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I have been looking at these cases for a while now and I think I am going to get one. I was actually looking at them today and if anyone else is interested in them then check out on ebay, you can get them new from places like Adorama on there much cheaper.
SKB Flyer Series Photo Equipment Transport Cases with Think Tank Trimmings Review
Two giants of the camera case industry, Think Tank Photo and SKB Cases, have collaborated to create the SKB Flyer Series, a lineup of hybrid camera transport solutions that have broad appeal and manifold applications for every ardent photographer.
Hard shell camera cases serve an essential purpose, but usually they're not very exciting to look at because, for the most part, they are big black plastic cubes fully devoid of personality and style. They remind me of an oversize Tupperware container. The last sexy-looking protective case design was the sleek, all aluminum job from Zero-Halliburton.
But that's all changed.
SKB Cases has collaborated with Think Tank Photo to create a series of tough, impact immune equipment cases that are as appealing as they are functional. SKB makes the protective heavy-duty molded polymer case. Think Tank designed the practical and versatile inside structure as well as the optional handsome case that envelopes the unit and provides style as well as additional storage space.
It's a union made in gadget bag heaven.
Besides this new Flyer Series, SKB offers 15 case sizes with 29 configurations for all sorts of photo, video and lighting gear. The current assortment ranges from carry-on sizes up to cases nearly large enough to stow your assistant and her pet elephant. There are five Flyer cases in all. The subject of this review is the 1309-6 model which measures 13x9x6 inches. The largest Flyer case mics out at 42x13x12.
The SKB 1309-6 Flyer Case
Like other SKB cases, Flyers are waterproof, dust-tight and provide military-grade hard case protection. The interior dividers are fully customizable. The 1309-6 accommodates two cameras and four lenses plus accessories. Flyers feature a comfortably large top handle, secure latch closures and metal-reinforced locking loops. There's also an automatic equalization valve, necessary because the Flyers are virtually airtight.
Flyer Series Case Cover Designed by Think Tank
Designed to fit around the 1309-6 (or 1510-6) hard case, the svelte Think Tank contribution includes an exterior pocket that holds a 15-inch laptop and a 10-inch tablet, and has a trolley slot on the back for quick attachment to rolling luggage or wheelies. It features a zippered main compartment, dual side pockets, interior sleeves for the above mentioned laptop and tablet, a nicely padded shoulder strap and a front zipper organizer pocket with obligatory key fob.
(As an aside, I don't know why bag manufacturers feel compelled to include a key fob. Do you tether your keys to your bag or backpack? I sure as hell don't, and I can't recommend it. Losing your bag would be bad enough, but your keys too?)
The cover is made from 600 denier polyester fabric which appears snag and scuff resistant. SKB claims you can use the cover as a general purpose travel bag, but that's quite a stretch for my tiny mind since there are un-closable openings in the top to allow access to the latches and handle.
Who is SKB Cases?
Headquartered in Orange, CA, SKB is the manufacturer of premium cases for any item that must be protected to the fullest extent during transportation and storage. In addition to durable cases for photo and video gear, SKB also makes cases for musical instruments, hunting bows, rifles, medical and technical instruments, and a variety of industrial products. SKB transport cases are engineered from molded polymer and are commonly called "hard shell" cases by photographers.
This is Serious Stuff
As testimony to the reliability of SKB cases, they make one model for Lockheed Martin specifically for the spare modules and advanced computerized CNI system apparatus used in conjunction with the Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, a supersonic stealth fighter that's central to the Communications, Navigation and Identification (CNI) system.
The SKB + TTP collaboration fits a need for me and many other ardent photographers. It provides ultimate security and protection without sacrificing utility or aesthetics. It performed flawlessly during the field test and promises to withstand many years of use and abuse. Despite the smallish 13x9x6 inch cube it holds enough equipment for many engagements I might encounter—and it's small enough to slip behind the passenger seat of my Subaru or easily into the cargo area. To be honest, I found it far more useful and versatile than I had expected. It's a brute when it comes to protection, but the disarming Thank Tank Photo case cover doesn't make it look like I'm transporting Polonium-210.
Pricing and Availability
The SKB 1309-6 Flyer Series hard case retails for around $139. This includes the interior treatment designed by Think Tank. The exterior case cover costs about $95. SKB photo cases, including the new Flyer Series Think Tank collaboration products, are available from many photo specialty stores, including these long time dealers who may be in your neighborhood: The Camera Company in Madison, WI, Roberts in Indianapolis, IN and Allen's Camera of Levittown, PA. You'll find them at the big NY and LA mail order camera stores, too.
—Jon Sienkiewicz


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Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2011Jan 30th, 2012 | By Nikolaus Zumbusch
Global investment in renewable energy jumped 32% in 2010, to a record $211 billion. In addition to this eye-catching record, the investment activity in developing countries increased strongly. It is the first time the developing world has overtaken the richer countries in terms of financial new investment. GLOBAL TRENDS IN RENEWABLE ENERGY INVESTMENT 2011 Investments in renewable
[continue reading…]

subset: commoncrawl


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Welcome to the next post in my series "London Station by Station". I hope that you will enjoy this post and be enocuraged to share it.
The two stations in my title are neighbours on the Edgware branch of the Northern line. Hampstead is the deepest station on the entire network, 192 feet below the surface, and it is just north of this station towards Golders Green that the deepest point anywhere on the system is reached, 221 feet below the surface of Hampstead Heath. Yet Golders Green, the very next station, is at surface level, open to the air.
Part of the explanation for the juxtaposition that introduced the body of this piece is that the gap between the two stations is quite a long one – an intermediate station was excavated at platform level but never opened…
Golders Green was the original northern terminus of the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (now part of the Northern line) when it opened in 1907 and is still the site of the Northern line's main depot.
Here is a final picture to end this brief post…


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We are extremely pleased that Cubic has been selected to contribute and participate in this important Navy program
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (PRWEB) March 01, 2013
Cubic Corporation's (NYSE: CUB), Orlando-based Simulation Systems Division announced that it has received three prime contracts from Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD) to develop instructor-led (synchronous) and instructor facilitated self-paced (asynchronous) courseware in support of the Littoral Combat Ship Train to Qualify (T2Q) and Train to Certify (T2C) shore-based training requirements for both variants of the Littoral Combat Ship, and for the Mission Packages utilized on both ships.
The Littoral Combat Ship program represents the United States Navy's most advanced designs, capabilities and technologies to create the next generation of surface vessels that can operate in dangerous shallow and near-shore environments.
If fully funded, the three indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts have the potential value of up to $298.5 million over the five-year period-of-performance.
This program represents a strategic partnership between the United States military, government and industry. This will result in the creation of jobs for veterans, engineers and new graduates of science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs.
"We are extremely pleased that Cubic has been selected to contribute and participate in this important Navy program," said Brad Feldmann, president and chief operating officer of Cubic. "This announcement is another example of Cubic's continued partnership with the United States Navy. We are steadfast in our commitment to this role in support of the men and women in uniform regarding their vital mission to defend freedom and the interests of the United States around the world."
The Littoral Combat Ship courseware development programs will be executed in Orlando, Fla. Cubic's Simulation Systems will partner with Cubic Mission Support Services, and a team of industry leading subcontractors including Austal USA, Alion Science and Technology, Sonalysts, Inc., Aptima, Inc., Cybernet Systems Corporation, RealTime Immersive, Inc. and a host of small and economically disadvantaged businesses to deliver the interactive courseware products.
About Cubic Corporation
Cubic Corporation is the parent company of three major business segments: Defense Systems, Mission Support Services and Transportation Systems. Cubic Defense Systems is a leading provider of realistic combat training systems, cyber technologies, asset tracking solutions, and defense electronics. Mission Support Services is a leading provider of training, operations, maintenance, technical and other support services to the U.S. and allied nations. Cubic Transportation Systems is a leading provider of automated fare collection systems and services for public transit authorities. For more information about Cubic, see the company's web site at http://www.cubic.com.


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"The soul today is an orphan. Her ancient parents have abandoned her; she languishes alone and forsaken in a rationalistic world that no longer believes in her. Philosophy, her father, long ago decided she did not exist and cast her aside...The church, her mother, fell unwittingly into the clutches of the extraverted, rationalistic materialism of our times and so she also abandoned the soul; she did not notice that in losing soul she lost her ability to relate to the individual to God."
This is an observation by an Episcopalian priest named John A. Sanford on how the soul is missing from religion, but I'd argue it's missing from modern day spirituality too. In all my 300 hours of yoga teacher training, I never heard the mention of soul once. Every single bit of information was given on the chakras, yet when living a soul-centered life, there is but one chakra. Spiritual books address mindfulness and heart-centered living but again, the soul remains the orphan. If I can instill any tiny bit of wisdom, it would be that your soul is calling you. It is the missing link to your divinity.
Are you ready to return to your true nature as a soul-centered, conscious creator? Your soul stands ready when you are - all it takes is a conscious decision to trust the wise master that lives within. If you don't know where to start, try this.
Leave a Reply.
October 2017


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Barnacle Trout
|Official Name: Barnacle Trout.
|Common Nicknames: Scrapers.
|Classification: Fish.
|Habitat: Coastal saltwater areas, mainly near Ithania.
|Current Status Common.
Barnacle Trouts are common saltwater fish that pose a problem to most sea captains. They enjoy swimming around large ships, as the bottom of a vessel on a long-voyage provides easy access to a large amount of food (Barnacles) to not only survive, but also stay satisfied.
First Recorded Encounter
"As the crew hauled cargo and supplies from Ithania aboard 'The Sunrider,' I noticed a small group of rather odd fish swimming around our ship. They seemed to be "sucking" the bottom of 'The Sunrider,' then moving on to a different section and repeating the same action. It's hard to tell, as the water is rather murky in this particular spot, but they seem to be about eight inches in length, and they have a soft blue color with an interesting purple stripe." ~ Excerpt from Captain Harry Bridge's Journal
The first encounter of the Barnacle Trout was from the crew aboard the schooner 'The Sunrider' in 183 A.C. The crew, like their captain, reported strange blue fish that seemed to be sucking the bottom of their vessel when 'The Sunrider' was anchored or moving at an extremely slow pace. This sucking action was later revealed to be the Barnacle Trout eating the barnacles that grew on the bottom of 'The Sunrider'. More and more crews described similar fish sucking the bottom of their ship, and after close observation, the Barnacle Trout was discovered.
Current Status
The Barnacle Trout still remains a very common fish that is frequently spotted around unclean docks and anchored ships. Although safe to eat, Barnacle Trout have a very distinct taste that you'll either love or despise given that their flesh is quite bitter. Due to this, they are rarely fished, as well as the fact that they have more bones than your average fish, making them slightly hard to eat.
Barnacle Trout are a rather small species of fish, the largest recorded growth length being only one foot. They have two small eyes on each side of their head, which are normally colored yellow, but the shade can vary from red to green. Their mouths can stretch very wide and upon inspection have flat, human-like teeth that are useful for grinding and crunching hard crustaceans such as barnacles, their favored prey. They have three dorsal fins that, size-wise, are large to small leading from the head to tail. Finally, the Barnacle Trout has a thin tail which curves up sharply, helping them propel through the water.
Notable Physical Traits
While their scales/skin feels delicate and slimy, they have numerous bones underneath, which protects them from harm. Said scales are of a soft-blue colouring which helps them blend in with the water. Barnacle Trout have a very distinct purple stripe which starts from their face and runs along the length of their body, stopping just before the tail. Their purple stripe helps people to distinguish them from other fish, and also makes it easier for fellow Barnacle Trout to identify each other from predators.
Origin and Diversity
The origins of the Barnacle Trout are unknown, though they share a close genetic relationship with common salmon. You can find large groups of Barnacle Trout in Ithania, which is believed to be where they originated from. Regardless of their close relation to the Ithanian waters, you can always find a small cluster or individual Barnacle Trouts near any dock in a relatively warm climate.
Life Span and Development
A Barnacle Trout's average lifespan is approximately six years. Breeding happens early on in the year when the trout migrate to freshwater to lay eggs. Most females are able to lay up to fifteen fries at a time. The beginning of their life is rather difficult, as their teeth haven't fully developed. Until their teeth have a chance to reach their full-size, Barnacle Trout have to scramble to find smaller crustaceans in freshwater which is a very difficult task when up to three hundred fries are battling for barnacles at the same time. Most of the Barnacle Trout make it through this difficult time period, but at a great cost, as they start their adulthood skinny and starving. Once their teeth develop, they begin to eat larger barnacles, the types you would find on a ship.
Mental Overview
Barnacle Trout have a very small mental capacity, and their life mainly consists of eating and mating. Barnacle Trout only trust other Barnacle Trout, which they are able to identify via their purple stripe. They tend to swim away from any other fish, even if it's not a predator. They are quite territorial though and will act with hostility against anything that encroaches on their feeding or breeding grounds.
Territory and Groupings
Barnacle Trout live in groups of up to ten, and they guard their territory fiercely. They use their powerful jaws to clamp onto other fish who invade their space, dragging them away from the territory or simply killing them. However, if anything appears even mildly threatening, Barnacle Trout will hide away and not take the risk of bringing danger to their home.
- Barnacle Trout are a nuisance to all sea captains, and the crew of Windbreaker has been working on developing a special coating that decreases the amount of barnacles that stick to a ship's hull.
- Due to a Barnacle Trout's hard skeleton, the meat is especially hard to remove. This causes the Barnacle Trout to be considered a delicacy in some areas of Ithania, as the long and arduous process of removing and preparing Barnacle Trout meat is quite expensive.
- The trout are such a nuisance to sailors due to their feeding habits. As they scrape the barnacles off of the ship's bottom, they can accidentally scratch the hull, and after a long period of time, shallow holes begin to appear, weakening the wood.
- Written by Furry_Panda.
- Processed by 0romir and qgmk.


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Update 6-19-18: This article seems to be drawing a lot of readership lately. I hope readers are finding it useful. The booster issues discussed in the comments and replies to this article are thoroughly covered in my book.
That book, submitted to AIAA for publication, is "still out for review" every time I have inquired about its status, for the last several months. You might contact AIAA and inquire about it yourself, if you are interested in obtaining a copy. The title as submitted is "A Practical Guide to Ramjet Propulsion".
They might move more quickly if they thought there was real demand.
Update 11-28-17: The last draft materials (that 4th appendix and a revised table of contents) have been submitted to AIAA. I haven't yet heard back on a publishing decision.
Update 9-19-17: Application materials and most of the book went to AIAA today. Their timelines say weeks for approval, months for actual publication.
To see the figures enlarged, click on one, and you can see them all. The "escape key" gets you out of the enlarged figures and back to the normal view.
That book, submitted to AIAA for publication, is "still out for review" every time I have inquired about its status, for the last several months. You might contact AIAA and inquire about it yourself, if you are interested in obtaining a copy. The title as submitted is "A Practical Guide to Ramjet Propulsion".
They might move more quickly if they thought there was real demand.
Update 11-28-17: The last draft materials (that 4th appendix and a revised table of contents) have been submitted to AIAA. I haven't yet heard back on a publishing decision.
Update 9-19-17: Application materials and most of the book went to AIAA today. Their timelines say weeks for approval, months for actual publication.
Update 5-17-17: My ramjet book is nearly completed. I have drafted 22 of 22 chapters, and 3 of 4 appendices. I am in process of applying to publish this work as a book in AIAA's "education series".
Many folks have looked at my Ramjet Cycles Analysis posting on this site, dated 12-21-2012. There is a whole lot more to engineering ramjet propulsion than just cycle analysis. The following is but a primer on this very large topic. It is not comprehensive, nor does it have the real "how-to". But is does introduce the real operative concepts. For the details and "how-to", you'll have to wait for my book.
To see the figures enlarged, click on one, and you can see them all. The "escape key" gets you out of the enlarged figures and back to the normal view.
There are two different speed ranges for conventional subsonic combustion ramjets, with two different sets of appropriate design features. There's no point trying to use either one outside its appropriate speed range.
Low Speed Ramjets
The low speed range extends from very high subsonic to about Mach 2, no more than about 2.5, and such designs have a simple pitot/normal shock inlet, and a convergent-only nozzle that is not always choked. That nozzle in a well-designed system begins to choke in the vicinity of Mach 1 to 1.1, which limits combustor flow speeds to values compatible with successful flameholding (no more than about Mach 0.42). These have been off-the-shelf ready-to-apply liquid-fueled ramjet technology since WW2. Example: Red-Head / Roadrunner, Gorgon-IV. Rather volatile fuels like gasoline or the wide-cut fuel JP-4 are required.
High-Speed Ramjets
The high-speed designs extend from just under Mach 2 to speeds above Mach 4, to maybe Mach 6. These have supersonic inlets with external compression features that don't work at all below about Mach 1.7, give or take ~ 0.2. The nozzle is an always-choked convergent-divergent design with a very modest expansion ratio (near 1.5-1.7). In a properly-sized system, combustor flow speeds are flameholding-limited to the same values as in a low-speed design, but pressures are higher because the incoming inlet pressures and air massflow are higher, so performance potential is higher than the low speed designs. These have been off-the-shelf, ready-to-apply liquid-fueled ramjet technology since the 1950's. Examples: Bomarc, Talos, SA-4, SA-6, Bloodhound, Navajo.
Superior flame stabilization techniques, solid gas generator-fed fuel options, and better ways to add the needed booster rockets got added in the 1960's, and have been off-the-shelf ready-to-apply technologies since about 1970. Examples: SA-6, ALVRJ, ASALM-PTV, Kh-31, Kh-41, Kh-61, and Meteor. The prime innovation was the integral booster. There are also ejectable booster nozzles, nozzle-less boosters, and inlet port cover design approaches, all associated with those integral boosters. The other booster designs are stage-off (Talos) and carry-along (Bomarc). Slightly-less volatile kerosene and kerosene-like fuels may be used in these designs, and solid gas generator-fed fuels are feasible. There are severe geometry restrictions with those solid fuels that require flameholding, less with the hypergolic solids.
Characteristics of Ramjets
Neither type (low- or high-speed) operates at constant fuel flow rate, unless you only fly at only one speed and altitude. Inlet captured airflow varies very strongly with speed of flight and with ambient air pressure, which at high altitudes is very low indeed. The variations are not linear, reflecting both atmospheric variations and actual inlet hardware characteristics, as well as engine operating parameters like fuel flow.
What you want is operation at a constant fuel/air ratio, thus your fuel flow varies exactly as wildly as your airflow capture does. A thrust-intense accelerator mixture might be 10% rich. Higher fuel economy performance is available leaned-back in steady cruise at around 10-15% lean. This leaned value varies a lot from design to design. The rich value is an almost universal "knee-in-the-curve" item.
For both kinds of design, frontal thrust density (thrust per unit cross section area) varies more-or-less in proportion to operating combustor pressure, which at high altitudes is very low indeed. Weight does not
reduce with reducing air pressure, so there quickly comes a point where you cannot generate enough thrust to actually fly level, much less climb or accelerate. Very few designs can successfully operate much above about 80-100,000 feet. There have been a very few exceptions, but nothing above 125,000 feet.
Supersonic combustion ramjets ("scramjets") operate from about Mach 4 on up, albeit at lower fuel economy performance than high speed ramjets have in their speed range. They also have the same low frontal thrust density limitations as the conventional ramjet. They must also variably-meter fuel at constant mixture ratio with a highly-variable captured airflow, but beyond that, there is no resemblance to conventional ramjet. Try to run one below Mach 4, and it explodes, according to the test data.
Scramjets share only a few inlet features with high speed conventional ramjets. The design analysis techniques, and the basic hardware components for the combustor and nozzle, are entirely different from what is used for conventional ramjet. Scramjet cycle analysis is very effort-intensive and usually based on computer fluid dynamic-type analysis. Conditions are so far outside what these codes were developed for, your analyses must be validated by test before you can trust them. That has been rather unreliable. Scramjets require a long constant-Mach isolator duct, while ramjets require a terminal shock in a divergent subsonic diffuser. These are fundamentally-incompatible geometry requirements. Scramjets just explode without the isolator duct. Ramjets cannot function without the subsonic diffuser. Simple as that.
The recent test flight vehicles X-43A and X-51A did demonstrate successful, but very experimental scramjet burns. But neither design actually accelerated at all as an airbreather. Scramjet is NOT an off-the-shelf ready-to-apply technology. It just barely works at all, in a few highly-experimental and hugely expensive flight tests. X-43A flew twice out of 3 attempts, netting two 3-second burns at constant speeds of Mach 7 and 10, with hydrogen fuel. X-51A flew twice out of four attempts, netting two 3-minute burns at constant speeds of Mach 5, with hydrocarbon fuel.
These scramjets can indeed be developed, yes, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a ready-to-apply technology! I have personally watched this endeavor for over half a century, without seeing anything but highly experimental, only-partially successful results, and only in the last 12 years. Nothing before that.
Acceleration in Airbreather Mode
(Conventional, subsonic-combustion) ramjet is something I did for a living for ~20 years in defense work. Most of these were designed for max speeds of Mach 3 to Mach 4. Although, one test vehicle (ASALM-PTV) reached an unintended Mach 6 on a short transient. It accelerated airbreather-only from Mach 2.5 takeover to Mach 6, in a matter of several seconds! Vehicle thrust minus drag, divided by vehicle weight, was a fair fraction of one full gee! Like I said above, ramjet works, is off-the-shelf, and is very definitely effective and ready-to-apply.
Combined-Cycle Engines
Combined cycle engine ideas are like scramjet, just experimental toys. Nothing is off-the-shelf ready-to-apply. I've also been watching that effort for nearly half a century. The closest thing to reality is the ejector ramjet, but you'll actually get better overall performance if you just physically separate the rocket from the ramjet, which then offers some unique advantages for parallel burn. Each can then assist the other anywhere needed, all along the trajectory, and this happens at the best (uncompromised) performance from each.
There are fundamentally two kinds of combined-cycle engines: the turbine-based and rocket-based combined-cycle engines. It would be hard enough to do either of these as turbine- or rocket- combined with ramjet, but the trend in recent decades has been to try to blend them with scramjet. This has turned out to be utter nonsense so far, not just because combined-cycle makes fatally-severe compromises to individual component performance, but also because scramjet is just fundamentally unready to apply, even in its pure forms.
The rocket-based combined cycle with conventional subsonic-combustion ramjet is also known as the ejector ramjet. This one hides a rocket engine within the ramjet engine, in an effort to provide meaningful static thrust for takeoff. It actually can work, but the performance levels are abysmally low. It's just not worth the losses.
The rocket's thrust performance is greatly reduced by the jet drag against the ramjet structures around it. Any thrust-augmenting airflow induced through the engine by the rocket jet is drastically reduced for all inlets with external compression features, simply because there are no attached-shock solutions for the external compression features. That's just physics, there is no way around it. That effect inherently "kills" ingested air flow. And the flameholding flow pattern of the ramjet component is inherently and fatally disturbed by the presence of the rocket jet, with which it is coaxial.
The concept of separate rocket and ramjet engines capable of "parallel burn" is just the better deal, and by far! The individual components yield full performance levels, and can be operated simultaneously as well as sequentially, which is far greater flexibility. Parallel burn with separate devices is also how a self-boosting ramjet airplane becomes a feasible thing to attempt. You need to retain enough rocket propellant to provide a safe and practical landing capability: "go around" or "divert" on rocket propulsion. This is probably best done with small liquid propellant rocket engines to provide boost, landing, and any parallel-burn mission capabilities. These can use the same fuel as the ramjet, so that only the oxidizer need be added.
Ramjet Heat Protection
Up to now, ramjet has been applied to one-shot missile designs. Combustor heat protection is best done as DC-93-104 silicone ablative, but retained in place once charred-through, by kinked stainless steel ribbons spot-welded to the case ID. This retained char becomes brittle and falls apart after the burn, upon cool-down, so it simply cannot be reused! The kinked-ribbon retention idea has been implemented by very few outfits!
However, by means of acid-etched Teflon film and appropriate primers, conventional rocket propellant can be cast in place on DC-93-104 as a fully-case-bonded integral booster rocket. Without the Teflon separator, this does not work, as the silicone chemistry of the DC-93-104 is fundamentally incompatible with the hydrocarbon chemistry of CTPB, HTPB, and PBAN propellant binder systems. (I leave out monopropellant explosive GAP binder as simply too hazardous to work with, like raw NG, but it would also need the Teflon barrier film.) The most practical propellant grain design for ramjet-like L/D's and high boost pressures is the keyhole slot.
High-density "super-ceramics" are just not a feasible option for a combustor packaged inside an airframe, precisely because they have high thermal conductivity (inherently because of their high density). The heat flow through such a wall is catastrophically large, destroying anything near the incandescent combustor shell. The only "option" would be regenerative cooling, but unlike rocket, the fuel flow is far smaller and so unable to accept the large quantity of heat. This same consideration applies to nozzle and inlet structures.
There are a couple of low-density ceramic solutions, but these are very experimental, and preclude the use of an integral booster packaged in the combustor. For surface temperatures under 3200 F, an all-alumino-silicate solution is available as a ceramic composite made of pipe insulation paste and aircraft fire curtain cloth. This has been done once successfully, in a miniature combustor whose flight speed did not exceed Mach 0.9.
For surface temperatures exceeding 3200 F, some kind of reduced-density zirconia composite is required. The material choices are fewer, and far more expensive. Thermal conductivity is very much higher, so the required thickness is far greater. As near as I can tell, this was actually attempted once, but has never been done successfully. There are also very serious concerns about usable lifetime, on the part of the zirconia materials maker.
Neither ceramic solution is compatible with the integral booster concept. All such materials, being so porous, are inherently very fragile. Booster rocket pressures would utterly destroy them in microseconds. For either ceramic solution, the booster rocket must be located outside the combustor, which means either a stage-off booster or else a parallel-burn rocket of some kind. There is simply no way around that.
Ramjet missiles usually feature exposed martensitic stainless-steel structures, good to about 1000-maybe-1200-F material temperatures. Plain carbon steel and titanium are only good to about 700-800 F material temperatures. That 1200 F limit with stuff like D6ac is why no operational ramjet missiles have ever exceeded about Mach 4 cruise velocity. To fly faster requires some way to limit material temperatures. Air temperatures in the stratosphere are around 3000 F at Mach 6. And that's just skins. Leading edges are more demanding.
The only other ramjet heat protection scheme is the perforated cooling air sleeve, something common in designs from the 1950's and 1960's. It is still seen in jet engine afterburner ducts. Overall mixture must be lean to have the excess air needed for the cooling sleeve, and this air must be cool enough to actually serve effectively as a coolant for an item washed by flame on the other side. Such schemes have never served at speeds over Mach 3 because of the air temperatures. A perforated sleeve like this is as incompatible with an integral booster as are the low-density ceramics.
Ramjet Flame Stability
For all the non-hypergolic fuels, there must be properly sized and located flameholding recirculation zones, or else the igniter must fire massively throughout the flight. There is no way around that, it is just physics and chemistry. The hypergolic fuels are vapor magnesium and TEB or TEB/TEA blends. These are low energy, low stoichiometry, low-Isp (very high TSFC) fuels. They are also the only feasible flight igniter materials.
No flameholding ramjet (gasoline, wide-cut, kerosene, or solid gas generator-fed) was ever successful with a ramjet throat area / combustor area ratio exceeding 65%, because the balance of inlet and duct sizes becomes impossible at feasible flow speeds above that limit. Few were ever successful with that ratio below about 55-60%, because frontal thrust densities fell too low to be useful. It makes sense to size at 65%, and set inlet/throat area ratio so as not to spill, throughout the flight envelope, and duct area so as not to be unignitable or suffer flashback from high or low duct velocities.
Hypergolic (magnesium vapor) gas generator-fed systems can use throat area ratios up to ~90%, and need no flameholder recirculation zones at all. All that is important is fine-scale mixing for combustion efficiency. But hypergolic systems are the exception, not the rule. The SA-6 was one of these. There have been no others, with the possible exception of the ramjet variant of the AA-12 "Adder".
There are two practical kinds of flameholder: baffles and "sudden-dump" combustors. The actually-implemented form of the baffle is the V-gutter, used in the 1950's and 1960's systems, and still in use today in jet engine afterburners. These are very sensitive to the speed in the duct approaching the V-gutter. They do require inlet air temperatures low enough to be an effective coolant, because these structures are bathed in flame on the downstream side. They have never been successfully used as bare metal items above about Mach 3 or so, because of the high inlet air temperatures. Their area blockage is usually no more than about 10-15% of the inlet duct area. These effects depend upon absolute size: smaller is less stable.
The sudden dump combustor, whether center or side entry, has only insulated combustor surfaces facing the combustor flame. These can be used to at least Mach 6, which is about the practical limit with subsonic-combustion ramjet anyway. They are relatively insensitive to approaching duct velocity, and thus more stable for a wider range of conditions. It is low pressure and low temperature in the oncoming air that have the greatest negative impact on flame stability in dump combustors. The sudden expansion area ratio must fall in the feasible range for this to work. These effects also depend upon absolute size: smaller is less stable.
In ASALM-PTV, the fuel spraybar assembly was configured to shed a wake resembling that of a V-gutter, but it was insulated on the downstream side, and located right in the dump plane, in order to support the inlet port cover during boost. The purpose of that spraybar wake turbulence was additional mixing energy to offset the effects of a very short combustor, not to enhance flameholding.
The other practical baffle flameholder (besides the V-gutter) is the "colander" burner, whether inverted or not. This was last successfully used in a ramjet in Talos in the 1950's, and that proved to be fraught with problems in testing. It finds wide application in gas turbine engine work, where flowing conditions are just not quite so extreme. It does not find application in afterburner ducts, which are actually quite similar to ramjets.
Ramjet Engine Sizing
Ramjet operation and performance is almost completely determined by what the inlet can do. If the pressure demanded of the inlet is too high, the shock system is expelled out in front of the cowl lip, leading to spillage of decelerated air. That spillage incurs drag without the benefit of producing any thrust.
Things that raise the pressure demanded of the inlet are (1) too large an inlet relative to the other proportions, (2) too rich a mixture, and (3) too small a ramjet throat relative to the other proportions. Inlet, throat, and mixture strength must be carefully determined to meet requirements and also maximize performance while doing so. This is not a trivial exercise; it requires both appropriate knowledge and real experience.
The subsonic inlet duct must also be sized in correct proportion, so that it has an appropriate flow speed, both burning, and in cold flow for ignition. Flameholding is a part of this (upper speed limits), as is the risk of flashback (lower speed limits), which can destroy inlet structures. So also is the flame stabilizer pressure loss a function of chosen duct speed. Most dump-stabilized systems do well if the ratio of duct area to combustor area falls between 45% and 50%.
The only pressure-rise item in a ramjet is the inlet recovery. The combustor entry and flameholder are pressure losses, as is the combustion zone itself. This is quite unlike the gas turbine, in which the pressure rise effect of the compressor dominates, and by far. This compressor pressure rise is always much larger than the pressure drop across the turbine that drives the compressor, in turn the dominant pressure reduction effect.
Ramjet thrust and performance maximize for maximum captured air massflow, with maximum feasible pressure recovery. You cannot truly maximize both simultaneously, and massflow is the more important item in ramjet. Therefore, one operates with a critical-to-slightly-supercritical inlet for max air ingestion at good pressure recovery. This is quite distinct from gas turbine, which requires spillage to match inlet and engine massflows: an always-subcritical inlet. The inlets of ramjets and gas turbines look the same (in the same speed ranges) because they utilize the same components, but these are actually used quite differently.
Ramjet Ground Testing
Testing ramjets on the ground is best done in a direct-connect test facility, as long as the inlet performance is already well-defined. Most of these use "vitiated" (combustion-heated) air with make-up oxygen to achieve the needed temperatures. This is appropriate for the liquid hydrocarbon fuels, but not the metallized gas generator fuels. The active metals utilize the excess carbon dioxide and water vapor in vitiated air as additional oxygen, thus getting bad test results. Similar problems increasingly cloud results even with the liquid fuels at inlet air temperatures beyond about 2500 F, due to dissociation and ionization chemistry effects.
One overcomes this by means of a pebble bed-type "clean air" heater instead of combustion vitiation. Achievable temperatures are somewhat lower with this design approach, but the delivered air really is air. This is crucial with the metallic hypergolic fuels, like magnesium. Even aluminum and boron are questionable.
Analysis of ground test data is not done by comparison to predictions from a cycle code. Instead, many of the same mathematical models are incorporated into a test data analysis program that computes independent estimates of combustion performance from both combustor pressure and test article thrust, as completely-separate sources of data. When these agree, you know you did everything right. Of the two, getting reliable thrust data is far more difficult, because of the difficulty of calibrating all the possible facility tare forces. There is no such thing as a tare pressure, though. Trust pressure-derived performance in preference to thrust-derived performance, always.
Subscale Test Scaling
Scaling down to subscale test is more complicated than generally thought. What you want is the same pressure and speed distributions inside the subscale representation of your engine. If no other considerations were important, then all you need do is match the air and fuel flow rates per unit cross section area, the inlet total temperature, and the geometric proportions of the engine. But, other considerations do matter. Once you scale down too far, the residence time distribution will be fatally wrong compared to full scale! This is because chemistry rates do not scale with size.
There is a minimum size below which you have to distort the engine geometry in order to maintain feasible residence time distributions. Only certain kinds of distortions are effective. The details of this are entirely different for each geometry class (baffle versus coaxial dump versus side entry dump). There is no one general procedure to use! The criteria are entirely empirical and unique in each geometry class. Both overall residence time and flameholder recirculation zone residence time are critical items to address. These are computed quite differently, and in the case of flameholder residence time, methods differ by geometry class.
Running Studies Requires Modeling Inlets
A lot of the folks who want to do this, do not have real wind tunnel data on real inlets available to them. As long as the studies are "ballpark" explorations, and not real system predictions, there is a way to adequately estimate inlet performance for "new designs" based on past historical data. This estimating technique is based on the "shock-on-lip design Mach number" of the inlet, which applies to high-speed inlet designs only.
I have a curve composited from old data that is fairly universal, if used as the pressure recovery PRCR for Mach numbers below shock-on-lip. In that regime, they're basically all just about the same. A factor taken from a second curve applies to the PRCR value at shock-on-lip, to create the individualized PRCR curve at Mach numbers above shock-on-lip. That factor varies with flight-minus-design difference in Mach numbers.
I have two other curves that model streamtube area ratio ARCR trends with that same difference of flight minus design Mach. One is for round inlet cross-section shapes, the other is for two-dimensional inlet cross-section shapes. The basis area is AC, defined as the swept-out area: this is the cross-section of the cowl entry channel plus the frontal blockage of the external compression surfaces, at zero angle of attack.
These techniques work fairly well for near-zero angle of attack with side-mounted inlets and chin inlets, and pretty much up to 15 or 20 degree angle of attack with nose inlets. It is easy to use this technique in a trade study to help define what the "best" inlet shock-on-lip design speed is, for any given problem.
The missing piece is additive drag coefficient, which does not usually apply to nose inlets at all, may or may not apply to a chin inlet, but is quite important for side-mounted inlets. This usually represents the "pre-entry" drag on the entering streamtube, where it is in contact with vehicle surfaces and influenced by the vehicle bow and forebody shock and expansion field. It does not include the spillage drag when operating subcritically. The reference area for this is also AC, as defined above. This coefficient, the AC, and the freestream dynamic pressure multiply together for the additive drag force.
Often, the effects of boundary layer diverter drag, and the spillage drag of capture enhancing bleeds located near the cowl lip, are included lumped-in with the pre-entry drag into the additive drag data. I have a set of real wind tunnel additive drag data that includes pre-entry, diverter, and capture-enhancing bleed drags for a real design actually tested. There is a knee in this curve at the design shock-on-lip speed. For trade study purposes, I just shift this curve left or right to put that knee at the shock-on-lip speed in my study problem.
Subcritical spillage drag coefficient is easy to estimate as twice the subcritical spillage margin. The area basis is AC, and those with the free stream dynamic pressure gets you to a drag force for the subcritically-spilled air.
Many systems use air bled from the subsonic diffuser aft of the terminal shock, to power pneumatically-operated machinery. This bleed reduces the air actually fed to combustor from that captured by the inlet, by an amount called the "bleed fraction". As long as your ram drag (inlet air momentum) is based on all the air captured, you have already accounted for the drag of scooping up your machinery bleed air.
Pitot/normal shock inlets for low-speed designs are far easier to estimate. These are almost invariably nose inlets without any capture-enhancing bleeds, so the additive drag is zero.
Pick a "high" number like 98% to represent the subsonic diffuser PRCR. From Mach one on up, multiply that 98% factor by the total pressure ratio across a normal shock at each Mach number. That product is your supersonic PRCR, rather closely.
Your pitot/normal shock ARCR is just another pretty-constant "high" factor like 98%, across the board from subsonic to supersonic. Base your AC on the dividing-streamline "highlight" defined by the inlet lip radius.
Thrust-Drag Accounting
There are two systems: (1) net jet, and (2) installed. As regards ramjet propulsion, net jet thrust is nozzle thrust minus the ram drag of the captured airflow. The additive and subcritical spillage drags must be added to the airframe drag. Installed thrust is nozzle thrust minus ram drag, minus additive drag, and minus subcritical spillage drag. The airframe drag is unchanged. Do not mix definitions! Be consistent! Net jet is popular among propulsion specialists, while the vehicle aerodynamicists and trajectory dynamics folks prefer installed.
Engine Flight Envelope
The standard presentation is altitude on the vertical axis, and speed on the horizontal axis. For supersonic-capable systems of all kinds, the preferred form for speed is Mach number. You can create one such plot for each day-type model (such as a "standard day") that you choose to use.
The minimum ramjet operating speed on this plot may or may not be constant with altitude. Generally it is not the absolute minimum operating speed for thrust equal to drag, but something higher set by adequate vehicle acceleration capability. The maximum ramjet operating speed is very likely to be determined by thermal protection risks. Something like 1200 F inlet air total temperature is usually a good representation of this.
The "ceiling" of this operating envelope is fairly likely to be either a scooped air massflow contour, or a flight dynamic pressure contour. Flameholder stability and fuel turndown ratio limitations may clip off corners or zones from this basic envelope, as your study proceeds. The process of drawing it is iterative.
A variation on this uses the scaled-down inlet AC to generate contours of constant airflow on a flight envelope that corresponds to subscale test hardware. These and the constant inlet temperature contours get plotted as an easy way to relate ground test conditions (airflow and temperature) to simulated flight conditions (Mach number and altitude) for that particular design. Facility limits usually exist in the form of air flow rate and temperature limits for direct comparison. Open-air nozzle choke limits can usually be determined in terms of a critical airflow value. Where you can simulate in test is thus a sub-envelope, generally.
Selecting Propulsion
Gas turbine is available basically in two forms: (1) high-bypass ratio "fanjets" that offer high economy, but only at subsonic speeds, and (2) low bypass ratio "turbojets" that offer supersonic flight at the cost of substantially-lower fuel economy. Both types can be thrust-augmented with afterburners, at the cost of very low economy. In practical terms, gas turbine is limited by excessive inlet air temperatures to maximum feasible speeds near Mach 3.3-3.5 in the stratosphere.
High-speed range ramjets are useful from near Mach 2, to at least Mach 4, and perhaps to Mach 6. They are far simpler and lighter than gas turbines, but resemble afterburning low-bypass gas turbines in terms of fuel economy. Simple, lightweight, inexpensive, and more fuel-economical than solid rocket propulsion, that is why ramjets are often employed as missile propulsion.
Ramjets are not as simple to design, or to incorporate into a compact missile, as solid rockets, so they are not generally selected for the shorter range tactical missiles. For the longer stand-off range tactical missions, ramjets are well worth the trouble to incorporate, especially the modern integral-booster forms. Ramjets will cover the range in smaller packages, arriving at higher speeds for better maneuverability, and will do so in shorter flight times that greatly enhance the survivability of the launch aircraft, ship, or site.
For tactical missile work, I'd recommend selecting solid rocket for ranges under ten miles, ramjet for over ten miles, generally speaking. For aircraft designs, select ramjet if you need to fly faster than Mach 3.3-3.5. Otherwise, use an afterburning low-bypass gas turbine if supersonic, fanjet if subsonic.
Once there really are ready-to-apply scramjet and combined-cycle engine technologies, you will have more options to choose from. That time is not yet.
Concluding Comments
The details of all items just discussed were obviously not included. There are many more details and issues associated with ramjet-propelled vehicles, all quite critical to success. The sum of all that is far larger than can be put into a few paragraphs here.
My ramjet book is still in work, but it is more than half-written now. It addresses all these issues, and much more besides, in a very hands-on / how-to manner. In it, I tried to include not only the science, the applications, real examples, and the history, but also a lot of the engineering art of ramjet propulsion that I do happen to know. That art is the part not written down, but passed-on in the workplace directly from the seasoned hand to the newbie.
I hope to find the proper publishing outlet, get this book finished, and get it published and available, during 2017.
As regards engineering art, I am fond of saying that "rocket science ain't science, it's only about 40% science. It's about 50% art, and about 10% blind dumb luck". I would also add two extra points to that statement:
(1) It applies to production work. In development work, the art and luck factors are even higher.
(2) It applies to just about all of engineering, not just rocketry or ramjetting.
G. W. Johnson, PE, PhD


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We had a problem with Barracuda's ADC load balancer and Outlook Web App for Exchange 2013. The user would get to the OWA login screen and login only to be brought back to the login screen again in an endless loop. We were using the "Instant SSL" service type as described in the following Barracuda document: https://techlib.barracuda.com/adc/msx2013deploy
The problem was that "Rewrite Support" was enabled on the service. Disabling this allowed the users to login without problem.


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Cristina Carlino
Cristina Carlino served as a product researcher and professional skincare specialist for 22 years before embarking on something bigger in 1996. She wanted to develop products that nourished both the skin and the soul, and so, philosophy was born. Cristina is recognized as a leader in pioneering and identifying medically-based skin care technologies. She broke barriers by seeking to bridge the gap between what was offered in dermatologists' offices and the retail market, so that women everywhere could personally have access to the best skincare technologies available.


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Siv Jensen (Progress Party) on suitor's tour of eastern Norway
A very optimistic Progress Party (Frp) leader Siv Jensen embarked on a election campaign tour of eastern Norway this Saturday. Within the matter of hours she visited Drammen, Asker, Ullern, Ski and Moss. Asylum and immigration politics are not surprisingly high on the agenda.
– At the beginning of this campaign, we have roughly the same support as four years ago, and the party is very well placed to obtain a good election result, says Jensen to NTB during the visit at the Ski Storsenter on Saturday morning.
At the shopping mall it was quiet around the party's election campaign for a long time. the crowd increased markedly during the half-hour Jensen had set aside.
Frp's support at the previous parliamentary elections was 16.3 per cent – a marked decline since 2009 – When the total support was 22.9 per cent.
Results from the polls a month before the parliamentary elections, shows that the Progress Party is not likely to even uphold the support from 2013.
– We'll have to wait and see. I do not think you should sell the hide before the bear is shot. The voters are the ones who will have the final say. I am very optimistic and notice that the voters are very positive, says Jensen, emphasizing that Frp tend to be good at election campaigns.
Comes trudging along
The latest play from the leader of the Frp is that she will refuse refugees social (NAV) support if they have not learn Norwegian within five years. Prime Minister Erna Solberg (Conservatives) however does not support this language requirement.
– There is no novelty that the Progress Party makes suggestions that the other parties spend some time to digest. I'm used to the other parties slowly, but with certainty follow in the footsteps of the Progress Party, says Jensen.
– I believe that making demands is one of the most important things we do. It is absolutely crucial that people living in Norway speak Norwegian. It is a prerequisite for entering into the labour market. Even in order to support themselves and their families – and to be a part of Norwegian society, the FrP leader continues.
Labour leader Støre circumvents the problems
Jensen supports fellow party member, Sylvi Listhaug's, call for teachers and the public to report to the Immigration Directorate (UDI) if asylum seekers travels to their home country.
Labour leader Jonas Gahr Støre has reacted strongly to the initiative. He thinks it "appeals to something that reminds us of a snitch community."
– I believe Støre disregards the real problem. These are people who say they have a need for protection in Norway. Yet they, of their own free will, choose to travel to the country they want to be protected from. This despite the fact that it is contrary to Norwegian law, says Jensen.
– The mere fact that Støre and others choose to talk about squealing, instead of talking about what the real problem is , tells me that they are not so keen to act in the asylum and immigration policy.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today


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I kinda feel the same way about vegetables. Yep, you heard me right. There are veggies out there that are underdogs. Left behind in the grocery store, snubbed at the farmers market. I'm talking about kohlrabi, celeriac, beets and Don's favourite: rutabaga. If you've never tried a vegetable I'm desperate to get you to try it. Collard greens and Swiss chard are a favourite to surprise guests with. It's like everyone (and every vegetable) deserves a chance and I'm the one to bring it to them.
Rutabaga Apple Soup
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 leek, white parts only chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 sweet potato, chopped (about 1cup)
1 rutabaga peeled and chopped (about 4 cups)
1/2 tsp sage
6 cups chicken broth (homemade if possible)
1 apple, chopped
salt/pepper to taste
In a large pot, saute leek and onion in olive oil over medium heat for about 5min until softened. Add vegetables, broth and apples and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until all veggies are tender. About 30 min. Remove from heat and puree in blender. Season with salt/pepper. Enjoy!


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Dev.f, a Mexican edtech startup offering technology skill programs across Latin America, has raised $1.4 million in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Invent Capital Fund, with participation from other angel investors.
Founded in 2014, Dev.f focuses on developing people in an accessible and inclusive way. The startup is devoted to generating access to quality education with programs that help people build the necessary skills to become employable in high-quality job positions related to technology and the digital economy.
Dev.f offers programs that enable people learn to build things and solve problems using software. It enables people to learn by doing. At Dev.f, learners can start building software from day one alongside experienced industry experts and mentors. They will also learn from their peers and speakers deep involved in the software development scene.
Commenting on the development, Elías Shuchleib, Co-founder and CEO of Dev.f, said,
"We are very excited to be entering this phase of growth and expansion. We are working to develop the technology that will allow us to keep escalating while we create educational experiences that are most appropriate to the historical moment that we are living nowadays. We want to tackle the problem of a society that is still working and living with the past education and industrial paradigm."
The startup plans to use the fresh funds to expand the location of its software schools across Latin America. According to its press release, the startup said it currently has 5 school locations in Mexico, but with the new funding, it will expand its operations to 30 locations in 10 countries spanning across Mexico, Central and South America.
Issuing a statement on the investment, Invent Capital said,
"We believe that Dev.f is one of the companies best positioned to impact the educational offer for technology skills in Latin America. We believe that they could educate thousands of people who are eager to participate in today's digital economy and in the jobs of the future."
Dev.f said on its website, over 3,500 people have graduated from its schools and landed jobs at global companies like Google, Microsoft, IBM, Amazon, Mercado Libre, and others.
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When my babies are still tiny, fresh with the newness of life, still sweet with tenderness, they spend the nighttime hours in a small bassinet beside my bed. It's easier that way, having them close. Easier for feedings, and easier for my hand to rest on their chests, feeling the reassuring swell, up and down, as they breathe.
In those late, but actually early hours, dark with night, but still bright with love, I sit and nurse my baby. Sometimes, I marvel. I curl tiny fingers around my own. I trace tiny eyebrows. I smile at tiny baby noises that melt my heart. Other times, I doze uncomfortably, willing the little bundle of difficult to finish feeding so I can just get some sleep already, and mutter about the ridiculousness of needing to eat every two and a half hours in the first place…
My mood? Not very consistent at 2 AM. But there is one constant, a presence I know I can always rely on. Whenever I nurse, sitting cross legged on the bed, my husband reaches over and puts his hand on the small of my back. I am ill equipped to feed the baby, his hand says, but I'm here. I'm with you. I know that you're up, that it isn't always easy.
Many nights, that simple gesture of kindness tethers me to reality. Sometimes, it just helps to know there is someone there. I'm grateful that I know my husband well enough to recognize that gesture for what it is. It's the little things, I think, that often make the biggest difference. But do we always recognize them? How often do we fail to see?
It's been on my mind a lot lately – the need to see the little things. Not just in my relationship with my husband, but in my relationship with God.
Do I recognize His presence?
Am I failing to see?
I have found that if I really look for it, I can see His presence in every single aspect of my life. His hand is there, on my back, all the time – leading, guiding, encouraging. But, oh! It's so easy to grumble, to see the flaws, the difficulties, the misery of our own plight. We are alone, after all. These things that we are doing have to be done by someone, and it us that must do the job, and it is only us, and no one really understands, or will ever understand…
Except, wait. There it is. If I close my eyes, I can feel it. A light touch, a kind word, a supportive hand. He is there. He is everywhere. Always has been, and always will be. His presence is constant.
It is up to me to simply see.


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Made from high-performing impact materials that give you hard-hitting protection. Not only does it look great with its playful pattern and feel comfortable in your hand, it safeguards drop after drop to keep your iPhone looking brand new.
Welcome! We noticed you are shopping on our AUS store. Based on your location, we think you might prefer to shop on our US store. Would you like to go there now?


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Made in USA® Certification
August 10th, 2014 – Storm Shield is pleased to announce that it's Window & Door manufacturing facility REGENCY PLUS INC. has been "Made in USA®" approved and certified.
Made in USA Certified Inc. completed a rigorous supply chain audit to ensure that its material components and originated and finished goods have been processed in the United States.
"This was a detailed project which required us to look at every individual component in every window and door. We are extremely excited to be able to offer this to all of our customers. We will be very proud to place the 'Made in USA Certified' label on our products," said Gary Fanelli , President of Regency Plus, Inc.
Made in USA Certified Co-founder and President Adam Reiser said, "Regency Plus, Inc. has shown an unwavering commitment to manufacture innovative vinyl windows and doors here in the United States of America. Window & door manufacturing facilities provide thousands of jobs here in the United States, and their commitment to manufacturing domestically and providing valuable jobs is well appreciated. We are proud to add such a fine company to our growing list of Made in USA Certified products."
MADE IN USA CERTIFIED® is the only registered "Made in USA Certified" word mark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and is the leading non-partisan, independent, third-party certification company for the "Made in USA," "Product of USA" and "Service in USA" claims. The USA-C™ seals show that a company bearing these trust marks has gone through a rigorous supply chain audit to verify compliance with national standards. Trust but Certify!™


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Get out the calculators: Argentina may miss World Cup
Get out the calculators. It's number-crunching time for Argentina and six other South American countries still vying for places in next year's World Cup in Russia.
Argentina is in danger of missing its first World Cup since 1970 — almost a half-century ago.
This would mean no Lionel Messi to drive television ratings; no Messi to spur ticket sales for local organizers; no Messi to distract from off-field controversies surrounding the world-governing body, FIFA.
The top four teams in South America advance automatically, and the fifth-place team has the chance to advance from a playoff next month against New Zealand, the representative of Oceania.
Brazil has already qualified with 38 points. Uruguay is next with 28 and is widely expected to qualify. That leaves five teams with varying prospects: Chile (26), Colombia (26), Peru (25), Argentina (25), and Paraguay (24).
Tuesday's matches will all start at the same time: Ecuador-Argentina, Brazil-Chile, Peru-Colombia, Paraguay-Venezuela, and Uruguay-Bolivia.
Here's a quick look at the chances and the qualifying rules.
If teams are tied on points, the tie-breakers in order are: overall goal difference; overall goals scored; points in matches between tied teams; goal difference in matches between tied teams; goals scored in matches between tied teams; away goals scored in matches between tied teams; "fair play points" based on yellow and red cards.
And if that won't solve it, get set for the drawing of lots.
Argentina has scored only one goal in its last four matches. Coach Jorge Sampaoli has excluded team veteran Gonzalo Higuain and has tried all kinds of forward combinations with Messi: Paulo Dybala, Mauro Icardi, Dario Benedetto, and Alejandro Gomez.
Nothing has worked so far.
Argentina faces Ecuador in the thin air of Quito, located at 2,850 meters (9,350 feet) in the Andes — always a trial for visiting teams.
There is some good news for Argentina: it has fate in its own hands.
If it wins, it is guaranteed at least a playoff with New Zealand, and that result might also yield an automatic berth. Even a draw could get an automatic berth — but only if Colombia beats Peru, Paraguay fails to beat Venezuela, and Chile loses to Brazil by at least two goals. A draw could also yield a playoff for Argentina.
A loss even leaves the door slightly ajar for a playoff spot. For that to happen, Paraguay must fail to beat Venezuela, and Peru must lose to Colombia by a larger margin than the margin of Argentina's loss.
Uruguay is already assured of at least a playoff though, in reality, it's virtually a cinch for a top-four finish. The only way for Uruguay to fall to fifth is: it loses to Bolivia, plus Chile, Colombia and Argentina all win — and Argentina scores at least nine goals to overtake Uruguay on goal difference.
A victory guarantees Chile — the two-time defending South American champions — its third straight World Cup berth. A draw would also be enough to get an automatic spot if Peru and Colombia draw, and Argentina fails to beat Ecuador. A draw would be good enough for a playoff spot if Argentina wins, and there is a winner in the Peru-Colombia match.
Chile can also reach an automatic berth, or a playoff, with a loss. But every contingency must fall right.
Colombia gets an automatic berth with a victory at Peru — regardless of other results. A draw would also be good enough if Argentina wins, or Chile loses in Brazil. A loss might also be enough for a playoff, but this would require other results to fall in Colombia's favor.
Peru can qualify for its first World Cup since 1982 if it wins at home against Colombia, unless Chile beats Brazil, and Argentina beats Ecuador by a margin greater than Peru's margin over Colombia.
A victory would guarantee Peru at least a playoff. A draw and even a loss could be enough for a playoff spot, depending on other results.
Paraguay needs the most help. It must win against Venezuela to have any chance at the playoffs. It will be out with a draw or a loss.


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Quinnipiac beats Siena 73-63
HAMDEN, Conn. (AP) Zaid Hearst had 20 points, Evan Conti added 18 and Quinnipiac snapped a three-game losing streak with a 73-63 victory over Siena on Friday.
Quinnipiac (15-13, 9-10 Metro Atlantic) took its first 20-point lead at 52-32 and led by as many as 23. Siena got no closer than 15 points until closing the game with a 7-0 run.
Ousmane Drame had 11 points and 16 rebounds, and Justin Harris added 15 points and nine boards. Each had four blocks for the Bobcats, who shot 27 for 31 from the foul line.
Marquis Wright had 14 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and four steals while Evan Hymes scored 20 to lead the Saints (10-18, 7-12).
Siena opened the game with a 10-7 lead before Quinnipiac went in front for good with 18 straight points. Justin Harris' free throws at the 8:18 mark capped the Bobcats run at 25-10.


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Complete Poems of Marianne Moore
The Elimination of Gender Roles and Expectations
The poems "Marriage" by Marianne Moore and "Home Burial" by Robert Frost demonstrate a clear separation between men and women. Equality between genders is a controversial issue today, but truly began to arise during the late 1800's and early 1900's when Modern American poetry was also on the rise. In these poems the social expectations, verbal conversations and even the written poetic structure of the poems all allude to a separation between the two genders. Many critics began to address the idea as to whether or not these works were intended to mock the idea of society's inequalities or if they were demonstrating how they believed women should act, and be treated and viewed by society. The view of the poets can be clearly seen mirrored in these works. Whether it is their view on the unity of marriage or gender roles, it can be seen that the narrators of the works feel as though the expectations of both men and women are unjust and unfair. Moore takes the stance of whether or not woman can have and enjoy both marriage and independence, while Frost contemplates the idea of the "disturbed woman and the madman." Both of Moore and Frost's views are appropriately displayed within these texts through their writing style. While Moore chose to write "Marriage" in a more formal, lengthy and intelligent style, Frost chose to write "Home Burial" in a more story-like manner. Both poems seem to stress the idea of the inequalities between men and women. In "Marriage" it seems as though Moore believes that men have the upper hand in marriage, while Frost's "Home Burial" seems to believe that women have the more dominant role in a relationship. The bigger issue that the poets seem to be trying to get across to their readers is that if society just eliminated the idea of gender roles and societal expectations, then there would be no conversation on what is right and wrong within the unity of marriage. If men and women did not feel as though they had to uphold a certain standard in order to be perceived as "appropriate" in the eyes of society, then the unity of marriage might be much more successful.
Marianne Moore's "Marriage" is a lengthier poem containing main quotations and references. The entire poem contains a lot of history, which puts the poem into perspective about just how long these issues in the unity of marriage have been going on. The entire poem takes a stance on independence. The narrator in the poem, which is neither confirmed nor denied to be Moore herself, contemplates the idea of whether or not women can have and enjoy both marriage and freedom. Moore seems to believe that while the majority of people believe that marriage is a strain and she believes it to be a struggle. Marriage should not hold you back from your independence, it should support. While "Marriage" brings up the issues of marriages not being successful because they are blocking one from independence, Robert Frost's "Home Burial" brings up the idea that maybe the inequalities of the marriage come from the unfair gender roles and expectations. This poem is written in a more story-like manner and is about a man and a woman who have lost their child. Throughout the duration of the poem the couple argues back and forth about the "proper" way to grieve over their loss. While the wife believes the man is being "selfish" and grieving in the wrong way, it seems as though the man feels like he is misunderstood. Whenever he does try to talk about how he feels he seems to get rejected by the woman. This back and forth between the two characters brings the up the issue of whether or not men and women can be truly happy within their marriage when there are society expectations or their gender roles that they must uphold. It is hard for the couple to please one another when they are too busy trying to please society first.
Many critics argue that Moore believed that men had the dominant role in a relationship, and because of this she had to choose between marriage and freedom. David Bergman states in his criticism "Marianne Moore and the Problem of 'Marriage'" that ,
A woman must choose between two paths – the path of intelligence and usefulness or the path of wifely and motherly sacrifice. Each path is valuable and should be encouraged by society since each leads to social well-being, but the paths are mutually exclusive. The woman who attempts to raise children and pursue a career will in the end make a botch of both. (Bergman 142)
Bergman argues that Moore believes that a woman must choice one of two options; education or family. He argues that Moore believed both to be equally great in value, but because of societies expectations there is no way for a woman to do both at once. Bergman states that if a woman is to choose both she would only end up failing. He believes that Moore feels as though women are not capable of success in both fields at the one time. It could be argued that Moore actually does feel as though women can succeed in both fields, but the only reason she has yet to succeed in both are because of the societal barriers holding her back. This can be seen later in Bergman's criticism when he states that, "she believed that women were equals – not superiors- of men, and needed merely the removal of barriers in order to show their true aptitude" (Bergman 144). The critic states here that Moore believes that if society would simply remove the barriers that separate men and woman than the genders could be viewed as equals. She does not believe that men are better than women, but that they are capable of all the same things.
Similar personal views can be seen reflected into Frost's "Home Burial". Frost's views, like Moore's, are about equality between the genders. But unlike Moore, Frost seems to argue that women are actually more dominant then men in marriage. Katherine Kearns argues in "The Place Is The Asylum" that Frost is playing with the idea of the "disturbed woman" and "mad man." He states that Frost believed that women were powerful beings but they can only be truly powerful once they escape the "asylum," also known as their household. Kearns states that, "The wife is in the process of leaving the house, crossing the threshold from marital asylum into freedom. The house is suffocating her" (Kearns 194). Kearns is discussing in this passage how Frost's views have been demonstrated in "Home Burial". The wife feels as though the only way she can be free of her wifely and motherly duties is to leave her house and begin a new life. The power of the decisions that are to be made within the marriage have been left up to the wife, leaving none for the husband. It could also be argued that the husband has just as much power because he can leave just as easily as the wife can. The fate of the relationship is in both of their hands, not just one. Even though the fate of the relationship relies on both partners, it seems as though Frost is posing the question of would either partner have to leave, if there were not societal expectation to pull them apart? The husband in "Home Burial" does not feel justified in leaving because he does not feel as though the wife did anything wrong, according to societal gender role expectations, but she has. She has denied the husband rights to his own feelings and she has denied him understanding because he is a man and she feels he must grieve a certain way. The woman has all the power in the relationship because it is the man that has "done wrong", so it is acceptable for her to leave, whereas for him it is not.
An important issue that both poets faced was getting the issues to come across in the poems as something of great importance. Both writers realized that how they wrote their poems was just as important as what they were writing about. This is most likely why, unlike Frost, Moore wrote her poem in a more serious and conversational tone. In Heather White's "Morals, Manners, and Marriage" she states that "if she was to be taken seriously as a critic it would be in the persuasive power of her speech, whether she was speaking… establishing oneself as a woman talking high culture" (White 493). By this White meant that according to Moore this was a male dominated society, there for she had to make it known that she was just as good as any male poet. This was best done through her conversational and powerful tone. She is arguing that Moore understood that the style in which she wrote was just as important as what she was writing about if she wanted her views to be taken seriously as a female writer. Moore knew that she was a talented writer, it was just a matter of getting everyone else to take her as seriously in her works as she believed she deserved to be.
On this basis I will then read "Marriage" to elucidate her understanding of conversational style as a response to her demands of herself to be rigorously and unapologetically true to her gift for invention as well as responsible for the clarity and moral force of her work. (White 490)
White argues that without Moore's perfected writing style her points would never get across to her audience. The critic believes that it is with this style of writing that Moore stays true to her talents as a writer and this is what makes "Marriage" so popular in the movement for equality.
Frost took a different approach to grabbing his reader's attentions. As an established and respected male poet he decided to take a more artistic stand when writing "Home Burial". The meaning behind this text is slightly more difficult to discover and requires much more analytical analysis because unlike Moore, who clearly stated the point she was trying to make in her work, Frost's argument can get easily lost within the playful story-like structure of "Home Burial". Katherine Kearns' "The Place and the Asylum" points out some of the symbols that help to shape Frost's argument towards equality that are often missed due to their commonality in everyday life. They often get overlooked.
Their houses embody them so that symbolically every threshold is sexually charged; "cellar holes" become pits that represent female sexuality, birth, death, and the grave, and attics are minds filled with the bones of old lovers. Frost's men can no more fulfill their women than they can fill the houses with life and children. (Kearns 191)
Kearns is explaining here how Frost uses the symbol of a house to describe how men cannot fulfill a woman's needs. The death of the child in marriage represents the females lost sexuality and how because of this the man in the relationship is now inadequate for his wife/lover/mother.
Marianne Moore begins "Marriage" by comparing marriage to an "enterprise" (Anthology of Modern American Poetry 323). An enterprise is this case could be one of two things, "a project or undertaking, typically one that is difficult or requires effort," (Dictionary.com) or "a business or company" (Dictionary.com). Both definitions set the tone for the entire poem. Whether Moore meant that marriage was a "project" that most struggled with, or that it is more of a business than a unity is unknown but both, in her eyes, are the true version of marriage. By using the term "enterprise," no matter the real definition that Moore intended for it, it is clear that people are being deceived when they believe that marriage is the unity between two people that love one another and that once the vows have been said they can live "happily ever after". This word sets the mood for the entirety of the poem because now the reader no longer sees marriage in such a happy light, they are much more skeptical. Moore then follows this up with the repetition of the word "one" (Anthology of Modern American Poetry 324), alluding to the fact that in a marriage there cannot be a two, that each person functions better singularly. In Andrew Epstein's "Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Twentieth Century" he argued that,
She feared [Moore] that marriage artificially binds two complex, changing, and often incompatible beings into a false and impossible unity. Furthermore, because of the power dynamics in a patriarchal society, Moore felt that such a bond can severely constrain a woman's potential, particularly if the woman is a free thinking, creative artist.
Epstein is describing how Moore's own personal feelings about women having to choose between motherly duties and individual freedom were projected into "Marriage". She feels as though a marriage between a man and a woman holds the woman back from her true potential because once she is married she is expected to behave like a wife and a mother, not as an individual. This can be seen in the poem on lines 31-34,
"'I should like to be alone';
to which the visitor replies,
'I should like to be alone;
why not be alone together?'" (Anthology of Modern American Poetry 324)
Although the female wants to be alone, societal expectations are suggesting that the couple would be better off together. Notice that visitor replies that the two could be "alone together". This statement contradicts itself, within a successful marriage neither of the two partners should ever feel nor truly be alone. It could be argued that the partners would feel alone while together because neither of the two are being truly recognized. In lines 83-86 she states that,
"forgetting that there is in woman
a quality of mind
which as an instinctive manifestation
is unsafe," (Anthology of Modern American Poetry 326)
Here the narrator states that it is unsafe for one to forget that a woman is an individual with a powerful mind and the capability of doing everything that a man could do. Moore demonstrates how often time a woman can get lost within her marriage when she introduces the two lead roles of the poem. Epstein states that,
Moore quickly introduces two opposed archetypal beings, Eve and Adam, who dominate the poem and serve as vehicles for her ironic commentary on the battle of the sexes. Both are portrayed with a mixture of positive and negative terms: they are beautiful yet flawed, "alive with words" yet thoroughly narcissistic. At the center of the poem is a heated dialogue between this generic "He" and "She," a vicious conversation that highlights the strife between the genders, in which Moore clearly critiques male domination and misogyny. (Epstein)
Moore saw men as the dominant ones in a relationship which is why she believed women were better off alone if they could not be viewed as equals. She takes a very bold stance by demonstrating this using Adam and Eve, two very well-known and looked up to figures in history. She uses these two to not only be understood by almost every reader of her poem, but to also make the reader question everything that they believe to be true about marriage. These two very iconic people set an example for marriage, one that Moore challenges in her poem. She states in marriage that
"Men are monopolists
of 'stars, garters, buttons
and other shining baubles'-
unfit to be the guardians
of another person's happiness" (Anthology of Modern American Poetry 329)
By this she means that a woman cannot rely on a man to be happy because they are often times too self-righteous. This can also be seen when she states that "he loves himself so much, / he can permit himself" (Anthology of Modern American Poetry 330). Since men are so self-centered, they cannot give their whole self to someone else. Due to this he loves himself more than he could ever love any woman or make her happy. Moore states that the men, or he in the novel will "stumble" over marriage (Anthology of Modern American Poetry 327) and because of this she also states that "'a wife is a coffin,'" (Anthology of Modern American Poetry 329). It could be argued that by this she means that Men do not understand marriage or how to make a woman truly happy. If a woman is not truly happy she mind as well be dead, this is why he compares being a wife to a coffin. The reason for this might be because of social expectations that he, as a husband, puts on her as a wife. He expects a wife to be patient, caring, tender and kind, but when she is not he does not get what he expected he feels that he is bound to this person that he does not know or understand. She demonstrates this in lines 184-185 when she states, "impatience is the mark of independence, / not of bondage" (Anthology of Modern American Poetry 328). This is a quote that Moore uses when talking about Dianna, who was impatient. She was viewed as someone who could not wed because of impatience, but in reality this was just a sign of independence and many people misconstrued that. All of these qualities are what drive a marriage apart. If society rid itself of its expectations and allowed room for women to excel both as a mother and in her independence then and only then can a marriage be truly successful. Moore closes off her poem by stating that in a marriage people are "opposed each to the other, not to unity," (Anthology of Modern American Poetry 331).
Like Moore, Frost argues that the expectations of society take a toll on a relationship. Although it does not seem like Frost is completely arguing that he is "anti-marriage" it is clear that he is arguing that there is an inequality between men and women. Robert Faggen starts of his criticism, "Robert Frost and the Challenge of Darwin" by stating that, "the gender hierarchy of civilized and uncivilized, ordered and chaotic, male and female, becomes remarkably fluid" (Faggen). By this he means that there is a gender hierarchy in the poem. The poem alludes to the fact that in the house a woman is viewed as superior. But due to the gender roles that dictate who they are supposed to be and how they are supposed to act it does not matter how "chaotic" they get, it is second nature and becomes unconscious behavior. These gender expectations of grief are quickly put into place in the poem during lines 36-38, "He said twice over before he knew himself: / 'Can't a man speak of his own child he's lost?' / 'Not you! … I don't know rightly whether any man can.'" (Anthology of Modern American Poetry 113). Amy, the wife, is refusing to accept her husband's ways of grieving, but then denies him the right to grieve the way she feels to be acceptable. Like Faggen argued, the gender roles have become so fluid that the husband feels he has to grieve in an a way that Amy believes to be "inconsiderate," but also so fluid that even when he offers her the compassion and consideration she wants, she denies it to him. She states that a "no man" can grieve in that manner. It is repeated many times throughout the poem that, "A man can't speak of his own child that's dead.'" (Anthology of Modern American Poetry 114). This seems to be a common thing. This repetitive statement allows the reader to question that if a man cannot grieve in the same way as a woman, then what else can a man not do that a woman can? Faggen later states that,
Amy refuses to conform to manly and scientific conceptions of the limits of grief, and her war with her husband is an attempt to make the world conform to her standards and accept her authority… Her husband must realize that failure to meet her demands will result in the dissolution of the home and his concern for furthering his people.
This criticism furthers the idea of how and why the gender roles that society has set for the couple will only break apart their marriage. The demands of the wife are what place her as the superior in the eyes of the husband, because if he does not comply she has the power to put an end to their marriage. The narrator states that, "A man must partly give up being a man / With women-folk" (Anthology of Modern American Poetry 114). Just as much as Moore believes that a woman cannot truly be herself when tied down to a man, Frost believes that a man cannot truly be himself either. Neither partner can truly be themselves within a relationship due to the expectations that society has placed onto each gender. They cannot be true to themselves or each other while also pleasing themselves, each other and society.
While both poets seem to be proposing different arguments, their central theme is the same. With gender role expectations set upon relationships from society it is difficult for that relationship or marriage to thrive, grow and succeed. Women are constantly being held back from their freedom and education in order to be a wife and mother to please men, while the men are being held back from exposing their true feelings and paternal instincts while in a domestic environment. Since each partner within the relationship are being held back, the unity can never be true to itself because each person is not true to themselves. There should be no gender hierarchy or fluidity to the expectations. Each person should be allowed to live freely when in a relationship, marriage, or solitude without the pressures of society. It is clear that both poets believe that no person should have to choose one way of life. Every person is entitled to and should be both free and domestic.
Works Cited
Bergman, David. "Marianne Moore and the Problem of 'Marriage'". American Literature 60.2 (1988): 241–254. Web.
Epstein, Andrew. "Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Twentieth Century." Modern American Poetry. Routledge, 2001. Web. 20 Nov. 2015.
Faggen, Robert. "Robert Frost and the Challenge of Darwin." Modern American Poetry. University of Michigan, 1997. Web. 20 Nov. 2015.
Kearns, Katherine. ""the Place Is the Asylum": Women and Nature in Robert Frost's Poetry". American Literature 59.2 (1987): 190–210. Web.
Nelson, Cary. Anthology of Modern American Poetry. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. New York: Oxford UP, 2000. Print.
White, Heather Cass. "Morals, Manners, and "marriage": Marianne Moore's Art of Conversation". Twentieth Century Literature 45.4 (1999): 488–510. Web.


text:
we have been discussing his mother recently.
at a request from another.
'who is my mother'. the bear whispered.
i do not know.
you came as an adult, a wise one.
you never said.
'then i will never know?'
no, probably not, yet
i love you.
'thank you'
whispered the bear, then went very quiet.