Clubbing Subloaded Eighth Birthday

DJ Pinch's motto is "If your chest ain't rattling, it ain't happening", and Subloaded is where that principle reaches its logical conclusion. It's as much about the physical effects of low frequencies at volume – soothing, punishing, tenderising – as it is about music. Celebrating its eighth birthday on Saturday, Subloaded was Bristol's original dubstep night and, while it admits a wider variety of beats these days, its bass fixation remains.

Released early this year, Pinch's mix compilation for Fabriclive embraced techno, electro, UK funky and even experimental music without sacrificing any of the eyes-down intensity you'd expect from the best dubstep. Undoubtedly one of Bristol's all-time great selectors in any genre, he's joined tonight by a fantastic line-up of local, national and international talent. Some of these will be familiar to most, not least Addison Groove, whose infectious re-tooling of Chicago juke and footwork on 2010's Footcrab signalled a sea change in UK bass music. The other big name here is Distance, whose take-no-prisoners industrial take on dubstep has made him one of the genre's most distinctive producers for many years.

Further down the bill is Kahn, whose releases for labels like Bandulu, Soul Motive and Punch Drunk have marked him out as a Bristol producer to watch – equally adept at turning out meditative head-nodders and frothy garage anthems.

As always, roots and dub reggae will provide a perfect compliment in Room Two – with Passion Radio and Dubkasm selector DJ Stryda leading the charge. Previous Subloaded dances have been held at established venues like The Black Swan and Motion, but this one is at Exchange, a brand new three-room party warren on Old Market run by the team from The Croft. This should be the perfect test for its acoustics. Let's hope the foundations are sound too.

Nifco UK won the coveted Processor of the Year trophy, with PIA judges commenting on its “new and impressive state-of-the-art” manufacturing facility, adding the firm was a “shining example of success in the domestic automotive industry”, and noting ambitious plans which were already in place for a new site alongside the company’s recently-opened plant.

Other award recipients included designers of a scaffolding board that is both safer than the traditional wooden variety and is made from 100% recycled plastic and producers of a recycled polymer derived from old refrigerators and used in a High Street retailer’s ‘green’ gift range.

Industry veteran Gerry Moore picked up the Personal Contribution Award to the Plastics Industry for his long-standing commitment to the sector.

Guests at the award ceremony heard about collaborations between all parts of the plastics supply chain which had resulted in energy efficiencies, reduced waste, improved safety and higher profitability.

PRW publisher Steve Crowhurst said: “Once again we received a really high standard of entries from companies and individuals whose expertise and vision have helped to develop products which push the boundaries of what can be achieved in manufacturing.

“It was a really uplifting evening, which celebrated the versatility of plastics and the innovation driving our industry forward. The winners are to be congratulated on their achievements.”

2013 Audi A3 Sportback

Audi has released a ton of photos and information regarding its new 2013 Audi A3 Sportback and we have it all here for you.

The newest five door from Audi features a new sleek design while retaining all of its Audi-ness. The sharp edges and corporate face, replete with obligatory LED DRLs, remind everyone which German brand you prefer, but the kink in towards the top of the lift-gate give the A3 a sporty flair.

To make sure the Audi is fun-to-drive and more fuel efficient, weight has been cut from the already light car by almost 200 pounds. POwering this lightweight are a 1.6-liter diesel, 1.4-liter gas and 1.8-liter gas. Later in the year a new 2.0 liter diesel will debut along with a 1.2-liter gasoline mill. All cars come standard with 6-speed manuals, but have the S tronic automatic as an option.

The design with the three side windows is taut and concentrated, with every detail precise and expressive. The distinguishing element at the front of the vehicle is the distinctive, stone gray single-frame grille with the angled upper corners. The lower edges of the flat headlights taper off at an angle. Audi offers optional xenon plus headlights with LED daytime running lights, with LED headlights to follow somewhat later. Large air intakes up front hint at the power of the engines.

The sharply defined tornado line articulates the flank below the windows and evokes a powerful shoulder. The dynamic line above the side sills runs upward toward the rear.

The tautly curved surfaces, the large, precisely defined wheel wells, the relatively narrow, sharply sloping C pillars and the understated roof spoiler underscore the sporty nature of the A3 Sportback, as do the exterior mirrors, which as with a sports car are perched on the doors.

The rear is extremely sculptured, and the split rear lights underscore its width. Audi offers LED rear lights in combination with the xenon plus headlights; LED light conductors appear to form a continuous arch. The adaptive brake light, which pulses at high frequency during hard braking, is standard. A sharp crease sets off the diffuser. Depending on the engine, the exhaust system terminates in one or two tailpipes on the left side of the car.

High-end components of hot-shaped steel in the occupant cell form a strong, yet lightweight structure. They comprise a large portion of the body and are a major factor behind the weight savings of 37 kilograms (81.57 lb) in the occupant cell. High- and ultra-high-strength steels are used in many other areas. The engine hood, the fenders, the profile behind the front bumper and the subframe for the front axle are made of aluminum. Together they save roughly 12 kilograms (26.46 lb) and thus improve axle load distribution.

The body of the Audi A3 Sportback is extremely stiff and quiet, as components such as a noise-insulating windshield reduce interior noise levels. Thanks to extensive fine-tuning that also included the engine compartment and the underbody, the coefficient of drag is just 0.30. Passive safety is also top-notch. In the event of a collision with a pedestrian, a pyrotechnic element at the back of the engine hood raises it several centimeters to cushion the impact.

The interior of the new A3 Sportback is marked by an elegant, clean and light design. Lines and surfaces are sinuously taut. A long arch runs below the windshield in the style of the large Audi models. The instrument panel with its curved front is lean and low. It and the center console, which is angled slightly toward the driver, appear to hover, evoking a sense of freedom behind the wheel.

The intuitively clean ergonomics are a classic Audi strength. The MMI operating system with the power-retractable monitor is available with the MMI radio and above. Its terminal is located on the console of the center tunnel, which is flanked by high knee pads. A button for the electromechanical parking brake replaces the handbrake lever – another solution from the Audi full-size class.

The driver seats at an elegant steering wheel. Depending on the version, it has three or four spokes, a flat-bottomed rim, multifunction buttons and shift paddles. The large dial instruments can be easily read at a glance. The newly developed front seats offer outstanding body guidance and support. Sport seats are available as an option (standard with Ambition).

Thanks to the 58 millimeters (2.28 in) by which the wheelbase has grown, the A3 Sportback offers ample rear seat space and easy access for three adults. The A3 Sportback also offers several millimeters more head and leg room than its predecessor.

The interior of the new A3 Sportback conveys the luxurious look and feel of the full-size class. The sculpted inlays are just one of the highlights. Audi offers a choice of Aluminum Mistral or the 3D-design “Optic” inlays (standard with Ambiente) as options. This top-of-the-line version is manufactured in a complex process to produce a glass-like appearance with intense depth.

The four large, round air nozzles in a jet design are additional examples of the aesthetics of technology. The stream of air can be adjusted between a diffuse and a targeted flow by tapping and pulling on the center axis.

The control unit for the optional deluxe automatic air conditioning is mounted on a black, piano-finish fascia. The instrument cluster fascia is also black. Many control elements are optionally available in an aluminum-look finish, and the interior lighting package (standard with Ambiente) includes subtle LED lights.

The colors in the interior are matched to the trim line. In the A3 Sportback Attraction, the interior is black or titanium gray; the interior of the sporty Ambition line is either all black or black with additional silver, blue or yellow contrasting elements. The two-color Audi design selection capri orange, an exclusive suggestion of the Audi designers, provides access to the world of youthful colors. The colors pashmina beige and chestnut brown are available with the luxurious Ambiente trim line.

Journey to jewelry takes millions of years and dollars

Work has stopped at Barrick Gold Corp.'s Cortez Hills mine, a part of the company's 1,000-square-mile Cortez gold mine in Northern Nevada. Sirens echo across the open pit, warning employees to get out. Bruce Krajewski, a blaster for Barrick, opens a small, red detonation box he has set in a berm of dirt and rock, high above the 1,500-foot-deep pit.

The countdown ends, and Krajewski detonates the charge. Puffs of dust shoot 60 feet into the air with a pop. A shelf of rock near the pit's bottom groans, then slumps with a rumble.

It's another day in the life of Barrick's Cortez, the world's second-largest gold mine. Cortez produced 1.42 million ounces of the precious metal in 2011, and is on course to yield as much as 1.25 million ounces in 2012. With a fresh pile of ore in the pit's bottom, miners are set to add a few ounces to the year's tally.

It took eons of roiling geological forces, eight years of permitting, more than $600 million in development and construction costs and three years of lawsuits to set off today's blast. The explosion freed microscopic gold from earth that has held it for hundreds of millions of years. In a few short weeks, that gold will join the world's multibillion-dollar-a-day gold trade.

The blast is a brief but crucial chapter in the story of Nevada's gold.

Our story begins on a sere hillside 75 miles southwest of Elko. There, under rolling acres of sun-scorched wild cabbage and squat juniper shrubs, lies earth laced with precious metals. An inexperienced visitor sees barren desert; a geologist spots rock formations that hint at metal-forging tectonic events.

"If you're looking for gold, you're looking at structure," says Mark Bradley, Barrick's acting chief exploration geologist. "You're trying to unravel the structural pictures of the land."

Fiery volcanic eruptions, heaving fault lines pushing up shelves of rock, miles of now-extinct seas - all combined 350 million years ago, about 100 million years before dinosaurs stalked the planet, to draw boiling water into subterranean cavities.

Thanks to a few chemical reactions, gold formed and concentrated in the water. As the fluid cooled and receded, it deposited gold on rocks below ground and left chunky, distinctive outcroppings above. These clusters of deformed rocks, called breccia bodies, ripple across Northern Nevada, and they've made the region one of the world's most productive gold-mining districts for the better part of 150 years.

That's why this countryside crawls with Barrick workers and contractors one August morning. They're involved in exploration, the first step in getting Nevada's gold to market.

Barrick will spend a company-record $200 million to $220 million in 2012 to explore North American ore veins, mostly in Nevada. It's an investment made possible by today's gold prices. Gold averaged $1,572 an ounce in 2011 and surged toward $1,800 an ounce in mid-September, up from just $280 in 2000.

Those big price gains are credited to a 1999 agreement among central banks to shore up gold by limiting bullion sales, as well as emergence of exchange-traded funds, which make it easier for individual investors to buy.

Inflation fears in developed countries and rising jewelry sales to growing middle classes in developing countries such as China and India have also driven up demand.

At Barrick's Goldrush operation, also at Cortez, earthmovers level hillsides for exploratory drill pads. On the western edge of Red Hill, 100 Barrick employees and 200 contractors prepare the 50-acre exploration site and work on a dozen drill rigs, boring down more than 1,000 feet - about twice the height of the Eiffel Tower copy at Paris Las Vegas - to collect samples that will allow tests of just how rich Goldrush is.

It takes half an hour to drill five feet, so core sampling can take days or weeks. The three-foot limestone segments that come out of the ground look like charcoal or graphite, with no visible gold. It's a far cry from Nevada's original Gold Rush, in the 1860s and '70s, when prospectors found nuggets in bedrock.

Today's miners move mountains to extract microscopic bits recognizable as gold only in the assay lab. Barrick will use those lab reports to peg gold percentages and map the best places to mine.

High-quality ore could contain an ounce or more of gold per ton. Lower-grade ore might hold less than a tenth of an ounce per ton. In its earliest stages, Goldrush has shown both extremes and everything in between.

Barrick will explore for two years at Goldrush and develop a mine plan. Then it will complete an environmental impact statement with the Bureau of Land Management, which owns the property. It'll take up to 10 years and tens of millions of dollars to finish the statement and get mining permits. Lawsuits, like the one the Shoshone tribe filed over Cortez Hills' environmental-impact process in 2008, could add millions more.

Much about Goldrush is up in the air. Until assays reveal what the ground holds, Barrick officials can't say whether the mine will be underground or open pit, how much land the digging will cover or even how many ounces of gold actually lay underground. But as of late 2011, the company was looking at potential resources of 7 million ounces at Goldrush.

Barrick com-munications director Lou Schack says the company is "generally very conservative" in its modeling. Officials don't want to say an ore body has 10 million ounces when it really has only 5 million.

HTC’s 8X and 8S Are ‘Windows Phone’s Best Shot’

Inside One & Co’s brightly lit San Francisco office, Scott Croyle points out the products that he and his team have had a hand in designing. The items line three shelves: There’s Microsoft’s award-winning Arc Touch mouse, nearly half a dozen K2 Snowboard boots, a couple of Nike sports watches, and at the end of the middle shelf, an assortment of HTC phones. The Taiwanese hardware manufacturer acquired One & Co in October 2008, and since 2011, Croyle has been the VP of Design for HTC. And right now he wants to show off something new: the 8X and 8S, HTC’s debut Windows Phone 8 devices.

The two phones are stunners. The 8X’s polycarbonate unibody wraps around to a curved 4.3-inch Gorilla Glass display. The corners are slightly rounded, so that the device looks rectangular without appearing boxy. The 8S has similar lines, but in a smaller 4-inch package. Both come in an array of bright colors.

“We went in and said, ‘You know what, we haven’t done [Windows Phone] justice,’” Croyle says. “The marketplace hasn’t done it justice. Let’s design something from the ground up thinking of Windows.”

Croyle is forthcoming in calling out other companies out for what he sees as lackluster hardware design. “[The current phones] are either kind of big or they’re clunky or they are designs that come from a previous era — even some of the products that were launched in the last few weeks,” he says. “Lumia, what you saw that come from was the N9. It’s not like it was designed for Windows; it was designed for something else.”

“Or [companies] are using the same design as for Android. They’ll just squeeze in that Metro design language on top of an Android phone which creates a lot of tension,” adds Claude Zellweger, Principal and co-founder of One & Co.

Nokia had been very public about Samsung’s device being a “warm-up act” to its Lumia Windows Phone announcement in early September. The Lumia 920 has so far received a lot of praise (albeit the company got caught faking an advertising video). But now, HTC wants to show which device is truly Windows Phone 8′s main act.

“I can tell you, just based on the response from Microsoft and carrier partners globally and domestically, this is our best shot,” Croyle says. “This is Windows Phone’s best shot to really make a big statement in the market.”

While hardware specs for hardware specs’ sake certainly won’t get any company ahead in the smartphone market, the marriage between hardware and software will. And HTC’s design team is well aware of this.

“We do see on the hardware spec side there’s certain leveling in the industry,” says Zellweger. “That makes the design even more important. What you hold in your hand becomes the big differentiator aside from software. So certainly wanting to have a design that caters to the software, having that synergy between the two, it’s what makes all the difference.”

The results are two very light and thin phones that feature curved backs where the edges are the thinnest parts of the devices. And there are some decent specs, too. The 8X has a 1.5Ghz Qualcomm dual-core processor, the same 8MP camera found in HTC’s One series phones, an impressive front-facing camera and Beats Audio. And the phones both feel as good as they look, with soft, matte polycarbonate shells that HTC calls “Pillow Design.”

“It starts with this idea of the tiles,” Croyle says. “How can you actually take that 2-D tile and add a third dimension to it and make it into a product? That was really the inspiration, keeping it pure, pure, pure.”

But to get there, the team had to start from scratch. The various molds and sketches on display show how meticulous HTC had be in order to develop a phone that stands above the rest in design. Everything down to the receiver accents and shape that give the 8X and 8S their distinctive looks went through hundreds of iterations.

“It’s about cleanliness,” Zellweger says. “It’s a very reductionist kind of approach that Microsoft has pursued, so we wanted our design to have the same philosophy.”

One of the biggest challenges the team faced was reengineering the phone’s internals to accommodate the Pillow Design back. For example, the batteries for the 8X and 8S sit between the display and circuit board, rather than flush against the back panel.

Zanesville's DMV does business worldwide

Maybe you have never seen or even heard of contact lens handling products.

However, these useful items have been manufactured right here in the community and sold locally, nationally and worldwide for more than five decades.

DMV Corp., at 1024 Military Road, began manufacturing products for inserting and removing contact lenses in 1968. Throughout its history, the company has kept its manufacturing operations local with American-made products. This is a business model that president Robert England, a doctor of optometry, proudly endorses.

"Everything is homemade right here. There is nothing foreign about it," England said. "We use local talent and American materials. Everything is supplied by an Ohio company and manufactured right here in River City."

DMV Corp.'s staff of eight employees work shifts in the lower level of England's optometry practice to press and mold the products and process orders that are bound for 16 time zones around the world. The manufacturing equipment was made in Westerville, the rubber for the products originates from Akron, local people maintain the products and even the boxes that the products are packaged in are supplied by a local print shop, England said.

"Everything is local and American-made. In fact, our European distributors insist that our packaging says "Made in the U.S.A" because of America's reputation for quality medical items," he said. "Our name is synonymous worldwide with quality contact lens handling products."

DMV contact lens removers, inserters and accessories come in handy for individuals who, for a variety of reasons, prefer not to touch their contact lenses or eyeballs. The items provide a safe way to remove and insert lenses. The devices are distributed online and through doctors' offices and distributors of contact lens supplies, England said.

"I've received feedback from people who said they have been looking for this these types of products for years. They give them confidence and assurance," he said.

Not only does this unique company have the pride of the "Made in the U.S.A." stamp and a manufacturing base in Zanesville, but its rich history and long run of success go back many years in the community.

England explained that when his father, Dennis England, also an optometrist, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis he began to lose the use of his hands. His assistant Velma Cohagan Higginbotham suggested he take his business on a different path. With the help of his other assistant Mary Jo Persinger and brother Paul England, a local moldmaker, the dream of having a business he could continue to operate became a reality. With the first molds made by Paul England, DMV Corp. was in business.

Since then, the company, whose name was given in honor of those individuals who were instrumental in its creation, has expanded and grown over the decades. From an advertisement placed by Dennis England, a contact lens fitter in Switzerland partnered with DMV to distribute the products in Europe. The company gained recognition for quality assurance through Food and Drug Administration approval and certification for sales in Europe and worldwide, including South America and China.

In 1978, Robert England took over the company operations when his father died. Since then, new products, including those for soft contact lenses, have been developed and several patents have been issued. None of this would be possible without the talented, dedicated staff members, many of whom have been with the DMV for decades, England said.

"We are not flamboyant. We are just here. We have been very blessed and very fortunate to have great staff," he said. "We are a family tradition kind of business. We are like family here."

The contact lens handling products that DMV manufactures are like no others. Comprised of quality materials, they are made to last, England said. Their uses include the removal and insertion of soft and hard contact lenses, hybrid and specialty lens and even artificial eyes. England estimates that half of his business is in countries around the world and half in the United States.

"It's a unique company, and it's nice to know that we are local but also worldwide," England said. "We are happy to be able to provide a safety and convenient product that was developed right here in Zanesville by my father."

School in for Assistant Randy Moss

Fifteen months ago, 49ers advanced receiver Randy Moss formed as a advance abettor football drillmaster at DuPont Middle Academy abreast his hometown of Rand.

It was just a few weeks afore he appear what became a one-season "retirement" from the NFL and Moss was alleviative his three-week, aboriginal summer gig as if it would be his next calling, recalls then-assistant Tommy Canterbury.

Determined to canyon forth his knowledge, Moss had a sixth-grade quarterback acquainted Cover 2 or Cover 3 schemes afore the snap. Similarly, 13-year-old advanced receivers were accomplished to analyze altered defenses and acclimatize their routes accordingly.

Canterbury, an abettor arch at a adjacent top school, marveled at how Moss presented circuitous concepts in an-easy-to-understand way. And he acclaimed Moss' adeptness to acclaim alter kids who weren't absolutely as affianced after awkward them or adopting his voice.

"The way he batten to the kids, that's what afflicted me added than annihilation he's anytime done on a football field, which is all outstanding and amazing," said Canterbury, who grew up in the area. "Randy would accept been as acceptable a abecedary as he is a football player."

Fifteen months later, Moss, 35, is aback in the NFL, assertive to accomplish his official acknowledgment Sunday if the 49ers appointment Green Bay, but abundant of the chat still involves his adeptness to instruct.

This week, Fox television analyst Tim Ryan, discussing Moss' football acumen, termed him a "freakin' professor." NFL Network analyst Joe Theismann afresh alleged him a "coach on the field." His adolescent 49ers advanced receivers accept agilely followed Moss' advance on capacity alignment from football to exercise (rookie A.J. Jenkins has adopted his pond regimen) to aesthetics (Michael Crabtree: "You can apprentice from a guy like that. You don't accept to change for nobody. All you accept to do is go be yourself.").

Summed up cornerback Perrish Cox, "He's a teacher, all around."

Yes, Moss, whose bouts of dejection and balmy action accept apparent locations of his 13-year, Hall of Fame career, has exceeded all off-the-field expectations. Jim Harbaugh initially asked Moss to sit in the foreground row during abhorrent meetings. Moss has taken the next footfall and accepted tutoring.

Skills still there

Entering his aboriginal bold in 20 months, however, a not-so-insignificant catechism lingers. Can Assistant Moss still academy opposing secondaries?

This anniversary abhorrent coordinator Greg Roman and quarterback Alex Smith absolved any doubts - pointing to Moss' absorbing physique of plan during minicamps and training affected if he commonly gave San Francisco's starting cornerbacks fits.

But those endorsements came with qualifiers.

"Nobody's got a clear ball," Roman said. "Who knows what's traveling to happen?"

Smith accustomed the aberration amid convenance or preseason and allusive games, "It's a amount of all of us just demography that to the bold field."

By design, Moss was about airy during the preseason with the 49ers afraid to acknowledge how they plan to apply him. He had three catches for 24 yards and alone what would accept been a accepted 25-yard bolt forth the amusement adjoin the Texans.

But there were signs that Moss, whose 29 touchdowns of at atomic 50 yards are additional in NFL history alone to Jerry Rice's 36, still inspires fear. Houston's cornerbacks gave him adequate cushions, lining up about abreast Amarillo and backpedaling at the snap. At Denver, three defenders amidst Moss if Smith flung a canyon in his administration that fell abridged abysmal downfield.

From abecedarian to big cheese

In the amplitude of a few years, Saskia Thornton has gone from university apprentice to the big cheese at DIY aliment kit aggregation Mad Millie.

Thornton, 25, was beginning out of university with a business amount if her partner's dad, Peter Eastwood, offered her a summer job researching cheese-making with a appearance to accretion the artefact ambit at his homebrew business, imake.

Eastwood had run imake, aforetime Brewcraft, for 30-odd years with acquaintance Hamish Dowell, accouterment ample aliment to the homebrew market.

A amend of the company's business saw the name change and a plan to tap into the arising bazaar for DIY aliment production. Consumers were acceptable added clued-up about what was traveling into their aliment and recession resulted in abounding humans aggravating their duke at authoritative artisan foods.

Thornton's assignment over the summer was to apprentice as abundant as she could about cheese-making and analysis the bazaar for additive and accessories kits aimed at the home cheese-maker.

Her acting job angry abiding if she was answerable with developing and ablution a ambit of cheese-making kits.

She completed cheese-making courses, activated recipes, wrote up instructions, sourced capacity and accessories and roped in ancestors and accompany to analysis ancestor kits.

The Mad Millie name is a nod to Eastwood's aged aunt who had an attraction with bootleg aliment and organics able-bodied afore they became trendy.

Thornton's analysis appear that a above affair for anyone aggravating to accomplish cheese at home is generally not the abstruse side, but accepting capacity and equipment, as suppliers advertise basic ingredients, such as cultures and rennet, in bartering quantities.

Before ablution Mad Millie, Thornton says it had never beyond her apperception to accomplish cheese from blemish at home.

"Because I had no abstraction about cheese-making if I was developing all the kits I came from absolutely a acceptable standpoint because I was accomplishing as a lot of humans would be accomplishing it who acclimated the kits as a beginner."

The antecedent barrage of 200 kits awash out so fast that imake was larboard scrambling to alter the components.

The kits are accumulated in New Zealand with the assorted items advancing from about the world: plasticware and thermometers from China, moulds from Italy, cultures from Europe and rennet from New Zealand.

Mad Millie celebrates its additional ceremony this month, accepting awash 55,000 kits back launch.

Turnover in the accomplished banking year was $1.5 actor and Thornton expects that in a brace of years sales of Mad Millie articles will accomplish up 20 per cent of imake's absolute revenue.

In time, the DIY aliment kits, which retail for amid $40 and $180, will aftereffect in the Mad Millie ambit assertive the company's sales figures, says Thornton.

She says the antecedent abstraction with Mad Millie was to accommodate a added female-focused artefact to antithesis the absolute ambit of homebrew beer, wine and alcohol articles awash by imake, but there has been just as abundant absorption a part of men.

Customers abatement into three ample groups, says Thornton: foodies who adulation to agreement with recipes; rural lifestylers; and DIYers who are already authoritative their own homebrew or wine.

Every compound comes with online YouTube apprenticeship and there's aswell a aggregation helpline. Customers aswell about-face to Mad Millie on Facebook and Twitter for answers to cheese-making dilemmas or just to appearance off their creations.

The Mad Millie ambit has now developed to cover attention kits and a just-launched sausage-making kit.

Also growing is the amount of countries in which the Mad Millie kits are available. Australia, area imake already has a warehouse, was a accustomed addendum for the Mad Millie brand, and Thornton is aiming to consign to North America and Britain in the abreast future.

She says a advance into the US will focus on the allowance market, with a single, beautifully boxed kit, which she will appearance at a allowance fair in Chicago next March.

"There are a few competitors in the US but they aren't actual able-bodied marketed, they're actual baby calibration and the presentation isn't abundant and we just feel we could do a lot bigger at it."

Now she is imake's business manager, all this artefact development and advance leaves little time for Thornton to do abundant cheese-making herself, although if she does it's to about-face out some hand-stretched mozzarella.

5 Days at Star Wars Anniversary VI

As anyone who frequents the BSR website knows, endure anniversary was the somewhat anniversary anniversary of all things Star Wars in Orlando, Florida. Drew, Spencer, Brian and I fabricated the 12 hour drive from our homes in Tennessee to The Orange State with no agendas, a ample bulk of snacks, 80 account of Skrillex, and the newest ICP album. I would like to yield this time to point out that abreast from the abridgement of agendas and surplus of snacks, I had little to do with the above audio decisions. I accusation my acquaintance Brian. Brian is the affectionate of guy that is harder to get a apprehend on. I can never adjudge if his accomplishments are advised or argot in cheek. I accusation my disability to adjudicator his motives on his affirmation to bedrock abhorrent eye wear. I accept no abstraction if he absolutely brand searching like an added from the volleyball arena in Top Gun. He ability just anticipate that agitation all the sunglasses that Kanye West didn’t buy is funny. Did I acknowledgment that Brian’s appellation is Hell Yeah? The legends lives on….

Me and my three co-pilots larboard Clarksville, TN all absorbed up on activity alcohol and Funyuns. Prior to our cruise we had blindly called 12 CDs from the abatement bin of our bounded Wal-Mart. Highlights included a bluegrass accolade to Nickelback, Stevie Nicks, Hank Williams Jr, Acceptable Charlotte, Puddle of Mudd and an edited Eminem album. We ample 1 CD for every hour of active time. These were to be the alone antecedent of music for the trip. So why was Skrillex getting played you ask? Because my accompany are assholes and they apperceive that Dub-Step gives me agitation attacks. Brian, getting the acceptable acquaintance that he is, after offered to not play Skrillex the blow of the cruise if I downed the baby canteen of abstract he had acquired from our cafeteria at Cracker Barrel. He would retrieve his canteen of abstract abounding times over the advance of the cruise in an attack to use it as a acceding chip. Because I am crazily stubborn, he still has that bottle.

After 12 hours of audition corruption and 1 coarse Spa visit, we accustomed at our Days Inn / International House of Pancakes. The Days Inn we backward at had an IHOP absorbed to it. Classy. What it didn’t accept was alive electrical sockets or pillows that didn’t suck.

We awoke from our coma with aching backs and dry skin. The baptize in Florida is pointless. It’s meant for animals to reside in. It’s not meant for bodies to bath in or consume. Accomplishing so will accomplish your derma aching and your belly stop. This may be a little too abundant advice for the masses, but the endure affair I wish to do if I’m aggravating to get my Jawa on is down some laxatives and achievement my rectum doesn’t bang alpha itself if I’m searching to see how abundant Willow is charging for his autograph. This happened. Wickett was alone allurement $25. I passed.

Our aboriginal day at the anniversary started off with a huge win for me. Before we even entered the architecture I ran appropriate into Stephen Sansweet. Steven is the babysitter of Racho Obi-Wan and the columnist of the cool accepted Star Wars Vault AND the accessible Star Wars: The Ultimate Activity Figure Collection. We befuddled hands, I thanked him for his work, and connected my journey.

We spent abundant of the aboriginal day pointing and walking aimlessly against things that had alone anytime existed to us on the big screen. After an hour or so of demography pictures and canoeing the over priced merch tables, the 4 of us ventured admiral to watch the Star Wars Comics panel. Authors, artists, and creators spent a little over an hour discussing accessible and advancing belief that will all be accident aural altered time curve of the Star Wars Universe. Dark Horse affairs to barrage a new Star Wars appellation in aboriginal 2013 with all the characters from the aboriginal adventure as the leads. They achievement this will accommodate a acceptable starting point for those not accustomed with the Star Wars comics. For any of those who are borderline about abacus this new book to their hold, Alex Ross will be accomplishing the covers. Just saying.

The additional console we saw covered the data of the Star Wars: The Ultimate Activity Figure Collection: 35 Years of Characters book to be appear this October. Columnist Stephen Sansweet, abutting by his contributors and co-authors, discussed aggregate that went into chief which characters fabricated the book, why, and how they bent what constituted a “new figure”. For those who don’t aggregate activity abstracts this would accept been crazily boring. I begin it crazily interesting. I anticipation I knew activity abstracts and molds. I could not accept been wrong. It appears that alone a scattering of humans can accomplish a active talking and autograph about activity abstracts and abominably for me and my adolescent collectors, those spots accept been taken by Sansweet and friends.

Our endure console of the day was hosted by Timothy Zahn and dealt absolutely with his autograph contributions to the continued universe. Abreast from Brian, the three of us had aught acquaintance with any of Mr. Zahn’s work. After seeing how abounding novels and abbreviate belief Zahn has written, I about acquainted as if I had bootless as a fan. The amphitheater for the console was arranged with humans who knew contest down to the page amount of specific books. Two of which were a brace of alarming twins. Note to twins. We get it. You attending absolutely alike. Stop insisting on accepting the aforementioned haircuts and cutting the aforementioned clothes. If your parents did it to you if you were adolescent that’s different. They were the ones getting jerks. If you abide to do it as an adult, you’re just getting creepy. If I see you cutting the aforementioned dress and shoes, I’m traveling to accept you bath and battery together. That’s your accountability not mine.

Leaving the console I could see that Brian was on billow nine admitting I acquainted as if the force was no best able with this one. How could I accept NOT been apparent to Zahn’s work? Why did my Dad accomplish me watch the movies over and over and not apprehend the books to go forth with them? Oh, because he fabricated me abrasion abbreviate shorts and bang a brawl about instead. But I grew up and chock-full accomplishing those things. Twins could angle to apprentice a affair or two from me.

Wright composites help “fire up” candle craft production

THE PAVESTONE Centre in Coleraine will be able to enhance training for its apprentice craft workers, thanks to moulds supplied by Wright Composites.

The Pavestone Centre is a Northern Trust Health care facility which provides vocational and recreational rehabilitation to people with mental or physical health conditions and offers training in creative crafts, employment and performance skills.

The Centre produce the popular F MacCool candle range which features a product design which is inspired by shapes and shades of the Causeway Coast.

Wright Composites have been able to manufacture x 5 candle “moulds” for the centre, which will allow craft workers to create candles in the Giants Causeway hexagonal stone design whilst gaining knowledge and understanding of manufacturing principles as they train.

Commenting on the opportunity to supply these moulds, Jeff McMullan Business Improvement Manager of Wright Composites said: “Rhoda and her team do really special and amazing work in this Coleraine facility. We are happy to be able to support the Pavestone Centre, we know that the new moulding equipment will help boost candle making productivity for the centre and we hope the enjoyment in learning for the craft workers will be enhanced”.

Pavestone Centre Manager Rhoda Baxter said: ‘It has been very good to make contact with Wright Composites Ltd. I literally turned up on their doorstep with an unusual request and they were able to manufacture custom made equipment for our needs and deliver to our doorstep. They took a great interest in our work.’

Labelled up for having 'Fully Upgraded Moulds' this new one from Italeri looks like an early Dragon model, done in their characteristic grey plastic, along with etched parts for the ends of the trackguards, air intake covers etc and a turned aluminium gun barrel included.  It is essentially a very nice model of the Stug IV and the marking options allow for 4 different finishes, 2 of which are from service in Italy.   For those of you who have seen the new Panzerwrecks book (no 13) there are some excellent photos of the Stug IV in Italy, so that might be a good theatre to set your model in.

Etch parts give parts for the covers on the ends of the trackguards, and the covers for the air intakes so you have a choice of position for those, rather than just having them moulded 'open' on the plastic parts.  There is a plastic gun barrel on the sprues, but I like the inclusion of an turned alumium alternative which is provided.  Side armour is made up from plastic panels rather than etch so is a little over thick, and you might want to use them as patterns to build thinner replacements.  However, the kit overall is cheaper than some alternatives so generally I'd say a good value for money model.