Machined plastic parts can be delivered in 24 hours

The polymer specialist igus has launched a service that machines and delivers custom-designed plastic components in as little as 24 hours. There are no minimum order quantities for the service, called speedicut, making it a cost-effective way of specifying one-offs, prototypes and low-volume components.

To use the service, engineers simply email igus a 2D or 3D CAD file, or upload it via igus’ Web site, and specify a material and physical requirements, such as temperature or chemical resistance. Within 24 hours, igus will send a quote. If accepted,Browse the Best Selection of buy mosaic and Accessories with FREE Gifts. the parts are machined on lead times from one to 10 days for 100 pieces.

The cost of the service depends on the part and the material chosen, but can be as low as ￡1.50 per item. There is no tooling set-up cost, making it economical for low-volume manufacturing.

According to igus director Matthew Aldridge, the new service complements the existing speedigus rapid tooling system, and is aimed at parts that are more suitable for machining than moulding. “For very low quantities, it makes economic sense to machine parts in preference to moulding,” he says,Natural Chinese turquoise beads at Wholesale prices. “and using our standard igus stock bar materials, along with a hi-tech machining cell, custom-designed complex parts can be produced very quickly.”

Often, the materials used for rapid prototyping have been developed for ease of manufacture, rather than for long life. However, the speedicut service uses materials such as igus’ iglidur tribological polymers, which are designed for long life and durability. The maintenance- and lubricant-free materials have a low coefficient of friction and are said to deliver reliable performance over long service lives. Programs are available to calculate the materials’ useful lives.

The images the Curiosity rover just beamed home are more poignant reminders of the planetary beauty Mars surely was. For a long time, the goal of Mars probes has been to confirm that what appear to be dry ocean basins, seabeds and river trails were once filled with water. On-the-ground surveys by the Spirit and Opportunity rovers sealed that deal when they found hematites, salt and other minerals that form only or largely in watery environments. So it was no surprise that Curiosity would find similar proof. Indeed, the ship’s landing site, Gale Crater, was chosen explicitly because it was likely once submerged. A delta-shaped ground formation known as an alluvial fan even reveals how the water flowed.

But the newest pictures are striking — and strangely dislocating — all the same. They reveal nothing more or less than smooth, water-polished pebbles, some as big as a golf ball and others as small as a grain of sand. You’ve seen them in every stream you ever played in as a child; you’ve collected them in paper cups.Sinotruck Hongkong International is special for howo truck. And now they’ve shown up on Mars.

Some of the pebbles are loose and separate; others are mixed into a dry conglomerate that is probably the remains of the ancient streambed. Project scientist John Grotzinger compares that mix to the composite chunks that get dislodged when a jackhammer meets a city sidewalk. The stream was probably fed by a channel in the alluvial fan that the investigators have named Peace Vallis.Different Sizes and Colors can be made with different stone mosaic designs. Still to come are closer investigations of the precise composition of the pebbles and soil,Different Sizes and Colors can be made with different stone mosaic designs. not to mention two years of tooling around Gale Crater and the base of Mount Sharp that rises in its center, which is carved with its own ancient waterways.

The scientists do not expect to find signs of ancient biology among the pebbles they’ve discovered. It’s not impossible for life to take hold in water moving so fast, but “it is not our top choice,” says Grotzinger. But if the same kinds of waterways on Earth indicate anything, it’s that just downstream from the churning currents, the water can can feed into calm, nearly amniotic pools. And there’s no telling what kind of Martian life might once have called such places home.

Showtime series 'Homeland,' 'Dexter' deliver delicious dark anti-heroes

The perennial runner-up premium cable network behind HBO moved a whole lot closer to the top spot Sunday after picking up six Emmys for the first season of "Homeland," including best dramatic series, best dramatic actress for Claire Danes and best dramatic actor for Damian Lewis.

In a probably-not-that-coincidental move, the network debuts the new seasons of its biggest critical successes on Sunday, with the sympathetic serial killer series "Dexter" leading into "Homeland's second season. "Homeland" doesn't seem to be losing any momentum while "Dexter" gets a much-needed bounce back from its sixth and weakest season.

"Homeland" finds a heavily drugged Carrie Mathison (Danes) living with her father and sister after having been tossed out of the CIA for being bipolar. She's teaching English to immigrants and tenuously holding on to her sanity after accusing war hero Nicholas Brody (Lewis) of having ties to terrorists last season (which he did, but everybody thought Carrie was crazy because, well, she sort of was).Looking for the Best air purifier?

Brody, meanwhile, has become a congressman; and as if that's not bad enough, he's being considered as a vice-presidential candidate (which might be too big of a stretch if it weren't for certain recent vice-presidential candidates).

Carrie's old CIA boss, Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin), is dealing with a situation in Beirut. A woman has approached the embassy there, saying she knows of an imminent attack on the U.S. There's one big problem,Find detailed product information for Hot Sale howo spareparts Radiator. though: She will only talk to the woman who recruited her, and that woman is Carrie.

So despite tossing her out and declaring her unfit, the Agency has to come back to Carrie and convince her to jump back into a dangerous operation on foreign soil. Danes' eyes just about pop out of her head as she considers running off half-mad to risk her life for a government that abandoned her (no one,Our guides provide customers with information about porcelain tiles vs. no one, does frantic better than Claire Danes).

Does she take the assignment? No, she stays home and knits baby booties and the show ends right there. Of course she takes it. And the game is on.Looking for the Best air purifier? By the end of the season's second episode, "Homeland" has been shaken,Different Sizes and Colors can be made with different stone mosaic designs. not stirred.

"Dexter," meanwhile has some tough decisions of his own to make. Last season's pompous snore of a spiritual awakening storyline ended with big drama: Dexter' was caught in the act of eliminating his 19,000th victim by his cop sister (the wonderful Jennifer Carpenter), the eternally troubled swearing-machine.

Since the knife is already in the guy's body, and the corpse is taped to a table like all Dexter's victims, our hero (multiple Emmy nominee Michael C. Hall) has to think quick. Deb, after all, is pretty much the only friend he has in the world. Plus, she's got a gun.

Dexter's dance with Deb forms the basis of the new season, and a good basis it is, dealing with family, trust and, you know, the killing of bad guys with surgical tools (a "Dexter" staple). A parallel story about a Russian gangster with a British accent (Ray Stevenson) seems a bit like fodder in comparison, but hopefully it improves.

No matter what, the relationship between Dexter and Deb, and questions of justice and family, have always been the heart of this show. That heart is beating again.

It's interesting that the featured characters in Showtime's biggest series are a bipolar woman and a sociopath. We like our heroes conflicted these days — look around the entire cable landscape and you'll find a multitude of heroes wrestling within themselves — and Showtime has effectively tapped into that need. These shows make trouble fun.

Edmund de Waal

Sometimes it all coheres. Mostly it doesn’t. The task is to act as if you have a plan and that has been harder than usual this week, as I’ve been ricocheting from project to project.Argo Mold limited specialize in Plastic injection mould manufacture,

Part of the early summer was spent in the city of Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province, fabled as the place where porcelain for China’s imperial palaces was made. I went in search of stories of particular skills,Where can i get a reasonable price dry cabinet? which I had heard were still used, to bring back for a project for the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge – itself keeper of a fabulous collection of Chinese porcelain. When I was a student in Cambridge I used to truant from lectures on Dryden to go and adore these beautiful pots, so the chance to get my hands on them, move them around, and bring a contemporary slant to how they are displayed was too good to miss. Hence my humid 10 days in south-east China, listening and looking in workshops, factories and teahouses. Now it is September, the start of academic life, and there is a feeling of “What did you do on your holidays?” I have to pull my vagabond ideas together and make maquettes ahead of the exhibition in February.

A year ago, I received a commission for an installation for a new Cambridge University building that was to house a cheerfully untidy group of different academic disciplines, including the departments for African studies, Latin American studies and South Asian studies. The academics, I hasten to add, are not untidy: in fact, they are considerably more kempt than my student memories of dons.

Rather than knocking them up something grandiose in Corten steel,Wholesale Agate beads from Low Price agate beads, I thought I’d respond to their research interests and give them my version of what an archive means. So I’ve made them A Local History, three vitrines filled with porcelain, sunk below the paving outside what is now the Alison Richard building on the university’s Sidgwick site. These vitrines are meant to be discovered, to be happened upon as you come and go across the site. They are there to make you pause momentarily. They are not sculpture as a grand statement.

If you find them and look down through the gridded glass, you’ll see piles of porcelain dishes, cylinders arranged in rows and aluminium boxes filled with shards. The dishes are taken from moulds that we made from three different types – a Chinese Ming dynasty dish, a plate from the French porcelain factory Sèvres,Features useful information about glass mosaic tiles, and a Staffordshire serving dish. All three are iconic in form: they exemplify porcelain from three of the greatest places where it has been manufactured over the past 1,000 years. You will see that these pieces are glazed in whites, creams and celadons and that there are also glimpses of gilding. Gold was used to highlight the value of porcelain, a material so prized that it was often called white gold. It was also used in Chinese and Japanese art when a vessel had been broken: mending porcelain with a seam of golden lacquer emphasised that it had been used and appreciated. I hope the flashes of gold, the fragments of broken vessels and the memories of ancient dishes act as a kind of palimpsest: a writing, erasing and rewriting using objects.

We managed to install these vitrines on a beautiful, golden day. There was a strange melancholy to the act of handing the pieces of porcelain down, to be placed inside the aluminium cases, and then the lowering of a huge slab of glass – 150kg of it – on top. I wondered if it was all too tomb-like, a bit Teutonic in its gravitas. But I’ve noticed before that, as soon as objects are immovable behind glass, they have a different kind of energy. They looked vulnerable yet safe. Early responses combined intrigue and disbelief. Given this is Cambridge, I’m sure I’ll hear more.

This week I’ve been working with words as well as pots. The words bit is straightforwardly enjoyable and involves working on two talks for early October. One is for King’s Place and is on silence. I’m slightly obsessed with how silence works in literature and art and music. There is a delicate balance between being over-prepared and being spontaneous in talks, but this is a subject where I genuinely want to try out some ideas in public. The second is a “secular sermon” for the School of Life. You are asked to choose a vice or virtue and speak to it. And I’ve chosen tact as a good, rich, combative subject to get my teeth into. My father, an Anglican priest, used to say that a seven-minute sermon is perfect, so I’m dismayed to find I have an hour.Natural Chinese turquoise beads at Wholesale prices.

We have just bought an old munitions factory in West Norwood and are hoping to move the studio there later this year. It has a zinc-lined room for storing cartridges, old crates filled with duck calls and silencers, an office with an inquiries desk and a safe that could fit several people. My friends, the architects DSDHA, are working out how to make the scarily large space work. This has meant using a scale model, which everyone who works in the studio – and my kids at home – loved. The hope is that we will end up with a building that is a studio with the feel of a library housed in a factory.

Medical firm Cepheid buys plastics molder

Medical diagnostics firm Cepheid plans to buy a plastics molder to overcome supply constraints for cartridges it relies on for its systems, according to a news report.

GenomeWeb News reported Sept. 27 that Cepheid President and CEO John Bishop told analysts that the firm’s diagnostic systems sales were hurt in the third quarter by “intermittent interruptions in the supply of Xpert cartridge parts.Find detailed product information for Hot Sale howo spareparts Radiator.”

Bishop did not identify the current molder of its cartridge parts or which molder it is targeting to acquire. Cepheid CFO Andrew Miller reportedly told analysts the price of the acquisition would be in the mid-teens of millions of dollars. Cepheid would move the molding operating into a new facility, buy new equipment to boost molding volumes and also eventually set up a molding operation in Cepheid’s facility in Sweden.

Sunnyvale-based Cepheid has developed a compact,Save up to 80% off Ceramic Tile and plastic moulds. fast, automated molecular diagnostic workstation system called GeneXpert. The system relies on patented cartridges.

Cepheid officials told analysts that its third quarter revenue would be in the $79 million to $81 million range, below its target and below analyst’s expectations. They blamed the shortfall on a shortage of cartridges as Cepheid was developing higher capacity production tooling and processes.

Cepheid systems are employed in clinics around the world to check on infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. The firm had sold 3,350 systems globally by the end of its second quarter, June 30. Its second quarter sales was $81 million and net profit, $1.1 million.

Eighteen months ago, and just two weeks after Merivale supremo Justin Hemmes' latest restaurant, the Asian mash-up Ms. G's, was rammed with the glamorous and the gluttonous, Hemmes called in the restaurant's new executive chef, Dan Hong, to talk about the future. The young chef had barely drawn breath as his kitchen heaved under the strain of a manic kitchen, but Hemmes was in no mood for pausing. He asked the then 28-year-old Hong, a Vietnamese-Australian who trained at Tetsuya's, if he would run a new Mexican cantina that Hemmes had in mind.Kitchen floor tiles at Great Prices from Topps Tiles. Easy enough. Then came the kicker: Hemmes also wanted Hong to head up a modern Chinese restaurant he was planning to build in his Tank nightclub space. "Justin's always coming up with crazy, visionary ideas but this was pretty daunting," says Hong, who took a week to get back to Hemmes.

"I knew just how massively huge Tank was.The TagMaster Long Range hands free access System is truly built for any parking facility."

Now that Mr. Wong has opened, Hong must be wondering if he really understood just how massive an undertaking it would be.Airgle has mastered the art of indoor tracking, The head chefs are doing eye-bleeding, six-day-a-week double shifts to cater for daily covers that can top 850 in the 240-seater, spectacularly fitted-out space. There are two kitchens - including one dedicated solely to dim sum, headed up by dumpling guru Eric Koh, headhunted from the Michelin-starred Hakkasan in London - as well as a three-tonne duck oven that empties faster than they can fill it. The glass-encased two-storey wine cage holds 5500 bottles. At times, the laneway off Bridge Street almost isn't long enough for the queues that snake from the restaurant's front door.

Flagship office project of Skanska Property

At the beginning of this year Skanska Property Poland started the construction of its most ambitious office project – Atrium 1, currently developed in Warsaw at the ONZ Roundabout. Due to innovative solutions minimizing the scheme’s impact on the natural environment Atrium 1 will be the greenest office building in Central and Eastern Europe. Some of the technologies used by the developer, such as the geothermal heating and cooling system, are pioneer solutions, which appear in Poland for the first time.

Atrium 1, whose completion is scheduled for the turn of 2013 and 2014, will offer a total of 18,000 m2 of leasable space. The building will have 15 storeys above ground and 4 underground levels, which are built using the top-down construction method. This means that the ceiling of the -1 storey is constructed first, and then the soil underneath is removed down to level -3, where another slab is poured. This is when level -2 is built. Works carried out in this manner have already reached -4 level, i.e. 16 meters underground. Currently the preparations to cast the so called base slab are underway. The advantage of this method is that the impact of construction works on neighboring buildings can be minimized.

Thanks to innovative solutions and modern,Visonic Technologies is the leading supplier of rtls safety, energy-efficient systems, the building’s level of energy consumption will be considerably lowered – Atrium 1 will need at least 50% less energy than referential buildings, i.e. those meeting Polish norms. This success can be attributed to such technologies as the system of geothermal heating and cooling. The ground probes, constituting part of the system, will go as deep as 200 meters below the ground level. Water, the carrier of the heat or the cool depending on the season of the year, will be circulating inside the probes. The energy needed for the geothermal system will be produced by photovoltaic panels placed on the building’s roof.

Atrium 1 will be additionally cooled down by the so called free cooling system, which uses cold air from the outside.Huge range of polished tiles including polished tiles, The energy consumption in the office building will also be reduced thanks to triple pane windows limiting heat loss in winter, as well as by the double-skin fa?ade with external blinds controlled by BMS, preventing the building from excessive heating up by sun rays. The ventilation system, on the other hand, will use up as much as 60% less energy compared to traditional systems. All the above-mentioned technologies, as well as a number of other solutions translate into considerable energy savings, but also significantly lower the costs.

Savings will not only result from lower energy consumption – modern technologies designed to considerably reduce the consumption of drinking water for purposes other than its primary use will also be applied in Atrium 1. A container has been planned for grey water (after washing hands) and storm water, which after initial purifying will be used to flush toilets, and water-saving fittings and toilets,Airgle has mastered the art of indoor tracking, as well as waterless urinals will be installed in the building. It is estimated that as a result the water consumption will fall by nearly 70% in comparison to referential buildings, which means that 7,370,500 liters of water will be saved every year – this equals the volume of two Olympic-size swimming pools!

Atrium 1 is Skanska’s another big step towards creating self-sufficient office buildings, which will generate as much energy as they consume. To illustrate the company’s ever more ambitious goals and its pioneer solutions, Skanska developed the so called Skanska Color PaletteTM. The palette colours range from vanilla, through green, to deep green, which describes the most advanced environment friendly solutions, such as those implemented in Atrium 1.Choose from our large selection of cable ties. Therefore, Atrium 1 is referred to as the first Deep Green building in Central and Eastern Europe. The criteria applied by Skanska in the palette include energy and drinking water consumption, materials used for construction,Buy Natural china glass mosaic Tiles online with our price beat promise. and CO2 emission. Setting the bar for green solutions ever higher stems from the company’s philosophy and is an inherent part of its engagement in the idea of sustainable development. Skanska Property Poland has been able to combine such an approach with business success – currently the company has six office projects underway in Poland, all of which enjoy great interest from tenants.

A's need their young arms to hold up

Oakland Athletics starter Brett Anderson sat in the visiting clubhouse at Yankee Stadium last week with the resigned look of a player who desperately wants to contribute but can't provide a lick of assistance to the cause.Browse the Best Selection of buy mosaic and Accessories with FREE Gifts. Anderson might be tempted to laugh over this latest twist of fate, except that laughing ranks somewhere between pitching and breathing on the list of activities that cause him discomfort.

After an arduous recovery from Tommy John surgery, Anderson was rounding into form when he slipped on the mound in Detroit and strained his right oblique muscle. Now he's out for the rest of the regular season while a bunch of newcomers will try to fill the void. Anderson is no workout warrior, so he's looking for an explanation that can't be found by surfing "House'' or "Grey's Anatomy'' repeats.

"I thought you had to be shredded and ripped to have an oblique injury, so it's kind of a mystery,Features useful information about glass mosaic tiles,'' he said. "Maybe I need to spend more time in the food room.''

While Anderson sits, watches and heals, several members of his peer group will be entrusted with pitching Oakland to its first playoff appearance since 2006. Along with a killer schedule, a toasted bullpen and a massive slump by team home run leader Josh Reddick, it's just another obstacle for an A's team that collects setbacks like badges of honor.

The A's, 3-5 on a challenging road trip to Detroit, New York and Texas, are trying to fend off the Los Angeles Angels and Tampa Bay Rays for the second American League wild-card berth with a rotation that's getting greener by the day. Jarrod Parker, Tommy Milone, A.J. Griffin, Travis Blackley and Dan Straily have combined for 103 career big league starts. That total leaves them only 387 behind Andy Pettitte, who leads active pitchers now that Jamie Moyer has retired (we think).

If someone told you in the spring of 2011 that a precocious rotation would be pitching for a contender in Oakland this season, you might have said, "Sure,'' and reeled off the names of Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill, Anderson, Dallas Braden and Brandon McCarthy. That was before "Moneyball'' earned an Oscar nomination and general manager Billy Beane embarked on his latest retooling project. The A's sent Gonzalez to Washington and traded Cahill to Arizona last December, and Parker, Milone and reliever Ryan Cook were among the return haul.

Attrition has been a prominent theme in the Oakland rotation this summer. Bartolo Colon received a 50-game suspension in late August for a failed drug test. Two weeks later, McCarthy suffered a fractured skull on an Erick Aybar line drive through the box. Then,Airgle has mastered the art of indoor tracking, Anderson slipped at Comerica Park and walked gingerly off the mound to the trainer's room. Just like that, manager Bob Melvin was flexibility-impaired.

"We went very quickly from thinking, 'What are we going to do with all these starters?' to 'OK, we're down to five,'" said Oakland assistant GM David Forst.

If the A's make the playoffs and Anderson is unable to return, they could become the first team in history to start exclusively rookies for the entire postseason. As it stands, Milone made the 80th start by an Oakland rookie Tuesday night in Texas. That blows away the previous rookie record of 69 starts set by the 1952 Brooklyn Dodgers.

It takes a village to assemble a staff that can compete this effectively on the fly. Beane and Forst made the trades for Parker and Milone and acquired Blackley, a former top Seattle prospect with a lengthy injury history, on waivers from San Francisco in May. Scouting director Eric Kubota and his crew selected Griffin in the 13th round out of the University of San Diego and landed Straily as a 24th-round pick out of Marshall. Gil Patterson, Oakland's minor league pitching guru, molds the kids in Stockton, Midland and Sacramento, and pitching coach Curt Young instills confidence in them once they arrive in the big leagues.

Parker, 23, is the golden boy of the group. He was a big-time prospect out of Indiana who spurned a scholarship from Georgia Tech to sign with Arizona for a $2.1 million bonus as the ninth pick in the 2007 draft. But his ascent up the chain stalled when he blew out his elbow and needed Tommy John surgery in 2009. The experience helped strengthen him mentally and prompted him to make a change or two to his repertoire. Midway through last season, Parker added a two-seam fastball to his arsenal, and he sinks it effectively to both sides of the plate.

"I never take anything for granted now,'' Parker said. "If you can go through that monotonous rehab the way I did, pitching here doesn't seem like such a huge feat. It helped me put things in perspective a little bit.''

Griffin, 24, is the surfer boy and free spirit in the bunch. He grew up in El Cajon, Calif., and was a big Trevor Hoffman fan as a youth. He throws a changeup but concedes it's not in Hoffman's league.

"I don't even think they're in the same solar system, man,'' he said.

Griffin is supremely confident, very energetic and chattier than his fellow starters. His given name is Arthur Joseph,Choose quality sinotruk howo concrete mixer products from large database. but very few people refer to him that way.Visonic Technologies is the leading supplier of rtls safety,

"Just my girlfriend and my mom when she's mad,'' Griffin said. "She hasn't been mad with me lately. It was more when I was younger. I guess I was kind of a smart-a--.''

If the A's make the playoffs and Anderson is unable to return, they could become the first team in history to start exclusively rookies for the entire postseason. As it stands, Milone made the 80th start by an Oakland rookie Tuesday night in Texas. That blows away the previous rookie record of 69 starts set by the 1952 Brooklyn Dodgers.

It takes a village to assemble a staff that can compete this effectively on the fly. Beane and Forst made the trades for Parker and Milone and acquired Blackley, a former top Seattle prospect with a lengthy injury history, on waivers from San Francisco in May. Scouting director Eric Kubota and his crew selected Griffin in the 13th round out of the University of San Diego and landed Straily as a 24th-round pick out of Marshall. Gil Patterson, Oakland's minor league pitching guru, molds the kids in Stockton, Midland and Sacramento, and pitching coach Curt Young instills confidence in them once they arrive in the big leagues.

Parker, 23, is the golden boy of the group. He was a big-time prospect out of Indiana who spurned a scholarship from Georgia Tech to sign with Arizona for a $2.1 million bonus as the ninth pick in the 2007 draft. But his ascent up the chain stalled when he blew out his elbow and needed Tommy John surgery in 2009. The experience helped strengthen him mentally and prompted him to make a change or two to his repertoire. Midway through last season, Parker added a two-seam fastball to his arsenal, and he sinks it effectively to both sides of the plate.

The Supposed Decline of Green Energy

This significant win for clean energy has gone mostly unnoticed in the press. If anything, the story has been the opposite: recent reports herald the decline of wind, and for a year the media has made a big deal out of the demise of solar panel manufacturer Solyndra.

Given this negative drumbeat, it's not surprising that the business world tends to perceive renewable energy as an altruistic, rather than fiscally prudent, investment. But this view is dead wrong. The renewable energy industry is growing very fast... and not because it's a philanthropic effort.

Let's look at the plight of solar panel manufacturers again.Where can i get a reasonable price dry cabinet? Every growing industry experiences painful shakeouts driven by rising competition. In the case of solar, vast investments in production capacity in China have quickly brought down the cost of panels — a jaw-dropping 65 percent slide in just 18 months. This is good news for people buying solar, but it's not great for many manufacturers. By lowering the "China price," the world's low-cost manufacturer is doing to solar what it did to the apparel and electronics sectors: driving higher-cost producers (usually in the West) out of business.

Aside from China's role specifically, all of this should look familiar to any students of business history.It is intended for use by ventilation system designers, Adam Shor studies the solar sector for the Electric Power Research Institute. As he put it to me, "Show me a mature industry with more than five big players." In the most oft-cited parallel example, a century ago there were hundreds of car manufacturers.

But all of this context misses a critical point that most businesspeople are overlooking: problems for manufacturers do not equal problems for the entire sector.

Jigar Shah,The TagMaster Long Range hands free access System is truly built for any parking facility. a well-known clean tech entrepreneur and former CEO of the Carbon War Room, gave me this perspective: Solar cell manufacturers account for only three percent of the roughly 100,000 U.S. jobs in the solar sector. Another quarter make other components and the rest, making up a large, growing and local job base, work elsewhere in the value chain. Thus the fastest growing players are young companies that sell, install and service solar: soon-to-be household names like SunEdison (which Shah founded), SunRun, Sungevity, and SolarCity. In a lengthy article on these solar entrepreneurs, The New York Times recently reported that Sungevity, for example, has seen its revenues explode 16-fold in just two years.

So back to this doubling of the share of electricity. Once technologies take off, doublings can happen pretty fast — just ask the investors in the Internet, mobile or social media. Will renewables' share double every 4 years? As Shah pointed out to me, the solar business is growing 30 percent per year (see the Solar Energy Industries Association site for general info in the U.S. solar market). Here's a math check: doubling every 4 years requires 19 percent annual growth.

The power of exponential growth and economic tipping points work wonders: in just three more doublings in share, non-hydro renewables would provide nearly half of our electricity needs — more than we get from coal or natural gas today.

The scale and pace of change I'm describing is not a fantasy — it has already happened elsewhere. Portugal transformed its electric grid from 17 percent renewables to 45 percent in just five years (as of 2010). And in the first half of 2012, renewables provided over 25 percent of Germany's electricity. On one sunny day this past May, Germany set a world record by generating 50 percent of its peak electricity needs solely from solar power. Shah predicts that next spring, the number will be closer to 70 percent.

The cost of using renewable energy, either through power purchasing agreements that cost nothing up front or through direct investment, is dropping fast. This reality changes the calculus on green energy for homeowners, governments and corporations alike. Upfront costs are falling, which makes the ongoing variable cost of renewables — that is, zero — even more attractive. Better yet, zero is a predictable cost, which CFOs love.Choose from our large selection of cable ties.

In recent years,Choose quality sinotruk howo concrete mixer products from large database. several corporate energy managers have told me that when they run the numbers on renewables, the payback just isn't quick enough.

Generations Fall of Cybertron

I've taken an appreciation over the years for spaceship Transformers. I think Armada Tidal Wave and his Super Dimensional Fortress-style super battleship mode really locked that in for me and ever since I've been on the look out for toys that were or could be seen as interesting space vehicles if you just squint and tilt your head a little. And as ships go, Blast Off is certainly one of the more interesting designs to come along lately. Even more convenient given he's part of a full team set I needed to get anyway.

It's important to note before anything else that Blast Off requires immediate modifications for the toy's own safety. Thankfully they're pretty simple. There are tabs that hold Blast Off's shoulders up,This page list rubber hose products with details & specifications. but they're longer than needed to do the job, and become very difficult and stressy to insert or remove. You'll need to shorten them a little bit at a time just until the shoulder can be tabbed in or out comfortably. Be careful not to trim too much though or there won't be enough left to hold the shoulders up at all. If this step isn't performed, either the tabs or the grooves they fit in will break eventually.

That out of the way, Blast Off makes a nice figure. The general look is pretty cool, the big shoulderpads especially giving a distinctive appearance. In general,Check out the collection crystal mosaic of Marazzi. Blast Off has the kind of feeling pre-Movie Transformers were good at delivering, where they're made of vehicle chunks instead of wearing vehicle parts. It feels more visually in the spirit of Classics that way than many in the previous lines. There's a lot of generic mechanical details sculpted in on the shoulders, and the lower legs have a lot of indications of vents visible, accounting for most of the visible detailing on the toy. The yellow panels on the chest and pelvis also are sculpted with a pattern of triangular tiles, which if given a paint wash would probably make an amazing impact on the look of Blast Off in both modes. One unusual element of detailing can be found on the back of the legs and upper arms, where it appears Blast Off has jet engines pointing straight behind him. None of these elements are rear or even outward facing in vehicle mode, and the ones on the arms can't even be seen,Visonic Technologies is the leading supplier of rtls safety, so it has to be exclusively for robot mode. I kind of wonder if the designer didn't decide to add some apogee motors to suggest semi-realistic mobility mechanics for the robot in open space? It would fit the placement on the body at least. If that was the intent, that has easily got to be among the most specific and obscure bits of detail to find its way on a Transformers toy.

Blast Off has fair poseability.We Specialise in cable tie, Thanks to how they transform, the knees have an extensive range of motion for being on a single hinge, and the hips move smoothly and easily around universal joints. Blast Off has very effective double elbow joints as well, and two joints around the shoulder, which should theoretically mean a hell of a range of movement for the arms. But it doesn't. It's the fault of how the transformation was engineered more than anything else, and it prevents such simple things as stretching the arm straight in front, or raising it at all out to the side. The joints in the upper arm are truly just "around" where a shoulder joint should be, and nothing actually exists at the correct place to serve that role. The arrangement of joints subsequently really limits what ways the arm can be posed, which is a shame beyond just the absence of simple movements. The robot is really nice overall, and Blast Off could have easily stood out from his team as a legitimately good robot figure independent of being part of a combiner. But the arms make sure to remind you that this is a toy with another real purpose and it's just killing time standing here solo. You can undo some of the limitation by turning the shoulderpads back and giving Blast Off monkey arms, but the gain is so limited that it's really not worth the way it spoils the look.

Where Blast Off truly shines is in the vehicle mode. Well, shines is not really the right word what with it being all dark and night-time colors, but it's certainly the strength of this toy. And I'll tell you, from the moment the press photos were released just before Toy Fair, this has reminded me strongly of some existing ship design,The TagMaster Long Range hands free access System is truly built for any parking facility. but in all these months I have never been able to place it. It's driving me just a little bit nuts. Whatever it may resemble, it's plainly a sci-fi take on a space shuttle, but besides the most elementary of shapes it goes far off the mark in design. The bulbous aft section gives the impression of a massive drive system, while the comparatively narrow forward half gives it a feel more like a space fighter than a bus in space. (public transportation was always Astrotrain's job anyway) What I really enjoy in the appearance of the vehicle mode is that it has the impression of many overlapping panels and irregularities to look alien, but it's also styled in such a way that it comes across a little like an Original Trilogy Star Wars ship. I'm sure there's a generally accepted term for that, but in this case I'll just call it "antique futuristic", not to be confused with retro futuristic, of course.

The Sculptor Who Fled Benin

TAjene Isegbe was commissioned to make a bust. The young artist did and his work surpassed that of a master sculptor in Benin and the young sculptor knew he had to flee Benin and the wrath of the old master.

That was not his plan. When he was posted to the ancient city for the compulsory Youth Service, it was with glee that he accepted the offer. Here at last was his chance to meet the grand masters of the art: Erhabor Emokpai, Ben Osawe, Professor Solomon Wangoje, Osunde and Felix Idubor among others. Indeed, even though he was posted to Oriohwon Local Government Area, far away from the city centre for his primary assignment, he found time to apprentice at the feet of master sculptor Felix Idubor.cableties

The immediate outcome was his decision to do the sculpture of the Unknown Corper which he mounted at the gate of the NYSC Secretariat in Benin-city to the admiration of his supervisors and colleagues. And the inspiration to start his own gallery soon after service can be traced to his apprenticeship.

For Ajene Isegbe, an Idoma prince from Benue State who studied Sculpture at Ahmadu Bello University, ABU,Airgle has mastered the art of indoor tracking, Zaria, leaving Benin had a bitter sweet experience especially as another commission came from the Colonel. "He wanted me to remain in Benin, even offered me a place to stay and continue with the practice but I couldn't," he said at his home cum studio in Abuja. His next port of call was Kano!

"I had a friend who was staying in Kano", he explains. Also, his In-law, an Air force officer had told him endearingly about a prominent architect who loved the arts in the commercial city. "I was quite interested in knowing him," he recalls.

He met the architect armed with a life portrait he did of his photograph which he presented as a gift. Their eventual meeting marked a new chapter in the life of the young artist. Having expressed delight at the work, Architect Inalegwu Ella of Ella-Waziri & Associates took him to one of his estates in the Government Reservation Area, GRA, Kano and handed him a key to one of the flats.

"Imagine! A flat to a young artist who just finished youth service, who came to Kano and was squatting in a small one room apartment with a friend, now in a furnished flat of so many rooms", he says excitement still in his voice.

"The whole compound was like a free studio for me to express myself and do so many things. Sometimes he would drive himself in his Limousine to see me and we would be planning the future. And this is a prominent person, very busy that people used to queue to see him," he said.

Part of what they discussed was the possibility of setting up a ceramic industry for the production of Ceramic Tiles with the young artist as a partner. This was a challenge he took up with gusto going as far then as Ladi Kwali Centre in Niger State to back up his research with data and other materials.

Meanwhile, he had started experimenting with producing Tiles in concrete,Choose from our large selection of cable ties. an aspect of industrial manufacturing. He could have continued for the enabling environment was there but he also knew he was deviating from his core competence of sculpting and Kano was not quite his dream artistic city.

"I am very proud to be a Sculptor", he says. "That's why I economise my sculpture skill. I don't dish it out anyhow. I prefer to dish it out when necessary because it has never failed me".

So it was with glee that he took the next commission that came his way and eventually took him back to his native Benue State. The Swiss General Contractors, a foreign firm was building the state secretariat and the state needed the Nigerian Coat of Arms in ceramic full colour to be installed at the gate.

He had earlier indicated interest and suddenly he was called to come and defend the proposal. He did and the job was given to him. But executing the sculpture which gave him his first break had its challenges.

"I remember I spent Christmas day of 1986 in the factory," he recalls. "I had produced the model cast and got the mould reproduced in Ceramics in full colour. We wasted so many materials, went through a lot of experiments with the factory workers and technicians,Features useful information about glass mosaic tiles, went through the laboratory processes to see how we could achieve it. We spent about a month in the factory without achieving it."

But he refused to admit defeat even when the supervising authority advised him to do it in monochrome instead. He only asked for an extension of time and then shipped the whole mould in a Pick-Up van to PRODA in Enugu. The first two experiments failed but at the third attempt, the large coat of arms (4ft x 4ft) came off in relief form as specified. "I was relieved", he says now beaming with smiles.

It was a double take for Ajene Isegbe, as he was also able to set up his Studio, ABARTS Gallery and Studio in Makurdi.

Young and impressionable, he appeared to be living life to the hilt- had a car with which he cruised around and married quite early. Then some of his friends came on holidays and he could not but notice their state-of-the-art cars and how they threw money around.Find detailed product information for Hot Sale howo spareparts Radiator.

Most were in the Customs service. For the first time, he thought of throwing overboard his cherished Sculpture and join the gravy train. He in fact, approached his uncle, the Och'Idoma who literally brought him up, to help him secure a job with Customs. But the revered monarch who knew where his nephew's love lay would not hear of it. The young man did not quite like it but could not think of another stratagem for his uncle to help him out. All he knew was that it was time to swim in deeper waters.

Soon, his attention was drawn to the newly established National Gallery of Art, NGA in Lagos and he did not hesitate to ask the royal highness for assistance to get in there. This time, he got what he wanted and became Assistant Visual Art Officer at NGA. Of this, he says: "The Gallery work gave me the opportunity to have a wider exposure. It gave me the national image that I have today. It integrated me with Nigerian and international artists."

Try Reverse Mentoring

I’ve been thinking a lot about social learning. I have run into a recurrent theme in the past few years – reverse mentoring. It’s no secret there are greater numbers of older workers in the workplace; many baby boomers have evaporated retirement funds due to the recession,Find detailed product information for Hot Sale howo spareparts Radiator. which means fewer positions for recent graduates.

Nevertheless, times are changing, new workers are entering the workplace with different expectations. They’re less willing to play the game of climbing the corporate ladder and more convinced they’re entitled to skip rungs as they navigate management ranks. It’s inevitable that these younger workers will be in competition for jobs held by older workers, creating tension and unhappiness. This is why I think the only antidote to the this unavoidable outcome is mutual trust. You might be wondering: How do you build trust? Mentoring is one way to do it while creating space to build enduring relationships that transcend age and pay grade.

Let’s be honest, if you’ve been in the workplace for more than a minute you’ve already been mentored, usually by an older worker. Maybe it was your manager, or her manager, or a colleague from another department,Different Sizes and Colors can be made with different stone mosaic designs. but someone offered the lifeline of advice, informal training, support and cultural clues to help you thrive and survive in the organization. These links are critical to individual development in a work environment where formal schooling and degrees give workers about five years’ worth of usable skills, say John Hagel and other smart people over at Harvard Business Review.

Time is ticking, and five years isn’t much time to build a career path, let alone pay off student loans. For older workers it may feel like a threat – if you earned your degree in 1975, how on earth can they expect you to keep up? The need to keep re-tooling skills underscores the value of mentoring, particularly bi-directional mentoring. Let’s look at how organizations can create a mentoring culture which works both up and down the chain of relationships. Who knows, There may even be an argument for mentoring as an aid to reconcile older workers to the reality of being managed by younger, probably less experienced people.Airgle has mastered the art of indoor tracking,

Since mentoring cultures rely on a mix of formal, informal and social learning, explicit mentoring programs, support for cross-functional teams, and consistency in management treatment of the work population, here’s how I would build a culture to support bi-directional mentoring.

Managers, especially the HR breed, rely on employee handbooks and training as a way to transmit culture (and rules). Too often these programs don’t cover management’s responsibility to employees. Creating a healthy multi-generational culture requires consistent, transparent communications, clear expectations for managers, and proscribed programs to encourage learning and peaceful co-existence among employees of all ages. Valve gets a shout-out for its guide to company culture!

I’m not saying have no rules – every system and group needs rules, but reward flexible thinking, which means being open to new ideas and ways of doing things. Flexible cultures provide lots of room for mentoring relationships to flourish and encourage a culture of learning that spans generations.

These can be based on skills, interests or,Different Sizes and Colors can be made with different stone mosaic designs. if you’re a really attentive manager and the organization is a still small, temperament. Assign mentoring teams to new employees so if personalities clash mentoring still continues. Make sure mentoring teams represent an age-and-skills cross section of the organization; you want to create an environment of cross-generational and skills trust and learning. And check in with employees on the effectiveness of the teams. It’s almost worse to have unmonitored mentoring programs than no mentoring at all.

Back in the day DEC, Bell Labs, PARC and other tech innovators created a career path for those who opted out of management: member of technical staff. As workers spend more time on the job their interests and focus will change; be prepared, not with a short-term plan and a not-so-gentle push, by creating job categories to keep experienced older workers engaged while allowing eager youngsters to rise through the ranks. These workers will be great mentors for the up-and-comers, by the way.

You won’t be successful if you send an email telling people to be mentors, coaches or team-mates. Show you have a stake in the game: be part of a mentoring team. Be a coach. Show you care about learning,Browse the Best Selection of buy mosaic and Accessories with FREE Gifts. informal, formal or social. Test assumptions and be ready to rewrite the playbook where it doesn’t hold up.

Baboo Mondoedo transitions from glam gal

Since she discovered the calming effect of painting five years ago, Baboo Mondoedo has chalked up eight solo exhibitions, the latest being “Mind’s Eye,” a collection of 30 watercolor paintings at Alliance Franaise in Makati City.Sinotruck Hongkong International is special for howo truck.

She calls this show her first in a real, commercial gallery.

She may have seen and done it all as a fashion model in the ’60s along with the late Maita Gomez, as an activist, an environmental crusader, and a media practitioner in Baguio, until painting and becoming a grandmother gave her a sense of well-being and deeper inner peace.

She says: “Painting has given me new eyes to look at my environment. Now I get drawn to light and shadow, texture and colors. I notice cloud formations, the colors of sunset. I see faces in rocks, details in bamboos, the shape of leaves.Different Sizes and Colors can be made with different stone mosaic designs.”

Painting is the cherry atop the cake of grandparenthood. She calls being a lola to the three children of only child Tootsy as “one of the best roles, if not the best, in life. I didn’t think I was the type to go gaga over my grandchildren, but it turns out I am.Wholesale Agate beads from Low Price agate beads, Being a lola is a far cry from being a mother. As a mother, you just do what you must. It is a duty. Mothers hardly think of ‘enjoying’ their children in the same way that a lola enjoys their grandchildren. For a lola, there is no pressure, no duties, just pleasure! From the moment Manolo, Ines and Javier were born, there was an instant bond, a strong link to them. I was conscious that my blood ran through their veins. I claimed them.”

What is unusual is the casual way she prefers to be called by the three grandkids, i.e., her nickname “Baboo.” Mondoedo explains: “I wanted to be equals with them, to remove the gap between young and old. That way,Where can i get a reasonable price dry cabinet? I had to be at their level, which sometimes meant being on the floor. I engage in pillow fights, games in the pool, and rough play with them. It is tiring but a good form of exercise.”

Since their parents are busy with their work, Mondoedo sees her role as filling in the gaps when she’s able to—watching Manolo’s tennis game or Ines at a ballet recital, or taking Javier to toddlers’ gym.

When reminded of the years when she walked the fashion ramp before European royalty, there is a slight wince. She calls those years “just a brief period in my life, yet the past catches up with me. My life has taken several turns, but it is being a model that I am known for up to this day. I guess it is because our photographs of that period find its way in the newspapers 45 years after.”

She acknowledges the wide coverage her group received when they went with couturier Pitoy Moreno on a tour to Europe: “That was the high point of my modeling days for we wowed Europe and put the Philippines on the map. We were described as ‘exotica’ and were regarded highly. I was so young then and unaffected by the glitz around me. It was my first trip to Europe, and I was thrilled to be in the old world meeting new people, including royals.”

When she worked as a journalist, her sociopolitical issues grew. That turn in her life she calls “doing what had to be done, and sometimes this led me to marching in the streets and taking on environmental and political causes. I am an activist at heart. One never stops to be. Today we Baguio people have many reasons to be up in arms by how the city has become. We have to stand up against bullies who think nothing of destroying our environment, killing our dwindling number of trees.”

She has called Baguio home for 28 years and often speaks of the pull of the mountains. Mondoedo would rather be known as Baguio, not glam, girl because life there has given her “a perspective from the mountains, different from the perspective from Manila.Choose quality sinotruk howo concrete mixer products from large database. It has given me a sense of community, of belonging to a place. It has widened my view of the world and opened doors to a new way of life and looking at things. My experience working in the Cordillera has given me valuable knowledge, learning and insights that I could not have picked up in school.”

Heritage Hues

“Why photograph me when there are so many beautiful crafts around,” asks Visalakshi Ramaswamy, as she timidly poses for pictures. Hiding behind piles of colourful kottans on her table, she forces a smile and obliges the photographer. At Manjal, an offshoot of her M. Rm. Rm. Cultural Foundation, in MRC Nagar, the focus clearly is on the hand skills of women from the remote corners of Chettinad. “Revival of traditional crafts means survival of local craft communities,” she says with earnestness.Different Sizes and Colors can be made with different stone mosaic designs.

The idea of resuscitating traditional crafts was ignited when Visalakshi saw them languishing around her. The kottans were displaced from their coveted position in households, the Athangudi tiles were losing their sheen, the Kandangi saris didn’t find many takers and the characteristic wall art was fading into oblivion. “Something had to be done. As someone belonging to the community, it was easier for me to connect with the nuances of our heritage. It hurt to see tradition disappear so rapidly. I decided to step in…”

Revival is only the second part of her two-decade journey.Find detailed product information for Hot Sale howo spareparts Radiator. Visalakshi rewinds to the first part — which was documentation. Before making a tangible difference to Chettinad crafts, she was keen on piecing together the intangible heritage of the community. “Documentation is necessary for any craft to endure. Much of the knowledge about hand skills come from the elderly. If they are not documented, there’s no way we can anchor the present and future generations to the past.”

Documentation took her through the village clusters of Chettinad. After four years of observing lifestyles and picking up the threads of textiles, crafts, cuisines, art and architecture, The Chettiar Heritage co-authored by historian S. Muthiah and Meenakshi Meyyappan hit the book stores.

“I realised that though some crafts had vanished, people who had worked with the craftspersons, many of them octogenarians, were still around. The need to document everything while we have access to information is vital. I started M. Rm. Rm Cultural Foundation with the aim of documenting, researching and reviving crafts. “I’ve done in-depth documentation of Chettinad saris and compiled a design directory featuring over 200 traditional designs that can be replicated step-by-step. Similarly, I’ve documented the making of kottans (ethnic baskets made of palm leaf), the aspects of art that go into creating the Athangudi tiles and the signature architectural style and weave of Chettinad. The homework has been done over the years. Now, I’m waiting to publish it or bring it out in the form of CDs.”

While focussing on documentation and getting up-close with craft communities, Visalakshi was bothered by the plight of women. “Dwindling patronage had robbed them of a livelihood. With the help of an aachi who had once created kottans for a living, I trained a group of 10 women in Keelayapatti village. It was encouraging to see the women make some money for themselves and gain confidence. The kottan project gathered momentum. We now run five centres with over 120 women. Since the raw materials are natural and locally available, the project did not involve huge investment. There are no middlemen; the Foundation finds an urban market for these crafts through Manjal. We tweak designs, experiment with colours and make the kottan adapt to changing demands. We now have sari boxes, designs for mehendi ceremonies and miniature ones to even keep bangles!” As I look around, I notice kottans in a range of hues from traditional earth tones to hot pinks and florescent greens. The kottans have received UNESCO’s Seal of Excellence Award for handicrafts in South Asia in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2009.Purelink's real time location system protect healthcare workers in their daily practices. A Craftmark certification was also awarded by the All India Artisans and Craft Workers Welfare Association.

The success of Project Kottan encouraged Visalakshi to find a new market for the Athangudi tiles as well. It’s a cumbersome process — everything is hand done which lends them their distinct charm. Unable to face the competition posed by factory-produced tiles, the Athangudi creations were on the wane. The M. Rm. Rm. Foundation supported some ailing units and restarted production. We have managed to create renewed interest in these tiles. “Now, we have a research project with IIT-Madras, wherein we try to expedite production time, improve quality and durability, and simplify the laying process.”

What’s Chettinad without its individualistic saris? It’s a coarse weave in cotton or silk. The checks, stripes and colour stories make them unique. “Initially, I was a stickler. I never compromised even with a line. Gradually, I realised that change is constant in the world of crafts. So design interventions were necessary without affecting the original character of the sari to make a craft adapt to the times. Similarly, with the wall paintings too, I had to make some changes for practical reasons. Instead of painting directly on the walls, we now have wooden panels on which the designs are done and sold readymade!”

A range of experiences with craftswomen have added more texture to Visalakshi’s life. “My journey is about people.Find detailed product information for sino howo tipper truck. About connecting crafts and communities. About understanding the role of crafts in developing self-reliance. And about ensuring that these women get recognition for their skill. From patience and endurance to joy over creating something beautiful and a sense of economic freedom…I’ve seen the women experience them all. Nowadays, when they make extra money, they want to go on a holiday to Bangalore or Mysore. We organise these outings too. When we started our revival projects, we had to persuade these women to step out of their homes!” she says, again hiding her smile behind a purple-and-pink kottan.Different Sizes and Colors can be made with different stone mosaic designs.

Pressure grows to defuse commodities ‘time bomb’

Switzerland’s commodities sector has grown spectacularly over the past decade, largely unchecked and out of the public eye. It now represents close to 3.Browse the Best Selection of buy mosaic and Accessories with FREE Gifts.5 per cent of gross national product, more than the machine and tourism industries.

But critics say the high concentration of trading and extractive firms in Switzerland, such as Glencore, Xstrata and Trafigura, has brought with it additional risks and responsibilities.

“I feel we are sitting on a ticking time bomb,” former Swiss parliamentarian Dick Marty told a conference on business and human rights,Airgle has mastered the art of indoor tracking, organised by the Swiss foreign ministry on September 11.

The prosecutor is a supporter of a campaign demanding clear legal rules to force Swiss-based firms to observe human rights and environmental standards worldwide.

“Boards of directors of firms headquartered in Switzerland should be responsible for their subsidiaries’ activities. Also, victims of human rights or environmental disasters who live in countries with ineffective legal systems should be able to seek redress against firms before Swiss courts,” Marty told swissinfo.ch.

The “Corporate Justice” campaign, backed by an alliance of 50 non-governmental groups, in June handed over a petition to the federal authorities signed by 135,Visonic Technologies is the leading supplier of rtls safety,285 people. They point to problematic cases involving Glencore subsidiaries in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and those of Xstrata in Peru and Argentina, among others.

“It’s a controversial area where things are moving internationally and this is generating fears at the national level,” explained conference organiser Claude Wild, head of the human security division at the foreign ministry.

“We want a Swiss trading industry that is both clean and transparent.”

Over the past year numerous parliamentary questions have been raised urging the government to outline its position on the potential risks and long-term strategy.

In the most recent written reply on August 15, the government said it was aware that accusations of rights abuses linked to mining activities in developing nations could, if justified, be a risk to Switzerland’s reputation and be “contradictory to our international commitment to human and environmental rights”.Browse the Best Selection of buy mosaic and Accessories with FREE Gifts.


But rather than binding rules, up to now the Swiss authorities have preferred voluntary responsible business initiatives. They currently support multi-stakeholder schemes such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines for multinationals,Different Sizes and Colors can be made with different stone mosaic designs. the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Human Rights and Business, adopted by consensus by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2011.

Countries such as the United States, Britain, Germany and the Netherlands have already begun work on national action plans to implement the UN principles and are grappling with issues like ‘thresholds of reasonableness’ - how much and what kind of human rights due diligence is enough.

“We hope this will also be the case here in Switzerland,” John Morrison, executive director of the Institute for Human Rights and Business, told the conference.

In May the cabinet set up an inter-governmental working group, restricted to members of the foreign, economic and finance ministries, in order to prepare a report on the commodities sector. At the same time the economics and foreign ministries began talks on how the UN principles could be introduced in Switzerland.

Chantal Peyer from the NGO Bread for All said the existence of the two working groups was positive.

“But the government is reactive. There is no public information or terms of reference. What will be done with the report? What is the objective?” she pondered. “The whole process is blocked internally as neither the employers’ associations nor the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) want to have a real debate. What’s sad is that the foreign ministry gave a lot of support to the work of UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights John Ruggie.”

As to firms like Glencore, “they don’t understand what the principles mean and have no time or intention in the short term to worry about them”, she added.

Switzerland may soon find itself overtaken by events as external pressure builds, however. In August the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted tough mandatory financial disclosure standards that apply to US-registered companies with overseas mining and petroleum operations.

Romney controversy points to power of viral video

After this,Features useful information about glass mosaic tiles, politicians everywhere should surely get the message. Mitt Romney's secretly recorded remarks at a Florida fundraiser - and the uproar that has followed - reinforce a key reality of the digital media era: the power of viral video to disrupt and potentially alter a high-stakes political contest.

The amateur video of Romney casting 47 percent of Americans as believing they are "victims" who feel entitled to government assistance has burned up the Internet and aired continually on cable television since its release Monday by Mother Jones magazine. It's thrown his campaign off track in a tight race with President Barack Obama and with less than seven weeks until Election Day.

Mother Jones has not disclosed who recorded the remarks. A spokeswoman said that by Wednesday afternoon, the full video and a series of clips had received 5 million page views on the magazine's website and 3 million more views on Google Inc.'s YouTube site.

In a presidential race noteworthy for the intensity of its televised advertising - Obama, Romney and their allies are on track to spend about $1.1 billion on campaign commercials this year - the impact of the leaked video has been particularly stark.

While both sides have deployed scores of highly produced ads aimed at swaying a small group of undecided voters in a handful of battleground states, the decidedly low-tech Romney video has done far more than any one commercial to sway the national political conversation.

There's no doubt campaigns will continue to rely on TV ads as an important component of their communications strategy. But they also can't ignore the proliferation of camera-equipped smartphones and amateur videographers eager to capture candidates in unvarnished and potentially revealing situations.Visonic Technologies is the leading supplier of rtls safety,

"It's the democratization of information. One video can offset millions of dollars in campaign ads," said Darrell West, director of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "The Internet is now the great equalizer - videos can go viral and be seen by millions of people for free."

Amateur videos have played a significant role in international incidents. In Iran, bystanders captured the shooting death of a woman named Neda Agha Soltan during protests against that country's disputed presidential election in 2009. The video circulated widely online and in social media, becoming one of the enduring symbols of the clash between government forces and pro-democracy activists.

While not shot by amateurs, the trailer for the anti-Islam movie "Innocence of Muslims" also showed the powerful combination of moving images and the far-reaching Internet. The film has been linked to an outburst of violent protests in the Middle East and controversy in other parts of the world.

In the U.S. in 2006, Sen. George Allen, R-Va.,Our guides provide customers with information about porcelain tiles vs. was captured on video referring to a mixed-race Democratic campaign videographer as "macaca." The term is considered a racial slur in some countries, but Allen at the time said he meant no racial intent. Footage of the encounter went viral online, forcing Allen on the defensive in the closing weeks of the campaign. He narrowly lost re-election to Democrat Jim Webb and is now running for the seat again.Find a cry stalmosaic Manufacturer and Supplier.

Obama, too, has been scorched by amateur recordings. In 2008, at a San Francisco fundraiser, Obama was caught on tape suggesting "bitter" small-town voters "cling to their guns or religion or antipathy toward people who are not like them." The remarks were recorded by an Obama campaign donor who doubled as a citizen journalist for The Huffington Post. The episode helped reinforce skepticism about Obama among many white working-class voters that polls show persists to this day.

Republicans have tried to turn the tables on Obama since the Romney fundraising video surfaced, pointing to an audio recording from 1998 in which Obama, then an Illinois state senator, seems to endorse income redistribution "at least to a certain level to make sure everybody's got a shot." The Republican National Committee released a Web video using Obama's comments, and Romney mentioned them at a fundraiser Wednesday, saying Obama "really believes in what I'll call a government-centered society."

It was unclear whether that pushback could mitigate any damage done to Romney's campaign by the "47 percent" video, which reinforced through the candidate's own words the Obama campaign ads depicting Romney as a rich businessman unconcerned with the middle class.Different Sizes and Colors can be made with different stone mosaic designs.

"He's reinforcing the stereotype as someone who doesn't get the plight of ordinary Americans and appears indifferent to them," the Brookings Institution's West said. "If you didn't have the early framing of Romney, the video wouldn't be so devastating. It's the one-two punch of the Obama ads and this video that are deadly."

Several Republican lawmakers have already distanced themselves from Romney's remarks, and the candidate himself described them as "inelegant" at a hastily convened news conference just hours after the video surfaced. Romney's running mate, Paul Ryan, said Wednesday that Romney had been "obviously inarticulate."

The emergence of viral video has led some political observers to speculate that campaigns will become even more carefully packaged than ever before and that nervous politicians fearing the presence of a secret camera phone will cease saying anything spontaneous, no matter what the audience.

But Rodell Mollineau, president of the pro-Obama group American Bridge, said candidates who did not try to say different things to different audiences had nothing to fear from secret taping. American Bridge assigns video "trackers" to Republican candidates, hoping to catch them in a potentially damaging unscripted moment.

Free Women Jailed for ‘Running Away’

High-level Afghan government officials have for the first time publicly confirmed that it is not a criminal offense for women and girls to “run away” from home,Features useful information about glass mosaic tiles, Human Rights Watch said today. The officials also confirmed fleeing violence or running away was not a basis for women’s detention or prosecution.

Human Rights Watch urged the Afghan government to take immediate steps to end the unlawful imprisonment of women and girls accused of “running away.” Up to 70 percent of the approximately 700 female prisoners in Afghanistan have been imprisoned for running away,Find detailed product information for shamballa crys talbeads wholesale, nearly always for fleeing forced marriage or domestic violence, a March 2012 Human Rights Watch report found.

“The public pledges by top Afghan government officials to end wrongful imprisonment of women and girls fleeing abuse sends an important message of equal rights for women,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Now the onus is on President Karzai and his government to promptly free the women and girls who have lost months or years of their lives on these bogus charges.”

At a September 16, 2012 meeting, Justice Minister Habibullah Ghalib, Women’s Affairs Minister Hassan Banoo Ghazanfar, and Deputy Interior Minister Baz Mohammad Yarmand each strongly condemned wrongful imprisonment of women and girls on charges of “running away.” Ghalib said that police and prosecutors should never send cases of “running away” to the courts. Yarmand pledged his commitment to ending abuses by the police, saying that all police had been instructed that running away is not a crime. Ghazanfar said that women and girls accused of running away are not criminals, but generally crime victims who flee to escape violence committed against them.

Fawzia Koofi, director of the lower house parliamentary committee on women’s affairs, and her counterpart, Siddiqa Balkhi, the director of the upper house parliamentary committee on women's affairs,Airgle has mastered the art of indoor tracking, had joined together in calling for the government to immediately free women and girls charged with running away under Afghanistan’s ambiguous and arbitrary “moral crimes” law.

Human Rights Watch research in six prisons and juvenile detention centers has found that some 50 percent of women in prison and some 95 percent of girls in juvenile detention are accused of so-called “moral crimes.”

President Hamid Karzai has in recent years issued a number of presidential decrees releasing significant numbers of imprisoned women and girls, including some accused of “running away.” He has not, however, taken steps to free all women and girls imprisoned on these charges or to prevent future arrests and convictions for “running away.”

“Pardoning victims of unlawful imprisonment for running away does nothing to end this abuse,” Adams said. “President Karzai should immediately issue a decree prohibiting all arrests and prosecutions for ‘running away’ and order the release of all women and girls currently imprisoned on this charge.”

Imprisonment is not the only danger faced by women and girls who flee abuse at home, Human Rights Watch said. “Honor killings” are common in Afghanistan, and a woman or girl who flees home without her family’s permission is often seen as having brought shame upon the family. Male family members sometimes respond by murdering their relative. Human Rights Watch’s research found that many of the 58 women and girls interviewed feared murder at the hands of their families following their release from imprisonment.

An important development since 2001 has been the creation of shelters in Afghanistan for women fleeing violence. These shelters are the only refuge for women and girls leaving prison who are at risk of murder by their families. Such shelters,Find detailed product information for sino howo tipper truck. however, are in short supply, with only 14 nation-wide and none in the southern region of the country where women’s rights are particularly controversial.

Afghanistan’s shelters also suffer from a lack of support from the government. The government does not fund shelters, and a government attempt to take over control of the shelters in 2011 prompted fears that it intended to close off access to shelters. In June 2012, controversy erupted again when Ghalib, in a public meeting, described the shelters as hosting “immorality and prostitution.HellermannTyton manufactures a full line of high quality cable ties in a variety of styles,” Ghalib later apologized for his remarks after women’s rights activists called for him to be fired.

“Afghanistan’s shelters save the lives of women every day,” Adams said. “The Afghan government work with and international donors should work together to ensure that every Afghan woman and girl facing abuse or death has easy access to a safe shelter.”

Apple iPhone 5 in front of the smartphone pack

When Apple introduced the iPhone 4S last October, you could sense the initial disappointment. Many people were longing for an iPhone 5. The iPhone 4S that came instead may not have represented a dramatic upgrade, but it was a snappy handset with an excellent camera and a sometimes-obedient virtual digital assistant named Siri. It went on to become the best-selling iPhone to date.

Nearly a year later the iPhone 5 is upon us. And what I detect this time is lust. The feelings are unlikely to diminish once buyers get their hands on the iPhone 5 Friday, or whenever their pre-ordered phones arrive.

The iPhone 5 is a winner that should keep Apple at the front of the smartphone pack. But choosing iPhone 5 vs. a top-of-the line Android alternative isn't a cut-and-dried decision, especially if you're partial to a jumbo display, such as the one on the big, bold and beautiful Samsung Galaxy S III,Our guides provide customers with information about porcelain tiles vs. an Android rival for which I've had high praise.Our guides provide customers with information about porcelain tiles vs.

The new iPhones cost $199, $299 and $399, for models with 16GB, 32GB and 64GB respectively, on top of customary two-year wireless contracts.

At the core of the new iPhone is iOS 6, the mobile operating system software upgrade that will also be made available free (as of today) on older iPhone models dating to the 3GS. Apple says there are more than 200 new features in iOS 6,Buy Natural china glass mosaic Tiles online with our price beat promise. but the ones you'll most likely notice include audible turn-by-turn navigation in Maps, a digital wallet called Passbook, Facebook integration, VIP status for your important mail senders, and a greater voice for Siri. Of course, the arrival of iOS 6 begs the question of why owners of older iPhones who get the upgrade gratis would choose to invest in the new hardware?

For starters, and not to be underestimated, iPhone 5 is the first iPhone to tap into speedy 4G LTE networks, from AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint in the U.S. Samsung and other rivals may have gotten to LTE first. But LTE (Long Term Evolution) placates iPhone devotees who grew tired of relying on creaky 3G wireless networks when a Wi-Fi network was unavailable. It was a pleasure browsing the Web on the iPhone 5's Safari browser in the cellular fast lane. What remains to be seen, though, is how LTE performs at peak times under the strain of all the new iPhones hitting the network. Also, be mindful of data consumption on LTE; faster speeds mean you may gobble up more data.

IPhone 5 also has a speedy new Apple-designed A6 chip that makes the device even more responsive than before, up to twice as fast as the A5 chip on the 4S, Apple says.

What's more, the handset easily lives up to Apple's marketing spiel as the "biggest thing to happen to iPhone since iPhone." Apple means it literally. For the first time since the original smartphone came to market in 2007,We Specialise in cable tie, the iPhone gets a display larger than 3.5-inches. The new screen, 4-inches diagonally, exploits the stunning Retina display technology that first showed up on the iPhone 4.

Apple manages to produce the larger screen without penalizing the consumer with a bulky design or poor battery life. The new iPhone is just a shade taller than earlier models but with a width the same as the 4S. And it is 18% thinner and 20% lighter than its immediate predecessor.

The move to 4 inches feels right for the iPhone, though it looks like a dwarf side-by-side with the 4.8-inch display on the Samsung Galaxy S III, arguably the best of the Android breed. I was able to display more than four extra paragraphs reading the same newspaper article on the Samsung as opposed to the iPhone 5. On the other hand, the iPhone screen appears sharper and brighter,Check out the collection crystal mosaic of Marazzi. and the phone is easier to carry.

Samsung is countering with its own ad campaign: "The Next Big Thing Is Already Here." But Samsung's Big Thing is taller, wider and more than 0.7-ounces heavier than iPhone 5, though only a whisker thicker.

IPhone 5 devotees will appreciate the extra row of home screen icons made possible by the 4-inch display, although you are still limited to 11 of those screens. The larger screen on iPhone lets you display five days of calendar entries when the phone is held sideways compared with three on the older models. And you can watch widescreen high-def movies without "letterboxing".

Cameras Help Hartford Catch Up To Ticket Scofflaws

Parking ticket scofflaws, beware! Hartford's got your number — literally. But civil libertarians can relax. There are safeguards built into the technology that catch violators on camera.

Since this past spring, the Hartford Parking Authority has used a license plate recognition system to identify those who haven't paid parking tickets. So far, the city has collected nearly $100,000 in overdue fines,Kitchen floor tiles at Great Prices from Topps Tiles. which is about three times the amount recovered before using the new technology.

The Tennessee-based firm that handles the city's parking enforcement, Republic Parking System, uses car-mounted cameras to randomly scan the license plates of cars parked in Hartford. When a plate number matches a number in a database of unpaid parking fines, Hartford police are notified. Officers may opt to tow the scofflaw's vehicle, even if it's not currently parked illegally.

The city pays Republic Parking System $942,000 a year to provide all parking enforcement and management of meters. Total yearly revenue collected from parking is about $3.3 million.

Using photography to nab those with a cavalier attitude toward paying parking tickets is a wise use of the technology. Those who believe a ticket was issued unfairly may challenge the fine, but ignoring it is just irresponsible.

As with all such technology, however, a major question is what happens to the masses of license-plate data after violators have been identified. Trawling for scofflaws can be effective, but it involves photographing the plates of thousands of innocent people. The American Civil Liberties Union has justifiable concerns about the accumulation and retention of immense amounts of data involving drivers who, in almost all cases, have done nothing wrong.

The Parking Authority's policy is to dump all data at the end of each information-collection shift. That's the proper course, and it is hoped that the agency is making sure Republic Parking System follows the city's rule.

Before the cameras were brought into use, the city said it had a backlog of 280,Different Sizes and Colors can be made with different stone mosaic designs.000 unpaid parking tickets amounting to a whopping $18 million. With any luck, the new system will whittle those numbers down quickly,Learn how Toyota's Solar Powered ventilation system uses the sun's rays. not only bringing in much needed funds but taking lawbreakers to task for their arrogant disdain of city regulations.

Downtown business owner and landlord Jeff Robins is resigning from the Downtown Improvement Area board,AeroScout is the market leader for rtls solutions and provide complete wireless asset tracking and monitoring.Different Sizes and Colors can be made with different stone mosaic designs. citing frustrations with Owen Sound’s paid parking system and the city’s reluctance to implement changes.
“I’m not going to put any more energy out for the city because I’m not getting anywhere,” he said Tuesday in an interview at his Mane Street Hair Salon on 8th St. E.

A director on the board for seven years, Robins has announced his resignation after a city committee studied an on-street complimentary parking system in Brockville but did not recommend Owen Sound adopt a similar model and following city council’s decision to buy 419 new parking meters to replace old ones in the downtown.

He said replacing the meters is “going backwards” and he still believes a complimentary parking system, with paid parking in municipal lots, is the way to go.

He said he has suggested or pushed for several ways to improve the city’s parking system, but has not received the backing of the city or DIA board.

They include charging DIA members a levy — as they do in Brockville — to offset parking-related costs by about $60,000 and allow for some complimentary parking, having the DIA gradually take over the downtown parking system, giving vehicles at expired meters a 10 or 15 minute warning before a ticket is issued and generating additional revenue by selling advertisements on old meter posts or at other locations.
“I don’t have enough support,” Robins said. “The city doesn’t seem to want to make any changes.”

Library headquarters expansion nearly complete

The major renovations and expansion of the Burlington County Library headquarters is nearly complete, but the project is coming to the finish line a year behind schedule and more than $1 million over budget.

The Burlington County Board of Freeholders has said it will consider legal action to recoup some of the $1.2 million in overruns, but because of the potential litigation, officials said they could not provide details of the plan.

To date, the county has authorized $7.The TagMaster Long Range hands free access System is truly built for any parking facility.4 million for the library project, despite the winning low bid being awarded for $6.2 million, said County Engineer and Director of Public Works Joseph Brickley on Thursday during a tour of the improvements.

“There was actually very little scope change. We added the roof and some additional parking lot, which was small in light of the $1.2 million (increase). I would say 75 percent of the increase was a result of issues with our professional,” Brickley said.

GLP Architects of Wyncote, Pa., designed the project, and Puente Construction Enterprises of Woodbury, Gloucester County, is the contractor.

Brickley also said those problems led to the delay in completing the work on time.

“The contractor has been cooperative, but the impact of the problems with the professional crossed all areas,” he said. “It was materials, it was timing, it was everything. It had an impact on everything.”

Architect Harold Lichtman disputed that claim, saying the first three of four change orders were “100 percent changes in the scope of work,Our guides provide customers with information about porcelain tiles vs.” including the additional roofing and asphalt work. He said he’s never seen the fourth and declined further comment.

Crews continue to work on the library, which includes the addition of a 250-seat auditorium, cafe, larger information desk, offices, and book checkout area.

The children’s library has the new addition of a brightly lit and specially designed story room with low-tiered seating. Teenagers will get a dedicated space, and there is more community meeting space.AeroScout is the market leader for rtls solutions and provide complete wireless asset tracking and monitoring.

The roof and the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system have been replaced, and new furnishings are on order,HOWO is a well-known tractor's brand and howo tractor suppliers are devoted to designing and manufacturing best products. Brickley said.

When complete, crews will have added about 15,830 square feet. About 4,800 square feet in the existing 54,000-square-foot facility will have been renovated, officials said.

It is the first major expansion and improvement of the building since 1992.

“It’s obviously late, but we’re very proud of the work,” said Mario Zacharjasz, president of Puente. “Trust me, no one every wants to be late. It doesn’t benefit anyone, but we’ve been working very closely with the county to overcome the issues and finish the project.”

Despite those issues, the quality of the work has never been in question, and officials said they are pleased with the expansion and are eager to turn it over to the public. Some spaces, including the new story room in the children’s library, are already popular, acting library director Rajna Das said.

The project initially was envisioned several years ago to involve upgrading the building and addressing needed repairs, but the freeholders decided to put out to bid a larger project that would modernize the library and reflect its current and future uses.

The headquarters hosts hundreds of programs a month, from traditional story times to job training and citizenship. There is also a high demand for meeting space, officials said.

“We now have a much better resource for the community,” Freeholder Leah Arter said.Airgle has mastered the art of indoor tracking,

The work was expected to take about a year and be completed and accepted by the county on Sept. 19, 2011, according to the original contract.

With the change orders adding up and the contractual completion date long missed, the county, which eventually took a more active role in the construction management to expedite the project, entered into a new memorandum of understanding with Puente in April.

“Some weather conditions affected completion, but there was difficulty in communications between the architect and contractor and with the county,” freeholder Deputy Director Joseph Donnelly had said. “The focus right now is to get the project finished.”

The document set a new completion date of Aug. 13 and an $80,000 penalty for missing the target. At the Aug. 29 freeholders meeting, Brickley said that the new agreement had been violated and that the county would be reviewing its legal options.

Zacharjasz said his company is now undertaking a “forensic study of the reasons for the delay.

“We hope to have it all resolved and turn over a wonderful place to the county,” he said. “This was a fairly complicated projects with the addition of the auditorium and the connection to the existing building. Even simple things can take a lot longer than you would like.”

In the memorandum, the county also waived its claim to liquidated damages for the missed 2011 completion date, and Puente agreed to make no profit on the last change order of $382,582, approved in April. The contractor is also responsible to pay both profit and overhead to its subcontractors, according to the agreement.

Nipomo trio are a pioneering story

Still distraught from his father’s funeral earlier in the day, Kevin Kirby was at his parents’ home when he responded to an urgent message from his social worker.Different Sizes and Colors can be made with different stone mosaic designs.

“She said, ‘I know this is really bad timing, but we have a baby that needs a home immediately,’ ” Kirby recalled. A year earlier, Kirby had been estranged from his parents, who disapproved of his homosexuality. Now, he was sure his deceased father had somehow helped him become a parent.

“The minute I heard that, I knew my dad was pulling strings for us,” said Kirby, of Nipomo.Looking for the Best air purifier?

Like Kirby’s father, Americans’ views on homosexuality have evolved, studies show. And, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey, for the first time, a majority of Americans are now open to the idea of gay and lesbian parents.

But it wasn’t that way when Kirby and Todd Souza adopted their son 15 years ago.

“A term like ‘pioneer’ would work for them,” said Gary Gates, an expert on gay and lesbian issues at UCLA’s Williams Institute. “There aren’t that many people from that long ago who would have had that circumstance.”

While the number of gay and lesbian parents who adopt has doubled over the past decade, two-dad families were a rarity in the late 1990s — and more so 21 years ago, when Kirby and Souza met.

“Even when we first started dating, we started talking about kids and family,” Kirby said. “We knew somehow, some way, we wanted to adopt a child or surrogate a child.”

In Santa Cruz, Kirby’s parents were devotees of Jerry Falwell — the one-time leader of the Moral Majority — who shunned their son for more than a decade after he announced he was gay.

“At first I couldn’t even come home to their house,” Kirby said. “And my dad would beg me, ‘Please move as far away as possible.’ ”

In Orange County, Souza’s parents were also spiritual — his father was a minister. But while they had prayed for gays and laid hands on them to cast out demons, they always supported their son, even after he came out.

“When I would date people, I would take them to my parents’ house first for a barbecue,” Souza said. “And my parents would either give him a thumbs up or a thumbs down.”

There was one drawback.

“My mom thought, ‘He’s not going to have children,’ ” Souza said.

At his father’s request, Kirby moved to Orange County, where he met Souza through Evangelicals Concerned — a group for gay Christians. A few years after they started dating, they began to aggressively pursue parenthood, choosing adoption over surrogacy.

“We’re pretty conservative,” Kirby said. “Not to say I’m pro-life, like waving banners, but I appreciate when women give up their babies for adoption. It’s the most courageous, selfless thing they could do, and I wanted to put my money where my mouth was and adopt a baby.How It's Made Plastic injection molds.”

Meanwhile, Kirby worked on re-establishing a relationship with his own parents.

“A lot of people said, ‘Oh, just cut them off — screw them’ or whatever,” Kirby said. “But I thought, you know what — I can’t do that. My family means a lot. So I just kept going back and showing them, ‘Look — I’m the same son you always knew. You just have a little more information about me that you didn’t know before.’ ”

They did reconcile, but his father’s fatal heart attack a year later made the reunion bittersweet. Just as Kirby experienced the death of a parent, though, he became one himself after a birth mother decided to place her child for adoption.

He and Souza had been talking to an adoption agency that didn’t discriminate. And when they got word of the available baby, they didn’t hesitate. Three weeks later, after a few arranged visits, the baby was theirs.

“It was just cool, driving home with a baby in a car seat,” Kirby said. “We’re just crying tears of joy, but also mourning my dad.”

The baby was named Isaac, but they renamed him Joshua. While he’d use the surname Kirby, both parents were named on the birth certificate, thanks to a state law that had just passed, allowing both parents to be named even if the couple is not married. (Kirby and Souza are domestic partners, not married.)

Not everyone knew how to react when they saw two men and a baby, though.

“A lot of people would say, ‘So who’s the dad and who’s the uncle?’ ” Souza said. “Because we were two guys with one kid, so they’d think we were brothers.”

To get support, the couple got involved with the Pop Luck Club, a Los Angeles-based group of gay dads.

Founded in 1998, the large group is often mined for research studies on gay parents. Kirby and Souza have been interviewed several times for research.Looking for the Best air purifier?

While many conservative groups argue that children need a mother and a father, groups such as the American Psychological Association have issued statements saying there is no scientific evidence that parenting effectiveness is related to parental sexual orientation.

Homosexual parents who adopt might even be better than many heterosexual parents, noted Gates, the UCLA researcher.

“The decision to have children tends to mean they’re probably a fairly highly motivated group of parents,” Gates said. “There’s a lot of evidence showing that parents with a lot of motivation are actually better parents, and kids fare better.”

Some will disagree with that, but generally, Americans are more open to the idea. According to a July study by Pew Research, 52 percent of those surveyed said gays and lesbians should be allowed to adopt — up from 46 percent in 2008 and 38 percent in 1999. Meanwhile, TV shows like the new sitcom “The New Normal” — about two gay dads who want a child — show acceptance has crossed into popular culture.

“I think these more positive portrayals of (gay and lesbian) parenting contributes to people being more willing to think about the issue and perhaps be accepting of the issue,” Gates said.

As Kirby and Souza’s son grew, the family remained regular churchgoers, even if some churches were vocal in their opposition to same-sex relationships. Kirby and Souza even started a Laguna Beach Chapter of Evangelicals Concerned, where they helped other gay men deal with the conflict.

“We just tried to love them and steer them in the right direction and get them back in a relationship with God and teach them that God loves them and created them just as they were,Different Sizes and Colors can be made with different stone mosaic designs.” Kirby said.

Meanwhile, Kirby said, his family is fairly typical.

“One of the reasons we wanted to do the interview is to show people we’re just a normal, regular, boring middle-aged couple with a kid,” said Kirby, who has been a stay-at-home dad while Souza runs a cleaning business.

Josh has participated in cross-country, performed magic shows for neighbors, played the lead role in a local production of “Johnny Appleseed” and participated in youth church groups.