The Iowa Attorney General’s office has introduced a measure to the state Senate designed to protect tenants of mobile-home parks across the state, including the embattled Regency Mobile Home Park just outside of Iowa City.
It lacks the teeth of last year’s failed proposal, but Bill Brauch, assistant to Attorney General Tom Miller, said this proposal stands a better chance of passing the Legislature.
The measure, approved 2-to-1 by a Senate subcommittee on Monday, outlines a set of conditions that would need to be met before a landlord could legitimately terminate or not renew a tenancy, it would require a one-year lease for all mobile-home park tenants, and it would give tenants 14 days — rather than the current three days — to pay rent after receiving a nonpayment notice before they’re evicted.
“We think that this legislation cuts across the board and addresses issues not only at Regency but also other mobile homes that we’ve been made aware of over the years,” said Brauch, also the director of the office’s Consumer Protection Division. “Not just to benefit Regency residents, but also others, and it gives them greater rights.”
Currently, landlords in Iowa don’t have to provide justification for evicting tenants, a departure from 33 other states that require a legitimate reason. The proposal also requires landlords who terminate a lease or deny renewal provide at least 60 days notice, including specific reasoning for the termination. Current law already provides for 60 days written notice, but it does not require justification.
Most mobile-home tenants operate on month-to-month agreements, and Brauch said the year-long leases are necessary because most mobile-home tenants have purchased their mobile homes and rent the space from the mobile-home park. Evicting a mobile-home tenant is akin to evicting a homeowner, and for most of them, moving the unit would be too expensive to be an option, Brauch said.
Mark Patton, executive director of the Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity, said that in some cases, it wouldn’t be possible given the time restraints. A permit is required to move a mobile home.
“The reality is different than a normal tenant; you’ve actually bought this object,” Patton said. “Once it’s parked, the chances of it being moved again are slim to none.”
Some measures of the current proposal are less ambitious than last year’s, and the current one excludes altogether several provisions that the previous bills pushed for. Last year’s legislation would have provided one month to pay an overdue rent before being evicted. It included language that would have required that someone selling a mobile home provide information on debt owed as well as its assessed value. It would have instituted a $500 penalty for a mobile-home retailer that doesn’t obtain a proper title from the county treasurer within 30 days of acquisition.
“We decided, rather than try to resurrect it, to go with a shorter version we thought would have a better chance of being enacted,” Brauch said.
Last year’s bills received intense opposition from the Iowa Manufactured Housing Association, which represents mobile-home park owners across the state. Joe Kelly, the group’s executive vice president, already has come out against the new proposal. He could not be reached for comment Monday.
Johnson County supervisor Janelle Rettig, who’s been following the mobile home issue for years, said last year’s bill already wouldn’t have done enough to address the problems at Regency and other mobile-home parks in the state, although she said anything is better than nothing. Rettig said the underlying problem is that the laws are written in mobile-home park owners’ favor, and the tenants don’t have a lot of protections.
Mobile homes built before 1976 — 17 percent of the nearly 3,000 mobile homes in Johnson County — were not constructed to meet current building codes, Patton said. That means many don’t have egress windows in bedrooms, they have aluminum wiring, which has since been banned because it’s a fire hazard, and they’re collecting molds and mildews as a result of particle board floors, he said.
Patton, who said the current legislation is unlikely to pass, estimates that about three-quarters of the mobile park owners in the state are upstanding companies. The rest, like Carbondale, Colo.-based Regency of Iowa Inc., are not.
“Regency has demonstrated that bad players play rough,” he said.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Eastern Cape to launch auto sector cluster in March
The Eastern Cape will launch a provincial automotive industry cluster in March, with the aim of improving and sustaining the competitiveness of the region as a vehicle manufacturing hub.
The Eastern Cape hosts several automotive component producers, as well as the Mercedes-Benz, General Motors and Volkswagen assembly plants.
The cluster will be a partnership between these assemblers, component suppliers, trade unions and government and will be tasked to drive appropriate programmes to address the challenges facing the sector in the province.
A three-day planning forum in January yielded an initial agenda for the cluster, and identified logistics, skills development, research and development, innovation, automotive tooling, as well as component supplier development and parts localisation as focus areas.
Key competitive challenges for the Eastern Cape relate primarily to the position of the South African automotive sector within the global auto value chain and its distance from key production sites and markets, says Eastern Cape economic development, environment and tourism MEC Mcebisi Jonas.
The Eastern Cape also remains on the periphery of the South African economy, he adds.
This shows in the province’s logistics system which has not sufficiently addressed connectivity of the region to the national economy and which continues to constrain local efforts to improve competitiveness, as well as attract local investment.
This connectivity is critical for the fortunes of the entire Eastern Cape economy – not only the automotive sector, says Jonas.
The reality is also that South Africa’s automotive sector currently operates outside of the key global automotive sector markets, accounting for just over 0.5% of global production volumes, he notes.
Local, regional and continental vehicle demand is currently also insufficient to create competitive economies of scale within the local automotive sector.
This is then also reflected in fairly low levels of local parts content relative to the major automotive economies in the world.
The local industry is also at a disadvantage in terms of cost competitiveness.
The Eastern Cape hosts several automotive component producers, as well as the Mercedes-Benz, General Motors and Volkswagen assembly plants.
The cluster will be a partnership between these assemblers, component suppliers, trade unions and government and will be tasked to drive appropriate programmes to address the challenges facing the sector in the province.
A three-day planning forum in January yielded an initial agenda for the cluster, and identified logistics, skills development, research and development, innovation, automotive tooling, as well as component supplier development and parts localisation as focus areas.
Key competitive challenges for the Eastern Cape relate primarily to the position of the South African automotive sector within the global auto value chain and its distance from key production sites and markets, says Eastern Cape economic development, environment and tourism MEC Mcebisi Jonas.
The Eastern Cape also remains on the periphery of the South African economy, he adds.
This shows in the province’s logistics system which has not sufficiently addressed connectivity of the region to the national economy and which continues to constrain local efforts to improve competitiveness, as well as attract local investment.
This connectivity is critical for the fortunes of the entire Eastern Cape economy – not only the automotive sector, says Jonas.
The reality is also that South Africa’s automotive sector currently operates outside of the key global automotive sector markets, accounting for just over 0.5% of global production volumes, he notes.
Local, regional and continental vehicle demand is currently also insufficient to create competitive economies of scale within the local automotive sector.
This is then also reflected in fairly low levels of local parts content relative to the major automotive economies in the world.
The local industry is also at a disadvantage in terms of cost competitiveness.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Sweep! Boston College Hockey Tops UNH In Overtime
It was another game that could have ended very badly, but at last, BC managed to pull off a weekend sweep for the first time in months.
It's about time we got a few of these close games to go our way. To be fair, BC has been playing much better of late. We didn't play badly against Maine. We had some issues, but had a chance to win both games. We played rather well in both UNH games as well. In a way, the weekends were very similar -- except for the fact that we came out on top this time.
BC once again had Parker Milner in net. He definitely looked better than he did the night before. Let's chalk it up to not having seen the ice in weeks. To be fair, it's also pretty easy to fall asleep a bit when you only face 13 shots or so in a game. Tonight, with the open ice up at UNH's Olympic-sized sheet, UNH got off 33 shots and Milner stopped 31 one of them. Clearly, Milner had a better night. I still have a problem with his positioning (he's no Tim Thomas), and I'm still on the Billet Bandwagon, but I really cannot complain about Milner's game last night.
There was significant improvement in a few areas of concern this weekend. First, the team is doing much, much better getting the puck into the offensive zone. I've noticed a lot of lateral movement going across the line to open up some space for the trailers. It has worked very well. Second, where are all the odd-man rushes that have been killing us the last few months? I could be wrong but I don't think I recall a single clean breakaway or clear 2-on-1 on the entire weekend. This cannot be understated. Our defense has tightened down in general, but when you aren't allowing multiple high-percentage opportunities, that is a clear recipe for success.
Something needs to be said about Chris Kreider. The New York Rangers have to be absolutely salivating at the thought of him going pro, and if I ever have a single opportunity to watch him play for the Connecticut Whale in the AHL, I would be shocked. It's like the dude finally just got sick of losing and said "eff all y'all, I got this." He scored again tonight and assisted on the game winner in overtime. But let's just forget about the goals... the man is playing like he's an NHL vet tooling around on the pond with some kids. At one point I think Gaudreau kept feeding him pucks on the point and he was teeing off like Chara in the skills competition. We need this -- someone to put the team on his back a la Gerbe in '08 to carry us deep into the tournament when we aren't running teams into the ground on a consistent basis.
College hockey is not only weak this year, but it is also incredibly tight. As I write this, BC is tied for 5th in the Pairwise Rankings behind first place. College hockey is extremely volatile, and through the entire year, it has seemed like no one has wanted to grab the bull by the horns and pull away. Any form of a win streak could very well vault BC right up to #1 overall.
Also worth noting - Hockey East currently boasts three teams in the top 5 and five teams in the top 11 of the Pairwise. What?? So much for it being a down year for Hockey East. As they sit, BU is 2nd (and primed for a collapse after losing another player long term, as Priviteta is out 6 weeks with, unfortunately, a broken wrist), UML is 3rd (spit-take), BC 5th, Merrimack 8th, and Maine 11th.
BC's next game is the Beanpot opener against a Northeastern team that, prior to curb-stomping Vermont twice this weekend, had lost 4 in a row. Northeastern always plays BC very tough so BC is going to need to continue the improvement to get the the Beanpot final.
It's about time we got a few of these close games to go our way. To be fair, BC has been playing much better of late. We didn't play badly against Maine. We had some issues, but had a chance to win both games. We played rather well in both UNH games as well. In a way, the weekends were very similar -- except for the fact that we came out on top this time.
BC once again had Parker Milner in net. He definitely looked better than he did the night before. Let's chalk it up to not having seen the ice in weeks. To be fair, it's also pretty easy to fall asleep a bit when you only face 13 shots or so in a game. Tonight, with the open ice up at UNH's Olympic-sized sheet, UNH got off 33 shots and Milner stopped 31 one of them. Clearly, Milner had a better night. I still have a problem with his positioning (he's no Tim Thomas), and I'm still on the Billet Bandwagon, but I really cannot complain about Milner's game last night.
There was significant improvement in a few areas of concern this weekend. First, the team is doing much, much better getting the puck into the offensive zone. I've noticed a lot of lateral movement going across the line to open up some space for the trailers. It has worked very well. Second, where are all the odd-man rushes that have been killing us the last few months? I could be wrong but I don't think I recall a single clean breakaway or clear 2-on-1 on the entire weekend. This cannot be understated. Our defense has tightened down in general, but when you aren't allowing multiple high-percentage opportunities, that is a clear recipe for success.
Something needs to be said about Chris Kreider. The New York Rangers have to be absolutely salivating at the thought of him going pro, and if I ever have a single opportunity to watch him play for the Connecticut Whale in the AHL, I would be shocked. It's like the dude finally just got sick of losing and said "eff all y'all, I got this." He scored again tonight and assisted on the game winner in overtime. But let's just forget about the goals... the man is playing like he's an NHL vet tooling around on the pond with some kids. At one point I think Gaudreau kept feeding him pucks on the point and he was teeing off like Chara in the skills competition. We need this -- someone to put the team on his back a la Gerbe in '08 to carry us deep into the tournament when we aren't running teams into the ground on a consistent basis.
College hockey is not only weak this year, but it is also incredibly tight. As I write this, BC is tied for 5th in the Pairwise Rankings behind first place. College hockey is extremely volatile, and through the entire year, it has seemed like no one has wanted to grab the bull by the horns and pull away. Any form of a win streak could very well vault BC right up to #1 overall.
Also worth noting - Hockey East currently boasts three teams in the top 5 and five teams in the top 11 of the Pairwise. What?? So much for it being a down year for Hockey East. As they sit, BU is 2nd (and primed for a collapse after losing another player long term, as Priviteta is out 6 weeks with, unfortunately, a broken wrist), UML is 3rd (spit-take), BC 5th, Merrimack 8th, and Maine 11th.
BC's next game is the Beanpot opener against a Northeastern team that, prior to curb-stomping Vermont twice this weekend, had lost 4 in a row. Northeastern always plays BC very tough so BC is going to need to continue the improvement to get the the Beanpot final.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Work at Linear Park Nears Completion, Dedication Planned
On Jan. 13, Mayor Keith Larson provided the Lincoln County Record a tour of the Meadow Valley Wash Linear Park project. The development was made possible by grants from the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act that awarded the county more than $10.7 million in 2008 for the endeavor.
The project covers more than two miles of walkway, with cosmetic upgrades throughout the length of the walkway. Starting by the railroad tracks in Caliente, the course takes you down the U.S. Highway 93 entrance, by the Rail City Linear Park segment. From the railroad crossing to about the Shady Tree Motel, you see an older set of trees planted included in the first part of the SNPLMA funding.
Walking down to about where the Family Dollar store sits, and crossing the street, you go down by the Graves Segment, A and B. Along this portion of the path, and throughout the remainder of the walk, you see younger trees planted, some of which consist of Yoshino cherry trees that will provide pink and white blooms.
One of the most notable attractions was a split level fence, which, at first glance, appear like wooden fences. However, upon closer inspection, you see they are in fact made of concrete. The material was poured into a mold that ended up looking like natural wood-textured grain.
As you walk along the Meadow Valley Wash, you can see more trees planted, and the walkway is completed with new benches, classic-looking light poles, and trash cans all provided by the grant funds. Located in a flood plain, the previous berms used to block high-rising waters were replaced with Gabion baskets, which are cages full of rocks for blocking flood waters should they occur. Cosmetic and useful, the Gabion baskets add another unique look to the walkway.
After crossing bridges, you come to the Maeder Segment, which leads to the alley segment that runs by the Dixon Park. Concrete molds shaped the fence that runs along the alley here to look like individual bricks laid with mason work. After this segment, you will find the kiosk that provides information about the project and the overall layout of the path. The walkway then connects along Lincoln Street and goes by the Larry Brown-dedicated baseball field, also known as the Super Park by the pool. This part of the walkway is actually an extra segment of the loop, meaning you have one way in and one way out before you connect to the rest of the walkway.
Once back on Lincoln Street, the walkway continues back to U.S. Highway 93 and finishes up along Company Row.
Dedication of the Linear Park project is planned on Memorial Day, according to Larson. The mayor hopes that the walkway “unites the town of Caliente by tying all the parks together” with a common-use walkway path.
With the potential for future additions to the park, the city of Caliente can look forward to a pleasant course provided by the grant that will increase the value and worth of the city.
The trip takes around an hour, give or take, but is considered well worth the walk as it provides Caliente with a common path that goes around and through the city.
The mayor commented that the city had “some of the most enduring people ever, all hoping and working to make Caliente a better place.” Larson added that “lots of contributors” worked on the project.
Working with a “punch list,” somewhat of a checklist of items relating work at the park, Larson said there were still a few things that needed to be done before the summer dedication.
The project covers more than two miles of walkway, with cosmetic upgrades throughout the length of the walkway. Starting by the railroad tracks in Caliente, the course takes you down the U.S. Highway 93 entrance, by the Rail City Linear Park segment. From the railroad crossing to about the Shady Tree Motel, you see an older set of trees planted included in the first part of the SNPLMA funding.
Walking down to about where the Family Dollar store sits, and crossing the street, you go down by the Graves Segment, A and B. Along this portion of the path, and throughout the remainder of the walk, you see younger trees planted, some of which consist of Yoshino cherry trees that will provide pink and white blooms.
One of the most notable attractions was a split level fence, which, at first glance, appear like wooden fences. However, upon closer inspection, you see they are in fact made of concrete. The material was poured into a mold that ended up looking like natural wood-textured grain.
As you walk along the Meadow Valley Wash, you can see more trees planted, and the walkway is completed with new benches, classic-looking light poles, and trash cans all provided by the grant funds. Located in a flood plain, the previous berms used to block high-rising waters were replaced with Gabion baskets, which are cages full of rocks for blocking flood waters should they occur. Cosmetic and useful, the Gabion baskets add another unique look to the walkway.
After crossing bridges, you come to the Maeder Segment, which leads to the alley segment that runs by the Dixon Park. Concrete molds shaped the fence that runs along the alley here to look like individual bricks laid with mason work. After this segment, you will find the kiosk that provides information about the project and the overall layout of the path. The walkway then connects along Lincoln Street and goes by the Larry Brown-dedicated baseball field, also known as the Super Park by the pool. This part of the walkway is actually an extra segment of the loop, meaning you have one way in and one way out before you connect to the rest of the walkway.
Once back on Lincoln Street, the walkway continues back to U.S. Highway 93 and finishes up along Company Row.
Dedication of the Linear Park project is planned on Memorial Day, according to Larson. The mayor hopes that the walkway “unites the town of Caliente by tying all the parks together” with a common-use walkway path.
With the potential for future additions to the park, the city of Caliente can look forward to a pleasant course provided by the grant that will increase the value and worth of the city.
The trip takes around an hour, give or take, but is considered well worth the walk as it provides Caliente with a common path that goes around and through the city.
The mayor commented that the city had “some of the most enduring people ever, all hoping and working to make Caliente a better place.” Larson added that “lots of contributors” worked on the project.
Working with a “punch list,” somewhat of a checklist of items relating work at the park, Larson said there were still a few things that needed to be done before the summer dedication.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Glass blowing class teaches art, business and charity
The amber-colored glass came out of the fire looking just like the tall drinking glass it was supposed to be, but when the students broke off the taper that was holding it, the bottom of the glass broke with it.
"You actually learn more from the pieces that break than you do from the pieces that make it," said Alyssa Karr, a Hastings College junior from Juniata taking Designing with Glass class during the college's J-term.
Tom Kreager, professor of art who is teaching the class, agreed.
"They don't always work out," he said, noting that producing glass items takes practice. "It's just like practicing the piano, or anything else. You just have to do it over and over and over."
The interim schedule class, which runs Jan. 3 through Jan. 24, has 12 students broken into two teams.
By the end of the class, each team will have produced about 95 pieces. Although that averages 15 pieces per student, no piece of art is done, start to finish, by just one student.
"The whole team works on them together," Kreager said, explaining that part of the team will start the process, gathering a "bubble" of glowing glass and forming the basic shape. The first person rolls the glass, maybe adding the color, and forms the neckline before handing it off the other half of the team to finish the product, then they switch, so all members get experience. "They have to design together beforehand and then they need to be consistent with the design throughout."
The process resembles an assembly line, Kreager said, adding that the whole process may only take 10 minutes but it really is multiplied times six people working. But he said faster is not necessarily better.
"I don't want them rushing through. Even though you can make them pretty quickly, I want these guys to take their time and do it right," he said. "It's better to have a good piece than a bunch of bad pieces quickly."
From bowls to colored glasses - like the one of Karr's that didn't quite make it - to decorative sculptures, the students will learn to make it all.
This week they were learning to use molds to make shapes, which Karr said made the process quicker but also in some ways harder. The mold was part of her downfall with the glass that broke.
"They were too thin on the bottom, so they cracked," she said, adding that when blowing the glass by hand, she said often has the opposite problem, not getting the bottom thin enough. "(With a mold) you can't watch to see how thin you are getting."
Kreager said the class was not only about producing quality glass pieces but being able to make multiple similar works and be able to market them.
"They had to research to find out how much it cost to build a glass studio, then they had to start coming up with designs," Kreager said.
Besides experimenting with glass, the students said they have been learning a lot from their guest artist, Paul Lockwood. Lockwood, an alumni of Hastings College, owns Piece Unique glass studio in Colorado.
"He makes his living from making glass," Kreager said, adding that Lockwood has been explaining what it takes to produce items for a studio as well as techniques he uses.
Karr, wearing a T-shirt boasting her Roundhouse Glass team's motto, "We kick glass," explained that being able make something beautiful once isn't enough. One of their assignments is to sculpt 15 similar pieces.
"You don't want someone to see this (sculpture) and say ‘I want that,' and then you can't make it the same," she said. "It takes a lot of skill to make each piece look the same."
Kreager said the class was able to practice producing similar saleable items and give back to the community at the same time. The teams' first project was to create glass bowls to donate to Hastings' Open Table fundraising event.
"The first project was also a service project," Kreager said, adding each team had to make one for every student in the class and then donate 20 bowls.
The Hastings Open Table program, run by Catholic Social Services, distributes sack lunches to those in need of a meal. Meg Steward-Magee, who is on the Open Table board, said the number of lunches it provides has greatly increased since it started in 2004.
On April 19, it will hold its Empty Bowl event raising money for the program. Tickets will be sold for a soup supper night and each ticket holder will be able to choose an etched glass bowl, handmade by Kreager's class.
Anyone who wishes to learn more about the fundraiser or purchase a ticket can call 402-463-2112.
Karr said she was grateful for the extra practice. She said she had taken a semester of glass previously and although she enjoyed it, she didn't feel like she had gotten really proficient at the craft.
"I really didn't have a skill built up," she said then laughed. "I could make stuff but it didn't look that good."
A requirement for the glass course was completion of at least one semester of glass experience, but Kreager said a couple students who had no experience talked him into allowing them in the class.
One such student was Caleb Kuhfahl, a freshman from Wahoo.
"I've just always liked art and this is a cool way to do art," he said, adding that the class is a lot like he expected.
"I expected it to be hard, and it is," he said with a laugh.
Kreager said Kuhfahl is somewhat typical of his students during J-term as he is not an art student. Kuhfahl said he is currently undecided on a major but is leaning towards construction management.
"I would say the majority of the majors are not art majors," Kreager said, adding that some have art minors and all are creative minded and want do something different.
He said glass can be a great equalizer among majors because it doesn't require any one skill needed in other majors.
"There is nothing else in the world that prepares you to do any of the movements in glass," Kreager said of turning the pipe, carrying it and blowing the glass. "It doesn't relate to any sports or really anything."
He said he has known students whose one experience with creating with glass changes the direction of their studies.
"People get very passionate about glass. They either love it or they hate it," Kreager said. "If they love it, they just want to keep doing it. If they take it their freshman year, they do it all four years they are here. They may still graduate in biology or English, but often they will have an art minor."
"You actually learn more from the pieces that break than you do from the pieces that make it," said Alyssa Karr, a Hastings College junior from Juniata taking Designing with Glass class during the college's J-term.
Tom Kreager, professor of art who is teaching the class, agreed.
"They don't always work out," he said, noting that producing glass items takes practice. "It's just like practicing the piano, or anything else. You just have to do it over and over and over."
The interim schedule class, which runs Jan. 3 through Jan. 24, has 12 students broken into two teams.
By the end of the class, each team will have produced about 95 pieces. Although that averages 15 pieces per student, no piece of art is done, start to finish, by just one student.
"The whole team works on them together," Kreager said, explaining that part of the team will start the process, gathering a "bubble" of glowing glass and forming the basic shape. The first person rolls the glass, maybe adding the color, and forms the neckline before handing it off the other half of the team to finish the product, then they switch, so all members get experience. "They have to design together beforehand and then they need to be consistent with the design throughout."
The process resembles an assembly line, Kreager said, adding that the whole process may only take 10 minutes but it really is multiplied times six people working. But he said faster is not necessarily better.
"I don't want them rushing through. Even though you can make them pretty quickly, I want these guys to take their time and do it right," he said. "It's better to have a good piece than a bunch of bad pieces quickly."
From bowls to colored glasses - like the one of Karr's that didn't quite make it - to decorative sculptures, the students will learn to make it all.
This week they were learning to use molds to make shapes, which Karr said made the process quicker but also in some ways harder. The mold was part of her downfall with the glass that broke.
"They were too thin on the bottom, so they cracked," she said, adding that when blowing the glass by hand, she said often has the opposite problem, not getting the bottom thin enough. "(With a mold) you can't watch to see how thin you are getting."
Kreager said the class was not only about producing quality glass pieces but being able to make multiple similar works and be able to market them.
"They had to research to find out how much it cost to build a glass studio, then they had to start coming up with designs," Kreager said.
Besides experimenting with glass, the students said they have been learning a lot from their guest artist, Paul Lockwood. Lockwood, an alumni of Hastings College, owns Piece Unique glass studio in Colorado.
"He makes his living from making glass," Kreager said, adding that Lockwood has been explaining what it takes to produce items for a studio as well as techniques he uses.
Karr, wearing a T-shirt boasting her Roundhouse Glass team's motto, "We kick glass," explained that being able make something beautiful once isn't enough. One of their assignments is to sculpt 15 similar pieces.
"You don't want someone to see this (sculpture) and say ‘I want that,' and then you can't make it the same," she said. "It takes a lot of skill to make each piece look the same."
Kreager said the class was able to practice producing similar saleable items and give back to the community at the same time. The teams' first project was to create glass bowls to donate to Hastings' Open Table fundraising event.
"The first project was also a service project," Kreager said, adding each team had to make one for every student in the class and then donate 20 bowls.
The Hastings Open Table program, run by Catholic Social Services, distributes sack lunches to those in need of a meal. Meg Steward-Magee, who is on the Open Table board, said the number of lunches it provides has greatly increased since it started in 2004.
On April 19, it will hold its Empty Bowl event raising money for the program. Tickets will be sold for a soup supper night and each ticket holder will be able to choose an etched glass bowl, handmade by Kreager's class.
Anyone who wishes to learn more about the fundraiser or purchase a ticket can call 402-463-2112.
Karr said she was grateful for the extra practice. She said she had taken a semester of glass previously and although she enjoyed it, she didn't feel like she had gotten really proficient at the craft.
"I really didn't have a skill built up," she said then laughed. "I could make stuff but it didn't look that good."
A requirement for the glass course was completion of at least one semester of glass experience, but Kreager said a couple students who had no experience talked him into allowing them in the class.
One such student was Caleb Kuhfahl, a freshman from Wahoo.
"I've just always liked art and this is a cool way to do art," he said, adding that the class is a lot like he expected.
"I expected it to be hard, and it is," he said with a laugh.
Kreager said Kuhfahl is somewhat typical of his students during J-term as he is not an art student. Kuhfahl said he is currently undecided on a major but is leaning towards construction management.
"I would say the majority of the majors are not art majors," Kreager said, adding that some have art minors and all are creative minded and want do something different.
He said glass can be a great equalizer among majors because it doesn't require any one skill needed in other majors.
"There is nothing else in the world that prepares you to do any of the movements in glass," Kreager said of turning the pipe, carrying it and blowing the glass. "It doesn't relate to any sports or really anything."
He said he has known students whose one experience with creating with glass changes the direction of their studies.
"People get very passionate about glass. They either love it or they hate it," Kreager said. "If they love it, they just want to keep doing it. If they take it their freshman year, they do it all four years they are here. They may still graduate in biology or English, but often they will have an art minor."
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Their specialty: imposing alligators and more
Harry Robinson has become somewhat of an alligator specialist, making foam and fiberglass gators small enough to hold business cards and large enough to hold mail boxes, to a gator head on display in the locker room of the University of Florida men's basketball team.
His latest project is a 25-foot gator for the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. He has teamed up with Paul Costanza of Red Sky Exhibits to build an 11-foot tail and restore the top half of the gator that the Alligator Farm bought off eBay from someone using it for photo ops.
They were putting the finishing touches on the imposingly large gator Monday outside Robinson's 4,000-square-foot shop in the North Industrial Park off of Northwest Sixth Street.
The gator will be mounted on a truck to use as a mobile billboard for the Alligator Farm.
Robinson used an actual small alligator tail as a model for anatomical correctness, scaling it up seven times.
Robinson and Costanza started working together almost 25 years ago at the former Museum Services, collaborating on projects for museums and theme parks around the world. They helped construct building facades and props for Universal Studios theme parks in Orlando and Los Angeles, including sharks for Jaws and a giant ape for the former King Kong attraction.
“I spent two weeks plugging hair into King Kong,” Robinson said.
He figures former employees formed about 25 businesses when Museum Services broke up, maybe 10 of which are still active.
Robinson formed Robinson Reproductions and also worked for a concrete company making architectural ornamentation. His projects have included making trophies for the Outback Gator Bowl.
He formed Molds.biz last year with partner John Cox to build fiberglass tanks used in water reclamation projects.
Robinson and Costanza started on their next project Monday -- a representation of a cut into a mountain made of foam and sculpted rock for a fossil exhibit at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
“They have provided fossils we're going to add to it,” Costanza said.
His latest project is a 25-foot gator for the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. He has teamed up with Paul Costanza of Red Sky Exhibits to build an 11-foot tail and restore the top half of the gator that the Alligator Farm bought off eBay from someone using it for photo ops.
They were putting the finishing touches on the imposingly large gator Monday outside Robinson's 4,000-square-foot shop in the North Industrial Park off of Northwest Sixth Street.
The gator will be mounted on a truck to use as a mobile billboard for the Alligator Farm.
Robinson used an actual small alligator tail as a model for anatomical correctness, scaling it up seven times.
Robinson and Costanza started working together almost 25 years ago at the former Museum Services, collaborating on projects for museums and theme parks around the world. They helped construct building facades and props for Universal Studios theme parks in Orlando and Los Angeles, including sharks for Jaws and a giant ape for the former King Kong attraction.
“I spent two weeks plugging hair into King Kong,” Robinson said.
He figures former employees formed about 25 businesses when Museum Services broke up, maybe 10 of which are still active.
Robinson formed Robinson Reproductions and also worked for a concrete company making architectural ornamentation. His projects have included making trophies for the Outback Gator Bowl.
He formed Molds.biz last year with partner John Cox to build fiberglass tanks used in water reclamation projects.
Robinson and Costanza started on their next project Monday -- a representation of a cut into a mountain made of foam and sculpted rock for a fossil exhibit at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
“They have provided fossils we're going to add to it,” Costanza said.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Hofmann's build accidental dynasty
The Munich-born brothers had left Germany in pursuit of change and adventure, embarking on the MV Aurelia with 1300 other assisted migrants bound for Sydney and the Bonegilla migrant centre when the vessel stopped over in Fremantle in 1959.
Johann, who goes by John nowadays, recalls that a superintendent from the now-defunct Chamberlain tractor factory in Welshpool came aboard seeking toolmakers. The Hofmanns and one other disembarked.
"We never intended to stay. We were going to wait two years, learn a lot, see a lot, have a lot of fun and go back (to Germany)," the 73-year-old says. Apart from short interludes back in Europe, he and his younger brother have been in WA since, building a visible legacy in one of the State's biggest family businesses.
Bassendean-based Hofmann Engineering has about 600 employees in WA, Victoria, Canada, Chile and India and turns over more than $130 million a year. More than half the revenue is drawn from export markets, including Germany. Forward orders for the next 18 months stand at $120 million.
The award-winning firm uses computer design technology to turn out products, including high-tech precision tools, valves and pumps, bearings, food packaging and aerospace parts, but its growth of late has been built on producing and refurbishing high-precision gearing for mining and mineral processing plants and wind turbines. Some of the gears are the biggest made in the southern hemisphere, measuring up to 15m in diameter and weighing more than 100 tonnes.
Three generations of the Hofmanns now work in the business, including both of John's sons, Erich J Hofmann, who succeeded his father as managing director eight years ago, and Mark, a metallurgical technician, as well as Erich Sr's daughter, Monika, an accountant who works with Hofmann's finance team.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard visited Hofmann's headquarters during CHOGM in October, holding the company up as an example for Australian industry. "Other sections of manufacturing would do well to look at the track record of this place, how it has stayed at the forefront of research and development, how it has met its customers' needs and how it has been investing in skills and training every step of the way," she said.
John stayed six months at Chamberlain before heading north to BHP's iron ore mine at Cockatoo Island, off the Kimberley coast. He stayed four years all up, in between marrying his fiancee Karin on her arrival from Germany. Cookatoo Island enabled him to accumulate a nest egg and gain an insight into mining but its isolation also meant that he quickly learnt to "improvise and compromise" to ensure equipment was returned to service.
By then, he and his brother were laying the groundwork to build a precision engineering business in WA. As part of the learning curve, they returned to Germ any for two years in the late 1960s.
"We changed jobs every six months and bought and overhauled second-hand machinery to take back to Australia," John says.
"We had a plan and we knew precisely what machinery we wanted, in fact we still have that machinery."
J & E Hofmann Pty Ltd began in Erich's backyard in Dianella in 1969, picking up its first work from Chamberlain. It moved to its Alice Street premises in Bassendean soon after, taking up three acres. It now has 13ha, having progressively bought neighbouring land.
Among its first employees was current technical director Leighton White, who joined the business 40 years ago.
Hofmann Engineering's growth has been particularly sharp over the past decade, with Erich J significantly ramping up the company's gearing business and establishing manufacturing beachheads on the east coast and overseas.
With Australian labour rates significantly higher than offshore, the company says it has had to be innovative to remain competitive. For example, it was able to develop a price-competitive process to use forged steel to make gearing, producing stronger, longer-life products than those made by conventional cast-steel methods.
Two years ago, Hofmann Engineering bought the Melbourne-based Metaltec Precision International, a preferred supplier of production tooling for the rear fuselage, tailplane and twin vertical stabilisers for the Joint Strike Fighter. The following year, it established itself in Bendigo, resuming production at the old Commonwealth ordnance and heavy engineering plant. The offshore presence has followed more recently.
While his father is more cautious, Erich J sees the opportunity for the company to use its strength to keep on expanding, following its mining clients into new markets and perhaps snapping up distressed engineering businesses on the way.
"At the moment, particularly for manufacturing, it's the toughest it has ever been in Australia," he says. "We're lucky we've got that size, we have a good reputation, we have exports. But if you are purely a single-line manufacturer, you're struggling.
"We're very fortunate. In the good times you get work and in the bad times the mining companies don't want to buy, they repair. We do that also. We're now totally vertically integrated. Apart from the raw steel, we do everything in-house."
Wherever the company goes next, both father and son insist debt will play no part in its growth. Hofmann Engineering is debt free, the founding brothers having eschewed dividends over the past 40 years in favour of reinvesting their profits into capital equipment.
There also appears little prospect of the business making its way on to the Australian Securities Exchange any time soon, though Erich J says it gets "constant" inquiries.
Some uncertainty, however, surrounds succession, which has proved a thorny and decisive issue in many family companies. Hofmann Engineering is jointly owned by John and Erich, 71, who remain executive directors of the group. John says he expects common sense to prevail when the time comes to pass the business onto the next generation.
Johann, who goes by John nowadays, recalls that a superintendent from the now-defunct Chamberlain tractor factory in Welshpool came aboard seeking toolmakers. The Hofmanns and one other disembarked.
"We never intended to stay. We were going to wait two years, learn a lot, see a lot, have a lot of fun and go back (to Germany)," the 73-year-old says. Apart from short interludes back in Europe, he and his younger brother have been in WA since, building a visible legacy in one of the State's biggest family businesses.
Bassendean-based Hofmann Engineering has about 600 employees in WA, Victoria, Canada, Chile and India and turns over more than $130 million a year. More than half the revenue is drawn from export markets, including Germany. Forward orders for the next 18 months stand at $120 million.
The award-winning firm uses computer design technology to turn out products, including high-tech precision tools, valves and pumps, bearings, food packaging and aerospace parts, but its growth of late has been built on producing and refurbishing high-precision gearing for mining and mineral processing plants and wind turbines. Some of the gears are the biggest made in the southern hemisphere, measuring up to 15m in diameter and weighing more than 100 tonnes.
Three generations of the Hofmanns now work in the business, including both of John's sons, Erich J Hofmann, who succeeded his father as managing director eight years ago, and Mark, a metallurgical technician, as well as Erich Sr's daughter, Monika, an accountant who works with Hofmann's finance team.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard visited Hofmann's headquarters during CHOGM in October, holding the company up as an example for Australian industry. "Other sections of manufacturing would do well to look at the track record of this place, how it has stayed at the forefront of research and development, how it has met its customers' needs and how it has been investing in skills and training every step of the way," she said.
John stayed six months at Chamberlain before heading north to BHP's iron ore mine at Cockatoo Island, off the Kimberley coast. He stayed four years all up, in between marrying his fiancee Karin on her arrival from Germany. Cookatoo Island enabled him to accumulate a nest egg and gain an insight into mining but its isolation also meant that he quickly learnt to "improvise and compromise" to ensure equipment was returned to service.
By then, he and his brother were laying the groundwork to build a precision engineering business in WA. As part of the learning curve, they returned to Germ any for two years in the late 1960s.
"We changed jobs every six months and bought and overhauled second-hand machinery to take back to Australia," John says.
"We had a plan and we knew precisely what machinery we wanted, in fact we still have that machinery."
J & E Hofmann Pty Ltd began in Erich's backyard in Dianella in 1969, picking up its first work from Chamberlain. It moved to its Alice Street premises in Bassendean soon after, taking up three acres. It now has 13ha, having progressively bought neighbouring land.
Among its first employees was current technical director Leighton White, who joined the business 40 years ago.
Hofmann Engineering's growth has been particularly sharp over the past decade, with Erich J significantly ramping up the company's gearing business and establishing manufacturing beachheads on the east coast and overseas.
With Australian labour rates significantly higher than offshore, the company says it has had to be innovative to remain competitive. For example, it was able to develop a price-competitive process to use forged steel to make gearing, producing stronger, longer-life products than those made by conventional cast-steel methods.
Two years ago, Hofmann Engineering bought the Melbourne-based Metaltec Precision International, a preferred supplier of production tooling for the rear fuselage, tailplane and twin vertical stabilisers for the Joint Strike Fighter. The following year, it established itself in Bendigo, resuming production at the old Commonwealth ordnance and heavy engineering plant. The offshore presence has followed more recently.
While his father is more cautious, Erich J sees the opportunity for the company to use its strength to keep on expanding, following its mining clients into new markets and perhaps snapping up distressed engineering businesses on the way.
"At the moment, particularly for manufacturing, it's the toughest it has ever been in Australia," he says. "We're lucky we've got that size, we have a good reputation, we have exports. But if you are purely a single-line manufacturer, you're struggling.
"We're very fortunate. In the good times you get work and in the bad times the mining companies don't want to buy, they repair. We do that also. We're now totally vertically integrated. Apart from the raw steel, we do everything in-house."
Wherever the company goes next, both father and son insist debt will play no part in its growth. Hofmann Engineering is debt free, the founding brothers having eschewed dividends over the past 40 years in favour of reinvesting their profits into capital equipment.
There also appears little prospect of the business making its way on to the Australian Securities Exchange any time soon, though Erich J says it gets "constant" inquiries.
Some uncertainty, however, surrounds succession, which has proved a thorny and decisive issue in many family companies. Hofmann Engineering is jointly owned by John and Erich, 71, who remain executive directors of the group. John says he expects common sense to prevail when the time comes to pass the business onto the next generation.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Harbaugh Strides Confidently Where Other Coaches Faltered
In a wild divisional playoff game against New Orleans on Saturday, Smith threw for three touchdowns and ran for one as San Francisco won its first postseason game in nine seasons.
With all due respect to the Tim Tebow story line, the miracle of this season is the resurrection of Smith and the 49ers under Harbaugh, their first-year coach.
Until Harbaugh came along, Smith, the overall No. 1 pick in 2005, was on the scrap heap. He was injured, booed, demoralized, subjected to pay cuts. Today, the 49ers are one victory from the Super Bowl — they meet the Giants next week in the N.F.C. championship game — and Harbaugh is in the process of becoming a rare breed: a successful college coach who flourishes in the N.F.L. He made the transition look easy, taking over a team that went 6-10 last season and finishing the regular season 13-3.
“I thought he’d do well, but, boy, rolling in at 13-3 in your first year is almost unheard of,” Denny Green said.
Green coached Stanford from 1989 to 1991, then, like Harbaugh, left for the N.F.L. Green coached the Minnesota Vikings from 1992 to 2001 and the Arizona Cardinals from 2004 to 2006 and now coaches Sacramento of the United Football League.
The road from college to the N.F.L. is littered with the shattered egos of coaches who thought they were big and bad enough to take on the pros: Lou Holtz, Nick Saban, Bobby Petrino, Steve Spurrier, Pete Carroll. Each was humbled to varying degrees and scampered back to the sanctuary of the college campus.
At least in my mind, there has never been a mystery as to why so many college coaches fail at the professional level: control and ego. Many won’t even try. There is an unwillingness — or inability — to deal as equals with former scholarship players who once looked at the coach as the be-all and end-all.
Holtz had his rude awakening in 1976 when he was the coach of the Jets. He resigned with one game remaining that first season after going 3-10. He went on to have a stellar college career at Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame and South Carolina.
“In college, you control every single facet of the football program, from recruiting to handling players,” Holtz said last week. “You have more control of their lives, academically. They’re at the age where they’re growing, making decisions; you can mold them into the manner you want.”
Another significant difference between colleges and the pros is that coaching acumen is far more important in the N.F.L., where talent is more or less even.
“In the pros, the difference between winning and losing in the pros is so minuscule because they all have pretty decent athletes,” Holtz said. “The N.F.L. is more talented, it’s more skillful.”
For Holtz, compensation has a lot to do with the differences between the two levels. “When you lose in college, there’s absolutely nothing except devastation,” he said. “You lose in the pros, you’re still getting $18 million.”
Saban left the Miami Dolphins for Alabama after two seasons; Petrino slithered away from the Atlanta Falcons with three games left in his only season and took the Arkansas job. Spurrier resigned after two dismal seasons with the Washington Redskins and eventually took the job at South Carolina, following Holtz.
Carroll keeps bouncing back — he made the playoffs last season with a losing record with the Seahawks — but even he would be hard pressed to call his N.F.L. career a success, beyond being richly compensated.
Then there is Harbaugh, who, with a good but hardly superstar rsum, has revitalized a demoralized San Francisco franchise.
“Jim has the great ability to see himself, or parts of himself, in other players; I think that’s where the Alex Smith connection comes in,” said Tom Crean, the basketball coach at Indiana University. For two decades, Crean has had a unique view of Harbaugh and his brother John, the Baltimore Ravens’ coach. Crean has been married to their sister, Joani, for 19 years.
With all due respect to the Tim Tebow story line, the miracle of this season is the resurrection of Smith and the 49ers under Harbaugh, their first-year coach.
Until Harbaugh came along, Smith, the overall No. 1 pick in 2005, was on the scrap heap. He was injured, booed, demoralized, subjected to pay cuts. Today, the 49ers are one victory from the Super Bowl — they meet the Giants next week in the N.F.C. championship game — and Harbaugh is in the process of becoming a rare breed: a successful college coach who flourishes in the N.F.L. He made the transition look easy, taking over a team that went 6-10 last season and finishing the regular season 13-3.
“I thought he’d do well, but, boy, rolling in at 13-3 in your first year is almost unheard of,” Denny Green said.
Green coached Stanford from 1989 to 1991, then, like Harbaugh, left for the N.F.L. Green coached the Minnesota Vikings from 1992 to 2001 and the Arizona Cardinals from 2004 to 2006 and now coaches Sacramento of the United Football League.
The road from college to the N.F.L. is littered with the shattered egos of coaches who thought they were big and bad enough to take on the pros: Lou Holtz, Nick Saban, Bobby Petrino, Steve Spurrier, Pete Carroll. Each was humbled to varying degrees and scampered back to the sanctuary of the college campus.
At least in my mind, there has never been a mystery as to why so many college coaches fail at the professional level: control and ego. Many won’t even try. There is an unwillingness — or inability — to deal as equals with former scholarship players who once looked at the coach as the be-all and end-all.
Holtz had his rude awakening in 1976 when he was the coach of the Jets. He resigned with one game remaining that first season after going 3-10. He went on to have a stellar college career at Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame and South Carolina.
“In college, you control every single facet of the football program, from recruiting to handling players,” Holtz said last week. “You have more control of their lives, academically. They’re at the age where they’re growing, making decisions; you can mold them into the manner you want.”
Another significant difference between colleges and the pros is that coaching acumen is far more important in the N.F.L., where talent is more or less even.
“In the pros, the difference between winning and losing in the pros is so minuscule because they all have pretty decent athletes,” Holtz said. “The N.F.L. is more talented, it’s more skillful.”
For Holtz, compensation has a lot to do with the differences between the two levels. “When you lose in college, there’s absolutely nothing except devastation,” he said. “You lose in the pros, you’re still getting $18 million.”
Saban left the Miami Dolphins for Alabama after two seasons; Petrino slithered away from the Atlanta Falcons with three games left in his only season and took the Arkansas job. Spurrier resigned after two dismal seasons with the Washington Redskins and eventually took the job at South Carolina, following Holtz.
Carroll keeps bouncing back — he made the playoffs last season with a losing record with the Seahawks — but even he would be hard pressed to call his N.F.L. career a success, beyond being richly compensated.
Then there is Harbaugh, who, with a good but hardly superstar rsum, has revitalized a demoralized San Francisco franchise.
“Jim has the great ability to see himself, or parts of himself, in other players; I think that’s where the Alex Smith connection comes in,” said Tom Crean, the basketball coach at Indiana University. For two decades, Crean has had a unique view of Harbaugh and his brother John, the Baltimore Ravens’ coach. Crean has been married to their sister, Joani, for 19 years.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Frontiers of Design Science: Computational Irreducibility
There is a poorly understood restriction at the heart of the way we design today: virtually all our plans are mathematically doomed to be “incomplete.” But in a seeming paradox, if we can understand this restriction better, we can learn to make much better designs. One good way to do that is to learn from new scientific insights in the mathematics of computer processes, or “computations”.
Here’s a guided tour through this fascinating and most important subject.
Let’s start by noting that, as designers, we rely on mental models to understand, change, and evaluate what we do — even if we do it unconsciously. We need these “pictures in our heads” to guide our actions around various alternatives, not unlike the way we choose routes with driving maps. Even our language is a kind of model of what we are doing, giving us a sense of the issues and problems, and what we can expect of various alternatives.
Such mental models, or maps, allow us to respond to real conditions, and act intelligently. As designers, we can choose one or more models that help us to solve the problems we face, and meet the goals we have for the design.
There is a fundamental problem with all models, however, as the logician and mathematician Kurt Gdel implied in a famous 1931 paper. They are “incomplete” — they always leave something out. This is a key requirement for all models to even be useful. After all, a map that is just as detailed as the region it represents will leave us just as lost as being in the region! . So maps are useful because they are simpler — because they are abstract.
Looking at it another way, the reality we are trying to understand is “computationally irreducible.” We can never reduce it to a formula, or a perfect blueprint. No matter what we do, we will always have to leave something out. It’s just the way language works, and the way human ideas work — it’s how they help us to be more intelligent.
But in practice this limitation can, and often does, cause two big problems. One, our models might leave out something really important. Say, a map might not show that a bridge is out — and we try to drive over it! Two, more subtly, we might forget the difference between the model and reality, and fail to take any precautions. Then the model may not only not help us to behave more intelligently, it might make us “dumber” — we could make serious and even catastrophic errors in negotiating the real world.
It seems that we lapse into just these kinds of mistake all the time. We reduce our design ideas to abstractions, but then we re-impose them upon the world — and often, essential elements have gotten lost along the way, hence our design feels “dead.” For example, we plan cities that are organized neatly into top-down hierarchical categories — and then we find that they lack the interaction and the vitality of “natural” cities, with their characteristic complex network structures .
A way around this problem utilizes what mathematicians call “adaptive iteration.” We will apply the model, check the result, modify the model if needed, apply it again — and continue in this stepwise process. Gradually, the form of the result evolves and emerges as a coherent whole, well adapted to its environment, but also expressing the history of its own model-based evolution. There is never a perfect “final” result. But there are degrees of adaptation, and frequently they fall above critical thresholds of functionality.
Here’s a guided tour through this fascinating and most important subject.
Let’s start by noting that, as designers, we rely on mental models to understand, change, and evaluate what we do — even if we do it unconsciously. We need these “pictures in our heads” to guide our actions around various alternatives, not unlike the way we choose routes with driving maps. Even our language is a kind of model of what we are doing, giving us a sense of the issues and problems, and what we can expect of various alternatives.
Such mental models, or maps, allow us to respond to real conditions, and act intelligently. As designers, we can choose one or more models that help us to solve the problems we face, and meet the goals we have for the design.
There is a fundamental problem with all models, however, as the logician and mathematician Kurt Gdel implied in a famous 1931 paper. They are “incomplete” — they always leave something out. This is a key requirement for all models to even be useful. After all, a map that is just as detailed as the region it represents will leave us just as lost as being in the region! . So maps are useful because they are simpler — because they are abstract.
Looking at it another way, the reality we are trying to understand is “computationally irreducible.” We can never reduce it to a formula, or a perfect blueprint. No matter what we do, we will always have to leave something out. It’s just the way language works, and the way human ideas work — it’s how they help us to be more intelligent.
But in practice this limitation can, and often does, cause two big problems. One, our models might leave out something really important. Say, a map might not show that a bridge is out — and we try to drive over it! Two, more subtly, we might forget the difference between the model and reality, and fail to take any precautions. Then the model may not only not help us to behave more intelligently, it might make us “dumber” — we could make serious and even catastrophic errors in negotiating the real world.
It seems that we lapse into just these kinds of mistake all the time. We reduce our design ideas to abstractions, but then we re-impose them upon the world — and often, essential elements have gotten lost along the way, hence our design feels “dead.” For example, we plan cities that are organized neatly into top-down hierarchical categories — and then we find that they lack the interaction and the vitality of “natural” cities, with their characteristic complex network structures .
A way around this problem utilizes what mathematicians call “adaptive iteration.” We will apply the model, check the result, modify the model if needed, apply it again — and continue in this stepwise process. Gradually, the form of the result evolves and emerges as a coherent whole, well adapted to its environment, but also expressing the history of its own model-based evolution. There is never a perfect “final” result. But there are degrees of adaptation, and frequently they fall above critical thresholds of functionality.
World’s largest developer of CAM software, Delcam
Delcam will demonstrate the latest developments in its CADCAM products on Booth #2812 at WESTEC at the Los Angeles Convention Center from 27th to 29th March. The range of enhancements enables faster and easier programming for CNC machining and produces more efficient tool paths to give greater machine productivity.
The most important enhancement in PowerMILL 2012, Delcam's system for high-speed and five-axis machining is Flowline Machining. This dedicated strategy for high-speed machining divides the toolpath between a pair of drive curves in a constant number of passes, rather than having a varying number of passes with a constant stepover. This approach gives fewer sudden changes of direction and so produces a superior part surface finish, with less wear on the cutter and the machine tool.
FeatureCAM 2012, the latest release of the leading feature-based CAM system, includes a range of enhancements for quick and accurate CAM programming for production machining on lathes, mills and mill-turn machines. Two new strategies are - back boring and spiral roughing. Back boring allows more parts to be completed in a single set-up, with larger bores able to be produced on the reverse side of the part. Spiral roughing can be used instead of Z-level roughing. It uses a single continuous toolpath instead of a series of levels giving a smoother finish with no dwell marks.
Major highlights of PartMaker 2012 include a new module for the simulation of vertical and horizontal machining centers, improved simulation for the latest breed of multi-axis, turn-mill and Swiss-lathe machine architectures, more powerful surface machining strategies, and improved program visualization, as well as a host of additional productivity enhancements.
The 2012 version of Delcam for SolidWorks, the SolidWorks Certified Gold Partner product for CAM programming within the SolidWorks environment, includes programming of wire EDM for the first time, alongside the comprehensive options for the programming of turning, mill-turn, drilling and two- through five-axis milling.
Last but not least, the major change to the 2012 release of Delcam's PowerSHAPE CAD system is a range of direct modeling options. Unlike other programs that have incorporated direct modeling as part of a product design system, the PowerSHAPE options are focused on design for manufacture, in particular on preparing product designs for the development of molds and other types of tooling.
The new functionality will enable tooling designers to tackle all the common problems that they find in product designs, such as insufficient draft or inappropriate fillet sizes. Direct modeling is faster to use than surface modeling and so can shorten the overall time needed to produce tooling designs. Together with the extensive data translation and data repair options already available in PowerSHAPE, the addition of direct modeling gives a unique range of capabilities to programmers and designers.
The most important enhancement in PowerMILL 2012, Delcam's system for high-speed and five-axis machining is Flowline Machining. This dedicated strategy for high-speed machining divides the toolpath between a pair of drive curves in a constant number of passes, rather than having a varying number of passes with a constant stepover. This approach gives fewer sudden changes of direction and so produces a superior part surface finish, with less wear on the cutter and the machine tool.
FeatureCAM 2012, the latest release of the leading feature-based CAM system, includes a range of enhancements for quick and accurate CAM programming for production machining on lathes, mills and mill-turn machines. Two new strategies are - back boring and spiral roughing. Back boring allows more parts to be completed in a single set-up, with larger bores able to be produced on the reverse side of the part. Spiral roughing can be used instead of Z-level roughing. It uses a single continuous toolpath instead of a series of levels giving a smoother finish with no dwell marks.
Major highlights of PartMaker 2012 include a new module for the simulation of vertical and horizontal machining centers, improved simulation for the latest breed of multi-axis, turn-mill and Swiss-lathe machine architectures, more powerful surface machining strategies, and improved program visualization, as well as a host of additional productivity enhancements.
The 2012 version of Delcam for SolidWorks, the SolidWorks Certified Gold Partner product for CAM programming within the SolidWorks environment, includes programming of wire EDM for the first time, alongside the comprehensive options for the programming of turning, mill-turn, drilling and two- through five-axis milling.
Last but not least, the major change to the 2012 release of Delcam's PowerSHAPE CAD system is a range of direct modeling options. Unlike other programs that have incorporated direct modeling as part of a product design system, the PowerSHAPE options are focused on design for manufacture, in particular on preparing product designs for the development of molds and other types of tooling.
The new functionality will enable tooling designers to tackle all the common problems that they find in product designs, such as insufficient draft or inappropriate fillet sizes. Direct modeling is faster to use than surface modeling and so can shorten the overall time needed to produce tooling designs. Together with the extensive data translation and data repair options already available in PowerSHAPE, the addition of direct modeling gives a unique range of capabilities to programmers and designers.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Detroit Motor Show 2012: An introduction
As the Detroit Auto Show opens its doors to the world's press today, there's good and bad news from the car industry, but from an English point of view it looks like proof of the maxim that Britain and America are two nations divided by a common language. While UK new-car registrations were a depressing 4.4 per cent down, their lowest level since 1994, over the pond, Americans bought 12.7 million new cars compared with 2010's 11.6 million, up 10.2 per cent.
Ah, lies, damn lies and statistics. Look closer at the US figures and you see that the market is still depressed. Before 2009, the last time new light-car registrations were lower than last year was 20 years ago in 1991, when new registrations were 12.3 million.
But it's the direction of sales that points to consumer confidence; UK sales are on their way down, while those in the US are headed up. Is this proof of that American adage that by bending down and tugging hard enough at your socks, you can pull yourself off the ground?
"It sure looks that way," laughs David Cole, emeritus chairman for the Center for Automotive Research. "But you need to remember that this is not a normal recession, it's still a depression in sales volumes, but because of all that's happened in the last few years, the industry has reduced its break-even point to about 10.5 million sales, which is pretty remarkable and that means that at 12.7 million sales last year, they're making profits."
But are Americans such starry-eyed folk that they dig into their wallets for the good of the economy, while the surly Brits grumpily mend and make do? It's not so simple. After three or more years of steering clear of the showrooms, American buyers have been pushed back in there as they realise their cars won't last forever. Easing their passage has been better access to credit and low interest rates. What's more, the cars are better, as US car makers have been forced to update their ranges as well as their cost structures.
As for the big three US car makers, Cole reckons that some are more equal than others. "Chrysler/Fiat is the most interesting as neither was survivable over the long term," he says, citing lack of product and geographical spread. "So the marriage makes sense, far more than DaimlerChrysler ever did. But this is still work in progress and there's a feeling round here that perhaps Fiat needed Chrysler more than the other way round."
Cole reckons the group have done the easy bit of cleaning up the existing product portfolio and improving interior quality, but the test will be the integration of those products, which we will see the first results of at Detroit with the Chrysler Dart, the US iteration of the Alfa Giulietta chassis platform.
Ford had the dubious benefit of being almost bankrupt six years ago, which means it sorted its financial house early, although it is still saddled with massive debts to service. "With One Ford [Ford's strategy of building and selling the same model line up across the globe], it's doing very well and making profit thanks to the lower break even," observes Cole. Although there are still question marks about the long-term profitability of the non-premium sector where Ford sells its cars, and the company's luxury Lincoln division continues to look rudderless.
General Motors actually went bankrupt and in that process it shed a lot of debt. "Its product portfolio has improved and its integration of functions across the globe is going well, too. It's probably two years ahead of Ford in that respect and it's got high volume, good economies of scale and a genuine world presence," says Cole.
So a leaner, meaner motor industry, but not much cleaner as customers vote with their wallet away from the fuel-saving technology. Nissan's Leaf and GM's Volt (Vauxhall Ampera) have missed their 10,000 sales targets (the Volt by miles) and sales of "alternative power source light vehicles" according to Wards Automotive, were up by just 2.3 per cent, less than a quarter of the overall rise. While US government requirements are mandating ever more fuel-efficient vehicles, the public aren't keen on paying for what they see as expensive planet-saving technology in the middle of a recession.
There are other problems ahead, too. "We've seen an exit of the boomers," says Cole, referring to the massive layoffs in the motor industry of Fifties and Sixties born engineers, who haven't been replaced. "In the US it is estimated that in five years time the economy will be short of 10 million skilled people and by 2015, that figure will be more like 30 million. So this could be a double hit, as the industry tries to re-grow, it gets hit by the skills shortage".
Not that the financial sector is particularly supportive of manufacturing of any stripe, particularly car making. "They're more enamoured with the software industries, where they get quick and high returns with low tooling up cost and low numbers employed," says Cole. "There's been some renewed enthusiasm for manufacturing in this country from the investment community, but we need a lot more to fuel a real return".
Ah, lies, damn lies and statistics. Look closer at the US figures and you see that the market is still depressed. Before 2009, the last time new light-car registrations were lower than last year was 20 years ago in 1991, when new registrations were 12.3 million.
But it's the direction of sales that points to consumer confidence; UK sales are on their way down, while those in the US are headed up. Is this proof of that American adage that by bending down and tugging hard enough at your socks, you can pull yourself off the ground?
"It sure looks that way," laughs David Cole, emeritus chairman for the Center for Automotive Research. "But you need to remember that this is not a normal recession, it's still a depression in sales volumes, but because of all that's happened in the last few years, the industry has reduced its break-even point to about 10.5 million sales, which is pretty remarkable and that means that at 12.7 million sales last year, they're making profits."
But are Americans such starry-eyed folk that they dig into their wallets for the good of the economy, while the surly Brits grumpily mend and make do? It's not so simple. After three or more years of steering clear of the showrooms, American buyers have been pushed back in there as they realise their cars won't last forever. Easing their passage has been better access to credit and low interest rates. What's more, the cars are better, as US car makers have been forced to update their ranges as well as their cost structures.
As for the big three US car makers, Cole reckons that some are more equal than others. "Chrysler/Fiat is the most interesting as neither was survivable over the long term," he says, citing lack of product and geographical spread. "So the marriage makes sense, far more than DaimlerChrysler ever did. But this is still work in progress and there's a feeling round here that perhaps Fiat needed Chrysler more than the other way round."
Cole reckons the group have done the easy bit of cleaning up the existing product portfolio and improving interior quality, but the test will be the integration of those products, which we will see the first results of at Detroit with the Chrysler Dart, the US iteration of the Alfa Giulietta chassis platform.
Ford had the dubious benefit of being almost bankrupt six years ago, which means it sorted its financial house early, although it is still saddled with massive debts to service. "With One Ford [Ford's strategy of building and selling the same model line up across the globe], it's doing very well and making profit thanks to the lower break even," observes Cole. Although there are still question marks about the long-term profitability of the non-premium sector where Ford sells its cars, and the company's luxury Lincoln division continues to look rudderless.
General Motors actually went bankrupt and in that process it shed a lot of debt. "Its product portfolio has improved and its integration of functions across the globe is going well, too. It's probably two years ahead of Ford in that respect and it's got high volume, good economies of scale and a genuine world presence," says Cole.
So a leaner, meaner motor industry, but not much cleaner as customers vote with their wallet away from the fuel-saving technology. Nissan's Leaf and GM's Volt (Vauxhall Ampera) have missed their 10,000 sales targets (the Volt by miles) and sales of "alternative power source light vehicles" according to Wards Automotive, were up by just 2.3 per cent, less than a quarter of the overall rise. While US government requirements are mandating ever more fuel-efficient vehicles, the public aren't keen on paying for what they see as expensive planet-saving technology in the middle of a recession.
There are other problems ahead, too. "We've seen an exit of the boomers," says Cole, referring to the massive layoffs in the motor industry of Fifties and Sixties born engineers, who haven't been replaced. "In the US it is estimated that in five years time the economy will be short of 10 million skilled people and by 2015, that figure will be more like 30 million. So this could be a double hit, as the industry tries to re-grow, it gets hit by the skills shortage".
Not that the financial sector is particularly supportive of manufacturing of any stripe, particularly car making. "They're more enamoured with the software industries, where they get quick and high returns with low tooling up cost and low numbers employed," says Cole. "There's been some renewed enthusiasm for manufacturing in this country from the investment community, but we need a lot more to fuel a real return".
Friday, January 6, 2012
Bridging the technology divide
As machinery moaned in the background, attendees at the FTA Great Lakes Fall technical meeting were presented with a juxtaposition of eras and technologies fighting for a place in the package printing market of tomorrow. Surrounded by examples of time-tested, solidly engineered equipment including a still functional Kempsmith milling machine built in 1888, the meeting focused on the challenge of integrating the newest production technologies into the package printing workflow in order to achieve exceptional store-shelf impact and customer engagement.
Kempsmith has adapted its business by moving into carton die production, and Brett Burris, Kempsmith’s president, showcased a variety of examples garnered from the grocery store shelves to demonstrate how cartons today are engineered to entice consumers to buy the products. He said, ‘the carton is the billboard and the printer is the artist.’ Through the addition of graphics, embossing, promotions, unusual shapes or added functionalities, the cartons grab attention and engage consumers at the point of purchase.
As packaging design features evolve to higher levels of quality and intricacy, the processes for producing them has made stellar leaps to meet the need. Flexible magnetic dies have replaced the extremely expensive die tooling of the past. Where a conventional die could cost upwards of $20,000, a magnetic die can be produced for about 1/10 the cost. Magnetic dies add precision, reducing costs, increase die life, and reduce machine downtime for replacement. Rotary die-cutting equipment with mating cutters penetrate the stock from above and below, producing a cleaner cut at higher operating speed than the traditional ‘crush-cut’ methodology. All of this results in faster, higher-yield production of value-added packaging.
An intriguing note to the presentation given by Victor Gomez, Durst VP of sales North and South America, was the historical tidbit that placed Wisconsin at the forefront of the digital revolution as well as the industrial revolution. He pointed out that the Wisconsin Integrally Synchronized Computer (WISC) was an early digital computer designed and built at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Digital computing technology has obviously come a long way since then, having a dramatic impact on every process it was incorporated into. In 1936, across the world from Wisconsin in a small town in the Alps, the Durst brothers formed a company to produce photo imaging equipment. The addition of digital computing into the imaging process resulted in flatbed inkjet imaging technology that overnight rendered previous versions obsolete.
Just as Kempsmith looked to new technologies and markets to continue its growth, Durst developed a wide variety of printing and imaging technologies to serve growing specialty markets. They produced narrow and wide format systems for printing onto ceramic tiles prior to curing and devised custom ink sets to provide visibility and durability for printing traffic signs. To improve sustainability, they produced equipment that printed the surface of various flooring materials to simulate exotic and endangered wood.
Increased precision, reduced costs, enhanced features, increased productivity, greater versatility and faster speed to market were the goals driving the evolution of digital print technology. Durst’s entry into digital label printing technology was predicated on predictable, consistent and repeatable results produced from a color management methodology that replaces the artisan mentality with a scientific approach to color. Gomez describes this as ‘the promise of digital’.
With a host of new features and improvements coming out at a blistering pace, digital printing is rapidly advancing in its ability to deliver the graphic and performance attributes that engage consumers and drive sales. Digital inkjet presses are capable of running eight colors for an expanded color gamut with liquid varnish. Constantly circulating ink through filters removes impurities that can plug inkjet nozzles, vastly improving operating performance. Isolated tensioning from stage to stage provides label to label registration accuracy far superior to web averaging. The digital workflow accommodates variable data such as sequential numbering and personalization, and allows for rapid job change with minimal waste. Through modular construction, label production can incorporate a variety of finishing processes in-line including hot foil, lamination, die-cutting, priming/pre-coating, matrix removal, slitting and more.
Kempsmith has adapted its business by moving into carton die production, and Brett Burris, Kempsmith’s president, showcased a variety of examples garnered from the grocery store shelves to demonstrate how cartons today are engineered to entice consumers to buy the products. He said, ‘the carton is the billboard and the printer is the artist.’ Through the addition of graphics, embossing, promotions, unusual shapes or added functionalities, the cartons grab attention and engage consumers at the point of purchase.
As packaging design features evolve to higher levels of quality and intricacy, the processes for producing them has made stellar leaps to meet the need. Flexible magnetic dies have replaced the extremely expensive die tooling of the past. Where a conventional die could cost upwards of $20,000, a magnetic die can be produced for about 1/10 the cost. Magnetic dies add precision, reducing costs, increase die life, and reduce machine downtime for replacement. Rotary die-cutting equipment with mating cutters penetrate the stock from above and below, producing a cleaner cut at higher operating speed than the traditional ‘crush-cut’ methodology. All of this results in faster, higher-yield production of value-added packaging.
An intriguing note to the presentation given by Victor Gomez, Durst VP of sales North and South America, was the historical tidbit that placed Wisconsin at the forefront of the digital revolution as well as the industrial revolution. He pointed out that the Wisconsin Integrally Synchronized Computer (WISC) was an early digital computer designed and built at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Digital computing technology has obviously come a long way since then, having a dramatic impact on every process it was incorporated into. In 1936, across the world from Wisconsin in a small town in the Alps, the Durst brothers formed a company to produce photo imaging equipment. The addition of digital computing into the imaging process resulted in flatbed inkjet imaging technology that overnight rendered previous versions obsolete.
Just as Kempsmith looked to new technologies and markets to continue its growth, Durst developed a wide variety of printing and imaging technologies to serve growing specialty markets. They produced narrow and wide format systems for printing onto ceramic tiles prior to curing and devised custom ink sets to provide visibility and durability for printing traffic signs. To improve sustainability, they produced equipment that printed the surface of various flooring materials to simulate exotic and endangered wood.
Increased precision, reduced costs, enhanced features, increased productivity, greater versatility and faster speed to market were the goals driving the evolution of digital print technology. Durst’s entry into digital label printing technology was predicated on predictable, consistent and repeatable results produced from a color management methodology that replaces the artisan mentality with a scientific approach to color. Gomez describes this as ‘the promise of digital’.
With a host of new features and improvements coming out at a blistering pace, digital printing is rapidly advancing in its ability to deliver the graphic and performance attributes that engage consumers and drive sales. Digital inkjet presses are capable of running eight colors for an expanded color gamut with liquid varnish. Constantly circulating ink through filters removes impurities that can plug inkjet nozzles, vastly improving operating performance. Isolated tensioning from stage to stage provides label to label registration accuracy far superior to web averaging. The digital workflow accommodates variable data such as sequential numbering and personalization, and allows for rapid job change with minimal waste. Through modular construction, label production can incorporate a variety of finishing processes in-line including hot foil, lamination, die-cutting, priming/pre-coating, matrix removal, slitting and more.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Clever slime holds the key
A brainless, primeval organism able to navigate a maze might help Japanese scientists devise the ideal transport network design. Not bad for a mono-cellular being that lives on rotting leaves.
Amoeboid yellow slime mold has been on Earth for thousands of years, living a distinctly un-high-tech life, but, say scientists, it could provide the key to designing bio-computers capable of solving complex problems.
Toshiyuki Nakagaki, a professor at Future University Hakodate says the organism, which he cultivates in petri dishes, "organises" its cells to create the most direct root through a maze to a source of food.
He says the cells appear to have a kind of information-processing ability that allows them to "optimise" the route along which the mold grows to reach food while avoiding stresses - like light - that may damage them.
"Humans are not the only living things with information-processing abilities," said Nakagaki in his laboratory in Hakodate on Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido.
"Simple creatures can solve certain kinds of difficult puzzles," Nakagaki told AFP. "If you want to spotlight the essence of life or intelligence, it's easier to use these simple creatures."
And it doesn't get much more simple than slime mold, an organism that inhabits decaying leaves and logs and munches on bacteria.
Physarum polycephalum, or grape-cluster slime, grows large enough to be seen without a microscope and has the appearance of mayonnaise.
Nakagaki's work with this slime was recognised by the award of "Ig Nobel" prizes in 2008 and 2010.
The spoof Nobel prizes are given to scientists who can "first make people laugh, and then make them think."
And, say his contemporaries, slime may sound like an odd place to go looking for the key to intelligence, but it is exactly the right place to start.
Atsushi Tero at Kyushu University in western Japan, said slime mold studies are not a "funny but quite orthodox approach" to figuring out the mechanism of human intelligence.
He says slime molds can create much more effective networks than even the most advanced technology that man has.
"Computers are not so good at analysing the best routes that connect many base points because the volume of calculations becomes too large for them," Tero explained.
"But slime molds, without calculating all the possible options, can flow over areas in an impromptu manner and gradually find the best routes.
"Slime molds that have survived for hundreds of millions of years can flexibly adjust themselves to a change of the environment," he said. "They can even create networks that are resistant to unexpected stimulus."
Research has shown slime molds become inactive when subjected to stress such as temperature or humidity changes. They even appear to "remember" the stresses and protectively become inactive when they might expect to experience them.
Tero and his research team have successfully had slime molds form the pattern of a railway system quite similar to the railroad networks of the Kanto region centering Tokyo - which were designed by hard-thinking people.
He hopes these slime mold networks will be used in future designs of new transport systems or electric transmission lines that need to incorporate detours to get around power outages.
Masashi Aono, a researcher at Riken, a natural science research institute based in Saitama, says his project aims to examine the mechanism of the human brain and eventually duplicate that brain with slime molds.
"I'm convinced that studying the information-processing capabilities of lower organisms may lead to an understanding of the human brain system," Aono said. "That's my motivation and ambition as a researcher."
Aono says that among applications of so-called "slime mold neuro-computing" is the creation of new algorithm or software for computers modelled after the methods slime molds use when they form networks.
"Ultimately, I'm interested in creating a bio-computer by using actual slime molds, whose information-processing system will be quite close to that of the human brain," Aono said.
"Slime molds do not have a central nervous system, but they can act as if they have intelligence by using the dynamism of their fluxion, which is quite amazing," Aono said. "To me, slime molds are the window on a small universe."
Amoeboid yellow slime mold has been on Earth for thousands of years, living a distinctly un-high-tech life, but, say scientists, it could provide the key to designing bio-computers capable of solving complex problems.
Toshiyuki Nakagaki, a professor at Future University Hakodate says the organism, which he cultivates in petri dishes, "organises" its cells to create the most direct root through a maze to a source of food.
He says the cells appear to have a kind of information-processing ability that allows them to "optimise" the route along which the mold grows to reach food while avoiding stresses - like light - that may damage them.
"Humans are not the only living things with information-processing abilities," said Nakagaki in his laboratory in Hakodate on Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido.
"Simple creatures can solve certain kinds of difficult puzzles," Nakagaki told AFP. "If you want to spotlight the essence of life or intelligence, it's easier to use these simple creatures."
And it doesn't get much more simple than slime mold, an organism that inhabits decaying leaves and logs and munches on bacteria.
Physarum polycephalum, or grape-cluster slime, grows large enough to be seen without a microscope and has the appearance of mayonnaise.
Nakagaki's work with this slime was recognised by the award of "Ig Nobel" prizes in 2008 and 2010.
The spoof Nobel prizes are given to scientists who can "first make people laugh, and then make them think."
And, say his contemporaries, slime may sound like an odd place to go looking for the key to intelligence, but it is exactly the right place to start.
Atsushi Tero at Kyushu University in western Japan, said slime mold studies are not a "funny but quite orthodox approach" to figuring out the mechanism of human intelligence.
He says slime molds can create much more effective networks than even the most advanced technology that man has.
"Computers are not so good at analysing the best routes that connect many base points because the volume of calculations becomes too large for them," Tero explained.
"But slime molds, without calculating all the possible options, can flow over areas in an impromptu manner and gradually find the best routes.
"Slime molds that have survived for hundreds of millions of years can flexibly adjust themselves to a change of the environment," he said. "They can even create networks that are resistant to unexpected stimulus."
Research has shown slime molds become inactive when subjected to stress such as temperature or humidity changes. They even appear to "remember" the stresses and protectively become inactive when they might expect to experience them.
Tero and his research team have successfully had slime molds form the pattern of a railway system quite similar to the railroad networks of the Kanto region centering Tokyo - which were designed by hard-thinking people.
He hopes these slime mold networks will be used in future designs of new transport systems or electric transmission lines that need to incorporate detours to get around power outages.
Masashi Aono, a researcher at Riken, a natural science research institute based in Saitama, says his project aims to examine the mechanism of the human brain and eventually duplicate that brain with slime molds.
"I'm convinced that studying the information-processing capabilities of lower organisms may lead to an understanding of the human brain system," Aono said. "That's my motivation and ambition as a researcher."
Aono says that among applications of so-called "slime mold neuro-computing" is the creation of new algorithm or software for computers modelled after the methods slime molds use when they form networks.
"Ultimately, I'm interested in creating a bio-computer by using actual slime molds, whose information-processing system will be quite close to that of the human brain," Aono said.
"Slime molds do not have a central nervous system, but they can act as if they have intelligence by using the dynamism of their fluxion, which is quite amazing," Aono said. "To me, slime molds are the window on a small universe."
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Don't rush to judgment on Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin
Tyrone Corbin happened to land his dream job in the middle of a crisis.
Now, the challenge will be righting a ship that began careening out of control under a different captain and with a substantially different crew.
And while most Jazz fans are willing to give Corbin some time to make the team his own, others are not so kind.
In fact, a few vocal fans are even calling for Corbin's job.
Really? Yes, it's official. We've become THAT team, THOSE fans.
While I think most people are willing to give Corbin time to make this team his own, AND then decide if they want what he's selling, those who aren't need to consider the circumstances under which he's worked so far.S
It came unexpectedly and just hours after Jerry Sloan abruptly resigned. Sloan wasn't just another head coach. He was a legend. And unfortunately, he took his equally respected and legendary assistant Phil Johnson with him when he went.
The Jazz are in the middle of a slump when he takes over and things don't get much better after Sloan's exit.
Three weeks later, Corbin's bosses traded away his all-star point guard, Deron Williams, in exchange for youth and future draft picks.
What was already on course to be a lost season remained abysmal, save a few bright spots.
The Jazz became the first team in NBA history to go from a 15-5 start to not making the playoffs with a 39-43 record.
Then, just when Corbin should be making plans for summer leagues, rookie workouts and preparing for the fall camp, the NBA owners locked out the players in hopes of a new collective bargaining agreement.
While the Jazz coaches did meet face-to-face with every player and go over what was expected of them workout-wise before the lockout, for several very critical months, coach Corbin couldn't even talk to his young, inexperienced players.
And then, just as the team finished its two preseason games thanks to the lockout-shortened season, the Jazz brass traded away the most veteran player left on the roster, Mehmet Okur.
I dare say, even the best in the business would be challenged to excel under those inauspicious beginnings.
Still, Corbin is handling the job, the pressure and the criticism in stride. On the eve of Utah's first game, he said having the players for a full season (even one shortened by the lockout) is a completely different experience than taking over mid-season, mid-crisis.
"You get a chance from day one to mold a group of guys," he said, "get them on the same page, implement the things that I want to implement, and for them to understand expectations right from the beginning. It's a sense of normalcy right from the beginning."
Now, the challenge will be righting a ship that began careening out of control under a different captain and with a substantially different crew.
And while most Jazz fans are willing to give Corbin some time to make the team his own, others are not so kind.
In fact, a few vocal fans are even calling for Corbin's job.
Really? Yes, it's official. We've become THAT team, THOSE fans.
While I think most people are willing to give Corbin time to make this team his own, AND then decide if they want what he's selling, those who aren't need to consider the circumstances under which he's worked so far.S
It came unexpectedly and just hours after Jerry Sloan abruptly resigned. Sloan wasn't just another head coach. He was a legend. And unfortunately, he took his equally respected and legendary assistant Phil Johnson with him when he went.
The Jazz are in the middle of a slump when he takes over and things don't get much better after Sloan's exit.
Three weeks later, Corbin's bosses traded away his all-star point guard, Deron Williams, in exchange for youth and future draft picks.
What was already on course to be a lost season remained abysmal, save a few bright spots.
The Jazz became the first team in NBA history to go from a 15-5 start to not making the playoffs with a 39-43 record.
Then, just when Corbin should be making plans for summer leagues, rookie workouts and preparing for the fall camp, the NBA owners locked out the players in hopes of a new collective bargaining agreement.
While the Jazz coaches did meet face-to-face with every player and go over what was expected of them workout-wise before the lockout, for several very critical months, coach Corbin couldn't even talk to his young, inexperienced players.
And then, just as the team finished its two preseason games thanks to the lockout-shortened season, the Jazz brass traded away the most veteran player left on the roster, Mehmet Okur.
I dare say, even the best in the business would be challenged to excel under those inauspicious beginnings.
Still, Corbin is handling the job, the pressure and the criticism in stride. On the eve of Utah's first game, he said having the players for a full season (even one shortened by the lockout) is a completely different experience than taking over mid-season, mid-crisis.
"You get a chance from day one to mold a group of guys," he said, "get them on the same page, implement the things that I want to implement, and for them to understand expectations right from the beginning. It's a sense of normalcy right from the beginning."
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