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This document is an excerpt from the EUR-Lex website
The financing of the common agricultural policy (CAP)
The financing of the common agricultural policy (CAP)
The financing of the common agricultural policy (CAP)
This summary has been archived and will not be updated, because the summarised document is no longer in force or does not reflect the current situation.
The financing of the common agricultural policy (CAP)
To adapt and consolidate the specific Regulation (Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70) on the financing of the common agricultural policy (CAP), following the reforms introduced under Agenda 2000. The current decentralised financing arrangements whereby the national paying agencies finance the expenditure provided for under Community rules will remain in force, but the EAGGF Guarantee Section now also finances rural development measures.
This Regulation was repealed by Council Regulation EC No 1290/2005 of 21 June 2005. However, it will remain applicable until 15 October 2006 for expenditure incurred by the Member States and until 31 December 2006 for expenditure incurred by the Commission.
Council Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the financing of the common agricultural policy [Official Journal L 160 of 26.06.1999].
The European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), set up by Regulation No 25 of 1962 on the financing of the common agricultural policy (as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 728/70) consumes a large part of the general budget of the European Union.
The Fund's Guarantee Section finances, in particular, expenditure on the agricultural market organisations, the rural development measures that accompany market support and rural measures outside of Objective 1 regions, certain veterinary expenditure and information measures relating to the CAP.
The Guidance Section finances other rural development expenditure (not financed by the EAGGF Guarantee Section).
The Fund is administered by the Commission and the Member States, cooperating within the EAGGF Committee. The Fund Committee consists of representatives of the Member States and of the Commission.
The Member States designate the authorities and bodies empowered to incur expenditure. Paying agencies are approved authorities and bodies of the Member States which offer sufficient guarantees that:
They must hold supporting documents relating to the payments made and documents showing that the required administrative and physical checks have been carried out.
Each Member State must forward to the Commission:
The paying agencies make payments to beneficiaries in accordance with the Community rules. Only expenditure incurred by accredited paying agencies may be the subject of Community financing.
The Member States forward statements of expenditure to the Commission each month.
The financial resources required to cover EAGGF expenditure are made available to the Member States by the Commission by means of advances on the provision for expenditure incurred. In effect, the Commission reimburses expenditure incurred (pre-financed) by the Member States. In addition, working capital can be made available to the Member States for the implementation of rural development programmes.
At the end of the financial year, the Member States forward to the Commission their annual statement of expenditure together with an attestation regarding the completeness, accuracy and veracity of the accounts transmitted.
The Commission clears the accounts of the paying agencies before May. Its decision covers the completeness, accuracy and veracity of the accounts submitted.
This clearance of accounts decision does not prejudice the adoption of subsequent (ad hoc) decisions excluding expenditure from Community financing if it has not been incurred in compliance with Community rules. The amounts concerned (financial corrections) are recovered from the Member States.
Before July each year the Commission presents a financial report on the administration of the Fund to the Council and Parliament.
If any action is required, the representative of the Commission submits to the Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee delivers its Opinion on the draft within a time which its Chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter. Opinions are delivered by majority (Article 205(2) of the Treaty on European Union).
If the Committee's Opinion is favourable, the Commission adopts the measures, which are directly applicable.
If the Opinion is unfavourable, the Commission forwards the measures to the Council. In that case, the Commission may defer application of the measures which it has adopted for not more than one month from the date they were forwarded to the Council. The Council, acting by a qualified majority, may adopt a different decision within one month.
The Committee is also consulted:
This Regulation replaces Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 with effect from 1 January 2000. The third subparagraph of Article 15 and Article 40 of Decision 90/424/EEC, which concern the financing of certain veterinary expenditure, are deleted.
The measures needed to facilitate the transition from the arrangements provided for in Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 to those laid down in this Regulation are to be adopted in accordance with the Committee procedure.
Supplementary information on the reform of the common agricultural policy is available on the site of the Directorate General for Agriculture.
Dateof entry into force
Final date for implementation in the Member States
Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999
4) implementing measures
5) follow-up work
Allocation of funds
Commission Decision of 8 September 1999 fixing an indicative allocation by Member State of the allocations under the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund Guarantee Section for rural development measures for the period 2000 to 2006 [Official Journal L 259 of 06.10.1999]. This Decision fixes the initial allocations to Member States for rural development support cofinanced by the EAGGF Guarantee Section. The total amount of this support is EUR 4 339 million for the period 2000 to 2006
Council Regulation (EC) No 814/2000 of 17 April 2000 on information measures relating to the common agricultural policy [Official Journal L 100 of 20.04.2000] The EAGGF Guarantee Section may finance measures (meeting up to 50% or even 75% of the eligible costs) explaining the development of the common agricultural policy and promoting the European model of agriculture among farmers, other parties active in rural areas and the general public. Eligible measures include talks, seminars, information visits, publications and exchanges of experience either on a one-off basis or as part of an annual programme of activities.
The Commission is required to adopt detailed rules for the application of this Regulation with the assistance of the Committee for the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund and to report every two years to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of the Regulation.
Last updated: 18.10.2005


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Westmore, Vermont
|This article is a stub. Help us to expand it by contributing your knowledge. For county and town page guidelines, visit U.S. County Page Content Suggestions.
Westmore is a town in Orleans county, Vermont. It was formed in 1781 in Vt. from Orange county. It has used the following other name(s): Westford. The probate and court district for Westmore is Orleans. For more information, contact the town at 54 Hinton Hill Rd., Orleans 05860. On the attached map, Westmore is shown as 14 in Orleans county.
For information about the state of Vermont see Vermont Family History Research.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Innovation, Research & Development We develop, promote and co-ordinate innovation, research and development policy. We influence the European and International research agenda to allow research and enterprise in Ireland avail of opportunities arising through research programmes. We fund Enterprise Ireland, SFI and the Programme for Research in Third Level Institution. We develop intellectual property policy, prepare legislation and provide an intellectual property regime which reflects the international law environment and best practice.


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Head Worn Microphones
Behind the ear mics are called Ear Clips.
|The almost finished product on Elize's ear. This clip was a touch big for her ear, so we added a piece of tape
Behind the ear mics are called Ear Clips.
|The almost finished product on Elize's ear. This clip was a touch big for her ear, so we added a piece of tape
used a piece of heat shrink tubing for most of the unit. You can see
we've used two pieces of 18ga. wire. I bought the wire at a plumbing
supply store. They call it "hanging wire."
The second two photos show the addition of Hellerman Sleeves to finish it off. After more trial and error, we've decided to go with just these Hellerman Sleeves for our future ear loops.
|David Earl shared this photo with us and it became our guide. This ear loop consists of the mic, a piece of floral wire to hold the mic towards the actor's mouth and a store bought plastic ear loop. All covered with Hellerman sleeves. The part of the ear loop that goes down to the middle of the ear canal opening is covered with skin colored tape. We still have to order a roll.
|Below, you'll find our first attempts at creating ear loops. We used tape before the Hellerman tool.
|This is a headband type of setup. The headband is made from elastic string tied in a loop. The mic cable is attached using thin floral wire. The wire is wrapped around the mic wire, starting at the mic itself. Then the floral wire runs up the mic wire and meets the elastic. Thus joining the two. After all this, they are both covered with tape.
|This is called an ear loop. We used a wire similar to a shirt hanger. You can also use shirt hanger very easily. As you can see, the mic is attached at the end. Then the mic wire is taped to travel over the ear.
|The ear loop is adjustable to fit most ears. However, you may run into some people with very small ear lobes. This might be a problem for this type of rig.
|Rock-n-Roll, here we come! It makes plain sense that the closer you can get the microphone to the mouth, the louder you can raise the volume. This headset gets the mic exactly where we wish. It's also very sturdy. This rig is not going to fall off during dance moves.
|You can use shirt hangers and tape to create this setup.


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Name Puzzle - Made to order - Braithan Design & colours - Prices start at $18
If you would like to purchase a name puzzle in the 'Braithan' design and colours do select from the drop down menu the correct amount of letters for your chosen name.
At the checkout there is a "notes or instructions" box where you can advise us of your name choice.
Name puzzles help children recognise and spell their own name and teaches children problem solving skills and how to coordinate thoughts & actions.
Our puzzles are designed so that the letters are raised and sit 3mm higher than the puzzle frame, eliminating the need for knobs. Once your child has outgrown the puzzle the letters can be blu tacked to the wall for display.
Material & Measurements
The frames measure 6mm thick, cut from mdf (customwood). Each letter is 6mm thick and sit higher than the frame.
The height of the frames is 12cm. If the name has a lowercase g, j, p, q or y, the height of the frame is approx 16cm, the length will vary for each name.
We use acrylic paint and a sealer. The sealer protects the paint and will allow you to wipe the puzzles with a damp cloth.
As these are a made to order item please allow 21 days from payment being received for your order to be designed, cut, painted and dispatched. Delivery is a further 1 -3 business days.
Freight is $7 Nationwide NZ


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Today's installment of "What NHL Players are Killing Instead of Playing Hockey" finds Canadiens goalie Carey Price hunting in northern B.C. He bagged this coyote, looking less than dignified in death, and tweeted it out.
In response to some Twitter criticism, Price attempted a defense of hunting.
He really doesn't have to explain himself. Meat or no meat, population control or no, that thing is fucking evil, and the world is a safer place without Cerberus Jr. prowling the night. Carey Price, our watchful protector.


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Acme Manufacturing Company
- MI, United States Show Phone Numbers
- Tel: (248) 393-7300
- Fax: (248) 393-4060
Click Here to Contact
- Member Since 2001
Robotic Integrator
- Member Since 2001
- Robotic Integrator
Manufacturer of integrated robotic buffing, polishing, grinding and deburring systems. Proven applications include: Medical knee and hip grinding, polishing and buffing systems; Aircraft turbine blade deburring systems; Lock hardware and plumbing components, polishing & buffing systems; Automotive wheel polishing systems; Automotive component deburring systems. Innovative solutions for difficult applications. Equipment manufactured in U.S.A.


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Health & Kinesiology
Graduate Admissions
The University of Texas at Tyler
Dept of Health and Kinesiology
3900 University Boulevard
Tyler, Texas 75799
Phone 903.566.7031
Degree Information
Dr. David Criswell
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Phone: 903.566.7178
Graduate Admission Information
The University of Texas at Tyler
Office of Graduate Admissions
Office: STE 345
Phone: 903.566.7457
Fax: 903.566.7492
Program Information
Degree: MED
Tracks: Face-to-Face; some courses may be offered online
College: Nursing and Health Sciences
Cost: Tuition calculator
Test Score Required: Satisfactory GRE scores. Successful applicants typically have scored at the thirtieth percentile or higher on each of the sections of the General Test of the Graduate Record Exam—Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Analytical Writing (GRE scores not required if an applicant has an earned graduate degree from an accredited academic institution). International applicants must have a minimum 79 TOEFL or IELTS score of 6.5 and 6 or greater in all sub-sections.
GPA: At least 3.0 on a 4-point scale for all upper-division undergraduate hours or have an earned graduate degree from an accredited academic institution
Letters of Recommendation: 3
Resume/Curriculum Vitae: No
Admissions Essay: Yes - letter of intent and statement of goals
Deadlines: University deadlines apply
Possible Careers: Personal Fitness Trainer, Corporate Programmers, Youth Program Directors, Instructors, Physical Education Teacher, Coach
Salary Information: See Bureau of Labor Statistics for detailed salary information on these careers. Another great resource is O*Net
Meet a University of Texas at Tyler graduate student


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My 5 Favorite Episodes of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations
Author's note: I love moving images of food, people eating food, and people talking about food. But I hate commercials. Netflix Watch Instantly has a wealth of food-related shows, movies, and documentaries. Every week I'll share my currently streaming favorites in my TV column, "Watch (Food) Instantly". —Sam
Love him or hate him, antihero food personality Anthony Bourdain has become one of the most influential players in culinary television over the past decade. Following the publication of Kitchen Confidential in 2000, Bourdain entered the world of food television with two seasons of Food Network's A Cook's Tour before proceeding to revolutionize the format with his often funny, sometimes profound and always amusing series Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on the Travel Channel in 2005.
In the program, Bourdain delivered an intelligent, Gonzo-tinged look into world cuisines and cultures that never shied away from profanity, honesty or agony (think a sweaty, painful Uzbeki massage in a dungeon-like bathhouse). The unique formula and brash style marked a significant departure from the sterile food programming of yore and paved the way for series such as Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods and even the character-centric Nadia G's Bitchin' Kitchen.
Although Bourdain will be moving his talents to CNN following the eighth (and final) season of No Reservations and the second season of The Layover. The folks at Netflix have been wise enough to let us watch six of his seasons on Watch Instantly. I realize, however, that navigating over 70 episodes can be a bit daunting for newbies and fans alike.
Thus, I've decided to list my five favorites:
1. Cleveland
This episode, though the locale may not seem like ripe food travel territory, is a personal favorite, which also happens to feature all of No Reservations' best elements. Creative narrative structure? Check. Quirky celebrity guest? Check. Food porn? Check. And, of course, Tony's frenemy Michael Ruhlman.
Bourdain's wintertime visit to the midwestern city appears in the style of guest Harvey Pekar's beloved American Splendor comic books, complete with cell-shaded panels and observant thought bubbles. Although Bourdain enjoys an extensive meal at Michael Symon's Lola with Marky Ramone, the Pekar sequences really make the episode shine. In a show highlight, Pekar, Ruhlman and Toby Radloff (a "genuine nerd" and friend of Pekar) take the host to Sokolowski's for Polish specialties like chicken paprikash and stuffed cabbage. It's scenes like these, in which Bourdain embraces the less-than-glamorous lifestyles of the everyman, that make No Reservations such a special show.
2. Osaka
Searching for the "heart" of Japan, our host heads to the coastal city to dive head first into Osaka's vibrant society. While the boisterous opening scene at a baseball-obsessed sports bar (you can order sushi and get free beer upon a home team victory) is a loud introduction to the city's character, the episode also has one of the most notorious food crawls in the show's history. Joined by two slapstick manzai performers, Bourdain embarks on a kuidaore (which translates to "to ruin oneself by extravagance in food") and ruin himself he does.
The crawl begins innocently enough at a takoyaki (fried octopus ball) restaurant, but soon Bourdain's expression shifts from delight to anguish as he struggles to keep up with the food orgy unfolding before him: beer, curried rice, fried everything, more beer, grilled seafood, and garbage plate-like griddled pancakes. Street food enthusiasts may pass out from overload. And best of all, the binge culminates in some karaoke, the host's least favorite activity. Also featured: a wild time at a Hanshin Tigers baseball game.
3. Spain
Bourdain puts it best in the episode's first moments: "Food bloggers are gonna see this show and sh*t their cage." Serious eaters will, too. From the best canned seafood (in the world!) to Albert Adria's innovative desserts, the culinary wonders of Catalonia are unrelenting in this episode. The show's highlight, however, is much more humble than many of the more sophisticated stops on the tour.
Bourdain heads outside the city of Barcelona to an onion farm for a calçotada, a spring festival featuring extensive green onion consumption. Enjoying a profusion of wine and grilled onions in a red checkered bib, Bourdain embraces the delicious simplicity of a modern tradition with normal people, in a normal setting. A multicourse meal at Andoni Aduriz's Mugaritz and a sampling of obsessively intricate grilled seafood at Etxebarri follow the festival, while a family meal at Arzak rounds out the trip.
4. Namibia
On the flip side of the delightful food tour that is the Spain episode, this installment might be considered its polar opposite: Bourdain's not-too-tasty trek around the arid African nation of Namibia. Despite a harmless-enough visit to an oyster farm and some duneboarding at the show's outset, Bourdain spends the bulk of his time roughing it with the Kalahari Bushmen, during which he submits to two of the most unappetizing dishes (if you can even call them that) in the show's history.
First, the host confronts an incredibly rubbery ostrich egg omelette cooked in hot ash for over 30 minutes (in New York editor Max's favorite sequence). Always the good sport, he takes it down with no idea what's coming next. In the "worst meal of [his] life," he must politely stomach the stomach (well...rectum) of a just-killed, unwashed warthog.
Yes, Tony dines on the end of Pumba's digestive system while trying as hard as possible not to flinch. Those Spanish delicacies? He must earn them with sooty eggs, pig tract and finally some roasted beetles. Yet his anguish is our entertainment, making this one of the more memorable episodes in the show's run.
5. Vietnam
Although Bourdain visited Vietnam during his first season (in a show framed with a kitschy James Bond theme), his sixth season return is a far superior affair. All No Reservations episodes set in Southeast Asia feature a slew of mouthwatering delicacies, but few achieve the poignancy of There's No Place Like Home. As much as any human being can love a nation in an apolitical way, Anthony Bourdain loves Vietnam.
The food—loaded, sizzling crepes, killer bowls of soup, one-of-a-kind noodles and the best looking banh mi ever—is only one of the reasons he embraces the country. He's also enamored with the society, even spending part of the episode touring real estate as he considers a move to the country. The tribute to his deceased friend Mom Gao, in a surprisingly profound moment, is a testament to Tony's special connection to Vietnam and the people in it. This break from his usual brashness makes this episode essential viewing.
So there you have 'em. My top five picks are in no way definitive and I'm certain that plenty of you have your own favorites and opinions on the show. Share them in the comments!
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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You know rice and beans are healthy and delicious. But did you know there are as many ways to prepare rice and beans as there are beans in the bag? Here're 35 to get you started.
Ultra-frugal and filled with protein and fiber, beans are a great way to eat well on the cheap. And if you prepare them right, they're darn tasty, too.
Should you buy dried beans or canned? Discover which kind costs 50% less.
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Headline Employment numbers are 216,000 supposed jobs added in March, and the rate fell to 8.8 laughable percent. Equities are higher, the dollar is spiking higher, the Yen is making a large move lower, oil has jumped to a new high above $107 a barrel, gold and silver are lower, while most food commodities are higher after large gains yesterday (corn and oats are up considerably).
There was a small movement in the McClelland Oscillator yesterday meaning that today's move can be expected to be large.
Ever since the G7 intervened in the currency markets to keep a lid on the Yen, the Yen has been falling and overnight into this morning has fallen considerably. The markets have correlated to this action, with markets rising as the Yen falls, and visa versa. The amount of money added by the Japanese and other nations was huge – amounting to more hot money with nothing better to do than to jack up the cost of living for humans on the planet. The response has been for the moronic central bankers to meet any and all hiccups with massive money printing. Thus everything "grows" in terms of dollars… except your wages, of course. The hot money accumulates around the globe just like cesium 137, only with a much shorter half-life requiring never ending and larger infusions to keep the appearance of "growth" continuing.
As if sky high oil prices in the face of falling demand and record inventories wasn't enough, Hershey's just announced that they are raising their candy prices 9.7% across the board! Oh the humanity! That's it, I'm taking to the streets! In all seriousness, think about that – it is a huge jump and is absolutely reflective of the central banker's policies.
More and more people are waking up to the horrid reality in Japan. Articles suggesting that the world's largest concrete pumpers are enroute to Japan from Germany and the U.S. have led people to believe that they may be finally planning on building a sarcophagus. Yet, on the other hand, other experts believe that it won't be possible to build one until the fuel is cooled and that may take years if not decades! While we don't have enough information to know for sure, it is my belief that some type of containment MUST be accomplished soon. The situation is DIRE and very difficult – here's another update from Arnie Gunderson that you must see regarding the fuel pool of reactor 4:
Let's now turn to the Employment Situation Report for March. Below is the entire report from the BLS:
Employment Situation March 2011
And just so you know what the spin is, here is Econoday:
The employment picture may not be robust yet but at least it appears to have moved up one or two notches. Payroll employment has sustained somewhat stronger gains, the unemployment rate is still below 9 percent. However, wage growth is lagging and anemic. Overall payroll employment in March gained 216,000, following a revised 194,000 increase in February and a 68,000 rise in January. The March boost came in higher than the consensus forecast for a 200,000 increase. The January and February revisions were up net 7,000. Private nonfarm payrolls posted a 230,000 increase in March, following a 240,000 rise in February. Analysts had projected a 190,000 boost for March.
The earnings picture in March is disappointing as average hourly earnings were flat, matching February. The latest posted lower than the market estimate for a 0.2 percent gain. The average workweek for all workers was 34.3 hours, equaling analysts' forecast.
Turning to the household survey, the unemployment rate edged down to 8.8 percent in March from 8.9 percent the month before.
Today's report is mixed. The job numbers are moderately good-for this recovery. But they are still soft relative to typical recoveries. And average hourly earnings point to sluggishness in the labor market. While job numbers topped expectations, the wage figure probably put the overall report at about expectations. The labor market is improving net, but very slowly.
Note that in the face of rising price inflation here is yet another report stating that wages are flat. One reason it is flat is that the employment picture is not really improving as all the shills would have you believe – let's examine the report, keeping in mind that it requires at least 250,000 jobs each month just to keep up with population growth.
While the numbers are at least more stable than the previous cliff dive, this report is very misleading in a number of ways. Those not in the labor force have increased by more than 1.5 million in the past year, rising from 83.499 million, to 85.977 million. That alone more than wipes clean any supposed job creation over the past year.
Turning to the Alternate measurement tables, there is progress being shown here, with seasonally adjusted U-6 falling to 15.7%, and unadjusted falling to 16.2%:
Turning to the Birth/ Death model adjustments, we find many supposed jobs added, and the numbers this phony adjustment is adding are growing larger over time:
This report added 117,000 jobs via this model, compared to an 81,000 addition in March of last year – that's 36,000 more than last year! And so far this year, it has added 139,000 MORE jobs this year than last!
It's the same old story – if you can't wow them with reality, then dazzle them with bullshit.
But here's the real conundrum – if the economy is really improving then why are we still pouring trillions into it? And in the hologram known as the stock market, why is bad news always good news because it means more hot money, but good news is always good news too? It's because there is simply far too much hot money out there, and the criminals have captured the markets, our politics, our rule of law, everything. Total capture has occurred, and as I stated yesterday it is very dangerous to humanity.
Turning to other economic data, most of what's been reported this week is showing accelerating deterioration. Just released is the March Manufacturing ISM that just fell from 61.4 to 61.2. Construction spending in February was just reported to have fallen 1.4%, which is an acceleration downward from January's -.7% print. This decline was almost 5 times worse than the expected .3% decline.
It may be April Fool's Day and the BLS may be able to fool some of the people some of the time... and you know the rest.


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Is it just me?
Agewiki pages are blank for me, regardless of browser (haven't tried ie on other machine though). I can see the "source" page but apart from that all else is blank.
Or did it move to somewhere else than ageod.net?
Citizen X wrote:It is now down for good?
Return to "Modding AGE engine games"
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests


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Dive Into Mobile App Marketplace: Zappar Augmented-Reality Hats Turn Anyone Into Obama or Romney (Video)
Part of the challenge of augmented reality is getting people to use it. You can create a fabulous world where virtual treasure boxes are hidden in the street and price tags hover above every item in a store — but you need people to actually pick up their phones, turn on a special app, and see all of this stuff overlaid on their lives.
A Scottish start-up called Zappar is tackling this problem by selling fun items that people can appreciate in both the real and the virtual world. So, for instance, it has a deal to power T-shirts at stores including Walmart, with characters from brands like Disney that come to life when seen through the Zappar mobile app.
One of Zappar's latest tricks is a set of two trucker hats — one says "I'm Barack Obama," and the other, "I'm Mitt Romney" — that turn the wearer's head into a live animated version of the two U.S. presidential candidates. Users can record their own stump speeches or debate answers on video and send them to their friends.
Zappar co-founder Connell Gauld flew to New York this week to show off the election hats and other goodies at our Dive Into Mobile conference. He was to be part of our App Marketplace, a selection of highly interactive apps from around the world that would give in-person demos to attendees.
Below is a video of me and Ina trying out the hats and some other features at the midtown hotel where our staff and some of the demonstrators, including Gauld, were holed up during the storm.
We hadn't written much about the App Marketplace online in advance of Dive Into Mobile, because it was more of a show-and-tell section that would come to life on the spot. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.
Other participants were to include Boom, a mobile remittance service; Delta Air Lines, which has developed some cool new mobile features; Fresh Paint, one of the neater Windows 8 apps; Heatma.ps, a finger-tracking analytics tool for app developers; Lark and Larklife, the new personal tracking device and training app; Snapchat, the picture-messaging app that's already quite popular with teens; and Ubersense, a sports-training app with slow-motion video and side-by-side comparisons. Would have been fun!


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Infuse from Firecore Gets DLNA and UPnP Streaming with Other Tweaks in Version 2.3 Update
Posted by Carter Dotson on May 2nd, 2014
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Infuse version 2.3 is now available. This video app from Firecore (known for their Apple TV jailbreaking work) now has UPnP and DLNA streaming for easily watching video from a media server on iPhone or iPad from XBMC, Plex, and other similar utilties. As well, handy gesture-based controls for playback are now available, along with a variety of other tweaks meant to make the experience better. See the whole list here.
You can download the latest version of Infuse for free right now.


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A waterfall of shimmering silver chimes transforms a mellow breeze into a hauntingly beautiful song. Captivatingly lovely in both sight and sound, this exquisite chime is handmade with superior musical tone by the famed chimesmith, J.W. Stannard. Metal and wood. An impressive 8" diameter x 35" long. Retail Price: $59.95.
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Reds & PlusBlue offer portable device charging at GABP
CINCINNATI (June 20, 2014) - The Cincinnati Reds and Cincinnati-based PlusBlue Solutions are partnering to offer a cutting-edge charging service for fans to use with mobile electronic devices at Great American Ball Park.
The PlusBlue handheld portable chargers will be available to rent on a single-game basis for $10 at the Reds Connect Zone (behind section 109) at every game this season beginning tonight when the Reds host the Toronto Blue Jays at 7:10 p.m.
PlusBlue battery packs are easy to use, compact in size, and compatible with most smartphones and tablets. Charging cables for most devices are included, if needed.
"By offering PlusBlue chargers, the Reds are pioneers of all of major sports by bringing a new way to charge electronic devices and keeping fans digitally engaged at the ballpark," said Mike Bagby, founder of PlusBlue. "The Reds understand the real value of having fans powered and connected while enjoying the game."
The Reds are the first major sports franchise to offer this service to its fans.
"We want our fans to stay connected while at the ballpark," said Phil Castellini, Reds Chief Operating Officer. "We were excited to learn about PlusBlue portable chargers and welcome the chance to support a Cincinnati start-up company."
The Reds Connect Zone is located on the Third Base Concourse behind section 109 and is a dedicated gathering spot for fans to follow and engage in real-time social media content related to the Reds. The Connect Zone offers free WiFi access and features more than two-dozen screens displaying game action plus Tweets, Instagram photos, Facebook polls, Vine videos, trending topics and more.


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How cool is Jewish Hostess Bridget Ben Dayan? I'm in love with her creative Purim party ideas and I'm so glad that she took the time to share it with all of us! Of course you can take this table decor idea and use it for your Passover Seder or any festive occasion during the year. Be the next Jewish Hostess of the Week and send in ANY cool ideas to ME! Marlene M.
Dear Marlene,
Last year was our first time making a Purim party for the kids. It was so much fun that we decided to do it again.
- We started out by making photo invitations online which was easy and a great way to get the kids involved and even more excited about Purim.
- Next we found a great magician, Magician Mo, who entertained the older and younger kids alike. All we had left to do was prepare a dessert table and we had a party!
Since we were having boys and girls, I tried to incorporate various colors so it would look festive and colorful and each of my kids would think it was for them.
- I started with hot pink fabric as a runner, then turned my mom's white square platters upside down for a new look.
- I found a book of scrapbooking paper that had different patterns using blue, green & grey. Each platter got a different design and then was topped with glass and ready for dessert.
- In the center were two simple vases of flowers filled with jellybeans to incorporate all of the colors.
- All the desserts were "pick up" pieces, which are delicious, look great and makes the table look much neater.
- I found a great solution for fruit also, I found these small, cool shaped plastic bowls and mini spoons in amazing savings. I filled them with my new favorite combination of orange, grapefruit and fresh mint and put them alongside the mini spoons.
We had such a nice day, the kids were able to have fun, we were able to spend time with our friends, and then we had the whole afternoon to enjoy the Seuda with our family.
Thanks for letting me share…


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Each week, one of our members is selected as the featured business speaker. This selection allows the member to give a 10-15 presentation about their business, products and services to better educate all of our members on what they have to offer. Below you will see this month's featured speaker business and the date they are scheduled to speak. If you are a member of the community and would like to come as a guest to hear what the member has to say, please request to visit here.
To learn more about the member, click the profile picture to be redirected to the member's business page, which includes company name, info and contact details.


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F - Forgetful
A – Achieving below potential
S – Stuck in a rut
T – Time challenged
M – Motivationally challenged
I - Impulsive
N – Novelty seeking
D - Distractible
S - Scattered
My name is Tim Bilkey. I am a physician specializing in the assessment and treatment of adult Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). I have been working in this area since 1996 and since that time have assessed over 3500 people.
Through our work, we have witnessed the positive impact of a diagnosis of ADHD and how well people respond to a combination of interventions. Our treatment recommendations are highly individual and tailored to the needs of each person.
I have developed a nationally accredited program, FAST MINDS™, to help physicians learn how to recognize ADHD in adults.Finally, I have co-authored a self-help book on Adult ADHD, titled FAST MINDS: How to Thrive if You Have ADHD (Or Think You Might) through Penguin Group (USA).
Dr. Surman is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is the Scientific Coordinator of the Adult ADHD Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital.Dr. Surman trained in Psychiatry and Neuropsychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and now teaches clinicians in training about ADHD at Harvard affiliated hospitals.
He directs an annual course on ADHD in adulthood for the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Surman has directed or facilitated over forty studies related to ADHD in adults, and co-authored over forty articles in peer-reviewed publications. His work focuses on understanding the broad impact of ADHD, and developing novel therapies including nutraceutical interventions. He lectures and consults nationally and internationally, and is a member of the Professional Advisory Board of Children and Adults with ADHD.


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"We make investments and create partnerships across the entire agricultural supply chain with the purpose of adding value to end-consumers and supplying basic food necessities, ensuring continuity and timeliness of supply with consistent quality and stable pricing... We are further concerned with nations food security and consumers' well being and food safety"
President - Human Food Division
"We bring expertise, innovation and long-term financial commitment to secure a steady supply of the finest varieties of rice. We invest in state-of-the-art processing facilities and actively contribute to ensuring sustainability of supply at local, regional and global levels"
Al Dahra Kohinoor
"Driven by the ongoing population growth and consumers' increasing demand for a nutritional and healthy diet, we maintain the focus on supplying some of the most staple food raw materials, cereals and flour, with the highest standards of quality and food safety"
Etihad Mills
"We are experienced in managing mega agricultural projects and we live by our promise to continuously invest in research and development, promote safe food production and environmental protection whilst in parallel building a brand name of excellence"
Al Dahra Egypt
"We are world experts in the field of farming, cultivating, sorting, packing and marketing of apples. We operate purpose-built orchards and cold storage facilities in Serbia and produce the highest quality of different apple varieties depending on the season"
Al Dahra Rudnap
annual flour production and supply capacity
flour mills in Greece strategically located in two independent port sites
annual rice production and supply capacity
state-of-the-art rice mills across India, Pakistan and Abu Dhabi
group annual fruits and vegetables farming and supply capacity
grains storage capacity in 18 silos located in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates
Al Dahra ACX Global number 1 forage exporter in the USA for 2015
Al Dahra Agriculture is ISO 9001:2015 certified.


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Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, is on a mission. She's off to three countries in Southeast Asia to try to show that the IMF is still relevant to a region that is increasingly self-reliant, and also to express gratitude for contributions Malaysia and the Philippines made to boost the IMF's funds when the U.S. and Canada declined to do so.
Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Lagarde was to conclude her week-long Asian odyssey in Cambodia, where the East Asia Summit will begin on Tuesday. At the summit she will meet with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the heads of other countries, including President Obama.
After the 1997 Asian financial crisis compelled some countries to adhere to IMF austerity policies, feelings ran high against the institution and spurred nations in the region to take steps to handle their own financial well-being. To that end, said Eswar Prasad in the report, they undertook to boost their own currency reserves and strengthen ties with one another.
Prasad, a former head of the China division at the IMF and now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said Asian countries did not need help from the Washington-based financial body during the 2008 financial crisis and are working to ensure that they will not need to do so in the future. He was quoted as saying, "The main risk for the IMF is that it comes to be seen as less relevant to the region, both in terms of the advice it has to offer and in its role as provider of a financial safety net."
Anoop Singh, who heads the IMF's Asia-Pacific department, characterized Lagarde's tour goal as to "engage, listen and exchange views about the global economy." Singh added, "Asia is now the global growth leader and you see how much many Asian countries have improved the fundamentals over time. There are clearly many lessons the world can learn from Asia."


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New York in the Year 2000 (Oct, 1927)
This is a fun look at the city of the future. Their New York of 2000 seems fairly similar that of today, just with more blimps and less variety of food. And I can't wait to see the giant milkquitducts "carrying great white streams into the city from the dairy regions, 200 miles away."
Babies Born Today May See
Cities of 30,000,000, Skyscraper Sidewalks, Roof Top Airports and Food Piped As Water Is Today
By MYRON M. STEARNS
FROM the height of a great precipice two men looked down on a continuous stream of moving automobiles. Farther from the ground than the Palisades rise above the Hudson River at the highest point, they were on no natural crag. They were looking down from a window on the twentieth story of a New York hotel—not a fabulous building of a hundred years hence—but a matter-of-fact structure of today. Dinner was served in their room. The fish had traveled more than 6,000 miles to reach them— Alaska salmon. The steak came from a steer raised near the Mexican border, shipped a thousand miles to be "finished" by a special feeding, another five hundred miles to be dressed, and still another thousand miles in refrigerator cars to reach the metropolis. Fruit from Southern California, vegetables from Georgia, olives from Italy. And the eggs in the Mayonnaise dressing for the salad—no joking—were laid on the other side of the world, in China, nearly two years before. It was good Mayonnaise, too. There was a knock at the door.
It was a bell boy with a letter that had traveled 3,000 miles to reach them in little more than two days. It was the air mail from San Francisco.
After dinner, the travelers stepped on a little covered platform and dropped three hundred feet to the ground floor. Merely a commonplace express elevator.
In a city where such wonders are already taken for granted, what will conditions be in another seventy-five years?
Let us suppose one of the men is eighty years old. Every one of these marvels has come about during his lifetime. He may have a grandson who is seven. By the time that boy reaches eighty, the end of the century—2,000 A.D.—will have come. Only a lifetime away! Will that lifetime see as great changes as the last—or still greater?
NEW YORK CITY in another seventy-three years, according to the scientific calculations of Dr. Raymond Pearl, Director of the Institute of Biological Research at Johns Hopkins University, will be more than twice as big as it is today. The city proper will have a population of 13,948,000. In the area described as "Greater New York" there will be 17,797,000 people; and in the suburban area the total population, according to figures based on the law of growth described in the June Popular Science Monthly, will be 28,705,000.
How will such an enormous city be cared for?
Chicago, Los Angeles and Detroit will have population problems almost as serious. Other great cities—Seattle, Galveston, perhaps Charleston, S. C,— will likewise have had to turn to modern science to solve difficulties of congested living.
The population problems of every great city fall into three fields: Housing, feeding, and transportation. New York City in 2,000 A.D. will have advanced farther in these fields than we can even imagine clearly today. But in all probability transportation matters will be the most pressing—just as they are today. Problems of feeding have to be solved before people can even go to live in a city in such great numbers, and housing problems also have to be met.
Transportation of food and transportation of building materials will run along smoothly enough, but transportation of people goes forward, in congested centers, only when conditions become intolerable. That will be as true in 2,000 A.D. as it is today. Our grandchildren and great grandchildren will get into some terrific traffic jams! When, for instance, they have to fly over the city for miles before they find a single public landing-stage with room left for them to park on. Or they may have to stand, packed like sardines, for three quarters of an hour, evening after evening, before they can fight their way onto one of the great tunnel-buses of the Underground!
Let's take up the matter of feeding. How will thirty million people in the Greater New York area of 2,000 A.D. get their food? And what will it be?
Huge engineering projects, of course, will have been carried out to provide the immense city of the future with an abundant water supply. But unless one should visit the great artificial lakes and reservoirs of that day, it is likely that the huge dams and tunnels and aqueducts will be little better known than is the eighteen-mile Shandaken Tunnel of the New York water supply today. Far more amazing, perhaps, will he huge pipe lines of milk, carrying great white streams into the city from the dairy regions, 200 miles away.
IN LARGE measure, probably, the food itself will not be so very different from what we are accustomed to today. There is a possibility that new discoveries, like the "artificial sunlight" that Professor Steenbock of the University of Wisconsin has produced to make Vitamin D, will change food conditions greatly. But it seems rather unlikely. The further scientists delve into the chemical analysis, of living tissue and digestive processes, the further they find they must go before they reach the ability to reproduce Nature's own processes. On the other hand, Professor Edgar M. East, of Harvard University, points out that foods will probably be much less varied fifty or seventy-five years from now than today. There will be a wider use of cereals, but not so many kinds of cereals. The same will probably be true of vegetables. Fruits will have tended to "standardize," with a few varieties like apples and oranges, or possibly coconuts or some other tropical product, far outstripping all the rest.
The use of meats, fish and other sea foods will probably have diminished greatly. Seventy-five years ago, in the period before the Civil War, New York menus, Professor East points out, listed a variety of game that would make an epicure's mouth water today—some fifty varieties. Food is most varied when a country is new; as the population increases, certain staples of diet come to be more and more widely used. The New Yorkers of 2,000 A.D. will probably eat quantities of a prepared food made from some such cereal as Egyptian corn, that can be grown cheaply and brought in large quantities from lands now only partially productive in the South. Or perhaps it may still be wheat.
Charles P. Steinmetz, the great electrical wizard, had a dream that some day laboratory products would supplant the present round of meats and vegetables. He visioned huge protein farms constructed underground in layers, sunned with artificial light. The English scientist, J. B. S. Haldane, pictures the day of synthetic foods, chemically produced, in his book of the future—"Daedalus" But these visions are not likely to materialize within seventy-five years.
To be sure, ground that is today going to waste will be used for agricultural purposes, just as in Holland and Belgium and Germany every strip along the roadside is made to bear its harvest.
But the plants themselves, in spite of all that Burbank and his followers have shown us, will not have changed very greatly. Dr. William Crocker, Director of the Boyce Thompson Institute of Plant Research, points out that it takes something like fifteen years to find, try out and introduce on a wide scale any improvement in a staple like wheat.
Our children and grandchildren, he predicted to me, will be eating food not particularly different from much that is found in the world today; but in the preparation of that food there will be a great difference.
Many people believe that skyscraper hotels, apartments and office buildings are rapidly approaching their limit of height. But one of our greatest architects, Harvey Wiley Corbett, of New York City, said to me:
"DON'T think of skyscrapers in terms of the men who build them if you want to get an idea of what a city of the future may look like. Think of future cities, or groups of skyscrapers, as you think of coral islands or trees, with the human beings playing merely the part of coral insects, or of the sap that builds trees. Compare the New York skyline to a coral reef, or a bunch of skyscrapers to a grove of trees, and you can get an idea of how much a city like New York will grow and change in another three quarters of a century.
He added that no one can yet prophesy what height buildings will reach, but that in all probability the end is not yet anywhere near in sight. A hundred stories are not beyond possibility, even within thirty years. "Why," said Mr. Corbett, " I was present at the party given in honor of the completion of the Pulitzer Building in Park Row. Several of the great architects of that day were present, and they agreed the building marked the limit of the height that skyscrapers could attain. The physical problems to be overcome, the structural problems, were so great that they thought man could never build higher than that. Yet today the Woolworth Building is more than three times as high. And every decade sees the limit advanced."
Building restrictions in New York City, to be sure, just at present make much taller structures seem unlikely. But Mr. Corbett pointed out that limitations of the height of buildings come merely in response to the needs and demands of the moment, and will be wiped out again as soon as new needs demand greater edifices once more.
Another thing: While some buildings, at least, "will be far taller than the world knows today, many will be larger. A single apartment hotel, forty stories high and covering an entire block, will be nothing unusual. Some may house 10,000 or more people, and supply them with food from a single kitchen. Perhaps there will be Government inspectors on hand to see that all food is treated with violet ray, potassium permanganate, or some other disease-combating chemical.
Sidewalk bridges hundreds of feet above the streets may be used in this New York of 2,000. We can already see their first beginnings in the occasional high bridges across street chasms, from one office building to another in lower Manhattan. Building permits have already been granted that will mean more of these, further uptown, in the immediate future. From the fortieth story, or perhaps the eightieth, men of 2,000 A.D. will walk straight to the corresponding floor of the building across the way. It is likely that, with thirty- or forty-story buildings, continuous sidewalks 400 to 500 feet in the air will join building to building for blocks, even miles.
Roadways will probably cross the street from side to side, high in the air. Already an Englishman, Lord Montague, has proposed viaducts running 200 feet above the present street level for London. But this development would shut off too much light from the street below, and render the chasm itself practically useless. New York's elevated railroads now seem doomed for this reason. In their place the huge automobile highways of the future city will probably run across the housetops.
AS TO the present-level streets, the sidewalks will probably be raised to the second story level to permit a full stream of one-way traffic, utilizing all the space between the buildings. But the main transportation system will probably be underground. Subways and railways will be supplanted by a whole network of vehicular tunnels along the main arteries. A portion of the whole city will have "dug in," or gone underground, just as is already the case of parts of the Wall Street district. The intersection problem will have been overcome, in part at least, by carrying one artery above the other at all main crossings.
Streets on five levels have been prophesied. At first this seems very unlikely, but if we stop to think a moment we find that to a surprising extent the condition has already come close to existence. If you stand in Forty-second Street, New York, for instance, in front of the Grand Central Station, there is a viaduct over you. That is one level. Forty-second Street itself is on the second level—the ground level. Go down into Grand Central Station, and you find trains below the present level of Park Avenue. They are on the third level. The "lower level" suburban trains are on still a fourth level down. About on this same fourth level is the Lexington Avenue subway. And another flight down—fifth level—is the Queensboro subway.
On the streets, surface trolley cars will have disappeared entirely, along with telegraph poles, sidewalks, lamp-posts, and everything else that will impede the stream of traffic. On many streets only pedestrians will be allowed. At least three distinct varieties of automobiles will doubtless be in existence. Small, light cars, more like the French cycle cars than most automobiles in use in this country now will probably be common. Large vehicles for carrying passengers—or trains of such vehicles—will probably survive as the descendants of the present-day buses. And huge commercial cars, perhaps, also more like small freight trains than like the trucks of today, will be carrying food, building materials and merchandise. For shorter hauls there will probably be traveling freight-ways, while escalators and moving sidewalks will also be common.
Airships, in all likelihood, will change the appearance of the city more than any other one thing. The great apartment houses of the future will probably be flat, to accommodate airships. Centrally located, as the railroad terminals are today, there will be huge air docks for the trans-Atlantic air liners. These liners will probably be of two types—fast, passenger-carrying heavier-than-air machines, and huge dirigibles a quarter of a mile or more in length, to meet the need of slower passengers.
Bright artificial lights will illuminate the tunnels, the deep basement stores and underground streets. At night the sky will be brilliant with the reflected glare from below, as well as the lights of airships and dirigibles, and the route markings and traffic signs of airways and landing stages. And advertising signs?— Well, imagine them for yourself! They may be bright enough to give everybody "klieg eyes," and end by legislating themselves out of existence!


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Flocked Christmas trees, a vague reminder of the past or a current day trend? Numbers seem to reflect an increase in popularity as more and more people seek out these once popular trees. For many of us flocked trees bring back memories of our childhood, warm and fuzzy memories, happy...Read more
Autumn is the ideal time for carrying out an array of tasks. Lower temperatures and increased rainfall both provide ideal conditions for planting trees and shrubs, as reduced heat and drought stress will ensure new plantings can get established. The sooner you plant, the longer your plants will have to...Read more
We gardeners all long for one last burst of color to enjoy before winter arrives. Why not try looking to native plants for both color and vital wildlife services this autumn. For autumn we tend to reach for those cultivated favorites we have come to know and love: mums, pansies, asters, ornamental kales, cabbages,...Read more
Whether they are grown as cut flowers, potted houseplants or as an outdoor fall crop, it would be hard to imagine the horticultural and floral industry without them. Chrysanthemums are in fact a grower's delight, both private and commercial, due to their vast advantageous characteristics; versatility, diversity, multitude and longevity...Read more


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NEW YORK — South Florida airports were returning to normal operations Monday morning but airlines are already warning of cancellations in and around New Orleans as Tropical Storm Isaac nears.
Airlines cancelled more than 230 flights on Monday, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. The vast majority of cancellations stemmed from the storm, which is expected to grow to a Category 1 hurricane and hit land late Tuesday night.
(MORE: Travel Forecast)
American Airlines, part of AMR Corp., runs a major hub at Miami International Airport and was affected the most. The airline had 148 cancellations in Florida Monday morning but expected to operate normally by late morning, according to spokesman Ed Martelle.
Airlines typically move planes out of a storm's path to protect them and ensure a faster return to service.
Airlines cancelled 857 flights on Sunday — including 489 from American, according to FlightAware.
Other Florida airports, including Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Key West, and Marathon were responsible for the majority of other cancellations.
Key West
Key West International Airport, which originally expected to remain closed until Tuesday, will now reopen at noon Monday, according to airport director Peter Horton.
Airlines are now closely watching the storm and warning of possible cancellations along the Florida panhandle and in New Orleans.
Southwest Airlines, which cancelled 35 Florida flights today between its Southwest and AirTran brands, is monitoring airports in Panama City, Pensacola and New Orleans. The airline will make a decision about New Orleans flights late on Monday, according to spokeswoman Ashley Dillon.
Those airports are tiny compared to Miami, which is a major gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean. Any cancellations there would be in addition to the nearly 1,000 flights scrapped so far because of the storm.
All airlines will waive change fees for passengers wishing to move their flight into or out of an affected city to another date. They are also offering refunds to passengers whose flights have been cancelled. The specific policies can be found on each airline's website.


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Compassion - Third of Four ImmeasurablesBy Zoketsu Norman Fischer | May 20, 2010
Location: Community Congregational Church in Tiburon
In topic: General Topics in Buddhism
Compassion - Third of Four Immeasurables
By Zoketsu Norman Fischer | May 20, 2010
Transcribed and edited by Ryusen Barbara Byrum
Editor's note: This talk contains guided meditations on compassion. You might consider pausing during the reading of the talk to do this practice. The pauses and bells that end certain stages are indicated in the text.
Compassion. This is the other side of mudita. Mudita is to feel other people's joy. Compassion is to feel other people's pain, other people's suffering. After all the wonderful discussion of mudita, this might sound like a downer. Who wants to go out of their way to feel other people's pain and suffering? Yuck! Nobody wants to feel pain. It's so much nicer to feel pleasure, and then to increase our feelings of pleasure by feeling other people's pleasure. That seems to be the natural thing in life, right? To seek some happiness and some pleasure and to avoid some unhappiness, some pain.
So compassion, in a way, at first glance, seems like a bad idea. Evolution is the seeking of thriving, well-being, positive states. Creatures seem to be programmed for that, including us. To seek for something that is unpleasant, like suffering, seems really twisted and strange. Who would want to do that? Is it a good idea? It seems unnatural in a way. And yet, when you say, "Is compassion a good idea?" most people would say, "Compassion is so wonderful. It touches my heart. It is so beautiful." So we like compassion, even though we all understand that compassion is opening ourselves to other peoples' pain.
So why would that be? I think the reason for it is because the feeling of compassion is so close to the feeling of love. I think we understand that these two things completely depend on each other. The idea that we could love somebody, but then if something went wrong with them, and we had a bad feeling and ignored them and wanted to get away from them - I think we are all smart enough to know that there isn't going to be any love if that happens.
We all get it that love is something very powerful. We all want love, so we all get it that compassion is very close to love. In fact, love depends on compassion, because you can't love someone if you're not willing to be there with them in their suffering. Even that in itself, just being willing to feel someone's suffering, if you care about them - that is already love, right? Compassion, in a way, even though it is associated with suffering, feels good, because it already is love.
So it's strange. The whole way that we set things up in our mind seems not to be exactly the case because, although you know that suffering is negative, the feeling of love that you have when feeling the suffering of someone you care about is - in a different way, and a more important way - pleasant. So, oddly, love and compassion, and what's pleasant and what's painful, seem to be really closely associated, to the point of almost being the same thing. It's kind of odd, when you think about it.
We have all these different words and ideas: pain, pleasure, compassion, love. We make these distinctions because we believe that thinking and feeling are characterized by opposition. Distinction and opposition are how we experience things. But the closer we look at our actual experiences, the less distinct and the less firm these different distinctions are. If we are caught by them before feeling them deeply enough and experiencing them deeply enough - by being attached to what is pleasant and being averse to or afraid of what is painful - we could really mess ourselves up. Once you get the hang of the real complexity and richness of your human experience, you realize that things are just not that simple. Self-protection and grasping pleasant feelings turn out to be bad strategies for happiness; whereas, opening up the self to all feelings - whether one's own or those of others, pleasant as well as unpleasant - turns out to be a much richer and truer way to live. So generating compassion, which allows us to feel suffering, is a necessary practice for opening ourselves to real love and genuine happiness.
In studying the Four Unlimited Abodes, we keep coming back, over and over, to Buddha's central insight that the difference between self and other is more a conceptual habit than an ultimate reality. It turns out, quite strangely and paradoxically, that the most selfish thing is the most altruistic thing. If you really want to be selfish about your own happiness, love everybody. That's the way to be happy. It's a strange thing, but that is really what it comes down to in actual experience.
Avalokiteshwara, as you all know, the speaker in the Heart Sutra, is the bodhisattva of compassion, and yet it is Avalokiteshwara who teaches us that all dharmas are marked with emptiness. They do not appear and do not disappear. Suffering and the end of suffering are empty. This is the great secret of compassion and what makes a wide and deep feeling for the suffering of other people - and for all of us collectively - sustainable. Avalokiteshwara sees the pain of the world and hears the cries of the world, and yet she remains serene, because her hearing and her vision are unimpeded by limited objects. She knows that there are no eyes, no ears, no nose, no object of sight, no object of sound - nothing to impede the free flow of love. Even suffering does not impede it. Her heart is wide open. She feels all of the suffering. But she understands that that's okay. Everything is lightened by and sustained by emptiness. The unbearable is bearable. The pain is the love. All things are suffering, even the things that don't look like they are. And all suffering is peace.
You could see that the near enemy of compassion is despair. You open your heart to suffering. You start looking around, and pass this person in front of you, who is suffering, and the next person and the next person and the next person, and when you look far enough, you could see a lot of suffering. And this could result in despair. But despair is not the same as compassion. I think this is what blocks our compassion: we're afraid that if we were really to open ourselves to suffering, even the suffering of one person, even the suffering of ourselves - maybe especially the suffering of ourselves - we wouldn't be able to stand it. We would start feeling that things are completely hopeless, and then we would be plunged into despair, depression, hopelessness, and our heads would explode. So we feel we should protect ourselves from this eventuality. Better not to think too much about people suffering. Better not to think about people being killed in Afghanistan, or the unbelievable, horrible things that go on as a matter of course, every day, in almost every country of Africa. Better not to think about that. Who knows how many ocean creatures - fish and mammals - have been harmed in this oil spill in the Gulf, that nobody seems to want to say how extensive it is? Let's not think about it. Too much! Too much! Too much! The virtual impossibility of our ever slowing down, let alone reversing, the pace of climate change: let's not think about it too much. Even our one friend or two friends or three friends, who are dying of cancer right now - too much. We could fall into despair easily. It could be too much for us.
So, as I always like to point out, meditation practice is extremely humbling. That's its great virtue, I think. It is very humbling to sit there on our cushions. If we are honest about it, and if we open to what's going on, we can't help but notice all of our fear, all of our confusion, all of our anguish, and all of our jealousy and rage and cynicism. Everything. It's all there. Just sit down long enough, and you see it all. At first we feel humiliated or wonder what's wrong with us. "My practice is not going well. I should be better. I thought I was a pretty nice person before, but now I am really wondering about myself! How come I'm not any better than this?" But then it dawns on us, "Oh, this is just everybody's ordinary, everyday stuff. This is just being human - whatever is there, good or bad." It's just being human. There is suffering built right into the middle of it. We'll see that on our cushions.
This is exactly the root of compassion. As I suffer, so do all beings suffer. As all beings suffer, so do I. We all have bodies and minds. Because we have a body, we all want to be healthy and attractive and young forever, but that is not going to happen. Because we have minds and feelings, we want to be joyful and satisfied and ebullient all the time, and it's not going to be like that. In other words, because we have bodies and minds, we have expectations and needs, and they are sometimes dashed. And sometimes unpleasant feelings will arise, and then we're going to suffer. Of course, bad social conditions, bad physical conditions will bring on suffering; but even if there weren't any bad social conditions, even if there weren't any bad physical conditions, even if there wasn't any poverty, even if everybody was really nice, there would still be suffering.
When I am willing to recognize my own suffering and understand its root causes, the natural consequence of this is compassion. I stop condemning myself, I feel compassionate for myself, and I feel compassionate for others. I see the difference between having compassion for myself and for others. It is very slight. There is really no difference at all. Compassion is the way that we connect with our own lives. It's the way that we connect with each other. Far from being something to fear, suffering turns out to be our great human treasure. We may not like it all the time, but we know that it is necessary for us, and that it's good for us, because it brings us closest to reality. It brings us closest to love. So it is a very good idea to generate compassion. It's very gritty and rough, but it is very good.
Buddhadharma magazine just came in the mail. There is a whole section called "Loving Deeply, Loving More." So I thought that for the rest of my talk, we could do some practices, and I wanted to read some things that are written here in Buddhadharma magazine. The great contemporary master of the compassion teachings in Buddhism is Pema Chodron, whose books we all know, I'm sure. So let me read you what she says about compassion. Here she's talking about Tonglen practice, and then we will do some Tonglen practices, and a few other practices, all for the purpose of generating and understanding compassion a little better.
So here is what she says in this current issue of the Buddhadharma magazine:
In order to have compassion for others, we have to have compassion for ourselves. In particular, to care about other people who are angry, fearful, jealous, overcome by addictions of all kinds, arrogant, proud, miserly, selfish, mean - you name it. To have compassion and care for these people means not to run from the pain of finding these things in ourselves. In fact, one's whole attitude toward pain can change. Instead of fending it off and hiding from it, one can open one's heart and allow oneself to feel that pain, feel it as something that will soften and purify us, and make us far more loving and kind.
Tonglen practice is a method for connecting with suffering - ours and that which is all around us, everywhere we go. It is a method for overcoming fear of suffering and for dissolving the tightness of our heart. Primarily it is a method for awakening the compassion that is inherent in all of us, no matter how cruel or cold we might seem to be.
We begin the practice by taking on the suffering of a person whom we know to be hurting and whom we wish to help. For instance, if you know of a child who is being hurt, you breathe in the wish to take away all the pain and fear of that child. And then as you breathe out, you send out happiness, joy, or whatever would relieve their pain. This is the core of the practice: breathing in others' pain, so that they can have more space to relax and open, and breathing out, sending them relaxation or whatever you feel would bring them relief and happiness.
However, we often cannot do this, because we come face to face with our own fear, our own resistance, our own anger, or whatever our personal pain, or our personal stuckness happens to be at that moment. So at that point in the practice, you should change the focus and begin to do Tonglen for what you are feeling - your resistance to your practice of Tonglen. Do Tonglen with that resistance! And also for yourself, and the millions of others who - just like you - are feeling the same stuckness and the same misery.
So, in other words, "I can't do this; this is too hard," doesn't make any sense. If you can't do this because it is too hard, you breathe in, "I can't do this; this is too hard," with compassion, and you remember at that moment that many others are also feeling that way. You breathe in for yourself and them, and then you breathe out relief.
So you breathe it in for all the people caught with that emotion, and you send out relief for whatever opens up the space for yourself and all these countless others. Maybe you can't name what you are feeling, but you can feel it. A tightness in the stomach, a heavy darkness - whatever. Just contact what you are feeling and breathe in, take it in for all of us, and send out relief for all of us.
So let's practice this for a bit, if you will. We've done this before, but I don't think we have exhausted it so far. So let's begin with someone we know who is sick. Many of our sangha members are ill right now. I can think of several that I want to practice with. Think of someone who is really in need of compassion, in need of support. Whether physically ill, or some pain or anguish. Imagine the person. The next time you breathe in, physically breathe in their suffering - their anguish, their pain, their disease, even - as a dark, smoky substance that comes in through your nostrils and all the pores of your body. Bring it in through your breath, and through the power of the Buddha-nature that pervades your body, transform it, so that when you breathe out, you are able to breathe out light and ease and relief and relaxation and acceptance. It just flows out of you toward the person. Let's keep practicing with that person, breathing in darkness, and breathing out light.
If there is more than one, you can go from one person to another. And, as Pema says, if you feel some resistance when you do this, some fear, then breathe that in. Breathe in not only your own fear and resistance, but the fear and resistance that beings all over the world are feeling in this very moment, just as you're feeling. Breathe in the dark smoke and feel this light, easeful acceptance, flowing out in all directions. All around.
Now let us practice with all of us sitting in the room, breathing in the suffering of each other, breathing out ease and relief. Whatever unfulfilled hopes, whatever wounds, whatever fears, breathe it all in, breathing out healing and relief.
And then let's extend that through the walls of the building, the ceiling, the floor, so that our awareness takes in all the beings everywhere - in all directions, above, below, and all around, without limit. Whatever anguish, whatever pain, whatever illness - breathing in all the suffering as a dark substance, transforming it into light and ease and compassion. Sending the exhale into limitless space, in all directions, coming out of every pore of our bodies. If this seems too hard to do, and we feel frightened and just can't do it, then breathe in that limitation for ourselves and for everyone else who feels it. Breathing out healing and acceptance of it.
Now following the sequence that we have been doing, think of someone who is difficult for you, someone with whom your human relations are stuck or fractured or not happy. Maybe someone who has hurt you. It could be someone now, or it could be someone long ago. Recognize that whatever this person's actions or character, it all comes as a result of suffering. So allow yourself to breathe in that person's suffering, a dark suffering, and breathe out ease and relief. If there is limitation or resistance, breathe that in. Just continue to practice.
Now let's practice with ourselves. Breathe in your own pain - your physical pain, your emotional pain, your longing, your anguish, your wounds. Can you actually breathe them in and say, "Yes, I will actually take this in"? Transform it in your body and breathe out ease and lightness and relief and healing for yourself.
One more practice. This one is elaborate and hard to do, maybe. It's a Tibetan Buddhist practice of generating compassion, and it involves a lot of visualization, which I find very hard to do. Maybe some of you are used to it. So what I will do is I will slowly read to you the steps that you are supposed to be visualizing. If you can do that, then do it. If not, then just listen, and do the best you can. It is very beautiful. This is from Alan Wallace's book, The Four Unlimiteds, in his compassion chapter:
Begin with your motivation that you would really like to alleviate the suffering of others. That is really the effort you are making in your practice, to practice in such a way that you find happiness yourself and do that by alleviating the suffering of others. That's your motivation for your practice in general and this practice in particular.
Imagine, now, that you are seeing in front of you, in your mind's eye, Avalokiteshwara full of light and joyful. Imagine Avalokiteshwara in front of you, and she is looking at you with warmth and affection and love. She is the embodiment of the compassion that you would like to feel. The mantra associated with Avalokiteshwara is Om Mani Padme Hum, which means the jewel of awakening is right there, the lotus that grows out of the mud of suffering. Om Mani Padme Hum. Om Mani Padme Hum.
As you repeat that mantra - maybe you are seeing it somehow inside - you imagine a cascade of light coming out of Avalokiteshwara's head. It flows and arcs over and goes inside your head. It flows down your body, and your whole body is saturated, every cell of your body, Now, very politely, you ask Avalokiteshwara if she wouldn't mind shrinking down to around one inch in size, and in that size would she mind sitting on the top of your head, facing the same direction that your face is facing. You can imagine tiny, light-infused Avalokiteshwara sitting on top of your head.
Now imagine that your heart is a soft, glowing, white lotus. Invite Avalokiteshwara on top of your head to come down there inside your heart and sit inside that lotus. And she does. She sits there. Imagine a tiny, pure, radiant point of white light in Avalokiteshwara's heart, sitting on that lotus inside of your heart. This is the light of your own Buddha-nature. And now it begins to radiate out in all directions and fills your whole body and flows out of your body through every pore, reaching out without limit throughout all of space and to all the beings living there. As soon as it touches every being, it removes their suffering and the source of their suffering. It touches every human being, every animal. It just keeps going around the globe, beyond this world even. The whole universe is infused with this light.
Imagine the light coming back now to your body, where Avalokiteshwara sits in your heart. Let your body dissolve into the body of Avalokiteshwara. Let the body of Avalokiteshwara dissolve into that point of light in the middle of her heart. Let this point of light dissolve into empty space. Now let the empty space resolve itself into your body again - softly glowing light, serene, and strong. Within this body, feel the movements of energy as you breathe. Then rejoin the practice just to feel your breath.
Could you do that? It's nice, isn't it?
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The Forlorn Fable of Fabled Lands
Over on Bit-Tech, chilli-loving young Joe Martin is embarking on an epic quest to document the far corners of the British games industry. He's thrown up quite the gem for today's instalment: a hefty look at Eidos' unrealised MMO adaptation of the Fabled Lands choose-your-own-adventure books. (There's a PC port of them here). A fascinating tale, both in terms of where the game itself was going, and as a reveal of the painful flipside to that early-2000s era of hyper-creative development. For every Giants: Citizen Kabuto or Sacrifice, there's probably a dozen crash'n'burn cases like this.
Fancy a quick quote? "The Fabled Lands MMO might have had an incredibly advanced AI that acted as a digital gamesmaster. Hypothetically, this 'AI God' would have tailored the experience for each player, beefing up quests to meet skill levels – a technology that was likely beyond reach at that time." Now, go read the rest.


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News & Media
TATVA Award 2015.
Achievements – Awarded Best Contact Center 2015 by one of India's largest insurance providers.
"Epicenter awarded as the best partner in the Inbound Contact Center Email category at the annual TATVA awards. Recognizing us as the
preferred partner by one of the largest insurance providers in the country.
This was achieved through delivery of exceptional performance, superior customer experience and value add for this client"
About Us
Epicenter is a leading provider of Business Process Management Solution's, founded
in the year 2000 and began its operations in 2001.
Epicenter has Core Competence in processes like Customer Service, Collections, Sales,
Transaction Processing, Data processing, Chat and E-mail support. Epicenter provides
best-in-class call center operations that reflect the "Client Standard" in terms
of high quality customer service while minimizing cost through efficient management
of processes, procedures and technological infrastructure.
With developed capabilities in managing critical end customer transactions for our
clients, we believe that every interface with a customer is of prime importance.
A company that believes in efficient management of processes and developing long-term
strategic partnerships, our prime focus is to effectively execute any work given
to us with high quality of service delivery. This coupled with stringent adherence
to data security guidelines and privacy requirements makes us a partner of choice
for our clients.


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Presentation & Promotion of Technical Project with Pirelli
Date: October/November 2009
Place: Bumbesti Jiu, Targu- Jiu
Presentations at Mihai Viteazul High School from Bumbesti Jiu and at No. 2 Technical High School from Targu- Jiu. The event had as objective to promote technical project developed by Pirelli Eco Technology with this educational institutions- students received information about the Group, Pirelli Romania, PET activity, benefits of our presence in the county and opportunities that the company offers to young people. Those there were interested signed in for the project which was developed during 7 months.
Categories: Career
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Pirelli values your privacy. The information you submit is subject to our privacy policy in accordance with the Italian privacy law (art. 13 - D.Lgs. 196/03).


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Dark Brotherhood assassin in FPS looking for Fargoth :D
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is an epic, open-ended single-player game where you create and play any kind of character you can imagine. Be the noble hero embarking on an epic quest, or an insidious thief rising to leadership of his guild. Be a malevolent sorcerer developing the ultimate spell of destruction, or a reverent healer searching for the cure to a plague. Your actions define your character, and your gameplay changes and evolves in response to your actions. Confront the assassins' guild, and they take out a contract on you. Impress them, and they try to recruit you instead. No two sagas are the same in the world of Morrowind. Gameplay is further extended with the inclusion of The Elder Scrolls Construction Set (bundled with the game). This powerful tool is being used to create the entire game, and will also allow players to modify and add to Morrowind in any way they see fit. Change character or creature attributes and skills, introduce new weapons or dungeons into the...
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.
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By now, there's a certain comfy formula to dystopian young-adult literature. The world is wrong, the past's a ruin, and only attractive teenagers can see the truth. Catherine Fischer's Incarceron fit this pattern neatly, but her sequel delivers something new.
Spoilers ahead...
Reading the sequel, Sapphique, made me raise my opinion of Incarceron a lot, and together, the two novels form a really neat duology. A lot of the stuff that felt a bit clunky in Incarceron makes a lot more sense in Sapphique, and the two books would be great to read back-to-back.
It's sort of a cliché to say that the setting is a main character, especially when you're talking about a dystopian world with a lot of intricate world-building. But it's especially true in the case of Incarceron/Sapphique, where the two worlds — the Realm and the prison — steal the limelight. And the prison itself becomes one of the most fascinating characters in the book.
Consider this great passage, when the prison turns off its "eyes" that are watching all over the prison, because it's focusing all its resources elsewhere:
All over Incarceron, through its tunnels and corridors, its cells and seas, the Eyes began to close. One by one, they rippled off down galleries where people came out of their huts to stare; in cities where priests of obscure cults cried out to Sapphique; in remote halls where nomads had wandered for centuries; above a crazed Prisoner digging his lifelong tunnel with a rusty spade. The Eyes went out in ceilings, in the cobwebbed corner of a cell, in the den of a Winglord, in the thatched eaves of a cottage. Incarceron withdrew its gaze, and for the first time since its waking the Prison ignored its Inmates, drew in on itself, closed down empty sections, gathered its great strength.
It feels like a really well-realized world, with the prison's consciousness a constant, creepy presence throughout.
Especially in the second book, you discover all the ways that Incarceron, the sentient prison, has gone insane. Long ago, the people of the Realm created Incarceron to be a paradise, and stuck all of their undesirable people in there. But over the centuries, Incarceron has become a hellhole, and the artificially intelligent prison has gotten crueler and more twisted. Meanwhile, the legend of Sapphique, the nine-fingered sage who escaped from Incarceron and gained enlightenment in the process, has become the main religion Inside.
The other world we saw in Incarceron was the Realm, a different sort of failed utopia where everybody is required by law to live in a kind of fake 18th century, with a Protocol governing exactly how people can live. All of the Realm's residents seem aware of the existence of high technology, but they stick to candles and horses. In this gilded cage lives Claudia, the daughter of Incarceron's Warden, who is promised in marriage to the boorish Prince Caspar and is nothing more than one of her father's pawns.
In the second book, Claudia teams up with Finn, a man who's escaped from the prison and who appears to be the rightful heir to the throne of the Realm. But Finn is deeply damaged by his time inside the prison, and seems incapable of navigating the harsh but cultured world of court society. Meanwhile, Finn's friends who are still trapped inside the prison try to find their own way out, while discovering that the prison has plans of its own.
I think one reason why the Incarceron/Sapphique duology seems a lot better after reading the second book is because the metaphors about prisons and escape become way more interesting in the second half of the story. In this sort of story, you sort of expect a fairly explicit comparison between the two types of imprisonment — that of the people inside Incarceron, who are living in squalor and many of whom are cyborgs reconstructed by the prison out of organic and metal parts, and that of Claudia and the others in the luxurious Realm, where their freedom is just as constrained. You sort of expect to discover that both worlds are equally unfree. Like, man, it's all a prison.
But in Sapphique, the connections between Incarceron and the Realm become a lot more intricate and fascinating, and we learn that neither place is entirely what it seems. If the first book was about setting up dualities, the second book is about breaking them down, and showing that oppositions are never as neat as they first appear. There are tons of doublings in the second book, and many of them turn out to be either illusions or false dichotomies. Even the separation between Sapphique, the sage who escaped, and Incarceron, the prison he escaped from, emerges as something much muddier — and it doesn't entirely come as a surprise when we discover that the prison wants to escape from itself.
And "escaping from yourself" becomes a metaphor that means different things to different people in the story — whether it means transcending the limitations of your physical body, or getting away from the life choices that have trapped you. The second book is full of people who want to escape from themselves, just like Incarceron does.
As Sapphique, the sage who escaped, says when we finally meet him in a vision, "Escape is not enough; it does not answer the questions. It is not Freedom." More than just getting out of a small prison into a larger one, freedom means finding your true self. Escapism and finding yourself, of course, are common themes in YA literature, but by the end of Sapphique, you see them examined in some imaginative ways that you've probably never seen before.
Both Incarceron and the Realm are failed social experiments, and they're both sustained by illusion, which is why a mythical sage and a stage magician provide the conduits to discovering the reality behind them. But they're also both intertwined parts of the prison-industrial complex of this weird future dystopia, and in the end Fischer seems to suggest that utopian ventures that depend on both coercion and deception are doomed to fail — and to taint the society that spawned them.
As far as the actual plot of Sapphique goes, I sort of want to avoid giving away too much, in case you haven't read the first book. Suffice to say, there's a struggle for control over the Realm, and a pretender to the throne, and meanwhile the sentient prison is making plans of its own. Part of the cleverness of these books is that you can read them as high fantasy — as other reviews have pointed out, there's a wicked stepmother, objects of power, and sundry enchantments — or as dystopian science fiction.
The biggest problem with the second book, though, is the human characters — more than in the first book, you sense that there's nobody really terribly likable in this story, except maybe for Claudia's tutor Jared. The characters mostly don't seem to like each other that much, even when they're on the same side. And unusually for this sort of book, Fischer doesn't make that much effort to provide a credible love story. It seems sort of fitting for a story about imprisonment and what it costs us, to avoid giving us the luxury of warmth or emotional connections among the people in the story.
So after reading both books, it's clear that the Incarceron/Sapphique saga isn't proof that the field of YA science fiction is getting clichéd and stale, as I'd feared — in fact, these books prove, more than ever, that YA fiction is where some of the most daring, imaginative writing about ideas is happening these days. Definitely worth checking out.


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--GOLD FEVER Premieres Friday, October 11 and October 18 at 9 PM ET/PT--
(NEW YORK, NY) - Discovery Channel is going back in time to follow the story of the California Gold Rush from the very beginning in the four-part documentary miniseries GOLD FEVER premiering Friday October 11 and October 18 at 9 PM ET/PT. See how America was transformed, after the chance discovery of gold, from a fledgling nation into one of enormous wealth and power.
From the executive producer of the Emmy-winning documentary miniseries, The Men Who Built America, GOLD FEVER follows the Boston Company, a real-life group of 40 men who, like tens of thousands of others, made the grueling journey out west with dreams of striking it rich. Viewers will get a first-hand look through historians, experts, visual effects and dramatic scenes about how the men of the Boston Company pursued their opportunity for a new life while trying to survive from January 1848 to October 1850. After traveling to California, the men soon discovered the gold rush wasn't exactly what they expected. Violence, greed and chaos took over as tens of thousands of miners battled each other over the same small fortune of buried treasure. As the men fought and died for gold, they had no idea that the fortune they'd uncover - worth an estimated 25 billion dollars - would transform the country forever, laying the foundation of the American Dream and making possible the creation of an American empire.
GOLD FEVER is a Stephen David Entertainment production. Stephen David is an Executive Producer. Executive Producers for Discovery Channel are Nancy Daniels and Matthew Kelly.


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According to a new market research report published by Credence Research "Spot Welding Equipment Market (By Type (Press Spot Welding, Butt Spot Welding, Seam Spot welding, Projection Spot Welding, Laser Spot Welding), By Mobility (Fixed, Portable), By Material (Steel, Aluminum and Alloys, Others) By Application (Automotive, Construction, Industrial Manufacturing, Aerospace, Railways, Electronics and Semiconductors, Others)) – Growth, Future Prospects and Competitive Landscape, 2016-2024", spot welding equipment market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.1 % from 2016 to 2024.
The complete report is available at http://www.credenceresearch.com/report/spot-welding-equipment-market
Market Insights
The automotive manufacturing has portrayed significant growth in the past few years and is estimated to continue at the same rate in the coming years. With the consistent rise in the overall manufacturing industry, adjacent markets such as equipment and machine tools are also showing promising growth globally. Spot welding equipment plays a major role in the overall automotive manufacturing sector by providing services in diversified application.
Read Complete Report with TOC @ http://www.credenceresearch.com/report/spot-welding-equipment-market
The demand for spot welding equipment market is majorly driven by the constant rise in the automotive and industrial manufacturing. Rising need for faster and precise fabrication and welding solutions for sheet metals/alloys has resulted in substantial uplift in the demand for spot welding machines. Ability to weld a wide variety of sheet metals, availability of size variants, economical operation and clean working are few of the many merits of spot welding technique. Subsequently, spot welding has witnessed profound penetration in automotive and industrial manufacturing sector over the period of time.
Spot welding equipment market is segmented according to types, mobility, material to be welded, applications and geography. On the basis of type, spot welding is classified as press spot welding, butt spot welding, seam spot welding, projection spot welding and laser spot welding. As of 2015, press spot welding segment outruns other types of the overall spot welding equipment market. Further, spot welding equipment market is segmented on the basis of mobility as fixed and portable type machines. Due to extensive use in heavy industries, production, and assembly lines, fixed type spot welding machines acquires the majority of market share as compared to portable spot welding equipment.
Competitive Insights:
Spot welding equipment market is fragmented in nature with multiple international companies facing remarkable competition from regional manufacturers. Major players in the market include AMADA AMERICA, Inc., ARO Welding Technologies SAS, DECA s.p.a., Emerson Electric Company, KRITON WELD EQUIPMENTS PVT. LTD., INTRAN, Miller Electric Mfg. Co., Noble Industries, Inc., Sintec Optronics Pte Ltd., TECHNAX Industrie, T. J. Snow, Co., Vista Industrial Products, Inc., and others. Spot welding manufacturers are focusing on improving the capabilities of existing spot welding machines by enhancing their multi-application spot welding capability. Similarly, promising players in spot welding manufacturing are focusing on their product and brand promotion through trade and industrial fairs.
Key Trends:
- Integration of spot welding equipment with CNC and robots to enable complete process automation
- Strengthening global sales channel in order to maintain and expand the sales through trade fairs and exhibitions.
- Adoption of new and lighter alloys and use of spot welding equipment for welding such alloys.
Related Reports:
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