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Driver Safety - Can You Survive?
We Uncover Some Commonly Overlooked Safety Improvements In What You Wear And Where You Sit.
Clearly, racing is a dangerous sport and despite the best efforts of safety manufacturers you'll never eliminate all the risk. While fatalities and serious injury will continue to be an unfortunate part of our sport, now more than ever technology has led to numerous improvements in safety equipment. With the offerings from today's manufacturers there is no excuse not to take every advantage available. But not everybody does.
Most racers know that a good helmet, quality firesuit and a well made rollcage are the first lines of defense against serious injury in a car, but there are other items that will enhance your ability to walk away from a wreck. Here we take a look at a few.
Most major sanctions require you to wear an SFI-rated firesuit whose rating choice is most often left up to you, the racer. In order to make the best selection that offers you the most protection for your budget, you need to understand TPP or Thermal Protective Performance. TPP is a rating system contained within the SFI specification 3.2A for firesuits that is based on the garment's fire retardant capabilities in the presence of both direct flame and radiant heat. The purpose of TPP is to measure the length of time the person wearing the garment can be exposed to a heat source before incurring a second degree, or skin-blistering, burn.
Now here's something you may not know: Most racer burns are caused by heat transfer rather than direct flame. That's important, so keep it in mind. Back to TPP for a minute. The TPP rating is the product of exposure heat flux and exposure time. The TPP results can be converted to the time before a second degree burn occurs. The higher the garment rating, the more time before a second degree burn occurs.
Chart A (above) shows the various SFI 3.2A ratings as well as their corresponding TPP value. While the rating 1,3,5,etc., is important, the key number is TPP. For example, the minimum TPP rating to achieve a 5 rating is 19 which gives you 10 seconds of protection before yielding a second degree burn, however because of the range in the rating system you can also have a 5 rated suit with a 35 TPP rating which actually gives you 17 seconds of protection before a second degree burn. Many manufactures publish the TPP of their individual garments, but those who do not are more than willing to share it with you if you call and ask them.
So now that you know an SFI 5 rated garment with a TPP value of 19 gives you 10 seconds before you get a second-degree burn and an SFI 1 rated garment with a TPP value of 6 gives you 3 seconds of protection before you get that same burn, why would you wear a 5 fire suit and 1 gloves? Believe it or not it does happen. Mixing SFI ratings somewhat defeats their purpose. While all SFI rated garments offer protection, consider this example when mixing SFI ratings. You are wearing a SFI 5 suit but you have on a pair of 1 gloves. You get into an accident where the car catches on fire and the flames come in the cockpit. It takes you eight seconds to get out of the car. Because you were wearing a 5 rated suit your body escaped any major damage, however your hands now have second-degree burns all over them because the 1 rated gloves gave up the protection after just three seconds. Now you're sidelined for months as the burns heal.
Make sure when choosing gloves and shoes you match your SFI ratings so that your extremities have the same amount of protection as your core.
Along those same lines...are your socks fire retardant? There has been more than one racer who walked away from a firey wreck only to discover some nice burns on his or her ankles. Thanks to mid-rise shoes and the lack of fire retardant socks they are taking a hiatus from racing until their burns heal.
It may be one of the easiest and cheapest safety measures you can take. Buy some fire-retardant underwear. Remember what we said earlier; the majority of racer burns are caused by heat transfer rather than direct flame? Good, because insulation is the best way to prevent this kind of burn. How do you get additional insulation in your racing suit? The answer is easy. Using multiple layers of fabric helps keep the heat source away from the skin longer because each layer creates air gaps that have to heat up before that heat can transfer. The extra seconds gained with each layer are precious to you safely escaping from a burning car.
Fire resistant underwear should be worn with every type of driver suit, especially single-layer suits. In the case of a single layer suit, having FR underwear will double the minimum protection time. While fire retardant underwear falls under a different SFI spec (3.3 for Driver Accessories), it does use the same TPP and flammability tests as the driver suits.
Let's do just a little more math. If you add underwear that has a TPP rating of say 10 to a suit that has a TPP rating of 23, you now have a total protection time of over 17 seconds. One final thought on layers and fit, a suit and underwear combination that is worn too tight will compress the air gaps created within the layers and allow heat to reach the skin faster. So make sure that you have the proper fit in your suit and accessories.
Beyond a good fit and having extra layers, there are other things you can do to optimize the protection performance of your driver suit. First and foremost, avoid wearing your suit while working on the car. We know that changing in and out of your suit between heat races and features may not only be inconvenient but in some cases even impossible. However, getting dirt and residue while working on the car on your suit ruins an expensive piece of equipment and invites a fire to burn you. Grease, fuel, oil, and even cleaning fluids can soak into the fabric and support the flames of a fire. Beyond the obvious, when any of those fluids burn they will also produce steam when exposed to heat and cause liquid vaporization burns.
Finally remember to follow the manufacturer's cleaning and care instructions to the letter when it's time to wash your racing suit. This goes for gloves, shoes and underwear too.
Restraints, window nets and any other safety harnesses must be maintained, inspected, and replaced or rewebbed every two years for one simple reason-over time they degrade from exposure to the elements. Prolonged exposure to sunlight can cause degradation of the webbing, the fibers that make up the webbing and the thread that holds the whole assembly together. As that degradation takes place, the webbing looses its structural integrity.
The webbing used in motorsports restraints is typically made with DuPont Nylon 6-6 or a similar product. According to test data from SFI, webbing loses about half of its strength in one year. Chart B (above) shows the rate at which typical belts will degrade over a 24 month period.
Looking at that graph, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why you need to replace the webbing every two years. Even a moderate g hit would easily snap old and weakened belts. Replace them or at the very least have them checked for recertification, if you don't, make sure your life insurance policy is paid up.
A big part of maximizing your safety has to do with proper component installation. Since we've been talking about belts we'll stick with that subject. Safety belts must pull from a straight angle in the event of an accident. When that happens, the mounting hardware minimizes the bending stress in that fitting and the whole system works properly. One of the easiest ways to ensure that happens is to make sure that when your belts are installed that no part of the straps are rubbing against any surface that can cause that webbing to fray. Remember to also periodically check the anchoring mechanisms to make sure they haven't loosened over time.
While securely-mounted belts are important you also have to remember that belts need to be as short as possible to reduce stretching for better control of driver movement in the event of an accident.
Chart C (previous page) shows some key angles that should be followed when designing the optimum fitment geometry to minimize movement of the belts. Lap belts perform best when mounted at an angle between 45 and 55 degrees relative to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle (Part A in Chart C). This angle allows the lap belt to properly restrain the pelvis in the event of an upward pull of the shoulder harness.
Part B of Chart C shows what happens with a system that has the wrong belt angle. The shoulder harness pulls the lap belt up off the pelvic area and into the abdominal region. A hard enough hit with this configuration and you are likely to hurt some internal organs.
Finally, do not forget that the ideal position of the shoulder harness is anywhere between 5 degrees below and 30 degrees above the driver's shoulder, as seen in Part C of Chart C. An attachment point significantly below the driver's shoulder will result in a spinal compression injury, while one too far above the shoulder (greater than 30 degrees), will provide little resistance to forward motion of the driver's upper torso. In addition to overly stressing the mounting points, you run the high risk of hitting the steering wheel with your face or chest which could in turn cause a neck injury. The shoulder straps should also be 3-6 inches apart behind the driver's neck to prevent slippage off the shoulders.
Keep in mind that these installation tips are just suggestions based on SFI recommendations and our own personal experiences here at Circle Track. When preparing to mount your belts, you should always follow the installation instructions provided by the seat belt manufacturer and contact them directly should you have any questions.
Window nets are designed with two functions in mind. Number one, they keep your arms, head, etc., inside the car in the event of a hard crash or roll over. More importantly, and to some extent less thought of is Number two, the window net keeps foreign objects such as other car parts, debris, and more out of the driver's compartment. SFI rated window nets can sustain a lot of impact, but only if they are mounted properly. Proper mounting means having two top and two bottom brackets welded to the rollcage.
Frankly, it surprised us when we found out that many racers will use pop rivets to attach the bottom bar to their car's door panel. This may be cheaper and easier to do than welding the proper bracket in place, however it is far more dangerous. The pop rivet and sheet metal is nowhere near as strong as a good solid weld. Rivets cannot withstand the g-forces associated with even a medium hit and will just rip out of the panel like it was paper. So if you are one of those racers taking this short cut, rethink the purpose of that net and weld some good brackets in all four corners. It could just save your life.
Racing is an inherently dangerous sport and, while the tracks and sanctions have rules that promote safety, the final choice of what to wear and how to build your car is yours and yours alone. Safety starts with you, the driver, and just because your track says you need a minimum of a SFI 3.2A/1 suit doesn't mean you shouldn't upgrade to a SFI 3.2A/5. There are plenty of high-quality safety products on the market for a reasonable price. After all, it's pretty hard to race from a hospital bed or worse from six feet under.


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D.J. Gardner Learns the Reality of the Social Media Era the Hard WayPosted by nvr1983 on August 27th, 2011
Over the past two years few programs have had to deal with as many major issues related to eligibility and suspensions as Mississippi State has had to. From the initial investigation and year-long suspension of Renardo Sidney to the nine-game suspension that Dee Bost had to serve last year and finally the ugly fight between Sidney and teammate Elgin Bailey in the stands at the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii last December the program has had a difficult time getting out of its own way and putting its best possible team on the court. This time it involves a player, D.J. Gardner, who was not even going to be on the team this year.
On Thursday, Rick Stansbury, announced that Gardner, a highly touted recruit who was considered a top 20 shooting guard in the class of 2011, would be redshirting. According to Gardner's mother, her son approached the staff about redshirting after finding out that he would be part of a three-man shooting guard rotation rather than receiving the majority of the playing time that he had reportedly been promised during his recruitment to Starkville. In addition, she reports that the decision as to whether or not her son would be redshirting was not supposed to be decided on until November. However, when Stansbury announced that Gardner would be redshirting, D.J. fired off the following tweet (edited for our family audience):
These b***es tried to f**k me over.. That's y I red shirted .. But I wish my homies a great as* season.. I don't even know y I'm still here

subset: commoncrawl


text: Runout (or dynamic runout, DRO) describes the dynamic eccentricity of the shaft. Particularly at high speeds, there is a risk that the sealing lip, because of its inertia, will not be able to follow the shaft surface (fig 1). If the eccentricity is such that the distance between the sealing lip and shaft becomes larger than that required to maintain a hydrodynamic lubricant film, the medium to be sealed will escape through the gap. It is therefore advisable to arrange the seal in close proximity to the bearing and to keep bearing operating clearance to a minimum. Permissible runout values can be obtained from the diagram 1. These values are normally lower for narrow seals.


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Orin DeWolf Deceased
Proven May 23rd, 1898
In the name of God, amen: I Orin DeWolf, of the town of Stafford, in the County of Genesee and State of New York of [sic] the age of Seventy-five years, and being of sound mind and memory, do make, publish and declare, this my last Will and Testament in manner following, That is to say.
First, after all my lawful debts are paid, I give and bequeath to my wife, Zobeide DeWolf all of my personal estate, goods and chattels of what nature or kind so ever.
Second, I give and bequeath to my said wife, Zobeide DeWolf, all of my Real Estate, that may belong to me at the time of my decease, together with all the hereditaments and appurtenants thereunto belonging to have and to hold the same--
And I hereby appoint my said wife Zobeide DeWolf to be sole executrix of this my last will and testament hereby revoking all former wills by me made.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and Seal this 13 day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty. Orin DeWolf (seal)
The above instrument consisting of one sheet was at the date thereof, signed, sealed, published and declared by the said Orin DeWolf as and for his last Will and Testament, in presence of us, who, at his request and in his presence, and in the presence of each other, have subscribed our names as witnesses thereto.
Abner W. King, Stafford, Genesee Co., N. Y.
Henry G. Vallett, Stafford, Genesee County, New York
The People of the State of New York, By the Grace of God Free and Independent :
To Lydia A. Kellogg, Mary C. Tuttle, John H. DeWolf, Sprague P. DeWolf, Emily J. Mann, Albert DeWolf, Sanford E. DeWolf, Helen I. Sprague, Henry C. DeWolf, Nancy A. Ball and Zobeida Gray, (Note: His wife, Zobeide is not listed because she is now deceased.)
You and each of you are cited to appear before the Surrogate of the County of Genesee, at his office in the town of Batavia, in said County, on the 23rd day of May 1898, at ten o'clock, in the forenoon of that day, to attend the proof and probate of the last Will and Testament of said deceased, which relates to real and personal estate, and is presented for proof and probate by Orin J. DeWolf Executor therein named.
And those of you who are under the age of twenty-one years are required to appear by your guardian, if you have one ; if you have none, that you appear and apply for one to be appointed. In the event of your neglect or failure to do so, a guardian will be appointed by the Surrogate to represent and act for you in this proceeding.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, we have caused the seal of office of our said Surrogate to be hereunto affixed.
WITNESS, SANFORD E. NORTH, Surrogate of our said County, at the Village of Batavia, the 2nd day of April A. D. 1898
F. A. Lewis, Clerk Surrogate's Court.
Copy of Will obtained by my cousin, Claire.
"State of
New York, . County of Genesee
Recorded Feby. 21, 1919, at 3 o'clock P.N. in Liber 235
Of Deeds at page 231, and examined.
C. B. Pixley Clerk"
Amanuensis Monday was begun by John Newmark of the TransylvanianDutch blog. The term means, "a person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another." Many bloggers enjoy doing this because it allows them to freely copy something that has been written.
Amanuensis Monday was begun by John Newmark of the TransylvanianDutch blog. The term means, "a person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another." Many bloggers enjoy doing this because it allows them to freely copy something that has been written.


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President Barack Obama is slated to speak at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, July 27, the party's committee said Friday.
The DNC announced the convention's headlining speakers, calling the line-up a showcase of "enormously popular national leaders, rising stars from across the country and a diverse range of everyday Americans who will inspire the nation."
"Through narrative storytelling utilizing innovative technology, Hillary Clinton's vision that we are stronger together will come into strong focus for the American people," the DNC said in a statement.
U.S. & World
The convention is being held in Philadelphia from July 25th to July 28th.
Here is a preview of each night:
Monday: United Together
Featuring First Lady Michelle Obama, Senator Bernie Sanders and DREAMer Astrid Silva
Monday will focus on putting the future of American families front and center and how we're stronger together when we build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top and when everyone has a chance to live up to their God-given potential. DREAMer Astrid Silva will share her story and her fight to keep families together.
Tuesday: A Lifetime of Fighting for Children and Families
Featuring President Bill Clinton and Mothers of the Movement
Tuesday will feature the roll call vote and how Hillary has spent her entire career working to make a difference for children, families, and our country. The Mothers of the Movement participating include Gwen Carr, Mother of Eric Garner; Sybrina Fulton, Mother of Trayvon Martin; Maria Hamilton, Mother of Dontré Hamilton; Lucia McBath, Mother of Jordan Davis; Lezley McSpadden, Mother of Michael Brown; Cleopatra Pendleton-Cowley, Mother of Hadiya Pendleton; Geneva Reed-Veal, Mother of Sandra Bland.
Wednesday: Working Together
Featuring President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden
On Wednesday speakers will take an in-depth look at just how high the stakes are in this election and how Hillary has the experience and steadiness to bring people together to tackle the big challenges and get real results.
Thursday: Stronger Together
Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton
On the final day of the convention, Hillary will speak about her vision for our country – her belief that we are stronger together and that America is at its best when we work together to solve our problems.
Hillary for America will announce additional speakers in the coming days.


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Creative Spotlight: Jessica Graza on Adobe Ideas
Be gone the days of lugging around a laptop, the days where confined space would limit your creativity, the days where designing was restricted indoors. Adobe Touch Apps is a game changer when it comes to creating on-the-go, and one user who knows that better than many is Jessica Garza (@jessicamariedesign).
Jessica's talents were discovered via Twitter. After identifying her as a veteran Touch Apps user, we threw some questions her way to better understand her creative workflow, discuss the creative projects that she is most proud of, as well as get tips for otherTouch Apps users. Check out the full Q&A below and visit our social channels (Facebook and Twitter) to see her work on display.
Adobe: How has the integration from Touch Apps through to the Creative Cloud features changed your creative workflow?
Jessica: Adobe Ideas has allowed me to create on-the-go. I used to create using my Wacom tablet and laptop, which was fine, except in situations where I had limited space. Now, I carry my iPad with me and create with Adobe Ideas. I can design at the park, by the pool, or on a flight – all without having to carry all my equipment.
What are your favorite features in Adobe Ideas?
What really made Ideas essential to my creative workflow was that it exports my art work in vector. I would not have much use for the app if my final product was just a JPEG, as I take what I create and refine it using Illustrator and Photoshop.
Which Adobe Ideas project are you most proud of and why?
I'd have to say the project I am most proud of is my "Gameday Dress" sketches. I created a template in Ideas to show my customers what their "Gameday Dress" would look like with specific colors and designs. Ideas made it easy for me to duplicate my original and edit the template by adding layers.
What tips/suggestions do you have for creative individuals thinking about getting into Adobe Touch Apps?
Do it! You won't regret it. Ideas will give you the flexibility to create on-the-go. Whether you are sketching or creating complete works of art, Ideas makes it easy for you to do so. Even if you don't consider yourself a digital artist, you will find a use for Ideas.
For veteran users like yourself, what tips and/or techniques can you offer them to improve their creative workflow?
When I used my sketchpad, I was hesitant to begin drawing until I had an idea of exactly what I was going to do. Now that I use Ideas as my digital sketchpad, I draw out all my ideas and work with new layers to refine the original sketch. My tip for users is to create without hesitation. You can always create a new layer or work on your file in Illustrator/Photoshop to refine it.
Stay up-to-date with all of Jessica's projects by visiting her design blog. Also, remember to reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook or in the comments below for the chance to be featured. That's all for now. Until then, keep on creating!


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I want to be sure to protect this momma's heart -- so if you want to comment, please keep your comments full of love.
-- Rachel
I lost my daughter, Cameron Nicole, at about 20 weeks gestation due to a number of things. To this day, I am still not sure the EXACT reason I was induced to deliver. I have a general idea, but haven't received many answers.
My pregnancy came as a shock to my former boyfriend and me. When I became pregnant with Cameron Nicole, I was very young -- only 18 years old, and still a kid. So many things ran through my mind when I saw a plus sign appear on the pregnancy stick: This is not good timing. This is NOT the person I want to have kids with. How am I going to support a baby?
Although I was very nervous, I became a mom instantly, and I loved that little baby more than I have ever loved anything.
At first, my pregnancy was picture-perfect. But in the back of my mind, something just felt wrong. I have never suffered a loss, nor have I known anyone close to me who had. Every time I had a Dr. appointment, I was terrified of the baby dying. There was just something that felt wrong. Maternal instinct is an amazing thing.
About 7 weeks into my pregnancy, I was having a lot of cramping. I took myself to the hospital with a fear of having a miscarriage. The Dr. did an ultrasound and couldn't find a heartbeat. I was devastated. They told me the pregnancy may be too early. Or that I could be experiencing an ectopic pregnancy.
I just couldn't believe this was happening. I couldn't breathe. I don't think I cried one time, though . . . I just had to stay strong. My mom was in the emergency room for all 10 hours I was in there. The hospital called in Drs. to come in and look at my ultrasounds, blood tests, and so many more things that I am probably unaware of. I was admitted to the hospital for fear that my tube would rupture if it was an ectopic pregnancy. For the next 3 days they monitored me and checked my hcg levels. By the last day, there was great news: My hcg levels were doubling and I was sent home with so much hope! I had a sonogram appointment scheduled for a week later to check for a heartbeat.
That week was the slowest week of my life. I was so anxious to find out if my baby was alive! At that appointment, I heard the most incredible sound, the sound of my baby's heartbeat. I was so relieved! My mom and I cried together and were just so relieved. At this moment, I realized that things would work themselves out and everything would be okay. I had amazing support from my mom.
This is where my story gets hard for me to tell . . . I honestly believe my daughter potentially saved my life. The father of my daughter (or what I consider him . . . a sperm donor. He was NOT a dad.)was abusive, spent all of our money on alcohol, gambling, other woman, and who knows what! I found out several times that he had been with other women, but didn't have the strength to leave. I felt so embarrassed to be single and pregnant, so I put up with all of the horrible things he did to me. It wasn't until he pushed me up against a wall and locked me in a room. My pregnancy gave me the strength to leave that horrible, toxic home, and to be single and pregnant. I don't know if I ever would have had the courage to leave.
After I moved out of the home I had helped create, I was very fortunate to have an amazing family. Although it was so hard to take the help from my mom, I needed it. I needed a safe place to live.
I can't say that my pregnancy was stress free . . . it was nothing near that. I found out Cameron's "dad" became homeless and unemployed a few weeks after I moved out. I knew that meant no help financially from him. I also knew I would have done everything in my power to keep him away from her. If he put his hands on me while pregnant, what would he do to her?! I talked with so many lawyers about my situation and wrote up a parenting plan so I could sleep at night, knowing his chances of seeing her when she arrived were slim.
October 9, 2010 at around 10 p.m., I went to the emergency room for the second time experiencing severe cramping. When I was brought back and I received 3 enemas because the Dr. said I was "just constipated." I told him repeatedly, "NO, NO, IT'S SOMETHING DIFFERENT, I WOULD KNOW IF I WAS CONSTIPATED!" I was sent home with some type of laxatives, that I refused to use. (Throughout my pregnancy, I don't believe I took ANY type of medications, besides vitamins . . . I would power through any type of pain.)
On October 10, 2010 at around 10 a.m., I was sitting in my office at my desk when the most shocking thing could have happened to me, My water broke. I didn't know what to do with myself. This was my first pregnancy so I didn't know what was normal, and what wasn't. I knew that I had to get to the hospital as soon as possible. I left work bawling, but didn't tell anyone what was happening, just that I needed to leave.
I got to the E.R. and my water was still breaking. I was screaming for someone to help me, and to tell me what was happening and why. I didn't understand I was only 20 weeks along. About an hour after being in the E.R., my mom showed up and I was rushed up to labor and delivery. I was in a little dark room and felt so alone. The Dr. in labor and delivery checked my cervix and did a bunch of other tests. After about an hour after being in that little room, he diagnosed me with "premature rupture of membranes" and said that I had the option to either go home and see if my water bag would seal up, or stay in the hospital to see. Either way, I would have to be on bedrest the rest of my pregnancy. They also said there was about a 30% chance that I would make it full term. I just didn't know how they expected me to make decisions.
While signing my discharge papers, my temperature shot up to 103.2 from 98.0. I started uncontrollably shaking, sweating buckets, and my heart rate was extremely high. The Drs. were horrified and just kept saying they have never seen this before. Experts were called in. About an hour later, the expert Drs. arrived and told me I would have to deliver, and if I didn't, I had a 90% chance of getting sepsis (a blood infection) and a very high chance of ultimately dying.
I was stuck between choosing death for me, or death for my baby. As a mother, I couldn't wrap my head around choosing death for my child. I was more than willing to die for my baby. The Drs. gave me an hour to make a decision. (I think they wanted me to come to terms with what was happening, so I didn't feel forced.) My nurses and Drs. were incredible.
I was on my deathbed, hardly able to even open my eyes I was so sick, and I just couldn't bear the pain any longer. I finally gave in the towel and let them induce me. I could feel myself fading fast. They tried 3 times to induce me, and it was the most incredible pain I had ever felt. I was throwing up, shaking, sweating and screaming my lungs out. My cervix just wouldn't dilate. I was hooked up to so many machines, and had a lot of powerful drugs put in my IV.
The worst parts were when they had to do ultrasounds, I couldn't stand seeing my tiny little baby moving around in there having no idea what was about to happen. I held my pregnant belly and talked to her the whole time. I didn't want to let go. I had over 30 Drs. and nurses coming in and out of my room, doing bloodwork and they even brought in a mobile catscan because at one point they believed I was getting meningitis. I had no hope that I would make it out alive.
Somehow Cameron's dad found out and was calling the hospital begging to come see me. I banned him from showing up . . . I couldn't believe he ever thought he would belong there. He also had the nerve to text me, and my mom repeatedly, "is our baby going to die?" and "is this the end?" Those were not the words I needed to hear.
As soon as labor pains kicked in, they suggested that I get an epidural. When the woman came in to give me the epidural, I started bleeding heavily and it felt like time to push. At that moment, I knew this was it. I think mentally I went away during my delivery. How could I mentally be there delivering a baby I know would die?
I remember hearing the Dr. tell me to push and with one push she was out. Cameron was born at 5:38 a.m. on October 12, 2010. They rushed her away to test for a heartbeat. She lived for 3 short minutes . . . minutes I wasn't awake for. I thank God that my mom was there to hold her hand. I fell asleep and didn't wake up until around 9 a.m. My dad was next to me holding my hand.
I was in the hospital for the next few days feeling a million times better, but feeling the emotional side was unbearable. At first I didn't want to see my baby . . . I just couldn't imagine seeing her lifeless body. My mom talked me into it and I gave the okay to bring her in.
She looked like a tiny baby, even at only 20 weeks. She had 10 fingers and 10 toes. She was perfect in every way, just beautiful. I did not hold her, I just looked at her for hours. That is the one part I regret. The hospital took a few pictures and got her hand and foot prints. I was sent home with empty arms. It was the most confusing feeling ever: To be pregnant, give birth to a beautiful baby girl, and to leave the hospital without a baby in my arms.
Grieving without the support of a husband/significant other was really hard. I was all alone. Being so young, I had absolutely no friends who could relate. Needless to say, I lost a lot of friendships. I wasn't able to try again for a baby that I wanted so badly.
The Drs. also said I had contracted Chorioamnionitis (also called amnionitis or intra-amniotic infection), which is a bacterial infection that occurs either before or during labor. The name refers to the outer membrane (chorion) and the fluid-filled sac (amnion) that encloses the embryo. Chorioamnionitis affects between 1 and 10% of women at term and up to 33% of patients who deliver preterm. Chorioamnionitis usually develops when bacteria that are part of the normal vaginal flora "ascend" into the uterine cavity. The amniotic fluid and placenta, as well as the baby, become infected. E. coli, group B streptococci, and anaerobic bacteria are the most common causes of chorioamnionitis. E. coli and group B streptococci are also the two most common causes of infection in newborns.
I miss my baby more and more every day. It's crazy to think she has been gone a little over a year now.
A word to other mommas: Some things I would suggest . . .Take as many pictures as possible, every inch of your baby. Hold your baby! I can't say that enough!
Thank you for reading!
My goal in sharing stories on this blog is:
1) To honor our beloved babies and keep their memory alive.
2) To validate and honor the grief of the moms who have lost their little one.
3) To be a resource to women who are hoping to find someone, somewhere out there, who can relate to their feelings of loss. I hope this blog will be that resource.


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Nine Ways to Cut the Cost of College Visits
Growing up is tough enough without the worries of your financial future, so Money101 is here for you. E-mail us your questions and let us take off some of the pressure.
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We all know that college tuition is expensive, with the price tag only expected to rise. But the actual process of selecting the best school is also burdensome on families' budgets.
"While many families budget for the cost of college tuition and room and board, many families forget to budget for the cost of actually applying to college," says Katherine Cohen, CEO and founder of IvyWise and ApplyWise.com. "Our team's research has found that on average, families spend $3,500 just applying to college [including] college application and standardized testing fees, test prep, and, of course, college visits."
Experts stress the importance of campus visits before students make a commitment, but visiting multiple schools across the nation can rack up a hefty bill. Here's how the experts say families can keep costs to a minimum and still get the information needed to make a decision on where to enroll in the fall.
Consolidate your list. Ideally students want to see all of the colleges on their list to find the best fit academically, socially and financially, but cash-strapped families can narrow the visit list to their top three or four schools, says Cohen.
"Students typically visit college campuses twice during the college admissions process—before applying and after acceptance. To save money, they can cut out one visit. It's more important to visit before applying because it shows demonstrated interest in the school."
Start close to home. Lisa Mader, president of Learning Enrichment and Assistance Program LLC (LEAP), explains that visiting a campus close to home first will help students and their families learn their priorities and what they want from a school before investing time and money on travel, and possibly having to make repeat visits.
"More than half of students land at a school within 100 miles of home," she says. "In states in the Midwest and East, there are a plethora of schools from which to choose, so you may just find the right fit closer to home."
Use your vacation time to your advantage. Families should pull double duty on their vacation and look for schools near or along the journey to the destination.
"You don't necessarily have to do a formal visit – just walk or drive through campus if that's all you have time for," says Mader.
Look into subsidized visits. Cohen suggests accepted, but undecided students who can't afford to make a campus visit contact the school and let them know their situation.
"Especially once a student has been admitted to a college, as that school has made an investment in the student and wants him or her to attend their school," she says. "If a college visit will help that student decide, a school may absorb or subsidize the cost of that visit."
Consider a tour company. Students who want to view multiple campuses in a short span with other students should consider investing in a private tour company. While it does involve spending some money (programs can cost anywhere from $1,000-$2,000), families can get more bang for their buck by sending their student solo, says Sally Rubenstone, senior advisor at College Confidential.
"You're not paying the extra airfare and hotel bills for mom and dad, you're not putting the dog in the kennel, you're not parking your car at the airport--all of those extra costs that go into a college trip with the parents and the student," she says.
Although the whole family may not get to see the school the first time around, parents can visit when there's only one or two schools in contention.
Team up with other families. Check with extended family and friends to see what colleges they are planning to visit and offer carpooling for any overlaps or schools in close proximity.
"Even if the parents don't get to see all of the schools, at least you're getting the inside scoop from other parents you trust," says Rubenstone. "It can be cost effective to stuff several teenagers in a room with a parent and then you're cutting down on all of the trips."
Live like a college student. Students can get used to a college environment and living on a shoe-string budget by bunking with current college students, suggests Cohen. This can save students money on hotel expenses and they can experience campus life first-hand.
Prospective students can also cut down by making the campus dining hall the "restaurant" of choice, says Cohen.
"Not only is this a much less expensive dining option than eating at a local restaurant, but it also gives students a taste for the school's cuisine as well as a chance to connect with current college students."
Take a virtual tour. Although it's hard to grasp the full picture without a first-hand impression of a school, virtual tours and student blogs can help students rule in or out whether they want to invest in a visit, says Mader.
"Check YouTube for videos posted by the school [and] 'liking' a school on Facebook or following on Twitter will also speak to the culture of that school," she says. "Keep in mind though that schools are always putting their best foot forward on virtual tours, so when you are actually on a campus, get off the beaten path."
Use resources close to home. If a cross-country visit is not within a family's budget, students can still show interest in the college without physically visiting, says Rubenstone.
"You can interview with alumni in your area, you can attend admissions [meetings] in your area. You can write the admissions officer who oversees applicants from your high school and say, I would really love to go here but I'm not going to be able to swing a trip."


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Can I use screen mirroring with my Apple mobile devices such as iPhone?
I cannot connect to any iOS device via the Screen mirroring function.
Apple iPad mobile digital devices, Apple iPhone mobile digital devices, Apple iPod portable players, and MacBook are not supported for use with the screen mirroring feature.
If you use a TV, you can use the following features or applications as an alternative method to display the screen of the Apple device on the TV.
- For MacBook:
If you use an Android TV™, you can display the MacBook screen by using the Chromecast built-in application.
For details, refer to: https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/3228332
- For other Apple devices (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad):
Use the Wi-Fi Direct feature.
For how to use the Wi-Fi Direct feature with iOS (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad), refer to: How to use the Wi-Fi Direct feature on the TV with an iPhone mobile device.


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Wind & waves
The sea surface is the ever-shifting interface between ocean and air, transferring moisture and energy between these two realms.
With waves and currents driven by the interaction of the wind, it is an inherently unpredictable and often violent zone: an average of three ships displacing more than 500 tonnes are sunk each week.
Watching the waves
But using data from space, the conditions across the global sea surface can be mapped, and forecast operationally for the first time. Radar instruments are very sensitive to the roughness and height of the ocean surface, as well wave height and ocean.
Envisat's Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) instrument's wave mode was set to measure the change in radar backscatter across a narrow 5-km swath, permitting an accurate gauge of sea surface behaviour.
Following on from similar instruments aboard ESA's ERS missions, a radar scatterometer aboard ESA's MetOp weather satellite series will gauge ocean wind speed and direction.
Envisat's RA-2 Radar Altimeter-2 (RA-2) was designed to send 2000 radar pulses seaward every second, and the journey time of reflected pulses enabled average wave height to be calculated.
The decade-long archive of wind and wave data already gathered by ERS and Envisat enables increased understanding of the process of energy transfer between the ocean and atmosphere, to improve future climate models. It also enables objective investigation of the possibility that maximum wave heights are actually increasing due to global warming.
Storm warning
Satellites can overfly the ten or so major cyclonic depressions found on the Earth's surface at any one time, the areas where major marine storms and hurricanes are born.
At the same time as radar instruments show circulating wind and waves, optical instruments can visualise the water vaporising to form clouds within these depressions.
As well as providing early warning of storms to come, satellites are providing an objective record of evidence to validate the suggestion that global warming may lead to a greater number of heat-driven cyclonic storms in future.
Waves within waves
As well as stormy surface waves, the undersea world experiences its own kind of rough water. Internal waves with heights of up to 50 metres and wavelengths of more than a kilometre can occur at the boundaries of different water layers.
There may be no visible sign on the surface but marine life - as well as oil drilling or submarine operations – can be disrupted. But satellite instruments can detect clues to the movement of internal waves contained within the smaller waves on the surface.


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Vita Dining Chair
Thu 12 2007
In keeping with the lean, bold profile of the Vita Collection, David Moser found inspiration in Frank Lloyd Wright's theory of creating "rooms within rooms" with furniture. The height and mass of the chair's back works harmoniously with the lines of the table, delineating a specific area without competing visually with the table. The total effect is strong, balanced and welcoming without too much bulk. The weight of the sitter is cantilevered through Vita's hallmark suspension design. The chair looks exceedingly uncomplicated but is quite difficult to execute well. Implicit knowledge of the human form at rest and the physics of wood is necessary or the chair would topple with the slightest shift forward. Seating is available in a variety of premium fabrics and hand-stitched leather.


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This page documents common bugs in Fedora 18 and, if available, fixes or workarounds for these problems. If you find your problem in this page, do not file a bug for it, unless otherwise instructed. Where appropriate, a reference to the current bug(s) in Bugzilla is included.
- 1 Release Notes
- 2 My bug is not listed
- 3 Installation issues
- 3.1 Installer crashes with FormatDestroyError: error wiping old signatures when installing over encrypted LVM or LVM-on-RAID
- 3.2 Installer crashes with degraded/incomplete RAID, LVM or btrfs devices present
- 3.3 MATE installation is broken from the DVD media
- 3.4 Installer boot options documentation is outdated
- 3.5 Installer freezes briefly in remote repository setup
- 3.6 Invalid installation source breaks many configuration screens
- 3.7 UEFI boot doesn't work with liveusb-creator
- 3.8 Fedora 16 cannot be directly upgraded to Fedora 18
- 3.9 Installer crashes instead of presenting an error dialog when disk is too small (or other errors)
- 4 Hardware issues
- 5 Software issues
Release Notes
Read the F18 Alpha release announcement and the Fedora 18 Alpha Release Notes for specific information about changes in Fedora 18 and other general information.
My bug is not listed
Not every bug is listed in this page, but Bugzilla should be a comprehensive database of known bugs. This page is a sampling of the bugs most commonly discussed on our mailing lists and forums.
To see if your bug has already been reported, you can search Bugzilla. If it has not yet been reported, we encourage you to do so to help improve Fedora for yourself and others. A guide to Bugs and feature requests has been prepared to assist you.
If you believe an already-reported bug report should be added to this page because it is commonly encountered, you can:
- Add it yourself, if you have wiki access. Please follow the style and guidelines explained in the comments in the page source.
- Or, add the CommonBugs keyword to the bug report. Someone from the QA team will then inspect the issue to determine whether the bug should be listed as a common bug. To expedite your request, please add a comment to the bug that includes
- a summary of the problem
- any known workarounds
- an assessment on the impact to Fedora users
For reference, you can query Bugzilla for bugs tagged CommonBugs:
- CommonBugs? (bugs with CommonBugs keyword, but do not yet have a link to this page)
- CommonBugs+(bugs with CommonBugs keyword and contain a link to this page)
Installation issues
Installer crashes with FormatDestroyError: error wiping old signatures when installing over encrypted LVM or LVM-on-RAID
link to this item - Bugzilla: #876789
The Fedora 18 Beta installer may crash during partitioning (first stage of actual installation process) with the error FormatDestroyError: error wiping old signatures from (device). So far, two scenarios have been identified which lead to this crash: an LVM-based (default) install over an existing Fedora 18 installation which contains an encrypted LV, and an LVM-based (default) install over an existing Fedora 17 installation which contains LVs on a firmware RAID array. However, there may well be other configurations which will trigger this problem.
The bug appears to occur when the installer believes a newly-created partition may still contain stale LVM or RAID metadata and so runs the wipefs command to delete it. If the partition is set to become part of an LV, though, it may become busy immediately after creation, and this causes the wipefs command to fail.
Developers are currently examining the various factors which contribute to this problem, and it will be resolved for Fedora 18 Final.
Installer crashes with degraded/incomplete RAID, LVM or btrfs devices present
link to this item - Bugzilla: #873224 Bugzilla: #876441
The installer in Fedora 18 Beta cannot reliably handle degraded or incomplete RAID, LVM or redundant/striped btrfs devices. When running the installer with such devices present, a crash (the linked bug, or another) may well occur during initial startup or partitioning.
This will be fixed for the Final release (in the sense that the installer will detect such devices and refuse to use them; it is intended that the installer will not deal with such devices, but it is not intended that it crashes in the case that they are present).
MATE installation is broken from the DVD media
link to this item - Bugzilla: #878985
If you choose to install the MATE desktop in Fedora 18 Beta from DVD installation media, you will receive a very incomplete and non-working environment, as the DVD does not in fact contain most of the MATE packages. MATE was not intended to be listed as available for installation from the DVD, but by mistake, it is.
The available workarounds are to use the netinst image instead of the DVD image, set the installation source to network repositories instead of the internal DVD package repository, or install MATE after system installation.
Installer boot options documentation is outdated
link to this item - Bugzilla: #864468
There are currently two pages documenting the boot options of the installer of Fedora 18 Beta: Anaconda Boot Options and http://wwoods.fedorapeople.org/doc/boot-options.html. Both of them are at least partly outdated. We are hoping to update these pages soon, but in the mean time you can try to look at both and take a guess which of the boot options are current and which are obsolete, if you need to use them. Of course, if you are able to follow the source code, you can check out the anaconda source and derive the currently-valid options from that.
Some old anaconda options - notably, several of the network configuration options - have been replaced by Dracut options, which are documented at Dracut/Options.
Installer freezes briefly in remote repository setup
link to this item - Bugzilla: #874287
If you use a remote package repository for the installation (netinst image or inst.repo boot argument), you might experience a brief freeze in the installer interface, usually lasting several seconds. It is assumed this is related to setting up the repository source and downloading metadata in the background. There is no loss of functionality, just wait a short while if you see the interface not responding immediately.
Invalid installation source breaks many configuration screens
link to this item - Bugzilla: #875003
If you happen to provide an invalid installation source (in the Installation Source screen) in the Fedora 18 Beta installer, some installer screens might become corrupted even when you provide a correct installation repository (like Closest mirror) afterwards. Most often the package selection screen gets corrupted, but other screens like partitioning or keyboard selection screen might be affected too. The only safe workaround is to reboot and start the installer again.
UEFI boot doesn't work with liveusb-creator
link to this item - Bugzilla: #810112
liveusb-creator is one of the recommended tools for converting optical media ISO images into a bootable USB images. However, this tool still hasn't implemented support for UEFI boot. If you want to install Fedora in native UEFI mode from a USB media, use either
dd or
livecd-iso-to-disk to create it. The full instructions are at How to create and use Live USB.
Fedora 16 cannot be directly upgraded to Fedora 18
link to this item - Bugzilla: #873375
Beginning with Fedora 18 Beta, a new upgrade tool
fedup has been introduced, replacing the older PreUpgrade. FedUp currently only supports Fedora 17 -> Fedora 18 upgrades. If you want to upgrade Fedora 16, you need to go through Fedora 17 as an intermediary step. More information about the process should appear on the page Upgrading soon.
Installer crashes instead of presenting an error dialog when disk is too small (or other errors)
link to this item - Bugzilla: #854856
If you try to install Fedora 18 Beta to a very small disk, the installer may crash with an error PartitioningError: not enough free space on disks, or another error. In general, there are several cases where there is code in the installer to catch errors, but no 'error handling' code to present a dialog to the user with appropriate options when one of these errors occurs.
There is no workaround for this kind of problem, but in any case where this happens, it indicates some kind of problem in your installation attempt. You may be able to tell from the error message and traceback what the error is, and correct it in another attempt to install. For this specific error, the problem is that the target disk is too small.
Hardware issues
Software issues
Possible data loss when dual-booting with Windows 8 and using "fast restart"
link to this item - Bugzilla: #859373
Using the "fast restart" feature of Windows 8 and rebooting into Fedora may lead to data loss. Files written to the Windows partition by Fedora may be deleted when rebooting into Windows 8. This may be avoided by disabling the "fast restart" feature in Windows 8.


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A police detective testified Wednesday about the depths of debt that Michael Jackson's doctor faced while giving the singer treatments of the powerful anesthetic that killed the pop superstar.
Los Angeles police Detective Orlando Martinez said in a case filed by Jackson's mother against concert giant AEG Live that Conrad Murray faced student loans, home loans, child support obligations and credit card payments that were in arrears in 2009. Plaintiff's attorney Brian Panish said the debts totaled nearly $1 million.
Martinez has said the debts may have led Murray to act inappropriately in his care of Jackson in order to ensure he received $150,000 a month payments from AEG Live LLC to serve as the singer's tour doctor.
U.S. & World
"He may break the rules, bend the rules, do whatever he needed to do to get paid," Martinez said Tuesday. "It might solve his money problems."
Murray's finances were not a factor in the criminal case that ended with his 2011 conviction for administering a fatal dose of propofol to Jackson.
The former cardiologist is not a party to Katherine Jackson's negligent hiring case against the concert promoter, but he is a key figure. The Jackson family matriarch contends AEG did not properly investigate Murray before allowing him to serve as Jackson's tour physician for the ill-fated "This Is It" shows planned for 2009.
Martinez testified he found most of the debts against Murray in public records.
Martinez's testimony Wednesday was bogged down by continuous objections from AEG attorneys and the detective spent most of an hour-long session authenticating public records. He testified briefly about Murray's phone records before court recessed for the day so that an alternate juror could attend a funeral.
AEG denies it hired Murray, and its attorney has noted that Jackson and his children had been treated by the doctor before the shows were planned.
Martinez is the second witness called in the case, which in its early stages will focus on Jackson's death. Potential witnesses later in the trial include stars such as Diana Ross, Quincy Jones and Spike Lee. Jackson's mother, several siblings and his two oldest children, Prince and Paris, are also listed as potential witnesses.
Millions and possibly billions of dollars are at stake in the trial, which may last 90 court days.
AEG attorneys said they intend to call Murray as a witness. He remains in a Los Angeles jail and is appealing his conviction.
AEG Live is a subsidiary of the Los Angeles-based Anschutz Entertainment Group.


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OAKLAND PARK, Fla. – Broward Sheriff's Office detectives have identified two people that may have information about a fatal shooting on I-95 Sunday morning. Police say the pair are cooperating with authorities.
According to investigators, 33-year-old Nicholas Walker of Lauderhill was shot and killed as he drove onto the southbound ramp of Interstate 95 from Commercial Boulevard.
Around 6:40 a.m. Sunday, motorists called 911 to report shots fired on the interstate. When they arrived at the scene, BSO deputies found a silver Buick that crashed into a guard rail and caught fire. Walker was found dead inside the car.
BSO Homicide Unit detectives have released photos of a man and woman who may have had contact with the victim prior to the shooting.
The pair were seen at a nearby restaurant and left in a silver, four-door car with tinted windows. The vehicle may possibly be a Toyota or similar-type car. The man and woman are not considered suspects but may have information about the incident


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For more than three years, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) has had a cap in place to prevent the Swiss franc from appreciating beyond 1.20 francs to the euro. However, with the euro's depreciation, authorities have had to increasingly intervene in the currency markets, buying euros in order to keep the exchange rate from breaching this level. This has had a significant effect on the central bank's balance sheet: the latest disclosure, as at the end of November, shows the balance sheet at almost half a trillion francs (compared to GDP of 650 billion francs). Although the SNB would have had other options available to it to manage this huge balance sheet, on 15 January, it decided to abandon the cap. As a result, the exchange rate fell to 0.85 francs to the euro and experienced considerable volatility throughout the day, to recover eventually to around parity. The currency strengthened by a similar extent against other currencies, including the US dollar.
"In the short term, we expect exchange rate and equity market volatility to persist. This is both an opportunity and risk."
The effect on the stockmarket
The Swiss stock exchange as measured by the Swiss Performance Index (SPI) lost 8.6% on the day of the announcement. The Swiss franc gained about 12% against the US dollar when the Swiss market closed, resulting in approximately a 3.5% gain for the average dollar-denominated investor. Obviously, there was a lot of disparity between individual stocks. Whether the daily move correctly reflected the new exchange rate level needs to be analysed in terms of the transactional impact on the market's constituents, but in general it could be said that it is unlikely that the appreciation of Swiss franc has been fully reflected in the decline of the stock market on 15 January. As a rule of thumb, and ignoring variations between stocks: if the Swiss franc gains 15% against a bundle of other currencies, the Swiss equity market should be 15% lower on average.
Stockpicking opportunities
We believe that long-term, Swiss equities are a good investment. Many companies are global leaders and over the last several decades, Swiss companies have successfully coped with a strengthening Swiss franc. However, in the short term, we expect exchange rate and equity market volatility to persist. This is both an opportunity and risk. We have started to look into exploiting the volatility by "bottom-fishing" in stocks that fulfil three of the following four conditions: 1) share price loses more than the overall market, 2) an already attractive valuation prior to the share price fall, 3) almost no transactional foreign exchange exposure and 4) pricing power. Any action taken will be gradual as there remain a number of important events that have the potential to have a significant impact on financial markets, such as the European Central Bank meeting on 22 January.