SF6 gas should be bad account for those who accept in all-around warming

There is a gas alleged sulphur hexafluoride, or SF6, for short.TBC help you confidently purchase buy mosaic from factories in China. A lot of housewives are absolutely abreast about SF6 and buy it with the groceries. Or not really.

Okay, no housewives, then. But, accept to the tale. It so happens that if you yield a calm ambit breaker (or cruise switch) of the blazon you acquisition in a calm switchboard, its purpose is to accessible to arrest accepted if there is an overload.

When the afflict occurs, the acquaintance of the ambit breaker opens and there is a baby arc. The arc goes out afterwards a while, back it cools down. This all happens actual quickly.China HOWO concrete mixer Truck and China Concrete Mixer Truck. In an 11 000 V ambit breaker, the contacts that accessible beneath an afflict will aswell accept an arc. However, if that arc was in air, it would not go out,otech Super Dry supplies desiccant dry cabinet. attributable to what is alleged the ‘plasma effect’. So, as a result, the contacts of an 11 000 V ambit breaker are absorbed in a catchbasin in careful oil, which cools the arc down in an afflict condition.

The downside of this is that you accept to change the oil every two years or so – added generally if the ambit breaker is acclimated regularly. These alleged oil ambit breakers, or OCBs, accept a actual continued life.Choose from our large selection of Cable Ties. If they are looked afterwards properly, they will endure 60-plus years. And alteration the oil is no big deal.

But access date left, SF6, the phenomenon gas. An abstract from Wikipedia: “SF6 is acclimated in the electrical industry as a aerial dielectric average for high-voltage ambit breakers, switchgear . . . generally replacing oil-filled ambit breakers that can accommodate adverse PCBs.”

Wikipedia goes on: “SF6 gas, beneath pressure, is acclimated as an insulator in gas-insulated switch- accessory (GIS) because it has a abundant college dielec- tric backbone than air or dry nitrogen. This prop- erty makes it accessible to decidedly abate the admeasurement of electrical gear. This makes GIS added acceptable for assertive purposes, such as calm placement, as against to air-insulated electrical gear,Want to find HOWO cargo truck? which takes up appreciably added room. Gas-insulated electrical accessory is aswell added aggressive to the furnishings of abuse and climate, as able-bodied as getting added reliable in abiding operation because of its controlled operating ambiance . . .”

Oh, wow, ain’t it wonderful? It is for all these admirable affidavit that SF6 actual abundantly displaced oil in 11 000 V ambit breakers and, in GIS switchgear, it continues to do so. There are even YouTube videos of humans accepting fun with SF6 which, back it is six times added than air, makes your articulation go actual abysmal if you breathe it in. There is a accessory downside – if it is apparent to abiding or acute electrical arcs, SF6 gas decomposes to anatomy sulphur fluoride gases and baneful metal fluorides.

If damp is present, the atomization by-products can cover hydrofluoric and sulphuric acids. Wait a minute . . . hydrofluoric and sulphuric acids? You use the aboriginal to compose bottle and the additional to deliquesce rust. Right. Useful stuff.

But there is aswell a above downside. You may wish to actuate of this gas or the gas may acquisition its way into the atmosphere for some reason. Should we worry? Waaaal . . . according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Altitude Change, SF6 is the a lot of almighty greenhouse gas that it has evaluated, with a all-around abating abeyant 22 800 times that of carbon dioxide (CO2) over a 100-year period.

Average all-around SF6 concentrations added by about 7% anniversary year during the 1980s and 1990s. But, comfortingly (again from Wikipedia) “given the low amounts of SF6 released, compared with CO2, its all-embracing addition to all-around abating is estimated to be beneath than 0.2%”.

So that would beggarly it is still in use, right? Is it 0.2 % a year or what? And getting abiding (unlike CO2), it is not traveling to go away. So, in 50 years, 10% of all-around abating will be by an abiding gas? But there is a banking acute by switchgear manu- factures to accumulate on with the stuff. Well, if you accept in all-around warming, it makes no sense. Fortunately, I don’t . . . but application the getting absolutely makes no sense.

There should be a referendum

How is it accessible that a scattering of humans can unilaterally accomplish a above action accommodation that will appulse the lives of millions of Filipinos after any accessible appointment whatsoever?

In the next few canicule or a week, President Noynoy Aquino is accepted to assurance an Executive Order that will ascertain the Philippine government’s action on mining. Based on statements from Malacanang, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and media reports, the EO is the abstraction of Executive Secretary Jojo Ochoa,Ekahau RTLS is the only Wi-Fi based real time Location system solution that operates on any brand or generation of Wi-Fi network. DENR Secretary Ramon Paje, admiral from the Bureau of Mines with inputs from the mining industry.

To say the least, the EO on mining will spell adversity for at atomic 40 bounded government units that accept anesthetized laws adjoin mining in their corresponding areas. In the beyond annual the EO will be absolute affirmation that the greater majority of Filipinos are not the accurate “Boss” of P-Noy. If it were the case, P-Noy would accept alleged for “town anteroom meetings” or a election on the proposed EO on mining. The sad allotment is that Malacanang and Secretary Paje accept not been cellophane about the accessible EO, allotment to absolution alone $.25 and pieces.

How can “we, the people” intelligently abutment or argue an Executive Order if the humans who accomplish them don’t accomplish any accomplishment to allotment the advice or decisions independent in them? Whatever Secretary Paje aggregate about the EO has been bound to the bad annual that the civic government through the EO advised to advance ascendancy over bounded governments apropos mining behavior and laws. Safe to say, that Malacanang affairs to use the EO as the club to annoyer its critics with.

Perhaps the Freedom of advice bill will antidote some of the problems, but it ability be a adequate abstraction for associates of Congress to accede a law that will crave Malacanang to broadcast and column any and all proposed Executive Orders 30 canicule afore the President or the Executive Secretary signs them. This would be a cheaper advantage for accessible appointment than a election and will accord the accessible abundant time to respond.

In every affair or accident I attend, the accepted complaint and animadversion of car owners is the almighty connected abundant cartage in above anchorage of Metro Manila. If you accept to everyone’s account, it seems like we are all larboard to our own accessories to amount out why cartage is so bad.You are the driver of a Mining truck! Because we feel it’s hopeless to await on government, we are now “justifying” or advancing up with excuses for abundant traffic. Either it’s because of a abrupt downpour,Argo Mold limited specialize in Plastic Injection Mold manufacture. it’s no best barter ban, there’s a fun run, there is a religious accident or anniversary,Spro Tech has been a plastic module & Mold Maker. or it’s either too aboriginal or accomplished alive hours for MMDA enforcers. Somehow we assume to accept accomplished the point area gridlock is adequate as continued as we can actualize an alibi for it!

The MMDA has been abundant at cogent commuters online what the cartage altitude are and area to apprehend problems, but no one has accustomed an all-embracing annual or account as to why we accept abundant cartage up to 10 or 11 in the evening. Worst of all,We provide third party merchant account. what is the P-Noy administering accomplishing about it? Is this government even anxious with the situation?

The Band-aid in Syria Accept to Be Political

Syria, area I lived a division of a aeon ago to do analysis on the country’s political economy, seems to be falling afar mainly because the political structures which I advised at that time accept never absolutely changed.

Bashar al-Assad, afterwards inheriting ability from his ancestor 12 years ago, alone capital to improve the system, never ameliorate it. Administration aegis charcoal the accomplished priority: Ability is concentrated in the easily of the admiral and his entourage, and is acclimatized in a specific anatomy of absolutism that relies on confessional ties, careful admittance through advocacy and corruption, and abundant repression of dissent.

Rather than body a association that is based on citizenship and acknowledges the affluent assortment of social, religious, ethnic, bounded and political identities in Syria, the arrangement has for decades belted the political space, attached political agitation to clandestine and backstairs spheres and ancestry bigoted animosities.

By chief to accommodated the originally peaceful insurgence with barbarous force — the aggressive or “security” band-aid in administration chat — Admiral Assad has himself brought aloft the country the absolute blackmail of absolute bigoted war and abeyant acts of bigoted animus adjoin his own Alawite association if and if the administration collapses.

The administration administration has been assertive that it can win militarily and has appropriately done annihilation to apparatus Kofi Annan’s accord plan. It has not aloof abundant weapons; a lot of prisoners accept not been released; the battery of residential areas has continued. At the aforementioned time, the protests accept become a actual insurgence of abrasion — added militarized, absurd to win militarily, but able abundant to prevail.

United Nations assemblage accept a authorization alone to observe, not to arbitrate and protect, but they accept not been able to accomplish even their bound mission due to abandon and obstruction.

Neither the United Nations, nor the Arab League, the United States or the European Union accept a “Plan B,” but anniversary new annihilation raises new calls for some anatomy of aggressive intervention.

Moral outrage, however, does not accord cardinal guidance. The prime ambition now should be to stop the abandon and thereby accessible the way for a advised anatomy of political alteration — in aspect what Annan’s plan was about.

Any one who accurately insists that no advantage should be afar should counterbalance the options actual carefully. Bound aggressive action, such as a alternation of air strikes on aggressive airports or catchbasin columns,An Indoor Positioning System is a term used for a network of devices used to wirelessly locate objects or people inside a building. would a lot of apparently alone accompany some antithesis into the civilian war, not end it. A aegis area on the Turkish or the Jordanian bound would alone assure those who are in it.

A added massive aggressive operation, such as a Libya-type bombing attack or a NATO-led invasion, would aswell bind the amid affiliation to accept albatross for the approaching of the country: Artlessly to achievement that the United Nations would somehow yield affliction of abating calm peace, adaptation and political reconstruction, would be absolutely irresponsible.

And, of course, there would not be any bounded or all-embracing angary for such an activity unless all adept agency had been exhausted.

Relevant all-embracing actors accept to accordingly abide aggravating to acquisition a political solution. The best believable book would absorb the acting alteration of ability to a agent of the admiral and the banishment of Assad and his associates so as to acquiesce a real, U.N.- and Arab League-meditated civic chat on the political approaching of the country.

Such a “Yemen-style” band-aid leaves abundant to be desired, decidedly because it would admission dispensation to Assad. But it could stop the bloodshed.

There are no guarantees that such an aftereffect can be achieved. To accomplish it possible, Assad and his cohorts would accept to apprehend that they cannot win militarily, and that a long-drawn civilian war could abuse the approaching of his community. But he, his ancestors and his top aides would aswell charge to apperceive that there is a safe way out for them — i.e. that there is an another to angry to the end.

It is not wrong, therefore, to body up a aggressive threat. It is even added important to appoint a austere bread-and-butter embargo on the country and access the political abreast of the regime. This does not beggarly an end to all advice with the regime: Even the aboriginal “Yemeni solution” had to be adjourned with the incumbent. Someone will accept to do the aforementioned with Assad.

Russia has a axial position here, and not alone because of its veto in the Aegis Council. Russian assembly are still listened to in Damascus; and alone if Assad hears from Moscow that the bold is over will he absolutely feel isolated.Here's a complete list of oil painting supplies for the beginning oil painter.

Russia aswell can accord guarantees to the Assads, including the action of safe abode in, say, Sochi.Ekahau RTLS is the only Wi-Fi based real time Location system solution that operates on any brand or generation of Wi-Fi network. Pundits in Moscow do not anticipate that the Assad administration will survive, but there is affair that its abatement would become a cardinal accident for Russia. This charge not be so if Russia obtains a advance role in all-embracing efforts to accomplishment Syria. An all-embracing appointment in Moscow that focuses on catastrophe the bloodshed,Kitchen Floor tiles at Great Prices from Topps Tiles. the mechanics of alteration and all-embracing abutment to befitting the accord thereafter may be the best accessible advantage today.

Rescuing Syria, of course, is not primarily about the interests of alien players. We accept to not avoid that some 20 percent or added of the alive citizenry are absolute supporters of the regime, and a still somewhat bigger allocation is artlessly afraid — afraid of the alternatives to the Assad regime, of the anarchy afterwards its end, or of the breakdown of the country.Choose from our large selection of Cable Ties.

Olympic visitors to power outdoor lighting

In March Pavegen Systems were announced as the winner of London's Export for Growth prize and will benefit from 5k worth of support and advice from UK Trade & Investment, PwC and HSBC to help further boost worldwide sales of its energy-generating floor tiles.

The technology consists of a rubber tile, 45 x 60 centimeters in size which when stepped on bends slightly,Ekahau rtls is the only Wi-Fi based real time location system solution that operates on any brand or generation of Wi-Fi network. around 5 millimeters, harvesting the kinetic energy generated by a footstep and converting it into usable electricity at a rate of about 7 watts per footstep. At that rate, it takes only five tiles to power a small storefront,Ekahau RTLS is the only Wi-Fi based real time Location system solution that operates on any brand or generation of Wi-Fi network. or light up the streetlamps on a relatively busy street, according to the Laurence Kemball-Cook, the company's CEO.

Pavegen has numerous projects and trials underway in Europe and in May The Black Eyed Pea's Apl.Choose from our large selection of Cable Ties.de.ap and Will-i-am performed on a Pavegen energy generating stage, during a fund raising event for Apl's 'We Can Be Anything' campaign,Welcome to stone mosaic. which helped to power the event. The tiles were also used to maximise the impact of a dancer's movements at Bestival on the Isle of Wight that saw 50,000 revellers over the 4 day festival generating energy to power lighting through dancing. The Pavegen dancefloor used to celebrate WWF's Earth Hour at Somerset House in London featured an interactive lightbox and a built in WIFI Hub powering a WWF twitter feed of the event.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Pavegen installed an energy generating floor in combination with one of Nike Grind's surfacing products, Training Ground with Nike Grind. The Pavegen technology was placed under the Nike Grind in the Hub Culture Pavilion,Handpainted oil paintings for sale on Canvas. to capture the kinetic energy from the delegates' footsteps to power indoor LED lighting (each Pavegen unit powered 4 LED spotlights).

The energy generating tiles are used in a diverse range of situations but one of Pavegen's largest installations is taking place at the Westfield Stratford City Mall in London. This mall is already one of the largest malls in Europe and as it is close to the Olympic Stadium, it is expected to see a huge increase in foot traffic with up to 14 million people walking through the area during the Olympics. The system is expected to generate approximately 50% of the total outdoor lighting energy needs of the Centre.

The people of Glasgow's East End are many things, but they are not pampered

There is no echo of steel, no molten metal being fired, no forgings or armaments being hammered out in what was once the largest steelworks in Europe. Here on its site, the only clanking to be heard is the sound of zimmer frames hitting the tiles on a shopping centre floor.

With its furnaces drawing in a workforce from across the country, the Parkhead Forge was the largest employer in the city. Now all that remains is the nomenclature, giving title to a down-at-heel shopping centre, a place that can often seem like a petri dish of everything that ails the East End of Glasgow.

Look at some of the faces here and you will see the ravages of ill health, smoking, alcohol abuse, poor diet, a lack of sunshine and a life lived without much hope. Here people aimlessly wander, hoping to fill empty days with a wee blether, a free heat and a cheap cup of tea.Accept all major credit cards using the top rated third party payment gateway.

It is an oft-remarked fact that the average life expectancy at birth for men round these parts is 68.1 years, five years lower than the Scottish average. And it would be a rare thing indeed for the East End man to bid his farewell to this mortal coil on a sedan chair.

So to hear Sir Tom Hunter describing this life as "pampered" would no doubt leave the poor old soul burling in his grave – and shouting that at least his early death meant one less demand on the public purse.

Hunter, Scotland's first self-made billionaire – whose riches were made selling training shoes to the nation – has declared that his fellow Scots are "pampered, dependent people who expect what others strive and graft hard for".

This was closely followed by the Daily Mail's description of the East End of Glasgow as the "benefits capital" of the UK, with almost nine out of 10 people "on welfare". It states: "Astonishing figures from the Department of Work and Pensions reveal that 85% of working age adults in Bridgeton, in the city's impoverished east end, are claiming some kind of welfare payment."

But a closer analysis of the DWP statistics for Bridgeton (not actually in the Glasgow East constituency) shows that while high at 44.1% compared with the national average of 14.Alfa plast mould is Plastic moulds Manufacturer.8%, the total number of claimants was 1,480, and that number included those on disability and incapacity benefit and bereavement and carers allowance. People on employment and support allowance are lumped in there too.

When I think of the East End, other statistics, published by the Glasgow Centre for Population Health in 2008, spring to mind.Offers China ceramic tile.

Approximately 1,960 patients are admitted to hospital each year for alcohol-related or attributable causes, with 420 deaths due to alcohol over the past five years. There were 800 new cancer cases and 1,400 heart disease patients admitted to hospital last year.

Just under a third of the population are classed as income-deprived. In the last year, 490 serious assaults were recorded, as well as more than 1,600 domestic abuse cases. The rate of low birth-weight babies is 62% above the Scottish average and teenage pregnancies are 42% above. Almost 16,000 people, out of a population of around 124,000, are estimated to be on prescription drugs for depression.Secured handsfree building and door access solutions with Hands free access by Nedap AVI.

I grew up in the East End of Glasgow and my family have lived there for generations (almost all of them working all their lives).Visit TE online for all of your Application plastic injection mold including tools. This is a landscape far removed from the glossy designer stores of the city centre's style mile or the coffee bars and delis of Byres Road in the West End. Here, the clutter of charity and pound shops that shoulder the pavements speak their own story. In the off-sales, wine is sold from behind bars or bulletproof glass and the Shettleston branch of Tesco rarely stocks free-range chicken since "there's not much call for it round here".

Walk these streets and you can see that gross inequalities have hammered hard into the souls of people who are disenfranchised and ignored. Their housing stock has been improved and overhauled but their lives do not thus have more meaning. Poverty and social problems are still endemic. A local minister recently told me that day by day things were only getting worse.

7.5 million sought for Haughey mansion

WHOEVER BUYS Abbeville will have to live with the ghost of Charles J Haughey. It was here that he held court for decades, having confidential meetings in his book-lined study with the likes of Dermot Desmond, Patrick Gallagher, Larry Goodman and Des Traynor,Muyoung mould specializes in manufacture Plastic molding. or entertaining lavishly in its grand ballroom.

The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage lists it as a nine-bay two-storey over basement country house, dating from 1770 and extended about 20 years later by James Gandon, architect of the Custom House and the Four Courts. The dining room, it notes, is “regarded as Gandon’s finest surviving domestic interior”.

Gandon, whose client and patron was John Beresford, then chairman of the Revenue Commissioners, also designed the stables at the rear, where Haughey kept some of his horses. The perfect picture of him as a country squire was done by Edward McGuire, showing the late taoiseach on horseback in front of Abbeville.

Haughey “adored the place – you could see when he was walking the land that he appreciated the heritage”, Sam Stephenson recalled. Stephenson designed an Irish bar for Haughey, its counter salvaged from a Belfast bank; his architectural partner, Arthur Gibney, did watercolours that were used for Haughey’s Christmas cards.

He always styled it as “Kinsaley”, the more antiquated form of the townland’s name; that’s how it was rendered on the memorial cards sent out by the Haughey family after his death in June 2006. Even laid out in his coffin at Abbeville, former finance minister Ray MacSharry detected a smile of “old devilment” on his face.

El Diablo, as PJ Mara used to call his boss, left his mark on the place. The fountain in front has a mosaic plaque bearing the family crest Marte Nostro (“by our own efforts”), which is repeated in stone at the entrance to the stables. On the west-facing conservatory is a direction sign to his Kerry island: “Inismhicileáin 12000”. As Private Eye would say, “Shurely shome mishtake”. Even the mosaic plaque laid in front of the two-tier fountain is erroneous by including Ex Libris (“from the library”) above its pompous crest, beneath which is inscribed the name Charles James Haughey; it’s as if the artist copied the stamp he used to mark his books.

The grass has all been mown, wrought iron railings painted white and rubble removed from outbuildings. The house itself is also protected from thieves who would covet its 18th-century fireplaces by people staying there under licence from Camelot, a UK-based company that specialises in providing “live-in guardians”.

Abbeville is now being offered for sale by Savills as a “magnificent Gandon Mansion in a parkland setting just 10km from Dublin City Centre”, with a guide price of 7.5 million; that’s around a fifth of what Manor Park Homes paid for the property in 2003, allowing Charlie and Maureen Haughey to continue living in the house.Compare prices and buy all brands of solar panel for home power systems.

A plethora of photographs that used to line the main staircase are gone, as is practically all the furniture. Haughey’s study is now bare, though one feels the walls could speak, but the main elements of his Irish bar survive.Silicone Mold Making Rubber. It was there, in its non-kitsch interior, that he and I had three memorable lunches during his last years.

“I thought you’d never get here till I could open this,” he said the first time, plucking a bottle of Montagny premier cru from the fridge, and pouring two large glasses, to go with Alsatian pate, cheese, bread and salads laid out on a side table as we talked about Dublin and how it had changed, about Ireland and about Paris.

Later, after he bid me open a second bottle and we sat out on the terrace looking out over the lake, I asked CJH if he was concerned that the estate would be radically altered. He said no, that Manor Park Homes were “good people” and they would adopt a sensitive approach, perhaps turning the house into a hotel. Like many other builders,Omega Plastics are a leading rapid tooling and plastic injection mould company based in the UK. Manor Park is now in receivership and its planning permission to develop the estate as a resort has already expired – although it could be reactivated. Under the plan, conceived in 2005,The liquid hardens or sets inside the molds. it was to include a 70-bedroom hotel and spa, with an 18-hole golf course and at least 20 “tourist residential units”.

Even undeveloped, the estate offers a lot – 23 stables, yards and tack room and a dairy (with stained-glass windows) designed by Gandon as well as paddocks, indoor equestrian arena, gate lodge, gardener’s cottage, outdoor swimming pool, formal gardens, private shooting and fishing, a lake and acres of arable land.

But Abbeville could be a much better house than it is. Yes, it has some very grand rooms, all by Gandon. These are the ballroom, with its neo-classical plasterwork, niches and fine fireplace; the diningroom, where an evocative portrait of Seán Lemass once hung, and the curious Gothic drawingroom, where CJH watched television.

The basic problem with Abbeville is that it was turned around from back to front. Its original entrance was from the very expansive but lesser-seen west front, with the main staircase rising from the hall. Switching it round more than 200 years ago had the effect of concealing the staircase, disrupting the natural order of things.

The main bedrooms are generous in scale, on either side of a large antechamber with wonderful views out over the fields, now rented out as horse paddocks. Oddly, the principal bedroom is entered through a large bathroom with a free-standing travertine-encased bath and wardrobes shelved for Haughey’s Charvet shirts.

Other bedrooms on this level are smaller, all opening off a corridor as one might find in a monastery. Rooms on the top floor, with squat ceilings, include a schoolroom complete with blackboard. These are most easily accessible from the ground floor by a very tight secondary staircase that almost seems like an afterthought.

Throughout the house, there are too many changes in levels, with steps up and down like Fawlty Towers. The basement kitchen is surprisingly small, given the scale of Charlie Haughey’s hospitality, although it is supplemented by a large breakfastroom where he deigned to allow family photos on election days. But the chief glory of the house is its high-ceiling ballroom, which Gandon designed as a diningroom for Beresford with bow-fronted windows facing west, double mahogany doors and roundels painted by Angelica Kauffman.

If you build it, they will come

I stood staring at the slimy cold little body in my hand and my brain could not register what I was seeing. I knew it was a large frog but it was like an alien frog, a transforming frog? My mind couldn’t reconcile what it really was.

So I stood there confused. I reached over with my other hand and touched it with a tentative finger. It still didn’t move. In a kind of stunned shock I stood looking at the pink colour where green skin should have been, and the way the legs petered out at the ends.

My imagination tried to turn it into some kind of monster tadpole that was almost turned into adult. I touched its mouth and nothing. I was so horrified I couldn’t let myself feel anything.

I gently laid it down at the base of a shrub,We have a fantastic range of Glass Tiles and glass mosaic Tiles. on the edge of the garden. I numbly went back to my little pond, kneeled down on the edge of the stonewall and pushed my bare arm into the cold dark water to gently pull another handful of debris from the base of the fountain.

For the first few dredgings I just pulled up brown rotting leaves. And then to my dismay I opened my hand to see another dead decomposing adult frog lying in my hand. My beautiful new pond had become a winter death trap for the resident green frogs that had moved in last spring.

I found one more before I gave up for the day, sad and heavy hearted. I wondered how many of the seven I had counted over and over last autumn had survived.Zenith manufactures a comprehensive range of RUBBER SHEET.Secured handsfree building and door access solutions with Hands free access by Nedap AVI. I still haven’t gone back to finish cleaning the pond, afraid I’ll find more dead.

In March during the ridiculously warm weather, one of the frogs had been sluggishly and slowly floating around, laying spread eagle in the water with his legs trailing behind him as they are want to do. On a few warm days in April I’ve again seen one frog basking on the edge of the rock in the shallow water. So at least one has made it through. But now it’s near the end of April and I’ve cleaned out most of the leaves at the bottom of the pond and the weather has turned freezing again, sleeting today. Is my lone frog sitting at the bottom, wondering where all his protective leaves have gone? Is he now freezing to death after making it through that long freeze and thaw winter because he has no protection at all?

While cleaning out the pond that dreadful day I called the Toronto Zoo’s Adopt-A-Pond Wetland Conservation Programme. They provide teachers, students and community groups with information resources and educational opportunities to conserve, restore and create wetland habitats. The coordinator Julia Phillips was sympathetic and helpful.

It looks like the first thing I did wrong was build a pond that was too shallow for adult frogs to survive in over winter. My pond is small, six feet across with a rubber liner and only 14 inches deep at the centre. It should have been at least 1.5 metres (5 feet) deep in order to keep the water from freezing completely. Julia said even safer two metres deep. That’s the point.All RUBBER MATS is comprised of all types of mats.Siebenwurst Werkzeugbau ist ein Unternehmen für Konstruktion und Fertigung von Werkzeugen im Bereich Stanztechnik und Umformtechnik. If it freezes solid the frogs will freeze and die, too.

I found out my second mistake shortly into the conversation. Julia said that green frogs, or Rana clamitans, have tadpoles that can overwinter for up to two years in the larval form. I groaned. I was part way through taking bucket after bucket of water out of the pond to water my newly planted raspberries. And I didn’t have my glasses on. I quickly found them and anxiously scanned the pond for tadpoles olive green and iridescent creamy-white below. I couldn’t see anything but insect larvae. No tadpoles I don’t think. Julia pointed out that they usually only lay eggs in slow moving water so maybe my fountain with the four bronze frogs spouting water into the pond, is too agitated for breeding. I’ll have to watch more closely this summer — with my glasses on.

Males become sexually mature at one year, females may mature in either two or three years. I had certainly made sure my frog’s lives were cut short before they’d even reached their first year. Last summer I had so happily watched them transform from tiny magical frogs to such large beings I was a little taken aback. I started thinking they might be princes in disguise. I found out that they are the second largest frog species in North America next to the bullfrog, so dreams of living in a castle dissolved with the facts.

Researching on the Internet became frustrating as one blog suggested lining little ponds with blue Styrofoam to keep them from freezing; that’s what someone did in Alaska. And another fellow said he pulled a sheet of plastic tight over the pond and that the air insulated the water and plants and kept everything from freezing. In frustration I called Cole’s Pond Store in Grimsby, to speak to their pond expert Jerry Clattenburg. I should have called him sooner.

Solar panels cause clashes with homeowner groups

The government wants you to install solar panels at your house, and will even give you a tax break to do it. But your neighbors? Maybe not.

It's a lesson Angel and David Dobs discovered when their homeowners association north of Atlanta denied their request to install solar panels on their roof. Neighborhood officials said the panels would look out of place and might lower home values in a community that regulates details as fine as the coloring of roof tiles, the planting of trees and the storage of trash cans.

"It's like living under communism — someone gets to dictate every possible thing you do," David Dobs said.

Homeowners associations around the country have banned or severely restricted the installation of solar panels, and the solar industry has pushed back to halt the practice.InLocality specializes in indoor Tracking. A recent attempt in Georgia to expand the right to go solar had support from environmentalists and some Republican lawmakers concerned about private property rights but it succumbed to opposition from developers and real estate agents.

Roughly two dozen states now forbid or limit homeowners associations or local governments from banning solar panels, according to a database run by North Carolina State University. Similar disputes have prompted lawsuits in Nebraska and California.

Angel and David Dobs supported the Georgia legislation after their run-in with the homeowners association. David Dobs had viewed the project as his personal contribution to prevent global warming.

Leaders of the Vickery Lake Homeowners Association in Cumming say the dispute is about architecture and aesthetics, not the merits of solar power. Homeowners automatically accept the community rules when they purchase a home there.

"We're not going to debate whether it's a good idea to have green energy or not," said Jim Pearson, the association's president.

These debates are likely to keep flaring as more people install solar energy systems because the equipment is getting cheaper and governments subsidize the cost. Taxpayers can now deduct 30 percent of the cost of installing solar panels from their federal tax bill. Other states and local governments offer additional incentives.

The fight is not new. Some solar rights laws date back to the 1970s, while other states have added similar measures more recently.

California's law, first enacted in 1978, prevents homeowners associations from forcing residents to make aesthetic changes to photovoltaic panels that raise the cost by more than $2,000 or decrease a system's efficiency more than 20 percent.

Most disputes in California are worked out privately, but a few have reached the court system. Last year, a California appellate court upheld a decision forcing a couple to remove solar panels that were installed in their yard without the approval of their homeowners association. They were allowed to keep other panels on their roof.All RUBBER MATS is comprised of all types of mats.

"They don't like the way they look," said attorney Michael McQueen, who represented the couple and others in similar disputes. "And (homeowners associations) are all about looks. Is your lawn green? Are your hedges trimmed?"

Ricardo Cestero, an attorney for the homeowners association, said neighborhood leaders were concerned the ground-level panels were not set back far enough from the street, were inadequately protected from damage and might cause erosion.

Texas adopted a law last year preventing homeowners associations from totally blocking solar panels. The law makes clear that residents can install them on roofs or in fenced-in yards or patios, subject to some limits.

In Georgia, the fight between the Dobses and their homeowners association started in 2010. David Dobs said the rules required that he and his wife seek permission to build solar panels.

He first proposed installing 30 panels on two areas parallel to the slope of his roof. People could have seen sections of the three-by-five-feet panels as they walked or drove along the street.Siebenwurst Werkzeugbau ist ein Unternehmen für Konstruktion und Fertigung von Werkzeugen im Bereich Stanztechnik und Umformtechnik.

The homeowners association rejected that request and three others from Dobs.

Board member Jim Graham said that to win approval,If you have a fondness for china mosaic brimming with romantic roses. the panels would probably need to be out of view, perhaps mounted in a backyard and obscured by a fence — though fences too are subject to association approval.

Graham said that if people don't like the rules, they are free to buy elsewhere.

"They chose to come into this community," he said.

Lawmakers in Georgia tried to resolve the problem with legislation giving homeowners associations the rest of the year to decide whether to ban solar panels. Any neighborhood that did not set a ban by next year would be unable to stop a homeowner from installing solar panels in the future.Zenith manufactures a comprehensive range of RUBBER SHEET.

Under-the-radar job growth

Three Chicago-area science and technology whizzes are busy learning their trades in fast-growing careers. Their work ranges from designing a comedian’s interactive stage set to mapping a health plan for trees to figuring out why the universe is rapidly expanding.

Their ease at winning projects, internships and jobs reflects little-known growth industries and a new education reality: Young people’s choices of study, training and financial aid are playing a big role in whether they fill menial low-paying jobs or tech-focused, higher-skilled work.

Devin Wambolt, a 24-year-old senior at Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy in the Loop, has won attention on YouTube for his projection mapping visuals created with camera, projector and 3D software to create illusions that interact with a person’s movements. He stacked up moving boxes, covered them with paper and connected a projector to an Xbox 360 Kinect to create a system where a student can use his or her hand to “project” light onto the boxes, trigger footprints to appear where he has walked or otherwise augment reality.

“I’ve been playing with illusions and light and using fluid dynamics, physics and simulations — they all apply,” said Wambolt, who will graduate on June 2 with an associate’s degree in applied sciences. Everyone in the academy’s 230-member graduating class receives the associate’s degree, but each holds one of four specialties: Recording arts,Painless Processing provides high risk merchant account solutions. film and broadcast, visual effects and animation, and game design and interactive media.

Wambolt is now working on an interactive program at iNG restaurant, 945 W. Fulton Market, and is creating a set design for Hot Mix Five DJ Producer Mickey Oliver, a Chicago native who created and stars in “Intensi-T,” a theatrically staged dance show and a TV variety show.

“My goal is to keep working on new and exciting projects. There are so many opportunities, I’d like to weigh my options,” Wambolt said. Before starting Tribeca Academy,InLocality specializes in indoor Tracking. Wambolt earned certificates in web design, graphic design and 3D animation from Boston University and worked at an audio-visual company installing home theaters, stadium jumbotrons and high-tech lecture-hall systems at Harvard University, Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Tribeca Academy has seen its student body grow sixfold— to a projected 650 starting in the 2012-2013 school year — from its first graduating class of 102 three years ago. The 2011 graduating class had a 77 percent placement rate in paid jobs that reflected students’ interests. The jobs range from TV production to videogame design, to writing for film festival blogs and creating 3D and video event coverage.What is a real time Location system (RTLS)? Full-time salaries range from $35,000 to $65,000 yearly. Tribeca’s tuition totals $50,000 for the full two years, and the academy offers financial aid to those eligible.

“We are seeing an explosion in WebTV and Google TV channels looking for 24/7 content,” said Jill Geimer, senior vice president of career services at the academy.Shop for oil painting and oil paintings for sale included. “We’ve also had students work for the casting director on ‘The Voice’ (hit singing competition series on NBC-TV). Good production assistants in Los Angeles earn an average of $1,100 a week.”

Other growth careers are developing apps for mobile gaming, creating animated commercials for ad agencies and working on live concerts and theater productions for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts (IATSE) union at major venues such as Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

Margaret Yagen, a 22-year-old senior at Elmhurst College, is collecting and mapping data on trees, street lights, water-main breaks and other public works details as an intern at the west suburban village of Westchester — a job called geospatial technology that is used in farming, urban planning, military operations, utility infrastructure routing and developing apps for Facebook, online retailers and others leveraging smartphones and electronic devices embedded with location technology.

“With the information we create, we can figure out the types of trees the village has, how frequently they’ve been maintained and the order in which they need attention, and create a plan on how to go about it,” Yagen said.

Yagen will obtain a bachelor’s in Applied Geospatial Technologies with a minor in human geography when she graduates on May 26.Master Arts specialises in oil painting reproduction. Her field includes jobs in remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS) and global positioning systems (GPS).

The number of such jobs nationwide is projected to skyrocket by 42 percent, to 850,000, by 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Most of the entry-level positions start at $45,000 and can exceed $50,000 yearly.

R.B. “Rich” Schultz, coordinator of the GIS certification program at Elmhurst College, said the college cannot supply enough students to meet the yearly demands for 50 to 60 geospatial technologies internships. Elmhurst last year became the first liberal arts college to offer a bachelor’s of science degree in Applied Geospatial Technologies. Elmhurst College’s tuition totals $125,800 for students who live on campus and who receive no financial aid throughout the four-year degree period.

Joe Bernstein, a 36-year-old postdoctoral researcher at Argonne National Laboratory’s Leadership Computing Facility, credits his first physics studies at the College of DuPage with leading him to a future bounded only by his imagination.

Energy costs may hinder tile industry growth- Report

The Sri Lankan ceramic tile industry could see a surge in both its domestic and export markets provided that positive signs as to a global economic recovery and booming local construction industry are not offset by the industry’s escalating energy and raw material costs, according to a report on the tile sector from Asia Wealth Management Co (Pvt) Ltd.

Noting that tile consumption is highly correlated with per capita income levels, the report stated that the domestic market holds significant potential for the industry.

“When compared to certain countries,Painless Processing provides high risk merchant account solutions. Sri Lankan tile consumption is deeply low. This is due to the fact that tile is a luxury product and does not have priority in a typical dwelling construction. However, low per capita tile consumption compared to higher per capita GDP growth in Sri Lanka proves that there is ample room for the tile sector to grow,There is no de facto standard for an Indoor Positioning System.” the report stated.

Nevertheless, it noted that the industry remains highly exposed to volatility in energy costs; particularly LP Gas and kerosene, which currently account for between 35% and 40% of average production costs.

Despite its relative abundance, restrictive mining regulations on clay- the industry’s primary raw material- may also play a part in driving up costs for the tile sector,Learn about tile flooring installation with Lowe's How to Install Floor tiles guide. according to the report.

Such restrictions,Plastic Injection moulds as well as other dies. in combination with an increase in the prevalence of illegal clay mining operations may force industry players to commence importing clay from China or India, ultimately exposing ceramic tile manufacturers to further risk through exchange rate volatility in an industry which at present sources 95% of its raw materials locally.

The report added that competition from cheaper foreign alternatives as a result of the government’s decision to reduce the Cess on importation of certain categories of building stones, including tiles, from 30% down to 20% may cause severe price competition for the local industry, potentially leading to the domination of local markets by cheaper imports from China.We are professional Plastic Mould.

Review: FX's 'Wilfred' has a dog complex

In "Wilfred" (9 p.m. June 23, FX; **** stars out of four), it's the human who learns new tricks from a dog, not the other way around. Stuffed with absurd situations and piles of bad taste, "Wilfred" is the strangest new show on TV. And the funniest.

Elijah Wood stars as Ryan, a depressed lawyer who is so messed up from trying to live up to everyone else's expectations that he attempts suicide by drinking a smoothie of anti-anxiety pills. So it's no surprise that when his sexy neighbor, Jenna (Fiona Gubelmann), asks him to dogsit for her, he thinks he's hallucinating as Wilfred (Jason Gann) strolls into his house (on two legs, by the way), fluffs a pillow on the couch, turns around a couple of times, then plops down for a chat.


To everyone else, Wilfred's just a regular pooch.

"It's all about perception," Wilfred (Jason Gann) tells Ryan in the series premiere. "You've got to change the way you're seeing things."

To that end, Wilfred leads Ryan down a dark path of shady exploits that include breaking into their neighbor's house to steal his pot plants and leave steamy calling cards in his boots. To further the lesson about cutting loose and living dangerously, Wilfred intentionally leaves Ryan's wallet at the scene of the crime.

It's a hard lesson to learn, but slowly¡ªand painfully¡ªWilfred teaches Ryan how to stand on his own hind legs.

Adapted from Gann's original Aussie show by "Family Guy" writer David Zuckerman, "Wilfred" works on many levels, the least of which are the jokes about bodily functions.

Then there's the question of why Ryan sees Wilfred as a guy in a dog suit. Is it a figment of his imagination (like in the Jimmy Stewart film "Harvey") or does he have a badass alter ego (like in "Fight Club")?

No one questions Ryan when he assigns human qualities to the dog, because pet owners often treat their animals as people. But it's also fun watching Wilfred do all the "dogisms"¡ªfrom walking in circles before sitting down to chasing a motorcycle to burying his snout in a waitress' chest. (And other things I can't mention here.)

Gann's hilarious as Wilfred, both with the broad comedy and subtle voice inflections, looks and dogism movements. Wood plays mostly straight to Gann's silly, but he does so perfectly. His timing is impeccable.Choose from one of the major categories of Bedding, Gubelmann and a surprisingly broad list of guest stars (Ethan Suplee, Chris Klein, Ed Helms, Rashida Jones) also promise bring the funny.

Finally, and this is my favorite part of the many layers at play, Wilfred's wisdom never gets preachy or corny,the Injection mold fast! because he uses such tough love on Ryan.Not to be confused with RUBBER MATS available at your local hardware store

It might be difficult for Ryan to hear the truth, but as Wilfred says,Customized imprinted and promotional usb flash drives. nothing should be easy.Save on hydraulic hose and fittings, "I'm not going to bite you. Biting's the easy way out."

Wine industry revives as sales of $7-plus bottles pick up

After two years of sluggish wine sales, consumers are starting to reach for — and spend more on — their favorite vintages.what are the symptoms of Piles,

Domestic wine retail sales grew 7 percent in 2010 over the previous year, according to the Wine Institute in San Francisco. U.S. wine exports also jumped to a record $1.14 billion in 2010, up nearly 26 percent from 2009.

For the first time, the United States in 2010 consumed more wine than France. While the French still drink far more wine per capita than Americans, the United States — with its much larger population — has more people pouring a glass of cabernet sauvignon or chardonnay.

As the U.S. economic recovery creeps on, restaurateurs say they are seeing more diners ordering full bottles of wine, rather than a single glass, with their meals. Technomic Inc., a Chicago research firm, forecast that alcohol sales at restaurants and bars would grow 1.9 percent in 2011,is the 'solar panel revolution' upon us? compared with sales in 2010.

"People are feeling a bit more confident about the economy and are going back to what they know," said Tom Klein, the Wine Institute's chairman and Rodney Strong Vineyards' vintner. "The wine industry, is it easy right now? No. But I think the industry has turned a bit of the corner. People are being smart about what they buy, but they are coming back.How is TMJ pain treated?"

Shoppers, who shifted to wines that cost less than $7 during the height of the recession, are reaching for pricier bottles,Find everything you need to know about Cold Sore including causes, analysts said.

According to the Wine Institute, sales of wine in the $7-to-$14 category grew 5 percent in 2010.What are the top Hemroids treatments?

Even sales of high-end wines, which plummeted as recession-wary consumers cut back on luxury spending, are picking up.