-task machines (MTMs). GibbsCAM is especially renowned for its support of Okuma MTMs, because it programs turning and milling operations from a single interface, and provides error-free postprocessing, that results in machine-ready programs that require no editing.
These capabilities extend to all of Okuma’s machine tools. With a library of over 11,000 postprocessors, including over 1,000 for MTM machines, Gibbs has many postprocessors for Okuma CNCs, including the MU, Millac, Multus and Macturn series.
Mr Gibbs was recently the speaker at the Okuma “Go Beyond Productivity to Profitability” open house, in Houston, Texas, on November 15, where machine-tool distributor Hartwig used GibbsCAM to program all of the Okuma machine tools on display and in operation, including four 4-axis, double-turret vertical and horizontal lathes, three 4-axis vertical and horizontal mills, plus the Okuma LB3000 EX, a double spindle, single turret, Y-axis lathe, and the MULTUS B400, a multi-function horizontal lathe with B-axis head.
The current GibbsCAM product line supports 2 through 5-axis milling, turning, mill/turning, multi-task simultaneous machining and wire-EDM. GibbsCAM also provides fully integrated manufacturing modeling capabilities that include 2D, 2.5D, 3D wireframe, surface, and solid modeling. GibbsCAM is Compatible with Windows 7 and Certified for Windows Vista.
GibbsCAM’s data exchange capabilities are able to access the broadest range of native and industry standard CAD data formats. GibbsCAM is certified under the Autodesk Inventor Certified Program, is a Siemens Solution Partner Program-PLM for Solid Edge product, and is a SolidWorks Certified CAM Product. GibbsCAM is either offered or endorsed by a number of leading worldwide control and machine tool manufacturers. Gibbs and Associates distributes its products worldwide through a network of international Resellers. In January 2008, Gibbs and Associates merged with Cimatron Ltd., and is now operating as a wholly owned subsidiary.
2012年12月3日 星期一
Trey Aces Tennis Challenge
Last week, teams went through Amsterdam. Natalie and Nadiya fast forwarded to win the leg. Abbie and Ryan were eliminated, leaving four teams to go to Spain, where they meet flame-bearing devils, hit tennis balls on a clay court in Nadal’s hometown, bullfight matadors, or screw blades to a windmill. Trexi finishes first, followed by Chippendales, the Goat Farmers and the twins. It is a non-elimination race, but Nadiya and Natalie will face a speed bump sometime in the race.
The race starts from Amsterdam, in a house rumored to be Rembrandt mistress’. Natalie and Nadiya, whose initial goal was not to be kicked out of the show, depart first for Barcelona, Spain. James and Jaymes, who depart second, still feel bad about U-turning Ryan and Abbie. Trexi departs third.
After the twins arrive in Barcelona at 9 am, Josh and Brent leave Amsterdam for Barcelona. Josh’s foot is still swollen from an injury from last week. Brent had tells him to do Lamaze; Josh tells him that he’s not pregnant. Brent breathes on Josh’s foot, which does not help.
The first three teams meet in Barcelona. Because they have 12 hours to kill before their boat leaves for Mallorca, they hit the beach. Then they meet Josh and Brent, who are more optimistic when they see the other teams.
At Palma de Mallorca, teams meet people dressed as devils swinging flames–and carrying clues. Trey and Lexi are now in first place. Trey drives a car and leads Chippendales. While it took the other teams a while to figure out where the clue was, Josh and Brent seemed to quickly realize that the devils had it.
Josh’s ankle was feeling better until he tried to play tennis. When Josh rests, Natalie and Nadiya arrive. Josh worries that Natalie and Nadiya will sail past them, but he outplays Tweenie. The twins talk about how they used to escape their tennis lessons in Sri Lanka.
Trexi and Chippendales go through thousands-year-old caves together. They go to two guitarists, who have the detour clue: Spin It or Bull It.
In Spin It, teams need to screw on two blades to a windmill. Once completed, Don Quixote will hand them the next clue. In Bull It, teams need to act like bulls attacking matadors.
Josh irritates Brent with his backseat-driving. Trey thinks that the Chippendales went the wrong way to the windmills. James and Jaymes u-turn to the windmills and put on hard hats. James says that he used to take apart radios when he was a kid.
Trey directs Lexi under the bull costume to run through the mock matadors. When they crash into a matador, Lexi cries when she hurts her finger, which is bloody and throbbing. They switch places, which works better.
Like the Chippendales, Josh and Brent opt for Spin It. When James and Jaymes finish the windmill, they are in first place.
The twins arrive at Coves last, and opt for Spin It, where they see Josh and Brent, who have a wind turbine in the farm, although not as nice. Josh and Brent finish the windmill challenge first, leaving the twins behind. At fourth place, they tell themselves that they only have themselves to blame.
The Pit Stop is Palma. Lexi, whose finger still hurts, directs Trey. They are Team Number One, and win a five-day trip to Riviera Maya, where they can enjoy the infinity pool and massage. The Chippendales place second. James talks about how the million dollars can change their families’ lives. At third place, Josh says that it’s hard to kill their team. Phil Keoghan tells the twins that it is a non-elimination race, and that they will encounter a speed bump.
The race starts from Amsterdam, in a house rumored to be Rembrandt mistress’. Natalie and Nadiya, whose initial goal was not to be kicked out of the show, depart first for Barcelona, Spain. James and Jaymes, who depart second, still feel bad about U-turning Ryan and Abbie. Trexi departs third.
After the twins arrive in Barcelona at 9 am, Josh and Brent leave Amsterdam for Barcelona. Josh’s foot is still swollen from an injury from last week. Brent had tells him to do Lamaze; Josh tells him that he’s not pregnant. Brent breathes on Josh’s foot, which does not help.
The first three teams meet in Barcelona. Because they have 12 hours to kill before their boat leaves for Mallorca, they hit the beach. Then they meet Josh and Brent, who are more optimistic when they see the other teams.
At Palma de Mallorca, teams meet people dressed as devils swinging flames–and carrying clues. Trey and Lexi are now in first place. Trey drives a car and leads Chippendales. While it took the other teams a while to figure out where the clue was, Josh and Brent seemed to quickly realize that the devils had it.
Josh’s ankle was feeling better until he tried to play tennis. When Josh rests, Natalie and Nadiya arrive. Josh worries that Natalie and Nadiya will sail past them, but he outplays Tweenie. The twins talk about how they used to escape their tennis lessons in Sri Lanka.
Trexi and Chippendales go through thousands-year-old caves together. They go to two guitarists, who have the detour clue: Spin It or Bull It.
In Spin It, teams need to screw on two blades to a windmill. Once completed, Don Quixote will hand them the next clue. In Bull It, teams need to act like bulls attacking matadors.
Josh irritates Brent with his backseat-driving. Trey thinks that the Chippendales went the wrong way to the windmills. James and Jaymes u-turn to the windmills and put on hard hats. James says that he used to take apart radios when he was a kid.
Trey directs Lexi under the bull costume to run through the mock matadors. When they crash into a matador, Lexi cries when she hurts her finger, which is bloody and throbbing. They switch places, which works better.
Like the Chippendales, Josh and Brent opt for Spin It. When James and Jaymes finish the windmill, they are in first place.
The twins arrive at Coves last, and opt for Spin It, where they see Josh and Brent, who have a wind turbine in the farm, although not as nice. Josh and Brent finish the windmill challenge first, leaving the twins behind. At fourth place, they tell themselves that they only have themselves to blame.
The Pit Stop is Palma. Lexi, whose finger still hurts, directs Trey. They are Team Number One, and win a five-day trip to Riviera Maya, where they can enjoy the infinity pool and massage. The Chippendales place second. James talks about how the million dollars can change their families’ lives. At third place, Josh says that it’s hard to kill their team. Phil Keoghan tells the twins that it is a non-elimination race, and that they will encounter a speed bump.
Talking Business
Nathan Lynch may be just 15 years old, but he has plenty of skating experience to share with customers at his family’s new business, Rocket Scooter & Skate in Spearfish.
“He hasn’t ridden a bicycle all year,” said his father, David Lynch. “He’s probably got 200 or 300 miles on his longboard.” Nathan and his sister Hannah, are the real reason for the shop, which opened Nov. 17 at 541 West Jackson Blvd. near Killian’s Steakhouse.
“We have two teenagers that are both very much into longboarding, and we decided to make a board one day,” said David, who’s a craftsman by trade. “My wife, Krista, is interested in scootering … (and) we just worked into an idea of combining the scooter and the skateboards together.”
Rocket Scooter & Skate carries a big variety of skateboards and “a good healthy line” of longboards, including Landyachtz, Loaded, Arbor, and Lynch’s own Trophy Longboards, which he makes from cherry, maple and walnut hardwoods. The shop also carries parts and hardware for skateboards and longboards, as well as safety gear and skate apparel such as hoodies and backpacks. They hope to eventually sell shoes as well.
Rocket Scooter & Skate also sells 50cc and 150cc retro-style scooters and mopeds by Motorino. They sell parts, too, and they can repair and service scooters.
David grew up skateboarding in southern California. The new business has inspired him to get back to skating himself, but don't expect to see him doing tricks at the Spearfish skate park anytime soon. “If I did that I’d just be laying there until the paramedics showed up,” he said with a laugh.
In fact, plenty of people DO know the Kuchen Man, also known as Joel Schwader, who sells his homemade desserts, rolls and breads at the Farmer’s Market each summer. In 2009, he sold more than 3,000 of the South Dakota state dessert, a pie-sized custard pastry with German origins.
Schwader sold kuchen through local grocery stores for a time but stopped when the price of cream would have forced him to raise his prices. Now the Kuchen Man has found a new home at The Beanery Deli & Bakery.
“They were looking for a baker,” he said. “In wintertime, things slow down for me, and I thought, well, this might be a good fit.”
So far it’s worked out great for both Schwader and The Beanery. “He, of course, was a great (job) candidate, with his experience and what he could offer,” said restaurant owner Lisa Holbrook.
Schwader now makes all the bread for The Beanery and its contract sites, Western Dakota Technical Institute and Camp Rapid. He kneads all the dough by hand. "It just gives a better bread," he said.
Schwader’s kuchen — which he calls "the best comfort food I know” — is now sold by the slice and whole at The Beanery at 201 Main St. Schwader’s kuchen comes in apple, peach, raspberry, cottage cheese, rhubarb, strawberry, strawberry-rhubarb and triple berry.
Herbst, who is married to Sturgis native Robert Herbst, operated a restaurant in Colorado for 10 years. She took over Tillie’s in mid-October, saying she plans to build on the current menu rather than make big changes.
Tillie’s is now open at 6:30 a.m., serving breakfast sandwiches on Black Hills Bagels along with Dark Canyon coffee. A variety of soups, sandwiches and salads is also on the menu, including specialty sandwiches such as the Cuban and Buffalo Chicken.
Diners can also choose to have their sandwich fixings on a wrap, cooked on the Panini press or served on a fresh spinach salad.
“I may be biased, but I believe we have the best deli sandwiches in town,” said Herbst, whose business sits at the corner of Junction Avenue and Main Street.
“He hasn’t ridden a bicycle all year,” said his father, David Lynch. “He’s probably got 200 or 300 miles on his longboard.” Nathan and his sister Hannah, are the real reason for the shop, which opened Nov. 17 at 541 West Jackson Blvd. near Killian’s Steakhouse.
“We have two teenagers that are both very much into longboarding, and we decided to make a board one day,” said David, who’s a craftsman by trade. “My wife, Krista, is interested in scootering … (and) we just worked into an idea of combining the scooter and the skateboards together.”
Rocket Scooter & Skate carries a big variety of skateboards and “a good healthy line” of longboards, including Landyachtz, Loaded, Arbor, and Lynch’s own Trophy Longboards, which he makes from cherry, maple and walnut hardwoods. The shop also carries parts and hardware for skateboards and longboards, as well as safety gear and skate apparel such as hoodies and backpacks. They hope to eventually sell shoes as well.
Rocket Scooter & Skate also sells 50cc and 150cc retro-style scooters and mopeds by Motorino. They sell parts, too, and they can repair and service scooters.
David grew up skateboarding in southern California. The new business has inspired him to get back to skating himself, but don't expect to see him doing tricks at the Spearfish skate park anytime soon. “If I did that I’d just be laying there until the paramedics showed up,” he said with a laugh.
In fact, plenty of people DO know the Kuchen Man, also known as Joel Schwader, who sells his homemade desserts, rolls and breads at the Farmer’s Market each summer. In 2009, he sold more than 3,000 of the South Dakota state dessert, a pie-sized custard pastry with German origins.
Schwader sold kuchen through local grocery stores for a time but stopped when the price of cream would have forced him to raise his prices. Now the Kuchen Man has found a new home at The Beanery Deli & Bakery.
“They were looking for a baker,” he said. “In wintertime, things slow down for me, and I thought, well, this might be a good fit.”
So far it’s worked out great for both Schwader and The Beanery. “He, of course, was a great (job) candidate, with his experience and what he could offer,” said restaurant owner Lisa Holbrook.
Schwader now makes all the bread for The Beanery and its contract sites, Western Dakota Technical Institute and Camp Rapid. He kneads all the dough by hand. "It just gives a better bread," he said.
Schwader’s kuchen — which he calls "the best comfort food I know” — is now sold by the slice and whole at The Beanery at 201 Main St. Schwader’s kuchen comes in apple, peach, raspberry, cottage cheese, rhubarb, strawberry, strawberry-rhubarb and triple berry.
Herbst, who is married to Sturgis native Robert Herbst, operated a restaurant in Colorado for 10 years. She took over Tillie’s in mid-October, saying she plans to build on the current menu rather than make big changes.
Tillie’s is now open at 6:30 a.m., serving breakfast sandwiches on Black Hills Bagels along with Dark Canyon coffee. A variety of soups, sandwiches and salads is also on the menu, including specialty sandwiches such as the Cuban and Buffalo Chicken.
Diners can also choose to have their sandwich fixings on a wrap, cooked on the Panini press or served on a fresh spinach salad.
“I may be biased, but I believe we have the best deli sandwiches in town,” said Herbst, whose business sits at the corner of Junction Avenue and Main Street.
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