Cabinets

Using Video Walls as Effective Business Tools

2011-08-16T15:41:00.000-07:00

Many business owners are discovering the limitless use for video wall software and accompanying digital display technology. In fact, today's technological advances are allowing small business entrepreneurs to take advantage of a medium once only afforded by huge corporations. Maybe you have been considering the many uses you can make of video walls in your business but have yet to get off the fence and make a decision. Consider the following five benefits that may influence your decision-making process.

Interactivity is an Effective Tool

Many uses of video walls can be effectively interactive. Visitors to your business can engage your video wall displays as an information source that points them in the correct destination. Use of video walls can produce a vast array of communication solutions that can easily be custom designed to meet the specific needs of your business.

Captivatingly Entertaining

The interactive ability built into the design of video wall displays foes grab a viewer's attention. Additionally, use of streaming video accompanied by any number of high-tech digital effects can get the attention of even the most jaded of people passing by the display. Since the display can have a visually stimulating effect, once a person's attention is focused your message can be effectively presented. The interactive elements can be customer-controlled, but as creator of the message you have the ability to guide the viewer in the direction you want. However, since the use of video walls can be solely directed toward an entertainment value, its use can easily energize what might be an otherwise plain environment.

Save Labor Costs

Use of video walls provides a productive solution for cutting down on labor costs. Since human resources are some of the most valuable of business assets, substituting a message center where customers can easily obtain necessary information will cut down the need for human interaction much like using an Internet search engine points net surfers in the correct direction. There is no need for visitors to stand in a line waiting to ask questions when a touch of an interactive screen can provide answers they seek.

Software Not Needed

Many uninitiated to the use of video walls believe there is a need to purchase expensive software to operate the technology. There is a belief that software-dependent operations run into the challenge of using outdated programming designed simply to keep separating video wall display users form their hard-earned money. However, many users do not depend upon software but turn to running video wall setups from Internet connections. This allows users to access feeds from anywhere connected to the Web that expands usage options considerably.

Cost Reductions

The last reason that is not necessarily the least is the advancements in technology continually bring down the costs operating video walls as effective business tools. Equipment pricing continues to get lower and manufacture techniques enable less labor when it comes to making effective installation possible. This allows almost every business - small to large - the opportunity to afford this attraction technology as part of your overall business plan.

The versatility of the systems available make the choice for video walls quite effective business communication tools providing you with cutting-edge technology.

Caloosa Creek

2011-03-08T21:53:00.000-08:00

Caloosa Creek is a gated community on Iona Road in Fort Myers, just to the west of McGregor Boulevard. It is known to be one of the friendliest communities around because of the amenities and facilities offered to the homeowners in the area.

The development features 98 Olde Florida style plantation homes constructed around a beautiful 11 acre lake. Planned and developed by Daniel Wayne Homes, the abundance of natural beauty in this area especially because of the lake is one of the main attractions of Caloosa Creek.

Waterfront property in this community is something not to be missed out on. A 2,372 square foot single family home with 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms should not cost more than $549,900. This is a reasonable price considering the beauty of its concrete block and vinyl siding construction and tile and wood flooring.

In addition to this the interior exhibits unique features such as a vaulted cathedral ceilings, a spacious pantry in the kitchen, walk-in closets in the bedrooms, single hung windows, built in wall units and landscaping with tropical plants.

Another great buy in this area would be a 2,481 square foot single family home priced at $449,000 with 4 bedrooms, 3 dens and 3 bathrooms. Interior design specialties in a home such as this include cherry wood cabinets, breakfast bar, formal dining room, vaulted ceilings, a private screened pool and overflow spa and a spacious 3 car garage.

Amenities made available for homeowners in the area include a clubhouse, a community pool, a tennis court and a playground for children.

Obtaining a Teaching Degree Online

2010-10-11T23:04:00.000-07:00

pcpro.edu

The demand for teachers will not stop, and within the next ten years this demand should increase according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). To get started with an online teaching degree, you must realize that teaching online is much different than that of an in-class atmosphere. Lessons and curriculum that you will have to create can take the shape of downloads, videos, media presentations and other digital forms, can now be taught.

Most states will require that you complete a teaching degree and depending on the field, they can require a Bachelor’s, Master’s or Ph. D. Certifications must also be completed to make sure that you are competent in the basics of math, reading, and writing. Completing teaching certificates do not have to be done after you have earned your degree. Earning a teaching certificate can be earned while you are still in your Bachelor’s program. There are over 550 online accredited programs that you can complete in the US, all accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Different states will require different requirements, so make sure that the online program you are intending to complete fits the intended state.

Experience with student teaching is also required as a part of the certification. Different degrees require different amounts of student teaching hours completed, the average being around 900 hours. The hours are also to be completed in a classroom-based environment, none online. Students are also required to be proficient in the field of study they want to teach in. Elementary school teachers usually have a wide range of knowledge, letting them teach many different subjects. Middle school teaching requires a specific focus area such as a language, science, social studies or math. When students are looking to specialize in an area, it is usually recommended that you first study and major in that area, and then complete education coursework. It can also go the other way around but some schools feel that learning one over the other first is a great way to know the field.

There are different teaching degrees that can be earned online for different levels of education. For early childhood education, an early childhood education program will let students pursue their teaching in daycare, pre-k and kindergarten. An ECE program is usually a prerequisite for pursuit of a higher degree. Elementary education programs is consisted of teaching specific areas like reading, math, foreign languages, or phys. ed. Bachelor degrees are needed in order to really be able to teach anything, but there are Post-Bac and Master’s programs meant for more advanced learning in the same age group.

With high school and secondary education, students must choose a subject to specialize in. Work histories in fields such as history, math, different sciences, etc. are usually required. Certificates programs are available to help get you the 1 or two years needed of specialized teaching experience.

More schools are becoming online-based, or will have online classes as an option for their students. There will always be a demand for teachers, and with the flexibility and convenience, training to become an educator is a lot simpler than it used to be.

2010-08-15T17:28:00.000-07:00

http://www.thewoodshop.20m.com/howto_drawers2.htm
Drawer Slides

Producing a drawer utilizing half-blind dovetails is really a quite basic issue, particularly if you utilize a committed half-blind dovetail jig such as the Porter Cable television 4112, Porter Cable television 5116/7116 omnijigs, Hart Dovetail Jig, or comparable committed half-blind dovetail jigs. Jigs such as the AKEDA and Leigh also create half-blind dovetails, and although they need just a little much more set up, provide the benefit of variable-spaced, symmetrical or asymmetrical layouts. And if you are likely to utilize a false the front about the drawer, do not low cost utilizing a via dovetail jig such as the Keller--the visual outcomes is going to be exactly the same.

I'm frequently asked regardless of whether or not I dovetail the back again towards the love handles. The solution is yes. Conventional drawer producing (what ever that's) prescribes a HBD joint for that the front and TD joint for that rear, most likely simply because hand slicing TDs is simpler than hand slicing HBDs. I've used/use the two half-blind dovetail (HBD) and via dovetail (TD) joints for that side/back joint. Right here is my reasoning concerning drawer joints:

* When utilizing a committed HBD jig, it is simple and fast to rout the two backs and fronts and it generates a much more uniform searching drawer, in the aspect. As well as, the slot for that drawer base isn't subjected.

* If I'm while using the Leigh or AKEDA to rout the HBDs, I make use of the HBDs for that side/front and TDs for that side/back joint. The style from the AKEDA/Leigh jigs enables you to create side/rear TDs and side/front HBDs that complement in the two design and geometry.

* With that mentioned, I've also utilized the committed HBD jigs to rout the side/front and also the Keller TD jig to rout the side/rear, mainly due to the simplicity and speed of while using the Keller. Nevertheless, the outcome appears "traditional".

Figure out the Drawer Specifications

When designing a drawer you've to ascertain 3 values: Drawer Height/Depth, Drawer Size, and Drawer Duration. Here's how I arrive up with these values:
Drawer Height/Depth

Usually I dimension the level from the drawer dependent about the hand spacing of my dovetail theme using the objective to finish up having a half-pin at the very best and base edges from the drawer the front. As a result, when I style a part of furniture or perhaps a cabinet, I style it round the level from the drawer, depending on my dovetail jig's spacing. 1 from the benefits from the Leigh D4 and AKEDA DC-16 dovetail jigs is the fact that you are able to change the pin/tail spacing to match any drawer starting. Nevertheless, I haven't discovered the limitations from the fixed dovetail spacing from the committed half-blind dovetail jigs to become a issue. When the level of the drawer starting has to become a worth that doesn't complement the dovetail jig, I make use of the closest spacing and use an appropriatedly sized drawer the front.

Traditionally, you would like the edges from the drawer the front to begin and finish having a 50 percent pin. To ascertain drawer widths to match this rule, merely measure in between the centers from the theme fingers, starting using the borders quit. For that Computer 4112/PC 7116, use increments of 7/8", therefore the approximate panel widths are: 7/8, 1-3/4, 2-5/8, 3-1/2, 4-3/8, 5-1/4, 6-1/8, seven, 7-7/8, 8-3/4, 9-5/8, 10-1/2, 11-3/8. I say approximate widths simply because you are able to add 1/16" to 3/16" to these widths.

Drawer Size

Identifying the size from the drawer box is really a basic issue of measuring the within dimension from the drawer starting and subtracting for drawer information clearance (if they're to become utilized) or 1/8" if guides aren't utilized. This last measurement establishes the size from the drawer the front and drawer back again (assuming HBDs).
Because the love handles inset to the drawer front/back, the duration from the drawer front/back establishes the size from the drawer. A trick I discovered from a Frank Klausz video clip simplifies producing this measurement. Instead than measuring, merely mark your drawer the front, previously reduce to some rough duration, in the drawer starting. I have a tendency nevertheless to merely measure the starting and deduct for clearance.

Drawer Duration

Identifying drawer duration is really a basic issue of option, somewhat dependent about the duration from the drawer starting as well as your drawer guides if utilized. I generally make the drawer 1/2" to 1" under the starting will permit. This worth is then utilized to ascertain the duration from the drawer love handles. I make use of the subsequent formula when utilizing 3/4" front/backs:

Aspect Duration = Duration of Drawer Starting - 1-1/2" (Exactly where 1-1/2" is clearance as well as drawer front/back width - 3/4" [nominal socket depth])

To become much more precise, you are able to use this formula:

Aspect Duration = Duration of Drawer Starting - ((width of the front - dovetail socket level) + (width of back again - dovetail socket level))

Element Thicknesses/Material

I usually use 3/4" thick investment for that drawer the front, either 1/2" or 3/4" for that drawer back again, and 1/2" investment for that drawer love handles. I use hardwood or hardwood veneer plywood/MDF for that drawer the front. I use pine, spruce, poplar, baltic birch plywood, birch veneer MDF, or MDF for that drawer love handles. I use hardwood (poplar), hardwood veneer plywood, hardwood veneer MDF, pine, spruce, or baltic birch for that drawer back again.

Crosscut and Rip Drawer Elements

Carry out the subsequent:

one. Crosscut drawer elements to last duration.

two. Rip drawer elements to last size.

three. Proceed fence in the direction of blade 5/8" and reduce blade to 1/2 width of drawer love handles and dado drawer front/sides for drawer base.

four. Proceed fence in the direction of blade extra 1/8" or so (to complement width of drawer base) and dado drawer front/sides to last size for drawer base.

five. If you are utilizing TDs for that side/rear: Increase blade over width of drawer back again, and rip all drawer backs. This enables you to set up the drawer base to the drawer love handles and the front in the back again following the drawer is assembled.

I frequently use veneer primary and MDF plywood for drawer elements. For asthetics and put on, I utilize actual wooden edging iron-on tape to all edges from the drawer the front, top/bottom edges from the drawer love handles, and all edges minus the underside borders from the drawer back again. If the underside borders from the drawer will get in touch with and slide towards a drawer guide/cabinet frame, I guard the borders with sound wooden instead compared to iron-on tape. If I'm utilizing edging, I modify the crosscut/rip procedure just a little:

one. Rip drawer elements to last size - width of edging.

two. Utilize edging to top/bottoms of drawer front/sides. Trim edging.

three. Utilize edging to best of drawer backs. Trim edging.

four. Crosscut drawer elements to last duration - width of edging (drawer fronts/backs).

five. Utilize edging to drawer front/back ends.

six. Dado drawer front/sides for drawer base and last rip drawer backs as described over.

Dovetail the Drawer Elements

one. Design the drawer items, within encounter up and mark them as proven in Number two.

two. Location the drawer elements within the jig within up and out with the underside borders from the item towards the borders quit. The drawer love handles are positioned within the the front clamp, the the front and back again are positioned below the very best clamp.

three. Prior to routing I make certain:
one. The letters marked within the corners from the two function items correspond.
two. The drawer aspect and front/back are even height-wise.
three. The drawer base dado is dealing with up (drawer the front) or dealing with out (drawer love handles).

four. The underside borders from the drawer elements are towards their respective borders quit.

four. Rout the drawer elements. Start by routing a slight reduce across the aspect drawer element, right-to-left. Then reduce the pins and sockets, left-to-right.

Number two. Drawer Element Design

Number two

Make the Drawer Base

We're nearly completed!

one. Dry assemble the drawer.

two. I measure for size from the drawer base by inserting 1 finish of the thin and narrow part of investment within the drawer base dado about the still left aspect and and mark the investment exactly where it intersects using the dado about the correct aspect.

three. I established my rip fences towards the marked size and rip the drawer bottoms.

four. I then measure the drawer for duration and crosscut the bottoms to that worth. This leave the drawer base around 3/8" lengthy, that is good. I leave it sticking out the back again by that quantity.

Assemble the Drawer

Assemble the drawer:

one. Location a little quantity of white PVA or slow environment glue within the sockets.

two. Put the drawer love handles to the drawer the front.

three. Put the drawer back again to the drawer love handles.

four. Slide the drawer base in in the back again. Nail the drawer base towards the base borders from the drawer back again.

Theme Information Bushings

Information bushings (also recognized as collars or perhaps a information bush) are very flexible and indispensible for a lot of modem procedures. Nevertheless, theme information bushings are a bad option like a theme pilot exactly where severe accuracy and consistency is needed. Dovetail cutters fitted with information bearings tend to be more precise and much less troublesome than theme bushing-guided bits. Think about purchasing accuracy theme bushings for dovetail routing. Accuracy bushings are obtainable from Leigh, Woodcraft (appear for that AKEDA information bush), Hartville Device, along with other sources. I've discovered the difficult way that information bushings could be a source of tit difficulties when utilized with dovetail jigs, particularly mixture jigs such as the Leigh and also the AKEDA.

I've discovered two typical difficulties with information bushings:

* They're frequently badly machined. Their diameter and out-of-center tolerances differ significantly. I've information bushings which are .030" out-of-center!.
The very best bet would be to buy accuracy information bushings from Leigh, AKEDA (via Woodcraft), or whomever. Leigh provides accuracy 7/16" and 5/8" OD bushings, AKEDA provides a accuracy 7/16" bushing. The 7/16" OD bushing is one of the most broadly utilized bushing with AKEDA and Leigh dovetail jigs. The PC4112 and PC7116 make use of the 5/8" OD bushing for half-blind dovetails. Be aware that for via and half-blind dovetails, the information diameter isn't super essential about the Leigh, because match is controlled by moving the pin theme out/in (via dovetails) or by raising/lowering the little bit (half-blind dovetails).

* Even if you've precise information bushings, based on your modem, it might be hard to middle the modem little bit completely inside the information bushing. Perfeclty centering the modem little bit to some information bushing is simpler mentioned than carried out. For example, Porter-Cable routers mount their bottom towards the modem utilizing flat head screws. When you tighten the screws, they middle themselves within the bottom, drawing the bottom to "their center". Therefore attempting to middle them is nearly not possible. Some Bosch bases (1617 for example) are mounted with pan-head screws, which do permit for some adjustment. Nevertheless, you nevertheless might not be productive in completely centering the bottom, bushing, and little bit (even with their centering cone).

To examine for information bush concentricity, merely reduce the little bit to the bushing and turn the little bit counter clockwise. Because a dovetail little bit is angled, you are able to reduce it to the information bushing till it barely touches--just make certain to turn it backwards. Should you see a steady gap in between the ideas from the cutter and ID from the bushing, you are set up is good (See Animated Number three).
When the cutter ideas hit 1 aspect from the bushing and exhibits a gap in other places (See Animated Number four), you have obtained a issue. One more way of checking bit/bushing centering would be to create a check reduce into a drawer front/back to produce a socket as proven in Animated Number five. Examine to determine regardless of whether your routed sockets are centered in between the theme fingers. When the sockets aren't centered, you realize you have obtained a issue together with your bushing set up. Odds are, your bushing was not machined concentric.
Number three. Centered Bushing and Little bit Figure four. Non-Centered Bushing and Little bit
Fig three Fig four

Number five. Testing By Routing Sockets
Fig five

I make use of the subsequent process to check/adjust information bushings:

one. Mount the information bushing along with a directly little bit within the modem. The directly little bit diameter should be under the OD from the information bushing.
two. Set up the DT jig information fingers to reduce tails (via DT jigs) or sockets (half-blind DT jigs).

three. Clamp a check panel below the tail information fingers or half-blind theme.
four. Operate the modem via a number of information fingers.
five. Visibly inspect the reduce to ascertain how the reduce is centered inside the tail finger/template room. If it's centered, you are carried out.
six. Or else, loosen the information bush, turn it 1/4 turn, and tighten it once again.
seven. Repeat these actions till you obtain a satisfactory reduce. You may wish to mark the encounter from the information bushing and modem bottom to simplify this process subsequent time close to.
eight. Should you can't get the little bit to middle using the information bush, attempt one more information bush. Should you nevertheless have difficulties, you are able to attempt centering the bottom from the router/guide bush towards the little bit, but once again, this really is simpler mentioned than carried out.
9. Should you can't right the off-center issue, you may lessen the issue should you turn the bushing so how the best deviation faces aside in the jig (in the direction of the operator).
Then, be sure you maintain the modem dealing with exactly the same path when you rout the dovetails.

Extra Ideas

* (PC4112/PC7116/Leigh) Make use of the Leigh 8mm shaft diameter bits for much less chatter. The Leigh 1/2" 14° 8mm little bit functions with PC4112/PC7116 dovetail jigs.

* (PC4112) Location a part of wooden, exactly the same width (or somewhat much less) the drawer front/side below the clamp bars when machining function items under 10" broad. Or else, the clamp bars will bend whenever you tighten the unsupported finish lower.

* Make certain the theme / information fingers lie flat towards the job item(s).
It's really simple on any dovetail jig to obtain inside a hurry and not seat the theme totally lower about the function item. Obviously when the theme isn't seated, you'll see a gap in between the finish from the tails and their mating sockets.

* (Half-Blind DTs) Sound wooden, baltic birch plywood, MDF primary plywood, and MDF device really nicely for the two drawer fronts and love handles. Veneer primary (VC) plywood functions okay for drawer fronts/backs (sockets) however the plys disintegrate when milling them for love handles (tails).
Should you should mill veneer primary plywoods, you are able to reduce tearout by sticking some 1/4" plywood towards the the front clamp bar.

* (Half-Blind DTs) I utilize veneer iron-on tape to all four edges of veneer primary plywood utilized for drawer fronts and backs. The tape machines nicely and also the outcome appears like sound wooden towards the untrained eye (the grain path may be the tip away).

modem level gauge
* (PC4112) I committed an aged, inexpensive, one HP modem for that jig. As a result, with no muss, fuss, or tests, I can device drawer elements. To simplify environment the router's level of reduce (which in turn establishes the dovetail match), create a basic level gauge obstruct:
one. Mount a 1-1/4" or so Forstner little bit within the drill press.
two. Established the level of reduce to 9/16" (Computer 4112), or just a little much less.
three. Drill a 3/4" x 4" x 4" plywood obstruct at this environment within the middle from the obstruct. Drill one more hole, but centered via 1 borders so how the hole is subjected.
four. Examine the level gauge towards your present modem level environment. If it's shy, change your drill press level guage to drill the needed quantity.

* I make use of a somewhat various edition of the reference obstruct for that PC7116. Following adjusting my level of reduce and milling productive joints, I rabbeted on borders of some 3/4" investment (to obvious the information bushing), after which ran the modem lower the borders, leaving a "dovetailed" borders, that I can now use for adjusting modem little bit level.

* Do not turn the modem as you are machining the joints. The modem bottom and theme guides aren't usually completely centered using the modem little bit. Any slight imperfection right here appears to multiply a number of occasions which outcomes in badly fitting joints.

* Use sharp bits to decrease tear-out and uneven bottoms.

* Your function items require to become square and flat. How numerous occasions have you heard or study concerning the force that some dovetail jig clamps can utilize and how they are able to flatten a cupped/warped panel. Certain they'll, but what occurs whenever you release the clamp? Later, when gluing points up you will have difficulties.

* Use eye and ear safety. In contrast to shaping procedures which generally only carry a couple of minutes, machining joints for cabinet drawers can carry several hours of continuous modem use. Guard your eyes and ears!

* Put on a smock to facilitate casting away the tons of chips which are thrown back again. Thankfully, this isn't a issue using the AKEDA (has dirt selection) and also the Keller (throws the chips aside in the operator).

* Copy the manual and maintain it close to the jig.

* The March/April 1993 Concern of Good Woodworking ran an excellent write-up by John Lively about producing Drawers while using the $100-type Half-Blind jig. The very best write-up I've discovered about the topic. It quite a lot covers the topic soup to nuts.

Dovetail Jig Stabilizer Table

Wooden Newspaper has published a totally free project to develop a Dovetail Jig Stabilizer Information. I haven't constructed it but can express the require for this kind of a table. R.L. Mott sent me some pictures of his stablizer table/guide. Be aware that RL additional some T-Track to boost about the Wooden Newspaper style:
RL Mott Wooden Mag Stabilizer Table-a
RL Mott Wooden Mag Stabilizer Table-b
RL Mott Wooden Mag Stabilizer Table-c

Machining Via Dovetails

Machining via dovetails while using the Leigh or Keller is really a part of cake. The process is as follows:

one. Mill your drawer/box items square and flat. Dimension them towards the completed dimensions, as well as 1/32" or so about the duration.

two. Design as well as your workpieces: Still left Aspect Encounter, Correct Aspect Encounter, The front Encounter, Back again Encounter , comparable towards the technique discussed for half-blind dovetails. Mark the underside of every workpiece. Using the Keller, you'll need to choose which borders (best or base) is going to be your typical reference. Keller (and I concur) indicates which you use the underside borders as your typical reference. Therefore, your dados for the underside panel will align. The very best edges might not series up completely, but this really is effortlessly remedied by planing the very best edges as soon as the box/drawer is assembled.

three. Usually start using the tail boards and reduce all from the tail boards prior to slicing your pin boards. The Keller will not need any pin adjustment (you adjusted this whenever you originally set up the Keller).
All Leigh adjustment is carried out while using the pin theme.

Slicing the Tails
four. Leigh: Clamp a tail panel towards the borders quit and also the hand theme. Change the preferred dovetail design while using the pin theme. When you possess the design established and also the fingers tightended lower, flip towards the tail theme.

Keller Tail Panel
five. Keller: Clamp a tail panel inside your vise and clamp the dovetail theme towards the function item. I dimension my drawer/box to complement the spacing from the dovetail theme. To ascertain the precise drawer/box level, I use multiples of 1-1/8". Then I location the dovetail theme covering the tail panel, so how the edges from the boards are equi-distant from their adjacent theme fingers. When all is mentioned and carried out, I finish up with equally-sized half-pins. The Keller Instruction Information recommends which you mark lines 5/16" towards the still left and correct from the middle series of workpiece borders. Then, align the theme covering the workpiece borders to ensure that a theme hand sits inside your two lines. Lastly, clamp a quit towards the "bottom" borders of the job item.

six. Location your dovetail cutter within the modem and change its level to reduce the width from the pin function item, as well as 1/64". I Scribe a series about the the front aspect from the tail panel by butting the "pin" panel towards the "tail" panel, below the tail theme and scribing the series while using the pin panel because the marking borders. Established the modem about the theme and reduce the little bit to intersect your scribed level series. In contrast to half-blind dovetail jigs, the level of reduce for via dovetails doesn't have an effect on the dovetail match. It only controls how far the tails/pins protrude.

seven. Reduce all of one's tail boards. About the Keller, you need to maintain the underside borders of all function items towards your quit. Therefore following slicing 1 finish, you'll flip the job item (like a river boat paddle) instead than rotating it (like a propeller).
As a result, for 1 reduce the encounter is going to be in the direction of the backing panel and will encounter way in the backing panel for that second reduce.

Slicing the Pins
eight. Location the directly cutter within the modem and change its level to reduce the width from the tail function item, as well as 1/64" while using the technique described for that dovetail cutter over.

9. Leigh: Location a check pin panel within the jig. Rout the check item and examine for match. Change the pin theme as required. As soon as it's adjusted properly, device all pin boards.

ten. Keller Technique one:
one. Clamp a pin panel inside your vise, outdoors encounter aside in the jig.
two. Location its mating tail panel corner about the finish from the pin panel in its right placement, relative towards the completed item (make certain top/bottom edges are aligned) and scribe the very first tail socket onto the pin panel. Keller indicates which you make use of a pocket knife. Make certain the blade rides on tail socket borders, not the socket wall.
three. Location the pin theme about the function item. Series up a hand from the pin theme in between the scribed lines.
four. Device the pin panel finish.
five. Repeat all actions for every pin panel finish.

11. Keller Technique two:
one. Clamp a pin panel inside your vise, outdoors encounter aside in the jig.
two. Location its mating tail panel corner about the finish from the pin panel in its right placement, relative towards the completed item (make certain top/bottom edges are aligned) and scribe the very first tail socket onto the pin panel. Keller indicates which you make use of a pocket knife. Make certain the blade rides on tail socket borders, not the socket wall.
three. Location the pin theme about the function item. Series up a hand from the pin theme in between the scribed lines.
four. Clamp an borders quit along the underside borders of the job item.
five. Device the 1 finish of every pin panel that shares the underside edge/face aside orientation.
six. Get rid of the borders quit. Repeat the scribe and borders quit set up (quit is going to be about the opposite aspect) for that pin panel ends you haven't machined.
seven. Device the remaining pin panel ends.

Alternatives along with other Jigs

Do not low cost producing via dovetail joints by hand or even the hybrid technique employing the two the bandsaw and hand. If you are not performing a ton of via dovetail joints, performing them by hand creates sense. If you are a novice at producing via dovetail joints by hand, purchase or rent the Dovetail a Drawer video clip by Frank Klausz. Really, this video clip teaches alot a lot more than just dovetails. I discovered his common woodworking methods to become really enlightening.

I came up having a chart comparing the Keller, Leigh, AKEDA, and Computer Omnijig dovetail jigs. Click right here to look at it.

Right here is really a operate lower of Dovetail jigs you may think about:

* AKEDA DC-16 Via and Half-Blind Dovetail Jig
The AKEDA DC-16 from AKEDA Jigs Incorporated may be the new guy about the obstruct and definitely is really a must-consider dovetail jig. With no changes, the jig created flawless, variably-spaced via dovetails for any box on my initial attempt. I experienced exactly the same encounter with my initial drawer. The jig arrives via on its promises: no changes, superb dirt selection, practically no set up, dovetail design is simple and repeatable. It's very merely a joy to utilize. Also, I such as the geometry from the dovetails. They are much more aesthetically pleasing than most machine-produced dovetails. Woodcraft handles the distribution from the AKEDA DC-16 for that U.S.

* Leigh D4 Via and Half-Blind Dovetail Jig
The Leigh dovetail jig Leigh Industries, Ltd. Is regarded 1 of the very best jigs about the marketplace. I've experienced 1 for a lot of many years and like it for via dovetails. Leigh provides an extensive array of add-ons that enable you to mill mortise and tenons, a range of box joints, and decorative joints.

* Porter Cable television 16" and 24" (5116 and 7116) Dovetail Jigs
The Porter Cable television #5115 and #7116 jigs operate $350 and $400, respectively. They're amongst one of the most robust jigs about the marketplace. Porter Cable television provides a range of optional web templates to compete using the Leigh as becoming one of the most flexible dovetail jig obtainable. Someday we'll get close to to publishing a evaluation on it.

* Porter Cable television 12" 4112 Half-Blind Dovetail Jig
The Porter Cable television #4112 dovetail jig works about $100 and is for my cash, the very best HB dovetail jig close to. Click right here to study my PC4112 evaluation.

* Keller Via Dovetail Jig
The Keller is regarded by some because the easiest-to-use via Dovetail jig. I concur! Versions operate $150-$450. I bought my Keller 1601 from Seven Corners Hardware for $189.00, that is considerably under the display cost ($209) or even the advised retail cost ($249).
Examine out the Keller website! It offers some excellent info along with a gallery of function from Keller users!

* Woodrat Dovetail/Joinery Jig
The Woodrat is possibly one of the most distinctive dovetail (joinery) jig about the marketplace, and therefore seems to possess the biggest understanding curve. I haven't utilized the jig, however it gets higher points for versatility and creative/artistic capability. Setups seem to become much more complicated than standard jigs. Works within the neighborhood of $500.

* RBI Wooden Resources
RBI sells a Computer 4112 look-alike for $100.

* Hartville Resources Design 12378
The 12378 is one more PC4112 look-alike for $100. Hartville sells aftermarket cam-action clamps for that 12378 that also match the Computer 4112.

* Woodhaven Dovetail Jigs
Woodhaven sells a range of dovetail jigs such as their new top-of-the-line jig that may be utilized within the traditional mode or on best of the modem table.

* Sears Craftsman Dovetail Jigs
Do not laugh, my father utilizes 1 from the less expensive versions with superb outcomes. I lately gave him my aged Woodstock Intl jig so he may retire the Craftsman, but do not count on it.

* Woodstock Intl Half-Blind Dovetail Jig W1099
This jig, also sold by Harbor Freight (Central Device) and other people, works in between $40 and $60. It functions quite nicely.

* Katie Jig
A fairly new jig which has received great evaluations. It works $250 as well as. Marc Sommerfeld demos the Katie in the Woodworking exhibits. Amazing in which you can clamp a tail and pin panel within the jig at 1 time (provided you are slicing them on the modem table).
This assures the alignment from the top/bottom edges and might be a actual time saver should you experienced a two modem set up like Marc Sommerfeld has in the exhibits. 1 drawback I saw within the demo is how the tails/pins top/bottom orientation is swapped on every finish, unless you experienced two setups. Should you obtain a opportunity to attend the WW Exhibits, take a look at the aspect of Marc Sommerfeld's drawers and you will see what I imply. Functionally sound, but..
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* Stots Dovetail Theme Master
You utilize this theme master to create dovetail and box joint jig web templates. You are able to use it to create web templates of practically any dimension. It works about $50 as well as one more $30 for that modem bits should you do not have them. I wish to attempt this device, but I just haven't experienced the time to fool close to with it. Evaluation coming quickly.

* Incra and Jointech Modem Fence Incremental/Positional Jigs
I would not think about the Incra and Jointech jigs for production function, but they function nicely if you're up towards the set up. They function as advertised, but are time consuming to set up and use in comparison with committed dovetail jigs. For what it is really worth, I choose the Jointech positioner covering the Incra. The Jointech is much more roubust, utilizes leadscrew technologies rather than the incremental racks, web templates are simpler to utilize, offers built-in centering, and their fence construction and style is superb.

* The $19.99 Half-Blind Dovetail Jig
The Well-known Woodworking September 1999 concern ran an write-up on the $19.99 half-blind dovetail jig. Click right here to look at the write-up in PDF Format. The author (Troy Sexton) explains how you can create a basic modem theme to device the pins. The tails are reduce about the bandsaw. The cost of "$19.99" consists of $11 for any 23/32" diameter theme information and $8.95 for 1/2" 14 degree a dovetail little bit. You most likely currently have these products. The simplified procedure:

one. Rip a 5/16" thick theme exactly the same size as your drawer items.

two. Make use of a dado to reduce notches on 1 finish from the theme. 1 notch per tail.

three. Clamp the theme towards the back again aspect from the drawer the front.

four. Together with your modem sitting on best from the theme, operate the modem in and out from the notches.

five. Make use of the reduce pins to design the tails.

six. Reduce the tails in your bandsaw.

Naples web designers

2010-03-10T15:27:00.000-08:00

Naples web designers

Naples web designers are highly skilled and highly professional. This is because, there is very good talent and skill among Naples web designers who work on several good projects and design in a creative manner. This is because, as plenty of projects that are commencing new businesses through Naples, have given an opportunity for Naples web designers to use good web design software to work with creativity and skill.

This has given perfect results for the businesses and also for the Naples web designers. There is new web designing software entering into the market almost every day, with its creativity in helping web designers to give its usability in web designing.

Apart from the already successful web designing software which are Adobe Photoshop, CorelDraw Suite, Dream Weaver, Macromedia, Flash works, Fireworks and there are plenty of other web design software which are useful in web designing. These softwares are very successful and have helped in creating millions of web sites.

But apart from the above, there are new web designing softwares which are getting released into the IT market every day and as web designers test its use, they will review and rate the product for others to use it.

Therefore, this once again reiterates a fact that, Naples web designers are quite updated with the latest web design software so that it works out to their best in producing quality web designs. It is also a fact that web designing is an art and it requires lot of talent and skill to create web designs and also to fulfill the requirements of clients who will have a unique requirement of web design and web sites.

This definitely necessitates a good amount of hard work which is perfectly done by Naples web designers which is why Naples web designers are well know for their quality work in web designing services. Web designing is not similar to programming or any language skill. But it is important to bring the best image that is present in your mind on to the screen and it requires lot of good work and understanding the need for creativity. Therefore, this is plenty among Naples web designers.

Due to this huge talent pool, Naples web designers are extremely successful in their business and they are also successful in giving the best to their clients. Going by the evidential success of Naples web designers, the future for their web designing looks very bring and prosperous.

Refacing Kitchen Cabinet Doors

2010-02-02T07:47:00.000-08:00

When people decide that it is time to replace their cabinets, it is typically because the cabinet doors are all dinged up and don’t look nice like they once did. It isn’t typically an issue of the actual cabinet having problems. Because of this, people assume that they need to go get new cabinets to replace the current ones. This isn’t the case, though. There is a way to make the cabinets that you have right now look as good and as clean as new without having to go out and purchase new cabinets. It’s a great way to save money and keep the cabinets that you wanted from the beginning.

This technique is called refacing cabinet doors. As the name implies, what you are going to be doing is actually giving the face of the cabinet door a redo so that whatever dings and dirt might be an issue for it currently won’t be after the refacing. What you’ll need to successfully and effectively reface your kitchen cabinet doors are the following things:

New hardware. This includes new knobs, pulls, handles, and hinges.
New paint and finish.
Sand paper

The first step to refacing cabinet doors to get rid all of the hardware. If you are going with a totally new look in the kitchen, you want new hardware to go along with it. Make sure that you get hardware that really matches what you are looking for. If you put in new appliances, see what sort of look they have and try and match the hardware with it. However, don’t put the hardware on yet. You need to strip the cabinet door clean.

Stripping the cabinet door clean is the next step. Get rid of the old look so that the door is bare once again. The best way to do this is to use sand paper. You can sand away all of the old paint as well as any dirt and the such. This is a messy job and can be unhealthy because breathing in saw dust is never good. So, wear a mask while doing it. Get rid of all the old cabinet so that it is a piece of wood again with the basic design on the front of it. Use a much finer piece of sand paper afterwards to get rid of any jagged parts and to make it so the door is smooth once again.

The next step is to apply the paint and finish to the wood. If you want to go with a more natural look, finishes are a great way to give it a great wood look where you can appreciate the grain of it. If you decide to go with paint, the grain of the wood disappears some under the coats of paint, but it can make the cabinets really fit in place in the room you’ve designed. The kitchen is one of the most visited rooms, so you want your refaced cabinets to look good.

The final step is to add the new hardware that you purchased for the cabinets. Because you are refacing the cabinet doors, you’re probably going to need to use hardware that fits in the same style that the previous hardware did because of already drilled holes for the screws. However, there are still a lot of different samples out there to choose from that can make this last step very enjoyable.

A lot of people dread having to go out and purchase new cabinets because it can get expensive, especially if you want to get higher quality cabinets. You don’t need to go out and spend an arm and a leg, though, to get new looking cabinets in your kitchen. Instead, the only thing you need to do is get some new paint or finish, sand paper, and some new hardware and fix up the old cabinets. There’s a reason you liked them to begin with. Just fix them up, sand them down, add new paint, and screw on some new hardware and the old, dingy cabinets that you once loved will now be the new, stylish cabinets you currently love. It isn’t tough and it definitely isn’t an expensive project.

Researchers show brain waves can 'write' on a computer in early tests

2009-12-07T12:44:00.000-08:00

December 7, 2009

microlimitedms@gmail.com

Neuroscientists at the Mayo Clinic campus in Jacksonville, Fla., have demonstrated how brain waves can be used to type alphanumerical characters on a computer screen. By merely focusing on the "q" in a matrix of letters, for example, that "q" appears on the monitor.

Researchers say these findings, presented at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society, represent concrete progress toward a mind-machine interface that may, one day, help people with a variety of disorders control devices, such as prosthetic arms and legs. These disorders include Lou Gehrig's disease and spinal cord injuries, among many others.

"Over 2 million people in the United States may benefit from assistive devices controlled by a brain-computer interface," says the study's lead investigator, neurologist Jerry Shih, M.D. "This study constitutes a baby step on the road toward that future, but it represents tangible progress in using brain waves to do certain tasks."

Dr. Shih and other Mayo Clinic researchers worked with Dean Krusienski, Ph.D., from the University of North Florida on this study, which was conducted in two patients with epilepsy. These patients were already being monitored for seizure activity using electrocorticography (ECoG), in which electrodes are placed directly on the surface of the brain to record electrical activity produced by the firing of nerve cells. This kind of procedure requires a craniotomy, a surgical incision into the skull.

Dr. Shih wanted to study a mind-machine interface in these patients because he hypothesized that feedback from electrodes placed directly on the brain would be much more specific than data collected from electroencephalography (EEG), in which electrodes are placed on the scalp. Most studies of mind-machine interaction have occurred with EEG, Dr. Shih says.

"There is a big difference in the quality of information you get from ECoG compared to EEG. The scalp and bony skull diffuses and distorts the signal, rather like how the Earth's atmosphere blurs the light from stars," he says. "That's why progress to date on developing these kind of mind interfaces has been slow."

Because these patients already had ECoG electrodes implanted in their brains to find the area where seizures originated, the researchers could test their fledgling brain-computer interface.

In the study, the two patients sat in front of a monitor that was hooked to a computer running the researchers' software, which was designed to interpret electrical signals coming from the electrodes.

The patients were asked to look at the screen, which contained a 6-by-6 matrix with a single alphanumeric character inside each square. Every time the square with a certain letter flashed, and the patient focused on it, the computer recorded the brain's response to the flashing letter. The patients were then asked to focus on specific letters, and the computer software recorded the information. The computer then calibrated the system with the individual patient's specific brain wave, and when the patient then focused on a letter, the letter appeared on the screen.

"We were able to consistently predict the desired letters for our patients at or near 100 percent accuracy," Dr. Shih says. "While this is comparable to other researchers' results with EEGs, this approach is more localized and can potentially provide a faster communication rate. Our goal is to find a way to effectively and consistently use a patient's brain waves to perform certain tasks."

Once the technique is perfected, its use will require patients to have a craniotomy, although it isn't yet known how many electrodes would have to be implanted. And software would have to calibrate each person's brain waves to the action that is desired, such as movement of a prosthetic arm, Dr. Shih says. "These patients would have to use a computer to interpret their brain waves, but these devices are getting so small, there is a possibility that they could be implanted at some point," he says.

"We find our progress so far to be very encouraging," he says.

Microsoft bans unofficial Xbox 360 memory units Latest 360 update shuts out third-party carts

2009-10-19T12:00:00.001-07:00

Microsoft bans unofficial Xbox 360 memory units
Latest 360 update shuts out third-party carts
By Adam Hartley

7 hours ago | Tell us what you think [ 0 comments ]
microsoft-bans-use-of-third-party-unofficial-memory-carts-on-xbox-360

Microsoft bans use of third-party unofficial memory carts on Xbox 360

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If you are using an unofficial memory unit with your Xbox 360 then you had better back up your data onto an authorised Microsoft 360 storage device quick sharp, as the next 360 update will shut-out third party devices from working with your console.

The new update is set to add a range of new features to your Microsoft console, including Last.fm, Facebook, Twitter and more.

Major Nelson advises

Xbox Live's Major Nelson blogs: "When Preview Program members start receiving the Xbox 360 system update next week, one of the changes is that unauthorized Memory Units will no longer work with the Xbox 360. If you've moved your profile or saved games onto one to "back it up," you'd better move it back onto an authorized Xbox 360 storage device prior to taking the update.

"If you continue to use an unauthorised Memory Unit after the update, you will not be able to access your stored profile or saved games."

If you want to know more about officially licensed Xbox 360 storage devices or accessories you can read more about the licensed accessories program on Xbox.com

So there you go. Consider yourself 'advised'...

in reference to:

"Microsoft bans unofficial Xbox 360 memory units
Latest 360 update shuts out third-party carts
By Adam Hartley

7 hours ago | Tell us what you think [ 0 comments ]

Microsoft bans use of third-party unofficial memory carts on Xbox 360

<>

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If you are using an unofficial memory unit with your Xbox 360 then you had better back up your data onto an authorised Microsoft 360 storage device quick sharp, as the next 360 update will shut-out third party devices from working with your console.The new update is set to add a range of new features to your Microsoft console, including Last.fm, Facebook, Twitter and more.Major Nelson advisesXbox Live's Major Nelson blogs: "When Preview Program members start receiving the Xbox 360 system update next week, one of the changes is that unauthorized Memory Units will no longer work with the Xbox 360. If you've moved your profile or saved games onto one to "back it up," you'd better move it back onto an authorized Xbox 360 storage device prior to taking the update. "If you continue to use an unauthorised Memory Unit after the update, you will not be able to access your stored profile or saved games." If you want to know more about officially licensed Xbox 360 storage devices or accessories you can read more about the licensed accessories program on Xbox.comSo there you go. Consider yourself 'advised'..."
- Microsoft bans unofficial Xbox 360 memory units | News | TechRadar UK (view on Google Sidewiki)

Did You Really Try? Or Did You Just Give Up?

2009-08-11T11:28:00.000-07:00

Daniel Saltman MyWifeQuit
“Oh yeah, I tried being an entrepreneur a few years back but it was just too hard.”

“I tried the whole blogging thing but couldn’t get it off the ground”

“I tried learning how to program PHP but I never could get the hang of it”

I don’t know why, but lately I’ve become increasingly sensitive to people complaining about how things are just too difficult. Whenever I hear statements like the ones above, I can’t help but think to myself

Photo by blackoutinred

How hard did you really try?
How much time and effort did you actually spend?
Did you just give up after encountering the first obstacle?

Call me a skeptic, but I honestly believe that 90% of the time people complain about their failures and give up because they don’t really give things a chance.

Case In Point

“Oh yeah, I tried being an entrepreneur a few years back but it never went anywhere”

When I challenged the acquaintance of mine who made this statement, he showed me his website and claimed that he spent over 6 months working on his online store but never sold a single thing. Wow, a whole 6 months huh?

When I went to take a look at his website, I was appalled. Not only did his online store look like complete and utter crap, but it appeared as though he spent little or no effort writing his product copy or marketing his store. To make matters worse, his product photos were all pixelated and distorted. It was no wonder that he never sold a single thing! What’s strange is that I always thought of this person as an intelligent individual. Was this garbage of a website really the result of his best efforts?

“I tried the whole blogging thing but couldn’t get it off the ground”

Newbie bloggers are notorious for giving up so I naturally asked to see the so called blog that my friend could not get off the ground. Turns out that he only had like 10 blog entries and he was using the default Wordpress theme! Not only that, but his about and contact page still had the Wordpress defaults! Given the state of his blog, how could he possibly have considered this trying?

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“I tried learning how to program PHP but I never could get the hang of it”

Programming can sometimes be difficult to master so when one of my acquaintances made the above statement, I was sincerely willing to help him out and answer whatever programming questions he had.

I started out by asking him some very basic questions on where he got stuck and tried to introduce him to some of the simpler concepts of programming. Turns out that he didn’t understand a single thing that I was talking about. When I asked him how he tried to learn how to program, he told me that he tried to teach himself PHP by looking at some open source PHP code. What!?! You can’t just learn a language by looking at some arbitrary code. Why didn’t he pick up a book and start with the basics? How could he possibly call this trying to learn the language?

What Does It Mean To Try?

I can’t even begin to tell you how many people I’ve encountered that claim to have tried something but never put out their best efforts. These people don’t give things their all and when they get stuck, they immediately write things off. In fact, the people that complain the most are the ones who give up before even trying. They bitch and moan about external factors when in fact they themselves are to blame for failing.

So if trying is more than just going through the motions, what exactly does it mean to try?

Trying Is Not Quitting At The First Obstacle

You can’t really claim to have tried something until you’ve overcome at least a few major obstacles. Most people who don’t try give up at the first sign of danger. They hit their first obstacle like a brick wall and then start making excuses.

Trying is sticking with something even though you feel like total crap. Those who have read my story know that our online store didn’t make very many sales during the first few months of operation and we contemplated closing up shop. No one could find our store online and at the time, we had no answers on how to increase website traffic. But thankfully, we racked our brains and eventually found creative ways to attract business. Nothing is ever completely smooth. To try is to overcome.

Trying Takes Time

Sometimes, trying and succeeding simply takes time. Sometimes, nothing you can do will accelerate progress and you just need to be patient. If you give up too early, you might miss out on potential gains that are right around the corner.

With our online store, getting indexed in Google and waiting for our reputation to spread via word of mouth was simply a waiting game. Nothing we could have done could have sped things up. Persistence was the key. What’s strange was that success came on like a switch towards the middle of our first year. All of a sudden we were getting lots of organic traffic and business really took off. If we didn’t stick around long enough, we would have missed out.

Trying Is Waiting For Things To Sink In

When you are trying to learn something completely new and foreign, certain things may be difficult to comprehend at first glance. The human brain works in strange ways and it sometimes requires time for concepts to sink in. If you give up before allowing things to settle in your brain, you are not giving yourself a fair chance.

For example, when I first started looking at the source code for some of the open source shopping carts out there, my brain was completely frazzled. Reading and understanding someone else’s code was not only difficult, but I could barely retain anything because there was too much information to absorb at one time. But I stuck with it and over a period of several months, things gradually began to stick. No matter how smart you are, it still takes time to learn, absorb and digest new things.

Have I Always Tried?

I always find it interesting to look back on some of the failed projects that I’ve worked on in the past. Sometimes I question whether I gave it my all. Sometimes I question whether I put my complete heart into it. Sometimes I wonder whether things would be different now if I simply tried again.

If you have a free moment, you may want to take some time and reflect upon your past as well as revisit some old projects. Sometimes all it takes is a new found perspective in order to revive an old passion. Who knows? It might be worth giving things another try.

Business Drying Up for Luxury Phone Makers

2009-07-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

Got a few grand to spare for a $3,000 phone? Yeah, we didn’t think so. Nobody does — and that’s a problem for the makers of luxury phones, such as Motorola, Bang & Olufsen, LG and Vertu.

After years of chasing the ultra-wealthy with exclusive devices that carry designer logos and promise craftsmanship from materials such as sapphire and stainless steel, luxury phone makers are now pulling back.

“The culture has shifted away from conspicuous consumption, so if you are going to have a super expensive product this may not be the time for it,” says Avi Greengart, research director for consumer devices at Current Analysis.

Motorola has already gotten the memo. Earlier this week, the company reportedly canceled the Ivory E18, a device tentatively priced around $3,000. The phone had met with lack of interest from telecom carriers. Motorola declined to comment.

If that sounds like an obvious outcome, perhaps it shouldn’t. In the last few years, luxury phones had turned into an attractive new business, as designer houses rushed to get a foothold in the tech sector. Prada collaborated with LG to launch two LG Prada phones in Europe and Asia. Last September, Samsung launched the M75500 Night Effect phone, which carried the Emporio Armani insignia. A month later, Motorola offered a $2,000 phone, called the Aura, which was fashioned out of stainless steel and sported a 62-carat sapphire crystal lens. And then there’s Vertu, a company that makes true luxury phones, the cheapest of which costs about $6,000.

The recession put a spoke in those plans. And it’s not just the 401Ks of middle-class Americans that have been in peril. In Russia, many newly-minted billionaires saw their fortunes slip away with falling oil prices. By the first quarter this year, the U.S. economy had shrunk 5.5 percent. Even 50 Cent has complained about losing more than a few Benjamins on the stock market.

And just like that, the crystal dominoes started to fall. Last October, Bang & Olufsen, whose phones retailed in Europe for more than $1500, shuttered its cellphone business as it decided to trim its costs and get out of non-profitable ventures. Motorola is the latest to pull back its luxury line.

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Luxury phones have never been a big phenomenon in North America, says Greengart. Their manufacturers have had better luck in emerging markets. But now even in those countries, where once 8 percent GDP growth seemed conservative, wealthy consumers are feeling the pinch.

“Super expensive, bling bling phones are big in markets where conspicuous consumption is a way to tell your countrymen you have arrived,” says Greengart. “But now, it’s a very different economy for everyone.”

Many of the troubles that the uber-expensive phones face are because they are created by companies whose main expertise is in targeting a mass market, says Frank Nuovo, former chief of design for Nokia and current head of Vertu.

“I didn’t start this business to soak the phones in diamonds and jewels,” says Nuovo. “The concept is same as a fine watch or a fabulous car. To be a true luxury product, you have to look at making something that doesn’t have an 18-month shelf life.”

True luxury, as Nuovo defines it, doesn’t apply to a mere $2,000 phone: A Vertu device, soaked in platinum, can run up to $70,000. The company’s one-off phones, designed in collaboration with luxury jewels house Boucheron, cost even more.

Nuovo may have inadvertently hit on the real problem with luxury phones: Phones are still a very feature-driven products. They are products where the rapid advances in technology can rend older models obsolete very quickly.

“Phones aren’t like a handbag where the fundamental utility remains the same and the design changes all the time,” says Greengart.

But Nuovo isn’t convinced. “Take watches and cars,” he says. “They all run the same but everyone has a unique way of delivering them stylistically. We can do the same with phones.”

Despite the bumps on the road now, Nuovo says the luxury phones will bounce back and find an audience. “It is no different than a fine watch or a car,” he says. “If you take people who value something that is made extraordinarily well there will always be a group interested in it.”

Vertu is determined to prove that. It will launch its latest handset the Carbon Fibre Ascent Ti in August. The phone is made of high-gloss carbon fiber and has a sandblasted titanium surface. The price tag? $9,800.

Opposites attract — how genetics influences humans to choose their mates

2009-05-27T09:06:00.000-07:00

Opposites attract — how genetics influences humans to choose their mates

Vienna, Austria: New light has been thrown on how humans choose their partners, a scientist will tell the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today (Monday May 25). Professor Maria da Graça Bicalho, head of the Immunogenetics and Histocompatibility Laboratory at the University of Parana, Brazil, says that her research had shown that people with diverse major histocompatibility complexes (MHCs) were more likely to choose each other as mates than those whose MHCs were similar, and that this was likely to be an evolutionary strategy to ensure healthy reproduction.

Females’ preference for MHC dissimilar mates has been shown in many vertebrate species, including humans, and it is also known that MHC influences mating selection by preferences for particular body odours. The Brazilian team has been working in this field since 1998, and decided to investigate mate selection in the Brazilian population, while trying to uncover the biological significance of MHC diversity.

The scientists studied MHC data from 90 married couples, and compared them with 152 randomly-generated control couples. They counted the number of MHC dissimilarities among those who were real couples, and compared them with those in the randomly-generated ‘virtual couples’. “If MHC genes did not influence mate selection”, says Professor Bicalho, “we would have expected to see similar results from both sets of couples. But we found that the real partners had significantly more MHC dissimilarities than we could have expected to find simply by chance.”

Within MHC-dissimilar couples the partners will be genetically different, and such a pattern of mate choice decreases the danger of endogamy (mating among relatives) and increases the genetic variability of offspring. Genetic variability is known to be an advantage for offspring, and the MHC effect could be an evolutionary strategy underlying incest avoidance in humans and also improving the efficiency of the immune system, the scientists say.

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The MHC is a large genetic region situated on chromosome 6, and found in most vertebrates. It plays an important role in the immune system and also in reproductive success. Apart from being a large region, it is also an extraordinarily diverse one.

“Although it may be tempting to think that humans choose their partners because of their similarities”, says Professor Bicalho, “our research has shown clearly that it is differences that make for successful reproduction, and that the subconscious drive to have healthy children is important when choosing a mate.”

The scientists believe that their findings will help understanding of conception, fertility, and gestational failures. Research has already shown that couples with similar MHC genes had longer intervals between births, which could imply early, unperceived miscarriages. “We intend to follow up this work by looking at social and cultural influences as well as biological ones in mate choice, and relating these to the genetic diversity of the extended MHC region”, says Professor Bicalho.

“We expect to find that cultural aspects play an important role in mate choice, and certainly do not subscribe to the theory that if a person bears a particular genetic variant it will determine his or her behaviour. But we also think that the unconscious evolutionary aspect of partner choice should not be overlooked. We believe our research shows that this has an important role to play in ensuring healthy reproduction, by helping to ensure that children are born with a strong immune system better able to cope with infection.”

Diamonds pile up worldwide as consumers finally realize their worthlessness.

2009-05-15T14:05:00.001-07:00

Diamonds pile up worldwide as consumers finally realize their worthlessness.

By ANDREW E. KRAMER May 11, 2009

——————————-

Each day, the contents of the bags spill into the stainless steel hoppers of the receiving room. The diamonds are washed and sorted by size, clarity, shape and quality; then, rather than being sent to be sold around the world, they are wrapped in paper and whisked away to a vault — about three million carats worth of gems every month.

“Each one of them is so unusual,” said Irina V. Tkachuk, one of the few hundred people, mostly women, employed to sort the diamonds, who sees thousands of them every day.

“I’m not a robot. I sometimes think to myself ‘wow, what a pretty diamond. I would like that one.’ They are all so beautiful.”

It could be years before another woman admires that stone. Russia quietly passed a milestone this year: surpassing De Beers as the world’s largest diamond producer. But the global market for diamonds is so dismal that the Alrosa diamond company, 90 percent owned by the Russian government, has not sold a rough stone on the open market since December, and has stockpiled them instead.

As a result, Russia has become the arbiter of global diamond prices. Its decisions on production and sales will determine the value of diamonds on rings and in jewelry stores for years to come, in one of the most surprising consequences of this recession.

Largely because of the jewelry bear market, De Beers’s fortunes have sunk. Short of cash, the company had to raise $800 million from stockholders in just the last six months.

The recession also coincided with a settlement with European Union antitrust authorities that ended a longtime De Beers policy of stockpiling diamonds, in cooperation with Alrosa, to keep prices up.

Though it is a major commodity producer, Russia has traditionally not embraced policies that artificially keep prices up. In oil, for example, Russia benefits from the oil cartel’s cuts in production, but does not participate in them.

Diamonds are an exception. “If you don’t support the price,” Andrei V. Polyakov, a spokesman for Alrosa, said, “a diamond becomes a mere piece of carbon.”

In an attempt to carefully calibrate its re-entry on the global market, without forcing prices still lower, Russia is relying on two things: the Soviet-era precious gem depository — created to hold jewelry confiscated from the aristocracy after the 1917 revolution — and capitalist investors, whom Alrosa hopes will buy diamonds as an investment, like gold.

Russia is taking a leadership role in other ways, too.

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Sergei Vybornov, Alrosa’s chief executive, said that he had helped persuade the central bank of Angola — which, like Russia, is still relatively flush with oil money — to buy 30 percent of the production of Angola’s diamond mines, keeping these stones off the market.

And last fall, Alrosa began what it called the St. Petersburg Initiative, along with De Beers and other large producers, to invest collectively in generic diamond advertising, akin to De Beers’s promotion of the slogan “Diamonds are forever.” Russia assumed the task as De Beers has principally shifted to promoting its own branded gems.

Still, it is a precarious time for the Russian diamond company to assume leadership of the industry.

Until last year, De Beers produced about 40 percent of the global rough stone supply, and Alrosa 25 percent. But De Beers, which is prohibited under its European Union antitrust agreement from stockpiling, closed mines in response to the glut in rough stones. Russia is loath to do that, as authorities in Moscow, gravely concerned about potential unrest by disgruntled unemployed workers, try to keep workers on the payroll.

In the first quarter, De Beers reduced output by 91 percent compared with the previous year. The diversified mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton also curbed production.

Meanwhile, the market for wholesale polished diamonds, worth about $21.5 billion, is expected to fall to about $12 billion in 2009, according to Polished Prices, an analytical service for the industry.

Rough diamond prices have fallen even more, as much as 75 percent since their peak last July at some auctions.

The two markets are distinct. Typically, about 60 percent of a rough diamond is lost as dust or shavings in the cutting process.

Mr. Vybornov blames diamond traders who pledged diamond stocks as loan collateral for part of the world glut. When credit dried up last fall, banks and other creditors seized those gems and sold them, he says, flooding the market. By December, his company decided to withdraw entirely from the market rather than further erode prices.

Russia historically remained mostly a behind-the-scenes player, perhaps because Soviet authorities would have had to perform some ideological gymnastics to promote a product consumed principally by the rich of the capitalist world.

Instead, twisting politics, the Soviets concluded a semisecret agreement with apartheid-era De Beers to sell Siberian diamonds in a way that would not undercut the market.

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After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian diamond industry created a formal alliance with De Beers, selling the South African company half of each year’s production at a discount intended to subsidize De Beers’s generic diamond advertising undertaken in the 1990s, mostly in the United States.

Now, the Russians are in the driver’s seat.

Charles Wyndham, a former De Beers evaluator and co-founder of Polished Prices, said Russia had thus far managed the transition well: withholding gems to make more money in the long run rather than further depressing the market.

“Whatever one wants to say about the Russians, they certainly aren’t stupid,” Mr. Wyndham said.

Alrosa is seeking to jump-start demand by selling gems under long-term contracts to wholesale buyers in Belgium, Israel, India and elsewhere. Under these contracts, six of which have been signed, prices are set at a midpoint between the peak last August and this winter, and fixed for a period of several years.

“A diamond ring should not cost $100,” Mr. Vybornov said. “We don’t want that type of client.”

Alrosa is also working with a Moscow investment bank, Leader, a subsidiary of the Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom, to market diamonds to investors. Under the plan, investors would buy diamonds but the gems would not be released to jewelers for several years.

It is a program, essentially, of outsourcing the stockpiling function to investors in exchange for the chance to profit from a possible recovery in the market.

At one of Alrosa’s cutting shops in one of Moscow’s outer districts, Aleksandr A. Malinin, an adviser to the president of Alrosa, showed a typical collection that might become the basis for such an investment vehicle.

The gems fit in a felt box about the size of a laptop computer.

The larger stones, a circular-cut 10 carat flawless white and a princess-cut yellow, were estimated at about $400,000. The smaller ones ranged from $16,000 to $100,000. But the value of the box, while surely several million dollars, is something of a mystery just now given the depressed market.

How the buy-in price for the stones will be set, and how the company will determine when the price goes up and down, is unclear, Mr. Malinin said.

“We have to tell people that diamonds are valuable,” he said. “We are trying to maintain the price, just as De Beers did, as all diamond producing countries do. But what we are doing is selling an illusion,” meaning a product with no utility and a price that depends on the continued sense of scarcity where there is none.

At the Alrosa unit that receives diamonds, called the United Selling Organization, where about 90 percent of the output of the Siberian mines arrives for processing, Elena V. Kapustkina pours about 45,000 carats of diamonds though a stainless steel sieve every day to sort them by size.

“It’s just a job,” she said.

When asked whether diamonds had lost their romance for her, Ms. Kapustkina paused, looked down at the pile of gems on her table and blushed.

In fact, she said, her husband, a truck driver, gave her a half-carat ring 22 years ago. “Of course I love it,” she said. “It’s from my husband.”

Nearly one in three US homeowners owe more on mortgage than their home is worth

2009-05-07T10:45:00.001-07:00

May 7, 2009 | 10:39 AM

The downturn in home prices has left about 20% of U.S. homeowners owing more on a mortgage than their homes are worth, according to one new study, signaling additional challenges to the Obama administration’s efforts to stabilize the housing market.

The increase in the number of such “underwater” borrowers comes amid signs that falling prices are making homes more affordable for first-time buyers and others who have been shut out of the housing market. But falling prices also make it more difficult for homeowners who get into financial trouble to refinance or sell their homes, and for others to take advantage of lower interest rates.

For instance, fewer will qualify to take advantage of a key component of the Obama administration’s plan to stabilize the housing market. Under the plan, announced in February, as many as five million homeowners whose loans are owned or guaranteed by government-controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can refinance their mortgages, but only if the mortgage loan is a maximum of 105% of the home’s value.

Government officials are considering an increase in that limit. “It’s a question that we’re looking at,” said James Lockhart, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie and Freddie.

Real-estate Web site Zillow.com said that overall, the number of borrowers who are underwater climbed to 20.4 million at the end of the first quarter from 16.3 million at the end of the fourth quarter. The latest figure represents 21.9% of all homeowners, according to Zillow, up from 17.6% in the fourth quarter and 14.3% in the third quarter.

“What’s going on here is that you don’t have any markets that have turned around and you have new markets, like Dallas, that have joined the ranks” of communities where home prices have fallen, said Stan Humphries, a Zillow.com vice president.

Borrowers who owe far more than their home is worth may also be less likely to participate in another part of the government’s housing plan, which provides incentives for mortgage companies to modify loans to make payments more affordable. Thomas Lawler, an independent housing economist, said borrowers who owe 30% more than their homes are worth are far more likely to walk away from their property than those who owe just 5% or 10% more and expect prices to rebound. More than one in 10 borrowers with a mortgage owed 110% or more of their home’s value at the end of last year, according to First American CoreLogic.

There are some recent indications that the housing market could be beginning to stabilize. The National Association of Realtors pending home-sales index, for instance, increased 3.2% in March.

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Just how many borrowers are underwater is a matter of some dispute, with the answer depending in part on assumptions regarding home values and mortgage debt outstanding. Variations in home-price estimates can make a major difference in the number of borrowers who are underwater. In addition, borrowers who are already in the foreclosure process may be counted as being underwater if the title to their property hasn’t changed hands.

Kenneth Rosen, chairman of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, said underwater estimates can be too high if they use price data that includes a large number of foreclosures. Foreclosed homes tend to sell at a discount, he said, making it appear that prices have fallen more than they actually have.

Moody’s Economy.com estimates that of 78.2 million owner-occupied single-family homes, 14.8 million borrowers, or 19%, owed more than their homes were worth at the end of the first quarter, up from 13.6 million at the end of last year.

Part of the reason Zillow’s numbers are higher may be that it looks at mortgage debt taken out at the time the home was purchased and doesn’t adjust for any payments since made toward the outstanding mortgage balance. It also assumes that borrowers who took out home-equity lines of credit at the time of purchase have fully tapped the amount they can borrow. That approach can overstate the portion of borrowers who are underwater, Mr. Zandi said.

Mr. Humphries of Zillow calls his methodology conservative and said Zillow’s use of pricing for individual homes provides a better measure of home valuations than Mr. Zandi’s approach, which relies on market-level estimates of home values. He adds that Zillow doesn’t include foreclosures in its pricing models.

Write to Ruth Simon at ruth.simon@wsj.com and James R. Hagerty at bob.hagerty@wsj.com

Ripoff Report

2006-10-19T22:54:00.000-07:00

I filed a ripoff report about Kevins Staircasing of Naples by the way. :)

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff216735.htm

Kevins Staircasing

2006-10-19T22:24:00.000-07:00

I'd like to take this time and call out a Naples Company called "Kevins Staircasing". They owe us $11,000 and also owe another company we are affiliated with $30,000.

This company does HORRID woodworking and steals from everyone they can. If you have ever been screwed by this company, please post your story. I know of 7 people total that have been on the bad end of a deal with this company.

Just remember, if you ever come across this guy, stay far away and lock up your belongings, he is no better than the common thief.

The Dunes Job / Cherry Panels

2006-10-19T22:23:00.000-07:00

Well, the job is finally done. I have posted pictures here: http://jwpincorporated.com/thedunes.html

The job was split between our company and another company. The other company totally RUINED their half of the job. The finish work they did feels like sandpaper. Oh well.

=\

hmm

2006-09-19T14:09:00.000-07:00

No posts here in a long time, been real busy. I will try to come back and start making some more posts about the cabinets and millwork that are being done. Right now we are working on some crown moulding and have a few cabinets coming up right after this. The cherry wall panels are finally done.

Also, just so Google is able to find one of my new domains: Dell Laptop Deals
=P

Deals

2006-08-21T10:14:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a new site. The site is http://www.dealhackers.com/
It's going to be daily feeds of good deals. There will be RSS feeds and also user submissions.

Can anyone read this?

2006-08-10T18:27:00.000-07:00

http://cabinets.wordpress.com/
WTF does that say? Anyone?
lol

signed up at flickr

2006-08-10T15:47:00.000-07:00

I went ahead and signed up at flickr. Maybe later I will upload some more cabinet pictures. I already got one up> cabinet pics

Also, I will upload a bunch new pics tonight to the website I think...

oh my

2006-08-07T23:51:00.000-07:00

Didn't I say we were all done with the cherry panels? Pretty sure I did!
NOPE! NOT YET!
Another load came in today, this is getting very annoying. And we ran out of topcoat today, gonna be a few days till that gets here. fun fun...

Sun...

2006-08-07T00:13:00.000-07:00

I didn't work on the crown today, it was a lazy Sunday =D
But, I did start working on a new site. It's not live yet, but will be located here:
Naples Web Designs

Bedtime...

Back in town...

2006-08-06T00:32:00.000-07:00

I had to run out of town for my boss today, I'm finally back. I also didnt get to finish up that crown moulding, so it's going to be a long Sunday. I worked on the http://cabinets.be site also. I'm going to bed now, it's after 3am!

Ah, I have been really busy

2006-08-04T23:07:00.000-07:00

So, finally finished up those cherry wall panels today. But the guy owes my boss $12,000 and saying he doesnt have the money, so this could get interesting =o

Also, I have made a few sites for JWP, pretty much sites to cater to specific towns we operate in. I now have Fort Myers Cabinets. Obviously, this site serves the Fort Myers area.

I also have:

Cabinets

Kitchen Cabinets

But I'm not sure what town they will be targeting just yet, I will figure it out soon.

Other than that, we have some crown moulding that I have to work on this weekend, no cabinets or big jobs at the moment. I will write again this weekend.

Hello

2006-07-28T06:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I have not written in here for a few days now, I am still working on these cherry panels with no end in sight. Every time I think we are done with the job, another batch comes in. I can't wait till this job is over! Thats really all we have been doing with the exception of some little odds and ends.

Actually, we are finally getting the showroom together, getting it all drywalled and ready to go. I will take some pictures of it later tonight maybe. Thats all for now.

BAHHHH, MORE PANELS!

2006-07-21T00:23:00.000-07:00

So today we had more panels come in. Tomorrow there is another batch coming in I think. This job really needs to be over, working on these cherry panels is getting VERY boring. =|

2006-07-18T18:16:00.000-07:00

We got another batch of cherry panels in today. I got them pre-sealed twice, stained, sealed, stained, sealed, stained, and finally sealed. Now tomorrow I just have to top-coat them. I'm tired, going home now...

More cherry wall panels...

2006-07-17T12:14:00.000-07:00

Today we are finishing up the last two cherry wall panels. They are the biggest of the 6 we had in the shop. Tomorrow, there should be another batch coming in.

These last two panels were in really bad shape, even worse than the previous 4 panels. Oh well, I just finish them, I dont mill the wood. It's always nice to get good quality cabinets and millwork though. It kinda sucks to work on cabinets that are built so bad, no matter what you do, it's never going to look very good. =[

Cherry Wall Panels...

2006-07-15T16:17:00.000-07:00

On Friday we got in a bunch on cherry wall panels. The wood is garbage(as usual), thus making my job much harder. I got two finished on Friday and will do two more tomorrow(Sunday). Then do the last two on Monday so they can all get shipped out on Tuesday. Will post pics when I get home.

White Cabinets / High Gloss Finish

2006-07-09T12:32:00.000-07:00

O.K. so we got a few more pieces of the cabinet in today that were left behind. So thats what I'm working on today, finishing up those last parts. There is also an antique cabinet that we are refinishing. I have to give that antique cabinet a final coat of paint before it's top coated.

Thats all for now.

Ash Table Legs.

2006-07-08T10:12:00.000-07:00

This is a small job we got in today, I will try and knock it out by tomorrow. It's the weekend so I dont know if I will finish it or not, maybe I will wait till Monday.

There are three of them and they each get plexiglass inserts to make them stand up correctly. After they are done I will take another picture.

White Cabinets / High Gloss Finish

2006-07-08T10:01:00.000-07:00

So today I will finish up this job finally. I have been working on it all week. It's a set of cabinets painted white with a high gloss topcoat. It could have been a great looking job except the millwork and quality of the wood is very poor to say the least. When you have a high gloss finish, the wood needs to be perfect, otherwise all the dings and dents and grain will stick out like a sore thumb. Oh well, at least it's over with. I hate working on cabinets or furniture that have been made with poor wood and craftsmanship. It really kills the mood.
I will post some pictures of them later on maybe.

This is my first blog post and I need to figure out how to upload pictures and that kinda stuff. You can check out our company webpages though if you want...

Custom Cabinets
JWP