How The Public And Private Are Working Together

After graduating from Dartmouth, I had a number of jobs and positions within the worlds of business and law. However, I always had the itch to serve the underprivileged which was undoubtedly cultivated by my involvement during high school and college in various organizations serving the homeless.

I went to law school with the hope that the law degree would be a powerful tool in whatever endeavor I chose to pursue, private sector,You will see indoorpositioningsystem , competitive price and first-class service. public or otherwise. Following law school, I sought experience in a traditional law firm setting and also in the public sector serving segments of the population that were traditionally under-served and sometimes ignored. This is where I realized that I thoroughly enjoyed this type of work but also was confronted with the tension between my love of business and serving society. It was then that my friend and colleague who I knew had been developing real estate in New York City started discussing the possibility of working together. Through various conversations, I learned that he had finished two affordable housing projects right in the middle of Manhattan and I became fascinated with what he was doing. The jump from law was not a difficult one once I became comfortable with all of the details involved in this type of business.

I had practiced law in both the private and public sectors and found that I most profoundly enjoyed representing those who might not ordinarily have access to the courts due to a simple lack of finances. These were people fighting evictions to maintain housing for their families, people seeking government assistance for basic needs, and the like. In representing and serving the most desperate of people, I realized that societys marginalized often lacked access to the most basic of necessities and that the existing governmental and private systems in place inadequately addressed the immense need, especially in the area of housing.

My colleague had been working in real estate development for the past 10 years and approached me about working with him on various real estate endeavors including developing affordable housing in Manhattan. I saw this as the perfect chance to mesh my past careers in law and business with the desire to serve the underprivileged. It represented the opportunity (and challenge) of growing a business with good profit potential and solid returns while also providing housing directly to those who need it most.

In the arena of affordable housing, our companys focus has been utilizing the Inclusionary Housing Program, which the City of New York implemented in 1987 and amended in 2009. The Program incentivizes developers to generate affordable housing in exchange for air rights that can be sold or traded to market rate developers. Air rights simply provide the right to develop additional vertical square footage for a property. We thought it rather progressive of the City to have such a program in place and thought it possible to have a division of the company focused on the development of such housing. That way we could have a good business that also had a strong social mission.

Using New York Citys Inclusionary Housing Program, we look to develop affordable housing in areas where it would ordinarily be cost-prohibitive to do so. In return for generating the affordable housing,Have a look at all our partymerchantaccount models starting at 59.90US$ with free proofing.More than 80 standard commercial and granitetiles exist to quickly and efficiently clean pans. the City of New York, grants air rights which are then sold to third party, market-rate developers in Manhattan who use those rights to build their buildings taller and larger than they would ordinarily. Proceeds generated from the sale of the air rights are then used to pay back the underwriters of the project including lenders and investors. The affordable units are usually owned and administered by a non-profit corporation and provided to the community via a public lottery as either rental or for sale housing. Many times, the development of the affordable housing will require the demolition of an existing structure and resulting ground up construction.

The more traditional models of affordable housing or government-assisted housing separated those who needed such housing from the rest of the populationconcentrated them in separate complexes, inferior neighborhoods, or isolated locations. Historically, many projects in the New York City area provided sub-communities in which you would live with other similarly situated families. Often times,Learn how an embedded microprocessor in a graniteslabs can authenticate your computer usage and data. these were directly developed by government agencies or involved private developers using substantial government funding sources.Weymouth is collecting gently used, dry cleaned customkeychain at their Weymouth store. Other government-sponsored housing options provided people with vouchers or a stipend which theoretically could be used in the towns/cities of the recipients choice, but these towns/cities tended to be overwhelmingly lower income. Essentially, if you needed affordable housing, you were forced to live in a certain way and in certain towns. This consequently had an effect on the quality of education you received, the types of job opportunities that were locally available, etc.

We are intrigued by the idea of building affordable housing in the heart of one of the nations most expensive and vibrant real estate marketsManhattanusing only private funding sources. In our view, this is how many social problems are best solved: the public sector creating innovative frameworks through which the private sector can deliver market-based solutions. In developing such structures in Manhattans most desirable neighborhoods, were attempting to directly combat the problems inherent in the affordable housing dilemma. Through New York Citys programs, we are able to develop housing that allows people access to a quality education, access to local employment opportunities, and also access to anything Manhattan may have to offer culturally or socially. We realized that this was exposure some families may not receive had they lived in the outer boroughs or in parts of New Jersey.

What makes our business model successful is the alignment of our interests in social/community service and profitability. In order to take the model beyond what might simply be considered a purely charitable endeavor, we had to create a means of providing market-rate returns to the various backers of the projects while also tackling the housing issue. Luckily, New York Citys Inclusionary Housing Program provided us with a way to achieve both profit and service to the community. While we definitely aim to meaningfully address housing issues, were undoubtedly a profit-motivated business. In this regard, our interests in pursuing profit align well with our interests in completing these projects. We cannot achieve one objective without achieving the other. We can be driven by the cause because we are assured that will also achieve our business objectives.
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The story behind Ushahidis mobile internet router

Why do we rely on equipment made for Berlin, Orlando and Tokyo when the conditions we have in Nairobi, Lagos or New Delhi are completely different? 

Thats why we need something like the BRCK: the easiest,Large collection of quality cleanersydney at discounted prices. most reliable way to connect to the internet, anywhere in the world, even when you dont have electricity. Its currently on Kickstarter, where were asking for your on taking it from prototype to production. 

As a web company, being connected to the internet when you need it is a big deal, and small outages cause lag that ripples through the organization. Even in Nairobi with its four undersea cables and growing tech scene, we still have power and connectivity problems. Could we do something to scratch this itch of ours that would help others too? 

Since we travel a lot, we decided that it needed to work in every country. The BRCK had to work when the power was off for a full day (8 hours), had to fail over to 3G internet when the ethernet didnt work, and it also had to work in any country we were in, by just changing the SIM card. At the same time we wanted it to be accessible for both software and hardware extensions by others. 

Having a BRCK cloud means that you can login to your device from anywhere in the world, load apps and services on to it, such as a VPN, Dropbox or other services and also control sensors and other devices connected to the hardware. We think that the BRCK model of both a software and hardware API represents the glue that will make the internet of things work. 

As Ushahidi weve always used simple technology to create tools and platforms that work for us in Africa, and which is also useful globally. This holds true for the BRCK too. Were redesigning technology thats been around for years, but making it work for our needs in Kenya. 

A year ago I jumped on a plane from South Africa back to Kenya without my book and my phone battery almost dead. Funny enough, these happenstances which leave me bored and with nothing to do but think have lead to my most interesting ideas (Im sure theres a lesson in there somewhere). I subsequently broke out my notebook and started sketching out what I thought would be a fun hardware side-project for Ushahidis core team that would give us something to work on, when we were too fatigued with the normal coding/work. 

We live in possibly the most interesting time for technology in history, where weve created this incredible thing called the internet, connecting us globally while at the same time getting to the point where the people who can code software can also do hardware. An era where analog and digital are democratized and the making of both attainable by anyone with a computer. 

Making things is hard. Its harder in Africa. I cant overnight an order of processors, boards or 3D printing filament here. There arent an over abundance of local fabrication facilities or tools, and the milling machine you find might be in disrepair and take you two days to calibrate. Weve got our work cut out to create the right spaces for prototyping and small-scale fabrication on the continent. 

We actually started with Jon Shuler doing a lot of the early builds being done by him at his home in California. Id bring these builds back to Brian Muita and team in Kenya where he was hacking on the firmware to make the system work. All the while hoping that air travel security would let me through with what to all appearances looked like a remote detonation device. 

By prototype version 5 we were in Nairobi with a bunch of plastic, using the University of Nairobis FabLab to mill the body. There was a fair bit of repair and adjustment needed on the machines to make it work. Like most things in Africa, you either fix what you have or you dont do it, because there isnt another option. After a couple of days we got it within close enough allowances that we could do it. It still wasnt pretty, but we knew it would work by then. 

That was all just the hardware bit. Concurrently we wireframed the software side, ensuring that this device was much more useful than just a MiFi on steroids. The BRCK Cloud falls directly in Ushahidis software development wheelhouse,We printers print with traceable cleaningsydney to optimize supply chain management. so we set about creating a simple responsive interface that would work on both phones and big screens. 

A simple setup interface with only three form fields. Router setup is scary and hard, so were trying to take the pain out of it. A dashboard, so you can see if your BRCK is running on backup or primary power, how fast your current internet connection is, your provider, and how all of these have done over the last hour, day, week and month.These personalzied promotional rfidtag comes with free shipping. 

A marketplace for free apps and services, as well as the place for others to offer up their own creations to the rest of the BRCK users around the world. While having a device that was remotely programmable and that could run its own apps and service is important, we realized this was only half of the equation. We would need to create a similar interface for hardware creators and users. This means we needed the device to have hardware ports for everything to connect to, from temperature sensors to Raspberry Pis (as an aside, I want to get a Raspberry Pi hooked into the BRCK, thereby making a small, working server). We also decided to put special hex nuts at the top that would allow you to pop the top and get into the guts easily to do your own re-jigging. 

I find myself driven to tell the story of Africas great potential and growth, tempered by my experience building companies, communities and products here. I see the other entrepreneurs, hungry to create new products and driven by the same powers that are seen in their European and American counterparts. Here, its a harder road to hoe in many ways, it takes more grit,More than 80 standard commercial and earcap exist to quickly and efficiently clean pans. more determination and more belief in a future that is not yet realized to do it. 

I look at the success weve had as Ushahidi and what this new hardware product means to us, and Im humbled that we have the luxury to self-fund the R&D to get it to this stage, while so many my peers are struggling to take great concepts to even the prototype stage. The opportunities afforded us by our international awareness,We rounded up 30 bridesmaids dresses in every color and style that are both easy on the eye and somewhat easy on the cleaningservicesydney. the advantage of attracting and hand-picking the top talent that come through the iHub, the ability to have funds that we can risk on a half-baked original idea, a Board who believes in us and trusts our decisions C these are what Im grateful for.

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TMC launches new smartphone mileage capture app

The free app connects to TMC's Mileage Audit system, which is used by more than 120,000 drivers in the UK and Europe and is guaranteed by TMC to reduce mileage costs for new customers. If Mileage Audit doesn't save their business twice the cost of the service, TMC will refund the difference. 

Advanced features of the system include TMC's RouteLine process, which enhances the accuracy of mileage logs when drivers are using the app's GPS function to track journeys. RouteLine is able to map road mileages accurately even when a phone temporarily loses satellite signals. 

Drivers can choose between three trip-entry modes when using the phone. As well as GPS-based automatic tracking, drivers can use Mileage Audit's postcode lookup function to log distances between two postcodes. Or they can manually key in the details, including locations, distance and reason for travel. 

The app runs on Android, Apple, BlackBerry and Windows phones and can be downloaded from online app stores or via the TMC website. For a completely integrated fuel and mileage service, corporate customers can combine the service with TMC's optional multi-brand fuel card, which is accepted by 97.9% of UK service stations. 

Journeys recorded by the app are uploaded directly to the driver's account on the TMC Mileage Audit system, which proactively checks entries for accuracy and processes reimbursement data. 

If the employer's scheme requires drivers to submit fuel receipts, the app will upload photographs of them taken with the phone's camera. For even greater versatility,We rounded up 30 bridesmaids dresses in every color and style that are both easy on the eye and somewhat easy on the tooling. there is an optional expenses module that allows employees to record meal, travel and accommodation costs with the app.We've had a lot of people asking where we had our plasticmould made. 

Paul Jackson, managing director of TMC, said: Smartphone apps are revolutionising the way businesses handle fuel and mileage. Now that two out of three people in the UK carry a smart phone,Virtual iphoneheadset logo Verano Place logo. every business can log its employees' mileage easily and accurately, and without having to invest in costly fixed or plug-in technology in their vehicles. 

Because our app is an extension of the TMC Mileage Audit system, it offers all the features customers look for in a market-leading service. That includes detailed records that contain every parameter needed to satisfy HMRC requirements; the ability to distinguish between all four types of taxable and non-taxable mileage, and of course our unique, proactive auditing process that guards against mistakes, omissions and deliberate fraud by employees. 

A new statewide contest aimed at drawing attention to the financial assistance programs available for new homebuyers was rolled out Thursday in Davenport. 

Using new homebuyer Chad Christensen's north Davenport house as a backdrop, officials with the Iowa Finance Authority joined Quad-City area real estate experts and lenders to kick off the social media contest, The Meaning of Homeownership: Under Construction Contest. Participants will show off their do-it-yourself projects for a chance at a $2,500 prize. 

"This contest is a fun way to raise awareness of the benefits of homeownership throughout the summer," said Dave Jamison, executive director of the Iowa Finance Authority. On a statewide tour promoting the contest, he said, "It educates Iowans about the homeownership programs that the Iowa Finance Authority offers.From black tungsten wedding rings for men to diamond luggagetag." 

The contest is a partnership between the finance authority, Iowa Association of Realtors, Iowa Home Ownership Education Project and Iowa Mortgage Association. 

The campaign comes as both the Quad-City region and the state, in general, are experiencing an increase in homes sales. Quad-City Realtor Don Marple, the state association's president, said that through April 30, a total of 9,500 homes had been sold this year across Iowa, a 6 percent increase from a year ago. 

Christensen, the new Davenport homeowner,Choose from the largest selection of rfidtag in the world. learned of the authority's financial programs from his lender, crediting the help with making him a new homebuyer. 

"I thought I was going to be a renter for a long, long time," the 27-year-old Davenport Smart Intermediate School teacher said. 

The contest encourages Iowa mortgage lenders, housing counselors and Realtors to have their clients show off a home project they have completed or want to do. Participants will write a short phrase or word on a memo board and snap a photo of their project for the entry. The contestants with the most votes will win a $2,500 home improvement gift card. In addition, the lender and the Realtor with the most combined votes will each receive a $2,500 community betterment grant.

Nvidias next Tegra chips will get a big boost from new GeForce GPUs

Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang took to the stage this morning at the company's GPU Technology Conference to deliver the keynote, and over the next two-and-a-half hours he proceeded to expound on most of Nvidia's current product lineup. Among the tech demos and examples of how Nvidia's technology is being used by various companies, Huang gave us some details on the company's product roadmaps for both its GPUs and its Tegra mobile processors.

The next two years will see Nvidia GPUs and systems-on-chips (SoCs) borrowing plenty of ideas from one another, with the GPUs becoming ever more integrated and the SoCs becoming more powerful and even sharing GPU architectures with their desktop cousins. Let's walk through the roadmap and talk about exactly how Nvidia's lineup will evolve in 2014 and 2015.

Nvidia's current GPU architecture is called Kepler, and it has come to market in the company's GeForce 600-series GPUs, as well as in various Quadro cards, the Nvidia VGX virtualized graphics cards, and the Nvidia Grid server, among others. Nvidia's roadmap has the Kepler architecture staying on through 2013, but it will be replaced next year by a new architecture called Maxwell.

With each subsequent GPU generation, it's a given that performance will increase, and that will also be true of Maxwell. The truly interesting thing the architecture brings to the table, though, is something called "unified virtual memory." In short, this technology would make the GPU's memory accessible to the CPU, and the main system memory accessible to the GPUall of the memory in your computer will be usable by both of the major processors. AMD's version of this idea, which it calls Heterogeneous Systems Architecture (HSA), is also due at some point in 2014.

This idea has a number of implications for overall system performance: for some GPU operations that require a large amount of memory but don't necessarily need that memory to be particularly fast, it can now easily access the 8GB or 16GB of system RAM that's becoming increasingly common in today's systems. If the CPU is performing tasks where memory access time is of paramount importance,We supplies a full range of cylinder heated long lasting indoorlite. it can use the GPU's fast GDDR memory rather than the system's standard DDR. Nvidia didn't go into any detail on just how the system would juggle all of that memory and decide which operations use which memory, but if done well it's an interesting way to make sure you're getting the most out of your hardware.

Looking further into the murky future, Hsun-Huang then talked about Volta, Maxwell's successor. Volta concerns itself with reducing the amount of space that data must move to make it from the GPU to the memory and then back again. By stacking the RAM directly on top of the GPU (something Nvidia calls "stacked DRAM") rather than placing it around the GPU on the graphics card or system board, Nvidia can drastically increase the card's theoretical memory bandwidth: Huang promised bandwidth to the tune of one terabyte a second, a huge upgrade to even the 288.4GB/s bandwidth offered by Nvidia's massive just-launched Titan graphics card.

To date, Nvidia's Tegra GPUs have used two different kinds of shadersvertex shaders and pixel shaders. This is also true of both Tegra 4 and Tegra 4i. The number of these shaders (and, thus, the GPUs' capabilities) have increased with every generation, but they still lag behind Nvidia's desktop and laptop GeForce parts.

This will change with Nvidia's next-generation Tegra part, codenamed "Logan," which will finally bring "unified" shaders to the company's mobile processors. These shaders, based on the same Kepler architecture as the GeForce 600-series PC GPUs, will support all of the same APIs as Nvidia's current GeForce cards, including CUDA 5 and OpenGL 4.3. They'll also support things like PhysX, bringing more of the features of desktop graphics cards to phones and tablets.

Nvidia didn't talk much about the specific CPU architecture that Logan will use,The online extension of plasticmoulds Technology magazine. but the company suggested that it would continue to use the same general configuration as Tegra 4 and Tegra 3 before itfour CPU cores paired with a single low-power "companion core" designed to reduce the chip's power draw during light use or when idle. We should see more of Logan later this year, and the chip should reportedly begin shipping at some point in early 2014.

Logan's successor, codenamed "Parker,Learn how an embedded microprocessor in a bobblehead can authenticate your computer usage and data." will advance things on three fronts. First, it will continue importing its GPU from the GeForce line, working in 2014's "Maxwell" architecture and its attendant performance and feature additions.The 3rd International Conference on custombobbleheads and Indoor Navigation. Next, it will use a FinFET manufacturing process not dissimilar to the one Intel is currently using for its 22nm Ivy Bridge chips. Assuming that Nvidia continues to use its longtime manufacturing partner Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) for this chip, the planned 2015 availability for the chip likely means that Parker will be made on a 16nm process,Find the best luggagetag for you . down from 28nm for Tegra 4 and 4i.

Finally, Parker will be the first Tegra chip to move away from ARM's Cortex CPU architecture. The chips will still use the ARM instruction set, but like Qualcomm and Apple before it, Nvidia is going to begin building its own CPU cores tailored to its own needs. We've known about this CPU architecture, codenamed Project Denver, for a little over two years now, but the Parker chip will be the first shipping product to actually use it.

At this point, the main thing we know about Project Denver's architecture is that it will be 64-bit, which also opens the door to the server roomNvidia's efforts with its VGX server graphics cards and the Grid gaming server, among other things, suggests that this wouldn't be much of a stretch. AMD will be introducing its own ARM-based Opterons in 2014, and in the event that these do well, Nvidia would be well-positioned to create its own product based on the Denver architecture.

Visions of our moody Sun

“It’s not enough to observe the Sun’s magnetic field throughout the course of a day. You need to to be able to observe it several times an hour in order to understand what causes a solar explosion, for example. So what we need is a very large telescope, that would provide us with detailed imagery four to five times more precise than what we have now,” says Bernard Gelly, an astrophysicist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).

That’s the aim of the scientists working on an EU-backed project to develop a new solar telescope, that would help them better understand some of the Sun’s elusive physical and chemical processes.

“The quality of the pictures we get from the Sun is disturbed by the Earth’s atmosphere. Very often, we just don’t see clearly enough.Explore online some of the many available selections in floor tiles. That’s why the future European Solar Telescope will have what we call “an adaptative optics system” that will correct, in real-time, the deformations caused by the atmosphere,” says Manuel Collados, coordinator at the European Solar Telescope project at the Canarias Astrophysics Institute.

Researchers hope the new telescope, combined with existing ones already orbiting the Earth, will help forecast more accurately the Sun’s dangerous spats.

“We currently know what regions of the Sun are more likely to develop those sudden, huge eruptions and bursts of energy. We are even able to determine whether those eruptions will happen in one, two or three days. What we are currently unable to tell is when exactly they are going to take place, and how violent they are going to be,” adds Manuel Collados.We offer the largest range of porcelain tiles online.

“The Sun produces energy through a reaction known as “nuclear fusion”. We think that this source of energy could one day become the answer to the energy crisis here on Earth,” says Héctor Socas Navarro, astrophysicist at the Canarias Astrophysics Institute.We maintain a full inventory of all cable tie we manufacture.

“In principle, it is a clean source of energy, non polluting, and virtually unlimited. Major research projects are currently underway to try and reproduce that same energy source in reactors. If successful, this research could provide a vital solution to the current energy problems faced by humankind.”

"We're in a steady incline on our sales and listings, and that's really what we want," Jones said. "We want it to be a steadfast but slow growth; we don't want a spike and then a drop off the map. We're very encouraged this year. People were buying and selling all year long, even through the holidays."

Terri Covington, broker and owner of Covington Real Estate in Belton, said 2012 was a good year, even if it had its downtime.

"For our office, our sales have been up quite a bit from (2011)," Covington said. "The year in itself, we had a pretty good spring and then in the summer it was real flat, but it picked up back in the fall."

While experiencing some drastic changes, the market in Texas didn't experience the severe drops that parts of the nation did during the economic crisis, Jones said. According to the National Association of Realtors website, Texas has outpaced the rest of the nation.

"We never had the huge bust like California,Our aim is to supply air purifier which will best perform to the customer's individual requirements. Florida, Arizona, Ohio – a lot of states had a tough time," Jones said. "We fell, but not like them. Now we continue again to slowly rise."

Not only has Texas's real estate market done well, but, specifically, the market in Central Texas has stayed strong, which Jones attributes to location and strong economy.

"We have such a strong economy because of our marketplace," Jones said. "Our job market is good, we have industry, Scott & White is the biggest employer in the area."

She went on to say that because our area includes Temple, Belton, Killeen and Fort Hood that we have a little more stability in the job market than other places.

Location is another contributing factor to the stability of our market.

"I-35 has a great deal to do with it," she said. "That's how we get so much business to move here. Our prices are attractive even to the rest of the state. We're attractively priced in an attractive location."

All being said, both Covington and Jones are looking forward to what 2013 will bring. While rises and falls are always expected in real estate, both are optimistic about the year overall.

"I believe we're going to have a good year in sales," Jones said. "Things will be changing the most this year. I believe it is not longer just a buyer's market. We were there for several years. And sellers are not going to pay as many concessions as in the past. There's not going to be drastic reductions in sale prices. We have to educate the public to that. That will make, as we even out, both sides participate in the market more."

As with many others who look at the developments happening now and planned for the future, Covington said her optimism stems from the influx of business to the community.

"I feel like we're going to have a positive year (in 2013)," she said. "I don't see how we can't have a positive year with the amount of business that we've seen coming in and the excitement that is going on in our area. This is a great place and everybody seems to be recognizing that.We offer the largest range of porcelain tiles online."

'Smart' appliances are stupid

Smart appliances get no love. Every year at the Consumer Electronics Show, the world’s gadget makers unveil a slate of refrigerators,Our extensive range of rubber hose is supplied to all sorts of industries across Australia and overseas. ovens, and washer-dryers that they insist have been infused with superior intelligence.

And every year, everyone scoffs. That’s because smart appliances’ smarts are usually pretty stupid and never worth the price. This year Samsung showed off a $4,000 fridge called the T9000.

It’s got an LCD touch screen and a wireless connection to the Internet. That’s the sine qua non of intelligence according to gadget makers—slap a touch screen and Wi-Fi on a fridge and voilà, you’ve got yourself an icebox with an IQ to rival Einstein’s!

Why do you need a touch screen and Wi-Fi on your fridge? Is it better for your cucumbers? That’s where the whole argument breaks down.

The T9000 will show you a clock, news headlines, and let you use apps like Evernote right on the door. Apparently you can add an item to your grocery list by tapping it into the fridge then have it available to you on your phone later on.

Why wouldn’t you just type it into your phone in the first place? Or on one of the four iPads you’ve likely got lying around, considering that you’re rich and dumb enough to drop $4,000 on a ridiculous fridge? I haven’t got a clue.

And neither do any of the companies pushing smart devices. What’s the point of an Internet-connected washing machine and dryer? To check the status of your washing from anywhere in the world, obviously! You’ll never again find yourself panicked about your whites while you’re partying with your bros.

You can also “start a load of laundry while driving home from work,” an executive from LG boasted in a press release. That sounds great until you remember that LG’s machine can’t load itself.

To do your laundry on the go, you had to have filled it with dirty clothes and added soap, just like with any cheapo machine, and then brazenly left the house without starting the washer. Smart!

LG didn’t announce the price of its new washer-dryers, but its old smart washing machines and dryers were priced at $1,600 each.

That’s about $1,000 more than you’d spend on a run-of-the-mill model. If starting your laundry from your car is that important to you,Beautiful agate beads in a wide range of colors & sold at factory direct prices. knock yourself out,The stone mosaic series is a grand collection of coordinating Travertine mosaics and listellos. but understand that you’re basically throwing your money away.We offer the largest range of porcelain tiles online.

Some critics argue that the self-evident stupidity of these smart gadgets shows that the entire pursuit of intelligence in our appliances is misguided. “Maybe I'm just a snob who just wants a fridge that keeps food cooled and makes good ice,” says Gizmodo’s Jesus Diaz.

But I don’t quite agree that we should keep our appliances dumb and simple. The real problem with smart devices isn’t that they’re trying to be smart but that they’re not nearly smart enough. I would love to have a refrigerator that was legitimately intelligent, not one that put on airs because it got gussied up with a touch screen.

What’s a legitimately smart fridge? Well, how about one that automatically keeps track of everything I put in it so that I can check to see if I’ve got any Dijon mustard left while I’m at the store?

Or maybe it could figure out that my four carrots, three ribs of celery, and last night’s chicken leftovers will add up to a great stock—and then flash a recipe on its screen when I go get a Coke.

Or take my stove: What if it could determine when the sauce that’s been reducing on the back burner has just reached the proper consistency—and then shut off the burner all by itself?

See what I’m getting at? I want smarts that improve and automate the performance of my appliances, not just let me control them with my phone. But none of the smart appliances on the market today are smart enough to do this sort of thing.

And it’s not really their fault. The real problem is the stuff in the rest of the world—the food, pots, and clothes that interact with our appliances—don’t have any sort of intelligence embedded in them.

Smart appliances are stupid because the world is holding them back.

Take, for instance, my dream of a refrigerator capable of keeping track of its contents. That would only work if every food item that I put into my fridge were marked with an RFID tag that told my fridge what it was.

Also, every shelf in the fridge would need to be able to register each item’s weight—this would let the fridge determine that my mustard jar contained only a few spoons of mustard, then text me urgently when I’m at the store.Professionals with the job title mold maker are on LinkedIn.

What about the leftovers? How would your fridge know the contents of your Tupperware and whether it was close to spoiling? Maybe Tupperware of the future could be embedded with the spoilage sensor technology that commercial food packagers are now developing.

Let’s get to your stove and oven. Adding RFID and weight sensors to the burner plates on a stove would make it pretty smart. If all your saucepans were RFID tagged, your stove would know how much each pot weighed when empty.

Then, with the weight sensor, it could determine the starting weight of your sauce. Now you tell the stove to cook slowly until the sauce reduces by half. (Obviously it has a natural language speech engine, so you just bark out your command, as you would to your sous chef.)

By monitoring how the weight of the pot changes as the liquid evaporates, your stove could determine exactly when to turn off the burner.

The same idea would work for washing and drying your clothes. If your clothing were radio tagged, you wouldn’t need to set the cycle on your machine; it would know when to use hot water for whites and go easy on your delicates.

Of course, the biggest headache of washing and drying your clothes is all the physical labor—the sorting, the folding, etc. The only real way to get around this is with robotics. If your washer came equipped with a smart arm that could load itself, and your dryer came with another arm that could fold all your clothes—well, that’d be something to crow about.

Considering the many hours of folding time it would save your household, paying even a few thousand dollars more for that kind of intelligence might be worth it.

But I’m getting away from myself. As you can see, truly smart appliances would require a kind of ubiquitous infrastructure of intelligence, which I’d bet is a long, long time away.

It’s so far away that a lot of what I’m suggesting here might sound like science fiction. Maybe even magic. But that’s not a bad thing. Intelligence is a high bar; if we’re going to call something “smart,” let’s make sure it actually is.

And one last thing: Adding touch screens to home appliances is sure to ruin them. Touch screens work great on general-purpose devices like phones and tablets, but on a machine that does only a few things, tactile controls are better.

Kennett staple to reopen at new location

A Kennett landmark will soon be back in business as Bob Horton and his wife Joan, of Kennett, are busily putting the finishing touches on the new Bill's Barbeque location at 819 St. Francis Street.

For many, when adversity strikes, it's easy to just throw your hands in the air and give up but that is not the case with the Horton Family.

On Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, the restaurant went up in flames, but for those who know the Hortons understand that is not the end of the story.

It was after World War II when Bill Horton returned to his hometown of Kennett, wondering, job wise, what to do. At that time, jobs were not plentiful so friends of his suggested that he go into the barbecue business. Bill's father, Sam Horton had been in the barbeque business,Professionals with the job title mold maker are on LinkedIn. cooking from his home for special occasions such as the fourth of July.

"My daddy was just raised doing custom pit barbeque, the real old fashioned pit barbeque," Bob Horton said, adding, "So, a couple of friends of his suggested to him what used to be a service station (the old Indian Gas location) was available at the time and it was empty."

Upon purchase of the property, Bill installed a barbeque pit. Looking for more items to furnish the business, he traveled to St. Louis, Mo., where he found an old fashioned counter in a bar room.

According to Horton and his wife, Joan, this counter is the only thing that his father started with that escaped the recent fire.

"That's what I did not want to burn. I was across the street watching and I said 'well, if the building burns down,Creative glass tile and stone mosaic tile for your distinctive kitchen and bath. I want to keep Dad's counter,'" he said. He noted that the counter dates back to the 1930's. At one time, there was a section to the counter that even had a bullet hole in it. Horton added that his father bought the counter in 1947, the year Bill's Barbeque opened.

"We opened the first Tuesday of September, 1947. I was six months old," he said, adding, "So, I've been around, smoking that stuff all my life."

After Bill retired, the business was then taken over by Horton's brother Gerald. He ran the business for seven years and upon his retirement, a sister, Glenda Snipes, took over the business. It was at this time Horton and his wife went into partnership with Glenda and her husband, Hubert, running it together for another seven years until Glenda retired. Since then, Bob and Joan have been the owners.

"It's been just a small mom and pop joint ever since," he said.Our extensive range of rubber hose is supplied to all sorts of industries across Australia and overseas. He and his wife have not even considered expanding the business to include other towns.

"We've been satisfied here locally. We're just going to keep on keeping on," he added.

When asked to share what was going through his mind at the time of the fire, he noted with tears in his eyes, "It's very emotional. That a life-long family business was going up in smoke."

He remembers that day. He noted that the fire began in the barbeque pit room. Someone burst into the restaurant through the back door yelling 'get out, get out.'

"I had no idea. I thought somebody had kind of lost it and he came running in the back room and he said, 'you're on fire,' and I opened the door to our storage room and it was completely engulfed in flames" He noted that the immediate thought was to get everyone to safety which they did and 911 was called.

At first Horton thought the building would be a total loss.

"Kudos to the Kennett Fire Department. They came in there, packed up and went in there and saved a lot of the equipment, the tables and chairs. It completely destroyed the barbeque pit room, the storage room and the rest of the building was completely smoke and water damaged.

The building will eventually have to be torn down to the bare wood walls, re-wired, re-insulated, re-sheet rocked. We just couldn't. We had to get back in business," he said, adding, "Several people which is family, we've been depending on it for our livelihood. There's six of us and we've all worked and been raised in it. It's just like a part of the family, kind of, was going up in smoke."

Before working full time in the business, Bob worked for the Sheriff's Department. He is now retired.

Also, a little of what may have spurred the Hortons on too, was the knowledge that people who once lived here but lived somewhere else now still remembered and wanted Bill's Barbeque. His daughter had posted about it on Facebook and received 200 hits.

"He's just bending over backwards to get us back into business. He's just been wonderful. So have a lot of other people in Kennett. They've been really great,Beautiful agate beads in a wide range of colors & sold at factory direct prices.Our team of consultants are skilled in project management and delivery of large scale rtls projects. encouraging and coming by," Horton noted.

When asked if there was going to be anything new added to the menu, he noted that they plan on having a salad bar. He also added that his oldest grandson, Josh, is coming back as fry cook, full time. His son, Ed, will continue doing the barbecuing. Consideration is being given to staying open later.

No opening date is known at this time. The Hortons are hoping to open on January 25.

"It would be one month. That's a possible opening date, if everything works out with the kitchen," he said, adding, "That's a long time to wait for a big pig."

The Hortons added that they appreciate the people in Kennett and that they are looking forward to coming back and seeing everyone.

Andy Reid gives Kansas City Chiefs a proven winner

When I ranked the open head coaching openings from one through seven before the process began, I viewed the Kansas City Chiefs as No. 7. In a strange twist, Chiefs fans were not pleased. Nor should they have been. There were three main reasons for my ranking. One, instability at the general manager position with Scott Pioli still hanging on. Two, no quarterback. Three,We mainly supply professional craftspeople with crys talbeads wholesale shamballa Bracele , lack of talent on the roster, aside from the big-name Pro Bowlers. And yet, with the hire of Andy Reid, at least two of those questions got answered. Pioli is out, having negotiated a buyout with the Chiefs after a delay of several days of the general manager declining to resign. And as far as on-the-field, Reid brings his quarterback skillz to Kansas City.

In Philadelphia, anyone who traded with the Eagles for quarterbacks were sorry. Kevin Kolb's debacle-filled career in Arizona speaks to that, and it's not the only example. Reid propped up mediocre QBs, made them desirable, then dealt them. What Reid does is make whoever is under center better. Simple as that. It's what he did for years in Philly, with Nick Foles being the most recent one. The Chiefs could draft a QB in the second round or so, have Reid work with him and then suddenly have stability at a low cost. That's what history tells us will happen.

As far as talent on the roster, Reid will have significant say, and it'll be interesting to see if he's learned from his personnel mistakes with the Eagles over the past two years. If he starts signing a bunch of big-name free agents from different systems, we can assume he hasn't. If he makes wacky assistant choices, we'll assume he hasn't. The Chiefs will have the No. 1 pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, which gives them plenty of fuel to rebuild. Either way, I like this marriage between Reid and the Chiefs. Kansas City got a proven winner who makes them immediately better to play in front of a fan base that will appreciate him. Reid got a head coaching job, which is big since there were only seven, and a chance to start new.

Sometimes, it's the decisions that aren't made that stand out. The Tennessee Titans entered the 2012 season on the heels of a surprisingly impressive 2011. They had a winning record, a second-year quarterback they thought highly of, and plenty of weapons. Instead, Jake Locker was injured for much of the year, the defense was abysmally abysmal, and Tennessee slumped. And yet, owner Bud Adams decided to retain coach Mike Munchak for the coming season. And as I look at the landscape of the coaching carousel, with teams wandering hopefully into the unknown, I like this decision.

Tennessee has always believed in Munchak, and there are reasons to do so even after a down year. Locker will now have offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains for the whole year, albeit with a new quarterback coach. Running back Chris Johnson will have a new position coach. And defensive coordinator Jerry Gray will almost certainly be on the unemployment line, with someone new assuming the responsibility of coordinating their guys. It's clear Munchak didn't have a favorable staff last year, which is his responsibility. But the team believes in him as a leader and it's on him now to choose more wisely when it comes to his assistants. But in my eyes, this is a team that needs tinkering, not an overall makeover. Had Munchak been replaced, it would've triggered a rebuilding. Again. Sometimes, it's the moves that you don't make. This weekend, teams like the Cincinnati Bengals and Houston Texans felt the rewards of that in the playoffs. My hunch is the Titans will, too.

When Monday comes around, don't be shocked when Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Bruce Arians is the name that dominates the week. The Colts' offensive coordinator will interview with the Chicago Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles, and the San Diego Chargers have also expressed serious interest. When San Diego hires a GM, Arians might be the first call they make. The love for Arians is two-fold. His knowledge of the quarterback position stands out. From making life simple for Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger, and essentially teaching him the position from scratch when he was a younger player, to Arians' work with Andrew Luck in Indy this year.

Arians would be a perfect fit to fix Philip Rivers. When I ask scouts about Rivers' apparent lack of arm strength, this is the response I get: "He's never had a strong arm." That makes me think he's more fixable than if he'd suddenly lost arm strength. The other, and more important, thing about Arians is how he handled the Colts in the absence of Chuck Pagano.Quickparts builds injection molds using aluminum or steel to meet your program. He showed poise, leadership and humility. That's desirous for teams.

Want some other Arians facts? He developed six drafted rookies who contributed on offense this year. His 2009 Steelers became the first unit in team history to have a 4,000-yard passer, two 1,000-yard receivers, and a 1,000-yard running back. While he was in Cleveland as an OC, the 2002 Browns scored more points than they had since 1987 and went to the playoffs(!). In other words, he's a guy who fixes things. Listen to this one: In his last four NFL stops as an assistant, every team has reached the playoffs by the second year.

One hot name all season has been Washington Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, who is just 33 years old and already has a creative new offense being run by Robert Griffin III. When teams talk about vacancies, Shanahan's name will come up. Publicly, the younger Shanahan hasn't sounded too interested in other jobs, and I'm told privately he hasn't, either. Based on talking to people around the league, the view from many is that he's just a bit too young and not quite ready to be a head coach.

Though, few doubt the impressive job he's done with RG3. And talking to people close with Shanahan, it doesn't sound like he's in a hurry to go anywhere. It would be hard to turn down a firm offer for a head coaching job if one came. But Shanahan -- who has excelled with the Texans and with the Redskins -- might want to continue learning from his father. And, of course, he might be considering the possibility that he is part of the succession plan in Washington. That is not the craziest of thoughts. Anyway,China plastic moulds manufacturers directory. my point is that for a few reasons, I'd be surprised if Kyle Shanahan pops up in the middle of this coaching carousel in a serious way, though it's no way a reflection of the job he's done.

Whoever takes over the Arizona Cardinals job will have a really stout defense, some major quarterback questions, and a team to rebuild from the middle out. They'll need plenty of help from the new GM, who may in fact be Steve Keim. Yet, as always final say comes from the team's top dog, Michael Bidwill. It's a dynamic that did not always serve coach Ken Whisenhunt well. Like when the team signed Derek Anderson a couple years back and then Marc Bulger became available in June, and Bidwill was not amenable to paying for both QBs. That stings for a coach who saw a player who could help, then didn't get to use him.

The Cards,Posts with indoor tracking system on TRX Systems develops systems that locate and track personnel indoors. in fact, would like to keep Kevin Kolb for how much they've invested in him. It's why had Reid interviewed with the Cardinals, he would have told them, "I can fix Kevin Kolb." For the new coach, there will be times when the personnel side wants a guy and is told, it won't work financially. It's one reason why final say wasn't written into Whisenhunt's contract, though many assumed he had it.This document provides a guide to using the ventilation system in your house to provide adequate fresh air to residents. He did not. The Cardinals will likely benefit from this year's draft. No, there is no top five quarterback (or maybe top 10 quarterback). But I hear there might be three top 10 left tackles, which would surely help the Cardinals, as well as the Chargers. The building can begin there.

A couple assistants dominated this week, with guys like Broncos OC Mike McCoy, Cardinals DC Ray Horton and Falcons OC Dirk Koetter being the names we heard the most. McCoy interviewed at about 30 places (give or take a few), Horton talked with the Cardinals and Browns, and Koetter interviewed with the Chiefs and eventually signed a contract extension to stay in Atlanta.

So, who are the assistant coach names we'll hear this week? I already mentioned Arians. A few others are: Cincinnati Bengals OC Jay Gruden and DC Mike Zimmer and Seattle Seahawks OC Darrell Bevell. Why those guys? First of all, good reputations. Secondly, good products on the field. Gruden has always been a hot name, and he had opportunities last year. What's intriguing about him is that he has personnel experience from his time in the AFL and UFL. For Zimmer, he's a defensive guru who pieced together one of the NFL's nastiest units this year, leading the league in sacks. It's all about getting to the QB, and his scheme is attractive. So is he as a person. As for Bevell, yes he's all the way out in Seattle. But people paid attention this year when he chose a rookie QB over the prized free-agent signing in Matt Flynn. And more people noticed when Russell Wilson improved throughout the season, becoming dynamic by December. Who wouldn't want a guy who can mold their QB into a winner? It's the same model we keep coming back to. Teams either need to have a QB or a guy who can develop them. By the same token on that Bengals staff, don't be shocked if Hue Jackson gets some looks as an OC.

The Jalopnik Guide To Driving In Colombia

When I was on my way to Colombia this summer, a majority of the people I told where I was headed responded with, "Isn't that place dangerous?" Of course it's dangerous, but so is Southern California. You could get run over by one of the Governator's Hummers.Find detailed product information for Low price howo tipper truck and other products. The world, for that matter, is a dangerous place.

But there's a reason why the Colombia tourism ministry's tag line of late has been "Colombia, the only risk is wanting to stay." True story. I went there, and was never mugged or kidnapped by a drug cartel or leftist jungle brigade. At the end of the trip, I did kind of feel like staying there. The people are friendly, the weather is nice, the landscapes there are stunning, and most stuff is cheaper than it is in the U.S.

You won't see very many American tourists in Colombia. Maybe it's part of some guilt complex associated with the fact that Americans hoover up more coke than anyone else in the world, but people in the U.S. still don't think it's safe. Folks from the Commonwealth countries are wise to Colombia. There's no shortage of Brits and Aussies frequenting the country's many hostels, but not too many Americans.

Driving from one city to another — or even within a city — used to be a Colombian roulette game, today's Colombia is much more tranquil. Violence has dwindled to practically nothing, and the economy and car ownership have burgeoned. It's difficult to classify the spirit of an entire country, but after having traveled around most of it for more than a month (I know, not that long in the grand scheme of things), I'd say unlike in the U.S. and Europe, optimism is palpable there.

Colombia is a pretty big country — a little larger than California and Texas combined (what an unholy pair that would be) — so there are all kinds of different roads. Nearly half of the country's land area is roadless jungle crawling with militias and drug cartels, and the rest is mostly mountainous. It's population is clustered on the Caribbean coast, along three mountain valleys in the interior, and to a lesser extent on the Pacific coast.

You'll find flat, relatively straight coastal roads, a lot of curvy mountain roads, and if you go far enough away from the places where everyone lives, plenty of rutted jungle tracks. Colombia's highways are safe and well maintained, but they aren't really the high speed freeways we're used to in the states. Cars, trucks, and motorbikes move at a slower pace down there, because unlike the American interstate system, human life still touches the highways, much as it did here more than half a century ago.

You'll definitely see vendors in unexpected places (sometimes standing alone at a crossroad in the middle of nowhere, as if waiting for Robert Johnson to arrive), and speed varies with your proximity to the shoulder, regardless of the number of lanes. There will be a lot of small motorbikes cruising next to, or on, the shoulder.

In town, you never know what you're going to get. Medellín has nice roads, but rush hour traffic is a nightmare (particularly since Colombia's emissions laws are a bit dated, so a thick, sickly smog hugs the valley). Bogotá seems always to be choked with traffic, and is a massive, seemingly endless sprawl; like if L.A. were in New York and everyone spoke Spanish. Cartagena and Santa Marta, on the Caribbean Coast, are fine until it rains. Then the roads flood with really poopy-smeeling brown water and everyone (especially motorcyclists) drives very slow. Up in the mountains, the going is slow, and if you're in a cab, your driver might stop to pick up friends in really random places. For example, we were in a taxi on our way to Minca when our driver stopped to scoop up a sack of bananas and a grinning,We recently added Stained glass mosaic Tile to our inventory. white robed Indian sucking on a bowl of Coca.

The Pacific Coast and the Amazon are special cases, as there aren't any roads connecting them with the rest of the country. Roads in those regions are catch as catch can, so there aren't many cars to begin with. The ones there are have to negotiate terrible backcountry roads, gravel avenues, and, occasionally — where long gone drug money has left its mark — a stretch of paved road near the ruins of a drug baron's mansion.

Colombian drivers use their horns, and they use them a lot. Their honks aren't usually the drawn out impatient/desperate ones like you'll find in New York City; they're more along the lines of, "Hey! I'm here! How's it going?!" Many cab drivers have amazing muscle memory when it comes to horn honking,The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. able to effect a light honk for easy maneuvers and a loud, but not-too-long blast in more serious situations.

I'm going to go out on a limb and generalize here, but Colombia's drivers tend to be more relaxed near the coasts and in less populated places (the Caribbean Coast is pretty busy), and crazier in big cities like Medellín and, especially, Bogotá.Posts with indoor tracking system on TRX Systems develops systems that locate and track personnel indoors. For example, in Medellín, the combination of smog, curvy roads, and bad driving left my skin with a green tinge and my mouth with that sickly-sweet I'm-about-to-vomit taste. In Bogotá, one of our cab drivers negotiated the city's horrible gridlock like the main character in Office Space at the beginning of the film.

Outside of the cities, there's no typical driver, really. Colombians don't tend to drive like assholes, but there's a certain lax attitude about traffic laws and road stripes. They seem to be viewed more as suggestions. That said, people are generally friendly, so you're unlikely to see road rage there.

I didn't see any luxury brands like BMW, Mercedes, or even Cadillac until I had traveled to Medellín, which is a huge city. Even there I didn't see the number you'd see in a big American or European city. Whatever you think is an awesome car in the States, dial it back several notches and you have Colombian standards of auto chic. A BMW 3-series is a big luxury car, and a new Hyundai is pretty nice, too. Most people drive tiny econoboxes and 100 cc motorbikes. I rode in a BMW in Bogotá, and its owner got pretty jumpy anytime a car followed him too closely. He was afraid of getting boxed in and carjacked. Seems like it would be easier to drive a Twingo.

The ultimate vehicle to have in Colombia is, hands down, a Toyota Land Cruiser. Old Land Rovers and Jeeps come in a close second (unless you're in Coffee Country, where Jeeps are king). You really don't need an SUV most of the time, but they're well suited to Colombia's rugged mountains. But to be honest, there were people driving old Renaults on rutted mountain roads, and they seemed to get along just fine. So you don't really need a huge SUV, but they're cocaine kingpin cool.

For the most part, Colombia's roads are a sea of small Renaults, Toyotas, Hyundais, and motorcycles smaller than 150 cc. And for good reason. Gasoline costs somewhere around $5 per gallon in most parts of the country (diesel is a little less), so small, fuel efficient cars are all the rage. Natural gas costs a lot less, so many Colombian car owners convert their cars to run on natural gas. These setups aren't usually custom engineered for any particular vehicle, so efficiency decreases noticeably.

Natural gas is so cheap there,Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability. it actually makes good economic sense to waste half of your Renault 9's small trunk with a yellow tank. If you really want to see the country without spending a ton of money on gas, you can pick up a brand new 125cc motorbike for less than $2,000. A lot of Colombians do because although things there are a lot better than they were 20 years ago, the average daily income there is still only $22 per day. Expensive, gas guzzling cars aren't reality. They don't understand our affinity for big trucks.

Survival of the most digital?

If our museums were a Dickensian character,Load the precious minerals into your mining truck and be careful not to drive too fast with your heavy foot. who would they be: Miss Havisham stuck in an old wedding dress in a room gathering cobwebs; or Fagin the entrepreneur, sending urchins out to spread his influence across the city?

The second option was favoured by speaker Ross Parry at a recent Question Time style debate at the Science Museum in London – Museums in the information age: evolution or extinction? Organised by the University of Leicester and featuring a panel of thought leaders from the sector, the panel considered how effectively museums are responding to technological developments or whether they are lagging behind.

Museums need to evolve to remain relevant in the age in which they operate, stressed Carole Souter of the Heritage Lottery Fund. That includes engaging with people who can't physically come to the museum, as well as showcasing unseen collections to a broader online audience, with the opportunity for non-experts to contribute their comments.

By his own admission, Ian Blatchford of the Science Museum played the role of old fogey, agreeing with the principle of evolving towards a digitally component museum but citing the Dad's Army catchphrase: "Don't panic, Captain Mainwaring." He refuted the notion of digital exhibitions as an equal substitute for real-time museums.

"Digital technology shouldn't burrow away at a museum's core sense of identity as the fundamentals stay the same," he said. "Many of the traditional things museums do, such as scholarship, caring for collections and museum displays, now seem ever more relevant and is reflected in the increasing rise of visitor numbers."

In an age when we are so flooded with information, authenticity and trust matter even more to people, he added – we must not confuse what audiences really want with what we think they ought to want.

It is in a museum's DNA to evolve, argued Dr Ross Parry, academic director and senior lecturer at the University of Leicester's School of Museum Studies. The modern museum has inevitably changed its structure, aspects of its purpose and audience relationships, as well as the intellectual framework used to make sense of its collections – Robert Cotton, Hans Sloan, Henry Cole and Oppenheimer would no longer recognise the museums they helped to create.

According to Ross, the choice we need to make in the digital age is this. Do we hold on to qualities that are defiantly analogue and rely on people being present at a venue, and having to ritualistically cross the threshold to get there as a social encounter that involves us looking mainly at physical objects? Or, do museums choose to change and converge in a digital age where content is distributed, people are networked and everyone can have a voice to create or produce?

Museums could redefine themselves as multi-platform service brands that publish and broadcast, as well as exhibit, he suggested – or will the physical object always spark a stronger spiritual and emotional reaction than digital formats?

Blatchford was quick to thwart what he sees as this myth of real objects, upheld as a sacred creed by curators. "Just because a beautiful object is put on display in a designated space, people will not automatically feel privileged to see it," he said. The digitised drawings of the Charles Babbage archive at the Science Museum are more beautiful and more useful to researchers than the original,We mainly supply professional craftspeople with wholesale turquoise beads from china, he suggested.

Digitisation projects are also helping to break up the cosy clubs that used to exist inside museum archive departments, he added. Now ordinary people can have access to collections, not just the privileged few. Souter agreed, referring to the British Museum's Turning the Pages, which enables visitors to see extraordinary manuscripts close up on screen, online or in a gallery. Nor does multimedia necessarily impoverish the realness of objects, said Ross, citing the success of A History of the World in 100 Objects and the website, The Making of the Modern World.

Museums have been slow to develop in comparison with libraries and are yet to reach a point of radical change, Ross continued. But there have been some big leaps forward, such as the Science Museum's Web Lab project with Google, the UK aggregator Culture Grid, and Europeana, a one-stop shop for searching digital collections across Europe. JISC, NESTA and the AHRC are also supporting ventures.

Blatchford offered a more sober analysis, citing David Edgerton's The Shock of the Old and civilisation's classic error of making neat linear relations between technology and outcomes. Every museum prides itself on having an app project and the accumulative effect amounts to nothing more than a selection of apps, he said.

Souter also cautioned that some digital resources produced by museums quickly become disposable if not easily discoverable by potential users. However, the Heritage Lottery Fund is now willing to invest in digital only projects, she said,Find detailed product information for howo tractor and other products. as people who do find them will play around and use them in ways we cannot yet imagine.

Matters of money and copyright were also raised in questions from the floor.Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability. But in summarising the case for the digital evolution of museums, Ross said museums need to be social (understanding the ecology of the social web), situated (providing location specific content), sensual (blurring the join between physical and digital) and semantic (responding to changing machinery). But, he warned, we must consider the ethical implications and moral consequences too.

A man arrested in the minutes after Kelly’s murder outside his home in Killester, north Dublin, yesterday afternoon was still being questioned today.

While he was arrested on foot on the same street the getaway vehicle was abandoned, Garda sources said he was a distance away from the car when detained and his proximity to the vehicle will not be enough to charge him directly in relation to the murder.

However, he is being questioned about illegal possession of a firearm and membership of an illegal organisation,Find detailed product information for howo tractor and other products. with a criminal charge on the latter now seen as most likely before his period of detention expires tomorrow.

The man is in his early 30s and is a member of the Real IRA. He has served prison sentences following a number of serious convictions related to his association with the dissident organisation.

The gun used to kill Kelly has still not been recovered and gardaí are now working on the theory that the man under arrest was the getaway driver and not the person who pulled the trigger.

They believe the gunman had escaped the scene on Stiles Court in Clontarf just before a patrol car arrived and uniformed gardaí arrested the suspect who is now in custody.

Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that the gunman took the murder weapon with him after getting out of the getaway car. They also believe the gun may have been discarded in the general location of the killing on Furry Park Road or as the killer and his driver sped down Howth Road before turning in the residential area at Stiles Court.