text:
|Portable, interactive folding annotation device for promoting deal-making in non-office settings
|January, 2009
|Device and method for a student notebook
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|Method of color specification and, using the same, color column structure and color chart
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The present invention relates to a substantially planar, discontinuous business form construction which is preferably created from distinct substrates, at least one of which has been provided with one or more removable elements such as cards, labels or tags. The form construction is desirably a composite form having at least first and second discrete portions or segments that are selected from different materials, one of which carries one or more removable elements and the other of which provides an information carrying portion. The process of providing ablated areas in the form construction permits the manufacturer to create depressions that may accommodate various sized structures and shaped pieces.
The form construction of the present invention is produced in such a manner so that when a series of the forms with the removable elements are placed into a stack, such as in a tray that supplies forms to a printing station or a laser printer, there is no significant pad lean arrangement. That is, the stack of forms retains a relatively square, rectangular or cube shape, as opposed to one having a sloped configuration, a high end and a low end, due to substantially equivalent differential thicknesses between the two portions of the construction. In addition, the form construction of the present invention enables the feeding of a form along the long side or in the landscape position and reduces the surface affinity between the forms.
Information carrying structures such as business forms with removable cards, tags and labels have long been used to convey information to the holder, presenter or recipient of the business form. When utilizing removable cards, such cards include but are not limited to insurance, medical, identification (ID cards), membership applications, admissions, tickets, collections, special events, credit or debit cards, temporary passes and the like.
One traditional means used to deliver cards includes placing the card in a carrier that had cut out notches to receive two or more corners of the card and then deliver the card through the mail, by use of a courier or by such other means in order to place the card in the possession of the intended recipient. However, while effective in delivering the card to the end user, the process of assembling the mailing can be cumbersome, in that it requires the carrier to be printed and then to subsequently cut notches in the carrier to create areas to hold the corners of the card and then, finally placing of the card in the carrier. Next, the carrier is typically folded and then usually placed in an envelope prior to mailing the card to the recipient. In addition to being a somewhat cumbersome manufacturing process, the process itself can be expensive, in that it requires a number of pieces, a supply of cards, carriers and envelopes. Thus, there has been a continuing trend to move away from such processes and reduce the number of separate components and steps required to prepare such a business form construction.
Another means by which to deliver cards, arose out of the need to reduce such processing complexities as discussed above, includes simply affixing the card to the top surface or uppermost portion of the sheet of paper or the like. This product configuration eliminated the need to die cut notches in the carrier to create an area to receive the card as well as the step of having to align and place the corners of the card within the cut out area of the carrier.
In the construction described above, one where the card rides on top of the surface or face of the substrate, the card is normally affixed to the sheet of paper through the use of a spot adhesive that would hold the card in place during handling and transport, yet allow the card to be readily removed by the recipient. Alignment was not a critical concern and hence processing speeds improved. However, this construction, while eliminating some of the drawbacks associated with the above mentioned arrangement of putting a card into a carrier assembly, still suffered from unforeseen difficulties and created new problems in that the card was placed on the surface of the sheet of paper which then created a raised area that often resulted in jamming of the printer or feeding apparatus when attempting to image or process the paper substrate with the card attached. Unfortunately, while this particular construction resulted in manufacturing efficiencies, it also created difficulties for the end users as such product configurations had to be carefully or even gingerly fed through the printer, again slowing distribution to the end user and resulting in significant frustration of the end user or printer of the form construction.
In a still further effort to overcome the above-mentioned problem of differential thicknesses created by the inclusion of the card on the surface of the paper or substrate, manufacturers then sought to create holes, pockets or die cut areas that extended through the particular substrate. The cut outs generally corresponded in size and shape to the card that was to be placed into the receiving area. In such a construction, when the card is placed into a receiving area, the card may not rest above the level of the surface of the paper substrate, but instead could extend below the bottom surface of the sheet of paper as the card was held in position by tape or other means sufficient to secure the card to the carrier. Once again the manufacturer, while solving the problem of having the card extend above the surface of the sheet, faced the problem of alignment and having to carefully position the card within the receiving area.
In addition to alignment, the manufacturer also had to hold and secure the card in the receiving area. As such, and in order to hold the card in place in the carrier, another web of material was affixed over the hole in the form of a patch, a continuous strip that ran edge to edge or segments of material that would hold the card in position, see for instance U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,236. While effective in over coming the problem with the card being placed on top of the substrate, such a construction then suffered from additional problems.
The addition of the supplemental material over the area of the cut out to receive the card again created a raised portion that extended either below the surface of the paper or alternatively both above and below the surface of the paper, depending upon the thickness of card structure. Again, the construction could still only be fed in a small amount to the printer, as the area of double thickness around the card area created a hump, or a sloped configuration when several card carrying sheets were placed in a stack. This limited the amount of cards that could then be placed in the tray to be fed to the printer or processing equipment.
A still further solution to the above-mentioned dilemma was to create a calendared area or recess in the paper substrate by crushing an area of the paper that corresponded to the size of the card. A card was then placed within the crushed area of the substrate. Such a process generally eliminated the need to apply a patch to hold the card in the area of a cut out into which a card would be inserted; however, this construction still suffers from other drawbacks. Initially, the thickness of the card material was typically more than the thickness of the paper substrate. As such, the top surface of the card would still be above the top surface of the paper substrate leading to an arrangement that still suffered from difficulties in processing the card due to the differential thickness arising out of the card sticking out of the well or recessed area. In addition, the manufacturer still had to accurately align the construction so that it would fit within the area of the recess or well.
Calendaring of materials, particularly fibrous materials also suffers from another draw back, that of expansion due to humidity. The fibers in a calendared sheet or web are still present, they have merely been crushed, and when exposed to increased levels of humidity it is possible for the fibers to expand and thus, the benefit of calendaring is lost. For example, a manufacturing plant in Louisiana will likely have a higher degree of relative humidity when compared for example with a plant in Arizona. Thus, while a calendared construction may work in the Arizona plant due to the low humidity it may suffer from problems in the plant located in a higher humidity area.
Edge calendaring has also been used in certain circumstances such as shown in Holmberg U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,618,520 and 4,447,481 but such processes would again be subject to the difficulties of manufacturing environments.
A still further business form and card construction was then contemplated to eliminate the need to align and place a card, usually plastic, in a well, recess, die cut area, etc. This solution was to simply affix a web of card material, again usually plastic, to the substrate. This enabled the manufacture to die cut the material directly in line with the imaging of the information carrying portion of the construction. However, such constructions, while attractive from a manufacturing perspective did not completely solve the processing of the form construction.
The web of card material still needed to be connected to the portion or web of information carrying material. In one arrangement, one web is affixed or partially juxtaposed directly onto an edge or side of the other portion by adhesive, crimping, mechanical fastening or the like. As expected, however, this arrangement creates a bump in the form and contributes again to processing difficulties in attempting to feed the construction through the printer. Again, such arrangements had to be carefully processed through the printer and only a few forms at a time could be stacked into a feed tray for a printer or processing equipment.
An attempt to resolve the problem of the discontinuous surface area was to place the webs next to or adjacent one another and then place a small strip of material, such as tape to connect the two webs together. While this solved some additional problems for card manufacturers and end users, still other problems persisted. The area covered by the strip of tape creates a zone having a higher thickness than the rest of the configuration. This again creates problems of feeding the construction through the printer. In addition, due to the use of two different types of materials, the card material may also be thicker than the information portion of the substrate and as such when the products are placed into a stack they then again create a sloped arrangement, thus limiting the number of cards that can be placed in a feed tray for a printer.
A still further difficulty encountered by such two part constructions is that the web of card material, typically a plastic or synthetic film, may build up excess static when placed in a stack thus making feeding of the forms difficult as they tend to stick to one another in the tray or other feeding mechanism.
In addition to the foregoing enumerated drawbacks of these prior art constructions, modifications were also attempted with respect to the processing or printing equipment, more specifically to the feed trays, in order to compensate for the pad lean or slope of the stack of products. Such modifications to the feed trays included the insertion of shims under one portion of the form structure, the form having the lesser thickness (that end without the card) in order to facilitate feeding of the forms. This modification led to more exotic configurations of feed trays, including spring loaded and adjustable shims in order to accommodate differing types of form products. However, while the modifications to the equipment appeared to address the problem of pad lean, it nonetheless required the end user or printer to make sure that the appropriate tray, shim, or adjustment had been made to the equipment prior to beginning run of the product. In those situations where the operator forgot to make the equipment change, then the finishing process was subjected to further delays and jamming as indicated above. Moreover, many end users or printers were simply unwilling to make the additional investment in such modified trays.
An additional processing problem also resulted from the use of such prior art constructions. Such constructions, due to the difficulty in feeding the forms, required the forms to be fed in a portrait arrangement into the printer, that is in connection with a form size of 8½″ by 11″, the 8½″ side was fed to the printer first. By feeding the short side of the form into the printer first, the printer, which calculates wear of the print head based on the total running length of the print job, was subjected to additional wear in running a regular pass of product as opposed to being able to run a regular pass of forms when fed in a landscape, or long side first, arrangement through the printer. That is for example, a group of 100 forms run in the portrait direction would cause more wear on the print head than a group of 100 forms run in the landscape direction. As can be expected, this also resulted in a further delay in processing the forms by the end user or printer.
What is needed therefore, is a business form card combination that overcomes the foregoing difficulties, such as pad lean or sloped stacks, static buildup and other problems so that larger numbers of cards can be placed in a feed tray as well as the problem of bumps or humps in the form construction is mitigated and the cost of manufacture is reduced so that the construction can be produced economically as well as expeditiously.
Publications, patents and patent applications are referred to throughout this disclosure. All references cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference.
The embodiments of the present invention described below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may appreciate and understand the principles and practices of the present invention.
Unexpectedly, it has been discovered that a substantially planar sheet for use as a business communication document could be created from discontinuous sheets of material by creating a recessed area through use of electromagnetic energy in a surface portion of a sheet. In an assembly utilizing more than one type of substrate material, the sheets may then be joined to one another either by applying a bonding material, such as a tape strip, in a channel area created when recessed areas of the sheets are placed adjacent one another, or alternatively by creating recesses in the surfaces of the sheet that are opposite one another and then fitting the sheets together in an overlapping or tongue and groove type of arrangement.
In one exemplary embodiment, a business communication assembly is described and includes a substantially planar substrate that has a thickness, first and second portions, with each of the portions having first and second transversely extending edges, first and second longitudinally extending sides and top and bottom faces. The first and second portions are placed in an abutting relationship with one another and secured together along one of the first and second transversely extending edges and first and second longitudinally extending sides.
At least one ablated, shaped depression is formed in the top face of the second portion and the depression is spaced inwardly from each of the first and second transversely extending edges and first and second longitudinally extending sides. The depression has a shape that is formed by electromagnetic radiation and the depression extends from the top face toward the bottom face but does not penetrate the bottom face of the substrate.
A removable element is provided in connection with the presently described embodiment and is sized and configured to fit substantially with the depression. The removable element has a shape that is substantially equivalent to the shape of the depression. A temporary bonding agent disposed within the depression to temporarily hold the removable element in the depression. The removable element has a top surface such that when the removable element is placed within the depression, the top surface of the card is substantially planar with the top surface of the second portion.
In a still further exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a substantially planar business form assembly and card combination is described and includes a first substantially planar portion that has a thickness, first and second transversely extending edges, first and second longitudinally extending sides and top and bottom faces.
A second substantially planar portion is provided and has a thickness that is substantially equivalent to the thickness of the first portion. The second portion has first and second transversely extending edges, first and second longitudinally extending sides and top and bottom faces. The second portion is placed in an adjacent, abutting arrangement with the first portion along one of the longitudinally extending sides and transversely extending edges. The first portion and the second portion are joined to one another and cooperate to form a business communication assembly.
At least one ablated, shaped depression is provided in connection with the presently described embodiment and the depression is formed in the second portion top face and extends from the top face toward the bottom face but does not go through or break the bottom face. The depression has a shape that is formed by electromagnetic radiation and has a depth which is less than the thickness of the second portion.
A removable card that is sized and configured to fit substantially within the depression is provided such that a top surface of the card is substantially planar with the top surface of the second portion when the removable card is placed within the depression.
A yet still further exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a detachable element carrier for communicating business information which has a substantially planar business form with top and bottom faces, a thickness, first and second longitudinally extending edges and first and second longitudinally extending sides. The substantially planar business form has two portions, with at least one of the portions having at least one ablated depression that extends from the top face and toward but not through the bottom face. The ablated depression has a size and a shape and a depth that is less than the thickness of the substantially planar business form. The ablated depression has a temporary bonding agent deposited within the depression.
A detachable element has a size that is less than the size of the depression and a shape that is substantially equal to the shape of the depression. The detachable element further includes a top surface and a bottom surface, such that when the detachable element is placed in the depression the top surface of the detachable element will be substantially planar with the top surface of the business form.
In connection with the foregoing embodiments or any one of them, a second depression may be formed by ablating the surface of the substrate with electromagnetic radiation. The second depression will preferably have the same shape and size as the first depression, but it should be understood that the second depression may have a second or distinct shape from that of the first depression.
The depression will generally extend to a depth that is substantially equal to a thickness of the removable or detachable element and generally no more than about 85% of the thickness of the substrate so that there is sufficient material remaining in the base of the depression to hold the removable or detachable element in position.
The first and second portions may be joined to one another through use of a channel and a strip of bonding material. The channel may also be formed by ablating edge portions of the portions so that when the strip of material is placed into the channel the assembly will retain a substantially planar configuration.
In addition, any of the foregoing embodiments may also include personalized and static printing on one or more surfaces of the substrate. Preferably, personalized printing will be provided on each of the first and second portions as well as the detachable or removable portion. One or more of the portions may preferably also contain static or fixed printing to aid in the use of the business form assembly.
These and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention and from the appended claims.
These, as well as other objects and advantages of this invention, will be more completely understood and appreciated by referring to the following more detailed description of the presently preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, of which:
FIG. 1 depicts a front view of the business communication assembly produced in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 shows a cross sectional view of the business communication assembly produced in accordance with the present invention; and
FIG. 3 illustrates a further embodiment of a front view of the business communication assembly produced in accordance with the present invention.
The present invention is now illustrated in greater detail by way of the following detailed description which represents the best presently known mode of carrying out the invention. However, it should be understood that this description is not to be used to limit the present invention, but rather, is provided for the purpose of illustrating the general features of the invention.
The invention utilizes electromagnetic radiation to ablate selected areas of a substrate in order to create appropriately sized recesses. The recesses are sized and configured to receive removable elements such that the removable elements along with the substrate create a substantially planar business communication assembly. While the use of lasers to remove material from a sheet of material is generally known in the metal fabrication arts, the inventors of the instant application were unaware of the use of lasers in the creation of business communication pieces and documents.
The term "removable elements" refers to items such as cards, labels, chips, coins, tickets, tags and the like as well as portions of substrates that have a differential thickness compared with the remainder of the business form to which it is attached, connected or otherwise configured in arrangement therewith and may be removed from the form assembly.
As used herein, the term "business communication piece or document" refers to a substrate that, either alone or in combination with other documents, can convey a particular message, image or provide information about a particular product or service that is available from the provider of such pieces or documents. Business communication documents or pieces can include advertising, sales and marketing collateral and such other items used to convey information on written or imaged form sheets, brochures, presentation folders, informational sheets and combinations thereof.
The term "personalized information" refers to information that is printed or imaged onto a substrate, which is generally variable or unique and which may change from document to document or segment to segment, so as to create a customized message or communication for each recipient. Examples of personalized information may include names, addresses, descriptions, plans, coding, numbering, promotional text, etc. that may have been acquired from the intended recipient through surveys, questionnaires or answers given to various inquiries generated in response to a request for goods or services.
The term "static or fixed" information refers to printed or imaged information that generally does not change from document to document or segment to segment and may include a general description or body of information about particular products, services, places, etc. that may be of interest to the intended recipient and represents a standard message that the manufacturer or supplier wishes to convey to an end user or customer of the offering.
The term "intermediate" as used herein, refers to a product that undergoes one or more processing steps prior to the intermediate reaching a final condition, that of being ready for end use or application. The additional processing steps may include printing, imaging, folding, sealing, separating, cutting, perforating, scoring, adhering and the like. Typically, a product, such as with the present invention, is provided in an intermediate condition so that a user can add or manipulate the intermediate to create the final or desired end product. Thus, in accordance with the present invention, the intermediate segment, for example, could be subject to die cutting or additional printing, such as through ink jetting, over laminating, coating or embossment.
The term "sheets" or "segments" as used herein, refers to sheets, segments, ribbons, strips, pieces, parts, sections, subdivisions and combinations thereof. The sheet or segment provided as an example for the purposes of this specification can be an entire sheet such as 8½″×11″, 11″×14″, 19″×25″ portions of sheets and other known sheet sizes or may be segments, divisions, strips, etc. of such sheets.
It should be understood that the type, shape, number and arrangement of the removable elements is discretionary and any such configuration may be used depending on the needs of the end user or particular application for which the removable elements are intended. As indicated in the FIGURES a side by side arrangement of two cards is provided, or the cards may be a self-laminating construction. The cards or removable elements may be disposed one on top of the other or only a single element may be present. While the card is generally considered to be a "wallet sized" card, one about the standard dimensions of a credit card, the card could also be larger such as to form an informational placard or alternatively could be much smaller such as useful in connection with a key tag or the like.
The adhering or bonding material, if present, that is used to secure the substrates together which may be applied by flood coating, pattern or spot coating, transfer coating or other means known in the industry. The material may be the full length and width of the substrates or may be applied so that the edges of the material extend slightly beyond the pattern of the material laid down. The material used in this invention, refers to tape, adhesive, bonding agents and the like that can be applied to the substrates and used to hold the substrates to one another.
An exemplary tape that may be used in connection with the present invention to bond the webs, sheets or substrates together is an acrylic high performance tape available from Polybond, Corporation of Derry, N.H. and under the product number #114 PET tape. The tape is a polyester (PET) based material to which an acrylic adhesive has been applied. In order to reduce adhesive contamination, the tape is desirably cut using release coated blades on the slitter or other cutting mechanisms. Such release coating includes silicone, Teflon® and the like.
An exemplary coating that can be applied over the surface of the bonding material that is suitable for use in connection with the present invention is Sericol® which is available from Sericol of North Kansas City, Kans. and includes acrylate ester, vinaly monomer, acrylated urethane, alkanol amine, barium sulfate and a photoinitator. Sericol® is a pigment less material having an absorbing agent contained therein as well as being in a prescribed pH range. Exemplary Sericol® blends include IJR-701-1 "white" and IJR-751-1 "matt clear."
The securing or bonding material is over coated with the Sericol® through the use of a blade applicator, Meyer rod, anilox roll or other suitable coating means understood by those skilled in the art. The thickness of the coating ranges from about 0.0001 mil to about 10 mils with about 0.5 to about 1.5 mils being more preferred and about 0.9 to about 1.2 mils being yet still more preferred.
The coating of the present invention is applied generally without dilution but may be diluted such with the inclusion of water. A pH stabilizer and drying/wetting agent may also be added to enhance performance characteristics. Where additives are provided, the range of such additives ranges from about 0.01% to about 20% by weight with the amount of Sericol® ranging from approximately 99.99% to about 80% by weight.
The coating that may be applied over the bonding material of the present invention is preferably UV curable. UV curing is a technology that regularly evolves and efforts are continually sought out in order to achieve improved curing performance so that the printing operation may proceed at optimum speeds. That is, UV curing typically requires a "dwell time" in which the UV curable substance dries before it can be further processed in any additional equipment. As such, it is preferable to achieve faster curing speeds under a variety of difficult and complex environments so as to minimize if not completely eliminate the need for dwell or drying time.
Exemplary bulbs used in curing the coating of the present invention are "H" bulbs and Gallium doped bulb suitable for use in the UV curing processes described herein, however, it should be understood that other UV curing may be used in accordance with the present invention and the present invention is not limited hereto.
The "H" bulb is generally known as a mercury vapor bulb and is used typically for top surface curing applications. The Gallium doped bulb is used in connection with a requirement for penetrating deep within the mix. The UV bulbs such as those described above along with reflectors are available from the GEW Company, located in North Royalton, Ohio. The combination of topical and penetration curing result in a combination of curing energies sufficient to carry out the present invention.
Reference is now directed to FIG. 1 of the presently described exemplary embodiments. FIG. 1 shows a front view of an illustrative construction of a business communication assembly 10 produced in accordance with the present invention. The assembly 10 has first and second portions 12 and 14 and each of the portions has first and second longitudinally extending sides 11, 11*, 13 and 13* and first and second transversely extending edges 15, 15* and 17, 17*, respectively. The first and second portions 12 and 14 abut one another along transversely extending edges 15 and 17 in an area defined by numeral 19. Area 19 is preferably a channel that has been created by ablating a portion of each of the portions 12 and 14 to create a recess. When the two portions abut one another, a channel is formed. A strip of tape or other bonding material is then placed into the channel to hold the first and second portions in an abutting relationship with one another.
FIG. 1 shows that the second portion 14 has been provided with a pair of depressions 20 and 22 that have been created by ablating a portion of the material of the second portion. Each of the depressions have a size, shape and depth (which will be discussed in connection with FIG. 2) so that removable or detachable elements 24 and 26, such as cards, tags, chips, and the like can be placed within the depressions. The removable elements 24 and 26 will generally be sized and shaped so as to substantially fill the area created by the depressions. The depressions shown in the present FIGURE have substantially equivalent sizes or dimensions so that identical removable elements can be provided to a recipient such as may occur in connection with mailing membership or other identity cards.
As can be seen from the drawing, the depressions generally extend inwardly of the first and second longitudinally extending side and first and second transversely extending edges of the second portion of the assembly. It should be understood that the depressions can be created anywhere in the surface of the first and second portions including adjoining an edge or side.
Also as shown in FIG. 1, personalized information is printed on each of the first and second portions and the removable elements as represented by numeral 28. In addition, the first portion 12 is also provided with static or fixed printing represented by numeral 30. As mentioned previously, personalized printing changes with each form or substrate to create a personalized communication, whereas static information remains fixed on each form that is created in connection with a particular offering. The personalized information 28 that has been provided on each of the first and second portions and removable elements will preferably match so that, once the elements are removed, the remaining portions can continue to serve as record copies of the particular communication that has been produced. That is, the printing will contain common pieces of information that is unique to a particular targeted individual and which can be used for identification and account verification.
The business forms of the present invention may be prepared in an intermediate condition, that is the form may have the depressions created in the form and printed, at least partially with static or fixed information. To complete the assembly, for example, cards would be deposited or placed into the depressions and then the final personalized printing completed.
An exemplary system for ablating the material and for generating electromagnetic radiation in one of the infrared, visible and ultraviolet light spectrums is available from AB Graphic International, Ltd. of Bridlington, East Yorkshire, England and sold under the trade name SABRE.
The depth of the ablated portion of the form assembly will preferably be equal to the thickness of the element that is to be inserted or placed within the depression created. More preferably, the depression will extend through the first or top surface and run toward the second surface but will not break the second surface. Ideally, the ablation process will create a depression that removes about 90% of thickness of the material with up to about 85% being still more preferred. It should be understood however, that the ablated area may range from about 1% of the thickness of the material to about 99% of the thickness of the material. The depth of the depression will be approximately equal to the thickness of the element to be placed within the depression so that the surface of the removable element and surface of the business communication assembly will be substantially equal or planar with one another.
Turning now to FIG. 2 which shows a cross sectional view of the business form assembly of the present invention. The assembly has top and bottom faces 34 and 32, respectively, which form generally the top and bottom of the assembly. The first and second portions 12 and 14 are again joined in an abutting relationship through use of a channel which is filled with a bonding agent or strip of tape depicted by reference numeral 36. First and second portions 12 and 14 are separated from one another along line 13. As can be seen from the drawings, the second portion 14 is slightly thicker than the first portion 12 which may distinguish two discrete types of materials so that the removable element may more easily be maintained in a substantial planar arrangement with the surface of the assembly.
The depression 38 is shown with a removable element 40 which is held in place at least temporarily by a bonding agent 42. The bonding agent may be an adhesive, such as a rubber based adhesive or alternatively a frangible bonding material which will cause the removable to cleanly separate from the second portion upon breaking of the frangible seal or bond. The strip of tape or removable element will preferably overcoated with a print receptive coating, Sericol®, as discussed above so as to eliminate the possibility of print (toner or ink) contaminating other areas of the form assembly.
The removable element 40 will generally be sized and configured to fit within the area of the depression and the end edges 41 and 43 of the removable element 40 will preferably not be in direct contact with the sides of the depression thereby facilitating removal of the element 40.
FIG. 3 presents a further alternative configuration of the present invention and includes a business communication substrate 50 having first and second portions 52 and 54. In this embodiment, the first and second portions are constructed of a single sheet of material and are divided by a line of weakness 53 such that the portions may be separated from one another.
The substrate 50 also has first and second depressions 56 and 58 with the first depression appearing in the first portion 52 and the second depression appearing in the second portion 54. One of the depressions 58 is substantially quadrate and includes a substantially quadrate removable element 59 that is substantially sized and configured to fit within the depression. This quadrate shaped depression is provided in the second portion 54 and further includes a line of weakness 60 that extends generally about the periphery of the depression 58. In this way, the depression 58 with the removable element 59 can be removed from the rest of the detachable element carrier.
The first portion 54 of the assembly 50 includes a second depression 56 which includes a distinctly shaped second removable element 57, having the general shape of a snowman. The depression 56 will preferably have a shape that is complimentary to the shape of the element that will be inserted into the depression. It should thus be understood from a review of the FIGURE and description provided herein that various shapes of depressions can be created in the assembly so that variously shaped and sized removable or detachable elements can be placed and carried on the form.
By providing an assembly in which quadrate and non-quadrate depressions can be formed, the invention provides a communication assembly that can be used in numerous business and marketing communications thus expanding the scope and use of such assemblies into other areas.
It will thus be seen according to the present invention a highly advantageous substantially planar business communication assembly having laser ablated areas has been provided. While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment, and that many modifications and equivalent arrangements may be made thereof within the scope of the invention, which scope is to be accorded the broadest interpretation of the appended claims so as to encompass all equivalent structures and products.
The inventors hereby state their intent to rely on the Doctrine of Equivalents to determine and assess the reasonably fair scope of their invention as it pertains to any apparatus, system, method or article not materially departing from but outside the literal scope of the invention as set out in the following claims.


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Béton - Three gang moulds for expansion: Determination of restrained expansion of mortar and concrete. Three gang moulds
Used for determining the restrained expansion of a concrete or mortar containing expansive agent. Made from steel. Each gang is complete with rods and restrained end plates. 55-C0115/7, 80x80x240 mm, conforming to UNI 8148 Weight approx.: 15 kg 55.C0115/8, 50x50x250...Continuer

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Washington (CNN) – A growing number of Americans believe that senior White House officials ordered the Internal Revenue Service to target conservative political groups, according to a new national poll.
And a CNN/ORC International survey released Tuesday morning also indicates that a majority of the public says the controversy, which involves increased IRS scrutiny of tea party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, is very important to the nation.
Republicans argue that the Obama administration used the IRS to intimidate and harass political opponents. Democrats say poor management at the tax agency, rather than political bias, is to blame. Congressional sources on both sides say that interviews with IRS workers so far have found no evidence of political dealings by the White House. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, touting an independent IRS inspector general report, has said the scrutiny appears to have originated with "IRS officials in Cincinnati," where the agency's tax exempt division is centered.
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Today we have a DadGear Gold Koi Messenger Bag bag up for grabs!
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Essential Question
How did the cassette tape change the audience's experience by allowing the listener to record, compile and disseminate music?
It is hard to imagine now what a revelation recorded sound must have been to those who heard it in the beginning of the 20th century. After millennia of music existing only in the moment that it was performed, for the first time, people could play their favorite performances at will, with no musicians present.
The invention of the consumer cassette tape in the early 1960s and its subsequent incorporation as a mainstream recording format throughout the 1970s and 80s represented another shift in the way people gather, share, and listen to the music they love. Unlike records in which the sound is literally carved into the album's surface, the magnetic tape inside a cassette is reusable. "Blank" tapes–cassettes sold with no music on them–and home-use tape recorders brought an element of the recording studio and record plant into the average American household. For the first time, people could record songs from the radio or act as their own DJs by making "mixtapes" of songs from different sources. They could record the live performance of a band, and then make copies for friends. Suddenly, the consumer could play the roles of engineer, producer, even distributor – and all that was needed was a blank cassette tape and a home tape recorder.
This lesson explores the possibilities created by the new technology of cassettes and how people made use of them. In many ways, the digital future and its interactive possibilities were prefigured by the cassette era. By viewing and discussing clips from Soundbreaking Episode Eight, students learn how the Grateful Dead allowed their fans to tape their concerts and freely trade cassettes of their recordings, a move that helped establish the group as innovators in how bands cultivate relationships with their fanbase. Students will also consider how the cassette allowed individuals to express themselves through the selection, sequencing and re-packaging of commercially released music. In the last part of the lesson, they will look at the Sony Walkman and related devices, the first portable cassette players that led toward the current age of iPods, Mp3 players, and other forms of personal digital listening devices, exploring a period in which the boundaries between "consumer" and "producer," and "fan" and "participant" began to erode, allowing even the casual music fan a degree of access to the creative process.
Upon completion of this lesson, students will:
- Know (knowledge):
- How the technology of the cassette enabled consumer participation in areas previously associated with music production
- How the cassette created new possibilities for music dissemination and how bands such as the Grateful Dead capitalized on these possibilities
- How the mixtape provided a creative outlet for personal expression in the pre-digital era
- How the personal portable cassette player changed the ways in which people related to music
- How the personal portable cassette player drove the movement toward private listening and "personal music environments" that we still see today
- Be able to (skills):
- Evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and musically, as well as in words
- Analyze the effects of technological advancement on popular culture and art
- Examine visual texts for information, point of view and argument
- Evaluate the effects of technology on history and culture
Motivational Activity:
Display Slide 1, a record, and Slide 2, a cassette tape. Make a T Chart on the board on which the left side represents the record and the right side represents the cassette tape. Ask your students the following, keeping track of the answers on the chart:
- Can you play this in a car?
- Can you buy a blank version of this?
- Can you combine recordings from various sources to make a "mix" on this?
- Can you record the radio on to this?
- If you were going to a friend's house and want to bring music, could this fit in your pocket?
- Could you play this while jogging?
- What do you think happens if you drop this?
- Display Slide 3, "Vinyl Cutting Lathe" and tell your students it is the machine used to "cut" a record. It made one record at a time, and if the operator made a mistake, the record was ruined and discarded. Ask your students:
- Where do you think record lathes were found? (Encourage students to recognize that they were only in professional production facilities.)
- Do you think the record lathe was a technology that the average music consumer had access to?
- Do you think this lathe was something someone could learn to operate quickly?
- Do you think the lathe was a tool with which the average person could express him or herself?
- Do you think this machine was affordable to most people?
- Display Slide 4, a 1970s advertisement for the "Easy-Load" Cassette Recorder with which one could record the radio direct to the cassette, record to the cassette with the built-in microphone, or attach a record player from which to record music. Ask your students:
- Who do you think this advertisement is suggesting could use this machine?
- Does this machine look like it would be hard to use?
- Where do you think you could use this machine?
- In what ways does this advertisement suggest that this machine might be fun to use?
- Do you think this machine was affordable and accessible to many people?
- Show Clip 1, Soundbreaking – The New Possibilities of the Cassette and have your students write down all the new possibilities of the cassette that they hear discussed. Ask your students:
- What are the key contrasts to vinyl records mentioned here?
- What do people say they did with cassettes?
- In what ways does Dave Grohl suggest that the cassette allowed he and his friends to feel more personally connected to the music they loved as kids?
- Introduce your students to the Grateful Dead, who many would suggest advanced their career by encouraging fans to record the band's live performances on cassette tapes and share them freely with their peers. Tell them that the band was formed in 1965, and though during their 30 years together they never had a hit single, they are among the largest grossing live bands in Rock history. Show your students Clip 2, Soundbreaking – The Grateful Dead and Tape Trading and ask:
- Why does Mickey Hart suggest the Grateful Dead decided to allow taping at their shows?
- In what ways do you think an "army of tapers" who distribute the band's music for free could help them gain popularity?
- Why do you think someone would want to do the work required to record a band and distribute the music with no chance of personal financial reward? (Encourage your students to consider how a fan becomes involved through taping and, almost like a stockholder, feels invested in the success of the music she or he loves. The tape trader becomes part of a community striving to achieve similar goals.)
- What do you think it might mean to gain "social currency" for having a collection of Grateful Dead tapes? Can you think of any other types of collections that might be similar?
- Now show Clip 3, Soundbreaking – Cassette "Bootlegs" and the Grateful Dead. As they watch, have your students consider why someone might want to hear every night of a band's performances.
- Judging by what you've just heard in this clip, in what ways do you think the Grateful Dead inspired people to want to hear recordings of so many of their concerts? (Encourage your students to consider the Grateful Dead as inspiring FOMO, or the Fear of Missing Out. Because every night was different, every night was also a chance for something to happen that had never happened before.)
- In what ways do you think the cassette helped the Grateful Dead reach and empower fans in a way that would not have been possible on the radio or through albums?
- It is suggested that the Grateful Dead is the most recorded band in history, in what ways do you think this has helped them engage fans? (Encourage your students to consider how they hear a fan talking about shows by date, and those shows are ranging across decades. The cassette has helped people embrace not just their songs, but to think of the group as a living, changing entity with different yet connected identities throughout their career.)
- Show the pictures of Grateful Dead cassette collections in Slides 5, 6 and 7 and ask your students:
- In what ways do you think cassette tapes may have offered a creative outlet for users?
- What is different about these tapes than the "official" releases of albums one could have purchased at music stores during the same time period?
- Distribute Handout 1 – The Mixtape. Show the class Clip 4, Soundbreaking – Mixtapes. Then have students follow the prompts on the handout individually. When they have completed the handout, discuss the following as a group:
- Ask each group to go through the first four steps for the class, explaining why they made their decisions.
- Ask each group to say something that was hard about the idea of the mixtape.
- Ask each group to say something that was fun that they hadn't considered.
- Ask the class whether they think they would make mixtapes for friends if the technology was still in use and if they have anything similar that has replaced it today.
- How is a mixtape like a love letter?
- If someone made you a mixtape, and you wanted to listen to it privately, how would you do it?
- Show Clip 5, Soundbreaking – The Walkman and ask your class:
- What was so significant about the development of the Walkman?
- What current technology do you think it prefigured? Why?
- Show your students Slide 8 and ask:
- How has the portable cassette player changed this environment?
- What do you think each person is listening to? (Allow students to have fun guessing, as much as it's impossible to know.)
- In what ways do you think both the mixtape and the portable personal cassette player changed the way people listened to music in the 1970s and 1980s? (Encourage your students to discuss the shift from open, shared music environments to closed, headphone-based personal music environments in which the listener has complete control of the content.)
Summary Activity:
Ask your students:
- Overall, how do you think the introduction of the cassette tape changed the way people interact with music?
- In what ways do you think some of the new ways of interacting with music enabled by the cassette are reflected in how you listen to music today?
Extension Activity:
The cassette brought on another revolution: that of home multitrack recording. Starting in the late seventies, companies like Tascam were creating small, consumer devices that could record four tracks, later even eight tracks, onto a cassette's magnetic tape. This meant that what an artist once needed a professional studio for, multitrack recording, could now be done at home.
The introduction of the cassette multitrack recorder did not put the commercial recording studios out of business. But it did initiate changes that would, by the digital era, make the home studio the dominant location for record production.
In this exercise, have students research Bruce Springsteen's album Nebraska and write a brief two-page paper on their findings. These papers should answer the following questions:
- What recording device did Bruce Springsteen use to record Nebraska?
- How did the Nebraska project begin?
- What were Springsteen's frustrations as he tried to re-record the original Nebraska demo recordings?
- Why did Springsteen make the choices he did in choosing what to release as the final version of Nebraska?
- What is the mood of Nebraska, and how did the technology used help to create that mood? How did the places Springsteen recorded in affect that mood?
- For artists today, is there a technology that allows them to record wherever they want? Why might they want that? What did the example of Nebraska teach recording musicians?
© 2016 TeachRock
Common Core State Standards
College and Career Readiness Reading Anchor Standards for Grades 6-12 for Literature and Informational Text
- Reading 7: Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
College and Career Readiness Writing Anchor Standards for Grades 6-12 in English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects
- Writing 1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
- Writing 9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening for Grades 6-12
- Speaking and Listening 2: Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
- Speaking and Listening 3: Evaluate a speaker 's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Language for Grades 6-12
- Language 6: Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering an unknown term important to comprehension or expression.
Social Studies – National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)
- Theme 1: Culture
- Theme 2: Time, Continuity, and Change
- Theme 5: Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
- Theme 7: Production, Distribution and Consumption
- Theme 8: Science, Technology and Society
National Standards for Music Education
Core Music Standard: Responding
- Analyze: Analyze how the structure and context of varied musical works inform the response.
- Interpret: Support interpretations of musical works that reflect creators' and/or performers' expressive intent.
- Evaluate: Support evaluations of musical works and performances based on analysis, interpretation, and established criteria.
Core Music Standard: Connecting
- Connecting 11: Relate musical ideas and works to varied contexts and daily life to deepen understanding.


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By Elizabeth Shean
By the time I pulled the SUV into the garage, it was nearly dark. Mom sighed and said, "I can hardly wait to get in the house. I feel exhausted."
I couldn't blame her. When we'd left that morning, the sky was blue and bright. We took a ten-minute drive to her primary care doctor's office, where we used valet parking and took the elevator up to the second floor.
But her doctor was running late, and we spent nearly an hour sitting in the waiting room. Upholstered in a flowered vinyl fabric, the furniture looked more attractive than it proved to be comfortable. By the time we were called back, Mom limped noticeably on her right hip as she walked slowly to the exam room.
"You'd think these things would be simple," Mom commented to me as we walked, "I mean, it's just a doctor's appointment. Why does life always have to be so complicated?"
The medical assistant took Mom's vital signs and duly noted that her blood pressure was a little high—not surprising given the hour-long wait and the lengthy stroll to reach the patient care area. But we were not prepared for the tug-of-war that ensued when the physician finally arrived and declared she wanted to change Mom's blood pressure dosage due to the high reading today.
Mom tried to say she did not want to tinker with the dosage, but her halting speech due to the dementia provided opportunities for the doctor to interrupt, which in turn would cause Mom to lose her train of thought. At that point, I intervened to make the case that Mom's blood pressure is good at home, so why not stay the course and only make a change if her daily readings begin to rise?
After considerable back-and-forth, the doctor relented. But the contentious conversation clearly took a toll on Mom, who had trouble mustering the leg strength to climb into the truck to leave the medical center.
Nonetheless, we headed for our favorite restaurant for a bite to eat before tackling the next scheduled appointment. "We need to have some extra iced tea and maybe a piece of pie to fortify us for the next ordeal," Mom joked, referring to her afternoon appointment with the geriatric psychiatrist who manages her dementia medications.
Mom's comments proved prescient, for the psychiatrist likewise wanted to switch up one of Mom's meds, and we had to engage in another spirited discussion about quality of life and patient preferences. I sometimes think the doctor-patient relationship should not be such a struggle, but it often feels as if it is.
Back at home, I switched off the ignition while Mom unbuckled her seat belt. "I'm going to need your help to get down," she commented.
I assisted her out of the truck and kept a firm grip on her as she shuffled into the house, across the tile floor to her recliner. She flopped into it, closed her eyes and sighed gustily.
"Now, the question is what are you planning for dinner," she said without opening her eyes. "I almost feel too weary to eat."
"I thought tonight I would make us a nice broth," I began, "and then follow with hamburgers and grilled onions. How does that sound?"
Mom opened her eyes and smiled. "That sounds delicious!" she said with a chuckle.
In the kitchen, I poured homemade chicken stock into a saucepan and diluted it with a little water. As this mixture came up to a boil, I minced a shallot and thought about how hard it had been on Mom to do two doctor appointments in one day. I could hear her snoring softly in her recliner. I added the shallot to the pot, along with a small handful of frozen peas and some dried dill. In the future, I told myself, I'll have to keep it simple, no more than one appointment per day. I allowed the soup mixture to simmer for a few minutes while I sliced the onions and formed the hamburger patties to be fried directly.
I ladled the steaming broth into bowls, grabbed a couple of spoons and returned to the sitting room. As I placed the bowl of broth on Mom's TV tray, she bent over it and inhaled deeply before bringing a spoonful to her lips. "How can something so simple be so restorative?" she asked. "I feel stronger already."
We slurped for a few moments in companionable silence.
"Do we have anything planned for tomorrow?" she asked between sips of broth.
"No," I replied and then joked, "In fact, let us rejoice in the knowledge we have no further doctor appointments for the rest of the year."
"And will you be off on Wednesday? Can we go grocery shopping, as usual?"
"Oh, yes. We definitely will get back to our routine next week, Mom," I said. "We will buy groceries for sure on Wednesday."
Mom finished her broth and dropped her spoon into the bowl with a clatter. "Oh, good," she said, leaning back and closing her eyes again. "I enjoy it when we can just have our simple life."
Home Instead offers free monthly newsletters with tips and advice for caregivers of elderly loved ones. (Privacy Policy)


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Cards go quietly, drop back into NL Central tie
Lineup stifled by Mariners' rookie, unable to back Wacha's solid outing
ST. LOUIS -- For the last 29 days, the Cardinals and Pirates have been separated by no more than two games in the National League Central. By the end of Saturday, they once again were tied.
This time the Mariners did a quiet Cardinals offense no favors, instead sending St. Louis to a 4-1 loss that cost the Cardinals their one-game division lead. With 14 games remaining on the regular-season schedule, the Cardinals are knotted at the top of baseball's tightest division. Cincinnati lurks 2 ½ games back.
"We know what's there, and the guys realize where we are," manager Mike Matheny said. "But it comes down to if you look too far to what's ahead and what we could possibly do that you lose sight of what we should be doing right now. We have to get some offense going."
After suffering the first loss of his Major League career, Michael Wacha was still lamenting the four-pitch walk that ignited the Mariners' key two-run fifth. But this defeat was as much on the shoulders of the offense, which couldn't make up for the lack of early life despite a brief spark late.
For the second straight night, the Cardinals did not score against an unfamiliar Seattle starter. James Paxton toyed with the offense for six innings, allowing just two hits -- both singles -- and not allowing either of those baserunners to scoot into scoring position until there were two outs.
It was his second Major League start -- and became his second Major League win.
"Obviously, facing somebody that's never been seen can have its challenges," Matt Carpenter said. "But sometimes facing the same guys over and over again can have the same challenge. He was tough. Definitely, I think, the fact that we had never faced him before worked to his advantage tonight."
The Cardinals scouted what video they had on Paxton in preparation for facing him and relied on reports from some of their September callups, who had faced the lefty in the Minors. None of it had much of an effect.
Instead, it was as it had been on Friday, when unknown foe Hisashi Iwakuma limited the Cardinals to three hits in his seven-inning start. Could that lack of familiarity be behind the sparse output?
"Certainly, there is nobody in here who is going to use that as an excuse, but there's definitely a part of that that has some [validity]," Carpenter said. "We face the Pirates 100 times and we know exactly what A.J. Burnett has, exactly what Francisco Liriano has and those kinds of guys. Then we come in there and we have these guys and nobody knows anything about anybody. If you combine that with a guy who throws well -- like Paxton did tonight -- it's tough."
The sluggish starts by the offense go back another series, too. Though the Cardinals have won three of their last five games, they've not scored in the first three innings in any of them. In the first six innings of those games, the Cardinals have totaled four runs and nine hits.
In comparison, the Cardinals have scored 11 times after the sixth. That included once in the eighth inning on Saturday, when Carpenter legged out a double, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch.
The offense continues to miss cleanup hitter Allen Craig, who is out indefinitely with a foot injury, and it has gotten no recent production from five-hole hitter Yadier Molina. He is hitless in his last 15 at-bats.
"Once in a while, you go through those ruts where you have trouble trying to get the offense jumpstarted," Matheny said. "That's what we've got going right now."
Wacha's night started out as well as Paxton's did. He retired the first six batters on 22 pitches and worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the third with consecutive strikeouts. His string of 23 2/3 straight scoreless innings then came to an end in the fifth.
After Dustin Ackley's leadoff single, Paxton stepped to the plate for the second time in his professional career. He had struck out on a failed bunt attempt two innings earlier and squared for a second try at a sacrifice.
Wacha never gave him the chance, missing on four straight pitches out of the zone.
"He was trying to give me a free out, bunting the ball," Wacha said. "It's unacceptable walking a pitcher."
The Mariners' pitching staff had previously been 0-for-20 with one walk in Interleague Play. Paxton hadn't been on base since he was a teenager playing on a summer league team in British Columbia.
"That was a little nerve-wracking," Paxton said. "I didn't really know what to do with the bat after I walked. So I just kind of dropped it and then told the umpire when I was at second that I hadn't run the bases in about 11 years. That gave him a little chuckle."
After a successful sacrifice moved the runners into scoring position, Franklin Gutierrez drove both home with a double to left.
Wacha would finish the fifth but got no deeper. He matched his career high with seven strikeouts, while setting a new high with his four walks.
"[I] just wasn't in sync," said Wacha, making his third start since moving back into the rotation. "[I] just didn't have command of the fastball like I wanted to today, and I ended up walking quite a few guys."
Kendrys Morales padded Seattle's lead with a solo homer off Tyler Lyons in the eighth. Fernando Salas gave up another run in the ninth.
The Cardinals, now 17-23 in games started by lefties this season, need a win on Sunday to ensure a .500 finish in Interleague Play.
"We have a chance to kind of control our own destiny here," Carpenter said. "Hopefully at the end of this whole thing, we'll be happy with where we are."


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MONTREAL - The short notes of condolence on wreaths affixed to five grey cars parked outside his funeral read like short chapters in the life of Joseph Di Maulo.
A funeral for the 70-year-old man who police believe was part of an ill-fated group that tried to take control of the Mafia in Montreal before he was killed this month, was held Wednesday at Notre Dame du Mont Carmel, a church in St. Léonard.
And as more than 200 relatives and friends mourned inside, floral arrangements sat, some bunched together, on the trunks of cars that were part of the procession as it made it way along Du Mans St. to the church. One ribbon on a wreath noted the flowers were from Raynald Desjardins, 59, who is currently in jail, charged with first-degree murder in last year's killing of 40-year-old Salvatore Montagna.
Desjardins was Di Maulo's brother-in-law. In 2011, both men are believed to have teamed up with Montagna on an aggressive campaign to take control over the Mafia in Montreal while Vito Rizzuto was serving a 10-year sentence in the U.S. for a racketeering conviction involving three murders. Montagna had briefly been the interim leader of the Bonanno crime family in New York.
Rizzuto's father Nicolo, the patriarch of the organization, was killed in 2010 and his brother-in-law, Paolo Renda, was kidnapped just months before police began hearing Di Maulo's name linked to Montagna's.
By September 2011, the coalition fell apart when someone tried to kill Desjardins in Laval.
Rizzuto, who is back in Montreal following his release from a penitentiary last month, apparently did not attend Di Maulo's funeral on Wednesday.
Di Maulo was killed on Nov. 4 outside his home in Blainville. He was shot twice in the head and the killing remains unsolved.
Desjardins's sister, Huguette Desjardins, dressed entirely in black for the funeral, took part in a symbolic ritual after the mass ended by releasing one of a small collection of doves to the air. The dove appeared to fidget in her hands and the grief on her face changed for a moment as the widow calmed the bird just before letting it go.
Another collection of flowers bore a note from "the Cotroni family." It was through the Cotronis — lead by Vic Cotroni and his brothers Frank and Giuseppe, all of whom are now deceased — that Di Maulo became an influential figure in the mob. During the 1970s, he sidestepped a murder conviction and then, in Nov. 1973, at the relatively young age of 31, travelled to New York to take part in a vote on who would take over the leadership of the Bonanno crime family there. At the time, police noted that Raynald Desjardins was Di Maulo's driver for the important trip.
At least a few of the younger generation of Cotronis, including Francesco Cotroni Jr., could be seen in attendance on Wednesday.
Other wreaths bore ribbons with personal farewell messages from much closer relatives, in particular a sister of Di Maulo. But one stood out because it was from Alain Charron — the same name as a notorious organized crime figure who was arrested in April in an investigation of large-scale drug smuggling operation uncovered by the RCMP. The man was released on bail in June but still faces several drug trafficking conspiracy charges.


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China's Move Toward Electric Cars Stalls
China's first major electric car rental company is faced with a limited recharging infrastructure and other speed bumps. The WSJ's Colum Murphy talks about why the country has a long way to go until more green cars hit its roads.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... the the ... I had ... its worst electric vehicle rental service ... with many hoping it will kickstart the country's green car initiative ... and ever con joining me now reporter Collender Murphy from Shanghai ... I think on this that he will usually get frustrated about with electric cars is not enough charging stations ... so what's the infrastructure like added to launch the service ... well that's probably use them all ... ten thousand sqm and three ... naturally ... in Shanghai was up two spots this ... honestly he threw them in consideration with the targets that the government's assessed in terms of absolute numbers of electric cars ... that they want ... on Chinese roots ... it's scary enough so they have a long way to go ... in order to bring up the infrastructure ... Olivier was sort of fuel and ... keep these cars Tyson running ... so it is based on and off lights that this new venture was launches today ... is the first step towards the Number one and more reality ... ANA anti this and wanting for we've been hearing alot about this kind of Korean car initiative for some time now ... I'm and given the fact that carers sad to continue the lot and that it adds to a lot of the air pollution problems in cities like Shanghai and Beijing ... why is it taking so long to really take off ... apart from the heart of the economics ... of these the ... consumers Chinese consumers because of consumers around the globe are making the same systems that are not looking at the figures saying ... this doesn't make sense ... know the difference here in China so the governments of both nationally and moves are local companies have been offering financing at ... attractive and generous incentives to consumers ... on some of the most ... highly incensed by its consumers to buy electric cars that were in China ... aam one example is ... the average car ... collector car safety the safety ... of its model produced by a Chinese company called SAIC ... retails for ... two to three ... thousand dollars for two hundred and thirty thousand ... yuan ... and depending on the CD and ... of course when you ... qualify or not you could do ... receiving up to one hundred thousand ... UN ... on a price which is the perfect accent but it's a substantial ... proportion often turns incentives to increase ... its rates to qualify for ... ok and our local manufacturers taking part in making electric car is sad and are they affordable ... well yes they are very much ... interested in chasing ... cars some with an unassuming how he was he for some pull in Shenzhen which is ... basically banking its future on the success of the electorate vehicle ... but also they want ... makers of a conventional car so keeping an eye on this emerging at segments ... note the degree to which they're interesting and turning up our is the isthe ... was dependent on the market spots ... and the market would respond and an affordability sorry decent seats are quite high ... son is getting ... closer and closer to becoming an attractive proposition ... but we're not there yet ... and then of course affects the recently seen in rates which is the infrastructure ... Alonso not solved you know ... not how cheap the cars ... you can charge in cinema but ... then I think a especially in cities like Beijing when it takes to about four hours to get two miles ... I would certainly be Obama if YouTube lost power for ... the traffic jam ... thanks very much calmer be joining us from Shanghai for more on comps during the day to Des beest dot com and ever con ...


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A group of investors including state pension funds in North Carolina and Arkansas will be the lead plaintiffs in securities lawsuits arising out of Facebook Inc.'s $16 billion initial public offering, a U.S. judge ruled on Thursday.
The investors, in a proposed class-action case, have accused Facebook of misrepresenting its financial condition in the run-up to the May stock offering. They are represented by law firms Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann and Labaton Sucharow.
The ruling helps set a structure for the Facebook IPO litigation, a headache for the social media company and a nagging reminder of the technical glitches in the highly anticipated stock market debut.
U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet in Manhattan also named lead plaintiffs for lawsuits against NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. stemming from the IPO. NASDAQ was sued over allegations that orders to buy and sell Facebook were not properly executed on the first day of trading.
Facebook, which has defended its pre-IPO disclosures, declined to comment on Thursday. A spokesman for NASDAQ declined to comment on the litigation.
Facebook shares made their debut at $38 per share, and later fell as much as 50 percent. On Thursday, they closed at $26.90, down 2.6 percent.
Sweet consolidated the cases and picked lead plaintiffs to head up most of the 42 lawsuits before him arising out of the IPO.
Under a federal law governing securities lawsuits, courts routinely select a lead plaintiff in class actions. The lead plaintiff typically is the shareholder with the biggest losses, though judges have discretion to pick a different investor.
The plaintiff group picked to lead 31 cases alleging securities violations against Facebook includes the North Carolina Retirement Systems, Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, the Fresno County Employees' Retirement Association and Banyan Capital Master Fund Ltd.
The group has collectively claimed a combined $7.1 million in losses.
"Its members are large, institutional investors with experience representing shareholder classes in similar litigation with the resources to pursue the action," Sweet said.
In the securities lawsuits against NASDAQ, the judge said First New York Securities LLC, T3 Trading Group LLC, and Avatar Securities LLC would act as co-lead plaintiffs. The group traded a combined $316 million in Facebook shares the day of the IPO, the decision said.
The case is In re Facebook, Inc., IPO Securities and Derivative Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, MDL No. 12-2389.
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Paper Blossoms II
Viewer Comments
Hi There I love all your stuff.
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Where do I get the pearl cardstock that you used in the flower punch episode?
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All products shown on all the webisodes can be purchased from PaperWishes.com. That makes it easy!
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These are wonderful, I would never have come up with the idea to use a snowflake for the base of a flower! Thanks for sharing.
These are beautiful. So many things could be made form these. Is there a book yet explaining these steps and the different flowers you can make? Always enjoy these webisodes. Happy Birthday Paulette!!
Reply from Paper Wishes Customer Service:
with every punch there is a flier showing the steps we demonstrated--and that is free!
The flowers are just magnificent and the demo is wonderful. Thank you for doing these demos to teach us how to create beautiful things. I really enjoy them.
I think a pompom ball would work well and they come smaller, don't you think?
Reply from Paper Wishes Customer Service:
I'm not sure if a pom pom would be firm enough but give it a try!
You know, for the bending, you might get a better result with a quilling tool for the bending. There wouldn't be any flat edges to deal with!
Can't wait to give it a try!
I just finished making the peony, and I have to tell you, it was so much fun! I love these punches!
I found a quicker way of making these flowers. Intead of glueing the little flowers, I used small straight pins and adheared them that way...works really good!
I just order my punches and can't wait to start making flowers for my daughter-in-laws baby shower. They are going to make great place cards.
Keep the ideas coming. I love webisodes.
Love your episodes and look forward to them every week! They are chock full of new ideas.
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These flowers are awesome!
I'm already thinking of other ways to use them, such as a center piece for the table. Thanks so much.
Beautiful, best demo with the products. So realistic, and will last forever. Loved the comparison to the actual flowers, fantastic, great job and ease to make. Thanks!
Paper Wishes Weekly Webisodes feature free scrapbooking video classes and card making video classes! Every week Paulette and LeNae bring you new online scrapbooking or card making classes demonstrating the very latest paper craft and scrapbooking techniques. Each of our free card making and scrapbooking classes also gives you unique project ideas and tips from Paper Wishes' Design Team. Come back often so you don't miss any of the fun in our card making and scrapbooking classes! You are sure to be inspired! Also watch for our "Week of Webisodes" events where we feature new scrapbooking video classes daily!


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